Kent State

For those who wonder how long it will take America to fully recover from the bombing at Oklahoma City 15 days ago, perhaps some lessons can be taken from 25 years ago this day at Kent State.In myriad ways, America has long recovered from the killing of four students on the commons of that northeast Ohio university. Black-and-white pictures from that student showdown with the gas-masked National Guard now seem as distant as daguerreotypes from the Civil War. The nation now has a president who took part in anti-Vietnam war demonstrations.

Theodore A. Heun, a retired Baltimore County high school history teacher who was a witness to the shootings of students at Kent State University in 1970, died June 5 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, at his Ellicott City home. He was 69. Mr. Heun, the son of German immigrants, was born in Baltimore and raised in Oliver Beach. After graduating from Kenwood High School in 1959, he earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1963 from what is now Towson University.

A Navy secondary that has been completely revamped gets an immediate test today at home against a team that fills the air with footballs. With cornerback Jeremy McGown out with a broken arm, Navy's starting secondary from a year ago has been overhauled. And up next today is Kent State, which usually struggles early and then is forced to open its passing game. The Golden Flashes haven't scored in the first half since Sept. 10, but they average 288.2 passing yards per game. Quarterback Michael Machen, who at 6 feet 6 "is bigger than anybody we have," said Navy coach Paul Johnson, will play after missing the last game with a strained left knee.

Maryland senior Hudson Taylor lost a 1-0 semifinal decision to second-seeded Craig Brester of Nebraska in the final minute Friday night at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in Omaha, Neb. Taylor had already clinched All-America status and is the Terps' first three-time All-American. Taylor would finish third at the NCAAs for the third straight years by winning both of his matches today. He faces Wisconsin's Trevor Brandvold in his first match this morning. Maryland's Steven Bell won his first match of the evening session and also clinched All-America status, while Josh Asper fell short.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kent State's crusade for acceptance beyond the Mid-American Conference soared to a new level last night when the Golden Flashes bounced third-seeded Pittsburgh, 78-73, in overtime of a South Regional semifinal at Rupp Arena. The victory propelled the 10th-seeded Flashes into tomorrow's South final against Indiana, a team they beat a year ago when they started their run to NCAA tournament prominence. Last night, Kent State (30-5), winning its 21st consecutive game, became the first MAC team to reach the Elite Eight and the first to win 30 games.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Two nights after Indiana pounded the ball inside to take out the NCAA's defending champion, the versatile Hoosiers banished Cinderella with a hail of three-point shots. Indiana hit a staggering 15 of 19 shots from beyond the arc to beat Kent State, 81-69, in the South Regional final at sold-out Rupp Arena last night and earn the school's eighth trip to the Final Four. "If we'd have had 10 people out there, I don't think we could've stopped them tonight," said an exasperated Andrew Mitchell of Kent State.

Navy is striving to avoid the possibility of getting lax this week after a last-second victory over service academy rival Air Force that was one of the most emotionally satisfying, and draining, in the football program's long history. A 1-4 Kent State team that has defeated only winless Southeast Missouri State comes to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday bent on beating the Midshipmen for the first time, and the Navy coaching staff is issuing constant reminders that this is no time for a letdown.

SAN DIEGO -- By the time Friday's news conference was over, the Cincinnati men's basketball team had had enough of the chiding over its past failures in the NCAA tournament. Four times the Bearcats had earned top-three seeds in the NCAAs, and four times they had been upset in the second round. This wouldn't happen against Kent State. Forward Jamaal Davis hit eight of nine shots for 16 points to go with 10 rebounds as No. 5 seed Cincinnati (25-9) cruised into next week's West Regional semifinals in Anaheim, Calif.

If at-large teams from mid-major conferences thought they were overlooked in recent years by the NCAA tournament selection committee, they might feel totally ignored when bids are announced next month. Those who seemed invitation-worthy a month ago have put themselves in precarious positions. Take Kent State, a Cinderella team in last season's tournament that reached the Elite Eight before losing to Indiana. The Golden Flashes started this season 17-2 despite losing four of their top five scorers and coach Stan Heath to Arkansas, and were as high as 27th in the Rating Percentage Index (RPI)

LEXINGTON, Ky. -They issued no apologies, sought no concessions and did not act like intruders. Kent State's Golden Flashes may be mid-major orphans playing out of the Mid-American Conference. They may even be playing over their heads here in the South Regional. But testimonials yesterday by friend and foe alike struck a common chord: Kent State belongs in the round of 16 with the likes of Duke, Indiana and Pittsburgh. Most prominent was a ringing endorsement from Mike Krzyzewski, who coaches Duke's defending national champions.

Daniel Muir looked out at the field this week where crews were painting " Colts" and "Saints" in the end zone. He surveyed the mob scene of Media Day, cameras and microphones swarming around him and his Indianapolis teammates at Sun Life Stadium. "I'm like a sponge soaking all this in," he said. "You dream about the Super Bowl. To know your hard work and prayers can take you wherever you want to go, it's awesome, man." Muir is a 315-pound sponge, which is fortunate. There is a lot to take in when he reflects on the unlikely trip from Riverdale's Parkdale High in Prince George's County to starting at defensive tackle Sunday in the Super Bowl.

GREY FERRIS, 62 Mississippi lawmaker Grey Ferris, a two-term Mississippi state senator who devoted his energy to improving the state's public schools and strengthening race relations, died of cancer Friday, said his wife, Jann Ferris. Mr. Ferris, a Democrat, served in the Mississippi Senate from 1992 to 2000. He ran for lieutenant governor in 1999, losing in the Democratic primary. As chairman of the state Senate Education Committee, he worked to reform education in rural and underfunded areas of the state.

Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt said she feels really good about Candace Parker's chances of playing against Louisiana State in a Final Four matchup this weekend. Still, Summitt is taking few chances of further injuring her two-time All-American or wearing out any of her other players before then. The Lady Vols were off yesterday and planned only a light practice for today before traveling to Tampa, Fla. Parker dislocated her left shoulder in Tennessee's 53-45 win over Texas A&M in the Oklahoma City Regional final Tuesday night.

(Editor's note: Four students were shot and killed at Kent State University on May 4, 1970) As reported May 12, 1970, in The Sun: Howard County police arrested 21 students from Atholton High School yesterday after a group of students refused to give up their attempt to lower the school's American flag to half-staff. The arrests which were made at the request of the county's school superintendent, Dr. M. Thomas Goedeke, came after a lunch-hour protest against the war in Southeast Asia, according to school officials.

RICHARD C. WOLFE, of Baltimore, died April 27, 2006 of heart failure at age 63. He was a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and received an MA in English Literature from Kent State University. Early in his career he was an instructor of English at Towson State University. At the time of his death, he was employed by the Yellow Cab Company. He leaves a daughter, Pamela Goodrum, in California, a son, Erik Wolfe, in Georgia, and a brother, Paul Wolfe, in New Hampshire. No funeral service is planned.

Fate has dealt Jeremy McGown's trip home a knockout punch. It was all going to be so heartwarming, family and friends from Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma converging on Houston on Sept. 24 for the third time in his Navy career when the Midshipmen took on Rice. Then, Hurricane Rita intervened, the game was postponed for nearly a month and the reunion would have to wait. Still, it would eventually happen. Now, it won't happen at all. On the Saturday after the postponement, McGown fractured his left arm in a freak injury at Duke when teammate Irv Spencer "swung around and hit me with a leg whip from behind when I went to break up a screen," said McGown, who has missed the past two games and is not expected back for two more.

How good is Kent State? Consider that the Golden Flashes are in the Elite Eight despite a horrid shooting slump by one of their best players. To beat Indiana tonight in the South Regional final in Lexington, Ky., Kent State almost certainly will need better shooting from fifth-year senior Andrew Mitchell, who has made only nine of 37 shots (24.3 percent) in three NCAA tournament games. Mitchell, 0-for-14 from the arc, has watched his Mid-American Conference scoring average of 16.4 drop to 11.0 in the tournament.

Coach Paul Johnson sat down in Navy's film room yesterday and watched what to him bordered on a horror show. His players showed little inspiration. There was lackadaisical execution. Blown assignments. Mistakes, both mental and physical. Four turnovers. Kickoffs out of bounds. Bad snaps. Poor blocking. There was plenty of criticism to go around. And this was after the Midshipmen had outlasted Kent State Saturday, 34-31, for their third straight victory, amassed a season-best 532 offensive yards and controlled the ball for 35 of the 60 minutes.