General

Ohio State Honors Flight 3407 Crash Victims

Feb 15, 2010, 8:30 PM UTC

This might come off like an obscure jersey note that was extracted from a single link on UniWatch, but I wanted to draw attention to it because of the connection to someone I know.â†µ

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â†µâ†µOhio State wore the patches you see on Evan Turner during Sunday’s game against Illinois. The black-and-white patch reads “3407,” which references flight number 3407. That was the flight that crashed on Feb. 12, 2009, killing 50 people onboard and one on the ground. Among those 51 killed was Lorin Maurer, the girlfriend of Ohio State men’s basketball video coordinator Kevin Kuwik.â†µ

â†µâ†µKuwik and others who lost loved ones to the 3407 crash walked what should’ve been the final 10-plus miles of that flight on Friday morning. It’s the latest move to raise awareness about aviation safety concerns, which you can learn more about at 3407memorial.com. (Take a minute to read more.)â†µ

â†µâ†µKuwik returned from that walk and was asked by Ohio State coach Thad Matta to give Sunday’s pregame speech before the win against Illinois. It was no great surprise that dry eyes were hard to come by in the Buckeyes’ locker room. He has some experience at this.â†µ

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â†µI had the pleasure of covering Kuwik when I was a student at Ohio University and he was an assistant on the Bobcats' staff. He was known for his tireless work ethic, and that he has been spreading himself thin between lobbying in D.C. and doing his job with the Buckeyes shouldn't come as a shock to anyone who knows him.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Lackawanna, New York, native has been through quite a bit in his young coaching career. While at Ohio, just prior to the 2004-05 season, Kuwik was unexpectedly shipped off to Iraq thanks to what was, for lack of a better description, paperwork issues. And just as he rallied the Buckeyes on Sunday, he did the same thing with the Bobcats in 2005. He arrived at Ohio University hours prior to tip-off of an on-campus Mid-American Conference tournament game. The momentum of his two-week leave propelled Ohio to a MAC title before narrowly falling to Florida in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.â†µ

â†µâ†µBut getting back to the present, Kuwik continues his efforts along with the friends and families of the 3407 victims. The walk on Friday isn’t the end of it all, as he told the Buffalo News:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“If today was a 10 mile walk, and the last year was at least a thousand miles for us all, I do have to remind you the next month or two in Washington is going to feel like 10,000 miles,” said Kevin Kuwik, who was Lorin Maurer’s boyfriend and is now a frequent lobbying presence in Washington. “We can’t give up. We can’t let up. We need to keep pushing.”â†µâ†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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