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| HOUSTON - Longview Lobo fans united Saturday supporting the team that brought the community together even as the players' state championship hopes faded.
Former band members once again joined the ranks of the Big Green Marching Machine and people whose children graduated years ago from Longview High School flocked to the game in Houston with one common goal - back the Lobos win or lose. "We had 32 kids go to all-region tryouts in Carthage today," said Harvey Durham, director of bands for Longview schools. The choice between participating in the All-Region band auditions of supporting the team during the game was a tough one for the students' nd one Durham said he allowed the children and parents to make. "We're a part of the school and we want to support the team," he said, but many of the students could win college scholarships through membership in the All-Region band. Durham invited former band members to play their instruments in the stands to help fill the sound out. "It's kind of a fun trip, but they don't really need us," said Lynn Childers, a 1976 LHS graduate who is now the Judson Middle School band director. Childers, who plays trombone, was joined by his wife Diane, who played the clarinet Saturday even though she is not an LHS graduate. Also, 1979 graduate Doice Grant joined the trumpet section Saturday. Grant works at Tatum Music in Longview and was once a band director. "I think we're cheating a little bit," Grant said smiling. "I suspect we play more than the band students." Childers played in the band in 1975 when the Lobos participated in one of its last "big playoff" games in Lubbock. He and Grant said joining the students Saturday brought back good memories though they found some things had changed. "It's loud," Grant said. "It was loud back then too, but when you go 20 years without hearing all of it, it gets louder." The former band members weren't the only alumni who found their way to the Class 5A Division I Texas Bowl game. Longview resident Jimme Daniels and her husband Tyree attended the game, remembering the days when their own son played football at LHS. "After my son started playing, I just became a Longview fan," Jimmie said. "I'm 100 percent behind them." Saturday's loss to the Katy Tigers didn't shake Jimmie Daniels' faith in the Lobos. "They're good sports," she said. "They just need to get ready for next year." Longview High School teacher and 1988 LHS graduate, Tamela Horton echoed Daniels' sentiments, adding the team had nothing to be ashamed of. The loss is "heartingbreaking," she said, because the team wanted to win so badly and had worked so hard. However, the lobos still had a successful season in more ways than one. "The way this team united the community - it was inspiring," she said. "I think we all feel like we are a part of this success." Longview Athletic Director Doug Cox said Saturday's loss dos not reflect badly on the rest of the Lobo's winning season. "They had a great year," he said. "These kids pulled together. They pulled our school together. They pulled our community together. He extended his congratulations to Katy. "Today wasn't our day, he said. "We played hard, but it wasn't our day. It was Katy's day." Many loyal Lobo fans waited until the last strands of the school's alma mater died out Saturday before leaving the Astrodome. Some wore green shirts or jackets, while others had donned hats or painted their face in the school colors to show their support for the team. None of them were going home, however, to store away their green garments permanently. "We'll be back," Cox said. |