It's difficult to write about sports when tragedy surrounds you.
I remember struggling when 9 / 11 occurred.
And I'm struggling now, with West Virginians injured or dead from flooding.
My heart breaks, thinking of those swept away by swift-moving creek water.
There's the sight of the dirty brown water and chewed up roads ...
There's the thought of folks without power ...
There's the thought of the construction and work ahead ...
There's the thought of the healing ahead ...
I confess it made me look to the heavens. It's made me ask, "Hasn't this state been through enough, Lord?"
My plan for this column, you see, was to talk to WVU coach Bob Huggins about the National Association of Basketball Coaches' ad hoc committee on NCAA men's basketball tournament selection, seeding and bracketing.
Huggins is a member of the committee. And, hey, that's a nice topic for what I thought would be a slow summer day, right? Each year the selection committee stumps us with some wild pick, like Tulsa, which then gets thumped in the "First Four" round, or chooses a Syracuse, which then surprises us by going on to the Final Four.
And actually, Huggins and I did talk briefly about it. The ad hoc committee met this past week in New York and has and will via conference calls. The list of those involved is impressive, with coaches like Huggins, John Calipari, Mark Few and others.
"I think everyone has their thoughts," Huggins said. "The challenge is to take your coaching hat off, go in there and try to do what's best for everyone involved. And that's hard."
The Mountaineer coach said the group has representatives from high-major programs, like Kentucky, to low-major programs, like Georgia State. But the collection decided to keep quiet about feedback until presenting to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee in advance of its summer meeting.
"There are a lot of ideas," Huggins said.
Yet you could tell by the responses that Huggins wasn't into the discussion. He could probably tell my heart wasn't into the topic either.
What he, and many others, tweeted out on Friday was more front and center.
"Thoughts and prayers go out to the families affected by the flooding in the Southern part of our state," Huggins wrote on Twitter. "We're with you every step of the way."
"It's terrible," said the coach on the phone. "Absolutely terrible."
Indeed, from the deluge experienced in Greenbrier County - and the cancelation of our gem, the Greenbrier Classic PGA Tour event - to the situation at the Crossings Mall in Elkview and even up to Big Wheeling Creek, where an 8-year-old boy died, it was terrible.
It made me think. And it had to make Huggins remember. The sights he's seen since returning to the Mountain State aren't for the faint of heart.
"Without a question," he said. "I've seen a lot."
Indeed, Huggins showed up at the site of the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in Raleigh County back in 2010. He took water and supplies and tried to help lift the spirits of the desperate relatives.
"Afterward, we started 'Remember the Miners,' " said the coach. "We've given scholarships. Plus, we've raised awareness of how much those miners meant to this state."
Then, earlier this month, he took the Mountaineer team down to Boone County, which has been ravaged by the closing of multiple coal mines. He saw the poverty in Wharton. He saw the need for help. Truckloads of food and water, etc., were given out.
And now here we are, again. The immediate question is, what can those unaffected by the floods do for those affected?
"You give those people support," Huggins said. "You try to help in any way possible. I think the university is going to do some support, some food support."
Indeed, WVU football coach Dana Holgorsen tweeted out that a "truck will be located in the Milan Puskar Stadium parking lot" on Saturday to collect water and goods "to assist the people impacted by the flooding."
It was heart-warming to see. And many, I'm sure, will pitch in. Many will help. That's the spirit of our country. That's especially the spirit within West Virginia.
Let's just hope we can soon get past this state of emergency. Let's hope we can soon get back to simply being the beautiful, wild and wonderful Mountain State.
And let's just hope we'll now have a long, long, long break from any more tragedies.
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4927 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.