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Enjoying football season
The NFL kicked off tonight, and the Titans and Steelers are playing a great game.
And then on ESPN, Georgia Tech and Clemson are battling in the fourth quarter.
But the best part is Saturday, when there are several games to choose from.
Last week, Oklahoma was upset by BYU, and SFA almost upset SMU on a great opening weekend.
And tomorrow night is a big local high school rivalry — Lufkin vs. Nacogdoches.
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Dragons win, 28-27
The Nacogdoches Dragons rallied form a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to take a 28-27 win over Center Friday night in Center.
The Dragons had two 100-yard rushed on their way to 301 rushing yards.
Other scores of interest were
Carthage 14 Henderson 13
John Tyler 27 Lufkin 18
The Woodlands 31 Katy 27
Jacksonville 28 Corsicana 17
Kilgore 20 Hallsville 14
Sulphur Springs 36 Whitehouse 26
Wills Point 34 Lindale 13
Mount Pleasant 34 Liberty-Eylau 28
Alto 33 Garrison 26
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Center leads Nacogdoches 14-12 at half
It’s been a rough ride for the Nacogdoches Dragons here in the first half at Roughrider Stadium.
The offense has struggled with the absence of starting quarterback Courtney Patton. The Dragons have scored on a 3-yard run by replacement Jacob Howard and a pick 6 by Blake Farrell.
Center has scored on two touchdown passes from De’Andre Simmons to Ty Hubbard.
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Edison shows out
Former San Augustine/SFA wide receiver Dominique Edison has been kind of quiet during the preseason in his attempt to earn a roster spot for the Tennessee Titans.
Last night, he took a giant step in achieving that goal, hauling in five catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns.
He also earned top performer honors on Yahoo! Sports. Here is a look at one of Edison’s scoring grabs.
I have known Edison for a while, going back to playing against each other in high school basketball and have always known he was an incredible athlete. But never did I think he would be the type of player he is today.
Also, on the other side of the field was Jermichael Finley for the Green Bay Packers, who I also played against in high school. It’s weird seeing all of these former basketball opponents playing in the NFL.
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What was Blount smoking?
Last night, after the much-anticipated season opener between No. 14 Boises State and No. 16 Oregon, the Oregon Ducks starting running back LaGarrette Blount punched Boise State’s Byron Hout, who appeared to taunt Blount during the post-game handshake following Boise State’s 19-8 victory.
Hout might should have not taunted Blount, but taunting is going to happen. But a player can’t respond the way Blount did.
But I can see why Blount would be frustrated. I mean, all week, he was saying how he was going to run all over the Broncos defense. Wow, he sure did that. How about these numbers? Eight carries for negative-5 yards. Wow, good job Blount.
Now, Blount will finish the season under the zero-yard mark, because today he was suspended for the entire season for his post-game actions.
Another thing that bugged me, though, was the Boise State fans chanting “overrated as the game neared the end. Am I wrong, but wasn’t Boise State ranked higher than Oregon? And wasn’t at home. Even so, no matter the situation, Boise should never be chanting “overrated.” They need to act like they’ve been there before, which they have. Boise State is one of college football’s top-tier programs now, and they need to start acting like it.
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College football is here!
The moment I have been waiting for since January is here. The kickoff to the college football season is just over an hour away.
There are two big games tonight on television, North Carolina State at the Old Ball Coach’s South Carolina Gamecocks, followed by No. 16 Oregon at No. 14 Boise State.
I will definitely be tuned in to both games, as well as tracking other games online, such as North Texas and Sam Houston.
Here are a few predictions for the season:
National championship: Texas over Florida.
Heisman: Colt McCoy, Texas.
OK, those may be a bit biased, but they are also not far-fetched.
Here is a look at the weekend ahead:
Game of the Week: No. 5 Alabama vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech
Game I’m most looking forward to: No. 13 Georgia at No. 9 Oklahoma State: A big early showdown featuring former Lufkin Panther Dez Bryant.
Five straight up picks
South Carolina over North Carolina State
Boise State over Oregon
Baylor over Wake Forest
Rice over UAB
Alabama over Virginia Tech
Five against the spread picks
New Mexico (+14 1/2) at Texas A&M
Louisiana-Monroe (+41 1/2) at Texas
Maryland (+21) at California
Connecticut (-3 1/2) at Ohio
BYU (+22) at Oklahoma
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A crazy game last night in Arlington
Down 11-0, the Texas Rangers rallied back to trail only 11-10 last night against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Then heading into the final inning, trailing by only one run, the Rangers allowed the Blue Jays to score seven runs in the top half of the ninth.
The Blue Jays won 18-10.
In the midst of a wild-card race, the Rangers need to win whenever possible. It would have been OK to lose 11-0, but after coming back to within a run, the Rangers should have completed the comeback.
To be honest, I don’t think the Rangers have enough to get into the playoffs. I think Boston will wind up winning the wild card.
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Pettitte almost perfect
Andy Pettitte was perfect through 6 2/3 innings tonight in Baltimore until Jerry Hairston Jr. booted a ball at third base.
First of all, why wasn’t A-Rod playing third?
Then, Nick Markakis singled to end Pettitte’s no-hit bid. Well it was good to see the 50-year-old Pettitte have a nice run at it. Actually it wasn’t, because I hate the Yankees, and he betrayed the Astros. Unfortunately, the Yankees are loaded and are going to run away with that division.
I just hope that, like normal, A-Rod and the rest of the Yankees choke in October.
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Chula Vistia (Calif.) wins Little League World Series
When I watched the youngsters from Chula Vista in the regionals before the World Series, I said that they would win the whole thing.
After watching them lose to San Antonio Tuesday night, it looked like the Texas boys were going to win the U.S. crown, but California powered its way through Texas Saturday with four home runs in a 12-2 win.
The California team blasted home run after home run all World Series behind the likes of Andy Rios, Kiko Garcia and Luke Ramirez. Those three players are some of the best players I have ever seen play at that age.
On Sunday, they didn’t have any long balls but found a way to win 6-3 over Chinese Taipei.
I think this might be the best Little League team I have ever watched.
And as far as Ramirez, all 6-2, 212 pounds of 13-year-old, watch out for him in a few years in either football or baseball. This kid will be a big-time high school and college athlete, and maybe someday, even a professional athlete. He has the body for football, but his baseball skills for his age are just off the charts.
Congratulations to the team from California for bringing a fifth straight LLWS title back to America.
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Dragons win 15-14
Dragons hold off Tigers 15-14, will play Center next Friday.
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Dragons take lead, but Mount Pleasant striked back
Courtney Patton hits LaBryant Johnson for a 37-yard strike and a one-handed grab to give the Dragons a 7-6 lead in the fourth quarter.
However, Mount Pleasant ran the ball nine straight times to give the Tigers the 14-7 lead with 6:38 to play.
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Mount Pleasant leads 6-0 heading into final quarter
The Tigers cashed in on a 1-yard run by Cash Thompson midway through the third quarter.
The Dragons are moving the ball early in the fourth quarter, but trail 6-0.
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Turnovers hurting/helping Dragons
The Nacogdoches Dragons fumbled for the third time in the first half, this time inside the 10-yard-line late in the first half.
Mount Pleasant also had two turnovers, a lost fumble and an interception.
Juniors Javoski Ervin and Josh Davis have come up huge defensively for the Dragons.
Mount Pleasant attempted a 44-yard field goal on the last play of the first half, but it fell short to give us a 0-0 halftime score in the season opener here at Sam Parker Stadium in Mount Pleasant.
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I am back!
After a long delay, I am back and ready to talk sports. A lot of things have happened in the sports world over the past few weeks.
Brett Favre is back playing football. Big surprise. I do think this will put the Vikings as one of the top teams in the NFC. Prediction: Vikings go 11-5 and reach the second round of the playoffs.
Michael Vick signed with the Eagles. I, unlike many people, was happy to hear this. Vick deserves another chance. Sure, what he did might have been wrong, but he suffered a punishment more severe than the crime warranted, in my opinion. I mean, Donte Stallworth killed a man and got way less time, but I guess dogs are given more value than humans in our world today.
Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez was traded from the Astros back to his former team, the Texas Rangers. The move made a lot of sense for the Rangers, who went from four catchers to one catcher very quickly, but it didn’t make sense for the Astros. Oh well, I guess Humberto Quintero and Chris Coste will be good enough to lead the Astros to another lousy season. I just hope Jason Castro’s MLB debut comes sooner, rather than later.
Billy Wagner, a former Astro, was traded from the Mets to the Red Sox. He wanted to leave the Mets so he could be a close. Now he is on another team with one of the best closers in the game — Jonathan Papelbon. Then, today the Red Sox release Brad Penny out of nowhere?
And another former Astro, Eric Bruntlett, made two errors to start the ninth inning, then turns this unassisted triple play to end the game. All I could say was Wow!
Also, this past week, has been one of my favorite sporting events, the Little League World Series. It’s fun watching these kids give their best effort to become the best the in the world. Go Texas.
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Ready for some football?
It’s August and that means one thing, football is almost here.
Today was the start of practice for many high school football squads, and the rest will begin next Monday. Plenty of football assignments are rolling in, and the annual District 14-4A media meeting is Wednesday, where we journalists will select a pre-district squad, as well as predict the order of finish for the six teams.
There is plenty of optimism surrounding the Dragons this year with a good young core of players returning. The other teams in the district have lost several key players, which should open the door for the Dragons to contend for a title.
I can’t wait for August 28 when the Dragons travel to Mount Pleasant for the high school opener. While Nacogdoches is the team I cover, I tend to keep up with all of the action in the state of Texas as much as I can.
I am also looking forward to Saturdays in September — sitting in front of the TV and watching game after game of college football. College football is the one sport I can watch no matter who is playing, from USC vs. Notre Dame to Podunk State vs. Catfish University. I just love the excitement and pageantry that comes along with the game.
And then on Sundays, I will also watch some NFL. I am not a huge fan of professional football, but for some reason, I watch a lot of it. I am a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan, so if they are on, I am definitely tuning in. I also tend to watch most of the Cowboys and Texans games, along with whatever other games are on, if for no other reason than to see if my fantasy team is doing well.
So like T.O. said, “Get your popcorn ready.” Oh yeah, I will have to watch some Bills games also. They were never really televised before, but with a new character comes some TV time.
The one thing I will miss this season will be listening to John Madden. But the season will go on. BOOM!
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Defending champs get reigning Cy Young
The front runner to get Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay was tired of waiting and annoyed at Toronto’s ridiculous asking price.
Instead, the Phillies went and got last year’s American League Cy Young winner Cliff Lee from the Indians and didn’t have to give up J.A. Happ, Kyle Drabek or Dominic Brown, all three of which were asked for by Toronto.
Sure, Lee isn’t having a season like last year, but he is still 7-9 with a 3,14 ERA for a terrible team. He has also won his last three starts in dominant fashion.
Now, the Phillies are the front runners to win the National League, again, and maybe their second straight World Series title if teams don’t start making moves. If the Red Sox can pull of a big deal before Friday’s deadline… like get Halladay, then they will be the front runner for sure and could provide a very entertaining World Series between the Phils and the Sox.
But it looks like Halladay is going to stay put. JP Riccardi is just wanting too much for the ace. He might as well ask the Cardinals for Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter, or ask the Yankees for CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira.
Also today, the Pirates traded away middle infielders Jack Wilson — to the Mariners — and Freddy Sanchez — to the Giants. Not really sure why, but it really helped the Giants, who desperately needed bats and also added Ryan Garko.
A possible Giants-Phillies first-round match in the playoffs is looking awfully good.
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Astros blow opportunity
The Astros had a chance to gain ground on the first-place Cubs tonight when they faced off at Wrigley Field.
Wandy Rodriguez and Carlos Zambrano were locked in a pitcher’s duel, and Lee homers, Carlos and Derek, had the game tied, 1-1, until the 13th inning.
The Cubs quickly loaded the bases with no outs for Alfonso Soriano, who just had to hit a deep fly ball to end the game. He hit it deep alright, over the center field fence for a walk-off grand slam. As he rounded third, he did the “you can’t see me” motion and jumped across home plate.
Now, the Astros are three games back after a three-game skid.
The Cubs had more chances, though, including bases loaded with one out, but tried a squeeze that failed miserably in the ninth inning against Jose Valverde.
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A grand night for Willingham
Quick, break up the Nationals.
Josh Willingham hit two grand slams tonight for the Nationals in a 14-6 rout of the Brewers, Washington’s third straight victory.
The Nationals haven’t won three straight games since the Bush administration.
Well maybe the boys from D.C. are going to turn things around with Barack Obama in charge. The Nationals need to be careful, though, and not fall out of contention in the Bryce Harper sweepstakes. They are only seven games back from the Padres for the worst record in baseball.
I wouldn’t worry, though. I think the Nationals will hold that spot and be able to add Harper and Stephen Strausburg to their roster in a few years and maybe finally become a relevant team.
Another noteworthy grand slam was hit tonight. Fernando Tatis hit a 4-run bomb for the Mets in a 7-3 win. Grand slams are what I know Tatis for. This is the guy that hit two grannies in one inning while teaming up with Mark McGwire on the Cardinals.
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Prospect tracker
Here is a look at how several baseball players are faring in the Minor Leagues.
Local
Trey Haley, Central Heights, Lake County Captains, Class A: The 2008 graduate of Central Heights picked up a win Saturday, pitching five innings, allowing one run and three hits against Lexington, the Class A club for the Houston Astros. Haley walked seven batters and struck out one. For the season, he is 3-6 with a 6.02 ERA in 12 appearances — 11 starts.
Tarlandus Mitchell, Alto, Boise Hawks, Class A: Mitchell has made seven appearances — five starts — for the Chicago Cubs farm club this season. He is 0-1 with a 7.27 ERA.
Steven Hill, SFA, Springfield Cardinals, Double-A: The former All-American for the Lumberjacks has been on a tear. He is on an eight-game hitting streak and has homered in the last three games. Sunday night, he went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. He has upped his average to .272 with 16 homers and 51 RBI. Look for this catcher to make a jump to Triple-A sometime soon. Both catchers at Memphis are batting .245 with a combined seven home runs.
Kevin Thomas, SFA, Quad Cities River Bandits, Class A: The former Lumberjacks and Central Bulldog picked up a win in his last start Friday. The win broke a three-game losing streak for him. He allowed three runs and five hits in six innings. He is 4-6 with a 4.31 ERA this season in 20 appearances — 13 starts.
Richard Folmer, SFA, Idaho Falls Chukars, Rookie League: The recent closer for the Lumberjacks, Folmer has been dominant in two stops of Rookie Ball. In his current stop, he has four saves and a 2.00 ERA in nine appearances out of the bullpen since moving for Arizona. In two appearances in Arizona, he had a 2.25 ERA. His overall ERA this season is 2.08.
Jared Schrom, SFA, AZL Rangers, Rookie League: Like Folmer, Schrom has adjusted well as a reliever in rookie ball. In nine appearances, he is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA and one save.
David Miller, SFA, Auburn Doubledays: Miller had a strong outing Sunday, pitching 2 1/3 perfect innings. He is 0-2 this season with a 10.32 ERA in seven relief appearances.
Other players I follow
Robert Ray, Lufkin, Las Vegas 51s, Triple-A: Ray is currently on the disabled list. This season, he is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in two Minor League starts. He also made four Major League starts and went 1-2 with a 4.44 ERA with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Craig Whitaker, Lufkin, San Jose Giants, Class A: Whitaker is 1-1 this season with a 3.63 ERA in 25 relief appearances. He has allowed only one earned run and four hits in his last nine appearances in 11 2/3 innings.
Trey Hearne, Lufkin, Memphis Redbirds, Triple-A: Hearne picked up a win tonight in his debut with the AAA club, allowing three runs and five hits in seven innings, with six strikeouts and one walk. All three runs came off of solo shots. In 21 appearances — 15 starts — this season with Double-A Springfield, he was 10-3 with a 3.06 ERA.
Josh Tomlin, Angelina College, Akron Aeros, Double-A: He is 9-8 with a 4.6 ERA this season in 19 appearances — 18 starts — for the Indians farm club.
Andrew Cashner, Angelina College, Tennessee Smokies, Double-A: The former Roadrunner and Horned Frog is quickly climbing up the Cubs Minor League system. A first-round pick in 2008, Cashner is already in Double-A, and in four starts, he is 0-1 with a 1.37 ERA. In 12 starts in Class A, he had no record with a 1.50 ERA.
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Mr. Perfect
Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle just threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Yes, i said it, Perfect! No walks, no hits, no errors.
Buehrle threw a no-hitter in 2007 against the Texas Rangers.
Every great no-hitter or perfect game has to have one incredible defensive play and Buehrle’s gem today was no different. For the first out in the ninth inning, Dewayne Wise robbed a home run, bobbled the ball falling down and still made the catch. All I can say is wow. Buehrle was obviously dominant on the mound, but without Wise’s catch and the rest of the defense, it wouldn’t have been possible.
Aaron Rowand’s ninth-inning catch a few weeks ago in the ninth inning of Jonathan Sanchez’s no-hitter was described as maybe the best no-hitter saving catch ever, but now it definitely has to be Wise’s grab today, if not the best play in the history of baseball.
I know a couple of no-hitters happen every year, but every time, it is amazing. As a baseball fan, I get goosebumps every time a no-hitter or perfect game reaches the ninth inning. I will probably see many more thrown in my lifetime, but I’m still likely to remember almost every one of them and where I was when I saw them.
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Here come the Astros
A few weeks ago, I said the Astros were worthless. Maybe I was wrong… At least I hope so.
Houston won its fourth game out of six coming out of the All-Star break, including two straight over the NL Central leading Cardinals.
Back-to-back bombs, a grand slam by Carlos Lee and a solo shot by Geoff Blum helped the Astros open up a 10-1 lead in the sixth inning. However, the Cardinals battled back when Wandy Rodriguez was pulled for the bullpen. The relievers imploded, but the Astros hung on for an 11-6 win.
Now, the Astros are in a three-way tie for second place, only two games behind the Cardinals. The Astros can turn that deficit to one game Wednesday night when Roy Oswalt takes the bumb against Chris Carpenter.
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