Sunday editorial

[Mr. Buddy Garrity]

http://www.lufkindailynews.com/opin/conten...17/carroll.html

Read this, this has been a hot topic on the 5Atexasfootball board....

The Lufkin Daily News

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Lufkin’s football team has established a bona fide rivalry with Southlake Carroll, even if the Dragons have knocked Lufkin out of the state championship race in three of the last four years.

The Panthers have fought hard against the current mythical national champions, and we believe the teams have a great respect for each other. And they should: Carroll and Lufkin are widely considered the two best football teams in Texas, and are both believed to be among the top 10 in the nation.

That’s why, we believe, Pack fans should rally together to help Southlake Carroll in its time of need. It seems the school district is having to resort to a huge marketing program — with advertisements on everything that doesn’t move, and sponsorships and memorabilia sales — to stay afloat financially.

As with everything else wrong in Texas these days, blame it on the Legislature: The state’s much-maligned Robin Hood school finance system takes money from districts like Carroll and disperses it to poorer districts like the rural ones throughout East Texas.

“Our district gives millions of dollars to the state each year,†Todd Dodge, Carroll’s head football coach, said in a Dallas Morning News story that examined the Dragons’ marketing machine this past week. “We’ve got to find ways to make money. The best opportunities to make money in our school district surround the football program.â€

We’d suggest that Lufkin Panther fans, if they want Carroll to remain a national power so that the teams can meet again, each send $100 — or whatever you can afford — to the Dragons’ athletic program to make up for the money that the Carroll district has lost. It’s the least we can do.

And, yes, we’re kidding.

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