2007:  The Year Belvidere Changed

By: M. Dewan.

What a difference a year makes!  This time last year, WE were the Bucs – all of us.  If one of our teams, soccer, track, football, etc. was in the playoffs, we were all in on it.  No matter where you went, you saw GO BUCS signs.  And there was a common enemy – Boylan or whatever team we were playing that week.

Today however, “we” are BLUE THUNDER and “they” are the BUCS.  “We” have the new school and “they” have the history.  The most anticipated game of the season was the “cross-town” match.  The local newspapers and all four television stations really played up this new rivalry.  Fortunately for all of us, they didn’t broadcast the boo-ing by some as the teams ran onto the field.  That was probably the defining (if not dividing) moment for our town.   When North’s cross country team went to State, there were no “Go Blue Thunder” signs around town.  When the Bucs football team went on in the playoffs, there were fewer “Go Bucs” signs than usual.  I often wonder how that makes the actual players feel.

Have you noticed the increased purple and gold around Funderburg Stadium?  When did they bring back the big Buc over the press box?  When did they paint BUCS in the end zone?  These decisions must have been made about the same time the district decided both schools would use that stadium.  So what’s the message from the BUCS?  What’s the message to the students of both schools?  We will have a graduate from both schools in our home.  Are they supposed to hate each other now?  

I think to rev up this rivalry at the pace we seem to be on, is a huge mistake.  These “kids” are in high school – which is never easy.  Keeping the peace among teenagers has police departments all over this country busy 24/7.  We are fooling ourselves if we think we can convince these kids to hate each other on the fields/courts and still be buddies off of them.  Gangs have been steadily moving into our town over the past 5-7 years.  We need to safeguard our high schoolers from making poor decisions based on ridiculous boundaries.

Yet, there’s no going back now.  We are two separate high schools and two separate communities.  Perhaps the clubs could help us all unite for common goals from time to time.  Food pantries, homeless shelters, toys for tots – whatever – would surely welcome clubs from both schools.  Maybe our bands could perform together! 

Now that we’ve figured out exactly how to divide our students into two separate schools, we should start working on uniting us as one community.  We are all Belvidere.

The views expressed in this editorial as well as all editorials posted are the views of the author and is the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinions of BooneCountySports.com.