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Post by FB fan on Aug 26, 2013 9:10:44 GMT -6
Only one bottom line answer. Texas is just too big. When we joined the union we reserved the right to split into five different states at our choosing in order to have 10 U.S. senators instead of 2 but for the sake of football district alignments, now might be the time. The five new states are going to look kind of funny like pie slices going out from the Alamo, cause nobody is giving that up.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2013 9:14:02 GMT -6
Only one bottom line answer. Texas is just too big. When we joined the union we reserved the right to split into five different states at our choosing in order to have 10 U.S. senators instead of 2 but for the sake of football district alignments, now might be the time. The five new states are going to look kind of funny like pie slices going out from the Alamo, cause nobody is giving that up. Our own little District of the ALAMO..LOL
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Post by Tom on Aug 26, 2013 9:52:17 GMT -6
IMO, one way you could work around this would be to use the "conference" model that some states (and the NCAA use.) You'd pick your own conference, decide who's in it, and then the classifications would only be used for the playoffs.
It seems like a better idea than letting the UIL pick, I don't know.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2013 9:54:21 GMT -6
That won't be an issue with the 2016 realignment with the new sixth high school coming on line and the plan to drop to 4A numbers at Carrol and King. How long will those numbers stay below 4A with the growth taking place, who knows? I think the better solution would be what you noted with your last paragraph. To an extent, 1A and 2A do this with non football as they share some of the issues with long distances between district mates. It would require the UIL to totally step out and reconstruct the current methods. I just know with your non football sports that require week night travel, the current set up with some of the Corpus and Laredo schools is not good for a variety of reasons. Number one being the safety of the kids. You have oil field traffic meaning a bunch of 18 wheelers on those back roads which are two lane. And the corridors you have to cross that run south to north are often used by illegal alien and drug traffickers. I wish you and the UIL people in Austin could watch a week of news reports down here and you will not get away without seeing at least one or two reports of major accidents involving what I just noted and yes they happen at night and often during the hours for which buses would going through that remote countryside. My fear is one morning, I'm going to turn on the morning news and a school bus from either a Corpus or Laredo school is going to be the lead story and the details are not going to be good. So, yea I don't apologize for my stance here. Sorry, but that's the case everywhere. Ever drive from Denton to Wichita Falls? You go through some major road construction project on 380 between Denton and Decatur, where the lanes (one in each direction) get very narrow. There's a dangerous curve on the interchange between 380 and 287 in Decatur. Oh yeah, and there's also plenty of 18-wheeler traffic (that's everywhere.) Rider actually had their team bus delayed on the way to one of their playoff games because of an 18-wheeler accident. I kind of like having Rider and Old High in the district, but that's still a two-hour drive each way. So just to play devil's advocate here, why should South Texas get special consideration? If Corpus schools don't want to go to Laredo, why should we have to go to Wichita Falls? Why can't the Wichita Falls schools just get in a district with some of the smaller schools in their area? BTW, I'm fundamentally against the idea of schools opting up for the simple reason that it defeats the purpose of having different classifications. No dice. I've driven up there and it's no comparison. At least you can go 5 to 10 minutes with some form of civilization. These back roads are flat out dangerous. Like I said, YOU and the UIL Einsteins need to drive the routes at midnight to understand.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2013 9:56:52 GMT -6
Well, under the current set up, some of the Corpus/Laredo area schools already enjoy that trip on Tuesday nights in January. I think a better solution would be an ounce of common sense at the UIL front office which would introduce economic realities into the equation and them "suggesting" some schools play up or down in order to be within a reasonable distance of each other. You are right stiffy. We had kids traveling to play CC King & Carroll last year on Tuesday & Thursdays and they had to do the same to SA quite a bit since those two CC schools had to play Steele, EC, Southsan, and Southwest in district play. Just plain crazy for freshman and JV to have to get home at 2-3 am on school nights as well as varsity basketball, v-ball, baseball, soccer, etc! At least I-37 in a four lane highway with plenty of DPS and other emergency responders within a few miles of the freeway. Not so between Corpus and Laredo. In other words, if you are not a CCL holder, you better damn well be if you are going to make that trek more than once during a sports season.
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Post by Clemensbuff on Aug 26, 2013 10:01:17 GMT -6
You are right stiffy. We had kids traveling to play CC King & Carroll last year on Tuesday & Thursdays and they had to do the same to SA quite a bit since those two CC schools had to play Steele, EC, Southsan, and Southwest in district play. Just plain crazy for freshman and JV to have to get home at 2-3 am on school nights as well as varsity basketball, v-ball, baseball, soccer, etc! At least I-37 in a four lane highway with plenty of DPS and other emergency responders within a few miles of the freeway. Not so between Corpus and Laredo. In other words, if you are not a CCL holder, you better damn well be if you are going to make that trek more than once during a sports season. No doubt about that at all STFF! Heck, I love the drive and spending time at the coast but just would not prefer to do it on school nights! LOL The great thing is my son's freshman schedule follows our varsity schedule and both CC teams have to come to us this year. If we get realigned back into that district again I'm hoping the schedule for district games remains as is and then the JV would be home next year and we wouldn't have to make a trip down there on a Thursday night for a JV game!
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Post by Tom on Aug 26, 2013 10:30:24 GMT -6
Sorry, but that's the case everywhere. Ever drive from Denton to Wichita Falls? You go through some major road construction project on 380 between Denton and Decatur, where the lanes (one in each direction) get very narrow. There's a dangerous curve on the interchange between 380 and 287 in Decatur. Oh yeah, and there's also plenty of 18-wheeler traffic (that's everywhere.) Rider actually had their team bus delayed on the way to one of their playoff games because of an 18-wheeler accident. I kind of like having Rider and Old High in the district, but that's still a two-hour drive each way. So just to play devil's advocate here, why should South Texas get special consideration? If Corpus schools don't want to go to Laredo, why should we have to go to Wichita Falls? Why can't the Wichita Falls schools just get in a district with some of the smaller schools in their area? BTW, I'm fundamentally against the idea of schools opting up for the simple reason that it defeats the purpose of having different classifications. No dice. I've driven up there and it's no comparison. At least you can go 5 to 10 minutes with some form of civilization. These back roads are flat out dangerous. Like I said, YOU and the UIL Einsteins need to drive the routes at midnight to understand. Again, what's your suggestion for what the UIL should do with the Laredo schools? Tell them "sorry, we know you guys have 4A numbers and you're barely competing there, but you guys should play 5A because the Corpus schools don't like that trip"? Why should you get special treatment from the UIL that the rest of us don't get?
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Post by warcat82 on Aug 26, 2013 10:38:55 GMT -6
No dice. I've driven up there and it's no comparison. At least you can go 5 to 10 minutes with some form of civilization. These back roads are flat out dangerous. Like I said, YOU and the UIL Einsteins need to drive the routes at midnight to understand. Again, what's your suggestion for what the UIL should do with the Laredo schools? Tell them "sorry, we know you guys have 4A numbers and you're barely competing there, but you guys should play 5A because the Corpus schools don't like that trip"? Why should you get special treatment from the UIL that the rest of us don't get? They could compete with teams along I 35 because that is a better road for both Laredo schools and schools along that route... The distance is similar to Corpus but a lot safer.
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Post by Tom on Aug 26, 2013 10:42:14 GMT -6
Again, what's your suggestion for what the UIL should do with the Laredo schools? Tell them "sorry, we know you guys have 4A numbers and you're barely competing there, but you guys should play 5A because the Corpus schools don't like that trip"? Why should you get special treatment from the UIL that the rest of us don't get? They could compete with teams along I 35 because that is a better road for both Laredo schools and schools along that route... The distance is similar to Corpus but a lot safer. well, that's basically what I think UIL will do with the Laredo schools in the 2014 realignment... with EP Winn dropping down (reportedly) they could probably find a couple of schools in the SA area to throw in there.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2013 10:43:33 GMT -6
No dice. I've driven up there and it's no comparison. At least you can go 5 to 10 minutes with some form of civilization. These back roads are flat out dangerous. Like I said, YOU and the UIL Einsteins need to drive the routes at midnight to understand. Again, what's your suggestion for what the UIL should do with the Laredo schools? Tell them "sorry, we know you guys have 4A numbers and you're barely competing there, but you guys should play 5A because the Corpus schools don't like that trip"? Why should you get special treatment from the UIL that the rest of us don't get? I'm not saying this should be exclusively a UIL decision. For years, the Laredo schools in 4A played up and what is now 4A is barely at that with the exception of one being Cigarrora. And the Corpus schools have had the ability to rezone to move their 5A's down to 4A, but politics got in the way. But the new high school will allow them an out to finally do what they should have done maybe a decade ago. The UIL should look at the facts on the ground when meeting in their super secret bunker when drawing these maps and look at the safety of the kids first. Then suggest to the school districts involved the options that are on the table and work with them. This should apply for other districts as well in Panhandle, west Texas, etc. But many of those areas DO NOT have the special circumstances we have on some of the back roads we have in this region. END OF STORY! AGAIN, you would have a much different perspective if you either had a kid riding one of those buses on a school night or yourself was making that trip. It's not right for kids in both cities.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2013 10:46:17 GMT -6
They could compete with teams along I 35 because that is a better road for both Laredo schools and schools along that route... The distance is similar to Corpus but a lot safer. well, that's basically what I think UIL will do with the Laredo schools in the 2014 realignment... with EP Winn dropping down (reportedly) they could probably find a couple of schools in the SA area to throw in there. Or if the Laredo schools that are in 4A right now remain, with the addition of 3 or 4 new valley 4A schools, it could open the RGV up for two 4A districts. An upper valley district starting in Roma and ending in Sharyland. And lower valley starting with Valley View and ending in Mercedes. US 83 is a much safer route and pretty much a straight shot to the upper valley 4A schools.
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Post by Tom on Aug 26, 2013 11:26:43 GMT -6
Again, what's your suggestion for what the UIL should do with the Laredo schools? Tell them "sorry, we know you guys have 4A numbers and you're barely competing there, but you guys should play 5A because the Corpus schools don't like that trip"? Why should you get special treatment from the UIL that the rest of us don't get? I'm not saying this should be exclusively a UIL decision. For years, the Laredo schools in 4A played up and what is now 4A is barely at that with the exception of one being Cigarrora. And the Corpus schools have had the ability to rezone to move their 5A's down to 4A, but politics got in the way. But the new high school will allow them an out to finally do what they should have done maybe a decade ago. The UIL should look at the facts on the ground when meeting in their super secret bunker when drawing these maps and look at the safety of the kids first. Then suggest to the school districts involved the options that are on the table and work with them. This should apply for other districts as well in Panhandle, west Texas, etc. But many of those areas DO NOT have the special circumstances we have on some of the back roads we have in this region. END OF STORY! AGAIN, you would have a much different perspective if you either had a kid riding one of those buses on a school night or yourself was making that trip. It's not right for kids in both cities. Don't think you're following. The issue is about the precedent that would be set. Just about every school in the state already thinks that they're entitled to some kind of special treatment; now imagine what happens if the UIL actually DOES decide to give somebody special treatment because of their "unique circumstances" (again, news flash: every school in the state thinks they have "unique circumstances.") It's why the UIL didn't grant Amarillo Tascosa's request to drop down to 4A despite having 5A enrollment; they were concerned about setting a precedent (regardless of Tascosa's travel being extreme.) I'm fairly sure the Laredo schools dropped to 4A for competitive reasons, so they already decided that the trip to Corpus was worth having a better shot at making the playoffs. And if I'm remembering correctly, up until a few years ago they had 5A enrollments.
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Post by danrut on Aug 26, 2013 11:36:37 GMT -6
I'm not sure how many of you have made the trip from PLC to SA lately, but that Hwy 87 from Nixon on is not as good as some ranch gravel roads I have been on lately. You throw in all the way too inexperienced 18-wheel drivers going 90 to nothing on it, and you have a big issue. I haven't made the trip to Laredo in a while, but I hear Hwy 59 is almost as bad.
I would think it would be much better for all if the UIL could look at Interstate travel as much as possible. From Corpus to Laredo is 133 miles. From Laredo to San Antonio is 154, but there are other small 4a schools closer to Laredo such as Uvalde and MV. I would bet the guys in Laredo would rather drive an extra 20 miles than have to make that trip across 59 and 44. Also, Mission is only 133 miles for Laredo. A much better scenario than either of the ones above. From Corpuis to San Antonio is only 142. 9 miles further for the CC schools and all interstate travel. It can be done if the powers to be cared as STFF brought out. But they don't get paid to care, they get paid to throw the first option out as law!
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Post by Tom on Aug 26, 2013 11:42:47 GMT -6
Why am I suddenly reminded of the debate about the state championships at Jerry World from last week?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2013 12:27:47 GMT -6
Why am I suddenly reminded of the debate about the state championships at Jerry World from last week? Because you took the side of the UIL and totally discounted the arguments of folks who don't live in the comfy confines of the burbs in the DFW areas with that discussion because hardly any teams from Region IV or "down there" make it to state anyway. Likewise with this debate, you are taking the side of the UIL and failing to at least acknowledge a problem does exist and maybe the UIL should go a different path when aligning districts putting the kids and parents safety first, budgets second and what the UIL perceives as "fair" third or maybe forth on their totem poll.
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