Reply to Landon vs. Georgetown Prep Upper School

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So how are Preppies different from Landonites, except for religion?  Is the animosity about sports (lacrosse)?  Is it because they compete for the same girls?  From an outside viewpoint, it seems that the student bodies are very similar in intelligence and economics and demographics.  I'd like to read that article.[/quote]

Actually two interesting questions. The first is how are the two student bodies different. The second is why all the animosity between two schools that to the outsider seem so similar.

Religion is one big difference. But it goes beyond religion. To get this you have to have an understanding of the history and the various groups that populate the area.
There is, and there has been for a very long time, a large Catholic community in the DC area. This community is largely of Irish extraction.  (The students at Gonzaga, Prep's brother Jesuit high school, call themselves "The Eye Street Irish" with good reason.)

This large Catholic community is held together through going to the same churches, the same schools, the same colleges, belonging to the same clubs, intermarriage and a large network of doctors, dentists, building contractors, etc., etc..

Some of these people through the years have been quite successful. And although they live in upscale areas among other groups, they maintain membership in this large Catholic community with their relationships with their neighbors being a kind of secondary one.

As someone said in another thread, they don’t even consider independent private schools for their children.

So it's not just "religion" that binds the group together.

The Landon student population is diverse with even a few Catholics. But these are generally Catholics newer to Washington that aren’t part of the Catholic community.

The “Animosity” between the two schools has its roots in athletic competition. Athletic success is very important on both campuses and among the alumni parents and teachers.  By and large these two schools have for a very long time been at the top of the IAC.  So to win a championship, one team has to beat the other. They gear their efforts to beating one another in the same way that Army fixates on beating Navy. The coaches --- who at Landon are also teachers –drum this into the heads of these teenagers.

But this “rivalry” through the years has spawned a lot of bad behavior on both sides. So added to the current athletic competition is this long list of past grievances which the coaches, alumni and others carry around like Jacob Marley’s chains.

The students are swept along in this.

The lacrosse rivalry is just another chapter in this. Landon's coach was introduced to lacrosse in college and started the Landon program. For decades they were dominant and the program was a point of considerable pride for the school. It took a long time for Prep to build its program by attracting their better athletes to it. Now there is virtual parity and yet another wonderful opportunity to stoke the fires between the two schools.

Some have said that the two would be better off in different conferences. [/quote]

Interesting, so where does St John's fit in in the "old money" vs out of town newbie Catholic hierarchy ?[/quote]

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