You just never know

On an October evening in 1964 I drove to Barberton, the city adjoining Akron's south side, to watch the Cuyahoga Falls High School Tigers play the Barberton Magics. The Tigers were having a down year but that was just one of the reasons they stood little chance of winning. The big one was Ken Sennett, Barberton's All-District quarterback. The Magics had never lost a game with him in the starting lineup.
He was in good form that night 45 years ago so no one was surprised when Falls lost 22-0. With that out of the way, Barberton players and fans eagerly awaited the following Friday night's game with a powerful Alliance team. It would have been difficult to find a resident of the Magic City who wasn't confident the hometown boys would win.
The following Thursday, Ken Sennett laid his head down on a classroom desk and died. The entire area was stunned. How could it happen? An autopsy revealed it had nothing to do with football. Sennett had a rare heart defect that would not show up on tests.
The following night Barberton lost to Alliance. The winning streak was over for the Magics. Ken Sennett's remains perfect to this day, of course.

***

You just never know. People make plans, go to great lengths to do everything right and then suddenly without warning. . .
At the time of Ken Sennett's death a fellow named Bo Rein from nearby Niles was the star of the Ohio State team. He became a college coach and had just taken the job at Louisiana State when he boarded a private plane one night. It was to land at Baton Rouge but it just kept going and going until it finally ran out of gas 100 miles out over the Atlantic.

You just never know, but life goes on. In two weeks the Cuyahoga Falls Tigers go down to Barberton to play the Magics.

http://www.dickstodghill.com/