Anybody else tired of HS football in Texas? (Houston, San Antonio: how much, school district)

[Dopo]

I'm from the Midwest and enjoy all sports.
When basketball, baseball, football seasons came around, the news would show highlights of HS games.
It's nice, it motivates kids to do better in sports.

But in Texas is almost ridiculous with HS football.
In San Antonio is covered as if they are talking about the Longhorns playing LSU.
In Houston, even though we have a NFL team, college teams and Texas A&M is close by. It seems like the local news talk about HS football just as much as NFL.

Am I the only one that thinks NFL and college football should get at least twice as much attention from local news?

[Cathy4017]

You're not completely alone.

Some thoughts from a lifelong native who recently left.....

After I quit teaching in a small West Texas town (close to my hometown), I swore off HS football for the remainder of my life. I haven't been to a game or paid much attention to it for over 30 years.

HS football is a god in Texas....especially in the smaller towns, where there is nothing else to do and little else in the way of entertainment. I would guess that it's far worse in these little backwaters than larger places like Houston, San Antonio, Austin, etc. At least there are other things to do besides listen to all the talk about the last and next game!

No pass no play was a good idea, but athletes are still coddled, and pressure is put upon their teachers to pass them so they can play. Athletics are far more important than academics, and always have been.

I imagine that holds true for both very small and large districts, but maybe things have changed a bit. I would hope so.

[Willsson]

But in Texas is almost ridiculous with HS football.
In San Antonio is covered as if they are talking about the Longhorns playing LSU.

Uhhh, it is the Longhorns playing LSU, a few years earlier.

[Nairobi]

Cathy made excellent points.

High school football reigns supreme in Texas. There's nothing wrong with that, but it becomes a problem when it interferes with education AND acceptable behavior from both the kids and adults. Forget about getting away with not doing their English homework; I believe some HS football stars would be able to get away with murder.

[DanielWayne]

High school football is deeply ingrained in Texas CULTURE. You are criticizing a culture. It would be like me moving to Toronto and complaining about ice hockey. Or I'll go to Cuba and say that baseball is overemphasized, let's play more football.

Now I do agree that in many places, the athletes are put on a pedestal, and there are rules that are broken. I saw that at my old high school. There will always be people trying to get ahead by circumventing the system. In any sport, in any town.

But it also rallies a community. Near my hometown there was one high school where the saying was "last one leaving town for the game turn out the lights" and they meant it. I guess it's something you have to be born into (and embrace) to understand.

[westhou]

I hate high school football but love college football. But I'm willing to suffer the news coverage of it because without high school football we wouldn't have anyone to send to college to play college football. I also hate pro football. The only pro sports I like to watch are the individual sports.

[Dopo]

I'll give you a good example of why the whole HS thing bothers me (in cities, small towns it's different)

When I lived in San Antonio, all the TV channels covered HS football as if they were college teams.
Constantly interviewing HS football players on the news as if they were national super-stars.

Now, this is what p....d me off.
One day I found out that the HS in my community had a girl that was
in the TOP 10 RANKED GIRL'S HS BASKETBALL PLAYERS IN THE US.
Her senior year, I think I only saw 1 interview of her.
And I guarantee that happens all the time with all the other sports.

Girlz Prep Report - Changing Of The Guards

Meighan Simmons was ranked in the Top 10 for the Class of 2010 by various scouting services at one point or another during her career at Cibolo High School in Cibolo,Texas, which is on the outskirts of San Antonio. After an illustrious high school career, Simmons picked up where she left off at Tennessee and quickly became an offensive weapon for the Vols. Many were wondering if this was an anomaly, after all, there have been some really good guards from that area but guards like this weren't known for coming out or around San Antonio, until now.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

No pass no play was a good idea, but athletes are still coddled, and pressure is put upon their teachers to pass them so they can play. Athletics are far more important than academics, and always have been.

I imagine that holds true for both very small and large districts, but maybe things have changed a bit. I would hope so.

Do you have anything to back the statement up that athletics are more important than academics?

If that were true, why do schools work so hard to attain "Recognized" or "Exemplary?" Why does an "unacceptable" rating cause such a problem for a school district?

Have you noticed that top academic schools usually have strong athletic programs? Westlake, Allen, Carroll, Lake Travis, Plano, Highland Park, Frisco, Aledo, and many more? Excellence is contagious.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by Dopo

I'll give you a good example of why the whole HS thing bothers me (in cities, small towns it's different)

When I lived in San Antonio, all the TV channels covered HS football as if they were college teams.
Constantly interviewing HS football players on the news as if they were national super-stars.

Now, this is what p....d me off.
One day I found out that the HS in my community had a girl that was
in the TOP 10 RANKED GIRL'S HS BASKETBALL PLAYERS IN THE US.
Her senior year, I think I only saw 1 interview of her.
And I guarantee that happens all the time with all the other sports.

Girlz Prep Report - Changing Of The Guards

Meighan Simmons was ranked in the Top 10 for the Class of 2010 by various scouting services at one point or another during her career at Cibolo High School in Cibolo,Texas, which is on the outskirts of San Antonio. After an illustrious high school career, Simmons picked up where she left off at Tennessee and quickly became an offensive weapon for the Vols. Many were wondering if this was an anomaly, after all, there have been some really good guards from that area but guards like this weren't known for coming out or around San Antonio, until now.

Have you seen how much coverage Josh Davis gets in San Antonio? He was an elite swimmer at Churchill, an Olympian, and great guy. San Antonio covers other high school sports reasonably well. But it is football season so it will get the most coverage now. I don't know why you would expect otherwise.

The reality is that girls basketball will NEVER get as much coverage as football. 5,000 people go to a hs football game. 200 will go to a girls basketball game. That is true past high school.

I love the "Olympic" sports. That's what my kids do. But I don't know why you think the media would cover them in any greater proportion than the public's proven interest in them.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Do you have anything to back the statement up that athletics are more important than academics?

If that were true, why do schools work so hard to attain "Recognized" or "Exemplary?" Why does an "unacceptable" rating cause such a problem for a school district?

Have you noticed that top academic schools usually have strong athletic programs? Westlake, Allen, Carroll, Lake Travis, Plano, Highland Park, Frisco, Aledo, and many more? Excellence is contagious.

Schools work hard to attain that higher status because:

1. Nobody likes being labeled "unacceptable."
2. Schools with unacceptable ratings face consequences under the NCLB legislation.