texas2step4u

I dont know about anybody else, but the Vidor team took the floor this week with zero minutes of experience on the varsity level.  At times there were 3 sophs on the floor.  One senior who played JV last year.  When football is over they will get exactly one player with varsity experience and he is a junior.  Gonna be a tough year for those Pirates, being so young and all.  Its a shame, too.  The new head coach is very good and the team will be competitive but we do expect some blow-outs along the way as we mature.  Now, if we could just get teams to quit pressing in the 4th quarter when they have a 30 point lead........

I seem to recall an NFL game that had a Muslim prayer over the loud speaker after 9-11.  So it does happen, but doubt it would happen around here.  There just arent enough Muslims to make it happen.  I do know this without any doubt......as long as their are tests in school, there will be prayer in school.  I remember when the ruling came down in 2000 and Vidor adhered to the law for a season or two.  Heck, we even made an announcement about it saying that we disagreed with it and had a moment of silence.  Shortly after that, somebody in Vidor decided that we run the schools, we get to decide.  We dont care what other people think.  I like that.  Makes me proud to be a Pirate.  I may have graduated 30 years ago, but once a Pirate, always a Pirate.

The 77-78 team went 8-2 and made the playoffs.  Back then only the top team from district went.  Got blown out in the Dome in the first round of the playoffs, as I recall.

Ive had a chance to watch the Pirates play most of their games this season and I cant recall a game where they were bigger than the other team at the line of scrimmage.  the offensive and defensive lines have played some great football for the Pirates.  This team of Pirates seems to have more heart than I have ever seen from a Pirate team.  Their motor just keeps running and no matter what the score is, they just keep on pluggin away at the team they are facing.  PNG played a great game and deserved the win last night.  It is my belief that they will make the playoffs and should do very well once they get in. The Pirates made the playoffs last night, even though they lost the game, so I am very proud of those kids who have had to overcome some very tough off the field obstacles. I know that they have dedicated their season to Matt Thomas and I believe that Matt would be so proud of his teammates carrying his memory into every game they play.  Now, lets go Pirates....the Pirate Nation wants the season to keep on goin, keep on winning.  Pirates Ah-Ouu....

Ive seen both team play and I really dont have a feel for how this game will come out. Nederland has a young O-line, but by now they should be getting it together better.  The Pirates played a much larger team when they went up against Texas High and beat them in OT.  The Texas High team reminded me a little of PNG in their offensive scheme.  The Pirate secondary had some holes in it for that game, but they have made some drastic improvements in that area since then.  Nederland is always tough, especially at home, so who knows...but you can count on one thing for sure; at some point in the game, the refs are going to show their bias towards Nederland.  Kindof like they did at the WOS game.  Nederland gets the calls.  Just my opinion, but there you have it.

The game is at Pirate Stadium on Saturday at 7pm.  Ought to be a good turnout for this one.

What a great game for the Pirates.  They really controlled the line of scrimmage for the most part and you have to do that running the slot-t. Bollinger is the real deal and if he gets to the corner first, its a score.  The Pirate secondary has some things that the coaches will need to address but overall, we played really well on both sides of the ball.  Attrition might be a problem because we have some pretty key players going on both sides of the ball and I wish we would change that.  It was a great victory for the Pirates and I know those kids are beat up and bruised up today because it was a hard hitting game on both sides of the ball.

Quirante, middle linebacker at Vidor. He drops the hammer when he hits somebody.

Just an add-on to my previous post.  I was at the game and while I think my comments were valid, I realize they are just my comments. They should carry no weight whatsoever.  I truly support the Pirates, always have, always will. Our kids did outplay OF, but that was expected, I think. Vidor is just a lot bigger than OF.  Maybe I am very wrong about my opinions and if I am, I will surely admit it. Regardless of the won-loss record, I will be there supporting them.  I talk to some of the kids and I am always very supportive.  If any player reads this or any other post, remember, these are just opinions and should NEVER change your opinion or work ethic.  Always strive to be the very best you can be and expect that from all around you.  I am a fan of Pirate football.  But, surely, I am no expert, just a fan.  Now, go out and prove me wrong about my previous posts.  Nothing would make me happier.

I would say the Pirates could be in big trouble this year.  When your backup quarterback is an all district middle linebacker, you are in trouble. No way should that team have that player at quarterback.  All that will do is assure that he gets hurt.  His legs just cant take that sort of pounding.  I honestly thought that the Pirates didnt look very sharp at all and OF is a small school.  Lord, I hope they get a lot better before the start of the season.  WOS is next on the list and lets see if they make some improvements before they tee it up against some speed and size.

Quinn has always had an eye on the administration level and didnt make a secret about it so its no big shock that he took the job over at the junior high. The kids get a great coach in Larry Sterling. He know the game and he knows the kids. He has been the JV coach for awhile. The talent level next year isnt very good, to be honest.  No real inside post player and the team will be small by 4A standards.  Lots of young kids too.  Its gonna be tough next season but after that it ought to get a lot better.  The Aldridge kid is really good, but I would expect most teams to know about him and alter their defense to stop him.  After him, scoring becomes problematic.  Lets hope that Coach Sterling can come up with an offensive system that will get em some points. In my mind the defense wont be able to hold their opponents to under 60 points, so the offense has to be able to put up that many points to be competitive.

Ive been around the program for many years. Been to practices, talked to coaches behind the scenes, etc and I can tell you that no program works the kids harder than Coach Matthews. Period.  The Pirates have a great AD in Matthews. Nobody loves the kids more than him.  He is the kind of guy that any school would want at the head of an athletic department.  He is a great motivator and gets all he can out of the kids.  However, he is way too devoted to the offense that he runs.  Until there is a change in offensive philosophy, nothing will change at Vidor.  You dont have to have huge linemen to win, even though it helps. You have to have coaches that are smart enough to see the talent they have and adjust their mindset in order to get the most of that talent.  Vidor produces good kids. Respectful, caring, etc...but lets face it, they keep score on Friday nights for a reason.  And we go to those games for a reason, we want to win.  Not at any cost.  We dont want our coaches to cheat in order to win, we dont want our kids to play dirty to win.  I dont think anybody has said that Vidor does any of those things because Matthews runs a quality program.  Im not bashing Matthews, by any means.  Great guy. Loves the kids. Challenges the kids.  But until things change offensively, Vidor will go to the playoffs every decade or so. 

2 halves with 16 minute running clocks. Each coach gets 3 timeouts per game.  As expected, the scores should be pretty low.

Back to the topic.....lots complain about football coaches coming in and assuming coaching positions in late November and basketball not getting the respect it deserves. I know in Vidor, it is worse than that. No little dribblers, not much interest in basketball in jr high (or knowledge at the coaching level) and then these poor kids get a football coach for the 9th grade team. The last 2 years the 9th grade coach didnt know one thing about coaching basketball. Not. One. Thing.  So the jv players are effectively 3 years behind everybody else and thats before you factor in no little dribblers. No small wonder Vidor doesnt do well in basketball. Seems like all the focus is on a football team that makes the playoffs every decade or so and then gets eliminated in the first round.  To me, its one of the biggest problems of having a head football coach that is also the AD.

Actually one of the kids did time near 4.3....Bollinger is very fast and I know his time is below a 4.4...but it doesnt matter.  Every team that plays Vidor will stack the line of scrimmage, and 5 guys arent gonna block 8 guys consistantly.  If you dont throw the football about 30-40% of the time then everybody creeps up to the line of scrimmage.  Vidor has QB's that can throw the ball, they just dont have a coach that knows how to design throwing plays so that the pass protection is there. 

Lets see...the game isnt played on paper and the last I heard, HF had a few kids playing for an AAU team. That cant hurt for sure. I actually saw that team play and they have a nucleus of players that can make a difference, so I wouldnt rule HF out of anything just yet. Its gonna take some great coaching and motivating to be sure.  Heck, if I were a  HF player and reading this, I would work harder to prove the negatives wrong. 

So where is the tournament? At the new high school or the old? Might make it out to see some games

Sterling is the guy. Just has to have board approval.  One returning starter and a total of 2 lettermen. One of those plays football, so he wont be practicing basketball for some time once football kicks off.  It will be a very young, small team.  In order for this years team to have any chance at a good record, the staff will have to find a way to motivate kids to work way harder to improve their skills and then learn to play as a team.  It wont be easy to do that in Vidor.  No community support for basketball. No Little Dribblers to help get the little kids learning fundamentals. Heck, Vidor doesnt even have a rec center or outdoor basketball court any longer.  Pretty sad, really.

Lots of technical fouls for sure, but it was easy for the refs to blow those whistles, lets see; one on the PNG coach, not sure what he said, but he was really barking at the official; one for cussing from a PNG player (he said it to the ref on a foul call); one on a PNG player for remarks made to an official; one double technical for taunting (PNG and Vidor both got one).  There could have been more, one PNG player was mouthing off to the Vidor coach while a Vidor player was shooting a technical free throw.  I expected more class out of the PNG players than I saw that night.  Did the officials call a good game?  Not in my opinion, but the calls went both ways and neither team got any advantage from the guys in stripes.

I dont see the Pirate's coach as being the problem.  The plays are well designed....and I know he tries to motivate his players.  What I see is a lack of effort at times.  The game lasts for 32 minutes and the Pirates dont play for 32 minutes.  Again, there is a glaring weakness in the paint for the Pirates.  Looks to me like the JV post plays harder and stronger than the varsity kids who are much bigger and taller.  Maybe expectations were a bit too high for this Pirate team.  It is a team loaded with seniors, lots of good ball handlers, and some height in the middle.  But, this same team won only 15 games last year and it takes time to build a program, especially in Vidor.  The culture there is one of lose, lose, lose.  At some point, the culture has to change to getting the job done, paying the price in the off season to get bigger, stronger, faster, etc so that they win these games.  The team next year for the Pirates will be very young and inexperienced, so I hope that the coach schedules games much like he did this year.  Those kids will need to gain valuable experience before district play.  And, you dont get that experience by having your brains beaten in by teams that are far superior to you.  The team on the court this year has their backs completely against the wall now.  The question is, how will they respond....

It was a sad effort on the Pirate's part.  I dont know what the exact numbers were, but I'd bet I'm close when I say that the Pirates shot about 35% from the field, on their home court.  No inside game, none, zero...they live and die by the outside jumpshot and tonight the shots didnt fall.  Central controlled just about every loose ball, too.  Poor choices on offense, players more interested in complaining about the refs than actually playing the game.  Got to hand it to Central, they are well coached, they shoot well, rebound, and just about every shot by the Pirates was contended.  No way the Pirates hang a banner this year.  It saddens me to watch the effort I saw tonight.  What the Pirates wouldnt give to have a big man who can score the ball, rebound the ball, and contest shots inside.  More to say, but just too depressed to write about it any longer.

I havent missed many games the Pirates have played this year and, at times, I have been impressed with their play.  Other times, not so much.  The loss against Nederland was the best I have seen them play all season, Nederland was just better that night.  The start of the district schedule is brutal for the Pirates with Nederland, Ozen, LCM, and Central all in the first two weeks.  I know the pre district schedule was weaker than some other teams, but it was all in preparation for district play.  Every coach handles the schedule differently so I cant blame Coach Quinn in the schedule he arranged.  Bottom line here is, the players must step up their game come district time.  Lets face it, when you have a record like the Pirates do (19-3) you do have a target on your back and everybody is gonna get up for you.  As to the comment about sticking a fork in em.......this is a very tough district and the Pirates can certainly still make the playoffs if they elevate their game to district expectations.