The release this weekend of the movie “We Are Marshall” about the tough road back for the Marshall University football team after a 1970 airplane crash that killed 36 players has gotten scant attention in Wichita, Kans., I learned Wednesday.

That’s a bit surprising since Wichita State’s football team also was victimized by a tragic airplane crash only five weeks earlier in the 1970 season.

Maybe it shouldn’t be surprising.

“When you lose that many young people in a tragedy, it’s not a regular conversation,” Carmen Hytche, Wichita State’s director of special events, told me. “But I’ve seen the advertisements for the Marshall movie and I would expect there would be some conversations.”

On Oct. 2, 1970, two planes filled with Wichita State players and school administrators left Wichita for a trip to a game at Utah State. After a refueling stop in Denver, one of the planes arrived safely in Logan, Utah.

The other slammed into a Colorado mountain, killing 31 of the 39 people aboard, including 14 players, the head coach and the athletic director.

A patchwork team of crash survivors, previously redshirted players and freshmen returned to the playing field three weeks later and was beaten 62-0 by No. 9-ranked Arkansas in Little Rock Oct. 24.

Historians such as Hytche, who oversees annual memorial ceremonies every Oct. 2 at WSU, refer to Wichita State’s final games of 1970 as “the Second Season.”

The tragic event was overshadowed, later that year, by the Nov. 14 crash of the Marshall team plane in which 75 people died.

Sadly, both events were on the second page of a lengthy list of plane crashes that have claimed sports figures that was published by the Associated Press after the Oct. 11 fatal crash of New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle.

That list included football coach Knute Rockne of Notre Dame, boxer Rocky Marciano, golfers Tony Lema and Payne Stewart, basketball players from Evanston and Oklahoma State, 16 football players from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo in 1960 and, in 1968, Lamar track coach Ty Terrell and six of his runners.

My research reminded me of another reason why folks in Wichita might not be keen on conversations about air crashes. Turns out that area of Kansas is home to aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Lear Jet.

Wichita State played its football games at Cessna Stadium and the university is home to the National Aviation Research Center.

Wichita State dropped football in 1986. The program was 90 years old and fairly undistinguished as a longtime member of the Missouri Valley Conference. But it has some well-known alums.

That’s where Beaumonter Miller Farr played before the Denver Broncos drafted him No. 1 in 1964. Former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson was an assistant coach there for a year and current Cowboys coach Bill Parcells played there.

 

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Port Neches-Groves junior catcher Jon Carnahan has been named to a team of 16 players from across the United States to travel to Europe and participate in the Holland Invitational baseball tournament Aug. 7-15 at Oldenzaal, Netherlands.

Carnahan and his family are seeking financial aid in making the trip a reality.

Donations can be made to USA Athletes International, Inc., a tax deductible foundation that has arranged the trip. For more information, contact Karen Carnahan at 729-0754.

 

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A quick bowl primer for games with players from SE Texas:

Friday – 7 p.m., ESPN2 -- New Orleans Bowl, Troy vs. Rice (Derek Bingham, Little Cypress-Mauriceville, Jr. DE)

Saturday – 3:30 p.m., ESPN – New Mexico Bowl, San Jose vs. New Mexico (Donovan Porterie, Memorial, Fr., QB)

Dec. 28 – 3:30 p.m., ESPN – Independence Bowl, Alabama vs. Oklahoma State (Calvin Roberts, Memorial, Jr., RB; Julius Neal, PA Lincoln, Soph., DE; Calvin Mickens, Ozen, Soph., CB)

Dec. 28 – 7 p.m., ESPN – Holiday Bowl, California vs. Texas A&M; (Danny Gorrer, Memorial, Soph., CB; Kerry Franks, WO-S, Jr., WR)

Dec. 28 – 7 p.m., NFL Network – Texas Bowl, Rutgers vs. Kansas (James Johnson, Memorial, Jr., RB)

Dec. 29 – 1 p.m., CBS – Sun Bowl – Oregon vs. Missouri (Tommy Chavis, WO-S, Soph., DL)

Dec. 29 – 3:30 p.m., ESPN – Liberty Bowl – South Carolina vs. Houston (Byron Alfred, Memorial, Jr., OG; Rodney Rideau, Memorial, Soph, LB; Will Gulley, Newton, Sr., SS)

Dec. 29 – 6:30 p.m., ESPN – Insight Bowl – Minnesota vs. Texas Tech (Ken Scott, Newton, Sr., DT)

Dec. 30 – 3:30 p.m., Alamo Bowl – Iowa vs. Texas (Jamaal Charles, Memorial, Soph., RB; Robert Joseph, Memorial, Fr., SS; Deon Beasley, WO-S, Fr., CB)

 

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West Brook coach Craig Stump said Iowa coach Kirk Fehrenz had visited Bruin LBs Jacody Coleman and Billy Chavis in Beaumont last week and the Bruin pair returned the visit over the weekend. Stump said Iowa coaches told him Coleman committed to sign with the Hawkeyes. Chavis is still mulling offers from Arizona, Clemson, Iowa, Missoui and Texas A&M.;

 

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In an interview with the Beaumont Enterprise last week, BISD superintendent Carrol Thomas relived his glory days as a Texas A&I; football player in the late 60s. He also crowed about his success in hiring Stump at West Brook and Donald Stowers at Central two years ago and lamented Ozen’s 1-9 finish this fall that led to John Clayton’s reassignment.

He also talked about how he felt it was his job to “push our coaches hard.”

Thomas’ meddling supposedly played a big part in running off Ozen’s first two coaches, Arthur Louis and Thomas Brooks. Perhaps it’s why no “name” coaches have sought the job the last two times it was available.

Of the 16 applicant names given to The News last week, it was unclear if any are currently head coaches. The BISD provided the name of Richard Searcy, identifying him as a coach at Wichita Falls Hirschi. Neil Searcy is Hirschi’s head coach, but it could not be determined immediately if this is the same person.

Those on the list include BISD assistants Jeff Nelson (West Brook), Ishan Rison (Central), Ray Metoyer (Central) and Wilbert Andrews (Ozen) as well as former Ozen offensive coordinator Del Basinger and the son of a former Central coach, Marvin Sedberry, Jr.

Others on the list are Sammy Covey of Aldine MacArthur, David Dunn from an elementary school in Phoenix, Wayne Green of Galveston Ball, Michael O’ Quinn from the Fort Bend district, Nathaniel Sessions from Alief, Carnell White of Clear Creek, Terrence Williams of Baytown Lee and Kenny Washington from San Antonio East Central.

Also listed is a Henry Cotton from Shelton ISD, the home of C.E. King High School. A Randy Cotton from C.E. King was listed as a finalist for the Ozen job, along with Basinger, when it went to Clayton in January of 2005. This Cotton could well be the same man.

Thomas said he would like to have a recommendation for Clayton’s replacement by the BISD’s Jan. 19 board meeting.  The district is still taking applications and a big name candidate may be waiting until the last minute to apply.

 

Dave Rogers is a News sports writer. Contact him at drogers@panews.com.