Bon_Mot

Nederland isn't hosting a tournament this season.

I gotta pretty good idea who scored those goals.

From the U.S. Soccer Events Department SPECIAL PRIVATE SALE— U.S. MEN vs. MEXICO in HOUSTON FEBRUARY 6 SALE BEGINS TODAY (WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14) AT 10 A.M. CT As a special benefit to our fans, U.S. Soccer has arranged for you to order tickets ahead of the general public for the game of the year—the U.S. Men's National Team vs. Mexico at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The rivalry takes center stage Wednesday, February 6, at 8 p.m. Your private sale starts today (Wednesday, November 14) at 10 a.m. CT and ends Saturday, November 17, at 8 a.m. (tickets then become available to Visa® cardholders only on November 17 at 10 a.m., followed by the general public sale on November 20). Prices are $35 Upper Endlines, $45 Lower Endlines and Upper Corners, $60 Lower Corners and Upper Sidelines, $75 Lower Sidelines and Upper Midfield, $95 Corner Club Seats and Lower Midfield, $125 Sideline Club Seats, $165 Midfield Club Seats, and $275 On-Field Seats (limit four On-Field Seats per person; buyer keeps commemorative tailgating chair). This private sale is available to you only through the internet by clicking the following link: [Hidden Content] To submit your order, include one of the following passwords (depending on which group of fans you wish to sit with) in the space designated on the Ticketmaster.com order page: Password* Designated Seating Area** U2FANS U.S. Fan Sections M8FANS Mexico Fan Sections B4FANS Mixed/Neutral Fan Sections A9FANS U.S. Organized Supporter Section (Sam’s Army, etc.)—$45 seats only * Password must be entered in UPPER CASE. ** U.S. Soccer makes no guarantees regarding the composition of fans in any seating area. U.S., Mexico and Mixed/Neutral Fan Sections have been designated at each price level. Purchasers using the passwords designated for these sections will be able to request tickets for any price level. Tickets available while supplies last. Go to ussoccer.com for additional information about this spectacular event. U.S. Soccer welcomes you to pay with your Visa card. Ultimate Fan Ticket: U.S. Soccer is also offering the Ultimate Fan Ticket for this event. This special VIP package includes a premium ticket, a custom made official U.S. National Team jersey with your name and number, VIP access to the field before and after the game, and other unique benefits. Only 20 of these packages will be made available. For details or to order, please call (312) 528-1227. Don't miss your chance to see the USA take on rivals Mexico at Reliant Stadium. We look forward to seeing you in Houston! Other upcoming games: November 17 (Johannesburg) — U.S. Men vs. South Africa, 8 am CT (FSC and Galavision) January 19 (Los Angeles) — U.S. Men vs. Sweden, 7:30 pm CT (FSC) Visit the Schedule & Tickets section of ussoccer.com for more details.

Come on, ya wuss! We NEED you! HISD uses ONE official for most of their district games. And they don't usually play nice either.

I can say honestly, from what I've seen the officials in this area are much better compared to the rest of the state. This chapter's big problem is a lack of numbers, though. And the problem is only getting worse as new teams are coming in. If you are interested in becoming an official for soccer, please contact Kerry Franks at [email protected]

First of all, you are obviously referencing our local 4A district which has TEN teams not EIGHT. Next, ask yourself what is the purpose of having All-District Teams? To honor young men for their athleticism and commitment, or to single out a certain percentage of the elite from the top programs? Since this has become quite a bit of obsession with you, and you seem to feel so violated by the fact that soccer (along with many other team sports in the area) would have the audacity to water down their post season awards with so many kids, why don't you do some research on the rest of the state and other sports and compare how they do things to our system. As a coach, if I'm going to mess up, I'd rather the yahoo's accuse us of naming too many kids than have a few deserving kids not get named because of politics or numbers. What's your number? The best 11? Who get's to pick? Coaches? Media (Yea, right!)?

Jozy gets a call-up! [Hidden Content]

I read on a blog somewhere that Verde is on Bob Bradley's radar now. Look for him to get his first cap sometime early next year after he finishes his season at Kelly.

Since they weren't winning, why not play everyone.

You're either 12 years old (a difficult time of adjustment for you, I'm sure), or you just like being a spoon and stirring stuff up... :

I don't know how true it is, but the word is that some parents were upset about their children's playing time and went to Tubbs about it. Tubbs then sided with the parents and encouraged Dillon to play some of these ladies. If this is true, I'd be outta there, too. I'd find a better time to do it than he did, but no parent or AD will dictate playing time.

I saw a really good soccer team tonight. Lots of good stuff from the entire team. Kirby has a speed that not a whole lotta people can match. Hanks was a rock. What's great is usually the biggest improvement a team makes comes from game 1 to game 2. Good luck Wednesday. I wish The Meadows had stands. The big crowd made it hard to see the whole field.

With the numbers posted above from baseball and basketball, make sure you go on those boards and post something similar. We wouldn't want those guys with their wittle pampered behinds feeling left out and unawarded either.

Last year 22 4A Basketball named 23 players to their 1st and 2nd Team and MVP list. 8 x 5 = 40. 23 / 40 = .58. That's a higher % than soccer. Baseball named numerous pitchers, DH's, and utility players to their post district teams and ended up with 44. You could argue that baseball uses more than 9 players in a game because of multiple pitchers, DH's, etc. so you really can't put a % on that sport, but that's still a big number. You might think the honor is watered down, but I would say two things about that. The players who receive these awards don't think it's watered down, and soccer is not the only sport putting up so many players.

More like around half... 10 teams, 11 on the field = 110 total. 59 / 110 = .53

Take a look at last year's MVP and All-District picks and notice the large number of underclassmen. The district, overall, should be better than last year since so many top players are returning with another year of club experience and another year of physical maturity. [Hidden Content]

This couldn't have happened since Palestine is in our Region. Also, Region 3 has very tough Athens team in it right now. The '07 state tournament had two 3A's there. Hildalgo won their district on the way to winning Region 4. Although, neither Hidalgo nor Palestine did very well at the state tournament, just getting there shows that 3A soccer can field some very competetive teams.

Don't forget to watch tonight's game with Chicago and DC on ESPN2 at 7:30. Unless of course you're freezing your face off coaching football tonight. Ives Galarecep previews Chicago vs DC and NE vs NY: [Hidden Content]

Which do you prefer? MLS and its Amercian way of doing things with a regular season and then play-offs. Or how UEFA has a regular season and a domestic cup that runs simultaneously? With the MLS allowing 8 of 13 teams into the play-offs, its current system seems kind of ludicrous. It's just "Get in, and then win, baby!" A team can take almost an entire month off and still be named MLS Cup Champion. Expansion over the next few years (which should bring the league to 16 teams) might help keep out the mediocrity in the post season, but it's almost as if the regular season is meaningless. Also, as it is now, the US Open Cup is meaningless, too. Can anyone remember who won it this year? It's an afterthought. And the fact that two A-League teams were in the semi-finals shows just how little importance the MLS places on it. Since I'm venting... I would also like to see the MLS go to a single table format instead of conferences and put some logical stability into the schedule. Having a fantasy team showed just how crazy the schedule was. Houston went through a stretch of something like 5 games in 8 days due to the crazy MLS schedule, SuperLiga, and the Open Cup. I think they should have breaks around international competitions and bigger gaps around Cup play. And... I know it will never happen, but I would love for the MLS to absorb the A-League and have some type of relegation system in. It will never happen, though. A-League venues aren't big enough and sponsors would surely balk at the idea that there could a possibility that LA and/or New York would not have a team available to put on television because they weren't in the top flight. Wow. I was just gonna put a silly little poll on here cuz I was bored, but I kinda went off didn't I.

I was originally thinking Chivas or DC, but Chivas has a ton of guys hurt right now - Razov, Gallindo, Marsch, and Mendoza. And DC was underwhelming over the last month of the season. Can can just turn it on? If they can, they are the best team on paper. I just think that most cohesive, adjustable, and best coached team is The Dynamo. I know I'm looking thru orange-colored glasses but their defense is the best in the league, they've got so many options up front with Ngwnya, Jaqua, and Holden, and even without Rico Clark the midfield is strong with Mulrooney, DeRo, Davis, Mullin, and Ashe. I'm just upset that I have to miss the game Saturday because I'm going to the stupid A&M game to watch the Aggies get beat by Kansas - and it's not even basketball season!

MLS Cup Preview: [Hidden Content]

The UIL Legislative Council voted to expand 3A/4A Soccer into 64 districts from 32 this past weekend. This should allow 3A's to compete with each other for district. A "Sectional Round" was added to the play-offs to accomodate the expansion but the calendar should be the same since there will be a Regional Tournament for 3A/4A in 2009. I don't know exactly what the play-off brackets would look like, but imagine there could be a "bye" round or two in there like there was in the early '90's. Our area districts could look like this: 3A - WO-S, Bridge City, Hamshire Fannett, Hardin Jefferson, Silsbee, and maybe Jasper 4A - LC-M, PN-G, Nederland, Vidor, Ozen, Central, and Lumberton

WOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!! It's hard to believe that through a 29 week season, less than 30 points separated first and second place. Hopefully next year they'll change it up to where you can have bench players and the player's salaries can go up or down like the fantasy league on soccernet. Anyway, it's been fun. I'll try and be gracious, but I won't make any promises.

I agree with you somewhat, but if you look at last year, Nederland lost 7 district games by a total of 8 goals and finished in 5th place. Not a huge disparity between 1st and 5th. Am I saying that Nederland was better than Lumberton, Central, and PN-G? Absolutely not. But if there had been a 6 team tournament with these teams along with Vidor and Silsbee last year, would you bet the house that Nederland wouldn't make it, or that Silsbee with Judalet in goal didn't have a chance, or that Vidor wouldn't scare the bejeebees out of any opposing coach? I'm I huge proponent of zoning and even presented a schedule along with different tournament scenarios in the spring of '06, but I could play Devil's Advocat for each and every zonal plan. It's just a situation that will only appease some but not all, and I'm gonna hate it if we are stuck with planning this thing out next May.

The men's coaches pushed hard for Zoning, but the girls were all against it. It would have been a scheduling nightmare if the men and women weren't on the same schedule. And I'd like to get a little feedback from some of y'all. Totally hypothetical, but in a "zonal" schedule with each team playing other teams inside your zone twice and outside your zone once: #1. How would you split the zone if our district adds Hamshire Fannett and Bridge City? Is there a East/West or North/South landmark that could serve as a divide? Do you use enrollment figures somehow? Names drawn out of a hat? #2. Do you think the winners of each zone should be guaranteed the top two seeds for the play-offs? Do you put more emphasis on the regular season, or the knock-out format that will be around the corner the following week of the play-offs? #3. How many teams do you think should qualify for the district tournament? Top 3 from each zone? So a team that finished sixth in the regular season has a shot at the play-offs if it get's hot? Top 2 from each zone? What if one zone obviously has the best three teams? If the UIL bricks this one, it's gonna be a mess down here. There is absolutely no "Zone Schedule" that will make everyone happy.