Silvestre Reyes "El Paso's Quarterback"

I got up early this Saturday morning and attended the Ray Pearson Forum. The first set of speakers were the candidates for the 16th Congressional District that included Democratic candidate and 14 year incumbent Congressman Silvestre Reyes, Republican candidate Tim Besco and write in candidate Tim Collins.

I was shocked to see that there were more cheap shots thrown out by Congressional candidates than by the other three races combined. And most of them came from the incumbent. He must feel somebody on his heels for him to come out swinging like he did. Most of his shots were directed at Tim Collins but he did look at Tim Besco when he asked the crowd if they wanted a representative who wore a shiny suit and acted silly.

Tim Besco got a shot in as well. He was able to make the whole crowd chuckle when he said he had treated almost every Veteran in the area except Congressman Reyes, unless he had gone in for a colonoscopy. All Reyes could do was nod no and say he was a pretty healthy man.

The cheap shot that stood out the most in my eyes was by the Congressman himself. It wasn't very effective but it sure stood out above the rest. Tim Collins answered a question by someone in the audience having to do with being a freshman Congressman. Collins made a reference Thomason Hospital, now known as University Medical Center. Congressman Reyes followed Collins and said:

"Thomason doesn't exist, but isn't it funny how he mentions Thomason because that's where all the poor people go"

That comment had nothing to do with what Collins was talking about. The Congressman was just putting words in Collins' mouth and trying to make the crowd believe Collins had made some sort of offensive racial comment. Reyes' poor attempt brought plenty of moans from the crowd. I wouldn't expect a person with 14 years in Congress to stoop down to that level. Maybe he should have said it in Spanish to exclude Mr. Collins from the conversation like he did a few days ago at a different forum. That's a whole different post that I will post soon.

But my favorite part of the morning was hearing Silvestre Reyes talking about teamwork and him being the quarterback that we need to represent El Paso. Really? Is he try to tell us that we need to bring back a quarterback who has been playing for over 14 years. A quarterback who is getting older, who is way past his prime and who can only go around flaunting his seniority. I think we are seeing that story play out as we speak and it is not pretty.

Let's go ahead and use the Congressman's analogy. Do we give Silvestre Reyes a two year extension on his contact and hope he stays healthy or do we let him go and go after a younger quarterback who brings in new and fresh ideas and who we can get another 8-10 years out of. I honestly think it is time for Reyes to hang up his hat and go into full retirement.

It is a tough decision for any coach to make and this November you will be the head coach. I just hope you make the right decision in the voters booth.