Sometimes it’s best to bring the marching band

A great debate over football monuments highlighted the cultural differences in states only separated by a few hours on the road.
Shown here is Iola Register sports editor Jimmy Potts. Photo by Richard Luken / Iola Register
by Jimmy Potts
Published: October 23, 2026
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A great debate over football monuments highlighted the cultural differences in states only separated by a few hours on the road.

Earlier this week, I responded to a post on the Kansas Pregame Facebook page defending high school football in Texas.

The post showed a headstone in front of Texas’s Paradise High School commemorating their 2025 football state championship. The average person might consider it ostentatious to build a monument seeming to exceed 5 feet in all directions with the entire roster, coaching staff, managers, school board and program supporters etched on it. Maybe they’ve never been to a Texas football field on a Friday night.

As I wrote in the post, “No offense Kansans, it’s a heck of a lot harder to win a state title in Texas than Kansas.” 

Jimmy Potts

Jimmy Potts began his journalism career over 15 years ago at the Bossier Press-Tribune in Bossier City, La., where he learned from legendary sports editor Jerry Byrd – affectionately known as the “Man of all Seasons.” Since then, he’s covered sports in Texas, North Carolina, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas, before joining the Iola Register in February 2025. Jimmy grew up in Johnson County but is adapting to life in Iola. In his spare time, he enjoys watching sports, of course, and spending time with friends and family.

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