One Nation Under a Blog

First quarter is over in the first regional semifinal and Wagner leads 21-8 McHi had pulled to within 10-6 with about two-and-half-minutes left in the period, but The Lady Thunderbirds stiffened their interior defense and started to create more turnovers and closed out the first stanza with a 11-2 run

I’m going to come out say that I believe Harlingen South can and more than likely will beat San Antonio Madison on Friday night in the regional semifinal.

I’ve just started listening to some jazz again…on my way to assignments on Thursday I was listening to the best of Miles Davis and John Coltrane….

This is one of those times, I wish I could be in more than one place at once.  There’s just so much stuff going on.  Friday night, I’ll be in San Antonio at the Class 5A, girls regional tournament where Harlingen South will play San Antonio Madison at 8 p.m. That will give me a chance to watch the first semifinal, which starts at 6 p.m., which will feature McHi and San Antonio Wagner. The Lady T-Birds have been the dominant team in Region IV this season and feature an imposing inside game and some quick guards.  I’m thinking that on their day, the Lady Hawks can beat San Antonio Madison.  And while I would love to see an all-Valley regional final…it will take a special performance from McHi to beat Wagner…

Also on Friday, the La Feria Lionettes, who are riding a three-game playoff win streak will take on Llano, at the Class 3A, Region IV, regional semifinals at Texas A&M-Kingsville (my alma mater).

Meanwhile up in Austin, the state swim meet gets underway on Friday and both South and Harlingen have athletes taking part.  State meets are always special events.

Also on  tap, Friday night is a pretty big girls’ soccer game. Harlingen South will play host to Edinburg North at the Hawks mini-stadium and while South goes into every game against a Valley team as favorites, North is a good team and just a game behind South in the race for first in 31-5A….

I’m going to start blogging a little more often…..on this site…

thanks

Two weeks into the district season and it’s obvious that South and McAllen are the best girls teams in the Valley. I’d love to see them play each other, but unless they meet in the upcoming Josten’s Tournament, it won’t happen until deep in the playoffs, like the regional final. And that would be an event in itself. There are a couple of games I’m looking forward next month on Jan. 8, it will be Economedes traveling to South and on Jan. 15, it will be Hidalgo at La Feria. The Lionettes and Lady Pirates have had some tussles in the past few years and they will battle it out for District 32-3A supremacy.

The RGV Basketball Coaches Association held their annual Tip-Off Night banquet on Wednesday in Weslaco. The organization released its preseason poll for both boys and girls. Personally, I think the banquet is a great idea as itt gives media, coaches and players a chance to meet in relaxed surroundings.

Here they are:

GIRLS

1. McAllen. 2. Harlingen South. 3. Harlingen. 4. McAllen Memorial. 5. Brownsville Rivera. 6. Hidalgo. 7. Mission Veterans Memorial. 8. Edinburg. 9. Weslaco. 10. Brownsville Hanna.

BOYS

1. PSJA North. 2. Edinburg. 3. McAllen. 4. Harlingen South. 5. Roma. 6. Mission Veterans Memorial. 7. Edcouch-Elsa. 8. San Benito. 9. Harlingen. 10. McAllen Rowe.

I know just about everybody is still in football mode, but what are your thoughts on the above lists.

Raymondville wins this one in a close one — 27-20.

Alex Leal picks up career win No. 200.

That’s what I think will happen anyway.

In about three hours, the lights will be on and the season will begin.

Here’s my picks for the playoffs in no particular order:

District 30-5A:  Rio Grande City, McAllen, La Joya, Donna

District 31-5A:  South, Harlingen, PSJA North, Edinburg North

District 32-5A:  Weslaco, San Benito, Los Fresnos,  Rivera

District 32-4A: E-E, Mercedes, Mission

District 32-3A: Port Isabel, Rio Hondo, La Feria

District 31-3A: Raymondville, Zapata, Lyford

District 32-2A: Hebbronville, Bishop, Banquette

District 32-A: La Villa, Ben Bolt, Bruni

FSN will be televising 10 high school football games this season. It’s sponsored by NIKE. (The high school market can be very lucrative for equipment.) And you can’t blame NIKE for wanting to get athletes at any level in their equipment. After all, the influence of a high school athlete is often overlooked. I routinely see young kids asking players from local high school teams for autographs. So if the Cardinals, Greyhounds, Hawks, Lions, or Tarpons, etc., etc., are wearing NIKE, you can bet little Cardinals, Greyhounds..etc…will want to wear NIKE and push mommy and daddy to buy them.

The first two games feature Texas teams.

The first one will pit Euless Trinity against Odessa Permian. Permian probably doesn’t need any more publicity. In a small case of irony, the game isn’t being played on Friday night. Trinity and Permian will be playing under the Saturday Night Lights on Sept. 15. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. In the second game involving a Texas team, Longview will play host to John Curtis Christian School from River Ridge, La. John Curtis is a private school; but, in Louisiana, private schools are allowed to play with public schools. John Curtis is ranked 15th in the USA Today’s preseason Super 25.

Curtis had its media day on Aug. 21. That’s what scares me a little bit. Sometimes, I wonder if what we as the media do has too much of a negative impact on high school athletics. Do we make it more important than it is?.

I don’t know. I don’t think the media is an influential as many commentators would have us believe. In the words of Public Enemy..”Don’t believe the hype.”

I’m not sure whether televising high school football games is too much exposure.

Sometimes I think it is, sometimes I think it isn’t.

Then again, the Little League World Series is on television right now.

When we have some spare time in the newsroom, we sometimes throw  out lists.

One of the recent lists we discussed was which assistant coaches are likely to be head coaches.

Any suggestions?

Long-time Edinburg head coach Robert Vela died this morning. He died at home with his family. His death wasn’t unexpected but that didn’t make the news any easier to take.

I didn’t cover Edinburg on a regular basis, but I would talk to Coach Vela a couple of times a season. On the phone he was always courteous and easy to work with.

Win or lose, he always made himself available after games. He was class act in every sense of the word. He will be sorely missed.