Conservative - A belief in retaining traditionally successful institutions

   If a "conservative" political philosophy is a belief in retaining traditional social institutions, then I guess I'm conservative. If a "liberal' political philosophy is a belief in moving forward to destroy traditional social institutions such as our public schools and our family farms, then many state legislators are liberal. These flaming liberal state legislators claim to be conservative, but it's NOT conservative to spend tax dollars hand over fist - on out-of-state and foreign corporations (their bosses). It's NOT conservative to crush our rural public schools by de-funding them in favor of privatization and corporate charters. And it's certainly NOT conservative to be convicted of sex crimes and tax crimes, like so many of our self-proclaimed conservative lawmakers have been. They and many more state lawmakers, only claim to be conservative, but they are not. They are wolves in sheeps' clothing, or corporate fascists in conservative clothing!
   One traditional social institution that I believe in retaining is Friday Night Lights or high school football. It is a tradition that many corporate lawmakers would like to bring down. Friday night's high school football game, pitting our Blanchard Lions against the Ada Cougars, marks the first time ever the Daily Oklahoman has referred to Blanchard football being a "tradition-rich program". The DO acknowledged the Blanchard - Ada game as a "top-ten" high school football game this week, ranking it #5 among all 150+ games. The Ada Cougars own more state titles (13) than any other team in the state, and have usually played in classes 4A and 5A. As a matter of fact, Ada just recently dropped from class 5A to class 4A, while Blanchard has risen from 3A to 4A and the reason they're playing in the same district. Jacob Unruh, DO sports writer says that "The District 4A-2 title will go to Blanchard with a win, but a loss could lead to a three-way tie. Talk about drama between two tradition-rich programs!"  This game with Ada brings back some old memories for me...
   Two high school football programs with which I've been personally associated, Duncan and Lindsay, have taken on the Ada Cougars in years past... and lost. In 1992, while coaching in Duncan, we faced Ada in the 5A state title game at O.S.U. Although the Duncan Demons were very good, they lost 23-7 to the Cougars. On a Friday night, September 20, 1968, the class 'A' number five ranked Lindsay Leopards took on the class 2A number one ranked Ada in what was the Daily Oklahoman's number one game that week. My Leopards lost to the Ada Cougars 34-0. I was a fifth grader at Lindsay Elementary at the time, and it was Joe Tunnell's first year as head coach of the Leopards. Lindsay went on to face the Clinton Red Tornadoes in the class 'A' state semi-finals that year, and lost to the traditional powerhouse 35-7. Coach Joe Tunnell was on his way to becoming a legend in Oklahoma high school football, though, as Lindsay won more games than any other class 2A team during the 1970's and Tunnell won more high school games than any high school coach in the 1980's.
   The "clash of traditional titans" this Friday night in Blanchard promises to be legendary, and standing-room only, so be there early and be a part of The Tradition... high school football's Friday Night Lights.