Reply to Landon vs. Georgetown Prep Upper School

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I hate to break it you but Prep has a much higher emphasis in athletics than any of the IAC schools, hence they have a $44million athletic complex. How much did the new George academic center cost to build? $18million.  [b]Prep was voted out of the IAC for a wide array of reasons[/b] and some of which involved blatant recruiting of other members of the IAC's players.

The Prep community can claim all they want how similar they are in nature to their friends at Gonzaga, ie Jesuit roots, Catholic parishes  etc. etc. but the demographics of a St. Albans, Landon, and Prep student are probably more similar than of a kid at Gonzaga. (dont take this the wrong way but there are some very affluent people at Gonzaga who choose to send there kid there vs Prep)  Gonzaga pulls in kids from all over the area, from a much wider socioeconomic base, than you say a Prep, STA or Landon - just look at the tuition difference between the schools.

I thought GP was surely going to make a move to the WCAC for good under the reign of Father George. Anyone who knew Father George well will tell you he loved athletics and  how it brought in fundraising dollars to the school.  Now that he was forced out, (the Prep community will deny this), the new headmaster seems less focused on the athletic excellence at Prep and trying to build its academic reputation. (Prep already has excellent academics).

From an athletic standpoint, Prep would have no business competing in the WCAC other than lacrosse, swimming and wrestling and hockey. [/quote]

Wow! What a fountain of misinformation.

Your point about GP spending on athletic facilities equalling athletic emphasis is easily debunked. For decades, GP had the worst athletic facilities and were greatly outspent by the other schools. If facilities were a guide to emphasis during the 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's then GP -- by your measure -- would have had the least amount of emphasis on athletics. Poor facilites = low emphasis, right?

On the expulsion of GP football from the IAC - The Bullis and St Stephen's people led that charge. Landon would never, ever vote GP out (and I'm sure it's Landon you are talking about with the "blatant recruiting charge"). Playing GP appears to be the raison d'etre of Landon athletics.

The similarities between Gonzaga and GP student bodies are "cultural" not "demographic" And they are based on family connections, attending the same Catholic grammar schools, experiences in the parishes, and athletic teams like CYO basketball and Maplewood football. When your father and uncles went to GP or Gonzaga or St. Johns (during its heyday) it doesn't matter what your zip code is.

We agree on Fr. George's departure. But the reasons were tied to managing the financial challenges created by the huge amount of facilities spending. George's interest in Athletics seemed to be rooted in an interest in fund raising, not any intrinsic interest in athletics. At the games I attended, the crowd watched the games and George watched (and worked) the crowd.

I would like to see GP in the WCAC for a number of reasons including getting as much distance from Landon as possible. It's a bad relationship that teaches nothing of value. In my high school sports career, the opponents were kids in different color uniforms. We didn't know them. They were just opponents.  We weren't facing players and coaches obsessed with beating us.

How well GP would do in the WCAC in sports besides lacrosse, hockey, swimming and wrestling (a pretty good sport) is a matter of conjecture. In football they could compete with Gonzaga and St. Johns, but maybe not DeMatha and Good Counsel. But MIAA schools like Gilman are at a similar level to DeMatha today and GP plays them. Not winning the WCAC every year in every sport wouldn't be a disaster.

As you may know, there is quite a bit of disatisfaction in the WCAC as it currently exists. DeMatha generally wins everything and no one wants to be in the same Division as the Stags. The rise of Good Counsel notwithstanding. The St. John's president tried to engineer a "split" a few years ago. So don't assume the WCAC will always be the same as it is today.

Catholic schools everywhere seem to emphasize sports . Sports are part of the "culture". So GPs sports program reflects the natural interest of the student body and their families.

Prep is in the IAC in every sport but football.[/quote][/quote]

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