The 8th grade boy's basketball team is playing tonight for the state championship.

[davsand]

On one hand I am happy for those boys and what they have accomplished. We are a rural school with maybe 150 kids total in the entire K-8 district. This is a big deal.

On the other hand I have always felt the district worried a whole lot more about the basketball team than they ever have worried about the band or any of the non-sport programs. In a quiet sort of way, I am not thrilled to see anything feed the adult obsession with sports--possibly at the expense of other programs.

[JVS]

1. Tell them to run up the score!

[sasquatch]

2. If the community really likes the basketball team I can't fault them for it

Hey having that small amount of kids and being able to form a State Championship caliber basketball team out of it is outstanding in my opinion.

[davsand]

5. I commend the coach and the kids--absolutely.

This represents a lot of hard work by the kids and the coach. They have every right to be proud. My biggest disappointment, however, is that I have never observed a similar passion for the music department, the scholastic bowl team or any other program EXCEPT boy's basketball.

Seems kinda sad to me because not every kid in that school is a boy and not every kid WANTS to play basketball. My daughter played volleyball and she plays club Softball every the summer. The Girl's Volleyball team had uniforms that were ten years old compared to the boy's team that gets new uniforms every couple of years.

When the band wants to go to contest we parents and kids have to fund raise to even pay for the bus to get there or else we drive the kids there in our own cars. Tonight they are taking a player's bus and two fan busses that the district is paying for...

Do you see an inequity there? Am I just being cranky?

:shrug:


Laura

[sasquatch]

6. Have you ever taken Sociology, it's obvious the community prefers basketball

[davsand]

7. I guess my priorities are skewed.

I pretty much felt the same way about college sports as well. I went to a Big Ten college that cared a WHOLE lot more about the football and basketball team than it did about the Sociology, English, or History Departments combined.

Maybe if they'd given a shit about the academics you wouldn't have needed to ask me if I ever took Soc.

Just sayin...

:shrug:


Given the lack of interest this thread has stirred I probably AM in a minority.

Regards!



Laura

[sasquatch]

3. What state is this?

[davsand]

4. Illinois. We are broken out by division here.

They beat Joliet Laraway last weekend to advance to this round.


Laura