Monday, August 27, 2018

A Scary Friday Night: Salt Bowl 2018

We moved to Bryant, Arkansas in 2007...Jim was transferred with his job. Because Logan was starting high school, and we knew this would likely be a harder transition for him than for Clark, Jim told Logan he could choose which school he wanted to attend: Benton, Bryant, Bauxite, Central...even Arkansas Baptist (now Baptist Prep). 

Logan chose Bryant...I think because of their football program, but I could be wrong. 

We had never heard of the Salt Bowl, but we were so excited to see what it was all about. All we knew was that it was a rival game, and that the game...and the events leading up to it...was about bringing the community together. 

Not all the football boys got to go with the team on the bus, and very few sophomores got to go. Logan was a sophomore, AND a new kid...he certainly didn’t expect that he would go...but somehow he made the list! 

During Salt Bowl week, Coach took the boys to War Memorial Stadium for a “walk-through.” 

Logan says he can remember walking through the tunnel and onto the field. He told me how he looked up in the stands, and tried to imagine what it would be like on game night, when it was filled with people cheering. 

In Searcy (where we used to live), football was big...but in Bryant, it was even bigger. Logan couldn’t believe he was going to be playing under the lights on that field! 

In the week leading up to the game, there were pep rallies and team dinners and media opportunities...all gearing up for this one big game. 

And everyone in town was going. I mean, of course they were. Little kids, big kids, grandparents, business leaders, church groups...it was so fun, y’all. My friends, Stacy and Tori, came that first year...and it was so great to have familiar faces sitting beside me. 

Fast forward 11 years to last night. Jim, Joshua, and I talked about going to the game, and bringing Rhodie...but since it was so hot, we ended up keeping him at home. 

Hearing the reports of the events of last night make me angry, frustrated, and sick to my stomach...because even if the reports of gunfire weren’t real (and I had friends there who said it was, and others who said it wasn’t)...the FEAR was real. 

And watching families jump up from their seats, and run...was real. 

And seeing mommas turn around and scan seas of panicked faces, looking for their children...that was real. 

What really got me was watching those football boys, and the cheerleaders, sprinting off the field to the exits...because I remembered my own football boy and his cheerleader, and the years they participated in the Salt Bowl. I know they would’ve been the ones running TO each other...they always and forever run to each other...because nothing on earth would make him leave without her. 

For the ones saying the panic was unjustified...you do you, and stay calm and help. 

Everyone else was just doing the best they could in a scary and uncertain situation...and sometimes that is not well thought out and rational. 

We might all be a little jumpy...with good reason. 

This is the world we live in now, where every “safe” place...churches, shopping malls, marathons, ball fields, concerts...is a potential battleground. 

Yall, I’m so frustrated. 

WHY CAN’T WE DO FUN THINGS ANYMORE? 

Ugh. 

I’m so very thankful for both teams of athletic trainers that were providing aid. I’m thankful to the police, and other first responders, who were there helping. I’m thankful for the parents and friends who gathered children who weren’t their own, and calmed them down, and kept them safe, and contacted their parents. 

I hope and pray that the ones responsible for causing this ruckus are punished, because they ruined this night for everyone. 

It takes so much time, money, and energy to put this thing on, and I’m sad for everyone who worked so hard to prepare for and invest in this event. To have it end like that is disappointing and discouraging. 

But Bryant and Benton are both great communities. I’m certain they will come together to make changes and implement strategies to ensure that next year’s Salt Bowl is even better!

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment." 2 Timothy 1:7

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