Bob CollinsI’m not a big fan of all of the prep sports coverage in the Twin Cities media, but the last two “I wish I had that story” stories have been from that genre.
The most recent is today’s compelling story from the Star Tribune’s Michael Rand about cross-country skier Libby Ellis, who is ranked #2 in the state but hadn’t competed in enough races to quality for the state races, because she’s been competing overseas.
And so her competition — South High — “threw together a last-minute competition in the subzero darkness at 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday that allowed a jet-lagged Ellis to compete — and win — the Section 6 individual title on Wednesday.”
It’s the one thing that has saved prep sports from massive funding cuts: The assertion that sports still has the capacity to teach something to kids.
As usual, the greatest show in town is the comments attached to newspaper stories on Web sites. In this case, there was the expected appreciation that sportsmanship is still alive.
And then there was this:
Yes, I agree it was fantastic for the South coach to arrange this impromptu meet, but I don’t get why they would bend-over-backwards for an egotistical person like this. Who are these “coaches” anyways? Before jet-setting across the globe to compete in international races, it might be a good idea to make sure you have your ducks in a row at home (i.e. keep track of races participated)! Before they edited the story, they reported that she had missed all but 2 races due to illness and international travel. It’s unfortunate that a lesson couldn’t have been taught here… instead she gets bailed-out and will probably expect others to go to extremes to cater to her needs in the future.
The reaction to what is a sweet story of sportsmanship raises the question: Is it possible to agree on anything in the age of the Internet?
