Speaking of Sports

By John Fragodt, Sports Reporter

It’s tough to fail when expectations are so great.  It’s a lot easier to miss out on something that wasn’t expected, but that’s the price of success; expectations increase and frustration and disappointment can also become greater when expectations are not met.  Expectations are also a good thing to have though, because it means you’ve had some success and people just expect that you’ll have more.

I’ve been thinking about the Minnewaska Area cross-country program and how disappointed it was for the girls team to miss out on a trip to state by the slightest of margins.  If the Lakers had been a mediocre team, it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but because they are a great team and because they’ve done it before, the expectations were greater and when Minnewaska Area failed to place second or first, the disappointment was also very great.

The Lakers’ top two runners beat out the top two runners from WDC, but WDC’s main pack of four runners was able to stay ahead of the Lakers’ main pack, giving WDC just enough points to edge the Lakers.  Running within a pack is one of the strategies for cross-country teams and WDC did it perfectly.

It was the second-straight season Minnewaska left the section meet disappointed after also placing third at the 2022 meet.  The Lakers qualified their team to the State Cross-Country meet in 2021, but expectations grow when you have success; not only the team, but for the entire community and school as well.

•  At Benson High School, the expectations weren’t as great as they could have been for many sports.  The boys basketball team had 15-straight losing seasons going into the 2003-04 season, but then went 14-9 and had a first-round playoff game at home.  My boys were a freshman and sophomore during that season.

The next three years we went 22-4, 22-5 and 20-10, playing in three-straight Section 3AA title games and advancing to state in 2005-06.  The expectations increased greatly during those years, but my boys didn’t mind because they also loved winning.  Of course, when they did lose, the disappointment was huge, but that was one of the prices they paid for success.

•  With the main runners on the Minnewaska girls’ cross-country team being sophomores or younger, the expectations will continue to grow in the next few years, but that’s a good thing because it also means the program has had a lot of success and “expects” success in the future.  The alternative is to have no success and so, there really are no expectations for success going into the future.

•  The Minnewaska Area volleyball team also experienced this as the Lakers have had great success over the last two years with a team mainly keyed by seniors.  Well, the expectations were a little more this year and so, when the team lost a couple of early matches, there was disappointment.  And, when the team was knocked out in the quarterfinal round of the section tourney, there was major disappointment. 

Expectations can mean more pressure and more stress for the athletes and coaches, but it also means the program has had success and everyone expects that success to continue.  Expectations can also help make teams better because it makes the student-athletes and coaches work harder and it forces them to raise their personal expectations.

I see talent all around at Minnewaska Area High School and I can’t wait to cover the student-athletes in the coming years.   However, because of all the talent, the expectations will also increase; but remember, that’s a good thing because you know the alternative.