UVA Loses 2 LaCrosse Players: An Update

MoonHowler

There is more to the UVA Lacrosse story than the death of Yeardly Love. Tragic as it is, the entire UVA community, and especially its athletic community has been dealt a horrible blow. I called down today to life-long friends who live 2 blocks from the murder site. They were all devastated. University towns very much personalize their tragedies. Yeardly was a well-loved campus icon and the teams, both hers and his, were headed to the national finals.

There is another side to this story that transcends personal tragedy:

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

This murder sent shock waves across the nation. This story is just another perspective.

Yet when all is said and done, someone’s child is dead. Someone else’s child faces many years in prison if convicted. And sports teams come and sports teams go. The Duke lacrosse team recovered and so will UVA’s. Friends and family and the school in general, however, might not have that luxury.

Do student athletes lead a different life? Are they under more stress than others? Do they party harder to make up for the intensity of the sport they play? Is being BMOC or BWOC more difficult?

My father was a student athlete at UVA during the Great Depression. His family had no money to send him to school. He was fortunate enough to land a scholarship. There was no free lunch. He played 3 sports. Football, basketball, and baseball, and excelled at all three. Until his dying day he bore resentment towards sports and the amount of time they took out of his life. Maybe these kids felt the same way. And maybe it got too much for them.

Regardless, maybe this week we are all Wahoos.

That good old song of Wah-hoo-wah,
We ‘ll sing it o ‘er and o ‘er.
It cheers our hearts and warms our blood
To hear them shout and roar.
We come from Old Virginia,
Where all is bright and gay.
Let’s all join hands and give a yell,
For the dear old UVa.
Wah-hoo-wah,
Wah-hoo-wah.
Uni-v, Virginia,
Hoo-rah-ray,
Hoo-rah-ray,
Ray! Ray! U-V-A!

The Cavalier Dailyhas copies of affidavits and more on the story and crime scene

UVA LaCrosse Tragedy: 2 Lives Lost

MoonHowler

According to the Richmond Times Dispatch:

George Huguely, 22, has been charged with murder in the death of Yeardley Love, 22. Both were fourth-year U.Va. students from Maryland and lacrosse players.  Huguely is from Chevy Chase and Love was from Cockeysville.  Both students were to graduate in a few weeks.

Love, 22, was found dead in her apartment yesterday morning. Hours later, 22-year-old George Huguely was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.  Roommates summoned police thinking that she was comatose from alcohol poisoning.  First responders found that Ms. Love’s condition was far more serious and that she had suffered physical trauma.  While not elaborating, police ruled out weapons.  Neighors heard nothing.

Police say the two had been in a relationship but investigators plan to interview fellow players.  Huguely’s lawyer says that  “he is confident the death of a women’s lacrosse player from the same school, Yeardley Love, was not intended.”  What a horribly tragic accident.  One of these young people will probably spend time in prison and the other, who has been described by those who know her as an angel, is gone.  Dead.  Never to play lacrosse again, never to graduate, never to go to that first day of a new job.  Her life has been snuffed out, for whatever reason. 

Ms. Love is the 7th UVA student to die this academic year.  We don’t send out children to college to die. 

The University issued the following:

U.Va. President John T. Casteen III said in a statement that he hopes Love is remembered for her talents and her potential and not for the way she died.

“However little we may not know now about Yeardley Love’s death, we do know that she did not have or deserve to die — that she deserved the bright future she earned growing up, studying here and developing her talents as a lacrosse player,” Casteen said.

“She deserves to be remembered for her human goodness, her capacity for future greatness, and not for the terrible way in which her young life has ended.”

Casteen said he knows of no explanation for what happened to Love.

“This death moves us to deep anguish for the loss of a student of uncommon talent and promise, and we express the university’s and our own sympathy for Yeardley’s family, teammates and friends,” he said.

 

UPDATE: