Tomorrow marks the 46th anniversary of what many consider the greatest tragedy in sports history. That was when 75 people perished in a plane crash that took the lives of Marshall University players, coaches, community members and flight crew when their flight crashed short of the runway at Tri-State Airport in Huntington.

While each year that passes moves us farther from the incident, for many, they feel as close as one can to the tragedy.

Tomorrow, the annual fountain ceremony will be conducted and the memorial fountain on campus will be turned off for the winter.

This past Saturday, the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team wore special helmet decals for the 1970 and 1971 teams along with the “75” on the back to remember those who lost their lives along with the “Young Thundering Herd” of the 1971 season.

Although the memorial ceremony remembers those who were lost, it also provides the community the ability to come together and know that together they arose from the ashes of that horrific night in November 1970.

Each player will tell you that it truly means something more than just playing football each Saturday.

While many other college football teams play for their university and fans, at Marshall they play for much more.

They will always play for the “75.”