LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – When hard news breaks — as happened Tuesday with the tragic crash of a UPS plane at Muhammad Ali International Airport — the best thing a sportswriter can usually do is get out of the way.
That’s what I’ve learned over the years. I’ve pitched in when asked — tornado coverage in Milton, Ky., a few COVID stories, occasionally taking photos if I could. But in the middle of chaos, news teams are stretched thin and scenes get crowded fast. Unless directed otherwise, it’s best not to add to the clutter.
Tuesday was one of those days.
Shortly after the crash, before any of us fully grasped what had happened, I passed through the newsroom. Photographers were huddled over maps, figuring out where they could fly a drone. I started hearing from a couple of UPS employees hearing word of a problem.
I had been planning to watch the Louisville women’s basketball game against UConn. But given the scene, I figured still photos for the website might be more useful. So I grabbed my camera and headed out.
A wide view from atop a parking garage at the University of Louisville shows the scale of the smoke plume as it stretches across the city.
From a parking garage at U of L, I took a wide shot showing smoke trailing into a red-streaked sky. I drove up Eastern Parkway, but the skies were so dark there wasn’t much to shoot. I merged onto I-65, caught a few more frames while there was still some light, sent the photos back, asked if I could do anything else, and eventually headed home.
One of the photos — a control tower silhouetted beside a UPS hangar, with smoke billowing above it and the sunset peeking through — captured just a sliver of the moment. That’s usually all you can hope to do.
I missed the Louisville women’s game. I caught the College Football Playoff rankings. I listened to some of Kentucky's basketball game on the radio. I texted with Jeff Walz, who said his team was scheduled to fly commercial back to Louisville on Wednesday. As of this morning, it looked like their return would be uneventful.
But like many of you, I found it hard to summon much emotion for a sports story. That instinct — the one that pulls your heart toward real life and away from the scoreboard — is a good sign. It means we’re still wired correctly as people.
It’s jarring to see the familiar transformed. Roads you drive every day, buildings you pass without thought, suddenly marked by tragedy and smoke. It strikes me that a control tower is a symbol of routine, order, and oversight. Seeing one surrounded by rising smoke underscores the notion that even the most stable systems can be rocked.
The UPS crash site smoldered into the evening as first responders worked to contain the fire and investigate.
For the reporters and photographers who were closer to the scene, it’s something they’ll never forget. WDRB’s Adi Schanie interviewed two men searching for a loved one they feared had been in an auto parts store that was damaged. That moment — and the weight of it — will stay with her and photographer Ariana Schucka for a long time.
This column is a bit of a ramble. But it’s also a reminder.
Sports have their place. They can rally us. They can inspire. They can provide a welcome routine — or a necessary escape. But they are not life.
Louisville will play a football game this weekend just a couple miles from the crash site. UPS planes and others will fly overhead, as they always do. But for a while, I suspect, we’ll all look up a little longer.
I remember the Saturday after 9/11. No games. Nothing to cover. Our sports staff was sent out to chronicle a day without sports in the city. Louisville football was supposed to play at Illinois. Instead, the team practiced quietly on campus. When the first commercial jet flew over after days of silence, everyone on the field stopped and looked up.
Sometimes it takes a moment like that to realign your perspective. And that’s OK. It should.
There’s nothing wrong with hitting the brakes, thinking about the moment, what we can do, what we need to learn. Life goes on, but changed.
I’ll see you at the games.
Quick Sips
LATE RUN: It should be no surprise that No. 1-ranked UConn is really good. But No. 20 Louisville showed more fight than a Cardinals’ team that fell behind big early a year ago. My story on Louisville’s night in the Armed Forces Classic. Click here to read.
PLAYOFF RANKINGS: The first College Football Playoff rankings are out, and Indiana is No. 2 behind Ohio State, tough the committee did have a discussion over whether Indiana deserved to be in the top spot. Louisville came in at No. 15. Read about the full rankings here.
KENTUCKY BASKETBALL: I’m playing catch-up with the Wildcats. I’ll be watching their game this morning, and will have some thoughts this afternoon.
The Last Drop
“I’ve kind of just followed a little bit this tragedy in Louisville. (It) just is awful. Certainly our prayers go out to everybody involved in that. And, man, hopefully we can have the best news possible and the best resolution to that and BBN is just fully engaged in that and best wishes for everybody there.”
Mark Pope, Kentucky coach, after Tuesday’s game against Nicholls
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