Dear Mr. Van Brimmer

If you read yesterday's paper, you saw this article by sports columnist Adam Van Brimmer. Calvary program will soon infringe on public schools' turf.

Below is the letter I sent to Mr. Van Brimmer in response to his unsubstantiated claim that Calvary has the best private school basketball program.

December 23, 2008

Dear Mr. Van Brimmer:

I am writing in response to your article entitled Calvary program will soon infringe upon public schools’ turf. In the article you insinuate that Calvary’s basketball team, a private school team, can go toe-to-toe with the elite public school basketball teams in Savannah. This is based on a 13-point loss to Windsor Forest and a 20-point win over a 2-6 Johnson squad in the Savannah Holiday Classic.

I don’t understand how Calvary can be chosen over Benedictine as the private schools’ best hope to capture some of the city’s basketball spotlight, which has long been dominated by the likes of Savannah High and Beach. Keep in mind that Calvary also lost to Windsor Forest back in November by 14 points. Meanwhile, Benedictine has played Windsor Forest twice as well, winning the first game by 9 points and losing the rematch by 1 point on a last-second bucket.

Calvary did perform better against Johnson than Benedictine did, winning by 20 points, compared to a 4-point win for the Cadets. However the numbers don’t lie. Comparing the performances against similar public school opponents, Benedictine is 2-1 with a +14 point differential. Calvary is 1-2 with a -7 point differential.

Now, which team looks like a more formidable challenger to the public school teams?

Respectfully,
Snuffy P. Smith