Reply to Rumblings - Georgetown Prep May Leave the IAC, Setting Up Ripple Effect

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We are talking about prep schools that seem more concerned about sports than learning. The only thing one hears about these schools are sports and sex, behavior scandals. WhAt is Landon's or Prep's identity without sports?[/quote]

The thread topic is athletic conference membership. That's why there is so much discussion of sports in it.

Thread with sports as topics won't contain a lot about "learning".[/quote]

Wiith or without this thread, Landon and Prep seem to have a death grip on each other in terms of sports.  From an outsider and frequent reader of these message boards, it seems that these schools seem disportiantely focused on athletics. Well, let me rephrase that, athletics seem to dominate the conversation when it comes to these schools. So the question still stands, What is the schools' identity outside the athletic program.
 [/quote]
I wouldn’t agree with the term “death grip”, but the bitter rivalry between Prep and Landon athletics is bigger than it ought to be.  We have had two sons go through Prep, who were good athletes and who played the three major sports. So we got a good look at the “rivalry” up close. As an old high school and college athlete, I was very surprised at the “heat” between the teams and the fans of the two schools. 
Every contest in what seems like every sport between Prep and Landon is the big game of the season. At its best the rivalry leads to exciting games between (usually) the two best teams in the conference. At its worse, these games are out-sized, near desperate struggles between two groups who really don’t like one another very much.
My observation is that these schools arrive at this coming from two different directions. Athletics are very important at both schools. But at Prep, I don’t think they are quite so integrated into the whole school experience as they are at Landon.  Landon seems to be following more of an English public school model . Teachers are also coaches and athletics teaches valuable life lessons. They seem to subscribe to the theory that “The Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton”. 
I came to believe that Prep would be better off in the Catholic league not playing Landon in anything. I thought the wrong lessons were being learned. I never found a Landon parent or alum that agreed with that.
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