As detailed in last week’s column, 2022 was pretty spectacular on the local sports scene. We have plenty of terrific ambassadors for the 318 and our fair share of memorable moments.
What does 2023 hold? In the sports world, you just never know. Here are a few things I’d like to see.
Cease to the Blame Game
The fastest growing sport in the United States? Many will tell you Pickleball.
They are wrong.
Unfortunately, it’s the “Blame Game,” and nothing, and I mean nothing, bothers me more than this trend.
For many, the first reaction to things like losses, an adverse play or a lack of playing time is to point the finger. Coaches, fans, parents love to blame everyone but their own when things go wrong. It’s never about the opponent being better. In some cases, things have turned violent, and the tirades unleashed continue to get more vulgar and more hideous.
Losing stinks. Riding the pine stinks. In most cases, the other team/player was/is better. Work harder, get better and make sure it doesn’t happen the next time. In the long run, deflecting the need to improve will only hurt your player, your son or your daughter.
Fair Grounds Field: Tear. It. Down.
Just when you thought Shreveport couldn’t handle the city’s biggest eyesore any worse, it did. Fair Grounds Field has been an embarrassment for years, but the only thing that looks worse than Fair Grounds Field is a partially demolished Fair Grounds Field.
It was on its way to being leveled, but now the demolition process has stalled and talks of reviving the building have opened again. Stop the insanity. There is NOTHING appealing about that building.
Tear it down, start fresh and give us something the region can be proud of when travelers pass through on Interstate 20.
Dak to get his due
Has any local thanklessly produced at the level of Dak Prescott? The former Haughton star just helped the Dallas Cowboys post their third season of double-digit victories since 2016 – the most in a span of seven seasons since the Troy Aikman days.
The Cowboys’ offense has been the best in the NFL since he returned from a hand injury and they still have an opportunity to snag the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
However, take a look at social media and you would think Prescott is Quincy Carter.
This season’s gaudy numbers have been tempered by Prescott’s sudden proclivity to throw interceptions. Common sense says Prescott must find a way to stop that trend if Dallas is to make a much-needed postseason run. However, the Cowboys will be a tough out if they can score 35 a game. A Super Bowl run by a local quarterback for America’s Team would be one of the best stories in decades.
At some point, Prescott needs some playoff success to silence the naysayers.
Give me a Saints-Cowboys playoff game
I’ve covered both of these teams at some level for 23 years. I’ve attended every New Orleans Saints-Dallas Cowboys game since 1999. Not once have they met in the playoffs.
It’s time.
While the Cowboys are built for long-term success, it would appear the Saints have a way to go to uphold their end of the bargain. However, nothing about the NFC South says the Saints can be anything but competitive.
How? Sean Payton returns to coach (not in New Orleans) and the Saints use the compensatory draft picks to get to the postseason and face the Cowboys in postseason following the 2023 regular season.
End the I-Bowl curse, Mother Nature
The hardworking folks at the Independence Bowl put up a good fight every year, and they deserve a break. Maybe there is a bowl that’s faced more adversity. If so, I feel awful for that group. It just seems as if the stars don’t often align for the 11th-oldest bowl game in the nation.
If the matchup is good, the weather is treacherous. If the weather is nice (which isn’t often), the game gets robbed of a solid matchup or stuck with a tough date.
This year, the game was saddled with no running water and a broken elevator. I-Bowl suits were tasked with walking VIPs to the top of the stadium. In the cold.
On Christmas Eve, the day after the game, the I-Bowl office was destroyed by a flood.
Mother Nature, throw Missy Setters and her staff a bone in 2023. They deserve it.
High school hockey tourney in Shreveport
Did you know Shreveport has two high school hockey teams? The Shreveport Mudbugs’ varsity and JV squads play in the Dallas high school league (they travel to the Metroplex for every game) and are stocked with players from schools in Northwest Louisiana and East Texas.
There’s a chance Mudbugs’ officials will attempt to establish an annual high school hockey tournament scheduled around one of the local Mardi Gras parade weekends. It would be an opportunity to showcase prep hockey to the locals and Mardi Gras to the visitors.
Sounds like a win-win.
Contact Roy at roylangiii@yahoo.com