2/10/2008

Faith Restored

An event happened this week that restored my faith in professional sports. But first a little history.

On February 6, 1958 Manchester United's team plane crashed on take-off from Munich. Among the dead that evening were 8 of Manchester's starting 11. Four of those were English internationals. Many felt that England were the favorites for the 1958 World Cup before the crash. Instead it turned into a coming out party for a 17 year old Brazilian named Pele.

The Munich crash is an event that has touched generations of English people and United fans around the world. The 50th anniversary of the crash was commemorated today at the Manchester United game. The club could have milked a very emotional occasion for every possible dollar. But they didn't. There was a minute of silence before the game and Man U played in a 1958 throwback uniform. The cool thing is that there were only 16 uniforms made. Eleven starters and 5 subs. No commemorative ones were made for sale. How refreshing to have a tribute be about the deceased not about the money.