I had an interesting experience today that I think this group would find worthy of sharing.
At an event in Rosenberg this morning, I had a running conversation with a Texas state representative from Pearland named Ed Thompson. Long before Rep. Thompson ever ran for office, he was a high school football referee in the Houston chapter. Before that, he was a star high school football player at LaPorte in the '60s - so good, in fact, that they retired his jersey after he graduated. If you know high school football and you know how good of a program the La Porte Bulldogs have traditionally been, that's saying something.
The moment Rep. Thompson found out I was from Port Neches, all he could talk about was the Port Neches-Groves Indians. He refereed some of our playoff games at the Astrodome in the '90s, including the regional semi-final against Brazosport during our 1999 state championship run, and couldn't stop talking about our legendary fan attendance. He relayed a story from one of his uncles, a former coach for Sam Rayburn High School in Pasadena, about how PN-G would always fill the stands at Pasadena Memorial Stadium two and a half hours before kickoff whenever we played Rayburn. (For those who don't know, Rayburn was a frequent pre-district opponent for us in the '60s and '70s, and we also used their stadium for a lot of playoff games.) Rep. Thompson knew all about Doug Ethridge and the '74, '75, '76 and '77 PN-G Indians. I'd be lying if I said I didn't leave that conversation beaming.
Folks, if you ever start to think the social justice warriors and their media buddies are tarnishing the reputation of the PN-G Indian Nation, keep in mind that the everyday folks on the ground still know the PN-G community for what it really is. In all my travels over the years, across Texas and beyond, I've never had one person take issue with our mascot. But I've had quite a few talk about 'all those people in purple,' or the time they met us in the playoffs, or when they saw the Indian Band march in a competition in San Antonio or Huntsville. We are still very well respected in this state.
At an event in Rosenberg this morning, I had a running conversation with a Texas state representative from Pearland named Ed Thompson. Long before Rep. Thompson ever ran for office, he was a high school football referee in the Houston chapter. Before that, he was a star high school football player at LaPorte in the '60s - so good, in fact, that they retired his jersey after he graduated. If you know high school football and you know how good of a program the La Porte Bulldogs have traditionally been, that's saying something.
The moment Rep. Thompson found out I was from Port Neches, all he could talk about was the Port Neches-Groves Indians. He refereed some of our playoff games at the Astrodome in the '90s, including the regional semi-final against Brazosport during our 1999 state championship run, and couldn't stop talking about our legendary fan attendance. He relayed a story from one of his uncles, a former coach for Sam Rayburn High School in Pasadena, about how PN-G would always fill the stands at Pasadena Memorial Stadium two and a half hours before kickoff whenever we played Rayburn. (For those who don't know, Rayburn was a frequent pre-district opponent for us in the '60s and '70s, and we also used their stadium for a lot of playoff games.) Rep. Thompson knew all about Doug Ethridge and the '74, '75, '76 and '77 PN-G Indians. I'd be lying if I said I didn't leave that conversation beaming.
Folks, if you ever start to think the social justice warriors and their media buddies are tarnishing the reputation of the PN-G Indian Nation, keep in mind that the everyday folks on the ground still know the PN-G community for what it really is. In all my travels over the years, across Texas and beyond, I've never had one person take issue with our mascot. But I've had quite a few talk about 'all those people in purple,' or the time they met us in the playoffs, or when they saw the Indian Band march in a competition in San Antonio or Huntsville. We are still very well respected in this state.
