I found out over the weekend that my high school alma mater, Malakoff High School will participate in the Texas UIL State Playoffs for the 1st time in 15 years and only the 3rd time in the last 60. That's big news for the town known as the Gateway to Cedar Creek Lake. In Texas, if somebody goes to the playoffs in football, it's a big deal. Who cares about the other sports! Football is king!
The more I've thought about the success of this Tiger team, I've given a lot of thought to the UIL playoff system in Texas. In at least the last 15 years, there's been a rule change that, in my mind, has diluted the achievement from what it once was. In Texas, there are all kinds of schools, small to really, really big. The classification system has pretty much always been Class A for the small ones and 5A for the big ones. Everything else is graded between A and 5A accordingly. In the "old days" there was one champion per class, which is fitting. The best of the rest.
In the late '80's or early '90's, there was a division made between the "smaller" 5A schools and those called "Super 5A" which were just incredibly big by anyone's standards. It made sense to make a division. Some schools were enormous while the others barely qualified for the rank. Suddenly, there were 2 - 5A champions. Then, the trend followed - 4A was divided, then 3A, 2A and finally class A. The argument goes "it's not fair for a smaller school to have to compete against a larger one within their own division." Everyone wants to be "fair" these days. Here's the playoff pairings for the 2005 football season in Texas. At the end of this football season, there will be 11 state champions from the Lone Star State.
For those reading, you might wonder "what's the big deal?" This is it in a nutshell: of the 3 playoff teams from Malakoff, the 2005 team posted the worst record of them all. The 2005 Malakoff Tigers were 5-5 overall and will be playing an opponent with a 6-4 record this weekend. They lost to teams with winning records and beat the ones with losing records. I doubt this team will advance beyond the Area round - if they can get past their next opponent on Saturday. The issue in my mind isn't whether they'll go deep in the playoffs or get eliminated in the first round. My issue is "do they even belong there at all?"
There were two teams prior to this one who made it to the playoffs in the State of Texas. The Malakoff team from 1946 was a perfect 12-0 and went as far as they could in those days, which was the regional championship. The other playoff team from 1990 was 9-1 and was eliminated in the Area round of the playoffs by a team that lost in the state championship game. See the difference? It's a comparison between outstanding achievement and being an also-ran. I don't know about that 1946 team, but the 1990 team had high hopes from the start. The frustration that followed their early departure from the playoffs that season ultimately led to Head Coach Jim Wills to resign before the next season. That team was that good.
It might seem like I've got something in my craw about this. One could ask "what did the teams you played for do in those seasons?" I never played on a team with a winning record throughout high school. But, as a kid, I was a fan of some of the most incredible teams ever fielded by Malakoff High School, in that playoff drought from 1946 to 1990. From 1977-1983 probably some of the most talented teams I ever saw graced the old Tiger Stadium at the corner of Hillcrest and Smith Streets in Malakoff. Bennie Rogers, Homer Turner, James Jackson, Tim Farrell, Harold Driver, Todd Shelton, Chip Souza, Billy Whitely, Curtis Ivey, Wes Hughes, Ronnie Dennis, Joe Bailey, Clint Clements, John Cross and others were the names of my real-life heroes. They played against teams from places like Red Oak, Crockett, Palestine, Rusk, Lindale, Fairfield, among others which all had one thing in common - an enrollment double to ours.
Anyone familiar with high school sports knows that enrollment is the key to a school's success or failure. Playing schools with attendances that dwarfed ours, my heroes were successful. They stood toe to toe with blue-chip college prospects and held their own. Their success was limited due to the odds they faced each time they walked on the field. For 4 consecutive seasons during this span, the Tigers were 7-3. Twice they were 5-5. There was a time I could recite from memory the events that turned the tide in the crucial games - often just a matter of inches. They were heartbreaking losses - especially to their many fans - kids like me. Under today's rules, those Tiger teams could have gone on to play in the playoffs just like the 2005 Tigers will this weekend.
I mean no offense to the 2005 Tigers. I'm sure you have a good team in your own right. In fact, I'll be in the stands rooting for your success. You will be going where I was not able. But, I can't help thinking what if one of those teams - the teams of my heroes - had the opportunity to advance in a second division? That is a question for child-fans to ponder. As an adult I know, such questions are foolish and a waste of energy.
But, what if?
In the world of the Malakoff Tigers - past and present - we will never know.
2 comments:
you're dumb. everyone knows a child's self esteem is boosted when they are called winners. it doesn't matter one bit whether they actuall WON anything. don't let facts confuse the situation. children need to experience victory in life. to deny them is to perpetuate the lies of the republicans, who say that only those who actually win, are winners. imagine!
Of course! Just like at the YMCA: "we don't keep score, but we build character." yeah, right. There may not be a scoreboard, but very kid on the field or court knows exactly what the score is. The kids are fine. it's the adults that have the problems. Still stinging from the butt-kicking they got as a kid being on a sorry team. But THAT's exactly what builds character.
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