Wildcats update

This one's not about a person, but rather the actual Wildcats. The 2006 Libertyville football squad is off to another good start. With nearby Carmel also state-ranked (and now in class 7A thanks to the state's enrollment multiplier for private schools), this could be the year we get that much-anticipated Cats-Fudgies playoff game.

Anyway, having been to a few LHS games in recent years, I can attest that the environment keeps getting better. Of course, the team is a lot better than it was in '95 and '96, so some of the improved atmosphere is to be expected.

But don't take my word for it. Take it from the Waukegan News-Sun, which doesn't go so far as to give us the name of the writer of this column.

Anyway, the thing that got me thinking about 2003 was seeing how much fun the current Libertyville High students were having at Friday night's game.

It really was 2003 all over again.

There is a spirit and a creativity for football at Libertyville High that you rarely see at the high school level.

Back in 2003, the Wildcats' signature was a flock of plastic pink flamingos on the sidelines, with each flamingo representing a team that Libertyville had defeated.

This year, there's the Spirit Spear, in which a stuffed animal representing a conquered opponent is stuck onto the spear.

So far, the spear includes a bronco from Barrington, a huskie from Naperville North, and a bulldog from Grant.

Read it all here.