PRUETT COLUMN: All-District 22-5A selection proves letdown with agendas

Published 2:49 pm Saturday, December 5, 2015

What a waste all-district teams have become.
Readers can take that line however they want, and this includes some of the coaches who pick these teams. The All-District 22-5A football team is published in today’s News and it is proof agendas come before what is right.
So let’s get to it. How in the world is Nederland quarterback Mitchell LeBaron left completely off the list? Port Neches-Groves quarterback Adam Morse shared MVP honors with Beaumont Ozen running back Calvin Tyler (more on that in a minute), so my initial thought was LeBaron would be first-team quarterback.
I was wrong. Beaumont Ozen’s Josh Boyd took that spot.
I am a huge Boyd fan, but LeBaron had two things over Boyd this year: a playoff berth and a win over the Panthers. Then I about hit the floor when the second team quarterback was written down as Baytown Lee’s Javarius Irving.
What does LeBaron have over him? Everything. The Ganders did not win a single game this year!
Sorry, Mitchell, some people do not do what is right by the players.
Now as far as the MVP goes, it is also not right Morse shared the award with a player who did not make the playoffs. Sure, Tyler was great this year, but if Morse is going to share the award with anyone, the right pick was Nederland’s Austin Krautz. The Indians and Bulldogs shared the district title, and both beat the Panthers.
Coaches need to grow up and put their own agendas behind them when it comes time to vote on these teams.
The easiest solution is to man up and make the votes known to the other coaches in the room. Right now, coaches write down the players’ names and fold up the piece of paper and then votes are counted.
I cannot stop shaking my head at this horrible travesty. …
Georgia fans wanted Mark Richt gone so bad following a 9-3 season in 2015 in the SEC.
Richt was unemployed for what seems like an hour when the Miami Hurricanes were smart enough to hire him.
Did Richt all of a sudden not know how to coach? This is the same guy who has a 145-51 record at Georgia.
Once again, the Bulldogs play in the SEC. He has a 9-5 bowl record.
The same thing was about to happen at LSU until Les Miles proved himself against Texas A&M, when he really didn’t need to in the first place. Plenty of people wanted Miles gone from Baton Rouge before his team beat the Aggies.
Miles has a 111-32 record while at LSU and has a national championship and 6-4 bowl record. If Miles had been fired last weekend, he would have had the same fate as Richt, hired by the next Friday.
Why? These two guys are a couple of the best coaches in the nation.
Be careful what you wish for when you want your coach gone, especially when the said coach doesn’t even have a losing record that year.
Take a look at Texas without Mack Brown. Are the Longhorns now in any better shape now with Charlie Strong? Is that future with Mack out still as bright as the day he left Austin? The old saying ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’ is the biggest lie told to kids growing up. …

Gabriel Pruett can be reached at 721-2436 or gabe.pruett@panews.com. On Twitter: @PANewsGabe

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About Gabriel Pruett

Gabriel Pruett has worked with both the Port Arthur News and Orange Leader since 2000. A majority of the time has been spent covering all aspects of Southeast Texas high school sports. Pruett's claim to fame is...being able to write his own biographical information for this website.

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