Why do we hate your school?
Each day when I arrive at my desk at the Aiken Standard, I am greeted by 20 or 30 emails and four or five phone messages. Some of them are score reports, some are story ideas and, of course, some of them are congratulatory messages on a cruise or lottery that I won.
The most common correspondence, though, is questions about why I like Aiken High School better than South Aiken High School or why I like the Thoroughbreds better than the Hornets. Yes, I often get calls from both sides on the same day - and sometimes even the same story.
Sorry to bust the bubble of all the Jesse Ventura conspiracy theorists, but I have no bias against either team. When I was attending Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, W.Va., Aiken High and South Aiken High were nowhere on my radar. I didn't grow up hating the Hornets or loving the T-Breds, and I have developed only respect for both schools in my four years in Aiken.
Both schools have great athletic programs - of course each school has its top sports, but both have programs of which to be proud - and there are some amazing coaches roaming the halls at both schools. The athletes on both sides of town have never been anything but respectful, and I have greatly enjoyed watching their achievements on the fields and courts.
Knowing how much these athletes mean to the community and how important it is to the athletes and coaches to see their achievements recognized, I would have a reporter at every sporting event played across the county - not only at Aiken and South Aiken, but also at Silver Bluff, Midland Valley, Wagener-Salley and all the others - if we lived in a perfect world.
Unfortunately, I work in a newsroom that, like everyone else these days, is dealing with a budget. We get great support from part-time writers and other newsroom members, but when it comes down to it, we are basically trying to cover 10 high schools, two colleges and hundreds of youth teams and intramural events with just two sports writers. We can only be one place at a time, so important events are often left unstaffed.
That's where our readers can play a part. We rely heavily on coaches, parents, athletes and fans to help us cover those events that we can't staff. We pride ourselves on printing pictures that are submitted and including every score report that we receive by phone or email. No, we aren't going to leave out a South Aiken soccer score because we like Aiken better or leave out a Midland Valley baseball score because we have some prejudice against Graniteville. If you call it in, you will see it in print.
So if you aren't seeing your favorite team or player covered on a regular basis, give us your help. Ask the coach if he or she can be sure to call in the scores. Take some pictures and send them our way. And if you ever have a question as to why an event wasn't covered, give us a call and ask. We'll do our best to give you the answer.