Recently in the Rants and Raves column, a contributor noted that he or she held several academic degrees, promoted academic excellence but still enjoyed high school sports.

In other words, he pointed out that one can see the value of both — that it did not have to be one or the other.

A good portion of our public follows this logic, given the crowds that show up on Friday night for football games.

Promoting athletics does not mean that one abandons academics.We have had many examples of scholar/athletes.

At a time when we are being told repeatedly that childhood obesity is in epidemic proportions, certainly we would not want to abandon physical activities.

Again we must point out that the public decides which sports are the most popular in terms of gate receipts and promotion. That’s a natural occurrence, not one determined by boards and formulas.

As well, you will find many sports fans who also are academic fans. And on many occasions, academic prowess among our youth has been highlighted on the front pages of this newspaper. Knowledge is indeed available if one chooses to pursue it. Obviously, support from parents and mentor organizations increases a youngster’s chances exponentially in the realm of academia.

We have numerous mentors in our community, and if we look for a parallel in promoting success, then maybe we could refer to them as an academic booster club.

No doubt there are some who see only academics as being important while others may dwell upon athletics. But we can be assured that there are many who see the beauty of both worlds and promote them accordingly.