KFDM COOP

Not sure yet but there're a coming!

CONGRATS!!

[Hidden Content]

Thanks Aggie

No BH?

Dang hate to hear that!

True..

www.wwe.com

That's good to hear!! Great new coach as well.

NBA is in tough spot...Sports Business article FYI: good read Don't sell Stern short League might be unbalanced, but it's a financial powerhouse June 17, 2007 Is that all there is? Fortunately for the NBA, it isn't, even with TV ratings cratering for this joke of a Finals … which you could see coming all season as Western powerhouses vied for the honor of walking over whichever 98-pound weakling made it out of the East. This came after Stephen Jackson fired his gun to break up a fight outside a club; Sebastian Telfair had a $50,000 necklace ripped from his neck and was questioned by the NYPD in the subsequent shooting of rapper Fabolous; the Denver-New York brawl; the suspensions of Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Amare Stoudemire and Joey Crawford; the lost All-Star weekend in Las Vegas; Kobe's meltdown; and the battle over the basketball itself. This wasn't just a bad season, this was the Mother of All Bad Seasons. Happily for the NBA, its reality proceeds along two tracks, which seem to have nothing to do with each other. One is strung-out with Judge Dredd, a.k.a. David Stern, seemingly bent on single-handedly changing his players' image and controlling their behavior from his New York office, where he monitors everyone via TV. This enforces an uneasy peace but results in never-ending controversies that eclipse the "NBA Cares" spots designed to enhance the players' image. Despite all the resources thrown into the campaign — they even ran media buses to community events at the Finals — I don't think the prevailing image of an NBA player is a 6-8 guy on a roof with a hammer. However, the other track is enviably prosperous with Stern, a marketing wizard, steering his embattled league through the storm to Fat City. In a little-noticed development before Game 1, when only Stern could muse, "I think it's a great time to be a fan of basketball and particularly the NBA at these Finals," he said he was close to contract extensions with ABC, ESPN and TNT. In an overlooked development, the NBA isn't in trouble at all, but a colossus, the No. 2 property in rights fees, as compiled by SportsBusiness Daily. No one approaches the NFL's $3.7 billion a year, but even before the NBA extension kicks in, presumably with the "healthy raise" Stern said he expected, his league is No. 2 at $767 million. Supposedly hot properties such as the NCAA basketball tournament ($565 million), NASCAR ($556 million), Major League Baseball ($553 million) and the Tiger Woods-era PGA Tour ($492 million) all trail. MLB and the NBA have leapfrogged each other since the '90s, depending on which league signed the last contract. Those days are over, with baseball locked in through 2013 and the $200-million gap about to get bigger. If happy days are here again, why doesn't anyone know it? Instead, tipping off his overriding fear of another Auburn Hills, Stern insists on absolute control with no thought to obtaining the consent of the governed. The union is so much in the dark, NBA Players Assn. Director Billy Hunter said last week that he worries about the economics. Stern won't even tell him the good news. Now that we know the games are going to continue, it would be nice if they could get someone to watch. The NBA thought its 6.5 rating for the Spurs and Nets Finals in 2003 was a fluke, in ABC's debut with an inexperienced staff and a low-power sports division, since taken over by ESPN. They just crashed through the floor with the Spurs-Cavaliers, setting an all-time low at 6.2, on merit. This set off the usual nationwide debate on the NBA's chances of survival … which somehow no one got around to after the last two World Series set all-time ratings lows. The NBA actually has more to offer than blowing up LeBron James and floating him out like a hot-air balloon. (How long do we have to endure children being compared to Michael Jordan? At 22, Michael Jordan wasn't Michael Jordan either.) Unfortunately, most of what the NBA has to offer is in the West, making its marquee event an afterthought. Stern has been dismissing the notion of reseeding for five years. I know because I was the one who used to bring it up before he beat me down. Detroit and Miami bought him some peace, even if the Pistons' 2004 win over the Lakers was a stunner and the Heat won in 2006 only after the Dallas Mavericks, who were about to take a 3-0 lead, gagged. This was the year the B-52s came home to roost. Of course, if they had been reseeding, when Dallas lost in the first round, Phoenix and San Antonio would have gone into opposing brackets, on track to meet in the Finals. The West has won seven of the last nine Finals and 31 of 48 games. The entire All-NBA first team is from the West, with stars of tomorrow Greg Oden and Kevin Durant on their way. Nor is there anything promising on the Eastern horizon. In the East, the threadbare Cavaliers are a good young team. So are the Bulls, even if Luol Deng is their tallest starter. The Pistons might or might not have another run in them. With President Joe Dumars fuming that complacency "will not be the calling card of our team going forward," and Rasheed Wallace ticketed to ride, they have work to do. Miami was a joke, but where there's Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade, there's hope if they can get help ... like Ron Artest? The East isn't just lame, it's slow. Of the top nine offenses, eight were in the West. We just saw what that means with the Cavaliers, who were not only in over their heads but boring beyond belief. Of course, being David Stern means never being out of rebuttals, but he tried it his way. You saw what happened, at least if you were among the 6.2.

This is through 300 Games.

TAPPS 3-6A First team Pos. Player Cl. School IF Colin Bear Jr. St. Thomas P/IF Anthony Fazio Jr. Beaumont Kelly P/OF Deric Hawkins Jr. St. Pius IF Darr Niewoudt Sr. St. Pius P/IF Brian Borski Sr. St. Thomas C Landon Steinhagen Jr. Beaumont Kelly OF/P Charlie Jones Sr. Beaumont Kelly IF Will Taylor Sr. Beaumont Kelly IF Kyle O'Connor Jr. St. Pius P/OF Jamail Grimes Sr. St. Pius P Taylor Ducott So. St. Pius OF Faizi Mouzoon Sr. St. Thomas OF Jonathan Mejia Fr. St. Thomas P Matt Stuart Jr. St. Thomas IF Dylan Stout Jr. St. Thomas

[Hidden Content]

Returning Starters... BH....5 Crosby....12 Forest Brook....18 Galena Park...10 Huffman.......11 CE King.......10 New Caney..13 Smiley.......14

He was added after the roster was posted. Buna Coach called me on the deal.

>

CONGRATS!!!

Any more updates?

That was written before we knew he was playing in the game.

Putting Dale Jr. in No. 8 car could drop No. 25 or No. 5 from HMS BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Team owner Rick Hendrick will attempt to keep Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a car with the No. 8 next season at Hendrick Motorsports. The number, owned by Dale Earnhardt Inc., has been Earnhardt's since he entered the Nextel Cup series in 1999. He lost the right to that number after this season when he announced on Wednesday a five-year deal with HMS. Max Siegel, the president of global marketing at DEI, said owner Teresa Earnhardt is willing to consider a formal offer. "Since they opened the door, we're going to talk to them about it, so I'll follow up on it," Hendrick said before the start of Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Michigan International Speedway. Siegel declined to put a monetary value on the 8. "I don't even know if you can quantify it," he said. "I don't know if there's a number or figure for what it's worth. Before I can give any recommendation to my owner I have to evaluate what the proposal is. "One of the reasons why I'm not trying to speculate or give hypotheticals is because it's part of the Earnhardt legacy, whether it's Dale Jr. or the Dale Earnhardt Inc." Geoff Smith, the president of Roush Fenway Racing, doesn't think it matters what number Earnhardt drives from a marketing standpoint. "The world will see that Junior could use mandarin Chinese numbers on the car and they would sell just as much souvenirs as the No. 8," he said. "I personally think that the brand equity is with Junior. "It's like the Nike swoosh. There was a Nike before the swoosh, but everybody got to know the swoosh because there was marketing around it. Whatever number he has will take his character." If Hendrick gets the 8 he will have to decide whether to eliminate one of two significant numbers -- the 5 or 25 -- at HMS. The 25 was the car owned by his late son, Ricky, and the 5 was the first car at HMS. Hendrick also will have a difficult decision if he can lure Earnhardt's longtime sponsor, Budweiser, which has one more year left on its deal with DEI. He has four primary sponsors for the 5 and 25 next season and he plans to honor them. Budweiser officials said they want to remain with Earnhardt, with whom they have a personal services contract through next season. Siegel is willing to listen to a proposal for the sponsor, but he also would like to continue a relationship with the beer company. He would like to have those issues, as well as a replacement for Earnhardt, settled within the next 30 days if not sooner. One possibility is Kyle Busch, the driver Earnhardt will replace at HMS. Siegel said DEI has reached out to Busch, adding the 22-year-old is at the top of their list. That could open a possible trade of sponsors and numbers between HMS and DEI. "All of us are trying to adjust business issues," Siegel said. "There are not a lot of moving parts." Siegel laughed about the possibility of putting Busch in a Budweiser car to compete directly with his brother, Kurt, in the No. 2 Miller Lite car. He added that there is no way to totally replace Earnhardt. "He's in a class by his own," Siegel said. "Arguably, nobody has replaced Dale Sr. It's very unfair to compare anybody to him. You have to start with someone who is excellent at the core product, which is competition."

Was it at TJ or Central? Can't remember?

Man you let the Astros sweep your mariners?

Maybe a sweep!!!

'Burnout' mishap turns tragic in Tennessee Associated Press SELMER, Tenn. -- Three more people have died after a drag-racing car went out of control and careened into a crowd of spectators, raising the death toll to seven, state officials said Sunday. AP Photo/Independent Appeal, Russell Ingle A police officer consoles a rescue worker Saturday at the scene of the tragic accident. The crash occurred Saturday night during an "exhibition burnout" -- when a driver spins his tires to make them heat up and smoke -- at the Cars for Kids charity event in Selmer, located about 80 miles east of Memphis. Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning said the seven who died included a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old. At least eight people were taken to hospitals and several others had minor injuries, he said. Amateur video of the crash, broadcast on WMC-TV in Memphis, showed the car's engine revving loudly before the vehicle sped down a highway lined with spectators on both sides. After a few hundred feet, the smoking car skidded off the road. There was a guard rail along at least part of the highway but not along the stretch where the crash occurred. The identities of the victims and the driver were not immediately released. Mourners placed small votive candles at the crash site early Sunday. Witness Garett Moore said he was about to walk across the highway, thinking the show was over, when he saw the dragster racing toward him. He was about 15 feet from the wreck but was uninjured. "It ain't really safe to do anything with drag cars on a city street," Moore said. Selmer Police Chief Neal Burks said "bodies were flying into the air when it happened." "I saw body parts flying everywhere," said witness Sean Hood. Browning said the vehicle was described as a drag-racing car, but he did not have more details about it. I saw body parts flying everywhere. Witness Sean Hood Matthew Brammer, administrator of AMS Pro Modified Series, which sanctions drag races, said late Saturday that the car involved has been driven by drag racer Troy Critchley, of Wylie, Texas, but he did not know if Critchley was driving when the car struck the crowd. The AMS Pro Modified Series later issued a news release saying the driver was a veteran of more than 20 years in drag racing and had to be taken to an emergency room. The release said the driver was performing a burnout when road conditions caused the car to go out of control. "The race team is in shock and deeply saddened by this unexpected event. Their hearts and prayers are with the injured people and their families," the release said. Authorities closed the festival after the crash. About 40,000 to 60,000 people were expected to attend the weekend event. Cars for Kids holds several events throughout the nation and raises close to $200,000 annually for charities that help children in need, according to its Web site. A statement posted on the Web site Sunday offered an apology to the victims and their families: "The loss is deep within our hearts and we will carry the scars of each loss forever." The charity was formed in 1990, two years after founder Larry Price's son, Chad, suffered a severe head injury in a bicycle accident. Price promised that if his son was saved from lifelong injuries, he would spend the rest of his life raising funds for disabled children, according to the Web site. Price could not be reached for comment Saturday night.