TexPx

We are. And it’s fixin to grow by almost 4,000 acres.

DMN The competitive gap “Since 1970, the rate at which schools located within the Dallas, Austin, Houston or San Antonio metropolitan areas (what we’re considering a 50-mile radius from one of the four cities) have won football state championships at Texas’ largest classifications has spiked. Over the past two decades, it hasn’t been particularly close. Metro programs won 32 of the 40 possible state championships at the 5A and 4A levels from 2000-09. The difference climbed to 38 of 40 in favor of metro schools during the 2010s. In 2020 and 2021, metropolis schools have won all eight 6A and 5A state titles. Every non-metropolis team in the state’s largest two classifications (6AI and 6AII) was eliminated this postseason before the state semifinals. Non-metro schools won 26 state titles in Texas’ four largest classifications in the 1970s, compared to the 13 won by schools located within metropolises. In the 1980s, non-metro schools won 26 of 37 state championships at the four largest classes. Metropolis schools overtook the non-metro programs in the 1990s, winning 26 of 40. In the final statewide 6A rankings of the 2022 regular season, all 25 ranked teams were within one of the four major metropolises. In 5A Div. I, seven of the top 10 teams were within a major metropolis; in 5A Div. II, nine of the top 10 were. “[in West Texas] you’re building from a homegrown aspect,” Chant said. “That may be the case [in metro areas], but you’ve got people coming in and out in greater numbers. You just don’t have as big of a pool to draw from, talent-wise.” The population influx feeding Texas’ four major metropolises doesn’t only include families. It includes college graduates and young professionals — both of whom can be crucial in creating a championship environment. “You see more and more people graduating from college that’d like to go to the metroplex or the Houston area,” Chant said. “The bigger cities and the different things they offer them in social aspects. Everybody out here is struggling to find qualified teachers and coaches, and to get them to come out here to West Texas.” Amarillo ISD athletic director Brad Thiessen, like Chant, thinks that the championship gap has less to do with what his region doesn’t have, and more to do with what the major metropolises do have. It has less to do with the people themselves though. “An indoor practice facility in the [Dallas-Fort Worth] metroplex is becoming what gymnasiums used to be,” Thiessen said. “Everybody has one. You build a new school, you build a new indoor. It’s just part of the school’s culture.” According to a 2016 Dallas Morning News report, more than half of the state’s indoor practice facilities belonged in the DFW metroplex. As the Dallas area continues to add high schools, new expansive athletic facilities come along. Prosper Rock Hill (opened in 2018) and Frisco Emerson (opened in 2022) both have indoor practice facilities, and have each already shown an ability to develop high-end football talent and produce winning seasons. That, Thiessen said, functions as something of a recruiting chip to families on the move. And it coincides with school districts that have the funding to afford such facilities. “It’s attractive to parents with young kids, it’s attractive to kids,” Thiessen said. “That’s where the kids go.” Where kids go, winning often follows. Look at Dallas-area programs like Prosper, Anna, Melissa and Argyle — four communities in the midst of a population boom that played into the fourth round of the 2022 playoffs — for evidence. The issue for most of Texas? The kids have largely been going to four separate hotspots. It doesn’t project to stop anytime soon either. “By 2032, I don’t even know if we’ll be able to say the DFW area, the Austin area, the San Antonio area,” Harrison said. “It might be the DFW-Austin-San Antonio area, because San Antonio up to Dallas is growing together”

I’m assuming growing up in the urbane confines of Wamba, TX is what led me to a more sophisticated porn palette.

Not that long ago they didn’t even have a practice field.

Sweet! My vintage Oui magazine collection is gonna be worth a fortune.

2AD2: Mart beats Albany. I’ve heard of Mart before 1AD1: Abbott beats Westbrook. I have never heard of these towns/schools in my life 1AD2: Loraine beats Benjamin. I have never heard of these towns/schools in my life. Where else can you get expert in-depth analyses like these?

And he does mean YOU PEOPLE.

Tempting to join the dogpile but I love your game previews, and at least you have the balls to make predictions and post them.

Wow

Holy shit. That hurt.

Good game so far. Slugging it out. Franklin may need to mix in a pass.

Yup. Can’t believe Cuban can’t/ won’t do something about it. For now don’t care. Have Dstream.

Bally Sports Southwest streaming options Bally Sports Southwest is not available on streaming services such as fubotv,[11] Sling, YouTubeTV, or Hulu + live TV,[12] though it is still available on DirecTV Stream only on the Choice package and above.

When Tim Buchanan graduated from high school in 1979, the University Interscholastic League had six classifications for football — Class 4A through Class B for the 11-man game and another classification for six-man. Nothing has changed today except for the names of the classifications — 6A through 1A — and the fact that there are now split divisions within those classifications. That’s despite the fact that Texas has grown from a population of 13.8 million in 1979 to an estimated 29.9 million in 2022. That number should grow to more than 35 million by 2032, according to projections by the Texas Demographic Center. But will the UIL have stepped out of its comfort zone and created a Class 7A or even an 8A? “We haven’t added a classification [since the early 1970s], and we’ve doubled the population of the state of Texas in that time,” Buchanan said. “Adding classifications is way overdue in Texas. I think we should have added a couple of them a long time ago.” Buchanan has had plenty of success in the current format, winning seven state titles as the head coach at Aledo. His Class 5A school has won 10 state titles in all — most in UIL history — but he doesn’t like a system where enrollments for Class 6A schools range from 2,225 (Garland Naaman Forest) to 7,102 (Allen). To take its place, he proposes something radical. “The largest 32 schools should be in an 8A class,” Buchanan said. “That would leave a little over 1,200 schools to make up seven classifications. This would put approximately 172 schools per classification. The current average number of schools per division in classes 1A to 5A is 99.” Texas is a giant state that covers nearly 270,000 square miles, so travel is always a concern when looking for new ways to realign schools. Buchanan’s plan could help solve those issues, as most of the state’s largest schools reside in two major metropolitan areas — Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston. As The Dallas Morning News projects the landscape of D-FW high school football in 2032, it is important to note that many coaches would like to see change. They want a more even playing field, one where schools aren’t competing against opponents two and three times their size. They are tired of David vs. Goliath matchups.

Looking outside Texas In a state that had 1,253 football-playing schools this year, Buchanan would like to see Texas adopt a model similar to what Oklahoma and Arkansas use. Oklahoma has 335 football-playing schools and Arkansas has 209, but both have only the largest 16 schools that compete in their top classification/division, with 12 making the playoffs. Bobby Swofford, assistant executive director for the Arkansas Activities Association, said that setup has been used since 2007. Arkansas went to that format because its largest 7A schools have enrollments of about 2,300, and the 32nd-largest school in the state has about 600 students. UIL deputy executive director Jamey Harrison said in July that adding a Class 7A is something that “we will always be looking at,” but it may not happen by the next realignment in two years. “It’s really a math problem,” Harrison said. “Currently in 5A and 6A there are about 500 schools in those two conferences combined. You have to ask how few schools can we have in a conference and make it work geographically and make it a legitimate conference. “The smallest [classification] we have is 4A in terms of number of schools, and that’s in the mid-190s. So if you think 200 times three — 7A, 6A and 5A — you’re going to need about 600 schools to make it work. We know we have 500, but where is that other 100 going to come from?” Using Buchanan’s suggestion, a Class 8A would start with Allen and go down to Dickinson, which had the 32nd-highest enrollment for the UIL’s realignment in February at 3,580.5. The 32 largest schools in the state include 14 from the Dallas area and 13 from the Houston area. The only problem is that the other five schools are spread out, with two in the Austin area, two in Odessa and one in Laredo. But that might not be the case in 2032, as more boomtowns pop up in the suburbs around Dallas and Houston. Celina and Anna could be competing in the highest classification by then, even though both are currently 4A schools. Several coaches who responded to a survey by The News had thoughts similar to Buchanan’s. “The UIL should adopt a 7A for the 2026 realignment. Maybe the top 32 [schools],” Frisco coach Jeff Harbert said. “The growth of our state dictates a larger classification to greater equalize the playing field. There is a great deal of difference between a 2,300 6A school and a 6A school with 4,000 to 4,500 kids. “I’d say schools with 3,500 and up are in 7A, then 3,499 to 2,225 would be 6A.” Eight years ago, Oklahoma had its largest 32 schools competing in one division. The decision was then made to split those up into two 6A divisions of 16 schools each. “I think if you polled the 16 bottom schools, they would think it’s the greatest thing that has ever happened in the history of mankind,” said Mike Whaley, associate director for the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association. “But I don’t know that you would get that from everybody else.” The change was made because Jenks and Tulsa Union combined to win 18 consecutive state titles when Oklahoma’s 6A didn’t have two divisions. Since the change, six different schools have won state in 6A.

Part of a really good and comprehensive series about what the booming population growth will mean for HS sports.

Reading a book now about Myer Lansky and Murder Inc. kicking German/American Bund Nazi’s asses.

Dude doing YouTube Westlake game has made two Bigfoot documentaries!

Chat on Lview Aledo gettin kinda racy…

Just some dude and Mary sitting in the stands with a camera. Love it!

Oh my Gawwd! Woooww!

Thanks. Texarkana/Longview Gameday> than whatever that is. Lady sitting next to announcer (apparently) is pretty funny.