revfaulk

I have seen two. different times for tomorrow. Is it 2pm or 4pm?

I have followed local vball for a long time. Coach holbrooks is the best coach orangefield has ever had. I watched them play like a strong 5a team at times last year. The collapse last year was terrible. it doesnot matter how good of a coach you are, the outside drama can kill a team. I hope she sticks around for a long time.

as far as the BC OF game refs. i will say that it was not that great, but i will say they were consistent. as a coach that is the biggest thing you can hope for. when you get out of this region you see that we actually have it pretty good, at least by comparison. Good game ladies.

just a thought. is it more difficult to build a program from nothing over almost 40 years, or to inherit a winning program and keep it on top and always in the hunt for the district title? the current png coach started in 1972 and they won the state title that year..... they have continuedto be successful every year since then too. like i said.... just something to think about.

hey rizon, i wasn't sure what you meant so i looked back at all my postings. i couldn't find anything about HF in the last year or so. sorry if it seemed like i was downing them. HF over the last 5-7 years that i can remember has been turning out great athletes and great teams. they have been coached well and the one thing about those girls is they...if it's the same as it used to be.... they hate losing!!! they were always motivated to win. when i asked "what the problem was".... i was expecting there to be a list of reasons that contributed to their loss.

okay.... i will say it..."domination?" seriously though what was the problem?

were they unaware of the schedule at the beginning of the year? was something changed last minute?

the orangefield girls are young. i got to watch them play against buna. their form was good. they are generally hitting the ball better than ever, passing, actually playing a defenese that can work, and their passing. i don't mean they are all great, but as a team their form in each of these areas is on a higher level... at least i think it is. they definately get into moments where they freeze up and make "rookie" mistakes. and playing LCM.... they are really good. good teams make you look like you dont have a clue sometimes. anyway, it is going to be a good season for the OF lady bobcats. program is getting stronger. can't wait til my daughter gets to be a part of the program

i have watched these awards become mroe and more meaningless over the last few years. i have been to the meetings and have heard it said that they wanted to give out as many awards as possible so the girls could feel good about themselves. this is one reason there has been over the past several year so many co mvps, co defensive and offensive players etc. then one year they added a "utilitie player" for someone who came off the bench.... it was also concluded one year that the coaches could pick their own honorable mentions....i personally feel like the smaller the number the greater the award. if you have 6 on the first team and you make it, you should feel really good about yourself. awards like that should be tough to get. ..... but that is just my own ramblings. you know this isn't T ball where everyone has to get something at the end of the season.

i have been around the picking of all district in the past. the 4a district is as consistent as they come. the 3a group give out too many awards.... they now have the "fighting heart" coaches award, or something like that. so many of them get awards that it waters down the award. but in 4a even if you make second team that means you were a very good player. these coaches aren't as petty as we might assume they are. they do care about the players and understand that all district picks are to honor the best players.

i am going with bobcat on this.... usually the hf girls are great athletes. but just as it was a couple of years ago, in basketball, when they made their playoff shirts and then didn't make the playoffs.... that is a case of getting the big head. let's see if it happens in volleyball this year.

that's definitely a bold statement to make.... let's see how things play out for them. i doubt they take first, but i think this is going to be one of their best years ever. their coach is a good coach and will have them playing like they are supposed to. i have watched them in the past and they did everything in very unorthodox manner. they are going to have that staightened out and give everyone a run for their money.

this is just a thought.... coming from an ex coach/teacher. if you took the hours a teacher works and the amount of money they are paid(on average) it comes out to between $22-$30 and hour. when you do the same for coaches it comes out to about $5-$12 per hour. and the coaches day doesn't include hours they work in the summer. not a commentary either way just a thought about teacher pay.

don't take this the wrong way, but how long is west brook going to keep playing in these smaller tournaments? they have been the step child of their district for at least the last 6 or 7 years. do they have any hope on the horizon?

i would bet at least 15 years.

she has been there a long time, won district twice.... maybe 3 times. it's hard to put together a better system than png. not just for a year, but for several decades.

not all schools deal with the huge turn over problems that some of our schools deal with. castino, leach, comeaux, i can't think of any other names off hand, but i know there are more.... these coaches have stayed in the same place for decades. i don' think they do it for the community support..... athletes and coaches coach to win and thats all. a full house is great, but most of then know that doesn't happen too often. the programs do get their fair share of funding, if they don't the district will get something called a title 9 i think slapped on them. that might not be the right #, but it means if boys get it then girls get it too. i think most of it is the difference between 35K at the most in the smaller schools( and that's coaching 2 sports which makes raising a family almost impossible) or trying to get on at a larger school and make 40-45k a year. but if you move out of this area you can teach and make $45k a year without coaching.... heck i think that is what bisd is paying for a first year teacher. i am sure there are plenty of other reasons, but i am sure the $ plays a big part.

i know castino led evadale to the state tournament. Matthews at bridge city was a standout in high school. i can't remember if she played for lamar or not, but people who watched her play said she was awesome in high school. Shackiford.... i have no idea how to spell her name... coach at hardin jefferson.(it used to be Flowers)was a stand out at lamar, coach at sabine pass was too. the orangefield coach played at LCM and also for San Jac junior college. that's about all i know. i am sure there are plenty of others.

it's just the day and age we are living in now, but you almost have to play your sport year round if you want to be successful. i know the coach at nederland was on the board for JCJ and that is a great help because she(and i am sure others helped too) could get coaches from all over the place (not parents of the girls on the team. big difference). and she also had a stake in the matter. so she wanted to get the best coaches possible because a lot of the players on the teams were going to be from nederland.

jcj, orange county juniors and from time to time hardin county juniors are the only clubs that really exist here in southeast tx. the coaches for JCJ are usually the best of all the local clubs.... sorry, i have even coached in the other clubs and know that the JCJ coaches are typically the best. the leaders of JCJ are more in the know with players from lamar and other good player/coaches. they aren't really told to play certain players.... but they might have someone on their team who plays for a friend that they want to help out.... that is possible, but who really knows.

i have so much confidence in the new coach at orangefield that i would easily put them in the top 3 this year. Bridge city, silsbee and Orangefield..... that's not in order, but i think those will be the playoff teams this year.

i have followed the 3a volleyball for several years now. i have been around the sport ...playing and coaching for a long time. i watched the orangefield girls compete with the other schools and actually make it challenging. over the years i have seen them use some really and i mean really unorthodox methods of offense, defense and their serve receive formations were bizarre at best. yet they were able to compete with everyone in their district because these girls are great athletes and they don't like losing. they hustle more than any other team. i know this coach and if they have the same kind of athletes they have had in recent years, don't be surprised if they take the district this year. whatever happens, things just got a whole lot more interesting in this district race. cant wait for volleyball season!

i talked to an official yesterday, i just asked him a few questions and just listened to his answers. they were a little disappointing. i understand that when you are calling girls games it's a lot different than calling boys games. they have to let more stuff slide otherwise the entire team would foul out. --- my personal thoughts are if one team fouls 100 times in the 1st half.... that's something the team should work on.--- also they don't call fouls unless someone was able to gain a clear advantage. --- to me if you are in the lane and someone is pushing you, that's a foul..... this guy said you have to gain a clear advantage. and the last one was if you are calling 3 seconds in the lane.... that means you aren't watching the rest of the game and are probably missing something else. i didin't reply to him because it would have been pointless. needless to say i was very surprised at everything he said. glad my girl isn't playing basketball yet!!!!!

well jdad... i understand what you are saying. and without knowing you it does sound like nothing more than complaining. i understand if your kids are playing that you wouldn't want to ref games right now. so just venting is cool. i have seen horrible officials in my time as a coach and have had plently of warnings and techs called on me. so i am guessing you are wanting to figure out a way to recruit more refs. you come up with a plan and i will help you. but i do know hootie and they have been to plenty of basketball games and give back to the sport a lot. sometimes as you know it's just the luck of the draw if you get someone who can even see straight as a ref.

don't take this the wrong way. i don't say it to sound like a jerk, but here is the TASO website. if there is so much passion out there about the need for good refs and so much complaining, then it sounds like those complaining should step up.... www.taso.org i know several good officials who started because they were tired of watching bad refs. best of luck to all the new refs. happy new year to every one.