So I was conversing via e-mail with an old high school buddy yesterday regarding our old high school. I had sent him an e-mail proclaiming the new found athletic successes of the school. His response was a rather prolonged statement along the lines of: when we went there the school didn't have great sports teams, and we were happy about that, that was part of what made the school special.
This follows along the lines of my continued discussion of what skills I want my children to have. His argument was, and still is, that people don't need to know the athletic skills I noted. That they are not important in the grand scheme of things. Obviously, based on my list, I disagree. I think that playing on a team is important, at least once in a persons life, so they can see the concept of team work in practice, not just in theory. And being able to at least know the basics of most sports is important for 2 reasons: you never know when you might be in a situation where you might be asked to play, and more importantly so you can understand the joy and appreciation that people get out of these games.
(as an aside one of the more humorous aspects of this interaction is this friend was a real "jock" in high school, playing all kinds of sports. And while he argues that athletics are not important, using his daughters as an example, he did take the time to emphasize that they are both fencing, which is an athletic achievement).
To bring this back to a discussion of our old high school, I for one am proud of the school's achievements now, and when I went there I was proud to play basketball, and try as hard as we could, even though we lost more than we won. And I also believe his memories of the school as this academic paradise where no one cared if you played sports are flawed. There was a 'clique' of 'jocks' and some people did look up to them and their achievements.
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