Sidwell Basketball Article

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I hope the moderators will consider locking this thread.

Because this is a discussion of a publicly-available news article, I am not going to lock the thread (at least not at this point). But, here is the standard I am going to enforce: When discussing personal information related to the student, particularly academic performance, only information that is already publicly-available will be allowed. Posts that provide factual information, or information purporting to be factual, which is of a personal nature -- again, including details of academic performance -- will be removed.

[Anonymous]

The same people from Sidwell who look down upon a school like Gonzaga who tries to excel in the classroom and on the field are the same who are saying, "Leave the poor boy alone" on this thread.

You can't have it both ways.

[Anonymous]

Where are the parents in this story?

Even if you have the most hands-off parenting style, a student doesn't go from public to private, flail academically, face the prospect of expulsion, without some sort of parental input.

I might have been inclined, had he been my son and if he were not succeeding academically at Sidwell, to consider Montrose Christian where he was thinking of transferring. They've got great athletics and academically likely would have been less of a leap, coming from Wheaton.

I don't think I'd particularly have welcomed a campaign by students to keep him in a school that appeared from week one to be a poor fit. The parent piece just seems an odd almost omission (other than the passing mention about dad supporting his son's basketball practice) in what aspires to be a feel-good story, but which strikes me as a bit off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The same people from Sidwell who look down upon a school like Gonzaga who tries to excel in the classroom and on the field are the same who are saying, "Leave the poor boy alone" on this thread.

You can't have it both ways.

+1

They thought the Post article would be good publicity to look good about "helping" a student without realizing it would make them look like hypocrites for all their attacks on the other schools with good athletes and what they perceive as less than stelllar academics.

[Anonymous]

Who is the "they"? You think the Sidwell parents or community is behind the article? Are you that naive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who is the "they"? You think the Sidwell parents or community is behind the article? Are you that naive?

Someone alerted the Post - are you that naive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who is the "they"? You think the Sidwell parents or community is behind the article? Are you that naive?

You really think that an article like that was written without the knowledge and consent of Sidwell? I think you have the naive part backwards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who is the "they"? You think the Sidwell parents or community is behind the article? Are you that naive?

You really think that an article like that was written without the knowledge and consent of Sidwell? I think you have the naive part backwards.

+1

I frankly would not be surprised if one of the Sidwell parents with connections to the WP (there are quite a few - which is a bit of an understatement actually) arranged for the story.

That's how DC works. That's how DC independent schools work. Not a Sidwell parent, but a parent at another Big 3 with direct knowledge of what I speak . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who is the "they"? You think the Sidwell parents or community is behind the article? Are you that naive?

You really think that an article like that was written without the knowledge and consent of Sidwell? I think you have the naive part backwards.

There is a lot of interest in this particular player because of how well Sidwell has done this year (e.g., beating Gonzaga). Having seen the Post and Northwest Current reporters interviewing athletes in various sports at my school (not Sidwell), I am sure they asked open-ended questions and the athlete volunteered this stuff and the Post ran with it. Reporters trying to sit in on a class have to clear it with the school's media relations/publications offices, but reporters have basically free access to kids at sporting events.

I've seen a lot of quotes from athletes and coaches that made admin and others in a school community wince over the years -- this type of article generally isn't orchestrated by the school, if only because of the type of internal and external criticism it is sure to draw (as exemplified in this thread). Those of you who've been around schools for a while, isn't it true schools do not like having their internal processes (admission, discipline, academic retention) publicized?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The same people from Sidwell who look down upon a school like Gonzaga who tries to excel in the classroom and on the field are the same who are saying, "Leave the poor boy alone" on this thread.

You can't have it both ways.

FYI, I reported posts in this thread that I thought were unfairly divulging information about a high school student. I've done the same whenever I see a post on the DCUM schools thread about a speciific student or teacher at any school. I'm not at or affiliated with Sidwell in any way, beyond having some friends with kids there (as is the case with most of the DC area independents). DCUM is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, but when I see something that seems unfair to me I do hit the "report" button. This is a well-moderated site, in my opinion (they seem to read the reports and take action according to their standards, which they will frequently explain).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who is the "they"? You think the Sidwell parents or community is behind the article? Are you that naive?

You really think that an article like that was written without the knowledge and consent of Sidwell? I think you have the naive part backwards.

There is a lot of interest in this particular player because of how well Sidwell has done this year (e.g., beating Gonzaga). Having seen the Post and Northwest Current reporters interviewing athletes in various sports at my school (not Sidwell), I am sure they asked open-ended questions and the athlete volunteered this stuff and the Post ran with it. Reporters trying to sit in on a class have to clear it with the school's media relations/publications offices, but reporters have basically free access to kids at sporting events.

I've seen a lot of quotes from athletes and coaches that made admin and others in a school community wince over the years -- this type of article generally isn't orchestrated by the school, if only because of the type of internal and external criticism it is sure to draw (as exemplified in this thread). Those of you who've been around schools for a while, isn't it true schools do not like having their internal processes (admission, discipline, academic retention) publicized?

This was not an article written after interviewing a kid at a game. It was written with details as to how he found his way to Sidwell, an interview with the parent of a student that was mentoring him as well as a quote from a teammate about the Facebook site. it also talked about the dismissal letter that was ready to go. That was not all gotten from a "courtside" interview.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who is the "they"? You think the Sidwell parents or community is behind the article? Are you that naive?

You really think that an article like that was written without the knowledge and consent of Sidwell? I think you have the naive part backwards.

There is a lot of interest in this particular player because of how well Sidwell has done this year (e.g., beating Gonzaga). Having seen the Post and Northwest Current reporters interviewing athletes in various sports at my school (not Sidwell), I am sure they asked open-ended questions and the athlete volunteered this stuff and the Post ran with it. Reporters trying to sit in on a class have to clear it with the school's media relations/publications offices, but reporters have basically free access to kids at sporting events.

I've seen a lot of quotes from athletes and coaches that made admin and others in a school community wince over the years -- this type of article generally isn't orchestrated by the school, if only because of the type of internal and external criticism it is sure to draw (as exemplified in this thread). Those of you who've been around schools for a while, isn't it true schools do not like having their internal processes (admission, discipline, academic retention) publicized?

This was not an article written after interviewing a kid at a game. It was written with details as to how he found his way to Sidwell, an interview with the parent of a student that was mentoring him as well as a quote from a teammate about the Facebook site. it also talked about the dismissal letter that was ready to go. That was not all gotten from a "courtside" interview.

Have you ever sat in or overheard the on-field or on-court interviews after games? They will ask lots of things -- "How'd you come to go to this school?" "Was it a big leap academically?" "How was it adjusting?" In this case, I surmise that the Post took an interesting tidbit volunteered by the kid -- that he was going to be asked to leave because of academic issues -- and followed up on it to make a longer article. Neither you nor I know for sure, of course -- we don't work for the Post -- but I'm confident school administrators in this area would not open the door like this to criticism and scrutiny and angry posts on DCUM and in the Washington Post comments section by volunteering that they had made a decision to ask a student to leave and then reversed it. I'm an anonymous internet observer -- so are you and so is everybody else commenting on this thread -- and I don't think we are on paths to convince the other, but I think logic and experience (for those who've seen how high school sports reporting works) support my suppositions.

Smart work by the Post -- this is an article that has got people reading and talking -- but I continue to believe the article was not something orchestrated by the school, but was the result of naivete/too much sharing by a kid who will learn a lot more about how the media works when he gets to college and has the Sports Information Department/coaching staff hovering around during any interviews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who is the "they"? You think the Sidwell parents or community is behind the article? Are you that naive?

You really think that an article like that was written without the knowledge and consent of Sidwell? I think you have the naive part backwards.

There is a lot of interest in this particular player because of how well Sidwell has done this year (e.g., beating Gonzaga). Having seen the Post and Northwest Current reporters interviewing athletes in various sports at my school (not Sidwell), I am sure they asked open-ended questions and the athlete volunteered this stuff and the Post ran with it. Reporters trying to sit in on a class have to clear it with the school's media relations/publications offices, but reporters have basically free access to kids at sporting events.

I've seen a lot of quotes from athletes and coaches that made admin and others in a school community wince over the years -- this type of article generally isn't orchestrated by the school, if only because of the type of internal and external criticism it is sure to draw (as exemplified in this thread). Those of you who've been around schools for a while, isn't it true schools do not like having their internal processes (admission, discipline, academic retention) publicized?

This was not an article written after interviewing a kid at a game. It was written with details as to how he found his way to Sidwell, an interview with the parent of a student that was mentoring him as well as a quote from a teammate about the Facebook site. it also talked about the dismissal letter that was ready to go. That was not all gotten from a "courtside" interview.

Have you ever sat in or overheard the on-field or on-court interviews after games? They will ask lots of things -- "How'd you come to go to this school?" "Was it a big leap academically?" "How was it adjusting?" In this case, I surmise that the Post took an interesting tidbit volunteered by the kid -- that he was going to be asked to leave because of academic issues -- and followed up on it to make a longer article. Neither you nor I know for sure, of course -- we don't work for the Post -- but I'm confident school administrators in this area would not open the door like this to criticism and scrutiny and angry posts on DCUM and in the Washington Post comments section by volunteering that they had made a decision to ask a student to leave and then reversed it. I'm an anonymous internet observer -- so are you and so is everybody else commenting on this thread -- and I don't think we are on paths to convince the other, but I think logic and experience (for those who've seen how high school sports reporting works) support my suppositions.

Smart work by the Post -- this is an article that has got people reading and talking -- but I continue to believe the article was not something orchestrated by the school, but was the result of naivete/too much sharing by a kid who will learn a lot more about how the media works when he gets to college and has the Sports Information Department/coaching staff hovering around during any interviews.

Yes I have been on the sidelines of another sport and heard interviews from DC Sports Fan, the post and the Gazette. So don't assume you are the be all and end of all of how HS sports interviews work. I have not seen any interview go into this depth or evolve into what this turned into. The article in the post has only generated 11 comments and is not even in the top 5 for most popular articles. So contrary to your belief, people are not reading nor commenting on it. The only place it is generating comments is here. Probably because it now turns out that Sidwell is just like all the other schools that are trying to have good athletes, sometimes things are different for athletes. For all the nasty comments that Sidwell fans have posted on schools like Bullis, Prep, Landon and Gonzaga, it turns out they are just the same.
If you want to continue to believe that it was an innocent mistake by the kid, that's fine. The rest of us will believe what we want to.

[Anonymous]

Sidwell is exposed yet again as a fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The same people from Sidwell who look down upon a school like Gonzaga who tries to excel in the classroom and on the field are the same who are saying, "Leave the poor boy alone" on this thread.

You can't have it both ways.

This argument is silly. Who looks down on Gonzaga? I certainly don't -- it's a great school.

--Sidwell parent x3