DIANA – An artificial fog drifted across Eagle Stadium a week ago.
The third quarter was under way — New Diana versus Sabine, Friday night football — and long passes and the smaller players were lost as the smoky haze settled on the field.
“It’s just hanging, but it’ll blow out,” said Tobie Turner, the Sabine athletic booster club president.
He grinned sheepishly. The smoke was his doing. Following halftime, he’d gotten a little carried away with the fog machine that he sprays when the players are running onto the field, and now the fans in the bleachers could barely follow the action.
“If we’d just get a little breeze, it would dissipate,” he said.
The best-laid plans
Even when they can’t see the playing field, East Texans are crazy about their high school football. Players, coaches and boosters devote countless hours in the pursuit of Friday night glory. They sweat and bleed and pray for wins.
But try as they might, sometimes a plan goes up in smoke.
For every team with a storied tradition of district titles and deep playoff runs, there is a high school with a less heralded history and a reputation for losing. For every Kilgore Bulldog, there is a Sabine Cardinal.
The Sabine team has posted three winning seasons in the past 30 years – once in the 1980s, once in the 1990s, and in 2002.
Twenty times in the past three decades – two out of every three seasons – the Cardinals have failed to win more than two games.
It makes for a long 10-game season, and it’s a history of losing that is unmatched in East Texas.
“Everybody loves a winner, and everyone wants to be a part of winning,” said Jerry Baker, in his first year as head coach. “Sabine’s kids over the course of a few years have learned, doggone, it’s not so much about winning as it is about surviving, because they’ve taken so many blows and been through so many coaches.”
And yet, hundreds of Liberty City residents made the 30-mile drive to support their Cardinals when the team played New Diana a week ago. Not everybody in the stands was kin to a player, band member or cheerleader. The fans were there because they wanted to be.
Remnants of glory
The old coach from Sabine’s glory days sat off to himself at the Friday game. He chewed on a toothpick as he watched “our little kids” from a lawn chair he had unfolded on the running track near the end zone.
“Of course, I can’t talk much about losing,” said Lonnie Fenton, who retired in 1979 and still lives in Liberty City. “I coached out there for 13 years and never had a losing season.”
Fenton, 78, said the crowds were bigger when the team was winning.
“They’ve still got a good following. They haven’t given up,” he said. “I still follow them, and they’re pretty competitive. It will just take a certain group of kids to overcome the idea that you can’t beat somebody.”
The announcer’s opinion
Keith Wilkerson leaned against the chainlink fence, not far from the old coach in his lawn chair.
Wilkerson, Sabine’s home game announcer for 16 years, said Cardinals fans focus more on community involvement than wins and losses.
“I think a lot of people in the community are interested in what a coach teaches the kids, more than his win-loss record,” he said. “At the end of the day, how many of these kids are going to play in college, much less at the next level? The life lessons are a whole lot more important than wins and losses. At the same time, I know coaches live by their win-loss record.”
Over the years, he said, the lack of success has discouraged participation in the football program.
“But the kids always come and play four quarters, and they play hard to the end of each season,” he said. “I don’t think you can say it’s the coaches or a lack of interest. The community offers its support. It’s all been there. It’s just an odd thing.”
Wilkerson’s neighbor, Bud Florence, offered his two cents: “A lot of kids don’t want to put in the effort to get hammered every week,” he said.
Sabine’s academic record is strong, Wilkerson noted, and the marching band is precise.
“A lot of times we’ll say, well, at least we won halftime,” he said.
The fog clears
The haze that blanketed the field in Diana came courtesy of a new, unexpectedly potent can of “fog juice.” Turner and other boosters run a fog machine at games with the hope that it will infuse school spirit and Cardinal pride in the team.
The players run through an inflatable tunnel shaped like a cardinal’s head, then burst through the fog on their way to the sideline before each half.
“We are trying to come out of the cellar and into the limelight, and I want to do what I can to help the program come forward and start doing things right,” Turner said.
The Cardinals started strong against the Eagles, with help from a couple of New Diana turnovers. But by the early fourth quarter, the fog had lifted and the Cardinals found themselves in a three-touchdown hole.
“This is the bad part of the game,” Turner said. “We should be knuckling down and getting after it. We just seem to get too afraid to make mistakes. Seems like a lot of (the other team’s) big plays take the wind out of your sails, but it’s not for a lack of effort. The kids are putting in everything they can.”
Sabine lost, 38-20, but the fans took it in stride. It’s a rebuilding year.
Since the Cardinals dropped to Class 2A, there have been fewer blowouts, they note.
The Cardinals face White Oak tonight in the final game of the season. Moving forward, Coach Baker has been drawing up plans for offseason workouts, and boosters are expressing high hopes for next year – and the years to come.
“The future’s looking very good,” Turner said. “The JV is on a four-game winning streak. The eighth grade is undefeated, and they’re beating people pretty handily.”
9,658 responses to “Despite 30 years of losses, Sabine stays optimistic”
excellent publish, very informative. I ponder why the opposite experts of this sector do not understand this. You should proceed your writing. I’m confident, you’ve a huge readers’ base already!|
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as I provide credit and sources back to your webpage? My blog site is in the exact same niche as yours and my users would really benefit from some of the information you present here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Many thanks!|
I like what you guys are usually up too. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the amazing works guys I’ve included you guys to my own blogroll.|
Keep on writing, great job!|
Awesome post.|
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation however I in finding this matter to be really one thing which I believe I would never understand. It sort of feels too complicated and very huge for me. I’m taking a look ahead to your subsequent submit, I’ll try to get the dangle of it!|
I was able to find good advice from your blog posts.|
I’m amazed, I must say. Rarely do I come across a blog that’s equally educative and entertaining, and without a doubt, you have hit the nail on the head. The problem is something not enough folks are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy I found this during my hunt for something relating to this.
Hey there I am so grateful I found your site, I really found you by mistake, while I was searching on Bing for something else, Regardless I am here now and would just like to say thank you for a incredible post and a all round thrilling blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the superb work.|
Having read this I believed it was extremely informative. I appreciate you finding the time and energy to put this article together. I once again find myself personally spending way too much time both reading and posting comments. But so what, it was still worth it.
The best choice I made for learning crypto basics. Smooth and wide token selection.
The providing liquidity tools are trustworthy service and low fees.
First off I want to say awesome blog! I had a quick question which I’d like to ask if you don’t mind. I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your thoughts before writing. I have had a hard time clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out. I do enjoy writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes tend to be wasted just trying to figure out how to begin. Any ideas or hints? Appreciate it!|
This paragraph will help the internet users for building up new webpage or even a blog from start to end.|
After checking out a number of the articles on your web site, I truly appreciate your technique of blogging. I saved as a favorite it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Take a look at my web site too and let me know what you think.|
What’s up to every , for the reason that I am really keen of reading this web site’s post to be updated daily. It includes good material.|
The interface is responsive team, and I enjoy using the bridge here.
I personally find that i’ve been active for half a year, mostly for swapping tokens, and it’s always accurate charts.
At this time it appears like BlogEngine is the top blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?|
This platform exceeded my expectations with trustworthy service and reliable uptime.
Quality content is the key to be a focus for the users to pay a visit the web site, that’s what this website is providing.|
I want to to thank you for this very good read!! I definitely enjoyed every bit of it. I’ve got you book marked to check out new stuff you post…|
Riley here — I’ve tried staking and the wide token selection impressed me.
Nice blog here! Also your site loads up fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my site loaded up as quickly as yours lol|
I’m not sure why but this blog is loading incredibly slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.|
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say wonderful blog!|
Terrific article! This is the kind of info that are supposed to be shared across the web. Disgrace on the seek engines for not positioning this publish upper! Come on over and discuss with my web site . Thanks =)|
Pretty great post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to mention that I’ve truly loved browsing your weblog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing for your rss feed and I hope you write again soon!|
You actually make it seem really easy together with your presentation but I to find this matter to be actually something that I believe I would by no means understand. It sort of feels too complicated and extremely vast for me. I am having a look forward in your subsequent submit, I’ll attempt to get the hold of it!|
Thank you for the good writeup. It if truth be told was a enjoyment account it. Look complicated to far brought agreeable from you! However, how can we be in contact?|
If you are going for most excellent contents like me, only visit this site all the time since it offers quality contents, thanks|
Your method of describing all in this article is truly nice, all be able to easily be aware of it, Thanks a lot.|
Spot on with this write-up, I actually believe that this site needs a lot more attention. I’ll probably be returning to see more, thanks for the information!|
I’ve been surfing online more than 2 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It’s pretty worth enough for me. Personally, if all website owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be a lot more useful than ever before.|
My brother recommended I might like this web site. He was entirely right. This post truly made my day. You can not imagine simply how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!|
continuously i used to read smaller articles or reviews which also clear their motive, and that is also happening with this piece of writing which I am reading now.|
This is really attention-grabbing, You’re a very professional blogger. I’ve joined your rss feed and look forward to in search of extra of your excellent post. Additionally, I’ve shared your site in my social networks|
Fantastic blog! Do you have any hints for aspiring writers? I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you suggest starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m completely confused .. Any ideas? Cheers!|
My programmer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on a number of websites for about a year and am anxious about switching to another platform. I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress content into it? Any help would be really appreciated!|
I was recommended this website by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed about my problem. You are amazing! Thanks!|
I personally find that i switched from another service because of the clear transparency and low fees.
Your style is very unique compared to other people I have read stuff from. Thank you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I will just book mark this blog.|
Blake here — I’ve tried learning crypto basics and the stable performance impressed me. My withdrawals were always smooth.
After I originally left a comment I appear to have clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there a means you can remove me from that service? Thank you.
Asking questions are really pleasant thing if you are not understanding anything entirely, however this post gives fastidious understanding even.|
Every weekend i used to pay a quick visit this web site, because i want enjoyment, since this this web page conations genuinely nice funny information too.|
Excellent items from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you’re just extremely great. I really like what you’ve got right here, really like what you’re stating and the way in which through which you say it. You’re making it enjoyable and you still care for to keep it wise. I cant wait to learn far more from you. This is actually a great web site.|
Every weekend i used to go to see this web site, for the reason that i wish for enjoyment, as this this web site conations in fact nice funny data too.|
Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I really enjoyed reading it, you may be a great author. I will be sure to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back at some point. I want to encourage you continue your great work, have a nice evening!|
Hmm is anyone else experiencing problems with the images on this blog loading? I’m trying to find out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog. Any responses would be greatly appreciated.|