elhector1

[quote name="mical" post="1135974" timestamp="1322707256"] HJ has had a very successful youth football program for at least the last 5 years.  Our kids have played in the STJFL league and currently play in Lone Star league.  Many of our kids have a great passion for football, and excel in the sport.  My son and many of his friends have played football since they were 6 years old. Hopefully our program will be turned around soon. [/quote] The seeds have been planted, HJ, it's up to you fans to grow the crop!

[quote name="bullets13" post="1135315" timestamp="1322661057"] the sentence structure of the article made me feel like i was reading an essay by either an 8th grader or one of those English-speaking Indians that you get when you try to get customer support on the phone. [/quote] The folks from India at least have an excuse...English is their second language, or even third.  This "writer" was educated in the US, possibly at Bullard.  As to "homerism", there are papers that practice it everywhere.  The way it was written though, sounds like it's a girl whose boyfriend plays for the team.

True...my points were more aimed at the original letter writer, who thinks the fans deserve a steak and lobster football program when their fan support has been bread and water thin.  Speechless begs to differ, but even speechless has said as much about the support.  I don't beleive speechless supports the letter writer, is a supporter of ALL H-J sports, but is defending the fine folks of the area.  Understandable, but those same fine folks need to get behind their football kids by being out there, being loud and proud, no matter the record. You will see improvement, because at that time, those kids will see their efforts being appreciated.

[quote name="speechless" post="1134659" timestamp="1322599317"] so 3K show up for a football game but 300 for a basketball game....you see my point now....does that mean Vidor only uses basketball to "pass the time" between football and baseball? [/quote] How about the stands in a gym are much smaller and crowded than a football stadium?  300 is a lot of folks.  Vidor supports their kids.  As you have said, HJ doesn't support their football team.  Vidor had more people going to watch basketball in a smaller venue, than HJ did in a stadium that holds 3 times as much.  You're losing the argument, and HJ's purposes would be better served if you led the way for the fans...In a way you already are, but some folks aren't supportive.  Those people are usually the first to complain...

[quote name="86hawk" post="1134430" timestamp="1322586020"] what difference does it make if it is the 8th or 9th game of the season or the 3rd game of the season?  I went to the Splendora game, about 1.5 or 2 hours away from Sour Lake.  HJ fan support was dismal.  The school bus drivers, a few parents, the principal and crickets.. i could be wrong, but HJ was 1-1 going into that game.  Where was all the support you speak of?  Back to my point, the community and students are not behind the program.  Again, back in the 80's, we would travel to all the away games.  It was not just a few, but a bunch.  It used to be the thing to do on Fridays.  Load up and go to the game.  Now, not so much.  I am not bagging on the football program or the coaches, i am bagging on the lack of support for the two. I am glad you, speechless, support the program.  what about your neighbors and others in the HJ community? [/quote] Excellent post!

[quote name="speechless" post="1134381" timestamp="1322582091"] I was not referring to you when I spoke of people not living nearby. [/quote] Ah...point taken as well.  Thank you!

Ah...you surmise that since I don't have a local community icon as my avatar, I don't live in a "nearby city"...so much for surmising.     I live in Orange, my kids graduated from LC-M.  I have lost my voice numerous times in both winning and losing efforts.  My oldest played football up to JV, and decided he was occupying a spot that someone with more talent could occupy.  I still went to football games.  My middle son played varsity baseball for Coach Griff...I still went to football games.  My daughter is not a sports kind of kid in high school...I still go to football games.      I coached for the Orange County Flag Cobras, the Pop Warner organization here in Orange.  I have had the honor of coaching  several college athletes, in addition to one NFL one, all as little kids, with my coaching having nothing to do with their success or failure.  The community decided that.  The same community that gave a Mexican kid like me the chance to coach regardless of my lack of intricate football knowledge, the sam community that supported kids no matter the record.  This is also the same community that had a few folks that wouldn't go to a game to see their own children play, and it was heart breaking.  I know of at least one kid that was talented enough to go far ay WO-S and college, but didn't, because he had no support from the people that mattered.     In the same way, according to your own description, HJ fans won't give support to their football team until it wins first.  Again, your words, not mine.  They jump ship when things get tough.  I may not be a big PN-G fan, but I see them going to home and away games regardless of record.  THAT is they type of support HJ football needs, THAT is the type of support ANY program need, no matter where you live.  To a high school football team, the people that matter are the community, not just their parents.  You yourself said the community doesn't support them.  A community deserves a winner if they help to build it.  By your own words, HJ fans haven't done that for their football team.  I don't need to be there to understand it.  You are there, and you described it.  Point taken.

[quote name="speechless" post="1134327" timestamp="1322579107"] I have said this before....[b][color=red]you base a community's level of support by how many people show up to a week 9 road game at the end of a 1-9 season[/color][/b]?  Seriously? HJ excels in many other areas of school related activities.  I don't list them because I am not here to get into a pissing match about accomplishments. Bottom line, you don't live in the community so you have no idea what the level of support really is.  When you win, people show up...when you don't...they don't and that is true of any sport and any school. [/quote] There are several terms for what you have described...fair weather fans, t-shirt fans, band wagon jumpers, etc., et. al. I define ANY community that cares about it's kids as fans if they are there for the 1st game or the last, regardless of the record.  This is not HJ specific.  This is simple psychology.  I have coached young teams,  and while it is true that success on the Pop Warner field does not always translate to success on the high school or college field, I will tell you that kids look up into the stands.  They look for their parents and siblings, their relatives, their friends, their classmates, and the community at large.  They know when there is caring there, and kids recognize when people don't give a crap.  (Sorry mods, have to make a point, but correct away, I understand why you need to.)  HJ suffers from a bad case of band wagon jumpers.  You just pointed that out with the portion of your post I highlighted.  Your words, not mine.  Maybe if the community went out of it's way to create a winning atmosphere regardless of record for it's football teams, maybe then could the teams that struggle realize there's more to it than getting on the field and just doing your job.  When you are asked to be responsible for the support of your community, the stakes go up, and your level of intensity does as well.  Try it....can't be any worse than it is now.  You would be surprised what ti can do for the community as well...

Having gone back and read the original "letter to the editor", I saw a lot of similarities to something that I am close too (Mods, will you grant me a little lee way?) While this is high school we are talking about, it very much parallels the college I attended, UTEP.  For years, heck, decades, UTEP was everyone's stomping boy.  We were the doormat, under the doormat.  0-12, 1-11, 2-10 records were the norm.  A good season was considered 3-9. Attendance stank, and every 3-4 years, the chorus went out..."we need a new coach!"  And every 3-4 years, they got one...only to suffer the same fate. A few years ago, we got a coach "in disgrace".  Mike Price had been summarily fired by Alabama, before even coaching a single game.  Seems he was supposedly in Florida with strippers after a golf tourney(a lawsuit later clarified the situation, and he got some big bucks for slander, but I digress).  He took the hapless Miners from losers to bowl games, and his records have been 9-3, 8-4, 4-8, 5-7, 5-7, 6-6, 5-7 since.  He has had the team in 90% of the games they played and lost, and defeated teams like Houston.  However, since the fans got a taste of success in his early years, they think that this is normal, that a team that was always on the wrong end of ugly, should now compete with the likes of SMU, Houston,  and other storied programs.  I am again hearing the chorus of "new coach, new coach", and "bring in a young hungry guy" as the coach.  Like HJ is percieved as a high school, UTEP is also percieved as a college...a basketball school. The problem is, the singers of this chorus of "new coach new coach", want to get a great "champagne" name on a watered down beer budget.  They want first class results at a 5th class price.  I don't know the dynamics of HJ's administration, but reading the letter from the "fan" in the BE, I can see the same type of thinking... How do you get a winning program? 1.  Get out there for the kids...whether it's Pop Warner, junior high, or high school, or college, whether the record is 10- or 0-10, get out there for them.  These kids and young men get out there and take their health in their hands to give you a game.  They get sprains, broken bones, concussions, and other injuries for no pay, for only the chance to hear a cheer from you every once in a while. 2.  Don't think the new guy will be any better...sometimes, he can be worse.  Support the program, and you would be surprised how much the program improves.  If you haven't done anything but complain, and haven't gone to many games, you have no room to talk.  That would be like a player getting to play first string without attending practice.    3.  Get stupid for your hometown team.  The colors, the spirit stickers, whatever.  Let those kids see the community behind them.  Plain and simple, if they see you don't care...why should they? Good luck HJ...in EVERY sport!

[quote name="baseballwife" post="1118687" timestamp="1321369643"] Dear Cougar14, You sir, disgust me!  The only stomach churning going on is to read that someone, [b]who I suspect has never coached anything other than perhaps pee wee flag football[/b], would have to audacity to say that Vidor's team is made up of nobody's that wouldn't even start in Crosby.  Well, our boys wouldn't WANT to!  These boys have played through pain, both physical and emotional this year and have remained unwavered in their quest to go as far as they possible can towards state.  They play with their heart and carry the memory of their fallen brother on that field every week.  These kids are fine young men and Crosby would be lucky to have them grace their field.  As far as the coaching staff in Vidor, they are second to NONE.  These men spent much of their time away from their families to not only coach this team, but to mentor them and to be role models of what a man truly is.  Vidor won that game against Crosby because they fought their way to a win....Crosby came up short.  It's unfortunate to me that people in Crosby don't understand that although it is the coach's responsibility to prepare these boys to play the game, they are not the ones on the field.  The team has to have the will to win and play with that determination. [/quote] Those of us who have coached Flag football, madam, are offended.  We wouldn't let the 14 year old Cougar anywhere near our kids.  We want quality coaches. Pop Warner Orange County Cobras Flag Football 1995-1997, 1999  Alumni Earl Thomas, Seth Thomas, Stephen Maldonado,  Jacoby Franks, Trey Franks, Fabian Greene, Andre Bevil, Aron Bevil, John Snoddy Jr., Ryyan Edwards, and many others... You see, Cougar 14, Pop Warner offenses and defenses DO get you somewhere...in Earl's case, to the NFL.

[quote name="SmashMouth" post="1107544" timestamp="1320672596"] [quote author=magic link=topic=90855.msg1107213#msg1107213 date=1320621907] [quote author=SmashMouth link=topic=90855.msg1107129#msg1107129 date=1320615711] [quote author=Fastball link=topic=90855.msg1105733#msg1105733 date=1320502862] What's the outcome? [/quote] 2 hail Mary's & 4 Our Fathers...gotta love Parochial Ball... [/quote] I'd reply but you are not worth the effort [/quote] I don't fully understand your smirky comment.  That was funny...any way you dice it up.  I was not demeaning anyone...just employing a little humor. [/quote] As a Catholic, I thought the response was hilarious...it would take someone with a sense of humor to see it...

[quote name="prepballfan" post="1098893" timestamp="1319902780"] Some people can not handle winning.  Look on here every season towards the end of the year when "their" team looks good the kookoos come out of the wood work. Most you'll never see unless your winning. Those people I take with a grain of salt as my old grandpa would tell me. [/quote] +1

Agreed prepballfan.  My alma mater in El Paso were the Indians, and I understand traditions.  I understand supporting your team as well.  Most fans from area schools enjoy their sports and their teams, but some get ridiculous in how they portray themselves, and as a result, the team and town get blamed.  These are the same people wholikely start a bar fight and run out when things get difficult.  I appreciate passionate fans...but jerks are another matter.  I don't need to call any out...they will do that themselves.

Bertrand on offense and a strong defense got to us.  Good game PN-G.  Appreciate the fan participation on YMCA and the Chicken Dance...lol

Oh nooooooo...I SUCK again!

[quote name="GoDogs27" post="1068973" timestamp="1317320384"] Good lord.. I've lost a lot of respect for that staff over there just because of this. [/quote] Bears never need a Chihuahua's respect...since they are nothing but snack food... Go OSOS!

[b]Barbers Hill [/b] vs. Baytown Lee [b]Crosby[/b] vs. Houston North Forest Galena Park vs. [b]Dayton[/b] [b]Goose Creek Memorial[/b] vs. Houston C.E. King Beaumont Ozen vs. [b]Little Cypress-Mauriceville[/b] Livingston vs. [b]Beaumont Central[/b] Lumberton vs. [b]Vidor[/b] Nederland vs. [b]Port Neches-Groves[/b] Shepherd vs. [b]Coldspring[/b] Splendora vs. [b]Cleveland[/b] [b]Tarkington[/b] vs. Huffman Anahuac vs. [b]Kountze[/b] Hardin vs. [b]Buna[/b] [b]Newton[/b] vs. East Chambers [b]Woodville[/b] vs. Warren [b]Beaumont Kelly[/b] vs. Houston Christian Jasper vs. [b]Orangefield[/b] [b]West Orange-Stark[/b] vs. Kirbyville Colmesneil vs. [b]Sabine Pass[/b] Chester vs. [b]Orange Community Christian[/b] Houston St. Pius X vs. [b]Houston St. Thomas[/b] Rusk vs. [b]Diboll[/b] [b]Center[/b] vs. Tyler Chapel Hill Corrigan-Camden vs. [b]Crockett[/b] [b]West Hardin[/b]/High Island

Oh no...I suck again! (In that Rob Schneider accent from "The Waterboy")

[quote name="cajunvince" post="1063952" timestamp="1316827054"] 14-6 LCM 2nd Quarter [/quote] Thank you!

Thread went dead...what's going on?

[b]Vidor[/b] @ Nederland [b]Buna[/b] @ Newton [b]Baytown Lee [/b] @ Crosby [b]Dayton[/b] @ Barbers Hill [b]Central[/b] @ Ozen [b]LCM[/b] @ Lumberton PNG @ [b]Livingston[/b] [b]Huffman[/b] @ Liberty [b]East Chambers [/b] @ Woodville [b]Kountze[/b] @ Hardin [b]West Brook [/b] @ Tyler Lee South Houston @ [b]PA Memorial[/b] [b]Kelly[/b] @ Hamshire-Fannett [b]Bridge City [/b] @ Stafford Silsbee @ [b]Jasper[/b] [b]Deweyville[/b] @ Hull-Daisetta San Augustine @ [b]Garrison[/b] [b]Evadale[/b] @ West Hardin [b]WOS[/b] @ Giddings [b]Galveston O'Connel [/b] @ High Island [b]Cayuga[/b] @ Colmesneil West Sabine @ [b]Groveton[/b] [b]Timpson[/b] @ Hemphill Diboll @ [b]Hardin-Jefferson[/b] Wills Point @ [b]Kirbyville[/b] Good luck!! [/quote]

[b]Memorial [/b] @ Alice Aldine Eisenhower @ [b]West Brook[/b] [b]Central[/b] @ Galveston Ball Barbers Hill @ [b]Nederland[/b] [b]Ozen[/b] @ Hou Sam Houston Conroe Caney Creek @ [b]LCM[/b] [b]Crosby[/b] @ Pearland [b]Dayton[/b] @ Angleton Kirbyville @ [b]Vidor[/b] [b]Silsbee[/b] @ Lumberton Texas City @ [b]PNG[/b] [b]Anahuac[/b] @ Hardin Jefferson [b]Kelly[/b] @ Bridge City [b]Buna[/b] @ Hamshire Fannett Coldspring @ [b]Crockett[/b] [b]Jasper[/b] @ Houston Worthing Tarkington @ [b]Kountze[/b] Woodville @ [b]Orangfield[/b] [b]Hardin[/b] @ West Hardin [b]San Augustine [/b] @ West Sabine Warren @ [b]Deweyville[/b] [b]Evadale[/b] @ Trinity Gal OConnel @ [b]Sabine Pass[/b] [b]High Island [/b] @ Beaumont Legacy [b]Newton[/b] @ Corrigan Camden

I was a flag coach for the Cobras back in 1995-97.  At one local venue, we had one of our kids (now at a division 1 school), outrun a kid from that town in the first half.  At halftime, one little flag player from one of their other teams, told the kid that got beat on the run "hey, you let that little n***** outrun you!" to the amusement of his team-mates and a couple of the adults close by.  My team mom, whose race was the same as the kid on my team, was close by, and overheard the comment.  I apologized to her for the opposing teams disrespect, and turned around to teach that little kid some respect when she stopped me, looked me in the eye, and said "don't get on that child...you know where it comes from...be bigger and don't let it get to you...I don't.  It takes away the power when their words fall on deaf ears."  She was, and still is CLASS!

[quote name="tgreen" post="1044868" timestamp="1314725264"] I am terry green, coach of the giants. I was not going to post on this subject, but I cant resist after 12uselects comments. I, like brian, also have eight 10 yr olds. Its crazy to say that you know the outcome of the season before it starts. In this game, anything can happen at any time. If your true opinion is that you are going to start.the season a loser, then I feel for you and your kid. Winning is not everything, but as for me and my players, we take the field with expectations of winning. If you take the field thinking you are going to lose, then you probably will. So instead of getting on here whining about who is better than who, why dont you go practice with your kid so they can get better which will make the team better. [/quote] What's up T!  Good to see you coaching those kids.

12U, I responded to your words that teams were going to get "decimated" by other teams.  That is not even giving the kids a chance before the game is even played.  Winning and losing with grace and humility is a part of baseball, and any other sports. Let me tell you a story about "baseball experience".  In the Junior League team that I coached, we were looking for kids to flesh out our roster.  My son told me about one of his freinds that played football, but hadn't played organized baseball at all.  I asked him to throw some pitches to him...and this kid (15 yo) was connecting on every pitch.  I thought my son had heard him wrong, and that he had played organized ball before.  So we picked him up, and we go to play the first game.  He comes up to bat, gets into the most awkward batting stance I have ever seen...and hits the ball to deep center, past the outfielder who was playing short based on this kid's batting stance.  The batter takes off running, rounds second with a full head of steam, I am base coaching third, hold my hand's up to slow him up for a stand up triple...and he blasts right by me.  He didn't know what it meant!  He gets caught in a rundown, but it was joy watching this "non-experienced" kid play the game. Another time, also in Junior League, I had a kid who loved to catch, had his own equipment, but was all of 90 lbs. soaking wet, and could get the ball to second...if it was allowed to hop a dozen times to get there.  The other team (West End LL Junior team) saw my catcher's "dilemma" and they had a kid ready to steal home from third, when he would try to throw out the kid on first going to second.  The only thing was, my team had called a time out, for my pitcher and catcher to discuss "options".  On the next pitch, first base runner take off, catcher stands up, third base runner takes off, catcher fires it...to the pitcher. Pitcher fires it back to the catcher, and this skinny little kid stands there, ball in hand, and waits for the runner going full bore at him.  He crouches down, runner slides, OUT!  So what does that have to do with this conversation?  A lot.  Kids will try their best for you, kids will gou out of their way to please you, but if they see that you don't beleive in them...they won't beleive in themselves.