Posted in reply to the post by Ted Pole:
Jeez, Barry, then what's with all the secrecy? Put a sign on the friggin' bus so we can cheer them on instead of cursing who these people are who are stopping traffic, keeping pedestrians from crossing the street and slowing the traffic following them out 116. It had the pace of a parade through town, but nobody knew what it was for. Except, apparently, Chief Weaver.
I hate to come across like a jerk, but really, who knew?
Oh, and by the way,
CONGRATS TO ANALY!
I passed along your comments to the Chief. Patrol cars will be arriving at your home shortly....
He sent me his comments which I have posted below with permission:
If they get this far in the playoff again, I'll see if the bus is equipped with an electronic sign that can let folks know who is on the bus.
A banner wouldn't work because they leave town and head directly to Highway 101.
We tried to keep the escort a secret from the kids, while at the same time letting as many folks know as possible.
So, we shared the information via the Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Association, and a "Nixle" alert, thinking the Student-Athletes wouldn't get the word that way.
And, there were e-mails between parents and other supporters. In fact, about 200'ish people were along the route.
I agree with the suggestion of finding a way to let folks know who is on board next time.
Thanks, Chief Weaver
P.S. - In answer to your question, they lost. It was a VERY close game. At times we were ahead. Toward the end of the game, we were only 2 points down (46 to 48), but we couldn't overcome their size. Their players were a bit taller than our guys, generally, so their reach and stride was longer. That's why our quarterback, Will Smith, who I don't think we intercepted EVER this season, got intercepted four times last night, all of which resulted in touchdowns for them. We played as hard and well as they did; they just had size which maximized their efforts. They won fair-and-square. Lots of tears after the came.