Gaming

One of the reasons Goliath lost (aside from the fact that he was messing with the Lord's anointed) is that he committed the classic blunder of, to paraphrase Jimmy Malone, of bringing a handheld edged weapon to a projectile weapon fight. Had David been forced to fight using a sword or had Goliath thrown his spear, things might have been different.

And so it was when one of the local high schools faced down one of the basketball powers in the finals of the state tournament this afternoon. The locals moved up to a larger class, a level which they reach by a half-student in average attendance. They faced a talented team that had lost only to other top-level teams from out of state or larger in class. And although the game was much closer than one might have thought (Goliath may have done some underestimatin'), the outcome was pretty much what had been expected. David had one outstanding player with some talented teammates and Goliath had two or three outstanding players.

Some thoughts occur:

1. At least the man in the row ahead of me did not take a bite out of the piece of pizza he held over his heart during the national anthem.

2. As always, there were plenty of people in the stands who would have played the game much better than the athletes did. Particularly the two gentlemen behind me, whose critical opinions of the local play were of such importance that they raised their voices during the fourth-quarter-opening cheering session to be heard over the attempts to rally the local five. A quick glance confirmed what I had thought -- whatever athletic abilities these gentlemen may or may not have possessed in high school, the only kind of dribbling their current appearance brings to mind involves sauces, napkins and chins.

3. The sad thing about this evening's game shows up when you draw a comparison between the two high schools in areas surrounding a school's primary mission, the education of children. The winning school lags behind much of the state in graduation rates, standardized test scores, number of students attending college, teen pregnancy rates and so on. While it's good to see your efforts pay off with a championship win or to celebrate that win with your friends and classmates, it's not so great if it represents the high-water mark of your life. People who live into their 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond shouldn't peak at 17. Trophies gather dust. Titles fade out of memory. And eventually the question, "Remember when?" brings the answer, "No."

If all we as a society can give students is a school system that offers them great memories instead of great memories plus a great future, we haven't done them much good at all.