Anonymous wrote:I was at the game on Saturday watching a neighbor's son. I have to say that I was utterly appalled by the cheers of the Prep student section. At one point they chanted loudly in unison, bull@#$% and another time Bears (landon's mascot) eat meat. There were others that I won't go into but as the father of a young boy in tow I have to say that I cringed every time they started another cheer. At the end of the game, two fathers, I think, held up one of Landon's banners made for the game in the middle of the field (on the logo as noted previously) pointing at the Landon sideline. It was embarrassing. After seeing those fathers, I now know where the kids learned the chants.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the 2010's. You'll find the cheers that come from many student sections to be quite offensive.

But you don't know the half of it. It goes way beyond chants and insults.

In the 1990's two GP students at Bethany Beach were set upon by "The Landon Army" and beaten so badly they had to be hospitalized. I've seen banners strung across the entire Landon stands asking "Who's Your Daddy?" for the enjoyment of fans on the opposite side of the field.

Bad behavior on the Prep side? I'm sure you are right. Many believe GP should leave the IAC and join the Catholic League to get away from this dysfunctional relationship that masquerades as a high school "rivalry". And it would be Landon that would complain the loudest if that were to occur, similar to what we heard when GP stopped playing Landon in football for a few years after they went to the MIAA.

Landon could then obsess on beating St Albans or Bullis.

"What's that smell? Smells like Brown..." I've heard that one over and over also.

I was at the game on Saturday watching a neighbor's son. I have to say that I was utterly appalled by the cheers of the Prep student section. At one point they chanted loudly in unison, bull@#$% and another time Bears (landon's mascot) eat meat. There were others that I won't go into but as the father of a young boy in tow I have to say that I cringed every time they started another cheer. At the end of the game, two fathers, I think, held up one of Landon's banners made for the game in the middle of the field (on the logo as noted previously) pointing at the Landon sideline. It was embarrassing. After seeing those fathers, I now know where the kids learned the chants.

http://www.gazette.net/gazettecms/story.php?id=3067

Much of what I've heard abotu Prep's behavior at sporting events is very typical of the Catholic school mentality when I was growing up. The decision to enter that world of education should be made with these issues in mind.

As someone with no connection to either school, let me relate an old/recent observation.

Last year, the IAC lacrosse championship took place at Prep and Landon won by a goal. As the game wound down, you could see Prep students starting to mass around the turf - clearly gathering to "protect their turf". Sure enough, when the game ended, these Prep students ran onto the turf. As you would expect, many Landon students stormed the field, but they celebrated with the team off to the side. Something happened I've never seen before - a few Prep officials (I think it may have been the Prep AD) stood on the Prep logo, again to "protect it".

This year, the championship was held at Landon, who was the favorite going in. In a thrilling game, Prep won in OT. As you can see from this video, the Prep supporters had no problem storming Landon's field and dancing. Nobody from Landon protected their logo.

I don't think Landon is perfect and I'm not suggesting the Prep is necessarily an inferior school. But the reactions by Prep in both years say a lot about their supporters.

http://www.dcsportsfan.com/Media/mediaplayer.aspx?mid=1915

Anonymous wrote:Ok, well then, let me help the PP who asked about sending a non athletic DS to either to either of theses schools. If you child is not athletic, he will have a difficult time at Landon. Yes, Landon does have good arts offerings, but that is just not respected by most students or most parents. Athletics are the end all and be all there. St. Anslems is a far better choice as is STA. Do not waste time or your child's self confidence at Landon.

Good input. Let me build on it.

These are all boys schools with many male teachers and administrators. There is an emphasis on sports and among the student bodies the leaders are frequently the athletes. Although people who excel at other things are also held in some esteem.

Those who have boys know that for most of them "sensitivity" is not normally high on their list of things they worry about.
Not always a fun place to be.

The possible self-esteem problem is with the non-athletes who may not be great students or artists or whatever. They will be at the bottom of the high school hierachy.

There's a difference between enduring and enjoying your high school experience.

I sometimes wonder if the people on here who seem to have a single-minded interest in the "academics" ever went to high school and if they did were they as oblivious to the rest of it beyond the academics as they appear. It is a period that has for many a tremendous impact. Some struggle for years trying to regain some of those "Glory Days". Others are spurred to achievement in response to the social difficulties they had during these four years.

At a high school reunion a few years ago, I talked to a classmate who had gone on to have a hugely successful career in the newspaper business. I congratulated him. He responded with a twinkle in his eye, "I'll bet Carolyn A. is sorry she wouldn't go to the prom with me now".

Anonymous wrote:I believe Landon won the first meeting by 6 goals and from my understand it was not that close of a game. Landon was #1 in the wash post heading into the game and I think Prep was #3 or #4. Prep comes from behind and earns a hard fought victory in OT; common sense tells me, whoever wins the first game especially by that margin has to be the favorite heading into the game. I didn't attend either game this Spring but it sounds like the game this past weekend could have gone either way.

True statements, the game could have gone either way. Landon was on top of the rankings for most of season, especially after the earlier win over Prep. But after all of that, this was the last game of the season. It was really the only one that counted. Landon's coach even said beforehand, "this is for all the marbles". Who do you think will end up being no. 1 now?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:GP's Director of Institutional Advancement, who is a former relatively high-profile baseball sportswriter (Washington Post, Newark Star-Ledger, NY Newsay) also had an interesting reaction on Twitter to Landon's 2-1 win in the baseball championship.

He characterized the Landonites as reacting to their victory with "less class than Gonzaga and the French, combined."

As a neutral party in this, it sure sounds like Prep fans are the ones that can't handle losing and immediately seem to degrade other schools as classless, even insulting a whole nation. When they do win, they have to note that the other school's "world has ended". It seems evident who is overly focused on athletics.

I think 18:24's post was intended to be a little humorous. Perhaps a little strutting over a very important win within both communities, but an attempt at humor none the less. People take some of these posts far too seriously.

Anonymous wrote:i don't mean this in a snarky way at all. I'm really curious. What are the pros- not the cons - of sending a very smart kid to a very sports oriented school. My son is not partiuclarly athletic andI worry that he won't be thrive socially in schools dominated by athletics. The backstory is that my son has been bullied but we are committed to single sex education.

That depends. At GP, the better athletes are more popular and more respected. A big part of a student's standing is based on his athletic ability. That is likely no different than it is at any other school. However, at an all boys school it is probably more acute than it is at other schools that may have more diverse outlets for being recognized.

I know plenty of students there that are liked and appreciated who are not athletes. Many of them eventually decommitted (junior and senior years) from sports after coming to terms that they weren't at the right level to continue playing there. If your son is not an athlete, or ends up working his way out of any athletics, he will not be ridiculed or bullied at GP. That is one of the benefits of the Jesuit system, it mostly promotes respect and support for all students. However, he will not be on the top given what the cuture values there. If he is a kid secure enough to handle that, and appreciates that there are other, less prominent avenues to gain respect, then he will be fine.

Anonymous wrote:GP's Director of Institutional Advancement, who is a former relatively high-profile baseball sportswriter (Washington Post, Newark Star-Ledger, NY Newsay) also had an interesting reaction on Twitter to Landon's 2-1 win in the baseball championship.

He characterized the Landonites as reacting to their victory with "less class than Gonzaga and the French, combined."

As a neutral party in this, it sure sounds like Prep fans are the ones that can't handle losing and immediately seem to degrade other schools as classless, even insulting a whole nation. When they do win, they have to note that the other school's "world has ended". It seems evident who is overly focused on athletics.

10:25 posted

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GP's Director of Institutional Advancement, who is a former relatively high-profile baseball sportswriter (Washington Post, Newark Star-Ledger, NY Newsay) also had an interesting reaction on Twitter to Landon's 2-1 win in the baseball championship." He characterized the Landonites as reacting to their victory with "less class than Gonzaga and the French, combined.

...And the Prep students and its community didn't go crazy after defeating Landon in lacrosse on Saturday?