WOSgrad

High Island ISD‏ @red_cardinals15 1h1 hour ago Congrats to the Lady Cardinals Volleyball Team on their win over Leggett today 3-0. The Cardinals improve to 1-1 on the season.

@KhsWildcats VB team brought the house down tonight with big win.

Just saw that on twitter! Congrats!

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Thanks, Insider!

It appears to be in Cleveland.

Thanks for the updates, Coach.Shu

Mmmmmmm, a couple of fallacies with this one. First fallacy, the position of every school having turf was not what got the resistance. It was the position that any school that didn't have artificial turf was bass ackwards and didn't give a damned about its athletic program. You see, I seriously doubt that if you ask a school board member about the idea of their high school having turf fields, most, if not all, would not be opposed to the general idea of putting artificial turf in its stadium. They might, however, be opposed to the cost. Second fallacy, that once installed, these fields become assets. First, as ST413 correctly noted, is the initial outlay is the problem. Searching online, I found a cost analysis from Field Turf, a company that installs the turf discussed here: [Hidden Content]. Mind you, this comes from a company that is trying to convince you of the benefits. Even they, in the very first sentence of their cost analysis admit that "The upfront cost is higher." If you scroll down,you'll find out that the initial outlay is $330,000 higher ($700,000 for field turf vs. $370,000 for natural grass). Only $300,000? That doesn't appear to be that big of a problem, does it? Welllllll, here's the problem, Silsbee ISD's Operating Budget for the 2016-17 school year (the year an expenditure for this season would have been authorized) already finds it operating at a deficit of $ -422,267.90. (Source: [Hidden Content]) So, where is Silsbee ISD gonna get that extra 300 grand? But they should try, right? I mean, as the folks at Field Turf say "the cost savings over time make it a much more financially-sound decision." But wait, even with the $150,000 maintenance cost savings over a 10 year period (only $50,000 over 10 years for field turf vs. $200,000 over 10 years for natural grass), the cost of Field Turf over the 10 year period is still deficit spending of $180,000. So this on cost, the field turf does not pay for itself. And why is the analysis just over a 10 year period? That is simple, that is the time period that is listed as the maximum turf life for field turf. So that is right, ten years from now, it is quite likely that at least another $380,000 will be necessary to keep the turf field in good shape. It is not opposition to the idea of field turf. It is the inability to absorb the cost of such a venture that is the problem and it is a problem that neither the Silsbee ISD nor any other district that has a similar budget should be castigated for. Districts are starting to find ways to absorb the cost. Hopefully more will find a way soon. Until then, I will merely celebrate those that are able to do so and leave the name calling of those who can't to others.

Well, looking at the schedule, the good news is that Silsbee first few games are likely to be on the air anyway as they play PN-G (Cool 92.5) in Week 1, Newton (SETXsports Newton Broadcast) in Week 2, Jasper (KJAS) in Week 3, and WO-S (KOGT) in Week 5. As AAW just stated, there is some talk about broadcasting some Silsbee games, but it is still in the initial stages. I'll be getting with Jordan Wilson to finalize what SETXsports Broadcasts will be done during the season.

West Hardin was planning on it but have cancelled theirs as well.

I knew it!

Oh, let me be clear. I'd love for EVERY school in the area to have it and I know that the coaches want it, too. It is nice to be able to not having to worry about destroying the field in practice. But it is up to the individual school district where such a field should lie in the list of priorities. After all, I am sure that every area of a school district believe that "their" area should be the priority. Coaches want turf for the field, but the fine arts department wants a new performing arts center, the band director wants a new band hall and better instruments, the computer department wants new and better computers and the teacher's association thinks that all of these priorities are crap and that the increase in salaries of teachers should be made "the" priority. We get to focus on one priority on this board which is okay. However, those that are on our respective boards of trustees do not have the luxury of such laser focus. Slowly but surely, school districts are getting to the priority we long for and that will increase. And schools like East Chambers, Lumberton, Crosby, Port Neches, Port Arthur and Beaumont, as well as Jasper, get props for making it work. It is not like others haven't tried. West Orange-Cove floated a bond issue at least once, and I think twice, and it was turned down by district voters. In Nederland, they have said "no" twice to proposed bond issues that would have put turf on Bulldog Stadium. These folks, much like the boards that set the bond issues for vote, have their own priorities. We'll get there, just not as fast as any of us would like.

It has become quite a deal and I was looking forward to it. But because of the weather, they will wait until 7:45 am tomorrow morning to put on the pads.