What’s the matter in East Texas?
My good friend, Brian Cuban, recently penned an article for his blog regarding the “death of small town America.” In the piece, Cuban opens with details of his recent trip to celebrate Thanksgiving in East Texas and laments the condition of one specific town, Atlanta, Texas, but extends the content of his post to small towns all over our country, where the downtown area is full of vacant buildings and the economy is dead.
Cuban contends that Wal-Mart is to blame for the demise of Atlanta and other small towns all across the land. While Wal-Mart definitely played in a role in the death of small town America, other factors contributed and deserve a full and open discussion.
In full disclosure, my family’s roots in the Atlanta area go back through at least the mid point of the nineteenth century. Though I don’t live there now, this area will always be “home.” I know the land and the people and understand all too well the political and economic forces that make the community, and others like it, tick.
What’s happened in Atlanta in has been going on for centuries.
Consider the fact that immediately following the Civil War, as most of the state lay barren and uninhabited, the bustling river port of Jefferson (@ 30 miles south of Atlanta) had a population of around 30,000. This might not sound like a lot by today’s standards, but in the 1860’s and 1870’s only Houston and Austin had a larger population in the state. Legend has it that railroad tycoon, Jay Gould, cursed the city for their refusal to allow him to put his railroad through the town. Historians will tell you it was the Corps of Engineers ability to finally remove the Great Raft from the Red River, resulting in dropping water levels in Big Cypress Bayou making it no longer navigable, that brought around the eventual demise of Jefferson. Whatever the case may be, Jefferson now has a population of around 2,000 and an economy that’s not much better than Atlanta’s. It’s worth noting, there is no Wal-Mart in Jefferson.
Brian and I had Thanksgiving in Kilgore, Texas, an East Texas city with a similar history to Jefferson. In the 1930’s, oil was discovered in Kilgore and other East Texas communities like New London and Joinerville. Soon boom towns sprung up all over the area. The population and economy in the area soared. At one time, over 1,200 oil wells pumped inside the city limits of Kilgore alone. While oil still means a lot to the economy in Kilgore, the boom long subsided and downtown Kilgore continues to struggle. I lived in Kilgore for a couple of years and residents continually refused to build a Super Wal-Mart for fear of what it would do to the local economy. Finally, after I moved in 2002, Kilgore gave in and they now have a Super Wal-Mart. The economy seems to be as stagnant as it was before, but no worse than the pre-Supe Wal-Mart days.
The reason that these East Texas communities continue to struggle is not because a large corporation chose to build a discount super store, but rather the absence of real capital. In the 1860’s and 1870’s, Jeffersonians made the most of their capital–their bustling river port. Once it dried up, many of the investors that contributed to the growth of the city left, leaving those who could not afford to leave to rot in the economic decay. Similarly, the discovery of oil led to an influx of capital from every major oil company in the world into the East Texas region. Once the oil became harder to find, the investors began to pull out, leaving behind a work force largely unqualified to do anything else except work in the oil fields.
The problem becomes worse when people in my generation leave to get an education, establish themselves professionally and then don’t return to the area. It’s similar to the cause of urban decay, where the “have’s” escape to the suburbs, leaving the “have not’s” in the urban core.
In spite of all this, the people of East Texas are persistent as the native pine trees, roots planted firmly in the ground, capable of withstanding all that life may throw their way. Neither the Corps of Engineers, nor “big oil”, nor Wal-Mart will destroy these towns. It would help if the Federal government got off the backs of these good people and loosen regulations on the two industries that this region depends on more than any others–timber and oil–but it’s not in the East Texan’s nature to complain, but rather to deal with life deals them. Just like they have in the past, East Texans will survive this current economic storm and come out better for the most part than their urban counterparts.
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Now playing: Graham Nash/David Crosby – Immigration Man
via FoxyTunes
How bad can it get for the New Jersey Nets?
Normally, I don’t cover NBA stories that don’t deal with the Mavericks, but the New Jersey Nets’ dismal start to the 2009-2010 season intrigues me. Currently, the Nets are 0-13. The Nets are so bad, they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves on opening night and neither team has won since.
Looking at the Nets upcoming schedule, it’s hard to identify where their first win will come. Over the course of the next week, the Nets play at Denver, at Portland, at Sacramento and at the Lakers. They stand no chance against the Nuggets, Portland or LA. The Kings finished with the worst record in the NBA last season, but are much improved this season. I don’t think the Nets will win in Sacramento.
That puts the Nets at 0-17, tying the NBA record for start of season futility, accomplished by the 1988-1989 Miami Heat and the 1999-2000 Los Angeles Clippers.
On December 2, 2009, the Mavericks visit New Jersey and could make history, handing the Nets their 18 straight loss.
After that, the Nets get a little bit of relief with consecutive games against the Bobcats and Knicks, although the Nets have lost to both teams already this season.
If the Nets fail to win either of those games, they could potentially enter their December 23 game at home against the T’Wolves with 0-28 record. On the other side of equation are the T’Wolves who, as mentioned earlier, have not won since the first game of the season, against the Nets. They could be 1-28 entering that game. If so, I say put the thing on national television so we can all feel better about failed sports teams of the past, because it can’t get any worse than that.
Thank you Cowboys fans!
You’ll recall that last week I urged all Dallas Cowboys fans to rush over to the website for the Fox affiliate in Shreveport to vote in a poll asking which NFL game they should show on Sunday. As mentioned, the Shreveport media market contains parts of Northeast Texas and Southwest Arkansas, which is solid Cowboys country. There was the thought the Saints fans might be able to cast enough votes to get their game shown instead.
I’m happy to announce that the Cowboys game won and now our East Texas, Southwest Arkansas and Northwest Louisiana fan bases will get to the Cowboys/Redskins game on Sunday.
Just another reminder of the greatness of our fan base! Thanks to all the Cowboys fans who went to the website and voted.
Top 5 Sports Moments from Weekend
I realize that I’ve been on a top 5 kick lately, but it’s just the mood I’m in. Let’s keep it rolling with the Top 5 moments from a busy sports weekend:
1.) SMU Becomes Bowl Eligible – For whatever reason, I’ve been a SMU fan from my earliest days. I have never attended school there and they haven’t had the on field success that elicits t-shirt fans, but I’m a fan of the Pony Express. I went to several SMU games as a kid, pre-death penalty, and I was at the first post-death penalty game, a win over UConn. To see this team rise from the depths, become bowl eligible and sit in the driver seats for the Conference USA title is great indeed.
2.) TCU Sends a Message – There are two legitimate national title contenders in Texas–the one in Austin everyone expected and then the one in Fort Worth that’s been battling for national respect for a decade. While it will still take a miracle for TCU to earn a spot in the BCS National Championship Game, if they run the table and win their BCS bowl game they will provide yet another example of how the BCS is the biggest fraud in all of sports.
3.) Mavs Continue to Play Strong – In spite of a recent rash of injuries and illnesses, the Dallas Mavericks continue to play as well as anyone in the NBA. Over the weekend, they took games at Minnesota and Detroit and tonight won on a last second, OT buzzer beater in Milwaukee. While this may not be the Lakers, Celtics & Cavaliers, three straight road wins is always a feat in the NBA. Plus, the Mavs got these 3 wins without Josh Howard, Tim Thomas, Erick Dampier and Shaw Marion.
4.) Colts beat the Patriots – I’ve always said, every time the Patriots win, somewhere a little puppy dies. To see the look of failure and utter dejection on the face of Bill Belichick walking off the field last night actually helped ease the pain of the Cowboys loss (see #5).
5.) Wade Phillips is one step closer to being fired – In the “desperately-seeking-a-rainbow-after-the-storm” category, the Cowboys loss to Green Bay on Sunday means this franchise is one step closer to ridding itself of its final obstacle in the race to win a Super Bowl–Wade Phillips. I’m convinced that if this team does not make it to the NFC Championship game this year, Jerry Jones will fire Wade. While I will always support fellow Texans, Wade is just not the right fit in Dallas. In keeping with the “support my fellow Texans” theme, I’m also glad that the Packers win ensures that their GM, and former Atlanta Rabbit great, Ted Thompson’s job is safe for at least another week.
Top 5 Podcasts
Since getting my first iPod as a gift some four years ago, I’ve downloaded countless gigs of all forms of media. One of my favorite things to download is podcasts. Over the last few years, I’ve tried out hundreds of different podcasts, but have now narrowed it down to 15 or 20 that I listen to on a regular basis. I thought I would share with you my top 5 podcasts:
1.) Slate Culture Gabfest – This is a must listen if you want to stay current on all things related to culture. The shows regular panel consists of Dana Stevens, Julia Turner and Stephen Metcalf, though they are frequently joined by other members of the Slate.Com staff. The content leans towards the “high brow” and much of it involves material published in Northeast publications (i.e. New York Times, The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, etc.), but it provides an inside look at what intellectual elitists all over the nation are talking about. The most recent episode included a review of the controversial new Lee Daniels’ movie Precious, a review of the Ian McEwan novel Black Dogs to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and Jim Windolf’s recent Vanity Fair article on “cuteness.”
2.) Slate Political Gabfest – Functions in pretty much the same fashion as the Culture Gabfest–three person panel discusses three issues–only involving politics instead of cultural issues. The normal panel consists of John Dickerson, Emily Bazelon and Slate managing editor, David Plotz. Be warned, the panel leans Left–far Left, but it’s entertaining and informative all the same.
3.) Anything You Ever Wanted to Know – This show is produced by KERA, Dallas’ local public radio station. The show airs each Friday afternoon, but I always listen to it via podcast. The show provides an open forum for listeners to submit questions, either on the phone or through e-mail, to be answered by other members of the listening audience and is moderated by Jeff Whittington. Over the past three years, I’ve learned some fascinating things from the show.
4.) The Writer’s Almanac Podcast – Hosted by Garrison Keillor, the show serves as a “this day in literary history” for lovers of words. Normally, Keillor lists off several key events for each day and then will focus heavily on one birthday or event before reading a selected “poem of the day.” More than anything else, the show has introduced me to some great new poetry.
5.) NPR Playback – While the other podcasts I listed are released on a weekly or daily basies, the NPR Playback podcast is released on a monthly basis and features audio clips from the archives from 20 years prior. For example, the November podcast features audio from NPR segments from November 1984. I love being transported back to the 80’s and this podcast does just that.
Texas High School Football Playoffs: A Broken System
Driving around my neighborhood tonight, I noticed yellow ribbons everywhere–on fences, stop signs and in front of houses. While I do live in fiercely patriotic community, these ribbons are not part of a military salute, but rather part of a unique Texas high school football tradition. This week marks the start of the Texas high school football playoffs, one of the most exciting events in all of sports. During the playoffs, the Highland Park community places yellow ribbons around town to show their solidarity with their local team (HPHS’s school color are navy and yellow). It’s one Highland Park tradition that reminds me of home.
As a kid growing up in rural East Texas, high school football meant the world to me. The performance of our local football team defined our community. Making the playoffs sent a message to surrounding communities that we excelled in something uniquely Texan and served as a rallying point for everyone in town. I still remember the first playoff game I attended. In 1983,my Atlanta Rabbits took on the Carthage Bulldogs at Longview’s Lobo Stadium. My Rabbits lost that night, but this brief glimpse into this spectacular new world engendered an insatiable appetite for the game. Years passed before our next playoff appearance and the mystique surrounding them grew. Then in 1990, the Rabbits entered a new era, one punctuated by an appearance in the state championship game in 1994.
Part of what made the playoffs so exciting was the selective nature of the system. Eleven man football in the state was broken into five classifications based on school enrollment. Each classification consisted of approximately 200 schools, divided into districts. Prior to the mid 80’s, only one school from each district–the district champion–advanced to the playoffs for a five week tournament. In the mid 80’s, the UIL, the state’s governing board for sports, decided to expand the playoff format and take the district champion and runner-up to compete in a 64 team field, stretched over six weeks.
In both scenarios, only the best teams advanced to the post-season and at the end of the year, each classification crowned one champion. This changed in 1998 when the UIL created two divisions within each classification (2A-5A, 1A would not adopt the policy until 2006)–a large school division with 32 teams and a small school division with 64 teams. The top 3 teams from each classification advanced to the playoffs, with the school with the largest enrollment going in the big school division and the other two teams advancing through the small school division (5A adopted this system in 1990 & 4A in 1996, but 1998 was the first season for 3A and 2A).
Under this new system, teams with sub-.500 records began earning playoff spots and each classification crowned TWO state champions. A team could finish in third place in a district and advance to win a state title. To say the least, the playoffs became watered down and state titles lost some of their luster.
For example, in 2003, the Atlanta Rabbits won the 3A Division II state championship, 34-0 over Marlin, in one of the most dominating performances in a state championship game in Texas history and earning my alma mater their first state title in football. I watched from the stands that day and celebrated with my friends after the game, but something about the title felt cheap. Indeed, the weekend before, Gainesville High School had won the 3A Division I state title. We’ll never know if Atlanta or Gainesville had the better team (although Atlanta has won every meeting with Gainesville) and in my mind the championship will always feel like a co-championship. In some ways, I’m more impressed with our state finals appearance in 1994, a 36-15 loss.
Now the UIL has watered the system down even more, taking four teams from each district–two for each division–in 4A & 5A. That means that at least half of the district makes the playoffs in most cases, 128 total teams in those two classifications.
What kind of champions do you get in this kind of system?
Let’s look at the two state champions in 4A from last season. Austin Lake Travis won the Class 4A Division I (big school) title with a 16-0 record. Led by quarterback Garrett Gilbert (now Colt McCoy’s back-up at UT), the Cavaliers won the District 25-4A state title, winning their 16 games by an average of 33 points per game. In the state championship game, they defeated the Longview Lobos, 48-23, capping off one of the most dominating seasons in Texas football history.
The Sulphur Springs Wildcats won the Class 4A Division II state title. For a full recap on their “unusual” path to the state title, I invite you to check out a piece we published in July. Suffice it to say, they took the road less traveled, finishing third in a district that featured Longview (see above paragraph). Longview defeated Sulphur Springs in district play 32-13. Yet Longview loses in a state title game and the Wildcats hoist a trophy at the end of the season. Sulphur Springs gave up an average of 30.6 points a game, only held one team to under 20 points the entire season and gave up 30+ points seven times. Clearly Lake Travis was the best team in Class 4A, but they will forever be remembered as a “co-champion.”
The UIL must do something about the high school football playoff system. I suggest creating a 6A division for the large high schools surrounding the state’s major metropolitan areas and adjust the other classifications accordingly. Return to a single champion format for each classification, with a 64 or 32 team field playoff. If this current trend continues, Texas football’s legacy stands to be tarnished.
Do you like this gig?
The Dallas Morning News reports that David Kunkle will step down as Dallas Police Chief in April. I’ll let the article speak to the specifics of Kunkle’s tenure, but I can say that as resident of the city of Dallas for much of this time period I noticed a drop in crime and I do feel Dallas is a safer city now than before he took the job. Personally, I think Kunkle is to be commended for a job well done. Being the Chief of Police for a large city is not an easy task and mistakes will be made. However, I think Kunkle did the best that he could.
On a lighter note, I will always remember the interview Gregg Williams did with David Kunkle on The Ticket. Click here to listen to an excerpt from this interview.
Calling all Dallas Cowboys fans…
As a lifelong Cowboys fan, I like to think of our fan base as one big family. As such, we come together to help our family members out, especially when it involves watching and rooting on our beloved Cowboys. I’ve been given a message from a loyal Cowboys fan in East Texas that a part of our family may be denied that opportunity. Now East Texas is strong Cowboys country; however, this portion of East Texas is actually in the Shreveport media market.
The Shreveport Fox station, KMSS, is running a poll to see which NFL game they should show at noon on November 22, 2009. Of course, we play the Redskins, but the Saints play Tampa Bay during that same time slot. As part of the Cowboys fan base, we need to do everything possible to make sure our “family” in East Texas, Southwest Arkansas and Northwest Louisiana get to watch this game on their local television station. Please visit the station’s website and click on the icon on the right to get to the voting screen. You’ll have to register for a free account, but it’s worth it to help out fellow Cowboys fans.
As you might imagine, the Shreveport area has a strong Saints fan base as well and the Shreveport Fox station (and CBS back in the day) have been known to show Saints games over Cowboys games from time to time.Whenever this happens, there is an uproar from the Cowboys fan base. It seems like it would happen at least once a year when I was a kid and it was always a disappointing week. I live in Dallas now, so we’re not doing this for me. I’ll get to see the game.
Do it for the kids, the 4 or 5 year old kid who loves the Dallas Cowboys and wants to watch them with his daddy. Do it for the elderly grandmother in East Texas who only turns her TV on to watch the evening news and the Cowboys. Most of all, do it for our family.
Remember, this is Louisiana we’re dealing, a land famous for rigged elections. If we want the Cowboys to win this vote, we’re going to have to play by ACORN rules.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the New York Yankees
I hate(d) the Yankees, beginning with their corners, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, two self absorbed cancers, linked by a common agent, Scott Boras, and committed only to him and their bank accounts. My hatred doesn’t stop there. This is an organization that has won 26 World Series, put over 30 players into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and has millions of fans worldwide. Of course, there’s also my beloved Texas Rangers and their three first round playoff losses–their only playoff appearances–to the Yankees.
Over the past few seasons, I’ve enjoyed watching the Yankees’ post-season futility, but realize that the streak is probably about to end. The Yankees currently hold a 3-2 game lead in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and need only one win to advance to the World Series. I thought about boycotting the World Series entirely if the Yankees advance, but then I had an epiphany. I hated the Yankees for the same reason so many people hate the Dallas Cowboys–success. The New York Yankees franchise is the best franchise in their business. Instead of hating the Yankees, I should be in love with the Yankees. Indeed, the Yankees are free market capitalism at its best.
At a time when capitalism faces daily attacks from the Federal government, the media, the entertainment industry and disillusioned Millennials across the nation, the Yankees stand as a monument to the beauty of capitalism. Compared to other leagues, Major League Baseball is very loosely regulated. No salary cap and a very weak revenue sharing policy, allow owners to spend as much money as they want to improve their product–their team. The system engenders a sense of personal responsibility among owners, rewarding the franchises willing to spend and the franchises with the best front offices and punishing those with frugal owners or those who make bad business decisions.
Throughout his career, George Steinbrenner has experienced success. He’s made a ton of money, a lot of sound investments and has spent that money wisely to add to the Yankee legacy. The Yankees spend almost $60 million more on payroll than any other team in the Majors. Alex Rodriguez’s salary alone is more than the entire payroll for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Every year, the Yankees go out, find the best talent and offer that talent more money than anyone else. Every year, the Yankees field one of the most competitive teams in the League. Their success generates more revenue, which the front office uses to improve their product/team. This is capitalism in its purest form.
Other teams complain about the unfair advantages caused by the discrepancies in capital between the Yankees and the rest of the league, just as other nations complain about the “unfair advantages” the American economy created during the 20th Century. Instead of complaining, these teams should learn from the Yankees, take their capital and create greatness. The system rewards hard work and creativity.
