Mid County Madness, and how it got started

Tom Halliburton

Posted on Oct 17, 2014

All of us highly paid scribblers are occasionally guilty of leaping into a writers’ rut called alliteration.

For all you other dummies besides me, alliteration means that a writer repeats a sound at the start of words.

To help you a bit more, we offer examples such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Bed Bath & Beyond, PayPal, Krispy Kreme… do I need to go on or do you get it?

This annual football event between the Bulldogs and the Indians can thank Port Arthur for increasing its area importance since the early 1980s when great coaches held down jobs at three Port Arthur high schools.

The big game truly was Port Neches-Groves against Port Arthur Jefferson for the longest time in the 70s and 80s. Nederland and PN-G was a game of interest, too, but it was not the rivalry that TJ/PN-G was. That’s because a rivalry truly fails to exist if one side of the rivalry struggles to be competitive.

By being assigned to Nederland/PN-G football games before Larry Neumann’s 1992-93 arrival, your ol’ Bubba often resorted to the alliteration of choice — Mid-County Massacre. There were a few uses of Mid-County madness when coaches Bobby August of Nederland and Danny Malone of PN-G deliberately would seek to stir up interest in their game. Trouble was, the madness and excitement all unfolded prior to Friday night’s kickoff.

As for sheer competitive quality, the Mid-County game simply took a back seat for the longest time to other games such as Bridge City and Little Cypress-Mauriceville, Lincoln and TJ, and Beaumont’s Soul Bowl.

But the devoted fans, communities and refinery workers from Mid-County — not the coaches or players — made tonight’s rivalry the very best in all of southeast Texas, and many would call it the best high school rivalry in the Lone Star State.

When did this Mid-County Madness term actually take root? Well, in 1990, it was accidentally used because Nederland’s August and PN-G’s Malone took some cheap shots at each other leading up to the game.

But I deliberately combined Mid-County with Madness on purpose leading up to the 1995 game. A week or so after the game, Neumann said I ought to use that term every year and keep it around. Clearly, Nederland was on the short end of the series in football victories and Neumann had a strong desire to increase the interest in the game on and off the field.

Mid-County Madness reached full bloom as a term and as a celebrated modern-day rivalry largely because of two outstanding coaches whose friendship and support for me was second to none. Matt Burnett and Neumann competed head-to-head in this rivalry with unrivaled class.

Burnett ended his tenure with more wins than any head football coach in PN-G history. Neumann will do the same whenever he should decide to call it a career at Nederland.

The two had the same young woman cut their hair. They both played football during the same era at Lamar University. They both spoke with respect for the other although each was an intense competitor.

Burnett and Neumann cooperated with this writer in many ways. Some are too numerous describe. They didn’t always have to cooperate. Deep down, they probably didn’t always want to, but they did.

Neumann and Burnett trusted me with plenty of inside information. They helped me to understand how this game truly belonged to the refinery workers 365 days of a year.

If I wished to magnify and turn a Mid-County matter into a bigger story for our readers, they willingly cooperated. Some of their willingness to cooperate may not have been in the best interests of their football programs, but they did it anyway.

Nederland and PN-G played Brenham and La Marque in a season-opening Reliant Stadium doubleheader for a couple of years. The willingness of Neumann and Burnett to cooperate was crucial to make it happen. It wasn’t always in the best interests of both schools but they did it.

One time Larry’s team beat up on Matt’s for a half. Matt’s came back and beat up on Larry’s for a half. And the game ended on a missed field goal right at the buzzer.

Burnett was an absolute gentleman, regardless of the circumstances. He coached the Indians during years when the school district had to tighten its belt loop due to the state-imposed Robin Hood measure forcing select wealthy districts to give money back. PN-G had to compete with fewer coaches at times and Burnett required himself to coach a segment of the Indians’ defense for several years. Matt would not make excuses for that reality.

Mid-County Madness gradually gained so much popularity after more than a decade that PN-G and Nederland faithful utilized their forum in 2008, calling it Mid-County Kindness, to provide assistance and significant financial relief for Bridge City residents devastated by Hurricane Ike. With Cardinal red as their symbolic color, many Nederland and PN-G fans got their “red” on, rather than sporting their school’s traditional colors.

But last year’s game truly contained a different dimension. Nobody but nobody has loved each community any more than Bum Phillips did. It will go down as the ultimate timing for Bum’s life to have ended during the 90th PN-G/Nederland duel at age 90.

Bum loved both places and remained proud to let everyone know it as his years progressed. For my money, this son of Bum’s still should be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys today. Instead, Wade Phillips is ours tonight at the first ever Bum Phillips Bowl.

As for Mid-County Madness, it’s still here, folks. Bum has simply made it more important than ever… and he deserves such a distinguished place in our neighborhood rivalry. Win or lose, Neumann and Burnett deserve a distinguished place, too. As for me, I’m just guilty of a writer’s rut called alliteration.

http://www.panews.com/sports/article_0791bd7e-562b-11e4-b13b-037ef37b7df…