OPINION: Notes to newcomers about directions, county rivalry

Apr. 3—A couple of recent events reminded me that perhaps it's time for one of those columns that explain to newcomers how things are in Haywood County, including its cross-county rivalry.

Newcomers have likely been drawn here by the slower pace, the very friendly people and the natural beauty. It usually takes time (plus an interest in learning about their new community) to pick up on some of the finer points of being a Haywood County resident.

Here's a couple of things to pay attention to. First off, if you ask for directions, a native, or even a long-timer, will likely use landmarks as opposed street addresses. For instance, even though Walmart hasn't been at the site now occupied by Tractor Supply in 15 years, I've heard people say "it's down there by where Walmart used to be." The same with the "old hospital" or "the old Dayco plant."

Even in the newspaper business, we end up being less precise than we were trained to be and fall into the trap of assuming readers know the areas we're writing about.

A reminder to do better came in when a new reader said he's enjoying learning a lot about his new community through the newspaper, but wishes we'd have said, "the sheriff's office, 1650 Brown Ave." Point taken. We'll try to do better.

A second reminder that newcomers might not grasp is something that is at the very core of Haywood County — its cross-county rivalry when it comes to high school sports.

At a recent Canton board meeting, several residents expressed concerns about speeding on their street, and the ringleader became light-heartedly referred to as the "mayor of Trammel Avenue."

His wife even had a T-shirt made with his new title. The problem was, it was black and gold, the team colors of Pisgah's deepest rival, Tuscola High School.

Amid praise to the group for their activism in seeking a solution to their community problem, the Canton mayor remarked that he liked the fella's mayor shirt, but noted it was "the wrong color."

After the meeting when I was asking the group about their reaction to efforts the board was taking to address their concerns, I casually told the ringleader that the mayor "wasn't kidding when he mentioned the color of your shirt."

He had a rather blank look so I felt the neighborly thing to do was explain the breadth and depth of the cross-county sports rivalry — one that's been going on since high schools were built at the turn of the century.

The rivalry only deepened when seven high schools were consolidated into two with the construction of Pisgah and Tuscola in 1966. Tuscola's colors became gold and black; Pisgah's black and red.

I didn't go into all that background, but did point to the red sweater I was wearing and noted it's never a bad idea to wear red when you are in Pisgah nation.

I gathered he wasn't really grasping the community's sports scene, so pressed on. (This is the point where my husband, the Haywood native, would be dragging me off for talking too much had he been there.)

"Let me put it this way. Our grandchildren play basketball for a Pisgah feeder school. They are only in second grade, but already know that winning is all that matters," I explained.

I didn't get into the contrast between the recreation league where they started out and the school sports they were playing now, but they are as different as night and day. Recreation league games are about learning the game, rotating playing time, building confidence and learning sportsmanship. The ending score, if anything, is de-emphasized.

In school sports, it's the opposite, especially if playing a team that is a cross-county rival.

At elementary school games, the benchwarmers do get to play a quarter — but it is for eight minutes before the game starts, and the score doesn't count. At that point, the starters come in and the others on the team are there to watch and learn. If they keep practicing and get better, someday they will be able to join the lineup that gets play time.

The intense sporting competitiveness that starts at the elementary level and only deepens through the years continues on as they become wage-earners, homeowners and citizens in the county.

I'm not commenting on whether this is good or bad. It just is and might be something newcomers would like to know.