ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 4, 1996 TAG: 9610040020
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
TYPE: COMMENTARY
SOURCE: RAY COX
Admittedly, our culture has coarsened.
Examples abound, the most obvious one being the bubble-the-paint-on-the-wall language that has invaded (and may one day overwhelm) everyday discourse. Yes friends, the age of gentility this ain't.
Should you doubt it, try to recall the last time you heard the words ``polite society.''
Even so, etiquette yet lives, albeit in an abbreviated form. As such, it is still traditional good manners to offer warm greetings to a new member of your club or organization.
It is still good form to introduce a newcomer to other members of the group; to offer your service to them; to make them feel welcome in every sense of the word.
Consider, then, the recent treatment received by a group of girls from the Salem area, newcomers to an association whose membership is based largely in the New River Valley.
These girls paid their first official visit to the area recently. Trouble developed almost at once.
For one thing, none of the new girls was ever allowed to proceed on her way. A local was always hurrying forward to block her path. The new girls were pushed. The new girls were tripped. The new girls were stepped on.
In sum, the new girls were not allowed to play the game they wanted to play.
Bad, isn't it?
Dreadful.
Ghastly.
Be that as it may, the new girls from Glenvar High were given an invaluable lesson about the basketball life in their new home, the Three Rivers District. The lesson was that when you play basketball with Floyd County High in a district-sanctioned game, you must play in the style the Buffaloes choose.
Of course, you can always object. Many have. They're still objecting. Little good has it done them.
They sob and moan. Floyd County's girls meanwhile polish the two state Group A trophies they've won the past three seasons and make room in the trophy case for another one.
Sobbing and moaning is not the Glenvar style. The Highlanders have a rich tradition of their own, the evidence being the 12-straight Pioneer District championships they won prior to their defection to the Three Rivers. Said departure was greeted by raucous celebrations at every outpost in the Pioneer. Behind closed doors, of course.
Their arrival in the Three Rivers, as luck and the schedule makers would have it, was earlier this week. The first stop was in the Floyd County gym.
The Highlanders were warmly received.
Floyd County's gunners scorched them for five three-pointers on their way to winning 64-40.
Glenvar coach Dennis Layman, a man known for his wit and charm, spent large portions of the proceedings glaring at, gesturing to and finally staring blankly toward the officiating crew.
``We expected this kind of game - lots of bodies flying,'' he said later.
He didn't need to say that he believed that his girls would have been better off with both feet on the ground. He also didn't need to say who he thought was responsible for allowing the game to progress to that lively stage.
Wisely, he let it go at that. Being a game official during boys' season, Layman could potentially face a situation in which he's riding to a game with a colleague that he'd ripped during girls' season and suddenly be called on to defend his position.
Glenvar will be fine before it's all over. Amy Layman, the coach's daughter, and Erica Hale are excellent players. The rivalry with Floyd County is certain to intensify.
``I think the rivalry really started during softball season,'' said Floyd County's Julie Sowers, who sank three 3-pointers against Glenvar. ``We had always heard how great Glenvar was in softball.''
No doubt, the Highlanders had heard plenty about the Buffaloes when they weren't actually playing them in the Region C tournament.
Yet perhaps they didn't realize how inhospitable Floyd County's girls could be to a new member of their club.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 linesby CNB