One killed and two injured in a shooting outside a high school football game in Jacksonville last Friday.
A similar script plays out in California on the same night.
And there is another incident that hit close to home for me.
My alma mater, Rockford Auburn, saw its game against Freeport called with 10 minutes to go after sounds of gunfire exchanged between occupants of two cars from down the street pierced the Illinois evening air. No one was killed. No one was injured. But there was panic. And there was fear.
Spectators and the cheerleaders scrambled for the exit.
Many of the players hit the field in fear of being struck by a bullet. They didn’t know where the gunfire was coming from at the time. They just knew they didn’t want to die.
When you read these stories, you start to wonder what has happened to this country. You start to feel ill knowing that you can’t even go to a high school football game anymore without fearing for your life.
I can’t say that I’m surprised about the incident in my hometown.
Gun violence is a way of life in Rockford, overshadowing the shreds of positivity the city is trying to hang onto. I witnessed it growing up in Northern Illinois time and again.
But gunfire in the proximity of a football game? That isn’t supposed to happen.
Friday nights in the fall are supposed to be special, the greatest night of the week during football season. Friday nights are a stage set up to celebrate the success of athletes who spend the week in practice working for this moment to shine.
Friday nights are supposed to be highlighted with first downs and touchdowns, not getting on the ground because you are worried about a bullet taking you out.
Friday nights are supposed to be about the cheerleaders doing their thing to get the crowd pumped up and the band playing its music.
We shouldn’t have to worry about screams from the crowd that are out of fear instead of excitement, and we shouldn’t have to worry about gunfire drowning out the sound of music.
Friday nights are supposed to be a two- or three-hour escape from reality. You should be able to go to a game anywhere in this nation that has endured its share of craziness lately and sit back and enjoy it.
I’d like to think we can get those days back, to return normalcy to Friday night. To make it special again.
And yes, the games will go on. And most of the time there won’t be problems. The game will end because the clock hits zero, not because a bullet might hit someone.
But all of us will wonder if the game we are at is the next one in danger of being ruined by gunfire or some other act of violence.
It’s disappointing we have reached this point. Friday nights are supposed to be some of the biggest nights in the life of players and fans. They aren’t supposed to be the nights people should fear losing their life.
