SPORTS
STORM CENTER: NFL ratings in freefall
Very rare is the occasion for the follow-up column, but the sports editor is more than happy to oblige when the topic is a hot-button issue.
National Football League protests during the playing of the anthem have been front and center during the past month – ever since the season started on Sept. 8.
The sports editor asked for feedback on the column, and there were two responses – one in email and one on our Facebook page.
Here’s what Gary Shafer, from Nocona, had to say.
“As a retired Marine, I have a special regard for the flag and I would be the first to say people have the right to protest whatever they want in whatever way they want as long as it does not break the law.
“However, the Flag has always stood for right and fairness even when our country was guilty of very wrong action.
“During the Civil War, this flag was on the side of freedom for all of our countrymen. Over the years, our servicemen have served and died for that flag and for those rights.
“So while saying they have the right to protest in this way, that does not make it okay. When you stand before a stadium full of people, you are representing your team/school from the National Football League all the way through high school.
“As such, I do not want anyone that thinks this is the correct way to start a conversation about an issue representing me or my family in any way, they should be dismissed from any organization they represent while doing so.
“Any coaches or administrators that allow this should also be fired. Because at the end of the day, we have the right to do whatever we want (within the law), but we do not have the right to be free from the consequences of those actions.”
We had a post from a Robert Thompson, Jr., on the Facebook page, but no additional information could be obtained from him – so we’re not including his comment with this follow-up column.
Maybe Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban was right about the NFL all along.
Two years ago, Cuban called the NFL “hogs heading toward a slaughter,” because the league was oversaturating its audience with too much product. Read more from this column in the Oct. 1 Bowie News.
Editor’s Note: The Storm Center column is the expressed written views of sports editor Eric Viccaro and not The Bowie News.
Dallas Cowboys’ Stephen Jones, owner Jerry Jones, quarterback Tony Romo and Dallas Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban are shown at a social event in Dallas. Cuban has been critical of the National Football League in previous interviews. (Courtesy image/Getty)
Bowie had six players play in the Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl football all-star game. For pictures from not just the football game, but the basketball and volleyball games as well that feature athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6875584&T=1
Nocona is welcoming back Coach Sandy Langford, former coach and alumnus for the Lady Indians, as its new volleyball head coach.
Langford comes back to Nocona after spending the past 11 years leading the Glen Rose volleyball program.
Her circumstances with her family allowed her to jump at the opportunity once she became aware the position at Nocona was available.
“My youngest graduated and is playing football at Midwestern (State University),” Langford said. “All of our family is here and I knew that Coach Kara (Lucherk) was leaving. We were eventually going to retire here. Our oldest son plays college football at West Texas A&M and we’ll be two hours closer to him as well.”
She again will lead the Lady Indians volleyball program, one that she led all the way to the state title game in 2011, which is the farthest the volleyball program has ever gone in its prestigious history.
Langford kept up that level of success during her 11 years at the bigger 4A Glen Rose. She won less than 20 games only twice during her time, winning her 500th career game back in 2023. Her teams were ranked among the top 10 in the state five times and Langford led Glen Rose to the state tournament in 2017, the best finish in program history.
With the Lady Indians also having its own string of success, appearing in back-to-back regional finals while finishing atop the district standings both years, Langford is excited to not just keep the success going, but shoot for the stars.
“We are not expecting anything less than a state championship,” Langford said.
She has stacked the non-district schedule with strong, state-ranked 3A and 4A teams as well as big tournaments that will test Nocona’s mettle early next season in the hopes it will prepare them for a long playoff run.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Red River High School Bass Club competed this past weekend, May 31 – June 1, at the State Tournament on Lake Conroe for the two-day tournament.
Two of the teams from Montague County traveled south to try their best at the culmination of the year for the state title. Teams were able to pre-fish on Friday before the Saturday and Sunday competition. On Friday, there was a flipping contest for the youth and Cooper Johnson won third overall and won a $500 scholarship and an Academy gift card.
The club’s two teams who competed were Lane Smith/Colt Henry with boat captain Jimmy Smith. The team placed 63rd with a total of 16.22 pounds. The second team of Cooper Johnson/Corbyn Patton and boat captain Jayson Toerck placed 169th with a total weight of 2.29 pounds.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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