The Best Seat in the House

If you find yourself in almost any small town in America right after one of its high school teams has won a major sports championship, you’ll probably know about it. But what if someone was driving through Danville this week? Would it be obvious to a traveler that Boyle County was celebrating a state football championship? Strangely enough, the answer is no.

All those other towns would be coated with congratulatory messages spelled out on business signs, scrawled in storefront windows and displayed on banners. And all those things are missing here.

Boyle County and its fans are deservedly proud of the school’s sixth championship, and the support for the Rebels was reflected in the attendance at most of the team’s games, including the 4A championship in Bowling Green. Fans who were in the stadium and those who were listening on the radio or online went nuts as the Rebels rallied to beat Lone Oak in double-overtime, and a number of them joined the team for a postgame celebration later that night at the school.

Since then, it’s been pretty quiet. In the course of running errands early this week, I found only two businesses — both of them on Main Street — displaying “Go Rebels” signs that had been put up before the game. There weren’t any congratulatory messages in windowns or on messages boards around town — not even on the school’s own message board. I made three trips to the school to cover two basketball games and a wrestling match, and I found no signs inside the building, either, and no acknowledgement at any of those events.

Does it mean anything? Not really. It could be a sign that the town has gotten a little jaded now that its three high schools have combined for 16 state championships and two national championships, but that’s about it.
Still, it’s a little surprising — and frankly a little disappointing — that the buzz surrounding Title Town’s latest title faded away in a few short hours.

Here are two stories from other Kentucky newspapers worth reading from the aftermath of the state finals:

• Steve Cornelius of The Commonwealth Journal of Somerset reported after Somerset’s loss to Paducah Tilghman in the 3A final that former Briar Jumpers coach Jay Cobb, who resigned less than two weeks before the season, was in the press box with a set of headphones on and may have been assisting the Somerset staff led by interim coach Robbie Lucas, a former Lincoln County player and coach who was promoted when Cobb resigned.
• Chad Bishop of the Daily News of Bowling Green reported that Bowling Green officials considered the return of the state finals to that city for the first time since 1975 a success, with attendance up from the 2008 games in Louisville. The KHSAA is committed to Bowling Green for one more year, but don’t be surprised to see the finals there for several years to come.