The last 24 hours have felt like a nightmare for UVA head football coach Tony Elliott, as well as the entire football team and school, the coach said Tuesday during a news conference.
Trust me, from the approximately 150 gathered media in the John Paul Jones Arena media room, the feeling was mutual.
I’ve sat through countless postgame basketball press conferences in that very room, after great wins and disappointing losses, nothing compared to Tuesday.
The room, filled with media outlets from around the state and country, was understandably quiet. An occasional sniffle, low whispers among the camera folks, and quite a few teary eyes.
A camera man from CNN, Michael Parson, said he was overcome with emotion.
“Sometimes the events and the people just overtake my job. I don’t know most of the folks in here, but I sure feel the support and love they have for each other and the program,” said Parsons, who was also behind the camera after the school shooting in Uvalde earlier this year.
Emily Shapiro of ABC News arrived in Charlottesville Monday morning. Shapiro covers breaking news for ABC News Digital, according to her bio; unfortunately, she’s had these type assignments before.
“Sometimes these tragic events just hurt a bit deeper, harder to understand. The last couple of days have been tough,” said Shapiro.
Veteran reporters, photojournalists, local beat writers, all shared that small JPJ press room, and all suffered together, for some just a little more experienced with the raw emotions of it all.
Among those in the room was local sportswriter Jerry Ratcliffe, a veteran of over 40 years of covering Cavalier sports, Ratcliffe has been around for about every high and low in Virginia sports history. He has been as much of part of UVA Athletics as the players themselves. Ratcliffe said the last few days have been the most difficult of his career.
“In my entire career in Charlottesville, this has been the most heartbreaking event I’ve ever had to report on,” said Ratcliffe, who also reported on the 2010 murder of UVA women’s lacrosse player Yeardley Love. “That (the Love murder) was certainly a challenging time for everyone, but Sunday’s shooting, for me, is just on another level,” added Ratcliffe.
During his career covering Virginia sports, Ratcliffe has earned the reputation of presenting a fair and unbiased view of Cavalier teams from press row. He’s developed long lasting friendships with players and players’ parents.
Ratcliffe shared about having frequent contact with D’Sean Perry’s father, Sean Perry, regarding D’Sean’s development at UVA.
“He was so much involved in D’Sean’s career, he wanted my opinion on how he was doing, and what he needed to continue working on. It wasn’t that he was living vicarously through his son, it was simply that he loved him so much,” noted Ratcliffe.
In his first public event since the tragedy, Elliott arrived, sat down, and appeared to be looking into a faceless gathering. His voice lowered to a whisper as he recalled meeting with his team for the first time Monday morning.
I looked around and it was like the reporters were preparing themselves to hear Elliott’s account.
“My job is to lead in moments like this,” Elliott said. “I’ve had my moments where I’ve broken down, and I’ve even had those moments in front of the team. I think it’s important that we all grieve. These are outstanding young men, that we don’t understand why they’ve gone so early.”
That is the same question we are always left with in senseless and cowardly acts of gun violence. It is a question that even the seasoned journalists in the room has a tough time coping with.
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