Post by milwsport on Mar 7, 2011 23:41:15 GMT -6
Something happened at work today, something that hasn't happened for a long time.
I work at a non-profit that helps lift people out of poverty. It's hard to do this kind of work, you hear so many stories of woe, of desperation to find a way to pay the bills. But when the Panthers are doing well, it's a little easier.
Today, there was something different in the air. Many of our staff members went to UWM, so as I walked around to do my program business my greeting of "Go Panthers," was met with an instant smile and response.
You wouldn't know from the game attendance, but for much of this city, it's okay when the Badgers or MU wins, but the team they really identify with are the Panthers. When our team does well, they walk a little lighter, smile a little more easily. I saw that today at work even from people who have never gone to a game or even taken a course at UWM.
We talk a lot on here about attendance but sometimes I think we need to understand that many of the people who identify with us struggle to hold down two jobs, keep the kids on the straight and narrow, keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. After all that, going to a game, any game just isn't possible.
Their identification goes much deeper than the word Milwaukee on the jersey. It's the school they went to, or that they sent their daughters and sons to. Or it's the school they hope their children will one day attend.
It's the school that opened its arms and welcomed Milwaukee students, who had no other place to go, teaching them, molding them, helping them to create countless special moments in their work and with their families.
They know we're not a big money program with tons of big names. It's a program that has to stretch resources beyond what they should be stretched to. They can identify with that too. When the Panthers do well, they get the idea that they can too.
Many people think that college athletics is about the student experience, getting recognition for the school and getting donations. That's part of it and for some schools that's all of it.
But I think that here it's something more. To all those people, who far too often have settled because they didn't think they could do better, this team, has said "Yes you can." That's a message that gets louder and stronger with every win, the Panthers rack up.
I loved the Sweet 16 year, but in truth I love this year even better. This was a team written off by many. Yet these men dug deep inside themselves and righted the ship. That was an incredibly hard thing to do.
That's a teaching moment for many in our city. It says "Don't ever settle, don't ever stop trying. Believe in yourself even if no one else does."
With all this university does for this community, it can't teach anything more important than that. That lesson is worth more than any of the other benefits that can and will come from the success of this season.
I don't know what the attendance will be tomorrow, but I do know that throughout this city, thousands of people, who can't make it, will be listening on their radios and watching on their TV's.
They'll cheer every basket we make. They'll groan over every foul called on us. Some of them will look at their own sons and tell them that if they work hard, one day they could be wearing the Black and Gold and have a city rooting for them.
No matter what happens tomorrow night, this team has done an incredible service to a community badly in need of a lift. It has sent a needed message that crosses the barriers that so often divide us.
Thank you staff, thank you players. You've made more people than you realize proud that you represent them.
GO PANTHERS
I work at a non-profit that helps lift people out of poverty. It's hard to do this kind of work, you hear so many stories of woe, of desperation to find a way to pay the bills. But when the Panthers are doing well, it's a little easier.
Today, there was something different in the air. Many of our staff members went to UWM, so as I walked around to do my program business my greeting of "Go Panthers," was met with an instant smile and response.
You wouldn't know from the game attendance, but for much of this city, it's okay when the Badgers or MU wins, but the team they really identify with are the Panthers. When our team does well, they walk a little lighter, smile a little more easily. I saw that today at work even from people who have never gone to a game or even taken a course at UWM.
We talk a lot on here about attendance but sometimes I think we need to understand that many of the people who identify with us struggle to hold down two jobs, keep the kids on the straight and narrow, keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. After all that, going to a game, any game just isn't possible.
Their identification goes much deeper than the word Milwaukee on the jersey. It's the school they went to, or that they sent their daughters and sons to. Or it's the school they hope their children will one day attend.
It's the school that opened its arms and welcomed Milwaukee students, who had no other place to go, teaching them, molding them, helping them to create countless special moments in their work and with their families.
They know we're not a big money program with tons of big names. It's a program that has to stretch resources beyond what they should be stretched to. They can identify with that too. When the Panthers do well, they get the idea that they can too.
Many people think that college athletics is about the student experience, getting recognition for the school and getting donations. That's part of it and for some schools that's all of it.
But I think that here it's something more. To all those people, who far too often have settled because they didn't think they could do better, this team, has said "Yes you can." That's a message that gets louder and stronger with every win, the Panthers rack up.
I loved the Sweet 16 year, but in truth I love this year even better. This was a team written off by many. Yet these men dug deep inside themselves and righted the ship. That was an incredibly hard thing to do.
That's a teaching moment for many in our city. It says "Don't ever settle, don't ever stop trying. Believe in yourself even if no one else does."
With all this university does for this community, it can't teach anything more important than that. That lesson is worth more than any of the other benefits that can and will come from the success of this season.
I don't know what the attendance will be tomorrow, but I do know that throughout this city, thousands of people, who can't make it, will be listening on their radios and watching on their TV's.
They'll cheer every basket we make. They'll groan over every foul called on us. Some of them will look at their own sons and tell them that if they work hard, one day they could be wearing the Black and Gold and have a city rooting for them.
No matter what happens tomorrow night, this team has done an incredible service to a community badly in need of a lift. It has sent a needed message that crosses the barriers that so often divide us.
Thank you staff, thank you players. You've made more people than you realize proud that you represent them.
GO PANTHERS