Let's get Buc in the TSHOF

Some things in life are just too easy. Predicting the Dallas Cowboys will not make another Super Bowl, for example.

Or saying that the Aledo Bearcats will contend for another state football championship.

There's a term for these. It's called no-brainers.

And here's another. If Tim Buchanan is on a hall of fame ballot, he should be voted in. Well, it so happens the man who is arguably the greatest high school football coach in the history of the state is on the 2024 ballot for the Texas Sports Hall of Fame (TSHOF).

We can help him get elected. Unlike other halls of fame, the general public has a say in who gets inducted in this one, which, by the way is quite impressive if you haven't gone to Waco and taken a tour.

We owe this to Buc. Because of him you can mention the Aledo Bearcats in other states and folks who know high school know what team you're talking about.

Trust me, I tested this theory while living in Colorado and it worked.

Thanks to someone who knows a thing or two about the THSOF, legendary sportswriter/sportscaster Randy Galloway, Buc's being up for election was brought to my attention. Galloway, an Aledo resident for going on two decades now, was deservedly inducted into it last year and gave stirring accolades to my friend and late Community News Sports Editor Tony Eierdam.

"This is the ultimate hall of fame in our state. It's hard for high school football coaches to get in, and I think that needs to change," Galloway said. "What is Texas known for? High school football."

And when you're the driving force behind more state championships than any other high school program in the state, not being in your state's ultimate hall is like, well, explaining why a tractor needs hubcaps.

Here's how we can help Buc get in. It's simple, really. Go to the TSHOF website (www.tshof.org) and buy a membership. They cost as little as $25, and this gives you the right to vote, along with discounted admission and at the gift shop. Heck, for fifty bucks, you get free admission and even a hat or T-shirt.

Then, you vote. Up to 10 inductees may be honored each calendar year, six from the primary ballot, two from the veterans ballot and two at-large selected by the TSHOF Board of Trustees.

Buc is on the primary ballot.

There are only a handful of high school football coaches in the TSHOF currently, and Buc has more state championships than any of them, except for Gordon Wood with nine (seven at Brownwood, two at Stamford). But then, when you add in the three the Bearcats won when Buc was the athletic director, that gives him a hand in 11.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the 75-4 record and three state titles Steve Wood had during the five seasons Buc gave up coaching to solely be the AD. They flipped jobs in 2018 and what does Buc do? He goes out and wins three more titles in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

With all due respect to the likes of Wood, G.A. Moore (six titles at Celina, two at Pilot Point), Paul Tyson (four state titles at Waco High), Chuck Moser (three state championships at Abilene) and Rusty Russell of Masonic Home - also the subject of the 2021 movie "12 Mighty Orphans" - Buc stands tall among them all.

It would take this entire newspaper and next week's to list all of the Bearcats' accomplishments under Buchanan. Highlighting the list, however, are being the only team ever to three-peat as state champions twice (2009-11 and 2018-20, with Wood as head coach in 2018), winning at least one playoff game every year since 1996 and being the only team ever to score more than 1,000 points in a single season (2013).

Along with all of this, Buc is a nice guy. Not that it has anything to do with his worthiness to be in any hall of fame, but it's always a plus when the person you're voting for is someone you'd enjoy having a cup of coffee or beer with.

He's also loyal. Somewhere along his journey he could have left Aledo for a job in the college ranks, we all know that. But he loved what he did and he loved where he did it.

Again, not that loyalty plays a role in his HOF worthiness, but it's a good characteristic, nonetheless.

Buc has given Aledo football fans plenty to be proud of over three decades. Now, it's our chance to do something for him.

And it only costs $25. Actually, quite a bargain for being a part of history when you think about it.