Panther88
Banned
I heard about the PVIL (Prairie View Interscholastic League) long before UIL (university interscholastic league - today's Texas HS athletic governing body) meant anything to me.
It was my understanding (from several of the players on the dominant PV squads of the 50s) that Coach Nicks would watch the HS championship/semi-final games being played @ PV and say <b>"I want that boy, and him, and him, and him... and that big foot boy here @ PVAMU next fall :|"</b> and of course because of the relationships between the PVAMU coaching staff and the HS coaches, the HS coaches would almost <b> ensure</b> that the desired players were enrolled & sent to PVAMU the following year (if they were seniors etc). It's pretty much the same thing that occurs in Austin, Tx where a *ahem* certain school tends to garner almost ALL of the local talent FIRST and FOREMOST because MOST state championships for football, basketball, track&field, swimming, etc are played..... Yep. :nod:
W/ a concentration of "talent" in one location, PVAMU couldn't help but be somewhat dominant because the best of the best of the rest were playing on the same field that they'd play college ball on soon (sheer #s). Of course, integration coupled w/ a <b>severe</b> drop in pride/attitude/caring caused our PVAMU "programmes" to dwindle. It <b>certainly</b> would be nice if PVAMU still <b>hosted playoff</b> games (like shsu, uofh, et al stadium holders) so that we too could compete for the best of the best of the rest. (like days of old)
At any rate, enjoy the read: Taken from the Houston Chronicle.
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<b><font size=4>Old Prairie View league gets overdue salute</font></b>
By EMILY DAVIS
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
For decades, they've simply wanted to be remembered. Or maybe just not be known as the forgotten ones.
The former Prairie View Interscholastic League coaches are old men now. But they remember their best days like they took place only moments ago ? days when they were young men, proudly leading young athletes through the games they loved.
But their passion for sports had another side. Segregation meant they would one day be forgotten ? even by their own.
When former Wheatley player and coach Charles Herbert returned as the principal of the school in 1978, he went searching for the 12 PVIL state championship basketball trophies his Wildcats had earned. Instead, his heart ached when he discovered a pile of rusty hardware that once meant everything to him.
"Those trophies and banners were in a closet all moldy and
rusted and ruined," Herbert said. "Almost like they weren't ever supposed to be there."
Eventually the PVIL trophies at Wheatley were restored or replaced and proudly displayed in the school's trophy case.
"It's OK to move on," Herbert said. "That's what you should do. But you never want to forget. You embrace your past and learn from it."
Shift in attitudes
The PVIL coaches did move on. By 1970, they had joined the University Interscholastic League once schools were integrated. But just like the dusty old trophies Herbert discovered, the records and accomplishments of the PVIL's best and brightest had been shoved into a closet. And forgotten.
"All we ever wanted was recognition," PVIL Coaches Association chairman Robert Brown said. "Just to be looked at finally like our accomplish-ments were equal. No more division. Just a clean bridge."
That bridge has been completed. With the dawning of the 2005 football season comes another era in Texas high school football. The PVIL state championship records will be recognized alongside all University Interscholastic League records for the first time since the Texas Interscholastic League of Colored Schools (which became the PVIL) was established by the UIL during segregation in 1920.
"It's being done as we speak," UIL athletic director Charles Breithaupt said. "The football records are up and ready to go. That goal has been accomplished. With every program, media book or Web site update we have, those state championships will be recognized."
<a href="http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3281857">Read Article Here</a>
It was my understanding (from several of the players on the dominant PV squads of the 50s) that Coach Nicks would watch the HS championship/semi-final games being played @ PV and say <b>"I want that boy, and him, and him, and him... and that big foot boy here @ PVAMU next fall :|"</b> and of course because of the relationships between the PVAMU coaching staff and the HS coaches, the HS coaches would almost <b> ensure</b> that the desired players were enrolled & sent to PVAMU the following year (if they were seniors etc). It's pretty much the same thing that occurs in Austin, Tx where a *ahem* certain school tends to garner almost ALL of the local talent FIRST and FOREMOST because MOST state championships for football, basketball, track&field, swimming, etc are played..... Yep. :nod:
W/ a concentration of "talent" in one location, PVAMU couldn't help but be somewhat dominant because the best of the best of the rest were playing on the same field that they'd play college ball on soon (sheer #s). Of course, integration coupled w/ a <b>severe</b> drop in pride/attitude/caring caused our PVAMU "programmes" to dwindle. It <b>certainly</b> would be nice if PVAMU still <b>hosted playoff</b> games (like shsu, uofh, et al stadium holders) so that we too could compete for the best of the best of the rest. (like days of old)
At any rate, enjoy the read: Taken from the Houston Chronicle.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
<b><font size=4>Old Prairie View league gets overdue salute</font></b>
By EMILY DAVIS
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
For decades, they've simply wanted to be remembered. Or maybe just not be known as the forgotten ones.
The former Prairie View Interscholastic League coaches are old men now. But they remember their best days like they took place only moments ago ? days when they were young men, proudly leading young athletes through the games they loved.
But their passion for sports had another side. Segregation meant they would one day be forgotten ? even by their own.
When former Wheatley player and coach Charles Herbert returned as the principal of the school in 1978, he went searching for the 12 PVIL state championship basketball trophies his Wildcats had earned. Instead, his heart ached when he discovered a pile of rusty hardware that once meant everything to him.
"Those trophies and banners were in a closet all moldy and
rusted and ruined," Herbert said. "Almost like they weren't ever supposed to be there."
Eventually the PVIL trophies at Wheatley were restored or replaced and proudly displayed in the school's trophy case.
"It's OK to move on," Herbert said. "That's what you should do. But you never want to forget. You embrace your past and learn from it."
Shift in attitudes
The PVIL coaches did move on. By 1970, they had joined the University Interscholastic League once schools were integrated. But just like the dusty old trophies Herbert discovered, the records and accomplishments of the PVIL's best and brightest had been shoved into a closet. And forgotten.
"All we ever wanted was recognition," PVIL Coaches Association chairman Robert Brown said. "Just to be looked at finally like our accomplish-ments were equal. No more division. Just a clean bridge."
That bridge has been completed. With the dawning of the 2005 football season comes another era in Texas high school football. The PVIL state championship records will be recognized alongside all University Interscholastic League records for the first time since the Texas Interscholastic League of Colored Schools (which became the PVIL) was established by the UIL during segregation in 1920.
"It's being done as we speak," UIL athletic director Charles Breithaupt said. "The football records are up and ready to go. That goal has been accomplished. With every program, media book or Web site update we have, those state championships will be recognized."
<a href="http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3281857">Read Article Here</a>
) we can indeed get this funding issue w/ the "alleged" new stadium off and rolling, I don't see or understand why we couldn't go head to toe, so to speak, w/ u-t austin or kyle field dwellers :retard:. :|
