Go West Side! Essay, Research Paper

Go West Side

Friends, faculty, and acquaintances, on this day, I ask you this. Is it wrong for a student to cheer against his or her own high school sports team? Before such an easy answer rolls to the forefront of your mind, let me ask you another question. Can a person be pushed beyond the limit of his toleration capacity to cheer for a team that is not exclusive to represent his school, but still promoted to be? Speaking as a former and potential future football player and as a great friend of many of the football players at North Marion, I can undoubtedly say that the answer to the latter question is yes. My words are not spoken alone. Many of my peers feel the same about this issue. North Marion High School is not based on education. North Marion High School is not based on equality. North Marion High School is not based on faculty or students. North Marion High School is centered around the “god-like”, almighty, manly competition most of us have come to know as football.

There are over 20 athletic teams, not including the Husky Marching Band. Out of these, I can think of only one that is praised and gratified to the point of my sickness. One of the biggest events on the school calendar is Homecoming. There is no Homecoming for basketball, cheerleading, or track. Then why do we have such a special week in honor of football? What makes football any more worthy or different than cross-country, swimming, or softball? Recently, it seems as though our celebration of Homecoming is marked by how badly Morgantown High annihilates us, 50, 60, 70? The numbers are never too high. Another example of the on going celebration of football is thuses. These energy-sparking gatherings are supposedly meant to celebrate team spirit and encouragement in all sports. Has anyone noticed when the majority of these events are held? I have. They are held before “big” football games: West Fairmont, East Fairmont, and Morgantown. Can we hold three thuses with in a month? I have nothing against thuses, but isn’t there a rule to allow only one thuse per month? But hey, I forgot, we’re talking about the superstars, I mean the football players. This rule can be bent a little, maybe even broken for them. They need extra encouragement.

Despite the outcome of any single game, or should I say any single loss, our school as a whole either chooses to or is forced to fall to our knees and throw kudos at this undeserving and over appreciated “ghost team”. The reason I use the term “ghost team” is that our school seems to live in the past when it comes to this dying sport of football. North Marion is labeled around the state as “a football school”. As far as I’m concerned, if we are to be labeled as “a football school”, then shouldn’t we have at the least a decent football team? The players are not at fault. They are few in number and for good reason. I personally blame the coaching staff to be responsible for the decline and absence of numbers coming out and/or returning for football. I have dealt with these coaches first hand. They are heartless, cruel, unfair, and bias. When your last name becomes more important than the skills you possess and what you can do for the team, that is when you lose respect, and not far behind, participants. The only problem is that instead of admonishing them for this behavior, we pat them on the back.

So who would blame a person for cheering against his or her own high school sports team? When events occur, and buttons are pushed, the hearts and minds of certain individuals can only be tarnished to a certain point of dullness before dissatisfaction bares its teeth and someone from the North Marion section of the crowd begins to yell, “Go West Side!”