When I was a younger man, and less aware of the differences of location, I thought that all schools were as wonderful as those in Western Kansas. After six years at Wheatland High School, I caught the “grass is greener” bug and took a job at a bigger school in the central part of the state. My misguided thinking was that a larger school in a more populous part of the world would equal more participation, more support, and more hometown pride.
I can’t speak for all communities in that part of the state, but what I generally found was less participation and less support. I’m not saying that communities in Central Kansas don’t support their schools. In fact they support them pretty well. But what I found to be true was that they didn’t support their schools as much as those in this part of the state. I now realize that what we have here is pretty rare and very special. There are few places as committed to their schools and to their towns as Western Kansas.
I was reminded of this fact at the 8-Man Division I State Championship game in Newton. I am not going to describe the game. Jim does an excellent job of that in the sports pages of this paper. But what I do want to describe for you is the crowd.
The first thought that went through my mind when I saw the sprawl of red and black was “how does a town of 1400 produce a crowd of almost twice that size?” There were Ringnecks everywhere. I had been told that there was seating for 2000 fans on the home side of the stadium where we were assigned to sit. It wasn’t enough. Every seat (as far as I could see) was taken and there were dozens still standing. We were packed in like lemmings and I felt fortunate to find a seat for my kids and I.
The crowd wasn’t just large, it was spirited, holding signs and waving pom poms, cheering and chanting from the first snap to the final whistle. It reminded me of Chiefs games at Arrowhead Stadium. The crowd was well behaved, but intense and passionate and rooting for the Ringnecks all the way.
Perhaps the best part of the crowd though, was seen at half time. By then, all the alumni, all the people who had once lived in Hill City and moved away, all these old friends, began to find one another. I saw countless hugs and back-slapping as people still connected by the bonds of their hometown, caught up and said hello. I don’t how many times I heard somebody say, “Did you see so-and-so? Why I haven’t seem them in ages!”
By contrast, the Madison crowd was smaller. As you would expect, they had a big crowd. And their fans were equally enthusiastic and supportive of their team. But one glance told the story. Saturday was homecoming for Hill City, while just another big game for Madison.
And that brings me back to my earlier point. It isn’t that small towns in central Kansas don’t have pride, but compared to what we have here, it just isn’t as much. When a student graduates from Hill City High School, or a family moves away, they tend to have positive feelings about this town. They tend to keep in touch, either through friends or though a subscription to our wonderful paper. So when something like a state championship game comes along, many of them make the effort to attend, to cheer, to support. They may now live in Wichita or Salina, Manhattan or Lawrence, or even KC, but when they heard the Ringnecks were playing for the title in Newton, they answered the call.
As I was writing this article, my secretary Melanie Kennedy related a story from this weekend. Her husband had been watching the Jayhawks play basketball Friday night on TV. Suddenly, the camera found a fan holding a sign touting the Hill City Ringnecks. Then the camera found another Hill City fan holding another Hill City sign, and then found another. Before long, the announcers were talking about Hill City’s historic football run, live on national television!
There is just something about our town and our part of the state that inspires such loyalty. I’m sure they are plenty loyal in Madison and other parts of Kansas, but I doubt any of them could touch us when it comes to pure home town pride.
Go Ringnecks!
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