I love watching football. And, I support all of Minster's sports teams. It is what we should do in a small town. I clearly remember back in March of '05 when the Boys BB team made it to the final four and the great turnout we had in Columbus, and then the awesome crowds last year for the Girls BB team making it to the final four. This town really supports it's sports teams. In my last post I even showed a picture of the Minster crowd at the State CC meet last week....but...
I'm pissed....I know, I haven't had this kind of an attitude since the inception of my blog, but I am mad and really disappointed. I finally got around to reading the Community Post yesterday afternoon. The girls Cross Country Team that is now tied for the winningest Cross Country team in the State of Ohio from all divisions and already are: Thee Winningest girls team, and the team that just won for the third year in a row, with 9 overall State Titles, 7 of them under Coach Jessie Magoto, had some coverage on page 6B!!! Yes, the second to last page! Of course, football is important and volleyball is important...they are all important, but I am so disappointed that our local newspaper thinks we are next to last page important after winning a STATE TITLE!!
This shouldn't get old, and it shouldn't be overlooked or underestimated just because it is the standard for a group of a dozen or so girls on a yearly basis to strive for the highest honor that can be bestowed on them. This is a different group of girls each year. It is a new team and a new challenge every year. They rise to that challenge and should be commended for doing so.
I am so disappointed in the dilution of that tremendous honor. We have a lot to be proud of in our small town. A great school system, a wonderful safe community, a great Oktoberfest and a tradition of girl's running that is unparalled in the State. This is not everyday stuff here. According to the Community Post, it is "same old, same old" by the placement and coverage that was extended to this honor. Personally, it was also tragic that our 4rth place State golf placer just now received his coverage some 4 weeks late. Cmon, let's be fair to all sports teams and make them equal.
We are special here. We have a tradition that many people take for granted. I lived in Toledo for 20 years, and if anyone would ask me where I was from, people immediately knew Minster and associate Minster with girls' running. They would say, Wow! both Cross Country and Track championships! What makes it work for you? It is what we do well. And we should be proud of it. It shouldn't be second thought or 2nd to last page!!!
These girls definitely do not run to get their names in the paper or on a banner on the outside of town. They run because they love their sport and they love the tradition that they stand for. Period. Early in the season when they were experiencing a rough patch, one of the seniors talked in a team meeting after a loss, and made an analogy how each of them had to do their part, make their contribution to the "pot". The pot being Minster's rich running tradition of excellence. They have a standard to uphold and a tradition to follow. Hence came the quote, "Put it in the Pot."
I really need to vent. If you don't like what I am saying, you don't need to read, but I'm hoping some of you agree with me. I am so excited for the football team. They are on a roll and so deserve to get the accolades they are receiving right now. Congratulations and Good Luck, Football and Coach Moore!
But, I've got one question. IF they were to win a state title, would their coverage be on Page Six B?
6 comments:
I completely understand your frustration and you are totally right! These CC athletes have done a tremendous job and should have had first page placement without a doubt in the local paper on their state CC win! With that said, I want to help you understand why football is "rating" better coverage. Cross Country is not a fan friendly sport. For the elderly or young there isn't typically bleachers for them to sit in and they don't see much of the race. The varsity race lasts 20-25 minutes and if you are able to follow the athletes around the course, you may see them run 3 or 4 times for 15 seconds. Most of the meets are 1 1/2 to 2 hours away making it uneconomical for many. On the other hand if they pay $5 or now $7 during playoffs to go to a football game - they get to watch 2 1/2 - 3 hours of entertainment. I've been to many cross country meets and I really enjoyed them when my child ran but would be the first to admit they aren't fan friendly. At the state meet, the pinnacle of all of the races, you pay $10 to sit in the bleachers and see a clump of runners take off then wait and wait and then it is difficult to see which are your athletes that are coming in. Granted, they are getting a little better at their technology, but in the past the race would be over and you wouldn't have a clue who won. I'm not trying to take away from the accomplishments of the athletes because I am from Minster and am very proud of the CC domination here and I appreciate the commitment, dedication and devotion of the athletes... but I also understand why football is king. People don't understand the scoring of CC because you don't just see a race on t.v. on Sunday - they understand football - you can watch that almost 7 days a week. With all that said, there is room for both sports in this town... Great job CC Athletes and great job Minster Football team! Maybe a letter to the editor would make you feel better!
Anonymous: I agree with everything you said. I do understand why football receives better ratings. We drive sometimes 2 and a half hours to watch a twenty minute race and I haven't missed a meet in 8 years.
But, Cross Country also gets zero coverage throughout their regular season. Last year (2009) the football team went 1-9 and received 10 pages roughly (?) of coverage. Minster girls CC were ranked first in the state the entire season and received zero. Maybe because the CC meets are not spectator friendly, and people do not get to travel to the meets, Minster residents would appreciate to hear how these girls (and boys) are doing throughout the season!
I can accept that the more popular sports get coverage for every game. It is what it is, and we have learned to accept that. I think we already "pay" for the unpopularity of CC as a whole all through the season.
But, when a State Championship is earned, it should come on that first page of the Sports section ahead of everything, no questions asked.
I have already forwarded this blog to the Editor of the The community Post as I, and others have complained and wrote letters to them about their lack of CC coverage without receiving a response from them for many years.
Hello everyone, I just thought as a former athlete, both for Minster and Toledo, I thought I'd give my input on this issue.
I'd first like to say that as both an individual and part of the team, we understood that that no one really likes to watch cross country on a regular basis. And honestly, if I didn't run, I probably wouldn't care for it much either.... In high school we never expected people to show up to our meets. Most, though not all, were at least an hour away. We had even accepted the fact that, when we went to state, we'd have few spectators aside from our parents or close friends.
I think I speak for my (former) teammates when I say that we didn't expect to get the same support as every other sports team... BUT, that doesn't mean we didn't deserve it. People often joked with us in school that it didnt mean anything that we were going to state, because cross country was 'easy', and we make it every year anyways..
We blew most of the comments off and ran our asses of anyways. It's what we love. It's what we do. And we're going to continue to strive for state titles regardless of how much support we get.
But we are giving a name to this town. It is associated with running. Period.
I can't even count the number of people at college (primarily non-athletes) that knew of Minster. And every single one, when I asked how, they said 'You guys are great at running!'
I don't want this to detract from our other sports at all! But I think it goes to show that we have earned respect from people all over the state and the country (we were ranked nationally when I ran), and we deserve that same respect from our town.
Me, my teammates, and all the girls that have ran before me and that run now... We work so hard at this. We ask for nothing from our town. We don't demand support at meets.. But I think deep down we all wish we at least had earned people's respect. Being represented on the second to last page in our OWN newspaper is not giving us the respect we deserve. We're not asking for more fans support at all our meets and we don't expect it.. but we deserve the respect.
On the other note-good luck to the football team through the rest of their season! They work hard and we all wish them the best.
Perhaps you didn't have the respect from your classmates (which is a shame), but I disagree that you don't have the respect from the community. Obviously those classmates that say cross country is easy were never a part of it and most likely were jealous of your success - and that is how they took it out on you. As far as the community goes, look at the pep rally, fire trucks and community support when you come back from state. I would go out on a limb and say most of the people in Minster are proud to be associated with the Minster CC team and I do agree that many people have heard of our town because of the success of the CC team. I don't think that it is fair to assume that because of the negligence of the Community Post that the whole town of Minster feels less happy or proud of the Cross Country program. Let's not confuse the decision of the newspaper to be reflective of how the community feels! If I was part of the newspaper I would have printed it all over the front page.
I'm certainly grateful for the pep rally/ fire truck and everything done after state. And the support we do get is really, really appreciated. I just feel that overall the community support isn't as high as it should be. Obviously, that doesn't apply to everyone in the community because I know there are plenty of people that truly care about our success..I just think sometimes it's not shown as much as it should be.
I am proud of the cc team, and everything they've done.
I feel that one shouldn't judge the town's level of support on one the community posts decision on where to place the article. The community post isn't that great of a paper any more---people from the area should demand greater coverage of the cross country team from better papers in the area, like the sidney daily news or such.
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