It's just that now what locals have claimed to be one of the best rivalries anywhere, anyway and anyhow will be getting national TV exposure.
To accommodate the good folks at ESPNU, the Temple-Belton football game at Wildcat Stadium was moved to 7 p.m. Thursday. The network is showcasing great rivalry games this season. While it's at it, ESPNU will get some film on one of the nation's top recruits in Temple running back Lache Seastrunk.
No matter the date, time or place, as many people as can fit in and around the stadium will be there. If high schools had a TV blackout rule, this wouldn't qualify.
It's been like this since before there was television, radio or much of any media attention to speak of. The editors of the 1924 Cotton Blossom, the Temple High School yearbook, called it as they saw it 85 years ago: It's the "most important game of the season. There is keener rivalry between Temple and Belton than with any other two schools in the state."
In spite of a 62-year hiatus, one might still make that argument regardless of how well one team or the other happens to be doing in a given year or even in a given sport.
Even during that era, the Temple-Waco rivalry could be considered "more important." That game usually was the last one of the season, became a Thanksgiving Day staple and often had postseason ramifications attached to it. And that game dates back to the very beginnings of football at those schools.
But there's something about Temple-Belton that stirs emotion from every blue-blooded Wildcat backer and any Big Red die-hard worth their salt. It all started here with Temple vs. Belton.
twaits@temple-telegram.com
