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commonsensesum Member
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Northwest Guilford is the largest high school in Guilford County yet our major sports teams have some of the poorest records in the county. The Northwest section of the county also has some of the highest per capita income levels in the county yet our facilities are among the poorest, especially the football stadium. Why doesn't the band support the team at home games and why don't they attend away games? Why is there no pep band at basketball games? Why, with a student population of 2400+ is there little support for any of the athletics teams? What do you think needs to be done to improve the situation and make Northwest sports a competitor in all sports? What needs to be done to increase student participation and establish some school spirit and pride? Other schools all seem to have it, but we don't. Why? |
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Kris McNeill Member
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commonsensesum wrote: Why doesn't the band support the team at home games and why don't they attend away games? Why is there no pep band at basketball games? The band is at every home football game. They play the national anthem and alma mater song at pregame, in the stands during the game (as much as they are allowed to - prerecorded music is played much of the time), and they perform at halftime. There are several reasons why the band does not attend away games. First, generally, the "host" school has to invite the visiting team's band to attend. Page High School has invited our band to their school in the past. The NW Band played at the Page v. NW game last year. Second, someone has to pay for the band to travel to away games - either the school, the football boosters or the band boosters would have to foot the bill - all have tight budgets. Pep Band - this was discussed last year with the NW Band Director (who is now in his 3rd year doing a wonderful job of leading the band programs!). He said pep band would need to be a "student led" activity similar to the many club groups at NW. The NW Band program competes and performs throughout the entire school year - there are 3 extracurricular auditioned groups that perform/compete January - April in and out of state. As for school spirit, I have seen great support for the football team in the "student section". At one of the games this year, they all had some kind of noise makers and they were really rallying behind the team! The band, dance team and cheerleaders are all great at cheering during the game. The football team is not doing too well this year unfortunately  I think it's just a normal thing for everyone's spirit to be down when the team is down. (I'm feeling a little down myself this morning after last night's Panther game )I hope this helps answer some questions. Over the past 6 years that I have had children at NWHS, I've seen school spirit up and down. I'll have to agree that it is low right now. A couple of years ago when the football team did so well and went to the playoffs, school spirit was really high. I think it's just human nature at work..... |
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Kris McNeill Member
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commonsensesum wrote: The Northwest section of the county also has some of the highest per capita income levels in the county yet our facilities are among the poorest, especially the football stadium. I can't agree with you more about the football stadium. There is a non-profit group called "Viking Vision" (led by athletic director John Hughes, I think) that is trying to lobby for and raise money for this type of facility improvement. From what I understand, the school system will likely never make improvements to the football stadium. In my opinion, it is going to require a campaign to get corporate sponsorships to raise enough money. Viking Vision raised funds to build the new concession stand and do some work on the field (new fence, I think?) |
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DToney Member 
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gee... I thought I was the only one that noticed... our track record is pretty sad.... In the schools we've been affiliated with in the past, the team spirit comes from everyone standing behind a team that works their buns off to win a few so when you don't win, it is not a big deal... our students EXPECT our team to loose! Could it be that we need a new coach? it is more of a popularity contest rather than competition to win games  You can throw money at any situation it still won't build teammanship nor will it make the kids work any harder.... only a good coach can do that.  |
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DToney Member
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Kris McNeill wrote: commonsensesum wrote:it's sad that we have to raise money for this type of thing when our county leaves us in a lurch to spend money on other schools... never NWHS my biggest complaint is the mobile classrooms... but that's another thread.....The Northwest section of the county also has some of the highest per capita income levels in the county yet our facilities are among the poorest, especially the football stadium. |
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commonsensesum Member
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As you stated, the band attends every home game and plays the National Anthem before each game starts and the Alma Mater (although I don't understand why the Alma Mater is not performed after the game as is customary). They also perform the SAME routine week after week at home games. Can't we have some variety? I always thought the pre-recorded music was done because the band rarely plays during the game. I attend all the away games and have for many years and their bands are far superior to ours during a game. They play the entire game and act like that want to be there. I don't understand why, with our huge band, we would have a need for any pre-recorded music. It seems someone should be smart enough to get the dance team, cheerleaders and the band to work together on appropriate music and a routine to be used during the game. On the issue of the band having to be invited to attend, NW must do a whole lot more inviting then being invited as we often have a band attend from a visiting school. I can understand how they would need to be invited to perform at halftime during a game, but I don't see how one school could stop another school from bringing their band, which could play during the game from the stands. What are they going to do, refuse to let the band enter the gates? Do the cheerleaders have to be invited also? I think this is just an excuse. As to money, the only expense I see is for gas for the bus and possibly paying a bus driver or two. That can't be a lot of money and the band raises a lot of money each year. Maybe yo can enlighten me on these expenses. As to a pep band, why is that not a subset of the regular band? I believe the purpose of any school band(s) is not unlike that of the cheerleaders or dance teams - first and foremost to support the team and raise school spirit. If the band wants to go to competitions, that is extra just as if the cheerleaders or dance teams want to go to competitions and should not take away from sporting events, which should be top priority. Perhaps we need two bands - one that is a true high school marching band that plays at games, home and away, does more than the same old routine each game, attends local parades, etc. and a second band whose only purpose is to go to competitions. I know this is economically not feasible but no one forces the band to compete, they choose to do so, which is fine as long as they fulfill their primary obligation first. Although there has been some school spirit displayed at games this year, it is lacking when compared to other schools, especially with a student population of 2400+. Perhaps it is because our football team is now 4-17 over the last two seasons and our basketball team is just average. |
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commonsensesum Member
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I agree with you. Enough tax dollars are wasted in the schools each year in this county for every high school to have a nice stadium of adequate size based on the number of students. |
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Kris McNeill Member
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commonsensesum, You seem really upset over the school spirit issue. Perhaps you should address your issues to an administrator, the band director, the athletic director or one of the coaches? Maybe you could form some type of school spirit committee through the PTSA or the athletic department? The band could perform a different show at every game, travel to every away game, play in the stands throughout the entire game, etc. and the football team could still be losing. Just look at the University of North Carolina this year - a school with tons of spirit - and a losing football team..... |
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Kris McNeill Member
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Results of other NWHS Athletics so far this year: Girls Volleyball - went to the State Playoffs Cross Country - won the conference Girls Golf - State Playoffs, won the conference Boys Soccer - going to playoffs this week The football team has not had a good year but other teams have done well! Congrats to these teams! |
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Waytago Member 
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Kris McNeill wrote: (as much as they are allowed to - prerecorded music is played much of the time), Can you elaborate a bit more on this comment please. Why is pre-recorded music played when a beautiful band with talented young people is at the games? |
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commonsensesum Member
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Kris McNeill wrote: commonsensesum: You seem really upset over the school spirit issue. Perhaps you should address your issues to an administrator, the band director, the athletic director or one of the coaches? Maybe you could form some type of school spirit committee through the PTSA or the athletic department? Upset may be too strong a word, perhaps dissatisfied is a better term. I am dissatisfied with the band not playing enough during the football games and not playing music that generates excitement. I am dissatisfied that the Northwest band does not play at away games. I am dissatisfied that a school as large and as talented at Northwest does not have a pep band at every home basketball game. I will assume that you did not attend the Northwest - Grimsley football game at Grimsley Monday night. Grimsley's band played long and hard and they are much smaller than Northwest. Their band generated excitement and ours does not. I have found that addressing issues with any administrator in the Guilford County Schools to be a waste of time. I have been told from reliable sources that both the dance team and the cheerleaders have asked the band director for tapes of the band's music to come up with routines to match the music but were refused. My experience with the AD over the past couple of years regarding issues was a waste of time as no action was taken. I would not say that UNC football is a good example of school spirit - check the stands at their games and see how many empty seats you see. At least they were smart enough to fire their coach. Perhaps the only fix at Northwest is to clean house from AD to coaches in several sports. This is my last year involved with NW and since I live in the Northern district, I will let someone else worry about and fight these battles. |
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commonsensesum Member
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Girls Sports excel at Northwest. But how about the revenue sports that generate the revenue for all the non-revenue sports? Football 4-17 over the past two seasons. Boys basketball has a losing season to maybe break even. Maybe the female athletes are far superior in talent. Or maybe the girls coaches are far superior to the boys coaches? Maybe we need to make some changes? |
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bama80 Member 
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Maybe the best way for the band to help the football team is if some of the band members tried out for the football team. I think you are beating the wrong dead horse (or something like that- haha) commonsenseum. I dont think the band is the issue. Im sure if they played louder, the football team would instantly do better. Maybe they should just be like some college football teams and fire the coach every 2 years until they find one that will win a season or two. -umm mostly all this was sarcasm if you guys didnt pick up on that. |
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Kris McNeill Member
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Waytago wrote: Kris McNeill wrote:(as much as they are allowed to - prerecorded music is played much of the time), That's a really good question, Waytago. From what I understand, it is the announcer's choice. The band director and students would like to get more playing time during the game. They do play some "catchy tunes" over the PA system(they always play this crazy "Ice Cream and Cake" rap song that the students love!) but the band has a repetoire of great tunes too! The dance team does some great routines along with the band too! I have also heard that some football coaches (I'm not sure about the NWHS coach) are very specific about how much and when the band can play because the team can't hear the play calls over the noise. I can understand that.......it's a delicate balance. |
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Kris McNeill Member
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commonsensesum wrote: Northwest - Grimsley football game at Grimsley Monday night. Grimsley's band played long and hard and they are much smaller than Northwest. Their band generated excitement and ours does not. ummmmm, Grimsley beat Northwest 44-20 on Monday night. Grimsley is also undefeated with a 10-0 record, leading the metro 4A conference. I'm sure they have an overabundance of school spirit whether they had a band there or not! |
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commonsensesum Member
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Kris: Okay, forget Grimsley at 10-0 and probably the best 4A team in the state. How about: Smith is 1-9 (just like us and they are the only team we have beaten this year) and their band played almost continuously in the rain at their place. Last year during a rainy game at NW, our band did not even show up. Cheerleaders and dance teams were there and performed in the rain. Last year, I read in the NWO "Questions you have Asked" that the response from the school (band director?) was that the rain would damage the instruments. I wonder how Smith's instruments are immune to the rain. I wish our band director and other decision makers would attend at least one away game and compare the other school's band performance at a game to ours. That is the only way folks will see the difference. Friday, win or lose, will be Northwest's last game this year and the last game the band will perform so this issue is dead for another year. Good luck in the future, I'm outta there! Last edited on Nov 2nd, 2006 01:32 am by commonsensesum |
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bama80 Member
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Well, by your earlier logic: Smith's excellent band and spirit = a 1-9 record. Sorry commonsenseum, I just don't get it. Oh and for the instruments, every time they get wet, they have to be dried out. The inside of some are made to be moist due to moisture from the performers mouth. However, just like a set of tools, etc the instruments will rust. Some of them such as woodwinds suffer more from moisture than others. Others are more complicated and would require more labor to be repaired/cleaned if they were to rust. The NW band also performs on saturdays, (the day after friday) at competitions where the highest quality is expected from the instruments, uniforms, and overall appearance. A rainy friday night would definitely have an effect on this. I am sure the football team would not want the band to sacrifice its competition on saturday for the football teams competition on Friday. Oh and Im sure the band would do better at the competitions on saturday if some of the football players came out and cheered them on. hah. |
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commonsensesum Member
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bama80 I'm not sure what you don't get. I mentioned how great Grimsley's band and school spirit were and Kris suggested that was because they were 10-0 and a great team so team spirit would naturally be high. I then used the Smith example to show that a team with a horrible record (1-9) has great school spirit and their band played practically the entire game, i.e. team spirit and band playing have little to do with the record of the football team. Just for the record, I do not have a son or other relative that does or has ever played football at NWHS. From all the responses on this subject, it is clear to me that the NWHS Band's main purpose in life is band competitions. |
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Jim Flynt Member
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commonsensesum wrote: From all the responses on this subject, it is clear to me that the NWHS Band's main purpose in life is band competitions. Commonsensesum: Please share with us what you think the 'main purpose' or role of the NWHS Band should be. |
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CiCi Member
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Has anyone heard the comments of the NW STUDENTS in regards to their school band? I've heard them say "our school band is awful," "our school band can only play one song" (an exaggeration I'm sure but if that's their perception....), "other school bands are so much better than ours even if they have losing teams." As the parent of a student who attends every home and away football game (with fellow students), these are the comments I've heard. School SPIRIT is not entirely dependent on having a team that does not lose - witness the School Spirit of Eastern Guilford High students who have lost EVERYTHING. Our band seems not to WANT to support our sports teams........football is not the ONLY sport at our school !.......................NW students attend away football because the opposing team generates the excitement with THEIR BAND and their own school spirit! Our students DO NOTICE other schools' bands!!!!!!!!! Is there music, cheerleaders, FANS! at our other sporting events????????? Maybe if those other teams were supported by cheerleaders, a pep band, etc., those same fans in attendance & those players would support the other school teams.....we have too many teams where the players say "No one (students, administrators) cares about us - they only care about - provide expensive unforms for - & show up to support - football." As any college/pro player will tell you, it DOES help a team to see and hear support from the stands! A good band CAN get fans (students AND parents) to games !!!!!!!!! And 'parents' are where your donations for new facilities come from! We have the smartest kids in Guilford County, they work and train hard.......so why are they losing so much in football ?????????? Maybe some 'accountability' would help? If the school itself cared about having winning teams, they would see team support, game attendance, school spirit and DONATIONS, etc. all increase. |
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Jim Flynt Member
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CiCi, again I would repeat my earlier question: Please share with us what you think the 'main purpose' or role of the NWHS Band should be. |
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bama80 Member
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Isnt the footballs team's main concentration on their games on friday night? Of course the band is there for spirit, etc but there is only so much one group of kids can do. remember that is really what you are relying on. They have homework and other commitments also. As Kris MCneill said in a previous post, a Pep band would have to be student led. There are also kdis inthe marching band that are in other sports at other times of the year. During football season, (band competition season) the band practices 3-4 days out of the week I believe. Kris please confirm/correct this if I am wrong. |
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Kris McNeill Member
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commonsensesum wrote: i.e. team spirit and band playing have little to do with the record of the football team. I am becoming more and more confused as this thread grows. commonsensesum, your above statement conflicts with your original posting which was concern over the level of school spirit at NWHS/the football team's record and pretty much directly blamed the band for that. commonsensesum wrote: Although there has been some school spirit displayed at games this year, it is lacking when compared to other schools, especially with a student population of 2400+. Perhaps it is because our football team is now 4-17 over the last two seasons and our basketball team is just average. I think this is probably a more accurate reason for any lack of school spirit. I have no idea why the football team has struggled this year and last. It might be the coach or it might be the players or both. I am not a basketball fan so I can't speak to that team. But there is one thing that I know I can say for sure. Win or lose, those young men on the football team (or basketball team) deserve respect and should be told, "if you did your best on the field of competition, that is all that matters." This is what my children have learned from Mr. Brian McMath, director of the NWHS band program. |
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CiCi Member
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To Answer Jim Flynt's question: I may be way off on my thinking but.....I had always thought an actual Marching band has a goal of being ambassadors for the school. In lieu of having a pep band, I had assumed the Marching Band's job would be to put on entertaining field shows at football games, as well as attending some competitions and also engaging the audience with their music at sporting events, parades, etc. As to school spirit and team records: The school Spirit of students & the band SHOULD be shown whether a team is winning or losing - as long as they're doing their best, the support should be there and it should be heard. I don't blame the band for a team's record, but - any and all support - whether from fans or bands - can only help a teams' motivation and confidence while they are playing. Unfortunately, whether for high school, college or pro teams, support of a team (as shown by attendance and/or donations) is often based on a teams' record..... it shouldn't be that way, but it is. Everyone (students, faculty, parents and the band) could decide to each try a little harder to make use of their talents to increase support and spirit. |
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Kris McNeill Member
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I will address the issue of the NWHS Marching Band being a "competition band": Not all high school bands participate in the band competition arena. The NWHS Band has a long standing tradition as a "competing marching band" - this began in 1975 when Mr. Tommy Smith became the band director. He left a legacy behind when he retired in 2000 after 25 years at Northwest. Mr. Brian Roberts directed the band program 2000-2004 - he was a student of Mr. Smith's. Mr. Brian McMath came to NWHS in 2004. He is an amazing band director, a gifted musician and performer, but most of all a first class teacher, mentor, "coach", and example to the 200+ students in the band program. He is doing an excellent job of continuing Mr. Smith's vision and legacy for the NW Band. Tradition is very important. It's often the "glue" that holds a school or community together. Perhaps other schools have different traditions in regard to their band/school spirit/football? The Smith HS Band performs in a completely different style than the NW Band. That's Smith's tradition and legacy. Grimsley HS really showcases their drumline at football and basketball games - it's a longstanding tradition. The Northwest Band has different traditions and part of that is being a competition band. The band is at every home game and sometimes travel to an away game. The students play their hearts out in the stands and on the field at halftime/pregame because they love music and what they do. In between, they root for the football team. Then, they often get up early on Saturday morning and travel to a competition, sometimes returning long after midnight. The band learns one show each year(this year it is titled "Hieroglyphics" and if you pay attention, there is much to learn from the show!) because of the high level of musical and drill difficulty that these students are performing. It takes them weeks and weeks to memorize music and steps. The kind of blame that is being thrown around here is not going to help the football team or any NWHS athletic team, the band, the cheerleaders, the dance team or the student body at large. The only way to affect change or make improvements in a situation is to communicate well with the various people who are in charge. In this case, it would be the band director, the athletic director, the principal, the coach(es),etc. I very much enjoy the NWO forums and having the opportunity to exchange ideas here! I think it is a great avenue of communication for the northwest area. I hope those who have concerns will take their ideas to the appropriate leaders because those are the folks who can make changes or improvements. I would love to see lots of school spirit at NWHS! I'm an alumni, my children are 2005 and 2007 NWHS grads and I hope to have grandchildren there (and in the band!) one day! |
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S. Smith Moderator
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I have to agree with Kris on this one. As a former band booster parent, the NWHS band legacy is strong. What's more, when you consider the number of kids involved and the dedication it takes for them to be a highly-rated, competition-class band, it is pretty impressive. Our band went to a bowl game in Florida (winning a competition there and getting to perform their show at the game), and this year I think they're planning to go to the Fiesta Bowl. I have the utmost respect for Mr. McMath. However, I would also love to hear more "stands" music at football games (I thought I had heard that recorded music they play was chosen by the announcer and/or football boosters, but this could be incorrect). I would also love to see a pep band. Maybe some enterprising student will take this on as a project. Regarding the sports teams, I don't know what the problem is. I do know that some teams do incredibly well year after year. Here's a theory I heard recently. Someone told me they thought teams like football and boys basketball don't do that well at NWHS because the number of participants is diluted. In other words, in areas where there's not much else to do but play football or basketball, maybe they're more likely to excel. But at NW, there are so many sports teams to choose from. A kid who might be the best football player the school has ever seen might be playing soccer instead. This person also said because NW is such an affluent area, the "country club" sports are the ones that really excel, like golf and tennis, or the more "upscale" team sports like lacrosse. What do you guys think about that? Last edited on Nov 4th, 2006 08:14 pm by S. Smith |
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ff12 Member 
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There can be many reasons. Since I do not know the coaching staff I just want every one to know that i am not attacking them. This is where it all starts , at school that is< if the coaches dont demand the best from the kids in practice, or in the classroom, and also in there daily lives then he will not get the best on Fri. night. There also is a fine line between parents encouraging the kids to give it their best all the time and pushing so hard that the kids dont care anymore. The biggest thing to remember is that we are talking about TEENAGERS , I know back when I was that age my mind was everywhere which moved my focus anywhere at anytime. |
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Jim Flynt Member
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S. Smith wrote:
Like so many of you here, I also attended and graduated from NWHS a long long time ago (Class of '68) and well remember all those years way back there where Northwest Guilford had a well regarded and winning basketball team year after year under Coach Roger Nelson (who would later become principal). For those who may not remember, Northwest Guilford won the State Boy's Basketball Championship in 1967 and in the immediately preceding years came in 2nd at least once (and maybe more) and in the top 4 several times. I actually find your comments about 'affluent area' 'country club' and 'upscale' interesting as I still think there are many many families still living in the NW area in homes that were built 30, 40, 50 or more years ago and not in the 'McMansions' which are a more recent addition to our NW landscape only in the last 10 to 20 years. I think a more careful examination of the facts would probably reveal that there is a very real economic and social divide amongst the NWHS student population, which while not rising to the level of haves versus have nots, would more likely rise to a level of wants versus wants nots. From simply riding around and still seeing school children living in mobile homes in some of our communities, it would be all but certain that some students are still being left behind socially and economically. Sorry to shatter any myths here but let's at least have honest dialogue. We were all mostly middle class (and mostly 'farm kids') back in those days, and perhaps that is why NW won so many basketball games. Kids back in those days didn't have Mommies and Daddies who gave them Mercedes Benz, Land Rovers and other expensive cars to drive to school, and most of us rode the bus to school (or drove the bus). If we had cars, we generally had worked after schools in jobs to pay or help pay for them. Many NW students during that early time came from farm families and knew what farm work was, having to do it before and after school. We, none of us, even knew anyone who was a member of any country club way back then. And 'Day Schools' in this area had not even been 'invented' and did not exist. I suppose in so many ways, in our own social ignorance and cultural naivety and with more modest agrarian roots, we were still so much more luckier and perhaps happier than kids and students today. Many of those NW basketball players back in those days, went on to continue making a name for themselves on several college basketball courts under scholarships as well as becoming outstanding citizens. Perhaps if the NWO Observer tracked down Roger Nelson, he could share some insight into the reasons for success and failures of high school sports teams. Roger was the very best of the best in high school sports and will forever remain a wonderful reminder to so many of us of a great period in the history of Northwest High School. I also well remember that Coach Sandy Gann had some pretty darn good baseball teams way back then too. I'll share some other comments about the NW Band program in a later post. Last edited on Nov 4th, 2006 10:54 pm by Jim Flynt |
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FatPappy Member 
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Jim Flynt wrote:I suppose in so many ways, in our own social ignorance and cultural naivety and with more modest agrarian roots, we were still so much more luckier and perhaps happier than kids and students today. I enjoyed that post, Mr Jim. Kris makes a lot o' sense up yonder too. I've said before I think young'uns are bein' pulled in too many directions these days. It waters down their focus an' gives the illusion of grand accomplishment but without any substantive achievement, except on paper. So many of the goals they're given seem like made up goals to me that sound good, but don't really advance the development of the young'un. I'm amazed at the load they've been given to carry, academically an' emotionally, an' amazed at how well they cope an' even excel. But it just seems like too much fer 'em to me an' I hafta wonder how long it can go on like that. Quantity ain't no substitute fer quality. Makes me think of a beautiful green lawn that looks purty on top, but underneath the roots don't go very deep. |
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Steve Adkins Member 
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Agreed Pappy & Jim I mentioned in a prior posting somewhere in here I was reading a book "Riddles of the Amish". Obviously I'm not Amish, nor do I plan to adopt their lifestyle, but there is some method to their uniqueness. Kind of ties into the above discussion. To sum up a 300+ page book, their focus is on a simplistic life style, achievement equates to personal pride (which is a no no) therefore they avoid publicity, tremendous focus on family & community in a face to face manner, not with all the technology, competition against each other is avoided for exactly the reasons listed above. Interestingly, 90% of Amish youth choose to stay in the Amish lifestyle when given the choice. Jim Flynt wrote: I suppose in so many ways, in our own social ignorance and cultural naivety and with more modest agrarian roots, we were still so much more luckier and perhaps happier than kids and students today. Yep !! Last edited on Nov 5th, 2006 12:19 pm by Steve Adkins |
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S. Smith Moderator
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Steve Adkins wrote: I mentioned in a prior posting somewhere in here I was reading a book "Riddles of the Amish".So Steve, do the Amish have any tips on how to help the athletics programs at NWHS? |
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Steve Adkins Member
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S. Smith wrote: Steve Adkins wrote:I mentioned in a prior posting somewhere in here I was reading a book "Riddles of the Amish".So Steve, do the Amish have any tips on how to help the athletics programs at NWHS? Yep...........eliminate all of it. They don't believe in competition against one another. Someone has to win, which leads to pride. Amish are humble, avoid any semblance of pride. After the incident in Pa at the schoolhouse, when you hear of the parents going to support the widow of the guy who did the shootings, the Amish obviously have a different approach to life. Having said all that..................I don't think the Amish approach is for NWHS. |
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commonsensesum Member
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At least Locklear is no longer the coach, which is a positive. |
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commonsensesum Member
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The main role and purpose of the NW Band should be the same as the Dance Team and Cheerleaders - promote school spirit by actively participating. Competitions for all these teams should be secondary and are optional. CiCi says it better than I in prior posts. |
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S. Smith Moderator
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commonsensesum wrote: At least Locklear is no longer the coach, which is a positive.Yes, commonsensesum, Coach Locklear has resigned as head football coach at NWHS. How many of you believe this will help this whole situation? |
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Kris McNeill Member
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I don't know Coach Locklear but I remember reading about him in the NWO when he first came to Northwest and thinking what a nice guy he seemed to be. I read yesterday in the paper that he had resigned and it made me sad. I'm sure he feels a huge burden for the football team's record but I noticed that John Hughes was quoted saying that several football players were disappointed because Coach Locklear had been there for them personally. He said Coach Locklear had even helped other athletes that were not on the football team. I guess it's just the nature of the game to judge coaches by their win-lose columns but I can think of some "winning" coaches whom I wouldn't want my children to be coached by because of the kind of example they set. |
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Waytago Member
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Hmmmmm.....Bobby Knight one of those? |
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commonsensesum Member
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I would let my son be coached by Bobby Knight. Although he gets a bad rap, he is an outstanding coach and teaches his players a lot about real life. Plus he is about to become the coach with more all time wins than anyone in NCAA Division 1 basketball. |
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commonsensesum Member
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I believe it can help although I'm not sure our AD is capable of finding and hiring a good coach that can do a great job with the kids and win as well. Winning games is important. Coaching is like any other profession, you don't perform and you have to get another job. |
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S. Smith Moderator
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Speaking of Bobby Knight, how does the NWHS basketball team look this year? |
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commonsensesum Member
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Boys Basketball is now 2-3 with a game at home against Western Friday night. My prediction for the boys is about 5th in the conference out of 7 teams and another losing record of about 11-13 in the regular season. The girls will be strong again, but lost in an upset at Northeast Tuesday night to drop to 4-1 on the season. Here I'm predicting 2nd in the conference and an overall regular season record of about 16-7. I think they play one less game than the boys unless they play the Australian National team girls team and then I move them to 17-7 regular season. Well, let's see how well I do with my predictions. :-) Last edited on Dec 8th, 2006 04:21 am by commonsensesum |
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commonsensesum Member
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UPDATE! After the Little Four Tournament, the boys are now 5-9 and the girls drop to 9-4 after both teams go 1-2 in the Little Four. The boys finished seventh out of the eight teams (seeded eighth so better than predicted) and the girls finished fourth (exactly as they were seeded). The Page girls beat Dudley for the title and the Greensboro Day School Bengals defeated the Dudley boys 68-63 for the boy's Championship. And on my lack of school spirit beef, Northwest could only manage to get 8 cheerleaders to the first round games on Tuesday, 4 at Wednesday's round 2 and only 2 tonight for the half-time presentation by all the cheerleaders of all 8 schools together. Our only two girls to show up were "adopted" by Northeast. The announcer didn't even recognize the Northwest Cheerleaders. It was an embarrassment to Northwest. Many of these girls were in town but didn't feel like coming or want to come for some reason. But why should the girls care when the coach doesn't even show up for the practices and the coach was not there tonight? Parents from other schools asked and commented within earshot of the poor Northwest showing. The problem is there is no leadership or commitment. Everyone involved knows the Little Four immediately follows Christmas and has been on the schedule for months. The boy's and girl's basketball players have to be at the tournament and so should the cheerleaders. Part of the problem is with parents who allow their girls to skip. All I wanted for Christmas was a new NW football coach, new AD, new boy's basketball coach and a cheerleading coach who will show up! I wonder if not having a coach present violates some type of Guilford County School Policy. I'll find out soon. The AD is responsible for hiring these coaches and unless he is replaced Northwest will continue to hire poor coaches other schools don't want and don't hire. Why do we continue to accept this? |
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ff12 Member
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Because the test scores are good................. |
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commonsensesum Member
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I assume you mean the SAT in reference to test scores. Test scores at NW have always been good regardless of the coaches. Why not get coaches that can win? Academics will not suffer. Last edited on Dec 31st, 2006 02:13 am by commonsensesum |
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ff12 Member
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I was actually going for sarcasm. |
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commonsensesum Member
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Thanks, sorry I missed it. |
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