In light of what has happened, this is really such an insignificant thing,
but I feel it cannot go unnoticed.
WABU-TV68 deserves much respect from us for their handling of the awful
injury to BU's Travis Roy tonight. Granted, it was a BU player, but still,
they went above and beyond the call of duty.
I arrived home after midnight from the Merrimack-Providence game and
rewound the tape to find out what the final score was. I was shocked to
hear of a "serious injury" that had Travis in Boston City Hospital, and
even more shocked as the tape went on (late in the third period) and I
discovered what had happened. At first I had no idea what they were
talking about.
WABU stayed on the air for about a half hour after the game to provide as
much information as they could about Travis' condition. At least for this
game, WABU had a lot of announcers, including Howard Green and Dave Silk
back at the studio, Mike Eruzione on color, and a woman doing commentary
from the bench area. It seemed to me that all were trying to do their job
but were having trouble talking about the other aspects of the game in
light of the situation that had occurred. I thought I could sense them
trembling as they discussed the incident, and I felt myself doing the same
as I watched the replay.
The replay of the injury was only shown once in the postgame, but that was
enough. It was nothing more than a fluke play...the kind that every parent
has nightmares about when his or her child plays sports. An ND player was
getting the puck out of the corner in his end and Roy went to check him,
and as the player dodged him, Travis lost his balance just a bit and hit
the boards head first, then fell to the ice without moving. It's not easy
to type this, visualizing the replay in my mind.
In case anyone was wondering, Travis was not pushed, checked or tripped
into the boards...he simply lost his balance. Although I did not see Chris
O'Sullivan's injury a couple of seasons ago, it was apparently very similar
to that. Something hopeful is that O'Sullivan recovered and is of course
back playing. I don't know exactly how similar the two injuries were,
however.
As some have mentioned, WABU brought us an interview with the BU doctor, I
believe, who immediately attended to Travis on the ice. His prognosis has
been mentioned here so I will not repeat it, other than to say that it did
not sound good. If there is something to be thankful about, it is that
although these injuries can be life threatening, Travis was apparently
conscious the whole time and quite aware of what was going on.
And as I was trying to explain, I think that WABU's handling of the
situation was very professional and sensitive from what I saw of it (mostly
just the postgame).
I don't really know what to say in response to this whole thing. I want to
say that we wish him the best and a speedy recovery, but it is difficult
when the prognosis I've heard so far is not good - it almost makes those
words sound empty and meaningless.
But, the only other thought I have is this: I know many people out there
have some hatred towards BU and the BU program. I don't know how much that
will change, but it bothers me that people feel that way when the program
has gone through the things they have suffered in recent years, including
the death of former Terrier Kevin Mutch a few years ago while he was
crossing a street on Cape Cod; the bicycle accident of J.P. McKersie; and
now this. The point is, like the players and programs that you and I
follow, these are real people, with hopes and dreams and families and
friends. No one deserves to have this happen - not Jack Parker, nor BU,
nor least of all, the people who it happened to.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] *HMM* 11/13/93
>> Co-owner of the College Hockey Lists at University of Maine System <<
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