Sports Opinion: Random Musings April 9

In reading and listening to interviews, it seems many of the coaches are worried about how much time they will have to do off-season workouts before they can have a season. For those fifty years old or older, like myself, a chuckle always comes out because we have a different outlook on that question. Especially, if you came from a smaller school district. My high school days and coaching career did not include much in the way of a formal off-season or preseason for that matter. Where today's sports are year round for one sport, we had year round sports with no time between.

Since most of America was rural in nature, the school systems were set up to accommodate the farming cycles. The families were large to provide their own labor force and the students were needed when it came time to plant until harvest of the crops. So that meant schools were usually turned out in early May and then opened in early September. Even though we have evolved into an urban society, the school year still basically follows the old rural schedule.

So when it came to sports, some adjustments had to be made. The off-season (summer) workouts consisted of hoeing cotton or corn and harvesting the same two later in the summer. In the meantime, boys would form hay hauling teams (someone with a truck or pickup and trailer) and hawk the farmers/ranchers for the right to haul their hay to the barns. Much like kids did with mowers later. It was hot and dusty work but would get you used to August/September heat, plus earning some spending money.

Football practice would generally begin a couple of weeks before school began and end in early November. Basketball would have to wait until football was over. Turn in FB uniforms, put on tennis shoes. You might practice a week or two and the season would begin in earnest, playing around 25 games. Track began and when done, baseball stepped in to finish up the school year. A couple of practice games at most and then into the district schedule. The same students were generally needed to stock each of the sports, so few extra athletes available for preseason practices, not to mention coaches to work with them. Even though that is no longer the way sports are conducted today, it does show that our athletes are very resilient and can perform very ably without a lot of formal time. Their effort and competitiveness will always be there and their abilities will step up as always. So there is really very little excuse for not having an outstanding season under any circumstances.

Last week we brought up the importance of the Dripping Springs Academy to the history of Dripping Springs and education. The Academy was a boarding school where the students paid a tuition to go there like colleges. However, it was not the first school in Dripping Springs. Education was important to Dr. Pound and as soon as his children were old enough, he hired a tutor. This was around 1860. There was some type of formal school from thereon. In 1876, Texas approved a Constitution that also set up the Free Public School System. Under that law Dripping Springs established District #10, a school with 29 students on December 12, 1876. These were County School Districts (CSD) with a County Superintendent.

Eventually, after the Academy was erected, the two schools were combined to house both. Those that paid the tuition went to school from September to May but the public school students, unless they agreed to pay the difference, could only attend until the county allowance was used up, which was from November to maybe March. By 1890, the Academy building had been turned over to the Public School system and became District # 20 in 1891. In 1905 Dripping Springs became a graded school that included three high school grades. By 1910-11, the high school grades had been dropped for lack of interest. They vowed to get them back and did so the next year. The district remained an eleven-grade system until 1941-42 when it went to twelve.

There was a scarcity of newspaper articles describing school life in Hays County in the early 1900's, so the early sports world of Dripping Springs is lacking. It was assumed they probably played some baseball, basketball, track and possibly tennis. With very few facilities available one can imagine very little organized participation took place. The UIL was formed in 1910 and track was first sponsored sport in 1911. Tennis 1914, boys basketball 1915 and girls basketball 1918. Next week we will delve into early DS sports as deep as we can with the limited knowledge we have.

I have always thought wealth, like knowledge, wasn't worth much unless it was shared with others. It is really nice how many of our athletes are stepping up during this pandemic and using their resources to help the less fortunate. In my book many are grossly overpaid and it is great for them to recognize how the ones that support them from beneath are in a time of need. You have probably heard of a few. Drew Brees and wife gave 5 million to State of Louisiana; Texas Ranger Shin-Soo Choo donated a $1000 each to the 190 Ranger minor leaguers because he remembered how it was when he was in minor leagues. Astro pitcher Justin Verlander and his wife are donating his weekly salary to a different charity each week until this is over. Houston Texan JJ Watt is always involved in such activities. There are college athletes using their notoriety to have GoFundMe initiatives. In this time, thank goodness, there are many examples of GOOD in this country and the number willing to share to the extent they can.

It has always been a theory of mine, a theory because I will never get to experience first-hand. A person earning a million dollars a year has all the money they need to have a very comfortable life of having a roof over their head, food on the table, clothes on their backs, ample entertainment, etc. with plenty left over. What does the millions after that do for comfortable? Just toys to play with. So why not use some of that surplus for those that are not so fortunate but put in the work to make ends meet? Times like this do bring out the best in good people and when all this is over with, maybe this will trickle up to the big corporations that continue to make their billions off the backs of people and do so by shorting the people that earn those dollars for them. We all need to learn how to share what we have with others. The dividends are so much greater. Stay safe.