"Boy, oh boy do I have a story to tell you! Guess what I heard? Did you hear about Š "

It is amazing what one can find out at a high school basketball game - even if all of the information gathered might not be true.

About a year ago I overheard two women talking at a high school basketball game. I will not mention the school that was playing and my two friends know who they are so I will not mention their names either.

They sure did have a lot too talk about though. I learned something that night - high school basketball games are a sporting event for many and a social event for others. For some, high school sporting events have replaced the proverbial water cooler at the office for the exchanging of rumors and gossip.

Recently, as in the past 10 days, I overheard some women talking at a basketball game. What I heard was a sad commentary on today's society. Apparently there is a hangout where young people go before, during and in between games to do things they should not be doing.

I sat in the student section for the second half of the varsity boys' game to see if I could get information to corroborate what I had heard.

The students must not think the hangout is that big of a deal, but they sure did have plenty to chat about and some of the gossip was a little frightening.

Most of the talk was about who is mad at who and why. The talk was your basic "teenage drama" as one of my buddies put it.

I did learn some interesting stuff, however, and even got some information for a possible story. Most of the information, however, was nothing more than gossip and rumors.

I promised the students sitting near and around me that I would not write about any of the stories I heard and I would not say who I was sitting next to at the game. Of course, it does not matter what I told them because I probably could not use their names anyway since they are minors.

I like to keep my promises and try my best to do so, but you never know what I or someone else might tell you at the next high school basketball game.

John Wallace is the sports editor of, and columnist for, The Andalusia Star-News.