SEO ATHLETICS (Great job when put in perspective)

[FANOSPORTS]

Over the years the SE district teams in sports in general have been more competitive than most in the rest of the state give us credit for but they don't think logically. Let's just take the 4 corners of the district in some of our bigger cities with Marietta (east), Chillicothe (west), Portsmouth (south) and Zanesville (north). All the above are old town's as Marietta was the 1st settlement in the Northwest territory, Chillicothe the 1st Capital of Ohio, Portsmouth was the biggest industrial center between Pittsburgh-Cincinnati and Zanesville was a pottery & brick center. These 4 high schools alone have been to the State tournament 38 times in basketball , winning 8 titles and being runners-up 6 times. None of these cities have a skyscraper, fortune 500 company headquarters, multiple factories , plants or hospitals that employ thousands of people, mass transit systems, professional sports teams or airline service. In the population perspective alone SEO has 300,000 compared to 1.1M(NWO), 1.7M(SWO), 2.1M(CENTRAL) and 4.5M(NEO). The state gov't in most cases from what i've seen totally ignores SEO when talking about bringing new white collar or manufacturing jobs to the state and the excuse is usually location, economics, access and infrastructure with the outlier being when they want prisons and correctional facilities . The area as a whole will continue to lose population as it has in the past 40 years partly due to the demise of the Railroads, Uranium plant, Steel plants, Coal mines, Tire & Rubber companies, Chemical companies and large scale retail businesses etc. but there is a proud and sometimes hardscrabble interwoven work ethic, community & school spirit history in the river and hill communities in SEO which I don't think a lot of people from the largely populated areas of the state understand as they've never lived it. Friday night lights is real in SEO during football season and it switches to Tuesday with a few Saturdays thrown in during basketball season. Doctors, Lawyers, Electricians, Pipefitters, Nurses, Teachers, Crane Operators, Office workers, Retired, Unemployed, etc. attending for a little R&R. The Southeast district may not win a lot of State titles in sheer numbers overall compared to the rest of the state in high school sports but they'll show up and compete with what they've got with the whole community behind them and every now and then from the smallest hamlet to the biggest city we have, that clock will strike "0:00" and surprise the other 9.3 million people in the state. I'm proud of my origins in SEO !!!!!

[pfloyd]

... well said ... I'm proud of my roots , the competitive WILL to win that I have from growing up having to EARN everything I have ... do I wish the powers that be would advocate for getting some "living wage" industries back into SEO - absolutely BUT as you pointed out if there aren't votes to be had - the political clout will always give only lip service to those of us Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line while putting OUR money to work for them elsewhere in the state ...

[VetteMan]

Over the years the SE district teams in sports in general have been more competitive than most in the rest of the state give us credit for but they don't think logically. Let's just take the 4 corners of the district in some of our bigger cities with Marietta (east), Chillicothe (west), Portsmouth (south) and Zanesville (north). All the above are old town's as Marietta was the 1st settlement in the Northwest territory, Chillicothe the 1st Capital of Ohio, Portsmouth was the biggest industrial center between Pittsburgh-Cincinnati and Zanesville was a pottery & brick center. These 4 high schools alone have been to the State tournament 38 times in basketball , winning 8 titles and being runners-up 6 times. None of these cities have a skyscraper, fortune 500 company headquarters, multiple factories , plants or hospitals that employ thousands of people, mass transit systems, professional sports teams or airline service. In the population perspective alone SEO has 300,000 compared to 1.1M(NWO), 1.7M(SWO), 2.1M(CENTRAL) and 4.5M(NEO). The state gov't in most cases from what i've seen totally ignores SEO when talking about bringing new white collar or manufacturing jobs to the state and the excuse is usually location, economics, access and infrastructure with the outlier being when they want prisons and correctional facilities . The area as a whole will continue to lose population as it has in the past 40 years partly due to the demise of the Railroads, Uranium plant, Steel plants, Coal mines, Tire & Rubber companies, Chemical companies and large scale retail businesses etc. but there is a proud and sometimes hardscrabble interwoven work ethic, community & school spirit history in the river and hill communities in SEO which I don't think a lot of people from the largely populated areas of the state understand as they've never lived it. Friday night lights is real in SEO during football season and it switches to Tuesday with a few Saturdays thrown in during basketball season. Doctors, Lawyers, Electricians, Pipefitters, Nurses, Teachers, Crane Operators, Office workers, Retired, Unemployed, etc. attending for a little R&R. The Southeast district may not win a lot of State titles in sheer numbers overall compared to the rest of the state in high school sports but they'll show up and compete with what they've got with the whole community behind them and every now and then from the smallest hamlet to the biggest city we have, that clock will strike "0:00" and surprise the other 9.3 million people in the state. I'm proud of my origins in SEO !!!!!

Very good Post!

[Pa Trojan]

outstanding post!! Have lived in many states. no comparison to the Community pride of Friday nights during the fall in Southern Ohio

[trojandave]

FANOSPORTS: Outstanding post that is also very real.......unfortunately many of our native people have left beautiful SE Ohio for opportunities that our part of the state doesn't offer......and in return few come from other parts of the Ohio and region to relocate here. Nevertheless there is a battle cry that is heard throughout this part of the state......."WE WILL SURVIVE"!!

The city of Portsmouth is not nearly the hubbub that is used to be, with the decline of population, the demise of its once thriving industrial base, and the negativity which is well publicized.......but I am and always will be a very proud native son of my home city. There's a lot of good that happens in Portsmouth but positive things don't generate as many headlines as does the negative side of living here.

When you consider the number of state championships or state contenders in various sports in our part of the state per capita, I think SE Ohio does pretty well.