Just a thought

[kougkurt]

so we don’t have the Oregon O hand gesture or the Miami U. But if you raise your right hand and make the ok sign it could serve a dual purpose.
The raised last three fingers could represent #3 and the WSU W.
I know it’s not as gangster as the UW W. But it could be ours.
Just a thought on still a very sad day.
And a sign that in the end everything will be ok.

 

[poose&claws]

so we don’t have the Oregon O hand gesture or the Miami U. But if you raise your right hand and make the ok sign it could serve a dual purpose.
The raised last three fingers could represent #3 and the WSU W.
I know it’s not as gangster as the UW W. But it could be ours.
Just a thought on still a very sad day.
And a sign that in the end everything will be ok.

 

[poose&claws]

Some loons in the population equate the okay sign as a signal for white supremacy.

 

[earldacoug]

A bunch of grown adults standing and forming The Oregon O, or toilette seat as I refer to it, is about the silliest gesture I have ever seen. It's just dumb. The greatest thing Isaiah Johnson Mack ever did was smash that dumb O over his knee in Autzen after he scored his TD. I hope to see more of that next season.

 

[Observer11]

This is all too fresh but I will admit to recoiling at the suggestion.

Suicide is a significant issue among our youth and we need to be very careful with gestures that somehow glamorize or honor the act. That comment will obviously be picked apart but, for me, I'm just not a place in my enlightenment where that is something I would even consider participating in.

Taking a genuine concern in others, listening, letting those going through rough times know that it's ok to not be ok means a lot more than any symbol or act at a football game.

 

[froropmkr72]

This is all too fresh but I will admit to recoiling at the suggestion.

Suicide is a significant issue among our youth and we need to be very careful with gestures that somehow glamorize or honor the act. That comment will obviously be picked apart but, for me, I'm just not a place in my enlightenment where that is something I would even consider participating in.

Taking a genuine concern in others, listening, letting those going through rough times know that it's ok to not be ok means a lot more than any symbol or act at a football game.

For many suffering from this amount of inner-turmoil, enlightenment may not come for years after feeling as though they need to do this- put a violent end to their lives. It's violent and it's scary. If they're lucky.....perhaps they can step outside of their own personal story just long enough not to actually do it. They'd probably be the first to stop others from doing if they knew about it. Like Tyler's teammate Grant Porter did. Beyond that...looking at yourself objectively long enough to seek help as you would for anyone else. Maybe find someone that needs your support as a human being is something that doesn't require a degree and something that a college professor could never bestow on you. Do that for 6 months and then a year, then two years, then 10 years. Then after years of being of true help to someone else...you might realize that you were capable of saving two lives...not just one (your own). Perhaps by the time your 40...you've demonstrated such reverence for life that thoughts of suicide are unthinkable. You've become your own hero and a psychiatric survivor. That term isn't glamorous, but it's much more glamorous than thoughts of a violent end to your life.

 

[Flatlandcoug]

I've seen more and more people expressing concern about glamorizing and glorifying Hilinski in death and whether too much attention on him specifically is a bad thing. I think what's most important is for people to take a look around them and see if they see someone that is potentially struggling and talk to them. It's important for those that are struggling to see events like the death of Hilinski and be honest with themselves and seek help. Creating some trademarked thing to highlight the situation related to one guy may not be the best thing to do. I don't know if it would encourage copy cats but some people have expressed concern that it might.

Last year, one of my son's high school classmates started talking about suicide about midway through their senior year. My son spoke to someone at the school and they reached out to the kid, gave him counseling and he didn't commit suicide. The friend took my son to a concert last fall to thank him for saying something to someone even though he didn't know what to say to his friend. There's obviously no easy solution and it's possible that creating something to remember Hilinski by will be a positive thing.

I'm going to assume that our team will have the #3 on their helmets or jerseys in the 2018 season though.