"Haka" vs. "Mojo" Slated for TV

It's confirmed; the Euless Trinity Trojans will bring the "Haka" to "Mojo" land, also known as Odessa's Ratliff Stadium, on September 15th at 6:30 PM, and the game will be televised on Fox Sports Net.

The game will be shown opposite the Southlake Carroll vs. Miami Northwestern game on ESPNU which means a DVR that records one program while you watch another may rise to the top of back-to-school lists.

In addition to these two broadcasts, Cypress Fairbanks vs. Cypress Falls will be televised on ESPN2 on October 18th and a deal is close to being finalized to broadcast the Tatum vs. Gilmer matchup on September 6th on Fox Sports SW. In addition, although not yet official, the Longview vs. John Curtis (Louisiana) game on September 22nd looks like it will be televised on Fox Sports Net.

While on the subject of televised games, isn't it time that the UIL changes the ban on televising Friday night games? The premise (I suppose) being that it would reduce attendance at games. I just don't see it. Fans are still going to make their way to the stadiums to support their favorite teams (witness NFL, College).

Changing that rule would probably pave the way for a Fox Sports Southwest Texas high school "Game of the Week". There's no slowing down the locomotive that is Texas high school football, so you might as well go ahead and lay some more track.

Who Let the Dogs In?

The latest revelation in the Michael Vick saga is that he bankrolled the operation.

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7074186?MSNHPHMA

An airport incident, a "finger" incident, and a deepening involvement in dog fighting, not to mention the lowest completion percentage among starting NFL QB's last year. Not only is it looking as if Vick's season is in jeopardy, but possibly his career as well.

THSCA Football All-Star Game

Check out some future college stars in the THSCA all-star football game at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow night (Tuesday), at TCU's Amon G. Carter Stadium. If you can't make it to the game it will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net Southwest.
Roster:
http://coach.thsca.com/documents/FBRoster.pdf

McGuffie Commits to Wolverines

Cy-Fair running back Sam McGuffie has given a verbal commitment to Michigan. Not a huge surprise since he has family in the area and his dad is from Lapeer, Michigan, a town of a little over 9,000 which is 51 miles north of Detroit. Don't forget this is only a verbal, although McGuffie seems fairly solid on his choice. The next question is whether he enrolls early.
Link to McGuffie highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4IJ17ODo_s&mode=related&search=

Peterson Signs

Former Palestine running back Adrian Peterson came to terms with the Minnesota Vikings and should be in camp on Monday after a brief three-day holdout. His contract is worth 40.5 million over five years with $17 million guaranteed.

McGuffie Mania

Cypress Fairbanks running back Sam McGuffie will announce his college choice on local television station KPRC tonight at approximately 10:30 PM.

He says it's down to five schools, but most of the speculation has centered around Michigan or Texas A&M. Although it happens on a far too frequent basis, it would be ashamed to see such a talent leave the state of Texas. Good luck Aggies!

The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side

The state of Texas has experienced unusually heavy rain fall totals throughout the state this summer from Abilene eastward. While the rain played havoc with summer league baseball schedules, it should help make for nice green, lush football fields come the '07 season. Of course this doesn't apply to the artificial turfs I detest; give me a natural grass field and a game played out in the elements anyday.

Anti-Steroid Campaign

We received this e-mail from Mrs. Carla Gonzalez of the Houston Dynamo. Please feel free to redistribute this poster and help get the word out about steroids to our youth. Contact us at info@txprepsfootball.com to have a larger version e-mailed to you or just click on the poster for the full-size version.
Thanks for helping get the word out.

As you may, know this past June Governor Perry signed into law a bill requiring mandatory random steroid testing for high school athletes. Texas now joins Florida and New Jersey in requiring steroid testing for high school athletes.

It is estimated that approximately 2% of high school student-athletes have experimented with steroids. The Texas bill, filed by Senator Kyle Janek, a medical doctor who practices in the Houston area, received overwhelming support, passing 27-3 in the Senate and 140-4 in the House. The testing program, which will be administered by UIL, will begin this fall. The legislature set aside approximately $3 million to fund the testing program. UIL expects up to 25,000 high school student athletes to be tested this year.

The four Houston professional teams (Dynamo, Astros, Texans and Rockets) have joined forces to create a poster (see attached) with a strong anti-drug message. Thanks to the generosity of Xpress Printing, 10,000 posters will be produced. The Texas Association of School Administrators has agreed to distribute posters to over 2,000 public schools in Texas. In addition, TAPPS will do the same for private and parochial schools throughout the state.

If you are receiving this e-mail it is obvious that you are an individual who cares about athletics and clean competition between student-athletes. We would like to encourage you to post this “electronic poster” on your website and to distribute the file to as many students as possible. We hope that the poster will be effective in sending the message to kids that taking illegal drugs, including steroids, is not the way to improve athletic performance.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at cgonzalez@houstondynamo.com. On behalf of the Houston Dynamo and the other professional sports teams in Houston we would like to encourage you to be strong in maintaining a steroid-free environment for athletics in Texas.


Sincerely,

Carla Gonzalez
Houston Dynamo

These Are Exciting Days For MLB

These are exciting days for Major League Baseball aren't they?

Last Saturday was the second highest attended day in MLB history.
http://pressbox.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070722&content_id=2102642&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

On top of that, one of sports most exciting events is unfolding in front of our eyes; the breaking of a legendary record. The home run record in baseball is akin to the all-time rushing record in football, or the all-time scoring record in basketball. As individual records go they are the kingpins.

I remember Hank Aaron's pursuit of Babe Ruth's record in 1974 ( I was 2 years-old at the time) and the great anticipation and excitement it created. Although Aaron received racially motivated death threats, it seemed the population as a whole was rooting for him. I followed each homerun as "Hammerin Hank" drew closer to the record and watched on TV as he broke the record, while thinking I had just witnessed something that may not occur again in my lifetime.

Well I'm still alive and the record will be broken again, however I have a confession to make. I have not been following Barry Bonds home run totals, nor am I eagerly anticipating the breaking of the record; as a matter of fact, I have no idea how many dingers Bonds is sitting on. Why? I guess it's because I feel like Mr. Bonds has taken his metal spikes and stomped on baseball history like a glass baseball trodden over by a steamroller.

The use of a performance enhancing drug (steroids) will cast a hollow ring to the record for me, while marking baseball with a black eye and sending an unfortunate message to our youth. Cheat and you will be greatly rewarded.

Good luck on breaking the record Mr. Bonds. I won't be watching!

These are exciting days for Major League Baseball aren't they?

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zx13PICaws

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKw06yCeKOA