Crazies, Red Shield unify in memory of fallen Wildcat
High school sports are all about the lessons that come from them.
Less than a month ago, Omaha Westside’s Red Shield and Millard West’s Wildcat Crazies were duking it out on Twitter for 2018 Omaha High School Sports Student Section State Championship. The two sections will now unite in memory of Blake McKune, a Millard West wrestler and rugby player who unexpectedly passed away on Sunday. They’ll both line Westside’s Phelps Field in blue on Friday night.
The Crazies tweet out game themes every week for West. This week’s "unified blue out" tweet blew up, receiving more attention than ever.
“In an effort to show solidarity between the Crazy student section and the Westside Red Shield and to honor one of our own … the theme for both teams will be BLUE on Friday,” the tweet said.
The Red Shield’s Twitter quickly followed suit.
Each playoff game comes with the challenge of figuring additional themes. Red Shield leader Cedric Homan said that since it’s never easy to lose a friend, they wanted to do something meaningful to express their support for the Wildcat community.
“We wanted to show empathy and support for a school going through a tough time,” Homan said. “It’s a good way to bring the community together and show that it’s about more than a game.”
Phelps Field will be decked out in blue on Friday, November 2 when fifth-seed Millard West visits fourth-seed Omaha Westside at 7 p.m. in the Class A quarterfinals.
