Tomorrow, I’m giving a talk about why I think St. Michael’s is better at athletics than Santa Fe High. I’ve been thinking about any reasons why I would think it; St. Michael’s has won several state championships across several different sports in the last 10 years, while Santa Fe high has only won three, one for girl’s basketball and the other two coming in for cheerleading. I’m not sure if that’s a great measure; and I’m not sure I can say, definitively that St. Michael’s is better than Santa Fe high at athletics.
I can say, however, that comparing the 2 schools isn’t really fair. Now, I’m quite biased towards St. Mike’s; as an alum and as a current parent of a St. Mike’s student, I have a very warm and fond association with my alma mater. But, over the last week, I’ve been asking various people around town, most of whom are SF High graduates, if they’re aware of their alumni association and they’ve ALL said, “There’s a Santa Fe High alumni association?” I think their response speaks volumes about the difference between the schools.
St. Mike’s has something going for it that Santa Fe High doesn’t: The sense of historic community. Pictures of past graduating classes hang on the walls at St. Mike’s and many, MANY alumni send their children to St. Mike’s, even if doing so requires financial sacrifice. Plus, excellence isn’t preached as “potential” at St. Mike’s: It’s EXPECTED. When I look at the stands at football games, there’s boosters and alumni in attendance and, while more people turn out to root for the Demons when they face the Horsemen, there’s very little fan support, especially for the football team. The rivalry between the Horsemen and the Demons is a draw, but I think what many people don’t know is that EVERY game is a rivalry game for St. Mike’s in EVERY sport. For whatever reason, the Block M draws a lot of anger from opposing teams and so St. Mike’s has to be ON ALL THE TIME.
So, for starters, there are my three (3) reasons why I perceive St. Mike’s to be better at athletics than Santa Fe High: 1) Community; 2) A culture of excellence; and, 3) The Horsemen have to be at their best because they’re EVERYONE’s “Super Bowl.” Santa Fe High simply does not have those three things going for them and so, in my heavily biased opinion, don’t really have to be as good.
