Bon_Mot

One of the current topics on a soccer board on another site is about how the districts will look next year in 4A and how that will affect who makes the play-offs. Next year 4A will have 64 districts instead of 32 in soccer. Some districts will be "empty" which will mean a first or second round bye for some teams. The point of contention has been how the districts will be divided. The idea that will probably happen is that 3A's (where ever it's possible) will make up their own districts. The thought here is to create a competitive ballance and encourage more 3A schools to start soccer programs...which would lead to 3A getting their own classification...which is without a doubt a good thing. That means that this area will possibly have two districts. The current 4A's LCM, PNG, Nederland, Ozen, Central, Vidor, Lumberton The current 3A's WOS, BC, HJ, HF, Silsbee, maybe Jasper and/or maybe Cleveland Here's the where the discussion starts. Four teams will make the play-offs next year in soccer. This is totally hypothecial, but I'm going to use last year's standings to show you a scenario that very well could happen. The play-off teams from one district would have been Lumberton, Central, PNG, and Vidor, while the other district would have sent Silsbee, HJ, WOS, and Jasper. The first round match-ups in the play-offs might have looked like this: Lumberton v Jasper Central v WOS PNG v HJ Vidor v Silsbee The Vidor vs Silsbee game would have been a good one to watch last year. Other than that... I'm actually for this plan - I think. I haven't decided yet for sure. It seems like a necessary evil to get 3A its own classification. But I can also forsee three teams from that 4A district questioning the system. Sorry this has been so long, but I'm really interested to know what some of you think.

Yes... And I know that doesn't make much sense, but the coaches figured there were 6 to 7 teams with a legitimate shot at the playoffs. We also thought there might not be much difference in teams #3 thru 6. We wanted to create a system that would separate teams as best we could. My opinion is that ties in the standings should be settled on the field with a post district game or tournament like it was done years ago. This was not an option for us, however, because of the ten team district. The UIL sets the date that you can start playing games, and also sets the date when each district must name their playoff representatives. We have to play 18 games. That put us playing through Spring Break (which most coaches don't like) and only left us time for one tournament before the district certification date. The coaches also considered splitting the district into zones to allow more time for another tournament and then also have a district tournament to determine the playoff teams. This was shot down for a variety of reasons like who would be in which zone, how many teams would make the district tournament, and how the tournament would be set up. Anyway, back to the topic. Here was our thought process: A win during regulation should be three points. An OT win should be three points also because the game was decided during the run of play - just a little longer than it should have been. Last year we split the points (2 for the winner and 1 for the loser) for any game that went past regulation. We decided that this punished the winning team a little too much, but we still wanted to reward the losing team for lasting past regulation. And finally, we decided that we'd split the points after a shoot out because we agreed that there's a difference between scoring while playing soccer and scoring 1 on 1 with a keeper. Many districts don't play OT or go to a shoot out and just give each team a point like the professional leagues for ties at the end of regulation. I think this is a little crazy for a couple of reasons. Number one, it could cause a massive logjam in the standings. Number two, and most importantly, several playoff games are decided in OT or shootouts every year, so a little practice would be good to prepare you for that situation. Sorry this turned into a ginormous essay.

Regulation or OT win = 3 points Shoot out win = 2 points Shoot out or OT loss = 1 point

So true! It took me two hours to get out of the parking lot the last time the US and Mexico played at Reliant few years ago. Here's the updated roster with European call-ups: [Hidden Content]

i'm going to assume your getting vidor's 1 extra point from the OT loss to lumberton? Question. the max points awarded for a game are 3. Lumberton gets 3 points for the OT win. I dont believe vidor gets any, Making them have 12? Right? If not please correct me because i am not totally savy with the revisions made to this years score system Regulation or OT win = 3 points Shoot out win = 2 points Shoot out or OT loss = 1 point

I just wish US Soccer would pick an identity and stick with it. Tell Nike that they could tweak it a little every now and then, but keep the overall idea the same. Just look at the following countries and their tradition with their kits: Argentina with the light blue and white [Hidden Content] The Samba Boys [Hidden Content] England in their All-whites with the Three Lions badge [Hidden Content] Clockwork Orange [Hidden Content] The Azzuri [Hidden Content]

Here's the new look for the USMNT: [Hidden Content] I'm not a big fan of this look at all. Notice the alternating white and light-blue separated by a PINK stripe. To me it looks like something from A&F or American Eagle Outfitters. If our game shorts are cargo pants, I'm gonna trip! P.S. I just noticed that I misspelled Abercrombie and FiTch above. I'm sorry if I offended any of you coral-choker-necklace, flip-flop, trucker-hat wearing O. C. wanna be's.

[Hidden Content]

The Lumberton versus Nederland game time has been changed. The JV will play at 4:00 on the Lumberton practice field, and varsity game will follow in the stadium around 5:30.

3 Fish 4 Sophs 4 Jrs

Great game by both teams. That's what a classy, hard-fought match is all about: Playing tough - never dirty - respectful soccer. It was worth freezing my toes off. Just wondering what your shot count was? Ours must have been off a little.

No. LCM gets 2 points total for winning the shoot out, and Nederland gets 1 point. The coaches agreed that this system rewards a team more for winning during the run of play.

Regulation or OT win = 3 points Shoot out win = 2 point Shoot out or OT loss = 1 point

JV game has been postponed TBA. Varsity only at 5:30 at Jr. High.

I just realized that HJ's schedule is wrong on the above post, I think. I think they are following the girl's schedule since they are playing boys and girls at the same site, so just swap sites for all of HJ's games.

True story: My first year coaching soccer, I started up the program at Ozen. I didn't know what tournaments were available so I called Coach Lopez at Nederland to see if he had any suggestions. He said come to his tournament. His JV was in it. It'd be fine... First day (my first ever game as a varsity coach at the tender age of 25) we somehow get to play Nederland's varsity. Final score: NHS - 17 Ozen - no shots on goal. A wonderful experience for a first-time coach. Thanks, Jorge. The Langham Creek girls beat Channelview 18-0 last week, too.

I talked to Coach Smith last night. He said his youngsters fought hard, but lost to a tough Conroe team yesterday 5-0. Next up he faces Austin Anderson today, and then a very good Cedar Park team on Saturday.

Cash and a second round pick... and the knowledge that they don't have that *$%^#@& on their roster anymore.

PN-G home games will be at Prather Field on the NHS campus by the baseball field. Ozen home games will be at South Park Middle School. 18-Jan LCM @ HJ Vidor @ Lumberton Ozen @ Central Nederland @ WOS Silsbee @ PNG 22-Jan Silsbee @ Nederland WOS @ LCM HJ @ Central Ozen @ Vidor Lumberton @ PNG 25-Jan Lumberton @ Silsbee WOS @ Central Nederland @ LCM Vidor @ HJ PNG @ Ozen 29-Jan Nederland @ Lumberton Central @ LCM WOS @ Vidor Ozen @ Silsbee PNG @ HJ 1-Feb Central @ Nederland LCM @ Vidor Silsbee @ HJ Lumberton @ Ozen WOS @ PNG 5-Feb Vidor @ Central HJ @ Lumberton Ozen @ Nederland Silsbee @ WOS PNG @ LCM 8-Feb Ozen @ HJ Lumberton @ WOS LCM @ Silsbee Nederland @ Vidor Central @ PNG 12-Feb HJ @ Nederland Ozen @ WOS Silsbee @ Central Lumberton @ LCM PNG @ Vidor 15-Feb WOS @ HJ Vidor @ Silsbee LCM @ Ozen Central @ Lumberton PNG @ Nederland 19-Feb HJ @ LCM Lumberton @ Vidor Central @ Ozen WOS @ Nederland PNG @ Silsbee 22-Feb Nederland @ Silsbee LCM @ WOS Central @ HJ Vidor @ Ozen PNG @ Lumberton 26-Feb Silsbee @ Lumberton Central @ WOS LCM @ Nederland HJ @ Vidor Ozen @ PNG Feb-29 Lumberton @ Nederland LCM @ Central Vidor @ WOS Silsbee @ Ozen HJ @ PNG 4-Mar Nederland @ Central Vidor @ LCM HJ @ Silsbee Ozen @ Lumberton PNG @ WOS 7-Mar Central @ Vidor Lumberton @ HJ Nederland @ Ozen WOS @ Silsbee LCM @ PNG 11-Mar HJ @ Ozen WOS @ Lumberton Silsbee @ LCM Vidor @ Nederland PNG @ Central 14-Mar Nederland @ HJ WOS @ Ozen Central @ Silsbee LCM @ Lumberton Vidor @ PNG 18-Mar HJ @ WOS Silsbee @ Vidor Ozen @ LCM Lumberton @ Central Nederland @ PNG

That's one heck of an honor.  Last year's U-15 POY Winner played on the Kingwood Park team that beat us.  He was a 5' 5'' and innocent looking, but played soccer like a rabid badger.

Lotsa news and rumors over the past week or so: [list] [*]Arturo Alverez resigns with FC Dummies [list] [*][i]El Pescadito  [/i] Carlos Ruiz gets traded to LA to join Beckham and Donovan for what might be the best attack the MLS has ever seen...especially if they add Figo [*] [/list] [list] [*]Taylor Twellman was denied a transfer to Preston North End of the League Championship (Like Triple A in baseball) in England because of the long-term deal he signed with the Revs last year. [*] [/list] [list] [*]The Wizards traded for the top pick in the SuperDraft by sending Nick Garcia to San Jose. [*] [/list][list] [*]Eddie Johnson is a "crossed t and a dotted i" away from joining the EPL's version of Team USA at Fulham.  He would join fellow Yanks Carlos Bocanegra, Clint Dempsey, Brian McBride, and Kasey Keller. [*] [/list] [list] [*]Benny Feilhaber is close to coming to the MLS after failing to get much if any playing time at Derby (who stink btw) and Derby denying his move to Tel Aviv. [*] [/list] [list] [*]The MLS SuperDraft starts Friday at 1:00.  The Dynamo don't have a first round pick, but here's Ives Galarcep's predictions: [Hidden Content] [*][/list] [*] [/list][/list]

Nederland 2-2 L vs. Kingwood Park 1-4 W vs. Santa Fe 4-0 L vs. Sharpstown 0-8 W vs. Kelly 1-0

Coach Bean just let us know that Ozen will play their home games at South Park.  I'm glad, too.  That field on their campus was horrible.

Where is Ozen playing their home games?

Just what kind of magnet are they using over there at that "Magnet School" Ozen?