Spring sports… a cure for senior-itis?

You already know what it's about. Or, if you're too young to have experienced it yet, you will.

It hits every high school like the common cold. Symptoms begin to appear right around spring break, when 17- and 18-year-old students contract a sudden case of senior-itis.

There really are no official signs that diagnose senior-itis. It's brought on by natural causes and affects just about every senior in varying forms of severity.

It's the high school equivalent of a lame duck presidency. Four years have nearly come and gone. New horizons loom. Like a one-sided game in the waning minutes, there's a natural tendency to "play out the string" with a little less gusto.

Like a stage winner in the Tour de France, seniors have nearly completed a long ride. Now they're taking their hands off the handlebars, raising them into the air and coasting to the finish line of graduation where cameras and kisses await.

It's almost as if once spring break begins, it never ends…

Wait a second! That mentality goes against everything we've taught them. Shouldn't we expect students to demand the best from themselves, no matter what the pursuit? Haven't they learned that hard work and earnest effort are everyday expectations?

They have. And we've taught them well. But once again, athletics help reinforce the creed of dedication, which is why I'm prescribing spring sports as a cure for senior-itis.

Take one sport daily for these final two months and senior-itis will be tempered. Playing sports during these dwindling days of their prep careers helps student-athlete graduates end high school with a spring in their step and motivation in their minds.

Here's why -- any athlete worth his or her ability doesn't attend daily practice with the intention of just "going through the motions." Not a chance. Even for student-athletes whose GPA is secure and whose college plans are set, their "auto-pilot" button is disabled if they're connected with sports.

In the spirit of competition, pride prevails. It's an infectious mind set that carries over from the spring fields to the classroom. Just as you wouldn't let down your teammates, nor would you or should you shortchange yourself.

Whether this year's seniors are involved in baseball, softball, track, tennis, volleyball, badminton -- name your sport -- they're not letting off the accelerator. It's full throttle to the finish line, figuratively and literally. Because sports are a microcosm of life. Both demand a commitment to excellence.

And, believe me, if you ran track for Dennis Piron at Batavia or played softball for Greg Dierks at Geneva, senior-itis wouldn't be a factor. These coaches bring such energy and enthusiasm to their sport that an athlete can't help but strive to achieve even more with each passing day.

They help make the high school version of "senior moments" memorable.

Gone, not forgotten:ŒA tip of the hat to longtime Aurora Christian coach Don Davidson, who retired Friday after 31 years as the school's head basketball coach.

Davidson -- as fine a man as you'll ever meet -- pioneered the boys' basketball program in 1977. I was privileged to begin my association with Don in the mid-1980s, covering his teams at AC's little crackerbox warehouse of a gym on Illinois Avenue in Aurora.

The "Eagles Nest" was the site of 80 consecutive home wins over a nine-year stretch from 1988 to 1997, a streak that ranks second best in state history (Benet, 102). Aurora Christian was a perennial Class A powerhouse for most of those years and beyond, featuring outstanding players like Marc Davidson, Joe Mann and Matt Nadelhoffer.

But what I'll remember (and miss) most about Don is his class and dignity. He was calmly competitive and demanding, yet always gracious and kind. Every player who came through his program came out a better person. But he didn't just coach basketball teams. He turned impressionable young athletes into leaders and role models, and instilled in them the faith, character and confidence that develops boys into honorable men.

Thanks for your contributions Don. Your impact on us all will forever inspire.