JUNIOR RAMS WIN STATE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP !!!

"We won the State (Championhip) when we was in junior high, Coach," bragged one of the Disroe kids to Red Eldridge one day at good old MTV High.

"You did? " deadpanned Coach Red.

"Where'd you play the game?"

"Rend Lake College."

"You mean all those Chicago teams travelled all the way to Rend Lake to play the game?"

"Naugh. There weren't any teams from that far away. We beat Marion," young Disroe replied.

What a disservice. And while Red may have been picking on the Disroe guy a little bit, there are people older and more sophisticated that believe the Junior Rams won all those State Titles.

You had to read the small print State Championship Class L xxxRegion to understand that in no way was that a state championship. But from Coach Thompson to Coach Rogers and all those in between, I never heard one of them downplay or dispute that it was a State Championship the Junior Rams won.

I can understand young boys and girls (heck, Courtney's 8th grade team won 3rd place in 1994 behind Rasheeda Love. Ok, Courtney scored 2) getting it wrong. Innocently, thinking it was the State. But adults, and I'm talking about adult fans, not just the former junior high coaches that believed the state tournament was the State Tournament. They should know better.

Sidebar: I'm reminded of former state champion, Anthony Thomas who later played for the Rams. As an eighth grader he was a 5'11" center. As a senior he was a 5'11" guard who was quick but not a good ball handler at all. But some townspeople remembered him as a star and wondered why he wasn't as successful under Coach Law.

Don't get me started.