When Excellence is Average

Last week I was walking my dog around our neighborhood and happened to pass our local high school's marquee.  The sign is fairly standard one with flashing, multicolored words and images, announcing the next ballgame or students' accomplishments or the teacher of the week.

What caught my eye was the announcement that one of the music ensembles received an "Excellent" contest rating and that this meant that it had risen to the distinction of earning "Sweepstakes." Being awarded Sweepstakes is a big deal in Texas. As I stopped to read through the several images that contained the announcement I thought to myself "Well done. Good job. You see, hard work and perseverance do pay off." This feeling of pride for the students and their directors was muted a bit as I read the last statement of the announcement "...37 years in a row!"


Question: After 37 years, might we assume that the band will receive Sweepstakes next year and the year after and the year after ...? So, logically speaking, if we can predict with almost certainty that this band will achieve the highest rating in the state and nothing higher because there isn't anything higher, then can we make a case for advertising that the band had an average year next year? After all, isn't average what you do most of the time? AND, if average is all this band will ever hope to be in the future, can't we think of something more productive to do with their time?


Just some thoughts.