Thumbs up to the Southwestern Trojans boys soccer team and Coach Mark Sleggs for a real-life example that it isn't always the winning of a game that imparts the most important lessons. Too, they have given life to the elegantly written dictum by sports writer Grantland Rice about the importance of how you play the game. With the Trojans playing in a challenging soccer league, Sleggs encourages the team members to lift each other up and stay positive when, well, the going gets tough.
The Trojans have won two in a row, and so in that respect, too, the gambit seems to be working.
And, of course, the SWCS boys soccer team members aren't the only athletes providing plenty of chances for spectators to cheer on their favorite teams. There are games and sporting events all over the county as high schools have swung into a full lineup of tennis, volleyball, soccer, football, swimming and cross-country competition. If you are interested in seeing the competition in person, we publish high school sports schedules as they come up throughout the week in our Sports section.
Thumbs up to the Jamestown Renaissance Corp. for tonight's presentation of the Paul Newman classic film "Cool Hand Luke" at 8 p.m. in the new Winter Garden outdoor plaza on North Main Street. The movie is free and you are invited to arrive an hour early to enjoy treats from Jones 212 Bakery and the Labyrinth Press Company.
Jason Stronz, executive director of the Renaissance Corp., reminds you that seating is on concrete steps or you are welcome to bring your own chair. If it's raining, he said, the movie likely will be shown in the Renaissance Center on Third Street.
Thumbs up to Ted Lundberg for giving back to an organization that gave him so much. Lundberg spent four years attending the YMCA's Fit for Life - a medically supervised wellness program held Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings. In thanks, he has donated a wheelchair to the Lakewood YMCA for use in case of sports injury or illness of clients while using the facility.
And, finally, please say this would not happen here:
The Richland School District in Johnstown, Pa., has scratched a production of the musical "Kismet" in February because a few members of a committee from the school say they heard complaints from, well, somebody that it comes too soon after the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
"Kismet," you see, is a Tony-award winning 1950s-era musical based on a 1911 play about a wily poet, his beautiful daughter. It is an Aladdin-style love story set in Baghdad more than 1,000 years ago. That's the problem. This thoroughly American musical is set in Baghdad and so the characters in it are Muslim.
We could not agree more with Ahmed Rehab of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. When asked by The Associated Press for a comment about the cancellation, he said that literature and the arts are some of the best ways to bridge gaps between people.
"And those in education ought to know that more than anyone," Rehab told the AP. "We're a country of immigrants. It doesn't stand true to our legacy as a nation. I think they need to reinstate the play."