The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 16, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 18, 1988 Page: 3 of 25
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COWPOKES
By Ace Reid
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Hano News, Thuraday, February IS, 1988
Page A-3
Letters to the Editor
Appreciated
Dear Editor:
Best wanted
Dear Editor:
Dear Editor:
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A pleasure
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Dear Editor:
Unfortunate
Point lost
The LLANO $e NEWS
Dear Editor:
Dear Editor:
I
WALTER L. BUCKNER, EMterand PubMaher
' T.H. CUNNINGHAM, PebMeher Emerttus
A few points
Dear Editor:
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E.L. Dann
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Thank you
Dear Editor:
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.................
ANN MILLER..........
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...................
BARBARA BURPORD...
LYNDA PinSON.......
BRDDGET SMALLWOOD
Through the misinformation that
has been paasing in the pages of the
Llano News, I find myself needing to
make a few points that have not yet
been brought out to the general
Dublic.
F"T*
• It is too bad when Llano has people
who accept defeat for our children
without challenge. Accept medioc-
SUDBCMIPIION EATESe Lhm Coumty l yee 811.65, 2 822.40,
3 yean 832.0. Hsewhere hi Tezaa 1 year $19.50, 3 yeers 838.00.
Pal of otetei l your. 834, 3 yeers N8. Al peyahl ta aNfos
OvMMuo • oal or write for gpoto.
Our athletes are having to face
defeat much more than necessary. ()n I+ciee
We have winners in the classroom, •U I-IUC
Shane and I endure, and also for
giving a flash of light that maybe I’m
not doing all that bad of a job in this
tunnel of life.
I recognize Llano as one of the
finest school districts I have ever
been exposed to and I sincerely dp
appreciate the fact that each and
every one of the faculty members
never hesitate to give a child the
ever-important love and attention so
desperately needed in everyday life.
Thank you, Llano School District.
Vickie Emerson
Sunrise Beach
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Editorial /Opinion
“The vital measure of a newspaper is not its size ■
but its spirit" . . . Arthur Hays Sulzberger
•
Most surely yours,
Mikel R. Virdell
Llano
Jake, that seat belt is the greatest
invention since red beans!”
As parents, each of us have always
wanted to give our children the best,
encourage them to their very best at
whatever they are doing, although
it’s not always possible. We all
appear to be in agreement that what
we want for our children is a total
school program, so that they may
have the opportunity to excel now
and in adulthood. We think we have
the best in the Llano School System.
From the top of the ladder. Dr.
Moore, to any level of teaching, we
are fortunate to have top quality,
professional personnel. Our children
have never had problems that were
not met with sincerity, encourage-
ment, and helpfulness in all aspects
of their education.
There is no doubt a coach is very
influential on young lives, and
should be a leader in the school and
in the community.
In effect, you people are saying to
our young people that they simply
don’t have what it takes to win, and
that they are incapable of competing
with our neighboring towns. We just
can’t swallow that — we believe we
do have the athletes. At least we
have the potential to be competitive.
We may not be blessed with super
athletes each year, but how can
Mason, Goldthwaite, Brownwood
continually win year after year in all
sports? We submit to you, it’s their^
leadership, overall program, totafg
community support and their tradi-
tion of winning. Obviously, they
have someone in a leadership
position who puts the enthusiasm,
the drive, the spirit in those kids to
do their best, no matter what size or
shape, or how much talent there is in
the classroom and on the athletic
fields. We submit to you, that’s
coaching.
I have been reading the controver-
sy (pro & con) about the Llano
coaching situation for several weeks
and would like to express an outside
opinion.
First, I do not know Coach Spivey;
Superintendent Moore, any of the
school board members, or anyone
involved in the controversy. I do
know, however, that it is very
difficult to compete consistently with
schools who have three times as
many athletes to choose from, such
as Lampasas, Fredericksburg, Bur-
net, etc.
San Saba was in the same position
as Llano a few years ago and now
that they have been dropped back
one classification, their program is
now at the top.
I don’t know if Coach Spivey is the
man for this job or not, but I
sincerely believe that the people of
the Llano School District, and
especially the students, will be much
better off if the legally elected and
hired officials are allowed to make
these decisions without undue pres-
sure or interference from those who
are not.
ever said that Coach Spivey was
anything other than a moral coach.
You said that.
I cannot believe that all of us
involved in this conflict don’t want
what is best for our community and
schools. Leadership must come from
the top of a program. I feel that the
leadership has become ineffective,
and thus the program cannot im-
prove or even stay the same. And as ‘
the saying goes, “Either you are part >
of the solution or you are part of the
problem.” I do know this: that no
one in opposition to Coach Spivey ,
wishes anything other than the best
for him and his family; I do know :
this, that many of his backers are ’
only interested in winning this :
battle, and winning at any cost, even
if it means to the detriment of what is ;
best for Coach Spivey and his career. «
I have faith that the best will come '
out in all of us. But we should stop
to think first where we are, and 1
what do we want from our school ‘
parents, sit and watch our children
be the doormats of this new district?
How can we deprive potentially good
athletes of honors and even possible
college scholarships?
We have the best coaches in the
classroom. Let’s give our children
the same opportunities on the
football field and other athletic
events! Let’s not, as one parent said,
“Let the luster go out of our
children’s eyes, let’s put the gleam
of pride back in!”
Frosty and Vicki Miller
Pontotoc
I would like to express to Sheriff
Gale Ligon, Chief Dispatcher Betty •
Berry and each of the other •
dispatchers our thanks for their :
assistance in setting up our new :
emergency paging system in the city :
of Sunrise Beach.
Due to their cooperation, our ‘
response time to emergencies will be :
much improved, resulting in more :
opportunities of saving lives and
property. It has been a pleasure
working with them in setting up and
testing our new system.
W.W. (Bill) Wellhausen
Sunrise Beach
Volunteer Fire Department
winners at band contests, winners on
the basketball courts — why don’t
we have winners on the football
field? They are some of the same
kids, and they are willing to
sacrifice, give their all, if only they
had someone to lead them in that
direction.
Truthfully, how else can you judge
a coach’s performance, unless it is
his win-loss record? As a matter of
record, we would like to give you this
list of facto: 1) 0-10 record in 1987.
As far as we can tell, the last time
our football teams went winless was
in 1934. That is 53 years ago. 2) Four
losses to Class AA schools in 1987,
with no game being closer than two
touchdowns. 3) Loss to Comanche
35-14, with Comanche’s win being
its first in two years. The 35 points
Comanche scored against Llano
accounted for over half of its total of
67 points for their entire season. 4)
Llano was outscored in the second
half of games this season by the
cumulative total of 115 to 18 points.
5) Lack of effective off-season
strength programs. 6) Last year’s
record of 4-6 was with a group of
seniors who did not lose a game as
eighth graders. It was supposed to
have been a strong class of athletes.
7) The remarkable and consistent
success of our junior high football
program. Most of the boys who are
now participants in a very unsuc-
cessful high school program were
involved in a very successful pro-
gram when they were in junior high.
8) Reduced revenues at the gates by
reason of smaller crowds at our home
games.
Do these facts indicate the efforts
of a job well done? At what point do
we make the decision that enough is
enough? What criteria do we use
next year for rehiring? How far down
do we have to go?
Winning is important. We feel our
children should st least be given the
opportunity to try to win, be
competitive, and know that they’ve
She their best even if the results are
not on the scoreboard. Believe us,
when you have played your best and
know you were trained properly, and
ready for your opponent in whatever
area of competition, it surely helps
dissolve that agonizing knot in your
stomach when a loss results. We
know, we’ve been there. Our band is
a hearty example of this, and no one
seems to be complaining of their
winning. What a source of pride they
have been for our community and
what a prime example of dedicated
coaching their organization has
been!
This controversy has caused our
town to be split in its opinions and.
It is unfortunate that your report
about the hunting contest results is
not quite accurate. We were inform-
ed by Super S Food Store that it was
not participating in any contest and
not offering an prizes. This is
contrary to all the information given
by the chamber and your paper.
It is too bad that the chamber and
community get this kind of non-sup-
port from a local business.
This photo is Kristoffer Kaspar with
his 10-point buck taken this past
season, north of Llano. He went to
enter the contest (7 years of age) and
was very disappointed to find that
there was none.
There may have been many others
also disappointed. We did not
complain too much since Kristoffer
was the winner of the “Youngest
Hunter Contest” the past two years.
Thank you,
Sheree Kaspar.
support is impossible under this
athletic director. We have moved
into a new district, and will be
playing an extremely difficult sche-
dule compared to thesealtively weak,
zomiwe’ve bad therlet- two yeuma.
"Town support is vital at all athletic
events. How can we, as fans and
..............NewsEdter
..........Life RQli Mln
.........Edher’eAsalatamt
Kigalend Cenich Mtor
• • Printfag Dept. SuparvisM
Typesetter and Biekkoeper
.........AdvertehgSles
......PfadnsrisnAaototant
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rity out of apathy. Letters to the
editor last week certainly missed the
point, and that being, why should we
accept less for our children than
they deserve?
Through my column of “Play To
Win,” I repeatedly defended the
team and the coaches. Not for the
coaches’ sake, but for the kids.
Anyone who has read my column
over 15 years knows that during the
season is not the time or place to
criticize the coaches, the players or
the team. There is a place and time
to take care of one’s dirty laundry.
And after the season was over, never
had I seen, or heard so much bad
mouthing about a coach. Not coa-
ches.
Before I made up my mind in
regard to the situation, I went and
talked to Coach Spivey. I told him of
my concerns, the total lack of
support the program had, and asked
him what steps were going to be
made to correct the situation. As I
had pointed out during the season,
the Llano Booster Club had become
invisible, as to turn out on Tuesday
nights. One night only one player’s
parents showed up to hear Coach
Spivey. The program was in worse
shape than I ever imagined. And
then, when Coach Spivey, in ex-
plaining the defense the Yellow
Jackets ran, went on to say that no
matter what defense we would have
run, we were going to lose anyway.
Coach Spivey, at that moment, lost
any support that he might have
expected out of me. To accept
defeat, and to expect it, are not the
ways of teaching success, whether it
be in English class, or on the football
field.
One letter last week talked of
"resistence to peer pressure.” What
did they call the antics where
assistant coaches, and one coach’s
wife went around cramming “sup-
port buttons” down our children’s
throats? You’re right on the money,
honey, because my son certainly
knew what to tell people who tried to
get him to wear one, because he had
been taught how to resist mob
intimidation. Teaching our kids
morals, hey, save me from you. Your
technique just does not hold water.
Myself and another nonsupporter
of Coach Spivey asked to meet with
the school board and Coach Spivey in
executive session to air our com-
plaints in private, and not have it
done in open forum. Coach Spivey
wanted an open meeting. He called a
meeting of his backers, they organ-
ized our children through intimida-
tion, told the girls that their coach
was going to be fired if they did not
show up to show support for her, and
that is how they got 200 or so people
to show up at their little circus at the
high school auditorium. A group of
52 business people, concerned more
about the quality of our overall
program, elected not to show up to
such a sham. Eight former board
members among this group felt it
was not the way to handle a problem.
Again, we went back to our elected
officials. Two of the board members
refused to talk or meet with any of
us.
Letters last week mentioned
“bragging rights.” Ms. Dishman,
no one has mentioned bragging
rights, just competiveness is all we
ask for our children, in all aspects of
our program. And Barbara Houston,
we all want the things that you
mention, but, one thing we have
already had too much practice at,
and that being “being able to lose
gracefully." Losing is a bad habit.
But when you get good at it, you
really have a problem. And Ms.
Turner, don’t imply that anyone has
necessary seating for the 200 to 250 people
who attended that mooting to hear
discussions concerning Spivey’s coaching
ability.
Football has boon king in Texas for wall over
half-a-century and it’s no different here in
Uano. I, too, love football Texas-style, and en-
joyed playing when I was in high school.
However, it seems we place too much em-
phasis on winning and put too much pressure
on the athletes, coaches, administrators and
school trustees.
I would love to see the day when we take as
much time, spend as much money, use as
much energy and exhaustively search for
superior chemistry, history, speech and
English teachers as we do for football
coaches.
Coming up for consideration before the
Uano ISD school board Thursday (tonight) will
be the athletic director’s contract.
Lynn Spivey, athletic director and head
football coach, has been under fire in recent
weeks because the Yellow jacket football
team didn’t win a game this year. And their
1986 record showed only four wins, I believe.
Thore was a special called emergency
mooting of the board just last week to review
recent events between Coach Spivey and
Dorman Moore, superintendent. A delegation
of about 20 school district patrons was on
hand to voice approval of Moore’s action
requesting Spivey’s resignation.
In January, the board moved its meeting
from the school administration building,
where it usually holds the monthly meetings,
to the high school auditorium to provide the
COLUMNISTS: Hal Cummigham, May Hate and Jehm Kuykendel.
I think the whole point on the ‘
subject of to hire or not to rehire the ;
head coach in Llano has been lost in
a maze of close friends,' emotions, .
and hard feelings. Close friends? Of :
course you want your best friend to •
be rehired and supported; what are
friends for? Emotions: Some people
just want to get on a band-wagon,
never mind true facts. I feel getting
school children involved in school
politics is the lowest form of playing
on emotions.
The point to me is: has the coach
performed for what he was hired for?
A head coach is paid several
thousand dollars above state scale to
be what? Math teacher? History
teacher? No, head football coach. If
he turns out to be a good moral
person — great! Also, if he is a great
teacher in the classroom — what a
plus! But he was not hired with these
criteria as fl priority. They are taken
into accord of course. Maybe we
should take a lesson from some
West Texas towns that have a
performance requirement in the
head coach’s contract. If the contract
says he must have a 5-5 season and
he goes 4-6,' the board can reevaluate
him as he has broken his contract.
This came about after some coaches'
contracts were not renewed and tried
to sue the school boards, saying it
was not in their contract that they
o----3
Attn: Mr. Gilbert and faculty mem-
bers:
On Saturday, February 6, 1988, 1
received in the mail a letter stating
that my son, Shane Emerson, had
been selected as 7th grade boy
Dauber of the month.
2 Your letter deeply touched the
feelings (both doubt and anxieties),
mat I have daily as my role in this life
M Shane’s mother. I thank you for
acknowledging the efforts that both
CORRESPONDENTSt Rafa Dee, Eelne Kowierschh, Lettie
2, Juml Palm, Heye Simehter sad Jamet Hema.
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Congratulations to the students of
Mrs. Adams’ and Mrs. Jones’ fourth
grade classes of Llano Elementary
School for producing a very interes-
ting display of drawings of Abraham
Lincoln and an essay on Lincoln
written by John Darnell. These were
of interest to everyone who attended
our Lincoln Day dinner last Satur-
day, February 13.
The drawings were displayed
about the hall for all to see, and the
essay was one of the highlights of the
program as Mrs. Neoma Watson
read it to us. We are glad to see our
young people so interested in history
and willing to show the work they
have done.
I feel sure I speak for all who
attended the barbecue lunch when I
say that we appreciated your efforts
very much, students, and we hope
each one of you will continue the
good work. Thanks!
Lillian Fowler
for the Llano County
Republican Party
and the Highland Lakes
Republican Women’s Club
WMMta sal The Um Mm at 915/247-4433.
• e.ma-arm"=m ",
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Buckner, Walter L. The Llano News (Llano, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 16, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 18, 1988, newspaper, February 18, 1988; Llano, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1585747/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Llano County Public Library.