Eight days ago, the wind gusting up to 30 miles an hour over Scrappy Moore Field, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga video assistant Andy Page decided he didn't want to climb into the 20-foot-high scissor lift he often uses to video football practice.
"I don't think I'm comfortable up there today," he told 24-year-old Alex Schnitzer, who heads the Mocs' video crew. "I think it's too windy."
Technically speaking, it was close. Twenty mph is considered safe. Thirty is regarded as the breaking point. Anything above that should unequivocally shut down the lifts.
Schnitzer wasn't taking any chances, however. If Page was nervous, that was that.
But he also wanted UTC coach Russ Huesman to understand the situation, since the Mocs were planning to practice regardless of the weather.
Told of Page's reluctance, Huesman immediately said, "If our guy doesn't feel good about it, then he's not going up there."
End of story. Just as it should have been - at least at UTC, where Schnitzer says, "We follow all the guidelines. Instructions are posted on every lift concerning when it's safe and when it isn't safe. We're not taking any chances."
But a day later, nearly 600 miles northwest of our town, Notre Dame junior Declan Sullivan wasn't nearly as fortunate as Page. While videoing a Fighting Irish practice on a day when the winds exceeded 50 mph, the 20-year-old Sullivan fell to his death when the 50-foot-high lift he was standing on was blown over.
The reasons why Sullivan was allowed on a much taller lift in much higher winds remain unclear. If someone ordered him up there, no one at Notre Dame is yet to accept responsibility. If he ignored advice to stay on the ground, that information hasn't been released, either.
But two tweets Sullivan posted before he died certainly sound as if someone should have stopped his actions before they began.
Tweeted the lifelong Notre Dame fan at 3:22 p.m. EDT: "Gusts of wind up to 60 mph. Well, today will be fun at work. I guess I've lived long enough."
A little more than 40 minutes later, and less than 50 minutes before the tower would collapse at approximately 4:50 p.m. Sullivan posted, "Holy (blank), Holy (blank). ... This is terrifying."
Yet for nearly 45 minutes after that post, no one at Notre Dame apparently did a thing to order the Chicago native off the tower.
Never mind that similar weather a day earlier - the same day Page felt uncomfortable battling 30-mph gusts in the Scenic City - caused Irish coach Brian Kelly to practice indoors. Or that one student later blogged about struggling to walk to class in that northern Indiana wind tunnel.
Through it all, Sullivan stood 50 feet above the Fighting Irish practice field on a hydraulic scissor lift fighting 51-mph winds with gusts of 60 mph.
"I was shocked when I first heard about it," UTC's Schnitzer said. "When I found out the winds were at least 50 miles per hour, I was dumbfounded that he was even allowed up there."
According to Forbes, Notre Dame may become dumbfounded by the financial cost of this stupidity. The financial magazine estimated on its website Tuesday that Notre Dame easily could pay more than $30 million in damages to the Sullivan family.
But that won't bring Sullivan back to life.
Said Coach Kelly of the tragedy: "Declan had a tremendous personality and a great sense of humor. He brightened the days for all that had the privilege to work with him, and the Notre Dame family will dearly miss him."
Huesman said it would be easy for a coach to overlook the risks that took Sullivan's life.
"If Alex hadn't brought it to my attention," he said, "that probably would have never crossed my mind. You're out there worrying about missed tackles and missed assignments and that day's practice schedule. Until Alex came up, I'm not even sure I knew the wind was blowing. That's the scary part."
No, the scary part is that little ol' UTC, despite its meager budget and overworked staff, knew more about the safety issues involved with scissor lifts than the mighty money monster Notre Dame.
At least the Irish should hope this senseless tragedy was born of ignorance rather than negligence.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6273.