Ill-timed UCF tweet provides history lesson on Kent State shootings | Commentary

Running off at the typewriter …

An untimely tweet has given at least one member of UCF’s social media content team an unfortunate lesson in American history.

UCF quickly and rightfully apologized for a social media post that was dispatched during the team’s 56-6 win over Kent State last week. During the Knights’ victory, the team posted a picture of quarterback John Rhys Plumlee on the sideline phone with the caption, “SOMEONE CALL THE NATIONAL GUARD.”

The post, the school said, was meant as a reference to Shannon Sharpe, former Denver Broncos tight end and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer who hilariously picked up the sideline phone and pretended to call President Bill Clinton, urging him to send the National Guard in order to save New England during the Broncos 34-8 thrashing of the Patriots in 1996.

UCF’s tweet would have been funny, too, if the Knights had been playing any other team other than Kent State — the university where four students were infamously killed by the National Guard during a Vietnam War protest on campus in 1970. The shootings made international news and spawned the famous song Ohio by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

UCF’s tweet was deleted and UCF athletic director Terry Mohajir apologized to Kent State athletic director Randale Richmond.

The great American novelist Pearl S. Buck once wrote, “If you want to understand today you have to search yesterday.”

Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen much in today’s social media world, where you’re typing, tweeting and transmitting in a matter of seconds. Believe me, I speak from experience.

An historical footnote to the Kent State shooting: Nick Saban was a football player at Kent State at the time and remembers the tragedy well.

“I think it was certainly to that point in my life, one of the most traumatic experiences that I’d ever had to deal with,” Saban recalled before Alabama hosted Kent State in 2016. “To have students on your campus shot, killed — and actually, didn’t see it happen, but saw the aftermath, right after it happened — it’s made me have a lot of appreciation for a lot of things. It actually made me appreciate the fact that law and order is very important, but it also made me appreciate the fact of what those students were trying to express, in terms of the Vietnam War and the demonstrations that they were having.

“And the confrontation that occurred was unnecessary. … I had class with one of the students that were killed, Allison Krause. I didn’t know her or anything that well, but it was a pretty chilling experience and something that makes you view things a little bit differently and certainly have a much better appreciation of not taking for granted life itself. And it probably had more to do to stop the war in Vietnam than anything that happened — unfortunately for the students.” …

Short stuff: Making an honest mistake on social media is one thing, but earlier this week a professional member of the traditional media broke the first commandment of reporting: Thou shalt not misreport a death. Jon Scott, a TV reporter from Spectrum Sports in Buffalo, reported earlier this week that former Tampa Bay Bucs wide receiver Mike Williams had died after sustaining serious injuries from a construction accident. It turns out Williams did sustain serious injuries and is on life support at a Tampa hospital, but he is still alive. In cases of life and death, all journalists should remember that there are some stories you just don’t need to be first on. …

I love watching UCF quarterback John Rhys Plumlee run with the football, but his throw-caution-to-the-wind running style is obviously making UCF coaches nervous. It seems Gus Malzahn is telling Plumlee the same thing about running the football as Georgia football coach Kirby Smart is telling his players about driving their cars: Quit being so reckless! … I’ll admit it, I cried when Jimmy Buffett died. … Did you see where Pac-12 teams went 12-0 last week — the first time every league team won its opener since 1932. Stanford and Cal celebrated the feat by each giving $2 million of their TV revenue to the ACC … My five biggest one-hit wonders: (5) Dexys Midnight Runners — “Come on Eileen.” (4) Norman Greenbaum — “Spirit In The Sky.” (3) The Knack — “My Sharona.” (2) Baha Men — “Who Let the Dogs Out?” (1) TCU in the College Football Playoff.…

Florida coach Billy Napier talked about his team’s sloppy execution as a reason they looked so dazed and confused against Utah, which reminds me of one of the funniest coaching retorts in the history of football. After one of the many losses amid the expansion Tampa Bay Bucs’ 26-game losing streak, coach John McKay was asked about his team’s execution. Deadpanned McKay: “I’m all for it.” … The father of USC quarterback Caleb Williams says there’s no guarantee his son will declare for the NFL Draft. Translation: “Arizona Cardinals, don’t even consider drafting my son!” … Headline from TheOnion.com: “FanDuel Promo Offers Complimentary $100 Bet To First-Time Gambling Hotline Callers.” … LSU coach Brian Kelly is now actually denying that he said his Tigers “would beat the heck out of Florida State” before last week’s game. There’s one problem with his denial: He said it on his radio show and there’s actual audio of it. Kelly’s denial hearkens back to the days of corrupt U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew, who once said: “That’s not a lie; it’s a terminological inexactitude.” …

Mikey likes: UCF over Boise State by 2, Miami over Texas A&M by 3 in Upset Special, Florida State over Southern Miss by 40, Florida over McNeese State by 50, Alabama over Texas by 14, Dolphins over Chargers by 4 in Upset Special II, Jaguars over Colts by 7, Vikings over Bucs by 9, YouTube TV over Spectrum by Monday Night Football, Any Georgia Bulldogs football player over Max Verstappen by 2 car lengths. …

Last word: “If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.” — Jimmy Buffett

Email me at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com. Hit me up on X (formerly Twitter) @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every weekday from 6 to 9:30 a.m. on FM 96.9, AM 740 and HD 101.1-2