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Al Bundy and Pandora's Box
Published: 1/24/2007 10:39 PM
Last Modified: 1/24/2007 10:39 PM

Al Bundy from "Married With Children" used to joke that he served his country -- "I played high school football," he said proudly -- and we laughed at him.
I'm not sure what high school football is anymore, but it seems more like big business than a game played by kids.
The success of Union and Jenks spawned an arms race in terms of facilities and year-round commitment to football. A rumor floating around is that a high school is seeking funds for an indoor practice facility for football. Coaches are being allowed to do nothing but coach -- no classroom responsibility -- and they are being given the latitude to hire their own staffs, as if high schools have suddenly become little colleges. (I don't blame the head coaches for this. If I were a head coach, I would want to hire loyal soldiers, too. And I bet Ron Lancaster does a swell job at Broken Arrow.)
But, back to the subject, no high school needs an indoor practice facility unless the school happens to be in Juneau or Anchorage. And it should be remembered that sports is an extracurricular activity, emphasis on the curricular rather than the extra. Now we are on the verge of the tail wagging the dog.
At some point, we've got to reel this thing back in before it gets silly. Or are we already there?
I love high school football as much as the next guy, but maybe it's time to have fewer assistant coaches and fewer athletic facilities and perhaps spend all that football-earmarked money on books for the library.
It's fun to brag when your team whips a rival school on Friday night. It's more important to kick their tail in the classroom, or in an office cubicle five years down the road.
Sometimes lessons learned in football contribute to competing and succeeding in the real word. I'm aware of that. I'm also aware that the schools mentioned above have nice academic reputations. But I think it's fair to say that high school football, at least at the super-size level, has lost a measure of innocence.




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Tulsa World sports writer Jimmie Tramel is a former class president at Locust Grove High School. He graduated magna cum laude from Northeastern State University with a journalism degree and, while attending college, was sports editor of the Pryor Daily Times. He joined the Tulsa World on Oct. 17, 1989, the same day an earthquake struck the World Series. He is the OSU basketball beat writer and a columnist and feature writer during football season. In 2007, he wrote a book about Oklahoma State football with former Cowboy coach Pat Jones.

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