Lynch at Large

Early this morning, before dawn while I was doing the work of ten men, my rigorous show prep regimen led me to the Forrest City Times-Herald. This is one of my favorite papers, and I must say that they fearlessly report local government stories. This morning featured a piece about the local school district.

The local school district person is busy stirring up community spirit about the Forrest City Mustangs. She said that itÂ’s time to paint the town blue and white. There is a big “hide the horseshoe” contest with cool prizes like VIP parking at the Mustang games. Everybody in town was invited to decorate to honor the hometown team.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Back in the day at McGill High in Mobile, Alabama, when dinosaurs walked the earth, I was a fairly substantial fan of the orange and black Yellow Jackets. We had poster contests and amazing pep rallies. I seldom missed a game. I hardly ever missed a day of school either. We played hard because we were studying our young Catholic boys school butts off. The honor roll guys wore the same letter sweaters as the football players. One more thing, back in 1968, if memory serves me right, McGill finished at #8 in the largest division statewide.

I think Forrest City is right on target building up the hoopla for football, but if they leave out the real mission of the school there is a problem Parents and students can figure out what kind of achievement is really valued and the classroom stuff is important too. It is the right time of year for everybody to get fired up about the Friday night lights and good grades.