Mike George

That's not the point. It's the way this district acts - all for one and one for all, except Dayton - the outsider. As was explained, the district rules are established by the district's athletic directors when the district is established by the UIL - February. District 22-4A voted and agreed to establish playoff rules and by those rules, a "points" system was installed to determine district champ - not head to head. The point is that LUMBERTON, AFTER a meeting on Thursday where the district athletic directors agreed that rules are rules and that's what they would go by, CRIED like babies. The result was they gathered all the superintendants around the district (wonder how much any of these people really know about football) and it was agreed to have a vote to maintain or OVERTURN the RULES. Well, guess the heck what? Dayton and Lumberton could not vote, but the vote went 4-1 to CHANGE the RULES and let Lumberton play Smiley instead of Crosby. So the district champion is playing the district champion in Crosby Friday night. And it's all because LUMBERTON's powers that be, cried like babies. Oh, Vidor was the lone vote to KEEP the RULES. The four other supers ( I guess one abstained) voted to change the rules at 2:30 p.m. today, Friday, Nov. 9. For Lumberton, I hope they do exceptionally well. I REALLY hope we get to see each other again. I'll let the PNG fans answer this one. "Just how pretty is it going to be?"

I don't believe I said anything about kicking a kid to the curb, but once school is out, excpept for those coaches who keep the weight room open and see the kids regularly for the most part, there is no interaction. And once graduation comes, if the kid keeps coming back to school to get his feel good then he missed the lesson about growing up and being your own man. I blame you for the miscommuication. You were talking about the $4 incident like everyone knew what you were talking about and that just was not the case. You don't throw a kid to the curb, but you DO bring him up, teach him about life, and let him go - he has to live his life on his own. He has to fly, but if you've provided the proper foundation, then the flight will be easier. Understand?

sure print it out, but put a question mark at the end of my question firedup (flamedout), as any coach will tell you, there is a weeding out process. Kid's without character or kids unable to develop any character will be weeded out. I don't have a clue to your $4 reference, nor does it look like anyone else does, so maybe instead of trying to pick a fight (when it comes to a war of words you're unarmed, so I doubt you'd fare much better the other way, either), you can explain what you're talking about. All I know is that the demands of time, energy, blood sweat and tears is too much to pay for some one with out an account - that's known as "no-account" so maybe that will explain it. They find themselves getting fired or find they would rather do something else. Bad fruit tends to fall out of the tree - as long as you keep it out of the barrell with the rest of the fruit, it will only rot itself.

"Not even close to what I said," is indeed, accurate. Let me do this with just football. In the game of football a kid learns that he's going to get hit in the mouth. He's going to learn that he can't do it all by himself and that he's going to have to depend upon others to do their job so he can do his, THUS he learns that no matter how menial or insignificant another's job may be, it is no less important than his, in the scheme of things. He learns that although most of the limelight goes to the "playmakers" and the QB's, RB's, LB's and DB's that those interior, many times unmentioned positions play just as important a role in the outcome. Now, using up a kid? Hey, what about a kid used up on drugs, or alcohol, or tobacco, or sex or anything that has the ability to control one's life and opportunties. Like I said, bad people wind up in positions of trust and betray that trust, but you sound like one who likes to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

It happens. There are teachers who shouldn't be teachers, coaches who shouldn't be coaches, cops who shouldn't be cops, doctors . . . and so on. It's just the way life is. Kids on the other hand, don't get to pick their parents and by law, must attend school, so it's just that kind of world.

Just over 12 hours from now the games begin. Soon we'll know how it's all going to playout. We'll know if Dayton's big win over Nederland last week was a fluke or the real thing. Some are going to crow while others eat crow. Today is a special day. Everyone's been waiting for it, and now it's here.

Sometimes - a kid with parents, especially two parents has a broader Character base, but over the past few years , I've seen kids without the homelife develop the kind of character I'm talking about. Then again, I've seen instances, very few, where character had the foundation but didn't develop, either.

Sports is many things. It's a Character Builder: Many students who never do anything outside the classroom live in a mundane world just getting by. This transcends many times into adulthood where individuals who have grown up "just getting by" feel that's all they have to do. The problem with "just, or barely getting by" is that if you ever come up short, you're not "getting by." Involvement in sports means you have to do more. As an athlete, you're challenged, first by your coaches and then by your competition to always do your best and more importantly, when your best is not good enough, to try and reach down for something more. Those who attain this level usually become leaders. At worst, anyone else in athletic competition is at least, doing more than "just getting by." It's a Discipline Model: One cannot play sports without discipline. One not only has to discipline one's mind to handle the time constraints, additional training and conditioning requirements, but must balance all that and more into their "non-mundane" school, family, and in some cases, work life. It's a Psychological Advantage: An athlete learns team work, team spirit and unity. In football, basketball, baseball, softball, and volleyball players must learn to work together in order to accomplish team goals. Individuality won't work in a team sport. It's devisive and erosive. The team that learns to play together learns to win together. When the team takes total responsibility for the outcome of poor or less that 100 percent effort and as a team work to correct those deficiencies, they've come a long way in developing Character. See item one.

It could have really been tied into tomorrow night's game by mentioning that Riley Burnett was once the head football coach of, guess who, the Dayton Broncos.

It matters not who's the opponent - they'll opt to play in Dayton. Just found out I'll be the press box announcer. I love daytime games - the photos are great. With night games you're held hostage by, especially most of these smaller schools, bad lighting. These photos will look great.

For the record, the best team we've played since WO-S was Friendswood, and they were better. But one more time - the team before you now is a way different team than either of those games. Way different.

Wrong - I feel like my team is "bada$$."

I love this thread - it has many similarities to posts last week about that upcoming game. Same cockiness, same demeanor. Someone even ask who our safties were, etc, etc. PNG, last week at the beginning of the second quarter, when you were looking at a 14-7 deficit to Beaumont Central at the 11:14 mark of the second quarter and wondering what the hell was going on, six seconds before, at the 11:21 mark of our second quarter, Dayton was scoring their third touchdown to lead 21-0. While your Indians were coughing up the ball three times on offense, the Bronco offense was churning away with almost 600 yards of offense. And keep in mind, we totally called off the offensive dogs with better than 11 minutes left in the game. This game could have been 84-0 just as easy as it was 63. I keep hearing this excuse, however, that the Nederland players were just quitting. Well, pardners, there's a reason for that - they were getting clocked on both sides of the ball. Their OL and DL were being ABUSED and finally got tired of it and lost their will to play. They were demoralized and even an astute Nederland fan would probably agree. Like Mike East said, "you just don't know - this is not the same Dayton team that lost to Nederland." Can we repeat and have a like performance against your team? Probably not - games like that are usually unique, but at least our kids have been through an almost perfect game and know what it's like. Can your team make that statement? I guess in two more days, we're apt to find out.

Umm, I don't know . . . ask the Nederland players if Dayton drinks their milk and eats their Wheaties!

I considered it long and hard and finally cast my vote for the Bulldogs. Right now, and I hope I don't get a lot of flak for this, but to be perfectly honest, Dayton is playing in a class by themselves right now. Offensively and defensively, they are peaking - I mean as far as I know, these four shutouts in one season is a record for the Broncos. But this team only started coming together AFTER the Lumberton game. Since then, they have gotten progressively better every week. So any comparison to Dayton vs Lumberton and Dayton vs Nederland is out the window. That being said, the key for Nederland is experience. They've been there, they know what it takes to get there, and they have the experience of handling the pressure to attain their goal. On the flip side, Lumberton came close one season and lost their chance the last game of the season. They haven't "successfully" been through it, and Nederland has, time and time again and that, IMO, will be the difference maker.

Same rules apply. Vote for either team, but your own.

OK, this poll is done like coaches picking all-district picks. You can vote for either team, but not if it's "your" team. IN other words, no one from PN-G or Dayton may vote. Likewise, don't pick who you would like to see win, or say like if from Nederland, you NEED Dayton to win. Just go with who you REALLY think will win. Below, you can post score prediction whether you vote or not. I'm going to put another one of these up for the Nederland vs Lumberton game with the same rules. I am also allowing voter to change their vote. Never know when something might happen between now and game time that could affect the outcome.

You go play, and as DKR put it, you dance with who brung ya! Otherwise you run the risk of losing momentum and possibly falling into a down-spiral. Going into the playoffs, you want to be sharp, and to stay sharp, you play! And that's just the way it is.

ttt

You'll probably see the lights soon after leaving Liberty, depending on how early you arrive. Once you come up the hill, the stadium is an easy find. Now, if you've been here before, things have drastically changed. What used to be the visitor's side is now the home side and vice-versa. The stadium is WSW of downtown. If you get in town early and want to eat, there are several places. We have the fastfoods like Jack-in-the-Box, Subway, McDonalds, Burger King, Dairy Queen, Sonic and Little Caesars (all located right on US90). We also have a carry-out place called Pizza Boy 1 1/2 blocks from the stadium, across the street from Burger King that has Pizza, seafood, and other choicy items. For those looking to dine in with wait staff, for Mexican Food, try Los Compadres (turn left third light, go under rr tracks and turn left at light, go 1/2 block and turn left into parking lot of Town Center), or go about 4 blocks further to the next traffic light and you'll find Jose's Mexican Food. After making that left at the third light, make a quick right just past McDonalds and an immediate left and follow the L-shaped road to the strip center on the right. In the middle you'll find Pappy's Barbecue which has steaks, seafood, and their specialty, barbecue. Or Kapalksi's where you'll find pastas, sandwhiches, soups, salads, etc. Continue on to Main St. which is straight ahead, and just to your left of the intersection is Texas Kountry Kitchen. Or, go straight at the red light (by the way, look to your front left and the stadium is visible) to the next light at SH146 and just to the left before the intersection is The Branding Iron. Here you can get steaks and seafood (they have the 21-oz porterhouse). Back to the stadium. Parking is on the north side of the stadium which is off Houston Ave, which runs east and west behind Walgreens. Parking is allowed on both sides of the street and some grassy areas across the street from the back of the stadium. Don't be misled as there is a small pressbox on these stands. Cleveland St. runs N and S from Walgreens to Houston AVE (at the red light talked about so much earlier). Take Cleveland past Houston Ave, and there are several parking spots in front of Notthingham Middle School just east of the stadium. Hope all this information helps. Any one out there from Dayton can add to it if I left something out.

What's with all the votes for the Evadale coach? Must be some "close to the triangle" sentimental favorite. Coach Joe Slack, head football coach and athletic director at Hull-Daisetta has to be hands down, the 1-A Coach of the Year, at least in this area. His team sailed through the district undefeated, and that included the win over Evadale.

John Gable of Dayton - 10.29 AJ Dugat - 8.57 Now the Chronicle only has Jeffrey Summers with one carry for 53 yards, but that's only because his totals haven't been among the top rushers each week to be included, but I would estimate he has about a dozen carries, including a 26-yard TD run against Vidor and avergages about that per carry, 26 yards. I'll see if I can get the exact figures the first of the week.

I think it's quite evident from the postings that the most important, most significant game being played Friday night is the one "your" team is playing. It doesn't matter whether or not it's for the championship or even a playoff spot, it's "your" team and needs the support of you and your community, no matter the record.

he was horrible. even after he so butchered the name Smesny (14) (Smez-knee) to something so off I can't remember it, he finally started calling him Smess ney, which was at least, close. i suppose i can criticize, because i am the Broncos PA announcer for our home games, and believe me, you have to do some homework because, at least to me, pronouncing these names right is the least you can try to do. I already have a roster, and knowing that PNG was at Nederland this year, I can only imagine what became of Bahrad Shayesteh (Sha es tah), Schexnider, Balsamo, and especially Cegielski (Se gel ski or Se geel ski) got pronounced. Now the pronounciations are guesses, but you can bet before I take that long climb to the pressbox Friday night, I'll be out on the field, find a coach and find out how to pronounce the names correctly. It's the least we as announcers should do. But I remember a couple of specific calls, and the first was classic. "There's a loss of three on the play, and it will be third and one." He also consistently referred to #30 Jeffrey Summers who scored Dayton's last TD on that 53-yard run as #20 Paul Fontenot. Had it been #20 on that play, he would have crossed the goal line with no one within ten yards of him. It wasn't just that one time, however, as Jeffrey had three receptions for 38 yards and one TD catch and each time was named as Fontenot." Now before you jump me for being critical, after the first "Smesny" mispronunciation, I said something to my coherts on the sideline and was quickly reinforced by a deputy on duty who warned me that this guy was terrible. In his defense, I will say it's not an easy job, someone has to do it, and at least he tries, but needs to try harder. Maybe someone could be his spotter and help him with the numbers and names. I work with a spotter and he makes a world of difference.

Offensive: QB Gregory Charles, 19 of 23 for 301 yards passing and FIVE TD's 9 carries, 35 yards and two TD's on the ground. Total - 336 yards and 7 TD's or RB John Gable - 15 carries for 163 yards and one TD - 10.867 YPC Defensive: The Dayton Bronco defense - not another performance like it anywhere, but if you have to give it to only one person, here are the candidates: DL Brent Kimmy - anchors the defensive front of the Broncos, #62 - 4 solos, 1 assist, 2 tackles for loss, 3 QB pressures. OLB Moises Herrea - stepped in for #5 John Gable who started defensively but also started at RB (see above) 7 solos, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, caused a fumble, 4 QB pressures.