We have one of the biggest rivalries in High School sports in my hometown. McCallie, the school I went to, and Baylor the rival have been bitter rivals for 100 years (I don't really know how long but a long time).
McCallie is an all boys school, 6-12, that is an outstanding school. Baylor, also an outstanding school, is a former all boys school that went Co-Ed about the time I graduated. I think that the Co-ed change may have actually made the rivalry more intense because instead of splitting the all girls school also in the area, they kind of became a sister school to McCallie. Now it is really, McCallie/GPS vs Baylor.
To make things more intense this year, both schools have exceptional teams. In fact, McCallie just defeated 4 time State Champs, Ensworth (Nashville) 62-34 last weekend to become the number 1 ranked team in Tennessee. Baylor, also on a roll is number 2. This is the first time in history that McCallie/Baylor is a 1 v 2 matchup.
Things go crazy this week...literally. Signs are hanging all over, vandalism of said signs and even campuses also exists, pranks, and more, but the underlying theme of all of this is that there is tremendous school spirit and both sides are proud to be a part of this history.
Almost every boy with a pickup truck makes a giant flag from a bed sheet and puts it on the trailer hitch of the truck. Baylor does it too, but not like McCallie. Sometimes, the kids make the flag with a giant M from a black bedsheet with a giant blue M. This year, a highly concerned resident posted on facebook that she saw a truck with a flag like this and thought is was a splinter cell of ISIS. Now that is funny.
The rivalry extends to every workplace, talk radio, golf courses, bowling alleys, bars, restaurants and yes...even to the garage.
In our group we have a number of Baylor alumni and parents but maybe a slightly higher number of McCallie alumni and parents. Today, I put together a workout to polish for Selection and also have some fun.
With a front from Canada to Mexico on top of us, we experienced heavy rain this morning which was kind of fun. The workout was:
Run 400 m
55 Pushups
Run 400 m
65 situps
x 3 rounds for time
I felt great! No ruck, no boots, no pants. I flew through the runs and made sure my nose was to the floor on the pushups and that my situps were solid. We took the top 3 times for each team and decided a winner.
This time it was McCallie by a landslide! Lets hope that the game will have the same outcome.
Oh, by the way, this thing goes in long streaks of winning or losing. McCallie had a 10 year run before Baylor beat us and then continued their streak for the last 7 years. This year, the game returns to McCallie for the first time in 25 years or so...needless to say, it is a big, big deal around here.
Good luck to both teams and I hope that no one is injured. With such an emotional game, it could go either way.
