Watching the sports report isn't supposed to make me cry.

I'm not big on college sports in general, but being the good Cal Bear that I am, I do root for Cal in NCAA football. So far, we're 2-0. And for good measure, Stanford is 0-1, but that's only because they had a bye the second week. ;)

We had occasion to be in San Diego the first weekend that the NCAA kicked off, so when we got back to our hotel room, we turned the TV on to get the scores. (Poor, poor Michigan.)

And then they talked about Virginia Tech. Their first game was a home game, the first public event since the horrible killing spree this past April that resulted in the death of 32 people. They talked about the moment of silence and other tributes before the game to the murdered victims. And I thought of the one person whose story touched me the most.

I may not remember his name, but I'll never forget Liviu Librescu. He was a 76-year-old professor at Virginia Tech at the time of the killings, and when the killer came to his classroom, he blocked the door so that his students could escape out the windows. As Holocaust Remembrance Day was being observed in Israel, this survivor of the Holocaust did not survive the madman who took so many lives that day, but instead, Librescu sacrificed his own life to save the lives of his students. His life isn't more precious or sacred than that of any of the others who died that day, and my heart breaks for the families and friends of all 32 victims and all those who survived who will spend the rest of their lives with their memories of that horrible day.

He wasn't just a victim. He was regarded by many as a hero. That label gets tossed around a lot, but it's one of those rare times when it fits. I know that he's in a special place with God. I hope that it somehow eases the pain his family must feel at having lost him.