Daily Dialogue — June 29, 2014
“For those of you who may not know, this is the final resting place for six members of the 1970 Thundering Herd. The plane crash that took their lives was so severe, so absolute, that their bodies were unable to be identified. So they were buried here. Together. Six players. Six teammates. Six sons of Marshall. This is our past, gentlemen. This is where we have been, this is how we got here, this is who we are. Today, I want to talk about our opponent this afternoon. They’re bigger, faster, stronger, more experienced. And on paper, they’re just better. And they know it, too. I wanna tell you something that they don’t know. They don’t know your heart. I do. I’ve seen it. You have shown it to me. You have shown this coaching staff, your teammates, you have shown yourselves just exactly who you are in here (thumps his chest). When you take that field today, you gotta lay that heart on the line. From the soles of your feet, with every ounce of blood you’ve got in your body, lay it on the line until the final whistle blows. And if you do that, if you do that, we cannot lose. We may be behind on the scoreboard at the end of the game, but if you play like that, we cannot be defeated. We came here today to remember. Six young men, and sixty nine others who will not be on the field with you today. But they will be watching. You can bet your ass that they’ll be gritting their teeth with every snap of that football. You understand me, how you play today from this moment on, is how you will be remembered. This is your opportunity to rise from these ashes and grab glory. We are.. (the players answer) MARSHALL. We are…MARSHALL. We are…MARSHALL. Funerals end today!”
— We Are Marshall (2006), screenplay by Jamie Linden
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Sports Speech, suggested by Kalen. Today’s suggestion by John Arends.
Trivia: Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered DC-9, from Kinston, NC (ISO) to Huntington-Tri-State/Milton Airport (HTS) in Ceredo, West Virginia. The plane was carrying 37 team members, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, four flight crew, and one charter company employee. On November 14, 1970, at 7:35 PM, the plane crashed into a hill just short of Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 on board. Because it was the team’s only chartered flight of the season, many prominent citizens were on board, including a city councilman, a state legislator, and four of the city’s six physicians. Seventy children lost one parent in the crash; an additional 18 were orphaned.
Dialogue On Dialogue: This is one of the great sports speeches of all time. “Funerals end today” is a tremendous end line.
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