The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 11, 2004 Page: 3 of 32
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THE CANADIAN RECORD
THURSDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2D04
IIIM EDITOR Kill All the Trees
Gridiron Injustice
MANY OF US PAUSE when we head West to watch Canadian High
School travel to a football game. Seems like the officiatin' gets biased
for the home team when we travel upriver. I remember a game at
Fritch in bitter cold wind (1983 or 1984) when the Wildcats were called
for 20 infractions during the last 48 seconds of the game. Many of our
mild-mannered citizens were of a mind to storm the field in the name
of justice.
We have seen that kind of game-calling numerous times since. I
have talked with the coaches about it and the standard response has
been, "We have to have officials and the choices just aren't very good
over there."
Last Friday evening, soon as the Wildcats had established a com-
manding lead, we all watched while Logan Baker was grabbed by
the face-mask and swung through a 360 degree circle before being
dumped on his teakettle. The line judge was standing right there
watching and his flag stayed in his pocket.
Wasn't long before the same thing happened to another Wildcat.
Then began a series of blocks-in-the-baek, clips, interferences, etc.,
culminated by Andrew McCormick being run into after a kick for
extra point and while still supported by one leg. The reports of the
bones snapping were heard all over the stadium.
Canadian Wildcat Football is and has always been a clean game.
Our guys may know about some of the dirty tricks used against us the
other night, but year after year, the Wildcats can point with pride to
the fact that they don't play that way. Many of them will tell you the
reason they play their particular position is beeause they like to '"Go
out and hit somebody." Power to 'em.
Many of us adults would enjoy the sensation of plowing into an
adversary to release pent frustrations. But hitting somebody in the
game sense is not dirty play. (A side issue that keeps running thru my
mind is wondering what the Comanche player thought he would gain
running over a guy that had just kicked an extra point.)
Correct me if I am wrong, but it has always been my impression
that the purpose for having officials at a football game is to enforce' a
situation where there is very little likelihood that the players will suf-
fer injury. The various personal foul penalties are to remind a team
that it is a good thing to obey the rules and a bad thing, embarrassing,
to be caught doing something otherwise.
By not enforcing the rules Friday night, in instance after instance
of negligence in calling personal fouls, the officials allowed the Co-
manches to think that they could get by with any foul they cared to
commit, and therefore, the officials allowed the game atmosphere to
develop thatended in Andrew's injury. It is my opinion we should have
walked out at the end of the first half. Even if we had had to forfeit
the game, our record for the season would not have been seriously
harmed, and our guys would have all gone home together.
Further, I think that the officials, the whole crew of them, should
be asked to discontinue any further effort at football games. I call on
the coaching staff at Canadian High School and others to scrutinize
carefully the habits of officials with questionable reputations. Who
knows how many other youngsters might end their high-school foot-
ball careers with state championship victories and not a broken leg?
MIKE ROLLINS
Reader finds CHS annuals
ON SATURDAY, Jerry and I went to a flea market near Pampa.
There was a man from Higgins there and he and Jerry were visiting. I
mentioned to the proprietor that Canadian was our home and he said
he had something that might interest me.
He had bought Dorothy Fuller's estate and had a box of ten Wildcat
annuals dating from 74 to 84. They are in excellent condition, and he is
asking $5 eaeh for them. I bought the 82 because it has some neat pics
the grandkids enjoy and we only had one.
If anyone would be interested, mail me atjl-sl@nts-online.net and
I will give them directions to the market west of Price Road.
SHERRYSWIRES
(and let TxDOT sort 'em out)
By Seth Davidson
DISTRICT ENGINEER MARK TOMLINSON is on
the loose again, and this time he's playing for
keeps. Infuriated at the public humiliation he
received this past summer, when outraged
Panhandle residents insisted that the TxDOT
keep its grubby 'dozers off the trees along US
60, Tomlinsonis now bent on revenge.
For those who don't remember, a great
love-in was held some months ago in Canadian,
whenTomlinson's boss from Austin, Carlos Lo-
pez, came up to the Panhandle and brokered a
peace between Tomlinson and the restless na-
tives.
The compromise was this:
•TxDOT would forma tree committee and
hold meetings to develop the proper scope of
the project
•TxDOT would conduct an environmental
study of the proposed kill zone
•TxDOT would work to incorporate public
comment into the process
Several people at the meeting didn't believe
Tomlinson. For the short term I decided to sit
back, strap on a muzzle, and see how Tomlin-
son delivered on his promises once his boss
was no longer breathing down his neck. My
Suspicion was that a bureaucrat like Tomlinson
would simply try to wear everyone down with
procedure. Under a mask of fairness and com-
promise, he would win the battle by exhaust-
ing, outlasting, and outmaneuvering the citi-
zenry—all of whom have jobs, lives, and who,
unlike Tomlinson, don't collect a paycheck for
wrecking the environment.
Also, unlike Tomlinson, the citizenry
doesn't have the time to respond to each of Tx-
DOT's machinations, or the resources to fight
their bureaucracy. You'll ran out of time and
money long before they will.
After the first committee meeting, held last
week in Canadian, it looks like I was right. And
I'd like to share it with you, though it's infor-
mation that has been gleaned from hearsay,
rumor, and the second-hand remembrances of
those who attended.
You see, for starters, it turned out that the
tree committee scheduled its meeting less than
two weeks in advance. Since I'm not a commit-
tee member anyway, I don't suppose that mat-
tered, except that it's hardly a public process
if the public isn't apprised of it. We were told
in Canadian that it would be a public process,
so imagine my surprise when Tomlinson sent
me an e-mail saying that it wasn't a public pro-
cess. Of eourse, I was welcome to attend...sure,
Mark, cancel those paying gigs down south so
I can listen to your hired guns do you-know-
what-down-my-back and tell me it's a warm
summer shower.
What's the value of the process ifit'snotpub-
lic? For TxDOT, the value is that the decisions
can be made by a handful of people, and those
decisions can then be presented to the public as
"public" input—though the real public has no
idea of how the decisions were reached.
But wait, there's more—beeause even the
committee doesn't know how its decisions are
reached. Tomlinson has commissioned an envi-
ronmental assessment, but refuses to release
the report to even his own committee. Why?
Beeause it's a "draft."
This is precisely why it should be released
to the committee—so they can read it, share
it with other members of the great unwashed
public, get feedback, and make recommenda-
tions. But TxDOT in general, and Tomlinson
in particular, want nothing of the sort. They're
interested in a whitewash, and are well on their
way to getting it.
Moreover, Tomlinson has repeatedly used
the state freedom of information statute to
cover his tracks. Every time you call TxDOT
and request a document, Tomlinson cordially
encourages you to submit a formal open re-
cords request. Then, a few weeks later, TxDOT
sends you a letter saying your request is being
reviewed by the Attorney General. Then, a few
more weeks later, the Attorney General sends
you a letter saying the information is privileged
and can't be released. Best of all are the letters
where they say there are certain things they
can release to you, but you'll have to take out
a seeond mortgage to pay their copying and
office staff costs to "locate and duplicate" the
records.
Of course the greatest irony of the tree
committee is that there isn't a single person
on it who was able to question the biologist who
stood up at the meeting and gave a recitation of
the different tree and grass species he'd found
along the proposed kill zone. Why? Because
Tomlinson refused to provide the commit-
tee or the public (that's me) with a copy of the
environmental survey prior to the meeting.
That, at least was a smart choice in the short
run, beeause it kept the biologist from getting
skewered.
We'll see how smart it was in the long run.
Tomlinson thinks that he's got this one
sewn up. Hemphill, Roberts, Lipscomb, Ochil-
tree, and Gray counties—hope you're ready to
prove him wrong.
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 46, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 11, 2004, newspaper, November 11, 2004; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220655/m1/3/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.