San Marcos — Perhaps Chevy Chase said it best in the classic comedy Fletch.

“It takes a big man to admit he’s wrong. And I am not a big man.”

Which is exactly the way I felt after reading all of the feedback from Sunday’s column about Grande Communications placing up a billboard with former University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy enticing Bobcats to “Get Hooked” on Grande.

Now before we go any further, the squeaky wheels got greased Monday afternoon when Grande decided to take the ill-placed billboard down. The spot at CM Allen and Hopkins is nothing more than a blank white board. Bobcat fanatics spoke, and Grande listened.

And boy did they ever. A story rebutting my own was the top story on a Texas State fan site, my in-box was filled with responses, and there was even a Facebook page created about the topic.

That said, perhaps I underestimated the frenzied fervor a number of you Bobcat fans exhibit.

Sure, I did a double take when I first saw the sign — which is why I decided to bring up the topic with a column in Sunday’s edition. I immediately understood that it was an inappropriate message for this location.

Common sense also told me that it was probably nothing more than a somewhat ill-advised advertising campaign, and Grande, which is based here in San Marcos, would likely take a lot of heat from devout Bobcat fans.

And as Sunday’s column pointed out, it was a state-wide campaign based on the fact that McCoy is a highly marketable person in Texas as he begins his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns. He’s not wearing burnt orange, nor is there any sort of UT logo on the board.

Would there have been the same sort of uproar if it was Dallas Cowboys’ Roy Williams, or the Miami Dolphins’ Ricky Williams, both ex Longhorns, up on the billboard? For that matter, should Bobcat fans boycott eating Earl Campbell’s hot links? It all seems a bit far fetched when you think about it.

However, the ball was dropped by telling Bobcats to get “Hooked,” which was a the reason Bobcat fans were displeased with the ad.

Grande has since admitted they made a mistake, and billboard in question is currently blank.

“We went over the input we received and we decided to change the billboard,” Grande VP and General Manager Hutch Bass said. “We apologize if we offended in Texas State fans. Certainly, that was never our intent. We listened to the market and we are going to change the ad to something more appropriate.”

Grande was wrong and admitted it. However it really is a mute point in the grand (pun intended) scheme of things. There are a lot more other things to worry about than how much of an burnt orange shadow looms over Texas State and San Marcos.

That sort of distress needs to be directed towards the Texas State athletic department’s “Drive” from the Football Championship Division (FCS) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the need for more money, corporate sponsorships, fans in the stands, better pay for successful coaches, and most importantly, success on the playing field.

These are the legitimate issues Bobcat fans should be brooding about.



Randy Stevens is Sports Editor of the San Marcos Daily Record. Contact him at rstevens@sanmarcosrecord.com.