Keep Longview and Carthage games or move on?

The Longview thing has been talked about forever.  It needs to end.  But it won't end because of greed and old heads running the shows in both schools.

Carthage is dirty and I hate playing them.  But it's a series that needs to continue.  More often than not, it should be a good game.

Keep both.  

They make us better.  Big money games.

What's the upside of dropping them?

This dead horse has been beaten to death.......

Here's my deal:

If Marshall could be competitive against Longview....I would be 1000000% behind the game continuing. I'm not talking about BEATING Longview. I'm just talking about being competitive. Even if we lost 100 in a row....if the games were close, I'd STILL support it. But the fact of the matter is that this game has VERY RARELY been competitive in the last 20 years.

One Marshall win in the last 20 years. Only two since 2000. And we have to admit that most of those losses have been UGLY.

There's a reason UIL does classifications. Longview is a 5A Div I school.....that's not THAT far away from being in 6A. Marshall is a middle of the road 5A Div II school. LHS has 700 more students...almost 800.

We're losing to them by 4-5 possessions every season.

Longview is making runs to AT LEAST the quarterfinals regularly in their higher class. Marshall has had some playoff success too...but nowhere near Longview's.

One of two things needs to happen for all this to change......

1. Marshall needs to elevate their game. We need to close the gap with the Lobos. Problem is....we've been trying for 20 years under 8 different coaches....all with the same results. Isn't this the definition of insanilty?

2. Longview needs to come back down to Earth. If we can't/elevate....then we have to think eventually the Lobos will come down off this incredible program high they are on. And it may happen......but all indications are showing it won't be anytime soon. Lobo fans have their playoff hopes mapped out all the way to 2028. That's a great place to be as a program. So.....I don't think it's wise to sit around and wait for the demise of Lobo football. It's not happening.

So let's move on passed it.

Let's fins a rival in 5A Div II.... that will challenge us. But a game that's winnable. A game that will make us better....but avoid a 40-7 loss or the like thereof. Why not? Find someone that's within our playoff zip code. Longview is not it. At least for now...until we get better.

Let's improve as a program. Gain some confidence, gain some swag, gain some numbers....then come back and reevaluate the series.... we could always resurrect the rivalry if we were in better position to compete.

But for now....I'd lose NO sleep if the series ended.

We've lost LONGTIME RIVALS like Lufkin, Texas High, and Tyler and no one cried about it. We have almost as much history with Tyler and Texas High as we do Longview. We've only played Tyler 3 times in the last 20 years. We went 15+ without Texas High.

We'll be ok.
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NOW.....Carthage.

They are not a typical 4A program. I'm not saying they actively recruit..... but.... they have an advantage of the reputation they have. It draws players to their program.

I say renew it another 2 years and then we can re-evaluate.

But it wouldn't be too upset either way.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about that.

Going 10-0 sounds fantastic. We haven't done it since 1996.

Going to be hard to do when you have the likes of Longview and Carthage in non-district play.

There needs to be a balance. I don't want a powder-puff non-district schedule like we've seen from Whitehouse, Pine Tree, and Hallsville the last few years. It does nothing to make them better.

But getting your skull bashed in isn't really helpful either. There has to be some middle ground....at least until we get to where we want to be as a program (which is COMPETING against Longview and Carthage).

If a tough schedule leads to a 10-0 record...then great. But I agree the constant 6-4 seasons are harder to get excited about from a program-building prospective.

At the end of the day though....... I don't care if we go 0-fer in non-district if it means a three or four round playoff run every year.