2024 LUFKIN PANTHER VARSITY FOOTBALL DISCUSSION TOPIC

[PackAttack]

This has nothing to do with football.

The Lufkin Marching Band has won the State Military Marching Title 3 of the last 4 or 5 years. An outstanding accomplishment. Well deserve honor for hard work.

This year seems different with the band. Smaller numbers are evident, large gaps in their formations. Band kids standing on the sidelines not marching during the performance. Their routine this year seems paired down from previous years. They are not a loud playing band, haven't been since Williams was here. Don't misunderstand me, I love our band, however things remain so much the same traditional marching way every single year, no variations, you can't tell one year from the next. Only the students faces change. 

Not a show band person either, too long and complicated. They are entertaining to a point if you can figure out what they are doing. Thought Barbers Hill was exceptional here. Sometimes I wish our Lufkin  Band would let their hair down occasionally, do something different, like play "TUSK" 1979 by Fleetwood Mac.  Rock Around The Clock is great, I know it well, a well worn oldie but goody. Twirlers and Drill Team like it I guess. Back in my day the band played "The Horse" 1968 by Cliff Nobels, it has a great part for the drumline and horn sections.  Might be a better band selection than Rock Around the Clock 1955 by Bill Haley and His Comets. I was barely out of diapers back then. LOL

There is nothing wrong with tradition, until it gets so repetitious you can't distinguish one year from another. Not even suggesting ditch the Lufkin tradition, just saying throw in some new wrinkles here and there to keep our attention fresh.

 "The Horse"  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PauCoQPImYI

"TUSK" -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAUd6jpCsEY

 

 

[timeout!]

2 hours ago, PackAttack said:

This has nothing to do with football.

The Lufkin Marching Band has won the State Military Marching Title 3 of the last 4 or 5 years. An outstanding accomplishment. Well deserve honor for hard work.

This year seems different with the band. Smaller numbers are evident, large gaps in their formations. Band kids standing on the sidelines not marching during the performance. Their routine this year seems paired down from previous years. They are not a loud playing band, haven't been since Williams was here. Don't misunderstand me, I love our band, however things remain so much the same traditional marching way every single year, no variations, you can't tell one year from the next. Only the students faces change. 

Not a show band person either, too long and complicated. They are entertaining to a point if you can figure out what they are doing. Thought Barbers Hill was exceptional here. Sometimes I wish our Lufkin  Band would let their hair down occasionally, do something different, like play "TUSK" 1979 by Fleetwood Mac.  Rock Around The Clock is great, I know it well, a well worn oldie but goody. Twirlers and Drill Team like it I guess. Back in my day the band played "The Horse" 1968 by Cliff Nobels, it has a great part for the drumline and horn sections.  Might be a better band selection than Rock Around the Clock 1955 by Bill Haley and His Comets. I was barely out of diapers back then. LOL

There is nothing wrong with tradition, until it gets so repetitious you can't distinguish one year from another. Not even suggesting ditch the Lufkin tradition, just saying throw in some new wrinkles here and there to keep our attention fresh.

 "The Horse"  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PauCoQPImYI

"TUSK" -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAUd6jpCsEY

 

 

I don't have anything against the current band director. But Mr.Williams had them fired up every game and they would step outside the normal routine and play music a bit more relatable to the players and student body. It also seems as if our band takes more breaks from playing than other bands. The BWB band continued to rock their side of the stadium until the end of the game. 

I heard Mr.Little was not happy about the formations last week. It's definitely noticeable when watching. Just doesn't look as precise as previous year. I was told the kids standing on the sidelines were academically ineligible. Not sure how true that is. I would assume they wouldn't be able to dress out at all. 

I'm not a band person. Just going by my what my untrained eyes see and information told to me by others. The continue win titles, so I guess something is working. 

Now I would never expect Lufkin to put on a production like this. Don't think many HS could. But the Allen pep rally's are pretty impressive.

 

[PurpleNation]

8 hours ago, timeout! said:

I don't have anything against the current band director. But Mr.Williams had them fired up every game and they would step outside the normal routine and play music a bit more relatable to the players and student body. It also seems as if our band takes more breaks from playing than other bands. The BWB band continued to rock their side of the stadium until the end of the game. 

I heard Mr.Little was not happy about the formations last week. It's definitely noticeable when watching. Just doesn't look as precise as previous year. I was told the kids standing on the sidelines were academically ineligible. Not sure how true that is. I would assume they wouldn't be able to dress out at all. 

I'm not a band person. Just going by my what my untrained eyes see and information told to me by others. The continue win titles, so I guess something is working. 

Now I would never expect Lufkin to put on a production like this. Don't think many HS could. But the Allen pep rally's are pretty impressive.

 

We're clearly behind the times. 

[PackAttack]

Don't know Mr. Little our current band director personally, and he has won State Titles here at Lufkin. It is quite the accomplishment. Knew Mr Scott Williams,  spoke with him often, he was a very personable guy.  We had a large band during his years as director. Of course the district has gone from 8400 students then to 6600 today.  LHS had 2400+ student back then now less than the 2159 we turned in for realignment. We are told this is a trend in all public schools, 80% of enrollments in Texas are down, they never recovered after COVID. Thousands more children are home schooled today, there are many families we know in our neighborhood who home school their children.  Participation numbers at LHS are noticeably down, we've discussed fewer students in the band, same with cheerleaders and drill team.  They have had a problem getting the Panther run through banner up in time during games, especially after the half, not enough help. In fact a lady standing on the sidelines had help them before the 2nd half started last Friday or the banner would not have been up in time. Our cheerleaders use to run across the field with multiple flags after every Panther score. Now we have three other people doing this, and at times later in the games it gravitates to just one person running with a small flag?  I notice stuff. LOL There are more Lufkin folks not standing and throwing their LP in the air for the kickoff, especially after opening KO. Fewer LP hands in the air and fewer butts in the stands. What the heck has happen to us? Guess if you don't have a clue about what it use to be like around here, then you don't know what your missing and think the current stuff we are doing is normal! SMH

There is only a fraction of seats occupied in this area of the home side these days.

[PurpleNation]

16 minutes ago, PackAttack said:

Don't know Mr. Little our current band director personally, and he has won State Titles here at Lufkin. It is quite the accomplishment. Knew Mr Scott Williams,  spoke with him often, he was a very personable guy.  We had a large band during his years as director. Of course the district has gone from 8400 students then to 6600 today.  LHS had 2400+ student back then now less than the 2159 we turned in for realignment. We are told this is a trend in all public schools, 80% of enrollments in Texas are down, they never recovered after COVID. Thousands more children are home schooled today, there are many families we know in our neighborhood who home school their children.  Participation numbers at LHS are noticeably down, we've dicussed fewer students in the band, same with cheerleaders and drill team.  They have had problem getting the Panther run through banner up in time during games, especialy after the half, not enough help. In fact a lady standing on the sidelines had help them before the 2nd half started last Friday or the banner would not have been up in time. Our cheerleaders use to run across the field with multiple flags after every Panther score. Now we have three other people doing this, and at times later in the games it gravitates to just one person running with a small flag?  I notice stuff. LOL There are more Lufkin folks not standing and throwing their LP in the air for the kickoff, especially after opening KO. Fewer LP hands in the air and fewer butts in the stands. What the heck has happen to us? Guess if you don't have a clue about what it use to be like around here, then you don't know what your missing and think the current stuff we are doing is normal! SMH

There is only a fraction of seats occupied in this area of the home side these days.

They're gonna show up to the home playoff game watch 

[PackAttack]

[PackAttack]

Had an interesting trip coming back from Beaumont, just as we were as we were leaving Woodville on the highway at 70 mph, I suddenly lost an ignition coil on my Nissan truck. It has happen before, there is nothing you can do at that time of night, and you don't know which one it is anyway.  They are easy to replace unless it's the #1 cylinder under the air breather assembly. Just makes the truck run rough and maybe you use a little extra gas. Called my wife to let her know our predicament, just in case?, anyway we made it back running on 5 cylinders with the check engine light flashing all the way. Found out if you run under 50 mph the light did not flash, but also nothing bad happened if you went 70 either, except for the flashing light.  So we went 70. LOL   Next morning, Advanced Auto checked it, it was #4 cylinder, bought the $112 part (used to be $89), used my 10mm socket and changed it out in 10 minutes. You just don't know until they run the diagnostics. Truck issues late at night and out of town panic me a little, and for all the hundreds of trips we have made to games over the year, only had issues a couple times.  One was a flat in the middle of nowhere between Huntsville and Groveton.  Tire people didn't like it later, but we green slimmed that buddy and got on down the road. So I guess that's pretty good deal. Just thought I would share. 

[LufkinPack]

53 minutes ago, PackAttack said:

Had an interesting trip coming back from Beaumont, just as we were as we were leaving Woodville on the highway at 70 mph, I suddenly lost an ignition coil on my Nissan truck. It has happen before, there is nothing you can do at that time of night, and you don't know which one it is anyway.  They are easy to replace unless it's the #1 cylinder under the air breather assembly. Just makes the truck run rough and maybe you use a little extra gas. Called my wife to let her know our predicament, just in case?, anyway we made it back running on 5 cylinders with the check engine light flashing all the way. Found out if you run under 50 mph the light did not flash, but also nothing bad happened if you went 70 either, except for the flashing light.  So we went 70. LOL   Next morning, Advanced Auto checked it, it was #4 cylinder, bought the $112 part (used to be $89), used my 10mm socket and changed it out in 10 minutes. You just don't know until they run the diagnostics. Truck issues late at night and out of town panic me a little, and for all the hundreds of trips we have made to games over the year, only had issues a couple times.  One was a flat in the middle of nowhere between Huntsville and Groveton.  Tire people didn't like it later, but we green slimmed that buddy and got on down the road. So I guess that's pretty good deal. Just thought I would share. 

Should’ve bought a Chevy 😎

Seriously, glad it was something simple and you got it fixed! 

[timeout!]

3 hours ago, PackAttack said:

There has definitely been a drop off in attendance. You are correct about not knowing how things were if you weren't here. I remember working at a local store part time in the early 00s. The district office would be on our butts about sales around playoff time. The store managers had to explain to them every year, that the town empties out on Saturdays and to expect a dip in sales around that time of year. I can remember riding down Timberland and seeing people with purple on getting their car washed before heading out. There was always a certain buzz around town back then. 

I was on my way home Friday night from Beaumont. And my friend made an interesting comment. I hadn't thought much about it until he said something. He said I remember when we never drove back home alone. I was confused at the comment at first and asked him what he meant. He said remember back when we would see a line of Panther fans ahead and behind us returning from games.. I looked around and he was right. Not sure the few cars I saw were even returning from the game. Never worried much about breaking down back in the day. I always felt we would see some fellow Panther fans that would give aid back then. Anyone who attended that home playoff game against Texas High knows just how much things have changed. The stadium was so empty, I was able to drive right up to the front for a parking spot. And that was 5 or 6 years ago..

None of this happened over night. It took years of losing and lowered expectations to get to this point. Plus people have a lot more entertainment options and ways to watch the game without leaving their homes. 

[PackAttack]

1 hour ago, LufkinPack said:

Should’ve bought a Chevy 😎

Seriously, glad it was something simple and you got it fixed! 

I've carefully maintained my 2006 crew cab, 6 Cyl 4.0 Nissan, even with 272,300 miles still has plenty of torque and power. The most dependable vehicle I've ever owned, and there have been lots of Panther games traveled. Wife drives a really nice SUV, I'm stubborn, just don't want to pay $50-60k for a new truck. I'd drive to Montana tomorrow in it if needed. 😉

[PackAttack]

46 minutes ago, timeout! said:

There has definitely been a drop off in attendance. You are correct about not knowing how things were if you weren't here. I remember working at a local store part time in the early 00s. The district office would be on our butts about sales around playoff time. The store managers had to explain to them every year, that the town empties out on Saturdays and to expect a dip in sales around that time of year. I can remember riding down Timberland and seeing people with purple on getting their car washed before heading out. There was always a certain buzz around town back then. 

I was on my way home Friday night from Beaumont. And my friend made an interesting comment. I hadn't thought much about it until he said something. He said I remember when we never drove back home alone. I was confused at the comment at first and asked him what he meant. He said remember back when we would see a line of Panther fans ahead and behind us returning from games.. I looked around and he was right. Not sure the few cars I saw were even returning from the game. Never worried much about breaking down back in the day. I always felt we would see some fellow Panther fans that would give aid back then. Anyone who attended that home playoff game against Texas High knows just how much things have changed. The stadium was so empty, I was able to drive right up to the front for a parking spot. And that was 5 or 6 years ago..

None of this happened over night. It took years of losing and lowered expectations to get to this point. Plus people have a lot more entertainment options and ways to watch the game without leaving their homes. 

Panther fan base was original once, had that smaller school fan base feel. We would go out of town and have more folks at the game than the home team.  Yes it could be many other things, however it's the losing, and not making consistent playoff runs is the main reason for that lack of fan base today. You can blame on the economy, the TV or whatever. A lot of the old school hardcore fans like me, are gone too. I bet 50% of the 30K Lufkin folks who attended the State Championship game in 2001 are no longer with us. There's just a whole bunch of fans now under 40 who have never seen Lufkin football be a playoff powerhouse, or they were 5 or 6 when Lufkin football was winning State and going to semi finals. They honestly don't know cause they have never seen it.

I sure hope they can get back a taste of the old playoff days this year, get that playoff run feeling back. I'm ready.

[timeout!]

I think things will pickup the closer we get to the playoffs.

[Pack007]

27 minutes ago, timeout! said:

I think things will pickup the closer we get to the playoffs.

Yea, if we win district, then you’ll see things pick back up with the fanbase in the playoffs. It was down several years ago too, then that playoff run in 2017 brought out a lot of people that i haven’t seen in several years. 

[PackAttack]

Everyone enjoy the off week. I'll  be posting the AP rankings and the computer rankings later in the week.

There will be some movement this week partially based on PAMs big loss to Ball.  Lufkin probably does not move up in the AP Top 10, the ranking are holding off on us even though we have played equal or better competition, than Ball.  Do believe the Panthers will rise this week in the DCTF computer rankings from the #15 sport they have been ranked the last two weeks.

Otherwise enjoy the off week, I have lots of stuff and small projects to catch up on, maybe dive into my Christmas shed to organize a bit. Not anticipating a lot of extra time after the Sterling game. Go Pack!

[PackAttack]

[timeout!]

40 minutes ago, PackAttack said:

It's been a while. The team is certainly worthy of it. I look forward to seeing how the rest of the season goes. Just gotta stay healthy and keep improving every week. The rest will take care of itself. 

[pimpthepen]

Hopefully the fans will start coming to the games and watch these kids play this is a special group of kids.

[PackAttack]

Happy for the ranking and the recognition, however rankings don't win games, just ask PAM.  We still have a long way to go, got to beat PAM and Ball still to prove we belong IMO. Happy to have Barbers Hill in the rearview mirror for now. They get two very potent starters back this week that will make them a hand full the rest of the way.

I think they will beat PAM and Ball, and Lufkin will need to do the same in order to win district. Enjoy off week, the four weeks after that get very real and important.

[PurpleNation]

20 minutes ago, PackAttack said:

Happy for the ranking and the recognition, however rankings don't win games, just ask PAM.  We still have a long way to go, got to beat PAM and Ball still to prove we belong IMO. Happy to have Barbers Hill in the rearview mirror for now. They get two very potent starters back this week that will make them a hand full the rest of the way.

I think they will beat PAM and Ball, and Lufkin will need to do the same in order to win district. Enjoy off week, the four weeks after that get very real and important.

I agree glad to have that BH game behind us. That was the one team I was really worried about in district headed into the season. Wouldn't be surprised if we see them again. Just have to finish strong. We can essentially clinch a playoff spot with a win over Sterling. I imagine we will be up by 40 or close to it by halftime. Just need to get out of this one healthy. Just one week at a time and let's what happens. 

[timeout!]

So are we set with Kevo as the the backup to Coutee? Not having that settled is the one thing that could really derail this team. Just don't want them to get caught with their pants down again. I remember them having to scramble to put Ralph in at Qb during the playoffs. And how the team looked when Kordell Rodgers went down against Longview at Rose in Tyler. 

[timeout!]

Decided to watch the Aledo vs Ryan game on YouTube. And learned that Aledo hasn't lost a district game since 2007.

[PackAttack]

5 minutes ago, timeout! said:

Decided to watch the Aledo vs Ryan game on YouTube. And learned that Aledo hasn't lost a district game since 2007.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a football program as dedicated to winning, not just winning, winning multiples of State Titles, as Aldeo has done?  What a great town to enjoy winning football. 

[PurpleNation]

1 hour ago, timeout! said:

So are we set with Kevo as the the backup to Coutee? Not having that settled is the one thing that could really derail this team. Just don't want them to get caught with their pants down again. I remember them having to scramble to put Ralph in at Qb during the playoffs. And how the team looked when Kordell Rodgers went down against Longview at Rose in Tyler. 

I would imagine

[timeout!]

1 hour ago, PackAttack said:

Wouldn't it be nice to have a football program as dedicated to winning, not just winning, winning multiples of State Titles, as Aldeo has done?  What a great town to enjoy winning football. 

They have several things working in their favor. But like one of the commentators said. The standard is the standard at Aledo. They did a flashback to when the Aledo dynasty begin, which was 1999 in 3A. Around the same time Lufkin begin its rise as a perennial power. We fell off long ago and they are still going, like many other powers we tangle with and beat back then. Many of those schools have the benefit of growing populations. Those who have built a strong culture still attract the best athletes. Despite more schools opening up. 

We have a great group this year. I'm just gonna enjoy the ride as long as last. 

[LufkinPack]

35 minutes ago, timeout! said:

They have several things working in their favor. But like one of the commentators said. The standard is the standard at Aledo. They did a flashback to when the Aledo dynasty begin, which was 1999 in 3A. Around the same time Lufkin begin its rise as a perennial power. We fell off long ago and they are still going, like many other powers we tangle with and beat back then. Many of those schools have the benefit of growing populations. Those who have built a strong culture still attract the best athletes. Despite more schools opening up. 

We have a great group this year. I'm just gonna enjoy the ride as long as last. 

Lufkin was getting going when a lot of other programs were. We just so happen to be great when the freakin Southlake Carroll dragons were growing and becoming great. If only we coulda got past them those years. We would have 4 state championships to our name. That alone puts you in an upper tier and your legacy survives longer. We would be more remembered from people outside of Lufkin had we just converted those great years to titles. Instead we have 1, with a handful of what’s only remembered as “great runs” and disappeared. A lot of programs that were becoming dominant when we were are still standing today. A lot factors into that, we all know. Lufkin is at a disadvantage that I don’t think fans of those other perennial powers understand. We don’t get transfers, we don’t have the numbers. Just regular class kids home grown. We get what we get. We’ve been battling a shrinking school district and football program for 15 years. We lost a great coach when we didn’t expect to. We thought we made the right decision afterwards. It went the other direction. Where we failed miserably was never even attempting to fix it. Nobody said winning didn’t come with tough decisions. We decided friendships were more important than winning. Hey, maybe they are. I’m thankful for this group this year, and their parents and other volunteers that have put in work with these kiddos over the years that have put them in position to accomplish something great here. That’s where it starts and what’s what it takes to be winners. Here’s to a great rest of 2024 though for the Pack 🍻