Oh man.

[Balldog]

Bluffton athletic star dies in crash

I work with his uncle, who basically treated Ricky like his own son after his son was killed in an accident after his freshman year.

[hukarez]

Yao...

Condolences on my part. All I really could do right now.

[Balldog]

I guess from what I have heard he was considered one of the best QBs in Ohio and he was only a freshman, I only got to see him play once and he was unbelievable but from what I hear he was even a better person.

[Noop]

[HerRealName]

I had a chance to see him beat my old high school this season. He was a very good QB and I'm sure he was an even better person.

[HerRealName]

His sister is actually playing today for Ohio State and playing well. I can't imagine.

[GoSeahawks]

That's very sad. It looked like the kid was going places

[tucker342]

Very sad to hear

[JeeberD]

[Balldog]

Just a follow-up on Caity playing.

OHIO STATE WINS; CAITY MATTER PLAYS

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP)_ Caity Matter overcame personal
tragedy, and the Ohio State Buckeyes helped honor her late
brother's memory with a near-perfect basketball performance.
Matter had 23 points in a 72-53 upset of No. 17 Michigan State
on Sunday, less than 24 hours after her brother, Ricky, was killed
in a car accident in Bluffton, Ohio.
``The game didn't really matter,'' Matter said in a prepared
statement after 7-for-11 shooting, including 6-for-9 accuracy from
3-point range. ``I wanted to go out and win for Ricky. That is all
that matters right now. I want to thank my teammates, coaches,
family and friends for their 100-percent support. I fed off my
teammates and coaches during the game.''
Matter's inspirational play and her teammates' execution of the
high-low offense helped the Buckeyes (15-8, 7-5 Big Ten) grab a
13-0 lead and increase that margin to 24 points in the second half.
``My gut (reaction) going in was one of two things,'' Ohio State
coach Jim Foster said. ``Either we were going to play very bad or
very good. There was no middle ground. But Ricky was just a great
kid. He had a presence. He was what I call a light bulb.''
Jessica Davenport had 15 points and 11 rebounds in the low post,
while LaToya Turner had 15 points and nine rebounds from the high
post for the Buckeyes, who shot .643 from the field and had a 32-21
edge in rebounds.
``We knew we would find some gaps, and that's how you win
basketball games,'' Turner said. ``But we were playing with a lot
of emotion. Caity wanted us to play hard. That's something we'd
have done if Ricky had been here. Basically, we rode her.''
Kelli Roehrig had 11 points and Kristin Haynie added 10 for the
third-place Spartans (19-5, 9-4), who lost for just the second time
in their last 11 games.
``I can only speak for our team,'' Michigan State coach Joanne
P. McCallie said. ``It was a maturing experience for us. Obviously,
Ohio State has some great weapons. But we did not execute,
especially early.''
The Buckeyes boosted their NCAA-leading accuracy from the field
to .515 and drew closer to Michigan State, the Big Ten's leader in
scoring defense, when the Spartans missed their first seven shots.
By that time Ohio State had built a commanding lead on
back-to-back 3-pointers from Matter and seven quick points from
Turner and Davenport. The margin gradually grew from there, as
Michigan State was 9-for-27 from the field in the first half and
the Buckeyes were 27-42.
``We're a very good team. We're a very young team. And the
events of today were very difficult to handle,'' McCallie said.
``But we didn't play well. And I don't think we had any
leadership.''
The Buckeyes held Michigan State to .386 accuracy from the
field, had 19 assists to the Spartans' 12 and had a 7-1 edge in
blocked shots, reflecting the difference in passion.
``It was a tough environment to play in, with what happened,''
said Julie Pagel, Michigan State's lone senior to play.
``Regardless, we had a lack of intensity. I don't know if that
scared us or what. But we weren't ready.''
The outcome avenged a 55-47 victory by the Spartans on Jan. 15
in Columbus, Ohio, when Ohio State's 24-game home winning streak
ended.

[Ben E Lou]

Aw man. Just read this.

[Balldog]

I've never seen anything like this, just the amount of kids that looked up to Ricky and to think he was only 15. Nearly every kid in the Bluffton community idolized Ricky.

Several local TV stations have had tributes to Ricky on the news. Almost every house in Bluffton has either an OSU flag or Bluffton flag raised to honor him.

[digamma]

Very sorry to hear about this.

[Balldog]

A nice article about Ricky.

http://www.jjhuddle.com/stories/RickMatterTribute.htm