StingEmALTO

Tony, that is not old school at all and plays into your need for attention. I will not go on Facebook Live. You are welcome to come by to visit sometime but leave social media out of it. And I’m not sure why you want to debate me, I’m not even running for anything. Lol

Hi Tony. We live in a world full of keyboard warriors who love to jaw back and forth about what they perceive are facts when in actuality they don’t have all the facts. Fake news abounds. They are quick to spew an opinion and like to rile folks up to get attention. I’ve seen it time and time again in this age of social media. Let’s go old school instead. You know where my office is and you can easily get the number. I’m here 7:00 to 5:00 M-F but lunch fluctuates. Give me a call to make sure I’m here but come by and we can discuss this face to face. You’ve had a lot to say on social media about many things and it’s probably just better we have a conversation. OR find me at the area track meet today. I’ll be there supporting our 28 kids who advanced and our coaches. Running starts at 1:00 in Cushing. OR if you can’t make it this afternoon you’ll find me at Groveton this evening for baseball and softball. Boys have a double header starting at 5:00 and the girls play at 6:00. Been a while since I’ve seen you. Have a good day and……. GO JACKETS!

Hey @RipperRipper, all good? We know a little something about storms over here. Lol

Bless my heart is right. How about taking a look at this while you’re sitting on the sideline griping and complaining. ALTO YOUTH BASEBALL SOFTBALL Opening Day. Were you there? Did you help get the field and facilities ready? Did you donate time, equipment, or money? Are you volunteer coaching a team? More than one team? Do you serve on the AYBSA board? Take a look through this post on Facebook and you will see TRUE LOVERS OF ALL THINGS ALTO. You might recognize faces of those who CAN answer YES to those questions above, some current and past school board trustees. How many communities our size even still have their own local leagues played on the very fields their parents, grandparents, and even great grandparents played on? Most towns pick up/play in a larger town nearby. Not us. These folks have carried on the tradition of years past and I applaud every single one of them. Future through these pics sure does look bright. Always a good day to be a Yellowjacket! https://www.facebook.com/share/RPE2Cg8tQH3yRLu5/?

First off, this is not “fine and dandy.” Losing at Alto is not, nor has it ever been, “fine and dandy.” You are comparing apples and oranges. You obviously have an axe to grind and it shows because of what you feel are wrongdoings. Decisions are never easy nor taken lightly. Never have been. People do what they have to do with the information they have at the time. Period. I am not here to debate why those decisions were made. We have an excellent admin, coaching staff, and team at Alto. This was the worst football season in 47 years and we acknowledge that. But tearing down what these folks are doing for the sake of a vendetta makes no sense. Our people are working hard and just watch, success is on the horizon. It already started with the winning of ALL BOYS DISTRICT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS AT EVERY LEVEL, Middle School girls track champs, varsity girls second with all relays advancing to area, Runner up District UIL Academic Championship, and so much more. Middle School champs in football, boys basketball, and boys track. Our girls program is making leaps and bounds with the middle school winning basketball, softball, volleyball as well as track. Get out of the past and contribute to THE NOW. We are heading in the right direction.

“Haven’t had anyone good on since….” Wow what a “factual” statement. These folks who have stepped up to serve our school and community through extremely difficult times (death of 2 students, tornadoes/rebuild of our facilities, Covid, etc) are no good? Not one? Man, you have an axe to grind and that’s plain and simple to see. Your recommendation is to get rid of everyone and start completely over. Part of the reason there hasn’t been an election in the last decade is the consistency and strong leadership of the board and administration. We have some of the best facilities, low teacher/staff/admin turnover, excellent pay, good test scores, discipline. The worst football season in 47 years and you are ready to burn the school down and start over. Come on man. I’m all for winning state titles, but I don’t think that’s gonna do it.

Ahhhhhh ok. Now we’re down to it. Politics (there’s a forum for Smoaky on that! ) This is about the school board election! First one we’ve had in what…..a decade? Gotcha. Instead of “they” and “them” you could probably substitute “we” and “us.” Lol Alto ISD Admin Building Early voting: April 22-26, 8:00-5:00 April 29-30, 8:00-5:00 Election Day: May 4, 7:00-7:00 Go vote!

This doesn’t make sense to me. ”Kids BUYING IN.” Who hasn’t bought in? My son is one year removed from being in this program and they were bought in. Talked to a coach the other day and we are having one of the best offseasons with kids and I quote “buying in” to the point that there is positive peer pressure from those in athletics on those not in athletics to get in the program. “Find a Way” is the mantra and it is contagious. ”Community members not butting in and letting ‘mature coaches’ lead while they butt out.” Which community members are in the field house trying to tell the coaches what to do and how to coach? Interesting comment. I’m pretty vested in the program and have been for years and have given not only the current AD support but every single one before him support….not just verbally, but through booster club activities, volunteerism, donations, and sweat. Perhaps you’re referring to me? I’ve never once told a coach (any of them) how to coach or what they should be doing. I’m pretty in tune with our staff and haven’t heard of community members trying to run the program. I think you’re off the mark on this one as well. “Too many chiefs.” See paragraph above. Just not so. The AD/HFC has full autonomy in his program and makes all decisions. He has a booster club that provides anything he needs and a community that supports him, even during a less-than-spectacular year, giving him the benefit of the doubt and recognizing that in his first year as AD he won the district championship, ministered to a group of students who lost a teammate on the basketball court, and rallied a team who learned they couldn’t advance to the playoffs because of someone else’s mistake. He did all of this with the full support of the administration, assistant coaches, players, booster club, and community. Your second to last sentence doesn’t make sense to me. We do not expect another 0-10 season and not even a 3-7 season. Our expectation will always be high. The AD/HFC has full control of his program, including offseason activities, hiring of coaches, summer program, offense/defense run, schedule, EVERYTHING. The program starts with Coach Grigsby and his leadership. He has full support and resources to Defend The Standard. #DTS Appreciate the “Wish y’all luck” comment although I’m not sure I believe it.

I think you’re right: as a society kids are much softer these days. Social media, video games, lack of parental support/encouragement, pure laziness….. YES kids can be soft. Then there are kids like our QB from last year who was TOUGH AS NAILS, playing the last 3 games of his career with a broken leg and not missing a practice, leading and encouraging his teammates through a very dark time. A kid who never gave up and earned his way to playing at the next level. We have kids like that. Every school does. We need more kids like that. Some kids are tough because their life circumstances demand it. Others are tough because they have the support at home from family who demands it. Some kids just don’t give a f……and that’s a shame. In that instance it is a COACH who can make all the difference in the world to that kid. We’ve seen that time and again over the years. Parents don’t give a crap but the coach DOES and motivates and fathers that player to become more than he ever thought he could be. I know one thing. Our kids at Alto are bought in to what’s going on and are working their butts off to right the ship. So maybe, just maybe they’ll toughen up and do something worth being part of. I’m excited for the upcoming season!

Fo sho. Good times!!

Thank you sir. You are correct! Updated schedule right here:

We got some dudes coming. We may have been down, but we AIN’T DEAD. lol

What chall doing playing a Louisiana team, Kirt? Oh yeah, you’re gonna say “Alto didn’t schedule us so we had to go to a different state!”

For the season we had last year, I am content with the schedule. I think we will be competitive. I will miss playing Garrison and Carlisle and through the years it’s been good having the likes of Timpson and San Augustine on the schedule, but I think it’s a good schedule right now. We have to recover and move forward from last season. The middle school kids who are coming will really come into their own in a couple years and I feel confident we will find success. I expect our numbers to be good enough to have a JV and that will help. This coming year will be challenging but I have a good feeling we will improve.

Sir, what needs to change? I am interested in hearing your thoughts. I am Alto supporter and don’t want to be an apologist, but curious what you see as a needed change. We were young last year, losing 12 talented, experienced seniors the year before. Two seniors this year actually contributed and that’s basically it. I don’t expect another year like we had. Haven’t had one of those since 1977 and it s u c k e d. Do you have some words of wisdom? As far as the “attitude problem” you mentioned with our team last year, I disagree. I can think of one incident with one kid in particular. I thought our players worked hard and showed perseverance and MOXY competing every day facing the challenges they were presented. There were a couple freshmen who were thrown into the fire that did not finish the season, but I think those same young men have matured and moved on and will be back contributing to what the coaches are working towards. Let us know what you think will help our program. I’m all ears.

I can’t think of anyone who left because of the UIL thing. There are at least four families who left in middle school before that decision was handed down by UIL who were unhappy. They did what they thought best for their kids. Two families ended up at Rusk, one at Wells, and one at a private school in Lufkin. The middle school athletes have done well in every sport. They are district champs in football, basketball, and track. The HS won Varsity boys and JV district track titles this spring and should do well at the area meet this Friday. We will be better next year in football with what we have returning, although I believe in 2-3 years we will be “back to form.” The middle school kids are just very competitive and win in everything; good numbers too. They have that mindset. Contributing to our hardships of late is the lack of a true JV squad. That goes for baseball, too. Low numbers hurt when you are playing schools who are higher in classification and those who are 2A with JV squads. Those younger kids standing on the sidelines (or in the dugout) and not getting playing time hurts. We are trending upwards with our numbers and the talent is there, though a lot of it is young. Consistency with the same AD and coaches will help as well. Coach Grigsby will be in year 3 as the head man (6 overall at Alto). I believe our future is bright and trust we will be back to our winning ways soon.

I didn’t realize their numbers were that low. Looked at their schedule from the last two seasons and they managed to win 8 games….more than us actually BUT our schedule was a wee bit more challenging. We are definitely in rebuild mode. We do have everyone coming back except one starting lineman and our QB. Incoming freshmen are talented with good numbers who won district as 8th graders. 7th grade won district as well. They’re on the way; we just have to be patient. I also think our numbers will be good enough to complete a JV season again. We should be back on track very soon.

Dang! Any idea why?

One season*. 2022 was pretty good. 3 losses by a combined 13 points to 2 higher division teams and in district to Tenaha by 1 point. Beat state ranked and undefeated Carlisle, 3 others in a higher division, and won the “on-the-field” district championship. Ugh and lol Anyways, last year….definitely “well below average” and then some.

Nope, I saw that. I always like having Garrison on the schedule. Hopefully soon again!

Played Hull a few times in the playoffs back in the day. Can’t recall playing them in the regular season. Surprised me. Glad to always have Groveton on the schedule!

New faces all over the place! We’ve been in that district of yours a few times, but it was always Region 3 still. You might wanna throw them one of those get to know you mixers!

Updated 4/10/2024

Updated schedule 4/10/2024

I don’t usually see anyone from those schools on Smoaky. Gonna be kind of weird being in Region 2. Playoffs will be lots of new faces. Might have one of those Chapel Hill/Henderson or Carthage/Gilmer championships if y’all should be so fortunate to make it that far. One year you’re in the same district, the next you wouldn’t play until the state championship!