bullets13

I don't like the starting lineup for the US. Can we PLEASE stop playing Ching? He's terrible!

The playoff bracket said the Lumberton girls soccer team was playing Waco Midway, but in a way Tuesday night, it faced history too. The Raiders had hoped to become the first Southeast Texas high school girls soccer team to win a fourth straight University Interscholastic League game. Instead, Lumberton fell to a faster and more versatile team from Waco Midway in a 5-0 loss at Conroe ISD's Woodforest National Bank Stadium. "It's tough," Lumberton head coach Jason Hopson said. In the end, the Lumberton (18-3-4) girls walked off the field to end a season in which they won the District 37-4A title and won three playoff games. No Southeast Texas girls soccer team had won three straight UIL playoff games since Nederland in 2000. Lumberton's bid for a fourth straight playoff win fell short against a team that got in a groove by substituting several midfielders and forward through the second half. Hopson, whose team went into halftime with a 1-0 deficit, struggled to adjust. "I really think there's no way to describe how to defend against that," Hopson about defending Midway's multiple substitutions. "We are going to go back and look at film from this game, because when you play teams like this, that's how you learn." Lumberton goalie Kaitlyn Peavey stopped four shots in the first half but faced more than she and the rest of the Lumberton defense could handle in the second. Midway (21-3) took a 3-0 lead when senior midfielder Taylor Fletcher scored two goals 15 seconds apart about 5 minutes into the second half. "I think that we started the game playing good defense and we went into the half in really good spirits," Lumberton senior defender Randi Paine said. "But in that second half, once they scored those two goals, we got down on ourselves." Midway added two more goals and will play a regional semifinal against Brenham, which beat Port Neches-Groves earlier in the playoffs. Midway has outscored is three playoff opponents 16-0. Although his team won easily, Midway coach Bill Sharpe left the field impressed by Lumberton's speed. "They have good team speed," Sharp said. "I knew they had good team speed, but it's another thing to see it up close. It's just with what we do, we wear teams down and that's why we were hoping it'd be 85 degrees at game time." Carroll said it was the fourth time his team played on Field Turf, an artificial surface that leads to faster play than on grass. Hopson said this was Lumberton's first game on the surface. Hopson said the fast playing surface did not hinder Lumberton's offense. He added that it was a good learning experience for a team that will lose 11 players and return 10 next season. "The girls, they enjoyed playing on turf," he said. "And we really don't get many opportunities to play on it so for the younger girls, I hope they take this and realize that if we continue to improve and make more deep playoff runs, we can play on fields like this again."

From "The Bayou": Bolivar is decimated. You don't need us to tell you, just go out and look around (or check out these high-tech aerial shots). We did, this past weekend. What we saw was utterly depressing. Houses tumbling onto themselves, trash hung up in brush, entire fields where cattle used to roam now strewn with sand. But there were signs of hope. There were Earth movers clearing debris, bars open with patrons inside, Stingaree was up and running and builders were out framing homes. A friend also took a trip out to Bolivar, only he took his motorcycle. A decision he later regretted. He didn't realize it at the time, but after he returned he began dealing with some respiratory issues from all of the waste fumes he'd inhaled. It took a few days for him to feel "normal" again. Despite the damage, we still saw dozens of folks fishing out on Rollover Pass. But if the Texas Legislature has its way -- that sight might be a distant memory. Today, the House will hold public hearings on HB 3986 (there is a sister bill, SB 2043, in the Senate). The bill mandates the "closure of any manmade pass between the Gulf of Mexico and an inland bay if the commissioner determines that the manmade pass causes or contributes to significant erosion to the adjacent beach shoreline." Ike -- DUH! -- caused much of the erosion. The sand dunes that once separated Texas 87 from the Gulf are now gone. As you drive along, you can see miles of uninterrupted beachfront that appears to almost come right up to the roadway. Essentially, this bill allows for the closure of Rollover Pass as early as September 1st -- something the commissioner of the General Land office has been advocating since before Ike. Galveston County commissioners already voted to fill the pass in February. This bill would make it a mandate. The closure would be accomplished by pumping in sand and completing shore protection on the Gulf of Mexico side of the project for an estimated cost of $6 million. The annual cost savings for the state of Texas would be approximately $150K/year in maintenance. A Bayou reader and Gilchrist resident had this to say about the Pass: "How, in the wake of a catastrophic hurricane, can a governmental agency justify the taking away of this economic engine for our community?" Good question. There is much to consider, and a September 1st deadline seems like an awfully short window to cover it all.

i'm all about the tourney, but i'm boatless, so i'll need a partner with a boat (and hopefully mad fishing skills)

he seems to have changed his ways a bit. i'm gonna assume the best unless proven otherwise.

don't know if i can make it, but i might try. there are some folks out that way i need to go visit anyway. if i do, i'll be looking for that autograph. good luck, either way.

no idea. i tried to look it up on ESPN.com, and they didn't have anything. i'm not really interested in it enough to look harder than that.

i'll jump on. why not. i'd rather them advance than some team from halfway across the state.

tiger beats ray floyd in his prime 8 out 10 times, IMO.

memphis might struggle next year.

Baylor has been very impressive. i wish they would've played like this in the middle of the season, they had the talent to be a sweet 16 team in the NCAA's.

it will be interesting to see what happens. he'll attract better players than gillispie, but he had a great thing going at memphis

congrats on a great year...

agreed! keep SETX alive!

What about the black waldo by the rockets bench? haha and wuts the problem with no minorities there?? Not a big deal... crime rate in utah is really low that sounds decisively racist.

those are some very good points.

there's definitely room for both. if a player is good enough to get a scholarship, he/she will get it regardless of whether or not they play HS soccer. i don't see how an extra 50 or so practices and 20 or so games a year is going to hurt a player's scholarship chances.

having played HS, club, and college soccer, my only comment would be that i enjoyed HS soccer more than the other two. she might be angling towards a scholarship, but in my opinion she's really missing out by not playing for her high school team.

go rangers.

he needs to be fired... as much as it's the police officer's role to enforce the law, it's just as important for him to show compassion and help people when they need it.

[Hidden Content] sounds like Calipari is pretty much a done deal!

I was kidding about that!!! I love these guys!!!

Sham Wow helped me clear up a nasty STD.

Calipari is the obvious choice... of course, he'd be leaving a winning program to go to a classic powerhouse that's on the decline.

who are these guys? they're terrible!!!