I’ve been in Texas for a week and have noticed how much bigger Texas football is than Maryland lacrosse.

It’s really that Texas treats all of their high school sports with far more respect and reverence than we do in Maryland.

In Texas, where most of the high school football teams are better than our football teams, there’s good and then there’s "Water Tower" good, which means this -- when you win a county or state title, they plaster your logo and a championship statement of some kind on the huge water tower hovering on tiny legs off of the highway.

These type of containers litter the highways all over the state. And it’s not just football. Boys and girls basketball also enjoy the water tower treatment when deserved, all over the state. In fact, the basketball team in the town I was visiting lost in the first round of the state playoffs, but was escorted to the county line en route to the game by a police escort and even a couple fire trucks.

That’s a proper Texas send-off.

And victorious or not, you might get a parade when you return. Now that’s a bus ride to remember! And one to be jealous of if you’re from a place like Baltimore where only the top professional teams and one swimmer get any real respect from the masses.

Do we have to be Michael Phelps to get a parade around here?