VT athletes to wear commemorative patch

[mjrbaseball]

From the Virginia Tech website:

Student-Athletes to wear commemorative patch

Hokies will honor fellow classmates and professors

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Starting tonight with the Virginia Tech baseball game, all Hokie athletic teams will wear a commemorative patch on their uniforms for the remainder of the year.

The patch consists of the Virginia Tech logo inlaid over a black oval. Across the logo is a banner that reads "Remembers", along with the date 4.16.07.

The opening pitch of the baseball game is set for 7 p.m.

[BallWonk]

Well, kudos to the ballplayers if they're able to bear down and try to play a game tonight. I don't think I'd have the fortitude.

For something thrown together with such little notice -- designed, vetted, and produced in less than four days! -- it's nicely done. I don't think the date is necessary, though: If VT remembers, then VT doesn't need to clutter the patch with numbers. Actually, I think a maroon or orange banner with a black script "Remember" or "Hokies Remember", with some kind of outline or shadow in the opposing VT color, would have been even stronger. With this sort of thing, simpler is better.

But there's no arguing with the quality of this patch given the incredibly fast turnaround (to say nothing of the unimaginable emotional stress all involved must be dealing with while they put this together). My compliments to all at VT involved in making this patch happen in time for athletics to resume tonight.

[Phil]

If they wanted to make this truly poignant, I'd put each individual victim's initals around the outside edge. It'd have to be small, but it'd emphasize the true gravity of the situation and I believe would prove a fitting tribute to the ones that have been lost.