Following the lead of colleague Jeff Gilbert’s weekend preview…some things for you to know and think about between now and the end of the presidential campaign.
First, the best thing I heard this week came from a bank teller who said, “I appreciate what you guys do, because…the alternative is political ads.”
Truly, it’s hard to vote, or even listen, to anyone who’s willing to say anything, about anyone and expect you to suffer through that for weeks. It’s hard to take that person seriously when you know…whatever it takes to get me elected.
But second, following the Coldwater-St. Henry tournament volleyball match Wednesday, a reader from Allen County, wrote, ” You have to play the best teams at some point, so why not now? Sorry, but I don’t see the point.”
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and the Buckeyes for Press Pros Magazine.
Well the point is this. If you read the comments of St. Henry coach Tricia Rosenbeck and Coldwater coach Nikki Etzler they raise the issue of three of the state’s top six teams in Division VI all being in the same district bracket, knocking each other out at the very entry level of the tournament. And it’s one thing to play teams you’ve already played in league, but another to meet the best teams from other parts of the state…when you’re the #1, #2, and #6-ranked teams in the state!
That being…these local teams WANT the opportunity to play the state, rather than themselves in cannibalizing fashion. And other districts, like the Southwest, do have their top seeds more spread around. And yes, you do have to beat the best eventually, so why wait?
Well, the unreported sentiment among volleyball coaches is that lack of change in the Northwest District not only denies athletes more competitive opportunity…but opportunity to promote the sport and its best teams at a broader level. This is a big, big deal with promotional-minded coaches like New Bremen’s Diana Kramer, who contends daily that volleyball is the fastest growing sport in the America – faster than soccer. So, how to get the rest of the state more onboard?
Kramer’s not alone. Rosenbeck, Etzler, former Marion Local coach Amy Steininger, Fort Loramie’s John Rodgers, Russia’s Aaron Watkins, Lehman Catholic’s Carolyn Dammeyer, Jackson Center’s Kim Metz…and the list goes on…are equally promotional about the sport and the unique competitive opportunities it affords to female athletes. Unbeknownst to many, volleyball HAS become a year-long process of developing athletes, in the manner of football and basketball, and the career opportunities for playing at the next level and beyond are growing proportionately.
So understand, when Nikki Etzler says, “In the future do we hope that we collectively come together and rethink how they’re doing things? And will we push for change?” she and others are thinking as much big picture as they are about the district tournament. And win or lose, they’re all mutually supportive of each other in this argument. It’s simple perspective.
What remains…is anyone hearing the message?
Now relevant to the above issue is the person who wrote (without sharing a name) to say, “Why can’t you just write about who won, instead of the politics?”
To answer, because you can either stick your head in the sand and ignore an issue…or report the ‘politics’ as being as much of the game story as the score, itself.
It’s true that some might not care, but to the coaches and players involved, they’re obviously frustrated and want to get the message out.
It’s not the same world that we’ve grown accustomed to, and today’s journalism is as much about why it happened, as what happened, itself. Paul Harvey used to call it…the rest of the story.
And people loved him.
Dave Arbogast Ford, in Troy, is a proud sponsor of OHSAA and Ohio State sports on Press Pros Magazine.com.