tvc184

Yeah, I think everyone has gotten their thoughts out at least a couple of times. This is one of the situations where they say, "we have to agree to disagree".

No time at all if you buy the same season ticket package you had last year since you have the option. If you buy additional tickets, then you might have to wait in line. I have two season tickets to Nederland games and so I got two tickets to MCM in Port Neches this year. The bidding process starts shortly............

I've said it before but I think the local media provides a service. You don't pay people for the right to provide them with a product. Put the option to the schools, especially the players and their families and see what they say. They have two choices, they will have their names, highlights, coaches, etc on the news or have their games broadcast for everyone to see but nothing goes to the schools or they can stop the media from broacasting games but they then get no exposure. What do you think the choice would be? Are they are going to say "to heck with it, if they don't buy my school a couple of dozen footballs or some new shoes, I don't want my name in the paper"? I don't think so. The kids love the exposure, the families love to read about the kids or see them on TV and the fans in general love to read about the teams or watch the games. The free enterprise system is based on supply and demand. In this case, I think the demand is the exposure of the teams and players and the media meets it with the supply. I don't think the demand is to pay the schools so that the kids can get some exposure. It is not the same for a money making business like pro football where they are obligated to make millions just to pay player salaries. They are in the business to make money, not so with high school football. How about the local stores that sell sports items such as t-shirts with our local teams. Do they give money back to the schools? That is nothing but direct profit, not a service. I have seen local shirts at Wal-Mart, Academy and other stores. Do they kick back money to the schools with their profit? Maybe they do but I doubt it. In any case, how many games are sold for profit by the local media? When Friday Night Experience tries to put a game on the internet, I always hear them saying that they will broadcast the event "IF" then can get enough sponsors to pay for the broadcast. How much money are they making for putting the games on the internet that is free for anyone with internet?

I have mine in hand for Nederland's games.

I can see the problem with a home and home flip that some coaches might take. I can also see a definite problem where a coach picks a small stadium so that the opposing team cannot bring a lot of fans as it could potentially screw over one team. Would WO-S in their title games or PN-G in their most recent title game want to travel to Amarillo or El Paso to play at a stadium with a 500 fan visitor's side? I don't think so. For the final game, everyone wants to have a shot at a nice stadium and a fair chance to bring as many fans as they can. Picking a so called neutral site ahead of time would solve the crowd problem but you still might hammer one team when it comes to home field advantage. There is a good chance that one of the teams will be from the area of the "neutral" site with the other team coming from a long way off. If the UIL is going to step in, they need to make it fair to both teams and having a pre-set site is not it. The article specifically mentions that on 15 occasions, one team had a definite home field advantage. This is a quote from the article " Here are the 15 games in which at least one team (in bold) had a decided home advantage:" It then goes on to list those games and wouldn't you know it, the Alamodome is one of the sites where unfair homefield advantage was given to one team. So their solution is to pick that very site as a permanent title game? DUHHH!! Call me skeptical but this seems like a marketing ploy from Mark Stephenson of TITUS Sports Marketing, not an attempt at fairness. It is only fair is all four teams are coming from a long way from San Antonio, which isn't likely. The article lists the Alamodome as being unfair in four games and then they choose that as a site. Geez. It is interesting that a marketing company owner defines a problem and wouldn't you know it, he has the solution. The only thing is that he didn't solve the problem, he only created his company a marketing tool. If the UIL really wants to be fair, they can solve the problem by setting rules for choosing the title game. It should not be rocket science. There are plenty of good stadiums in Texas with pro teams and colleges. Maybe they could come up with a list of acceptable stadiums with enough capacity for a 5A title game. You could be in the Astrodome (if they still use it), Reliant Stadium, Alamodome, Texas Stadium, Kyle Field at A&M, Memorial Stadium in Austin, Jones Stadium at Texas Tech, Floyd Casey Field at Baylor and maybe a couple of others. Those stadiums are far enough apart and large enough that you can easily get two teams to play that do not have a home field advantage. It would be too easy to say that the championship game has to come from the list of stadiums and has to be a certain distance from the closest finalist. No coach could then force another coach to end up at podunk field that is his backyard and has no visitor capacity. There probably would also need to be a rule that allows a team, at their discretion, to waive the rule. That way, if a team really wanted to play at the Alamodome/Reliant Stadium/etc, even if they gave up the homefield to another school, they could do so. Some teams might rather not worry about it just for the chance play in a pro stadium, no matter the distance or homefield advantage it may give the other team. If they are willing to give up the homefield advantage at their choosing, then let them. That would solve the problem of capacity for a title game and it would solve the problem of potential home field advantage for one team because of a coin flip.

I think that most people believe the playoff teams will come from PN-G, Nederland, Ozen, Central and Dayton. Assuming that those are the five teams to beat, for Vidor to compete for a playoff spot, they will have to beat three of those teams to make a serious run. They play all five of those teams in a six week stretch including Dayton/PN-G/Central/Ozen back to back. That is a tall order for any team. I am not counting Vidor out but that sure is a big hill to climb for a team that is trying to establish itself as a contender.

They are still Vidor. Much like Lumberton, until they can start beating people when it counts, I don't think anyone will give them much of a chance (not including their fans) at a playoff spot. Last year was the year that I heard them pointing to on all bulletin boards. They began the year with 20 returning starters with a pretty good quarterback returning, Andy Haeggquist. They were looking to make a strong run for the playoffs and maybe a championship. They still couldn't beat anyone in district other than Lumberton. If they were ever going to make a challenge, that was the year. They are always scrappy, they play hard and will beat some people in district with maybe an upset or two. I can see them in the hunt but still can't see them taking a playoff spot. I think they would make a good darkhorse candidate. If they could pull off a couple of upsets, who knows.

Gee, I can't figure out why. You have a school that has never made the playoffs in any division. You have a school with a new coach and I am sure his players will have to learn new plays and schemes. Lumberton will be going up against some good teams with great playoff traditions. There certainly is nothing there to make someone think that Lumberton won't become a monster in district is there?

The media makes money off of covering local trials. When a big trial is happening, there can be extensive coverage. Should the local media pay the county for "allowing" them to cover the trials? I have seen one of the local stations show a monthly (or maybe weekly) night patrol where they ride with the police. They do not expect anything big to happen, they just want people to watch so they can see a local version of COPS. It is to get ratings and thereby increase their advertising dollars. Does that local station buy the police officers some extra equipment when the officer allows the media to ride along? The local schools get way more beneficial coverage of their school, players and coaches than any reward reaped by the media. Media reports the news, they don't pay for the news. If they want to donate, go for it but there certainly is no moral responsibility. The media is in the business for profit but they do provide a service. They shouldn't pay someone else for providing them with that service. What would not be moral would be the schools wanting the media to pay for the right to show the news. Maybe it is just a 1st amendment issue with me but there seems something wrong with anyone expecting money from the media. Freedom of the press.............as long as you donate me some money.

Yes, there is. The Nederland-PNG rivalry is every bit as intense as the one between Midland Lee and Odessa. As far as fan support from across the region, I think some of the largest crowds in high school history have been at PNG playoff games such as the 1977 title game of almost 50,000 and the 1999 title game of 40,000. I am not going to say Nederland - PNG is bigger but it certainly right with it.

Real quick, like in his first year. Nederland made the playoffs for only the second time in 28 years. It was a good start for a program he has built to be one of the better ones in southeast Texas.

Weslaco High School Panthers from district 31-5A.

That is a good way of putting it. FNL never "pulled me into the show" but I wished it had. I love high school football and I don't care that they changed some minor facts. Poetic license is part of the screen writing. The movie just didn't seem quite right. Maybe it was the acting or the way they switched between scenes. I don't care anything about hockey but I thought Miracle was a pretty good movie. Hoosiers was a great one and most of the time I could care less about high school basketball. I hate Notre Dame with a passion and I thought Rudy was a good movie. I sure wish the movie about something I love, Texas high school football, would have measured up