Here's an interesting bit out of Texas this morning.

The Texas State Board of Education has decided to allow high school athletes to earn four years' worth of elective credits toward graduation simply by playing their sport. (The current max is two years of credit.) Notably, this comes at a time when the state also has increased the number of credits needed to graduate by, go ahead and guess, two credits.

The Dallas Morning News sums up the debate like this:

"Supporters said the move would keep kids in school and spur them to do well in academic courses. Critics charged that the plan would de-emphasize academics and return to the days of 'football comes first.' "

The whole concept of making sure students passed their courses in order to qualify for a sports team didn't go down easily in many parts, including where I used to report.

Here's where this becomes a Tampa Bay story. Anyone paying attention to the situation over at Hernando's Nature Coast High? The football team is facing fines and an abrupt termination to its best-ever season because of a reported on-field brawl.

The parents over there just can't accept that their kids did anything wrong, and are accusing the FHSAA of a witch hunt.

Can you just imagine what would happen if graduation credits were involved here, rather than simply the results of a football season? Just a thought, as we can't help but wonder whether this debate might come to sports-crazed Florida, too.

(Times photo, Will Vragovic)

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