DENVER -- OK, since SOME-body wen complain about my topic yesterday, JUS fo' YOU, I'll turn the attention back to high schools today ... even though I happen to be almost halfway across the country covering the nation's No. 1 sporting event of the week.

Seriously, though, I thought about this particular topic on Tuesday, but as I mentioned in a comment my first priority that night was to take care of stuff for the print edition and I was also wiped out from 3,500 or so miles of travel.

I also feared that the mere mention of a school beginning with the letter "P" would only ignite another round of bashing, trashing and deleting. Lord knows we have had way too much of that already.

Anyway, after landing in Colorado early Tuesday afternoon, I jumped on one of those "shared ride" shuttles to take me to my hotel downtown. Like other shuttles, this was a good deal at $12 one way but as usual, it also means other people will be dropped off before you.

But this time it wasn't so bad because there was only one other customer riding in the van, a late middle-aged guy who was giving me a brief overview of the Denver metropolis.

Without even knowing that my beat is high school sports (he knew I was a sports reporter), the guy started telling me about a high school near his house called Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village, Colo.).

He mentioned how they're a sports power, how the quarterback last season was Jack Elway (signed with Arizona State), how John Elway was an assistant coach for his son's team. The guy also said the school dominates in swimming, that former Olympic medalist Amy Van Dyken went there, that they just raised $100,000 for a new baseball stadium.

He mentioned how Sports Illustrated ranked Cherry Creek as one of the top sports high schools in the country.

As we took the off-ramp from the freeway, the guy even gave the driver an alternate route to his house so we could drive past this high school he was talking about.

"That way you can see Cherry Creek,” he said.

The school did look impressive, with a nice football stadium and all-weather track.

The guy then told me they have about 3,500 students (grades 9-12).

"It's a public school?” I asked.

"Yeah, public,” he said.

From all the previous descriptions, to me the school sounded a lot like Punahou. I mean, would you think John Elway -- Denver's greatest and wealthiest sports hero ever -- would send his kid to a public school?

But one thing good about traveling is it gives you a different perspective.

At most places on the Mainland, including the three metropolises I have lived in (Los Angeles, Miami and the Bay Area), most of the private schools are smaller and do not have dominant academic and sports programs compared to those in Hawai'i.

De La Salle was one exception, maybe St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) was another. Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.).

But in general, many of the high-profile schools I've seen on the Mainland are public. Like Long Beach Poly. Or Mira Costa (Manhattan Beach, Calif.).

So it makes me wonder what Mainland people would think if they were to read this blog and see all the heated debate over ILH vs. OIA, supposed biases and advantages and politics regarding private schools and the constant bashing of the school beginning with the letter "P.”

I'm guessing many would think, "What's the big deal?”

After all, it sounds like the "Punahou of Colorado” is a public school.

Imagine that.