from the 12.18.07 print edition of the herald-gazette...
I put in a call to my friend Randy Wind Saturday morning because I was jealous.
Randy and his wife, Mesha, publish The Cairo Messenger in Cairo, Ga. and their high school was hosting a state football championship game that afternoon.
Randy was driving by the stadium there when he returned my call.
“It looks like a Georgia game. There are people out there tailgating and cooking out. They are expecting some 10,000 people to be crammed into the stadium at kickoff time,” he reported.
As an added PR bonus for Cairo and Cairo High School, the Syrupmakers’ clash with Carver High of Columbus was being telecast regionally by CSS.
I asked Randy what impact the success of the Syrupmakers had had on the community during their drive to the championship game. He reported the team had pulled the entire community together and that virtually every business in town would be closed at kickoff time.
“Folks that hate each other have put aside their hate to back the Makers,” Randy said.
Imagine that for a moment. Imagine everybody here putting aside their differences to support a potential state championship football team.
Sadly, we’ve never done it - never been to the big game - and I wonder why?
Has adequate coaching just not been in place? Certainly, the right man wearing the headset is important but is it the most important factor?
Do we have fewer athletes? Buford, a perennial powerhouse, killed Lovett to take the Class AA title. Our high school plays in Class AA. Are the athletes available to those schools bigger, faster, smarter, more highly skilled or highly motivated than ours?
Are the feeder programs at the middle school and recreation department levels here attracting and developing talent in the quantity and quality required to win big at the high school level?
There are some who contend soccer takes away athletes who would otherwise star on the gridiron. Should recreation programs limit boys’ soccer to the spring in order to fill out the rosters of the football squads in the fall?
It seems to me the schools that have top notch football programs also excel at other sports. Have our high school athletes gotten too far into specialization rather than longing for letters in multiple sports for their letter jackets as used to be the case?
Have we as a community been supportive enough of our football program? Have we gone far enough in communicating to school administrators and coaching staffs the message that we want to win and win at the highest level and are willing to do our part to bring that dream to fruition?
Unless the Georgia High School Association changes its rules, we have lost the opportunity to host a state title football game. Henceforth, all championships will be played in the Georgia Dome.
I have issues with that but will save them for another column.
I have been walking the sidelines of high school stadiums throughout middle and west Georgia with my camera for nearly 30 years.
Before I die, I would like to see our hometown team hit the big time.
What do we, as a community, need to do to make that happen?
Your feedback is always welcome at news@barnesville.com.
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7 comments:
I believe we need to see it in the kids first. The desire over tha past few years has not been there. Coaching is a major part, get a coach, pay some money, and get some spirit. And for you "It's only football, we should pump more money into academics" groaners, USA Today recently did an article on Valdosta high school football. It generates enough money to support ALL sports. Therefore there is more money to give to teachers and academics. WHAT A CONCEPT!!
Hire a superior coach, let him set up his system, and you can win high school football games.
The fact that Valdosta football makes enough money to support all sports means that there is more money for sports not a penny more for academics, but that aside the reason that Lamar County cannot compete and will not in the near future is that for over 30 years, the leaders of this community have not supported this school system. How many of them, including the publisher of the Herald Gazette, sent or send their kids to private school? As long as the town's movers ans shakers do not invest their most valuable resource in the county schools, namely their children, there will be no success.
Another pansy ass whining about private schools.....Why would you send your kid to a school where a vast majority of the students have no desire to learn. The school has a rotating door for teachers b/c they are not allowed to control the kids anymore. If a kid gets yelled at in class the teachers get repremanded. There is no respect for elders and no fear of what could happen if Mom or Dad finds out about what a little ASS I have been today. Get over yourself and all this crap. The county is so divided as it is there is no wonder there are so many issues....Hell the town is still mostly segregated still by railroad tracks......atleast on the football field the coaches taught discipline,integrity,honesty, & showing how hardwork can payoff for yourself....now that doesn't even come through...players are throwing balls at coaches heads and doing whatever the hell they want......There a bunch of wanna be thugs than need a good swift kick in the ass every now and then and a few simple minded people like you dogboy who need to stop blaming everyone else for what went wrong and look at yourself for once.
I am not whining or making any judgement either moral or ethical about people who decide to send their children to private school. I am just pointing out what has been shown to be true. The fact that your reaction is so emtional and ad hominem speaks for itself.
"What do we, as a community, need to do to make that happen?"
We could start by providing some community support. There is no Trojan prided, in the school or the community. Need some people who will be true fans, not fair weather fans.
The fact that Valdosta football makes enough money to support all sports means that there is more money for sports not a penny more for academics
You never been to Valdosta have you!?
Talk to people at Lowndes, Valdosta or any other place that invests in their schools and you will see, the sports pay for MORE than athletics!!
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