Lincoln High Forfeits

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
As the townspeople gathered that night, all was not well
in their little prairie town. For nearly fifty years prior,
it had been but a corridor to the gold fields
of California. No one had wanted to tarry in what
was reputed to be the Great American Desert, a misnomer,
but nobody ever stayed long enough to disprove it. Some

(00:21):
did duped into thinking that the great salt basin on
the north side of their town would bring mineral riches.
It didn't, but they had no resources to keep moving,
so they stayed on a land that, although productive, was
subject to all of Mother Nature's whims too much or
too little rainfall, blizzards, temperatures soaring then plunging fires, rattlesnakes,

(00:46):
periodic grasshopper infestations, and Indian scares. Perhaps it was that
very adversity that somehow appealed to those hearty settlers. They
were dreamers. A review of those early times ended up
the colossal optimism of those early citizens who pledged an
obligation to education, even though their city had entered a

(01:08):
period of gloom and discouragement. The legislature had committed acts
of indiscretion which led many to believe their town was doomed.
The governor was impeached for the mishandling of school funds.
Whatever it was. A century and a half of events
were set in motion on that night, April fourth, eighteen

(01:31):
seventy one, the first ever gathering of the Lincoln, Nebraska
Board of Education. They would vote to borrow fifty thousand
dollars paid for by future taxes, to build Lincoln's first
high school. Then as now, it was known as Lincoln High.

(01:51):
Lincoln High dominated the news of that day, but oh
how far the school leaders have drifted from those early
quite confident but uncertain times. Sadly, their ancestors optimism was
not genetic. Lincoln High has been in the national discussion
for the last three days. It voluntarily, in advance of

(02:13):
a scheduled varsity football game against powerhouse Millard South, forfeited.
The football Links, who walk the halls with twenty one
hundred other kids each day this season, are a respectable
four and two. Yes, their losses have been blowouts, and
the Patriots are ranked among the nation's top twenty teams.

(02:34):
This week, they would likely deliver a healthy whipping tomorrow night,
but nowhere is it written in any rule book, are
on the side of any stadium in the world, that
this competition is to be played only if both sides
are even. In fact, just a mile or two from
the front steps of Lincoln High, these words are etched

(02:57):
in stone for all to see. Might have heard of them.
Not the victory but the action, not the goal, but
the game, in the deed the glory. It seems they
ought to be written in the principal's office in Lincoln High,
where he can see them. Called off the game because
he's afraid the Links are so outmanned. The remaining teenage

(03:18):
gladiators might suffer some irreversible physical trauma by playing an
albeit much better team. Statistically, those players have a better
chance of getting injured driving home than taking a hand
off or making a tackle. To me, the injury this
surrender will cause is much more critical. It infects the heart,

(03:40):
and infection no penicillin can fix. It may remain in
them for the rest of their lives. It's got a name.
It's called we your adult leaders gave up on you.
What must their classmates be thinking before and after practice?
Lincoln High is way up on the academics sc board

(04:01):
even though a high percentage of Lincoln High kids fall
below the poverty line. It's one of just three Nebraska
high schools hosting an International Baccalaureate academic sequence of extreme
academic challenge. Pretty impressive given such a high percentage of
links don't count English as their first language. In fact,

(04:22):
over thirty languages are spoken in those halls, and yet
the competition for academic championships is fierce. As one Lincoln
High kid put it, quote, if your grades are too high,
you aren't learning anything. Should find a harder class and
challenge yourself. It's a championship mentality that apparently reaches right

(04:44):
up to but not on the field. What must those
early Lincolnites be thinking, Well, how about this. We didn't
give up. What's your excuse?