RaiderRed30

51 unanswered points in the state championship game.

But Aledo should enjoy this because it will probably be their last time in Arlington for a while. 

20 minutes ago, PhatMack19 said:

Rigdon is a player.  I would like to see his daddy move him to 11 man next year for his senior year. 

Saw him play basketball last year. He is better there than in football. 

I know that I do not have much dog in the fight but reading this I think there are a couple of things to note: 

1. Travel - Yes United did travel to Arlington to play a game, but it was on a non school day, so students lost zero education by going there. The same as when they travel to Allen over Christmas. As much as we do not think about it, these are still students so being in class as much as they can is best. 

Beaumont is in no man's land, similar to the Odessa/Midland & Abilene. Look at who they are scheduling, Hobbs and other New Mexico schools, or down a level. Houston is two hours away for most non district games. United & Westbrook can travel there but many schools are not gonna travel East when they can find schools closer, so if they want a home game they have to find a way. Silsbee is one of the few, if only, schools that will agree to come to United or Westbrook. Many local schools will not for various reasons and Houston schools are not. So travel wise Beaumont, both schools, are stuck. They want a home game for the parents/students/fans to watch, they have to be creative. 

2. Money - The schools that travel across the country are not paying for it. Many are being sponsored by the host or another company. DeSoto and Duncanville the past couple of years have had 5-6 high level D1 players on each team so people want to showcase them. Beaumont has had 1 or 2 so you are not going to have as many organizations hoping to have them play. Some will but not the major ones. They have to look local and Beaumont does not have the money that you see in Dallas Fort Worth or Houston. If they want to travel it will be the old way of sales and fundraisers. But everyone is struggling. 

3. Tradition - As others have mentioned there are certain schools across the state that have that respect level. Argyle, Kimball, Carter, Madison, Brock, Silsbee, Yates, and now Washington. Year in and year out they are going to be good, and on any given night can give you a game (a few years ago the 4A state champ almost lost to the 1A state champ just saying). The coach knows that the teams will fight for 32 minutes and will push their players. This was that type of game. Silsbee has the tradition and the respect, so yes they may be 4A, and yes if they lose it might not look good to the ones with little knowledge, the real basketball people will know it is not that big of a deal. They know Silsbee is better than 1/2 to 2/3 of 6A teams and will be one of the final 8 teams playing in 4A in March. 

4. Game Planning - Coaches want to play teams that can prepare them for the playoffs and future opponents. Besides the above mentioned 32 minutes of fight, Silsbee may run schemes and systems that United might see down the road. So why not try and play them to give the players a taste of that pressure style. 

So looking at the whole 4A comment while it makes sense if they were playing most 4A schools, it does not work in this case. United by playing Silsbee was able to get a quality opponent to come to them that will prepare them for district and the playoffs.

1 hour ago, BBfan061 said:

Bridge City looks to be staying in 4A D2 unless they opt up.

Some notable changes coming… China Spring is back down to 4A D2 and Brock is moving up to 4A D2 

According to UIL's list, both Bridge City & Hardin-Jefferson will be 4A D1 for Football. 

Here is the list: 

Here is a question I am wondering, has any team ever faced 3 state finalists in one season? 

If Gunter wins tomorrow night, Comanche (8-5 on the year) will have played Albany (2A II), Tolar (2A I) and Gunter (3A II) this season. Another loss was to Jacksboro who lost to Gunter last week, which means it is possible that 4 of their opponents went as far in the playoffs as they could go.

To add to it their all sports district in 3A includes Brock who just lost tonight in 3A I Semifinals. 

9 hours ago, AggiesAreWe said:

I agree. Strake petitioned to play UIL and were told they had to play 6A even though they have a 4A-5A enrollment.

Faith Family should be required to do the same.

With the Jesuits schools they have two rules to even the playing field:

1. Because they are only male schools their enrollment is doubled (not automatically 6A)

2. They are given the same attendance zone as the nearest high school. Meaning if a kid transfers in beginning with 9th grade and up if they don’t live in that zone they must sit out a year similar to all transfers. They attend in middle school they are eligible as freshmen. 
 

I am guessing Faith Family has to follow the second rule as well. Not making an excuse or agreeing just informing. Charter Schools are a confusing situation as they are public schools meaning UIL has to take them. The issue is transfers becoming so common. Look at Duncanville in the same area for boys and girls. 

I do remember a few years ago when charter schools first entered UIL El Paso had a 1A with a 7 footer at state. Now the rules state that school would have been 4A so there is change that is slowly trying to fix these problems. 

If it's October 7th and you plan to stay in Abilene that night, I would recommend heading to Strawn for some Chicken Fried at Mary's before going over to Gordon to watch Gordon-Gorman. About an hour drive from Abilene but it should be a good game. 

Or best matchup in the state that weekend might be Cherokee at Richland Springs. Drive down then maybe spend the night in Brownwood or San Saba afterwards. Huge rivalry game and lots of bad blood it seems over the 3 year suspension of Jerry Burkhart, Richland Spring's coach. It's about 2 hours from Abilene.

5 hours ago, CardinalBacker said:

Sometimes I think that we'd be in a lot better place if we reminded EVERYBODY what we're capable of.  

 

That was one of my biggest problems with the U. S. media acting so upset over the last few decades whenever "innocent civilians" got hammered.... kinda like week before last when the Israelis blew up that building in Gaza that housed Hamas and a few news agencies.  Do you have any idea what we've done to "innocent civilians?'  That's how you win, baby!

In the first case we didn’t know the exact damage it would cause. It was a shock to everyone.  
 

In relation to Hiroshima and Nagasaki it was actually to prevent deaths (again didn’t know the full destruction and aftermath). Based on fighting in Okinawa and other places, the United States realized an actual invasion would have killed hundreds of thousands of American soldiers, as well as millions of Japanese civilians due to the Honor and Pride the Japanese had. And invasion of Japan would have been like the Siege of Bexar with every house and building having to be fought and cleared. 

9 hours ago, tvc184 said:

it probably should be June 13, not the 15th. That’s when the actual battle started with the shelling. 

Just as important is debatable as it was a continued steppingstone. This was unlike the invasion of Normandy where it was the beginning but certainly it was very important. I think the biggest by far accomplishment of the turkey shoot was the forward air bases and allowing to B29’s to basically level Japan.

I read a book many years ago (before the Internet) I believe called, A Torch To The Enemy by Martin Caidin. It was about the B 29 bombing campaign over Japan. I cannot remember the exact statistics but basically any city that has at least a 20,000 population in the entire country, was at least 50% destroyed. Many cities were virtually leveled. 

While people talk about the atomic bomb and destruction, the fire bombing of Tokyo in March 1945 what is the most destructive rate in history. I am going off of memory but I think something like 140,000 people were killed in one night in about 20 square miles of the city was completely destroyed. Well over 1 million people were left homeless.

Because the destruction of Japan by air before their surrender was so devastating, the Americans chose a couple of cities to be completely spared. This was for the upcoming atomic bomb raids. They wanted to see the effectiveness of the weapon but could not in most cities because they had already been leveled. That is why Hiroshima and  Nagasaki were basically untouched before the atomic bombs. They were preserved as a test case because the rest of my Japan had already been leveled.

June 15 is the day the invasion actually started but yes like Normandy there were bombings in the days up to it including the Philippine Sea (which is rumored to have a ship sunk carrying mosquitoes infected with the plague). 
 

As for being as important as D-Day, this was the first Japanese land the US invaded. It led directly to the resignation of Tojo, the shift in strategy from Japan, and the realization that the war was lost. The US could now directly bomb the country something it hadn’t done other than once in 1942. The three islands eventually held 15 runways about 8-10 were used for B-29s. 
 

The night you were referring to was Operation Meetinghouse the first firebombing attack something that even the US did not know the damage it would cause. It continued until the Atomic Bombs were dropped (the first one actually left San Francisco before the test as Los Alamos). The reasoning for the use is pretty incredible since it was partly due to the Soviets, our allies, starting to invade Korea to meet us in Japan. 
 

Just think these 3 Battles should be discussed a whole lot more and remembered similar to D-Day because it was the start of the end of the War in the Pacific and in one islands case, directly led to a change in how the entire world operates regarding conflicts. 

I think another question would be what happened on June 15, 1944?
 

Just 9 days later and just as important as the invasion of Normandy. 

Tarleton is going to be a force in most sports. Even with moving up from D2 this year. Know they are looking for one more football playing member. Maybe get Angelo State, Midwestern, Commerce, or even West Texas to move up. Think the conference will have a lot of balance. 

So serious question, has either United (or Ozen) teams, boys or girls, ever been shooting teams? We are talking about the lights and it being dark, but if you aren't a team known for 3 Point shooting would you want it to be bright for those opponents that are? It's been mentioned on here that multiple opponents have complained, maybe that's good. Competitive advantage. What's best for the fans might not always be best for the team. 

4 minutes ago, Mr. Buddy Garrity said:

It's not even Crosby, any team including Memorial would get whipped by Aledo. How the hell Cedar Hill beat em is my question now. 

Aledo had a sophomore QB. They stopped Cedar Hill with 4 minutes left down by 3. Started making a few plays but threw an interception and then Cedar Hill scored to ice it. With this QB it might have been different game. 

3 minutes ago, PhatMack19 said:

Aledo’s QB is from California.  They have really expanded their recruiting area 

Mom's company transferred to Fort Worth and whole family moved. If you a QB moving to Fort Worth where would you move? The original starting QB tore his ACL first day of contact practice.

So now we get the Tongans vs the Blondes Saturday morning. Winner gets Duncanville-Desoto who are playing Saturday night with Cedar Hill-Rockwall Heath sandwiched in between. If it wasn’t for Covid I cannot imagine how crowded the stadium would be might rival the 06 game (which PNG fans will get angry but might be the most crowded non single site state title game ever). 
 

On a side I wonder how’s Gordon going to feel when he gets to college and finds out his O-Line is smaller. 

Dunbar has to be in the top 5. If Fort Worth ISD hadn’t kept them up in 4A/5A for about 10 years just so it could have its own district it would prolly have 3 to 4 more state trips at least out of region 1. 

Jim Ned must be good this year but I do think they may now be hated by all basketball coaches in 3A after last week. 

On 11/25/2020 at 5:17 AM, Lions Pride 2021 said:

We're beating Coldspring. 

Lufkin will be tricky but is winnable. Im glad New Caney and Porter are on the schedule.

Shepherd will lose both games to Livingston. Probably badly. They ain't want nothing in football and they definitely don't want none in basketball.

Livingston is doing no worse than second in district, depending on tie breakers.

Again, 4 out of 5 starters and a few key bench players were playing football. If those guys were there, it would have looked like the game in Trinity. 

No way a 4A school should be scheduling a UIL 1A school for a game unless Kendrick Perkins or Stephen Jackson is suiting up for them. Leggett is awesome for 1A, but only one kid on their team would be starting for an average 4A team.

I don't say this to be mean; I only think 2 -3 of our kids could start on a good 5A team and maybe just  one on a 6A team. Level of competition is just higher.

I hated these types of games when I was a student, when I was a sports reporter and I hate it as a parent/spectator.

I've gone as far to say I hated that West Brook was forced to play Central and Ozen in football because it wasted games the Bruins could have used to get ready for district.

I'm not from the area, so I don't care that the other polk county schools want to play Livingston. They're too small and those schools should probably be absorbed into Livingston. it would give those children better facilities, more class options and better opportunities.

So I have been debating whether to reply to this is not. 

You state that no way a 4a school should be scheduling a 1A school unless they have a star play. Ok so explain 2017. Silsbee won state in 4A. They beat Argyle in the semifinals by one point. Lipan a little ole 1A school played that same Argyle team and won by five. Not a single Lipan player played Division One basketball on that team. There was no star player. Next year Lipan beat multiple 4A and 5A teams again no star player. Brock is next door. They are a small 3A school. Almost every year they are beating 4A and 5A schools as well. 

Then look at Silsbee itself by your logic shouldn't be playing with and beating Yates because Silsbee has 800 students while Yates is in Houston ISD, which has a rule that you can start at any high school and not have to sit out a year. That means 20,000 students that Yates might have available. Not just Yates but all of those 6A schools they beat the previous years. They did not have stars like Kendrick Perkins or Stephen Jackson. Yes they might end up with 1 NBA player and 1 NFL player on their rosters those years, but no one was recruited to Kentucky or even a Big 12 school for basketball. They had great players. Talented players, but no one star. Only last year could you say that really. Just a really good team.

I have seen ranked 1A teams almost beat ranked 5A teams. Played them within 10 points. That 1A team had 5 good players in the same grade that all grew up together. They had 1 player who scored about 25 a game, but that night she had the flu. It was still a close game. There are certain 1A schools (even 2A with Big Sandy) that can play with 4A, 5A and some 6A. Size doesn't always matter. Year in and Year out they are good. 

Leggett is one of those schools. They do not play football. They run cross country and play basketball. They are proud. To sit here and say Livingston (with a lot of players still in football) should not be playing a school like Leggett is disrespectful and a little arrogant. They have been practicing all year with everyone. They are good every year. The past few years even if Livingston was at full strength in December, Leggett probably would have won. They are one of those schools that you respect the tradition. 

I end my rant with one last note to demonstrate Leggett and 1A tradition. Goodrich and Leggett close rivals. Goodrich for four years had Adrian McGowen. She graduated. Leggett then had Brittney Jefferson. Two of the best players in state history played on both sides of Livingston. They can play ball in those towns both boys and girls. So to say no way Livingston should be scheduling Leggett just because they are 1A does not hold up.

On 9/4/2020 at 1:32 AM, joebob said:

Wow I never knew that but did notice that some appeared to be shorter than others....I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

 

Would be interesting to see a list of which ones are which....I assume come playoff time all courts used are 94'?  For a team with speed the shorter court limits that advantage which to me is like making a football field 80 yards. 

Easiest way for me to tell difference was during shoot a round when I’d shoot a few from the circle. 
 

As for playoffs I don’t think it figures that much into coaches discussion. May for some but it isn’t a big issue. 

On 9/4/2020 at 1:24 AM, joebob said:

I saw someone mention some of the courts are smaller....Can I high school gym really be smaller than a regulation gym which I assume is 94'?

High Schools Courts are between 84 and 94 feet. Swear I’ve played a few smaller though. 

This is when I’m glad to live on an island. We get 4 or 5 storms a year but we never have to worry about should we/shouldn’t we evacuate. It’s just board the windows and wait for the storm to pass through (but hearing a 180 mph storm is something I don’t want again. At that point it’s just a jet engine knocking at the windows.)

For the state either the Barry Center in Cy-Fair or Glen Rose will win. You can google a picture of either and you will not believe they are high school gyms especially with Glen Rose only being 3A. 

My personal favorites are Cherokee and the old May gym. Cherokee is so small that you are standing in bounds to throw the ball in. Covered walls on all 4 sides with the sidelines being 8-10 feet up before the seats. Under the old rebounding system players would place one leg on the wall to box out. 

The old May gym will always be the best. Set 4 feet below bleachers with brick walls right on the sidelines (seen a few heads smashed into them). The benches were cut into the walls. The visitors locker rooms were under the home bleachers. The school colors are white and dark green so the gym was very dark and the home fans are something else. Compared to gyms nowadays it would look awful but it easily had a great home court advantage and I don’t think you can beat nostalgia. 

13 hours ago, Physical Atmosphere said:

Yes, They've got it going on ! I just hope I can vote more than once like I did for Stephenville years back .LOL.

Seriously though Port Neches should let the little school win, they would win morally if they did that. They won't though, too much ego.

I hope that Stephenville vote was for most obnoxious fans. Seriously the cans are worse than vuvuzelas. Or team with the biggest home field (refs) advantage. 

But seriously Sanderson’s is great.  I can’t believe anyone would pick against Jones Stadium in El Paso. Best stadium by a mile.
 

The Puncherdome in Mason. San Saba with the actual graveyard underneath it. These were knocked too early. Cleburnes stadium with the ivy covered walls wasn’t even listed.  Wish the old mineral wells was on that list as well. 

This is just a Western opinion on food and preparation. People have been eating animals like these and preparing food like this for thousands of years. Only this year, other than dog and cat, have people made such an issue of it because of the virus. Would you have even known or really cared if the virus hadn’t started?

For me I started to love Dinuguan, pork blood stew. It sounds disgusting because we are trained not to eat blood, but it tastes amazing. If they weren’t endangered I would love to eat Fruit Bat or Green Sea Turtle. All sounds horrible, but until you try it you don’t know. You are basing on your opinion having grown up in the West

Tarleton State going Division 1 next year with new coach Billy Gillespie. From Copperas Cove to Kentucky to Ranger College, what level hasn’t he coached?