Bulldog Blog: Dawg Pound is Barking at “The Herd”

We’ve all seen those high school movies where the cross-town rivals don’t get along. And right now, between Lower Merion and Harriton High Schools’ right here in our backyard, there is a new battle brewing. But this time it’s not about the players on the courts, it's all about the fans.

I’ve referred to the “Dawg Pound” a few times here in my articles, that’s the group of students at Lower Merion who make up shirts and chants for our basketball team. It’s a tradition that has continued since 1996, that’s a pretty long time when you think of it, so when some students heard about Harriton (the “cross-town” rival”) starting something called “The Herd” they were pretty upset.

LM students believe that Harriton is doing it to be like Lower Merion and kids at LM have a few problems but one BIG problem is: Harriton’s basketball team, is incomparable to Lower Merion’s and the legacy that follows (you know who).

Sophomore at Lower Merion, Julie Reiff, who is an athlete herself, says “LM prides itself on our school spirit and now our rivals are trying to have the same school spirit? It just makes no sense.” She’s referring to how Harriton made shirts and even Facebook groups advertising to “get excited over Harriton basketball.”

Some students, like Emily Seidman think it’s all just to “get under our skin and start more drama.” But the man at the center of this battle is school president and Dawg Pound leader Kyle Peters and he believes “that all of Harriton's attempts at trying to outdo LM will fail.”

What does the actual team think? Lower Merion Aces coach, Gregg Downer told me, he couldn't care less.


Brady McHale is a sophomore at Lower Merion High School. He blogs about high school life and the stories affecting kids in our area.

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