This isn’t what you think it is.

If you have been listening to the Call The Roll Podcast, and many of you have been and I appreciate it, you will know that I have been talking about how the new facilities that are coming and the future improvements, and how our storied past will help with our future in the Division I era aspirations.

When our current facilities were built, there really was not a whole lot to name them after, which is why we have pedestrian names that have no character and no real identify. Memorial Stadium and The John Cain Family Field are exceptions because we have named the field at Memorial Stadium after Coach Ernest Hawkins and the building itself after the brave Lions that gave their lives on the battle fields of World War II, making it a War Memorial. The Cain Complex is for a family that has given a lot of time, energy and money to the school as well.

Something that we don’t have are what I would call “Division I features.” For example, every school in our conference has their facilities named after someone or has a corporate sponsorship that give that company naming rights. This is the mark of a Division I athletic institution that takes pride in itself and it’s past and future, and educates generations about who these individuals are, and gives those people, both living and passed on, their due in what they have given to our University and athletic department. I am going to go through the facilities that we have and what we will have in the future and say what we should name them, and most importantly, why.

Football-

Ernest Hawkins Field at East Texas Memorial Stadium-As many of you saw, Jim Curry wrote to Lion nation back in December about future improvements or a new build of the current stadium. We already know that it is Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium, but adding East Texas will do a lot to pay homage to the great traditions of Old ET. It is not necessarily about geography but about the great East Texas athletes that have played on that field and run on that track. Its as much about identity and tradition as it is anything else, plus with the name change back to ET, it makes a lot of sense.

Fox-Crawford Champions Center-The locker room that is in the stadium should be named after two Lion Legends, Bobby Fox and Boley Crawford, and it makes a lot of sense. Two of Ernest Hawkins’ main assistants, Fox was an All-American Quarterback when he played in Commerce and then became the architect of the Blue Gang defense when he came back to Commerce to be an Assistant, before taking the head coaching job at Tarleton State. CW “Boley” Crawford was Hawkins co-offensive coordinator and also the head golf coach. He is one of only two coaches to win national championships in sports at ET, being the head coach in golf during the 1965 championship season and also on staff from 1957-1989. Both of these men were considered the true “Locker Room Lawmen” in the sense that they laid down the law in the locker rooms for both sides of the ball, Fox on defense and Crawford on offense. Both were coaches on the great teams and were alums of ET, and should be honored and known by all Lions, past, present, and future.

Eddie Vowell Lion Football Complex-As most of you know, the Fieldhouse will no longer be a basketball facility in less than a year now and will be rennovated to be a football facility with an indoor practice field, coaching offices, position meeting rooms and everything a Division I football facility should be. The one man that has been around LIon football more than anyone else to this day is Coach Eddie Vowell. You know him as the 2 time LSC Coach of the Year, 2nd all time in program wins, 6 teams ranked at seaon’s end and 3 NCAA playoff apperances. Vowell was also the defensive coordinator for the 1983 LSC title team and head track coach. Coach Vowell is another important member of the ET community that needs and deserves to be honored. Vowell has invested more time in the lives of his former players that he coached for 20 years than just about anyone else and brought ET into the NCAA DIvision II era. He has given blood, sweat, and tears and loves his players, his program, and the community.

Ron Newsome Strength & Conditioning Center-Ron Newsome did more for East Texas State as an assistant coach and benefactor of the University than just about anyone else has. He was an assistant on the first national title team and has endowed 5 scholarships. Naming the weight and training room in the new football facility is the least we can do for him and his memory.

James Thrower Academic Center-This facility, for all LIon Student athletes exists in the Fieldhouse currently. I have no idea what the plan is as far as where to move it, but with all Thrower has done for the school, it is important to keep it and also keep this vital academic resource for our student athletes, wherever it may end up.

Basketball-

President Dan Jones Court-The new events center will have a corporate sponsorship for naming rights for the building, or at least that is the plan. However, naming the Basketball game court after Dr Dan Jones, who fought tooth and nail to get us a new basketball facility but never saw it come to fruition due to his passing, is certianly appropriate. Also, under Jones, our Basketball teams, both Men and Women’s took off again and we are even in this position because of Jones’s embrace of athletics and pro growth policies and his backing of the athletic department and key hires of athletic administration. Let me also say this…….the school administration has been absolutely awful in remembering Dr Jones and what he did, not to mention what he went through under John Sharp’s tenure as A&M system chancellor. This isn’t something to be given out of sympathy, but because it was earned, and Dr Dan Jones earned it.

Volleyball-

Tavener-Goodlett Volleyball Court-After the Fieldhouse starts to become rennovated, there are plans to have the Volleyball team have their own game and practice court inside the new events center. This is a Division I move, and the court should be co-named after the late Donna Tavener who was the program’s first coach and led the Lions to the national finals in 1980, and Kathy Goodlett, who also helped usher in the golden era of Lion Volleybal. Tavener’s family lives in the area, and Goodlett is the greatest coach in program history. This would really help bring alums back and also know a standard has been set, even if it was 40 plus years ago.

Soccer-

Margo Harbison Lion Soccer Field-Dr. Margo Harbison made history by being the first female athletic director in school and conference history, and she also helped launch the soccer program as AD. She reached out to the community and the university student body to help build the field and the early amenities, and also gave the school a championship quality program that continues to this day. We need examples of strong and successful women in Lion athletic history, and she certainly qualifies.

Track-

Jon Carlos Track and Field Complex-Regardless of how you feel about the 1968 Olympics, Carlos is an icon and also has embraced Commerce as an Alma Mater after we gave him an honorary doctrate and inducted him into the athletic hall of fame. He is also an icon of the Civil Rights movement as well and his contribtions to society are a big plus. As far as I can tell, the track complex will probably be near the Cain Softball Complex as the old dorms in that area get demolished and also will allow for a new track facility that can host multiple meets. Also, Carlos’s iconic “human rights salue” photo would be a great addition to the facility, regardless of how one feels about it. It gets people talking and having some serious conversations, and shows how far ET has come.

Tennis-

Dr Bill Crabtree Tennis Complex-Currently, we have no tennis team. However, we do have tennis courts located across the highway and also have a tradition rich program that we might be able to bring back. Even if that does not happen, we have a lot of students who play tennis intrascholastically and also have hosted high school championship meets in the past, and we could even host Southland Tennis tournaments…..since there would be a perfect example of a neutral site. Right now we have a set of 4 courts, not nearly enough. What we neeed to do is make an investment and have at least 8 courts total, but really we need 12, at least doubling the size for competition and bring high school and collegiate meets for a great revenue opportunity for school, named after the greatest tennis coach in school history and a true scholar and gentleman. Oh, and throw in a placard that has all those golden years that ET won conference or national titles, in addition to all the All-Americans. We might need to have it one day.

Softball-

The Cain Complex needs some serious TLC right now, but what we really need is a covered batting cage area and covered practice facility, which is a NEED, not a want. This is an absolute necessity. We miss well over a dozen practices a year because of weather, but having an enclosed practice facility, aside from being a plus, is also a safety issue for our team and coaches, and since we are doing that, lets carve out an area for trophies and awards that a visitor can see during games and when recruits visit that shows that in the history of our young program, we have a lot to show for it.