The Showdown Or The World Series

For the 1st time in the history of the AHS /CHS game, a majority of the fans in town are having to ask themselves, "Do I go to Shotwell Stadium for the Crosstown Showdown, or do I stay at home and watch the World Series?"

I never thought that folks would be asking that question, but here we are. My daughter even ask me on the way to school, "How many people do you think will blow off the game to stay at home and watch the World Series?"

That's a tough one. "I don't know" was my answer. There are life long Rangers fans who have been waiting their entire lives for the Rangers to be this close to winning a World Championship. There are also people that bleed Black & Gold and Red & Blue.

This is a great problem for folks to have. I am excited that the Rangers fans are getting enjoy a Game 7 with their team in the game. I am excited that Abilene High and Cooper fans are looking forward to winning the Crosstown Showdown and claiming the District 3-5A title. This is a GREAT night for sports fans in Abilene, but what in the world are we going to do?

Here's my best guess. Most folks that have tickets to the Crosstown Showdown will go to Shotwell Stadium, as planned, but they will be, either, watching the World Series on their phone or listening to the game on the radio.

Here at the station, I will be watching both. I am more of a football fan than a baseball fan, so the Crosstown Showdown has most of my attention, but this World Series is right there.

The Future Of The Big XII

What is the future of the Big XII? I don't think it's so bright. Losing Texas A&M is not the real problem for the conference. The real problem is the Longhorn Network.

This not how this works in the rest of the country. The conference is in charge of the network, not a single school. This give the single school an advantage over the other schools in the conference.

It is great for the University of Texas. They get the advantage, and if history tells us anything, they will take the advantage.

Why in the world did the other members of the conference lets the Longhorns have their own network? If Texas insists on keeping the Longhorn Network to itself, it will kill the conference. The rest of the members of the Big XII are going to get tired of that thing, and they will revolt. It is not a question of if, it is a matter of when.

It's great that the conference is going to add TCU, but until that Longhorn Network problem is solved, the Big XII is in trouble.

Trip Down Memory Lane

I took a trip down memory lane on Wednesday morning starting at 7am. I got up early to head south to cover the Stamford Bulldogs in the Class A State Baseball Tournament.

I haven't gone to that tournament in years, but because of a short staff, I got to make the trip to Round Rock.

A few things hit me on the way down to and back home from the Austin area.

1)The older you get the harder it is to get up in the morning.
-- The last time I went, I hoped right out of bed and hit the road with no trouble. This time around, it was harder to get my 43 year old bones out of bed.

2)Don't drink a 16 ounce bottle of water and a 20 ounce Diet Coke and then a 32 ounce Diet Coke from McDonald's and another 16 ounce bottle of water on the way.
-- I already knew that in theory, but no I know for fact. It makes the trip longer.

3)I am bad luck for Big Country baseball teams.
-- I have never witnessed a victory in the State Baseball Tournament. Stamford's loss to Johnson City continued a long bad history for me and our teams. It started with the Gorman Panthers in 1991, and it continued in 2011 with Stamford. I am guessing that Big Country teams will be paying me to not go to their games at the State Tournament.

4)Problem with #3, I really enjoy going to the State Baseball Tournament. It's the best baseball in the state of Texas. Who doesn't enjoy a day at the ballpark?

Just A Few Thoughts

It's been a while, so I am going on a stream of consciousness.

-I am frustrated with the world that we live in these days. Does it bother anyone that there are people out there that will shoot you for cutting them off? Does is bother you that someone shoots the "finger" at you when they make the driving mistake?

People are so hot headed these days that they can't even stop for a second to contain their emotions.

Why is that? I will tell you. It seems that a good chunk of our society stops developing emotionally at the age of 5. If things don't go there way, they pitch a fit like a 5 year old. Problem is, these emotional 5 year olds have guns and are driving cars and motorcycles.

How about we all GROW UP! Grown ups know how to walk away from a difficult situation. Grown ups know that it's smart to just let the guy that cut us off drive away from us. Grown ups know that people make mistakes on the road on occasion, and the grown ups in the room let it go. Grown ups are not looking to fight someone around every corner.

On to more pleasant topics.

-Cooper is about to hire Todd Moebes to be the next head football coach. Moebes has never been a head coach, but he told me on Monday that he is ready for the job because he worked for coaches like Mike Spradlin and Katy's Gary Joseph. I am anxious to see how Moebes handles not only the head coaching duties but the job of athletic coordinator.

There are many examples of hiring from within not working. However, we have 2 great examples of it working right here in Abilene.

Hugh Sandifer was already the basketball coach at Wylie when he was hired to be the head football coach. I would say that 1 state title and 2 state runner-ups make that a good hire.

Steve Warren was an assistant at Abilene High when he was hired to lead the Eagles. 12 straight appearances in the playoffs, 6 district titles and a state championship are good enough for me to call that a success.

Coach Moebes takes over a program that is in much better shape than either Warren or Sandifer took over. He is set up for success, and I hope he has a great deal of success.

-ACU's Edmond Gates really impressed at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis on Sunday. He tied for the fastest 40 yard dash time for wide receivers. Add to that, Gates was 2nd in the broad jump and 5th in the vertical jump. I still question his pass route running ability, and most scouting reports say he can't get off the line of scrimmage if pressured, but he is going to get drafted. F-Y-I, when asked which bird was the fastest, Gates knew that it was the Perigrine Falcon, so he's got that going for him.

-The Wylie girls are back in the State Tournament, and Peyton Little is leading the way. Little, who verbally committed to play for the University of Texas, is easily the best girls basketball player to come through this part of the state since Lynn Corn led Wylie to the state championship in 1990. For the 2nd year in a row, Little has taken the Lady Bulldogs on her back and carried them to Austin. Here's the crazy part. Little is just a Junior, and this Wylie team has just 1 senior. You can look for another trip to Austin in 2012.

Welcome Home

Coming home.

For me, coming home means I am back at the house after working a 10 hour shift at the television station.(It might be longer during the football season) It is nice to be home, but I was there just 10 hours earlier. I was there earlier in the day, and I will be there tomorrow.

On Friday, I had the opportunity to welcome home 1 of my best friends from fighting in our War on Terror in Southwest Asia. Andy has been gone from his house, his wife, and his family for 6 months. In that 6 month period, his son started high school, his oldest daughter is 6 months closer to starting school, and his youngest started walking.

Coming home for Andy and the rest of the 9th Bomb Squadron is a BIG DEAL.

The scene in the hangar as we waited for Andy and the rest of the deployed 9th was electric. The husbands and wives were almost beside themselves, and the kids couldn't wait to see dad or mom, again. Folks like Conni and me were excited about seeing our friend coming home safely.

The cheers went up when the door opened on the plane at Dyess Air Force Base. Families were calling out the names of their loved ones. Hugs, kisses, and tears of joy were in abundance.

This is the 2nd time I have welcomed my friend Andy back from the war, and it is just as special as the 1st time. For the 2nd time, I am glad he is back with his family, and for the 2nd time, I am glad to have my friend home safe and sound.

WELCOME HOME to the 9th Bomb Squadron at Dyess Air Force Base. May your spotlights shine bright and your bombs always hit their target.

My 1st Christmas Gift Of 2010

Christmas came early for me on Tuesday morning. I went by AHS head coach Steve Warren's office that morning to catch up and just talk about things, and he told me he didn't get the Angelo State job.

I knew he wanted the job in San Angelo, so I kept calm, but I was absolutely giddy. Coach Warren is a real treat to work with, and I didn't want him to leave. For the media, he is easy to work with on a daily basis during the season. For fans, he is putting a winner on the field each and every season, and for the players, he is helping them become better players and people.

Professionally, the Rams may have blown it by not hiring Coach Warren. I know at least 2 people whose opinions I value, that he would have been a great choice for the school. Steve is a great salesman, and that is part of the job in college football. You have to sell your program to the kids you are recruiting, and it's hard to sell the Concho Valley. Coach Warren could have done it. He is not a man that is stuck in his ways. The Eagles offense changed from the Wing-T to a Spread to pass offense to a Spread to run offense.

Personally, the Rams may have blown it because they had a guy wanting the job who loves Angelo State, and a guy that would do anything to help turn his alma matter into a winner, again.

I am glad Steve is staying with us in Abilene. Merry Christmas to me, and Merry Christmas to all of the Abilene High fans.

The Football Trip II(a.k.a. The Tuba Principle)

My dad and I continued our trip around the metroplex on Saturday. We were in search of high school football, and we found 2 more games.

Southlake Carroll and Denton Guyer played in the 1st game we went to see. Most you know that Guyer and Carroll are the teams that knocked Cooper and Abilene High out of the playoffs in the 3rd round. I wanted to see who would win between the 2. I thought Guyer was better, and I was right. The wind was blowing 30 to 40 miles per hour through out the game, and the team with the wind in the 4th was going to win. Guyer had the wind and won by 10. By the way, I still haven't met anyone that had anything good to say about Guyer head coach and former Merkel Badger John Walsh.

Dad and I shared a press box suite with the scouts for Longview and Mesquite Horn. I learned 3 things.
1)Scouts work hard during the course of a game, at least the Longview scouts do. They were constantly talking to each other about the formations and the personel in those formations.

2)The Tuba Principle: The team with the most tubas will win the game. That stat is a part of every scouting report the Longview scouts do, and they say it's about 80 percent accurate. It didn't work in the Guyer/Carroll game, but it did work in the Tatum/Cameron Yoe game later that night. Cameron 2 tubas to 1 over Tatum. Yoe won, 28-14. On Friday night, it worked, again. Mart won the tuba battle 4 to nothing, and won the game 58-7. I promise I will be paying attention to that little detail until the day I die.

3)Our press box suite was next to the Southlake Carroll assistants, and it is a kick to watch the assistant coaches in the press box. I mean those guys put on a show like no other. Counters in the coaches' box have to be reenforced somehow. The Carroll assistants put that counter through a workout. The were pounding on that thing at least 2 times per series. They shout up there like someone on the playing field can hear them. I know that they are connected to other coaches, but these guys were shouting at the top of their lungs like what they were saying was somehow going to magically get to the ears of the player they were yelling at in the middle of the field.

The final game of the trip was played in Ennis. As I mentioned earlier, Cameron Yoe beat Tatum in a very good Class 2A Div. I quarterfinal game. The game was good, but the food in the press box was worthy of note. We had stew and chicken soup, sandwiches, and cookies. Everything was homemade, and everything was good. I don't think I have ever been in a press box that had homemade food. It was a real treat and the ladies that made the food were huge football fans and a delight to be around. Our visit to Ennis was a great way to end the trip this year. Good football and good people make the trip even better.

So here's a recap...

-Mart was a lot better than Muenster, and I think it helps defend my belief that there are too many teams in the Class 2A and A playoffs now that they are divided up into divisions.
-Assistant coaches in the press box are a HOOT to watch.
-Scouts really do work.
-THE TEAM WITH THE MOST TUBAS WINS THE GAME. The theory was 2-1 on the trip.