Not only as a proud athlete for Lyons Township, but also as a proud student, I hate Hinsdale Central. I hate the school as much as the next guy, but I love the rivalry. It does amazing things for our school. It forces us to work harder in terms of school spirit and as individuals, both inside and outside of the classroom. Most notably, the rivalry transcends into student athletics.

As each season moves into full swing, Lyons Township is offered multiple opportunities to go head-to-head with its closest rival and hopefully obtain bragging rights. The only problem is: the most anticipated games don’t always go our way and often times leave us embarrassed.

I’ll take Lyons Township over Hinsdale Central until the day I die, but I think that the student body should support all of our athletic teams regardless of their opponent. Don’t get me wrong, I love the hype and the school spirit that goes into our competitions against Central, but what does that accomplish when we lose? It almost makes us look childish.

This year, the biggest crowd at a Lyons Township football game was when the team took on Central. All week I listened to players rant about how Hinsdale was going to get destroyed and about how our team was going to bring home a win, but to their disbelief, LT was defeated by the Devils, 37-23.

The biggest crowd in attendance at a Lyons Township boys soccer game was when the team took on Hinsdale Central in the IHSA Sectional Semi-Final game at Bennett Field, where the team lost, 1-0. This was the second time that the team lost to Hinsdale last season, yet the game still drew the biggest crowd.

And now, in the height of the winter athletics season, the hype has transitioned to the boys basketball team, which took on the Red Devils at Hinsdale on Jan. 9. Unsurprisingly, the biggest Lyons Township student section at a game so far this season was at this game. I listened to chatter about the game for weeks in advance, and while I was hoping for a win, I was never entirely sure that LT would be victorious. Yet again this year, the Lions were defeated 66-57 at Hinsdale, despite the massive support from the student body. How can we make such a big deal about the game when we can’t even be sure that we are going to win?

And to make matters worse, the boys basketball team was scheduled to play Hinsdale Central during the same season that both the boys wrestling team and the girls gymnastics team were scheduled to compete against the Devils. How is it fair that on the morning of Jan. 6, before school, we can listen to announcements telling the student body to come out and show its spirit at the basketball game on Friday, even giving it a theme, when nobody even acknowledges the wrestling team or the girls gymnastics team?

Last season, the wrestling team was victorious over Hinsdale in the dual meet at home, and already this season, the team has placed higher than Hinsdale at the Barrington Invitational, which LT won, and at Hinsdale’s own Invitational, in which LT finished fourth. The girls gymnastics team has shared similar success. Last season in its competition against the Red Devils at home, the team was victorious, beating the Devils 149.2 to 130.65. LT took on Hinsdale at Hinsdale on Jan. 19 and was also victorious 142.90 to 138.80.

Perhaps I’m biased, but these should both be sporting events that are hyped up. Competitions like these shouldn’t be forgotten, and in my opinion should get just as much attention as the football game or the soccer game received, or that the basketball game is now receiving.

It’s a sad reality that all of our teams aren’t supported equally, especially against our school’s rival. And it’s even more upsetting when the teams that are overlooked and not acknowledged are the teams winning.

The student body should find a way to support all teams, because the added support of the screaming fans can often have a bigger effect than one would think. And it shouldn’t take our conference rival to draw a huge crowd at the games because a lot of times, its the smaller competitions that matter the most.