CardinalBacker

Mrs Dauphin crossed the River Jordan to sing with the angels before she scratched that check. The guy who took (care of) her money isn’t a football fan, so.....

A lot of times those projects create competitive advantages within a community. Let’s say you own a tire shop... one of a few in town. One of your competitors is awarded funds from the EDC to build a new shop for the betterment of the community. Now your tax dollars have gone to improve your competitors business.... and coincidentally your customers are heading over there, too, because his new (free to him) shop is so much nicer than yours. Same thing in Beaumont when they were promoting tax abatements and if I’m not mistaken, something similar to an abatement for occupancy taxes if someone was willing to build a hotel out near Ford Park. If I already owned a motel in town I’d be pissed. How nice is it to watch your former guests stay at a place that you were subsidizing?

It’s a different mindset I guess. I’m a little more pro-business than you are in some ways. I don’t think that abatements are some divine thing, but I’d rather hold my nose and see more jobs and future tax revenue than stand on my principals and deteriorate while some neighboring community flourishes instead. I’m not sure that I’m familiar with that one. Is that the EDC tax? I’m largely opposed to those taxes and entities because they never seem to actually benefit anybody other than those who work for the EDC and those that seem to randomly receive funds from them. But that’s just me.

You're entitled to your opinion, but in this case you're wrong. That place is still on the tax roll up there in Silsbee. LP paid just over $180k in property taxes on land and equipment for 2018 alone. Property tax abatements can be a fantastic blessing. Nobody remembers when they moved the Walmart in Groves and the Nederland Walmart about 15 years ago... both went into Port Arthur City Limits when they rebuilt because PAT was willing to play ball with property tax abatements. Nederland and Groves got to keep their property taxes for future years on the old years, but PAT abated property taxes and gained 100% of the sales tax revenue generated by two super Walmarts. Advantage PA, especially when the abatement period ends. And by my math, it probably already has. Sometimes people (like AOC in this case) get a little caught up in their beliefs and lose sight of the big picture. 25k good paying jobs, plus who knows how many more supporting jobs in the community, and she celebrates killing the project because of inherent corporate greed? Some other place will happily step up and accept Amazon coming to town, and the locals in her district can stagnate.

We wouldn't have a problem with that. #wesoft

That’s the kid... I hate to hear that it didn’t work out for him. Not surprising, but still disappointing.

It would very possibly be the sporting event of the year in SETX.

Hey, WOS... do you ever ask yourself why these guys keep coming at me like that? I mean... they ought to know what’s about to happen, lol.

I’ve already agreed that we could meet. I’m waiting on your terms and conditions. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if you show up dressed up like an Frenchman from the 1700s wearing a big white wig and expecting to just slap each other across the face with our riding gloves.

Ok. We can meet. I’ll need to know your terms and conditions first. Is this gonna be a boxing contest held according to the Marques de Queensberry rules? Or maybe we’ll just use the unified rules of mixed martial arts. Open hand slaps or closed fists? Approved gloves or no? Standing eight count? Three knockdown rule? What about having cornermen? I’m sure you’ll want a few Saint Fans along to protest on your behalf. Do I get any input on the officiating? Because I know you’re gonna need a ref to cry to. What about location and time? I don’t want you upset because we kept you out too late or your legs weren’t right because you spent too long in the car getting there. The more I think about it, I’m sure you’ll want to meet up close to home.... home field advantage and all. (Didn’t help the Saints, though). Do you see all of the challenges faced by a man like myself when trying to settle differences with a crybaby?

No offense, but you’re the guy flexin’ those gums. I’m sorry. There. I said it. Now dry those eyes and come get a big hug. I didn’t mean it, lil buddy. I just don’t understand how the worst team in Super Bowl history kept scoring on your Saints. And your whole season wasn’t “stolen” by a non-call on play that wasn’t going to advance the ball anyways. I get Cowboys fans getting mad about “Dez caught it.” He came down with the ball in the end zone. Your guy never even had a chance at it. Your team laid an egg. Bad calls and missed calls happen in every game from Pee Wee to the Super Bowl. Normal people don’t have protests, file lawsuits, and try to get their you-know-whats beat over it a month later.

You’d just whine about how I’d won unfairly.

Give it up, brother... I remember when he got hurt as a Junior. There was concern as to whether he'd be ready to go for baseball season his junior year. When his senior season rolled around he'd already decided not to play football (which is fine... it's a choice). So why was he there on Fridays with his team? "Because he wanted to support his teammates?" Strap on some pads and be supportive. Or go sit in the stands with the rest of the quitters or run the big flag up an down the sideline if we score or something. That's all I'm saying. That was the year they moved Trahan (another good athlete whose qb potential was never unlocked) from LB to QB... then he got hurt at LCM early in district play. It's a 4A school without a single backup qb. They moved Dearing's boy from LB to QB (in a spread offense) despite the fact that he didn't even want to play the position. Think about it... A 4A school in which the cupboard is absolutely bare after the starting qb decides to forego his senior year. Like.... BARE. Which is nuts because we have arms on top of arms available, as evidenced by the mountain of baseball DC plaques.

Good thing nobody ever said that to the guys who were recruiting Kyler Murray... he's a skyscraper at 5'11. Has a trophy called a "Heisman." Plays a little baseball, too. He is a little quicker, though. I remember Shug's bum shoulder.. He'd be on the sidelines in his jersey and short pants throwing the football around on Friday nights, bad shoulder and all. But that's acceptable in BC. And that's just symptomatic of the problem with the football program in BC, which is what we're talking about here. I'm not knocking the kid's baseball abilities. They speak for themselves. No need to defend them. But don't pretend like you guys gave ample attention to both sports. And that's completely fine...That's a choice you guys and a lot of other parents in Bridge City make, and it's a reason that things are the way that they are.

Hey.... Didn't he have a little brother, too? The one that was 2nd Team All-District DE as a sopohomore? What ever happened to that kid?

I don't know if you've noticed, but there hasn't been a train since 15 and 16. And I was here before that, and I'll be here after. But I'm also not gonna sugarcoat a bad situation. We stink.

Calm down, Bro.... First, I didn't call anybody out. Why didn't he make the football team out there? I don't remember him getting any interest at all for his football abilities, apparently because apparently somebody with your last name never bothered to teach the kid how to read defenses or check-downs. So yes, he got as far in FOOTBALL as his natural talent would take him. And that readers, sums up the typical response from typical Bridge City baseball fans.

We had 140 kids in the marching band, but around 25 suiting up to play football on the varsity squad. Don't kid yourself into believing that some of those fat boys toting tubas wouldn't have made decent linemen if they'd ever put the work in.

It's just a culture thing. We won a State Championship in football in 1966. It's not a shortage of athletes, it's a lack of development. I think we've got something like 26 District Championships in baseball, and everybody knows that our district is tough. Really tough. But we compete every year and win a lot of them. We've had numerous kids go on to play at the next level. I hate to call anybody out, but there's a certain pitcher at UT who is already signed with the Red Sox minor league organization. He played a qb in high school, but honestly never developed the skillset beyond his natural talent. Didn't play his senior season, either. We've got a kid that I think is a Senior that's had D1 offers as pitcher. He started at tailback his sophomore year but quit for his junior season. First thing that's noticeable is that the kid obviously has an arm. Why wasn't he under center? No qb background, which is the norm in BC. I get it... why take the pounding that comes with playing as a back in our offense after the brutal 2-6 season that we had in '17? But don't kid yourself into thinking that there aren't any talented athletes at BC. We had an all-world catcher that graduated last year, I believe, and never put on the pads. Think about that. Catchers are almost by default hard-nosed, quick kids.... and he was one of the best. A kid like that would normally be laying the wood on people all fall, but not this kid. He'd be on the sidelines in street clothes, warming the qb up... and throwing better balls that the qb, too. Just a "baseball guy," though. Imagine the tradition and community expectations that exist in places like WOS and Newton... then do the exact opposite. These kids are typically the sons of guys who didn't suit up either. That's how you create Cardinal teams like we typically have. We had our kids in youth football and when they wanted to play little league we signed them up for that, too. It was astounding to see all of these athletic kids at the ball fields that we'd never seen before... because they weren't playing youth football. If you take a group of undeveloped kids, but especially a group without a qb prospect on the team, then try to run the spread like we did under Stump, you're not gonna have any success, ever. I think that Dubois was on the right track for our personnel, but the Slot T with "0" passing attack is only gonna get you so far. And like I always say... if you'd rather smoke a little grass and hang out at Whataburger instead of hitting the weight room... be ready to get your you-know-what handed to you by guys who are willing to put the work in. Just see "2018" as an example of that.

At least they got there. That’s more than I can say for us.

It's a lot of things, but it's community wide. I've seen a lot of kids who really don't have a lot of baseball talent, but their parents still have them taking pitching lessons, playing LL, Fall ball, and select ball. I can't think of a single kid in the last few years that hit up a football camp. I take that back... I can think of two. When a kid with an arm in other places would normally be honing his QB skills, in BC that kid will quit STJFL to pursue baseball (if he was ever even in STJFL). Part of it comes down to losing... I mean, it's hard to sell kids on a sport when the program is so inconsistent. Or actually, bad more often than decent. I'll also say this... BC kids as a whole are soft. They'd rather go spit sunflower seeds and shag grounders than hit the weightroom. I used to tell my boys after I came home from the lake "yeah... I drove through Newton. They were out practicing. What did you do today? Oh, you slept in, ate doritos, and played COD.... that's why they win." If you had a kid that was potentially a starter on the football team, would you be content if he quit the sport to focus on baseball... but still hung out on the sidelines on Friday nights in street clothes? It's completely cool in BC. I mean, I know you've got a commit to play baseball, but if your gonna quit on the team, stop hanging out on the sidelines.

Trump beat out something like 2 dozen more experienced politicians (and Carly Fiorina and Dr Ben Carson) to win the Republican nomination. If you go back to the first debate, there were at least 15 guys on that stage that were better prepared to lead the nation. Anybody that argues any differently is probably not worth debating. Here's my opinion. I was surprised when the Dems selected Obama in 08 with so limited qualifications. I was flabbergasted in 2012 when he was re-elected despite really accomplishing nothing except speeding up the implosion of the healthcare system. I really felt like the Ds had harnessed the "stupid" vote and would continue to get re-elected over and over again. The Rs proved in 2016 that the Ds haven't locked up the uninformed vote just yet. The scary part is that I'm afraid it's a trend and we can only expect more of the same. You go from somebody like Bill Clinton (first to have NOT served in the military, but played a decent sax) to GWB who was a great guy but honestly probably not the best Commander in Chief we've ever had, to the coolest pres ever in Obama, to Trump. The next step is gonna be a big one, and I'll be surprised if it isn't a cross-dressing wanna-be punk rocker from El Paso or some other whack-a-doodle who spouts off all of the benefits of socialism... like our fathers and grandfathers didn't fight wars (hot and cold) to stop it in the last 50 years.

It's not that they hate football.. they just love baseball. Everybody grows up wanting to be a pitcher for the baseball team... nobody wants to be the qb. It's not being hateful... it's just the truth. There are an army of kids that grow up wearing purple and wanting to be the next Dustin Long or Roschon. If those same kids lived in BC, they probably just play select baseball and little league. When the ISD hired Shea Landry (who had recently won a ring as baseball HC at WOS) to be the assistant baseball coach at BC, but runs off a decent football guy like HC/AD like Dubois.... well, it doesn't make the haters like me look wrong. I mean, I'm sure they put as much effort into securing another football HC last year (nope, we just bumped Deshazo up) or offensive coordinator this year. I mean... are we interviewing any football HCs with recent State Championships to see if they'd like to come be the Offensive Coordinator for the Cards? Gimme a break... and it's baseball guys like DLivingston that try to pretend like it doesn't keep happening over and over.

I'm sure their reasons would sound a lot like the responses you'd get from a lot Trump voters.

Yeah... things just seem like they're getting less and less civil. There was the Wilson thing, and I remember when some felt that Obama was out of line by calling out the Supreme Court over a recent decision during the SOTU one year. Justice Alito shook his head, but said nothing. I kinda thought that Pelosi was a little out of line during this one, but not too bad. It's just unnecessary, in my opinion. But it's been worse. [Hidden Content] But we had a Civil War not long after this, so.....