Time to do the Right Thing!

Seems that sometimes, it takes a sportscaster to shame an entire school system to do the right thing, and that’s what happened to the Plano ISD, when Channel 8’s (WFAA) Sportscaster Dale Hansen took the airwaves and did an editorial on why the PLANO ISD canceled a football game with El Paso Eastwood, that was to be played on September 6^th at Kimbrough Stadium.

A day later, the Plano ISD rescinded that, and scheduled the game on the 5^th, and moved from Kimbrough to Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas.

So let me see if I get this right now, the original game was to be played in a Plano ISD facility in Murphy, Texas, then canceled, then  rescheduled, and moved to a facility that’s not even in the School District, they moved it to Frisco, moved it to an indoor stadium, and moved it apparently because Frisco has better security than Plano does!

This was a time to show unity, and show that one city can host the other from a tragedy, but both have a common denominator, the shooter that killed 22 people, and injured 24 others was from Plano, graduated from Plano Senior High School, and drove the 10 hours west to El Paso, and shot up a Walmart, and caused the anguish of a community, a city, a state and a country, because the very next day in Dayton, Ohio another shooter kills 9 people and injures 27, but police showed up 32 seconds after it started and took down the gunman and killed him!

Texas is known for its Friday Night Lights, it’s a tradition that Football in Texas is KING, and that we try and showcase the very best when we can.

You think back to a dismal week in 2001, September 11^th, when aircraft were used as missiles, flown into the twin towers in New York, into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and into a field in Western Pennsylvania.

On that Friday night of that week, the 14^th, we stood in stadiums, proud of our country, singing our National Anthem with our neighbors, and being united as one!

It was a tragedy, it was horrible, it was unthinkable, however we survived it, and we showed up on Friday night, and we watched football, because it was getting back to normal. WE as a nation needed to heal and we needed to feel normal again, and believe it or not,  it worked!

I remember that Friday in a small Texas town of Diboll, Texas, and doing a game that involved the home team the Diboll Lumberjacks, and to tell you the truth I have no idea who they played that weekend most likely Carthage, but couldn’t tell you, but the nicest compliment I got was from a writer with the Lufkin Daily News, who was driving back into town from taking his daughter to Austin to be with her mom, and my friend wrote in his article the following week, is that as soon as he was able get the radio signal, he was tuned in to listen to our broadcast, and for that instant—he was transformed back to normal. Though our world would never be normal again!

So why is it that something like a shooting, and community coming together, and the other community that hurts, because they felt like they were responsible for the Monster that was created, though they truly had nothing to do with it, but they still, somehow feel like its their responsibility.

So lets talk about how this game that is going to be played now is at Ford Center at the Star in Frisco. Most likely a couple of elements came into play.

First! Plano called Frisco ISD and made a request to play the game at Ford Center… SECOND! Jerry Jones stepped up to the plate, and made it available, but it had to be on a THURSDAY night,  since Frisco ISD have games there on Friday Night and Saturday night—not too mention, the Cowboys will be returning there for their opener with the Giants, so they need a place to practice!

Mr. Jones already has donated $50,000.00 to El Paso, and he has a firm place in the hearts of those in West Texas, and it shows because the number of Cowboy Fans that are there, and he knows that with this gesture, he has endeared himself to many more!

So TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING, is, make this game happen, without incident, and give those athletes, their fans, their families, a warm N. Texas Welcome and make sure that when they leave here—they will remember that there are many, in the state of Texas, that believes in giving back to the community and bringing the community together when they are hurting the most!

Just a thought!