Lousy basketball vs. great chess... Who gets $$$?

Here's a story from The Columbus Dispatch as picked up by the AP wire.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A scrappy bunch of teenage chess whizzes are taking down some of the country’s best players in national competitions, all without financial backing from their school. The chess club at Columbus Alternative High School gets by on grants and other donations, plus an irreverent team spirit typified by a school adviser who is more interested in golf. ... The teenagers dominated the 2006 National K-12 Championship in December, a competition held in Florida that was sponsored by the U.S. Chess Federation.The school’s 10th-grade team members were crowned national champs, the 11th-grade team placed fourth and the seniors took third place. Only two other high schools — one from Evanston, Ind., and another from Miami — placed three or more teams in the top 15. The competition is fierce, and it’s rare for one school to do so well at several grade levels, said Jerry Nash, who oversees school competitions for the federation. ... The club has about 15 members. ... In a budget move last year, Columbus Public Schools stopped funding chess clubs and paying for coaches. ... The players at Columbus Alternative, a magnet school offering college preparatory classes and no league sports, are gearing up for their next big national competition, in April in Kansas City, Mo. ...

Okay, I admit, I was a chess player in high school and college. I was nowhere near what you would call an athlete, although I held my own at the neighborhood basketball court. But you have to wonder why Columbus high schools put bad basketball teams on the court this year and tell national-caliber chess players to go fend for themselves.

No, you don't have to wonder.

If anyone out there cares, 1 P-K4
If 1 ... P-K4 or 1 ... P-QB4; then 2 N-KB3
If 1 ... P-K3, then 2 P-Q4