Posted on 09/21/2011 8:40:46 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
Gregory-Portland cancels football game with Mexican team over safety concerns
G-P superintendent cites safety concerns for cancellation
PORTLAND (Texas) — Citing a need to play it safe, the Gregory-Portland Independent School District on Tuesday canceled its scheduled football game Friday night against Monterrey Tech. Superintendent Paul Clore announced the decision in a news release Tuesday afternoon.
Tech backed out of a scheduled game with Round Rock Stony Point last week, claiming that an anonymous caller, possibly a member of a Mexican cartel, demanded $30,000 for the team to cross the American border.
The G-P district, however, chose a proactive approach, not waiting for Tech to possibly cancel. Clore, assistant superintendent Darla Czerwinski, G-P principal Barbara Cade and first-year athletics director and football coach Matt Anastasio met and made the call. Recurring media reports about Tech’s situation and the violence in Monterrey fueled by rival drug-trafficking gangs weighed heavily in the decision.
“When we saw the story again last night on TV we sat down again as a team and talked through the issue and came to the conclusion from a safety perspective, canceling the game was the safest thing that we could do, because we could never pin down issues,” Clore said.
“We began to see that Monterrey Tech was flying to games instead of busing to games as they did before. That began to suggest to us that maybe they knew more than we did about the threat level,” Clore said. “So we just decided to err on the side of safety.”
“There’ve been no threats to anybody here nor there,” Anastasio said. “It’s just that with what the reports last week were and what happened to them at Stony Point, we’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Ironically, Tech started scheduling flights to the States instead of busing across the border to avoid potential safety problems, said Alex Botella, a Mexican promoter charged with arranging Tech’s ballgames in Texas. The airfare to San Antonio cost the school between $20,000-$25,000, he said.
“It’s fair to say we decided to do what’s best for the students and everybody and commit to what we signed and going to Texas and playing the games we had with the high schools,” Botella said. “That was something we were committed to. We understand Gregory-Portland’s position. It’s pretty much surprising for us and that’s pretty much it.”
Surprising and upsetting, Botella said, given that lateness with which the decision was made.
“We called last week and said we were coming and then they called us and said no. It was surprising it happened three days before the game,” Botella said. “It’s kind of surprising because they called us last week making sure we were coming. We said, ‘Yes, we bought 50 airline tickets.’ It was kind of upsetting.
“I guess they were afraid something might happen to us. That was the reason they gave us, that he was more concerned about us than he was his own team,” Botella said. “We’re flying internationally to San Antonio. I don’t really know why he was so concerned about us.”
Clore acknowledged that Tech was disappointed in the cancellation.
“We just did not get to a point of having a lack of confidence until very recently, especially (Tuesday) morning. And so we had tried to hold off as long as we could, hoping we would still be able to play,” Clore said. “But when something like this keeps popping up over and over and over, you simply don’t know what to believe so you try to be as cautious as you can be.”
School officials from Tech, whose mascot is the Borregos (Rams), had made a concerted effort to fulfill their commitments to play high school football games in the United States, school spokesman Ricardo Garcia told the Austin American-Statesman earlier this week. Earlier, the Borregos played at The Woodlands (a 56-32 loss) and at Highland Park (a 46-7 loss).
The team was scheduled to fly to San Antonio and then travel to Portland by charter bus. That also is the plan for scheduled games on Oct. 22 against Austin Travis and Oct. 29 against San Antonio Hawkins.
“We’re still on as far as my understanding is,” Botella said.
Where this leaves the 2-2 Wildcats is with two open dates, this week and next before the start of District 30-4A play Oct. 7 against Floresville.
“We’re trying to find something next week. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to, but we’re trying. Right now we’re just hoping,” Anastasio said. “If we can’t do anything next week then we’re going to get healthy. We’re going to be real healthy before district starts."
Ping!
Mexico dangerous?
Just because yesterday during the middle of rush hour, narco-terrorist dumped 35 bodies onto the freeway.
That doesn’t mean Mexico is dangerous.
this is so depressing....young guys can’t even play football with out the druggies pulling them in.....
Why the heck are we playing a Mexican team? They have the money to fly all over Texas yet we feed them and buy them new cleats. Our school tax dollars at play.
Ping!
Oh but haven’t you all heard, build a fence down the middle of the Rio Grande, that will stop them /S
“Oh but haven’t you all heard, build a fence down the middle of the Rio Grande, that will stop them /S”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It won’t stop a narco terrorist from being a narco terrorist, but it will stop jose seis pack from coming over to live,
loiter, drive drunk, rape, steal, maybe work and get free medical care- a la my tax dollars.
So what’s your good reason to not build a fence?
Ping!
....yet we feed them and buy them new cleats. Our school tax dollars at play...
what is your source that the we are paying to feed and buy new cleats for the Mexican team from Monterrey?
....yet we feed them and buy them new cleats. Our school tax dollars at play...
what is your source that the we are paying to feed and buy new cleats for the Mexican team from Monterrey?
From one of the teams they played last year.
bfl
Are you serious?
I hope it wasnt’t taxpayer money.
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