This past Saturday, Sam Houston State University had The Battle of the Piney Woods football game in Houston. This is the yearly game the Bearkats play against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks.
This event attracted lots of students and community members that unfortunately had to miss Fair on the Square due to the overlapping times.
In the past, Piney Woods would rotate between being held in Huntsville, Texas and Nacogdoches, Texas, bringing in money to both towns during those game weekends.
In 2009, the Battle of the Piney Woods was announced to be moving to Reliant Stadium in Houston, starting in 2010, and has remained there ever since. So, it is possible that the loss in revenue for this city from this event has caused town officials to have little care for this sporting event.
Something they did not take into account is how many people would love to attend both of these events. But since it remains on the same weekend, the city loses on potential attendees for Fair on the Square.
Just because the Battle of the Piney woods is no longer bringing revenue in for the town, they still need to understand how important Bearkat football is to the community, not just the student. Huntsville residents cheer on Sam Houston just as much if not more than the students do. They have pride in the school and the town.
At the end of the day, Sam Houston State and Huntsville are one and the same. They will always be a part of each other and should try to work with each other in order to best the opportunities of the community.