I'm relatively new to the area, having moved here about a year ago. I do have a history here. though, as I've spent a lot of the previous 20 years here on business at one time or another. So I am familiar with the Jenks and Union domination of high school footbal.

The Jenks/Union thing reminds me of hockey back in my homeland, North Dakota. Growing up, there were two teams that dominated from the eastern part of the state, winning title after title. This went on for several decades, until other cities followed the same formula you refer to: getting kids organized and started youg, then ciltivating that talent when it gets to the high school level. That led to a changing of the guard, the same thing we'll soon see here.

With several local schools, like BA and Owasso, developing more of a "program" approach, you'll see a more competitive environment in high school football, which is better for everyone than dominance by just a few.

So I think it looks like fun times ahead, with residents of more than just the Jenks and Union districts becoming more engauged in their local programs.

TJ

I understand in the Tulsa are there are only two teams that the media is aware of. Jenks and Union both have great programs, and alot of success. Contrary to media exposure, there are several teams that work hard and have excelled as well. I have to disagree with the Union "off day" comment. Broken Arrow dominated that game on both sides of the ball. Absolutely taking nothing away from Union, but they got beat. If you have watched them play without bias, they have cleared that hurdle. They are big, strong, and fast. Those kids have worked hard to achieve this success, but the media almost refuses to acknowledge that they are doing well. When they beat Union, they showed highlights of Union, and then kind of tried to slip in "oh by the way union was beat, but Jenks won!"(which probably had Ruben Diaz preparing for the apocalypse, it looked physicaly painful for him to state union was beat by somebody besides Jenks). The kids should be acknowledged for their accomplishment. They aren't college or pro players, kudos won't hurt anyone, and the kids deserve them!
BTW is another team that should be more recognized for it's success. Yes, Broken Arrow beat them, but they are extremely dangerous. Their plays in the game plan are effective, BUT when the play breaks down, they are extremely lethal. Those kids are such good athletes that when they just try to make something happen, they usaully do!!! Michael Doctor (I call him kevorkian because when he shows up, you are dead meat) , that Skillens kid, and there are several others but the names escape me. They are going to slaughter 5A, it is not going to be pretty if you are wearing anything besides orange and black. Moving them back down is like the wolf laying with lambs.
Regardless, there are more than two teams that play at a high level, hence they are worthy of recognition for improvement and success.

I'm not in any way affiliated with the news or media and even in this case the person representing the media is on BA's side. Just because BA won in all facets doesn't mean it wasn't an off day. Maybe BA is the better team. I never said they weren't, but can you honestly say that the talent Union showed against Jenks and Muskogee is the same that showed up against BA. I did give kudos to the fact that BA is better. There is no doubt about that.

For most of you that don't remember or weren't here this is pretty similar to what happened about 6 years ago. BA was supposed to be great and if I remember correctly beat Jenks in the state semis. Then they faced Union in the finals(who by the way had lost to Jenks in the regular season and got denied a rematch because of BA's victory) and Union tore them apart. It ended up being something like 55-3. That was Union's first 6A state championship. This year could very easily be similar. Union beat Jenks. BA beat Union. So maybe Jenks destroys BA. Who knows? High school football is so mercurial that teams can have horrid off days and for someone that is fairly young you don't realize how much your emotions are effecting your performance. There are reasons beyond just size and speed for why Freshmen in college don't play that often. So, like BA in those finals 6 or so years ago, getting behind much more easily leads to frustration and getting farther behind. I'm not saying BA can't or won't do it, but I would just be surprised. It will be very hard not to fall behind against either Jenks or Union at some point and with all these emotions of wanting to prove everyone in the town wrong eating away at someone once they begin to lose, it seems unlikely that BA will win. I lived in Tulsa for 22 years, I still have family there and I think BA needs to just be cautious about the expectations. It may take a couple of years of being this good before they win one. It still took Union a number of years once Union and Jenks started dominating the title game to actually win one. Union still didn't beat Jenks for another 2 or 3 years in the championship after they won their first 6A title. Just be patient.