Today’s required reading

The Richmond Times has a terrific article about Virginia Tech, the Blacksburg community, the tragedy, and why this football season is going to be special.

Drive into downtown Blacksburg on North Main Street, and the first things you see are the 32 flags flying in front of Blacksburg Baptist Church. They represent each victim's home country.
Steer down Main, and the banner in front of Cook's Clean Center screams: WE ARE HOKIES. WE WILL PREVAIL! Similar signs hang in almost every business on Main.

Reminders of April 16 are everywhere around town -- from the old lady wearing the maroon "Hokies United" T-shirt created after the shootings, to the magnetic remembrance ribbons affixed to almost every car. If ever a separation existed between Blacksburg (population: 39,000) and Virginia Tech, it is gone now.

That sense of collectivism surrounds the football program. Around the Merryman Center, its epicenter, Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer greets folks in the halls with a "How we doin'?" In the middle of the practice field, a sign hanging from an observation tower bears the same slogan as the Hokies' team T-shirts: "None of us is as good as ALL of us."

It really is an excellent piece. I recommend it as an antidote to the grim and sterile reportage surrounding the commission report on the shooting.

FYI - the season starts Saturday at noon, ECU at Lane.