Archive for August, 2010

I am not quite sure why I have a “Junk E-Mail” file.

Most of the junk never gets there.

Yet stuff I really need to see does.

For instance, this showed up in my regular e-mail.

It claims to be a comment on a blog that I once wrote headlined:

“So may I introduce to you, the act you’ve known for all these years: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

I wrote it on June 11, 2007 and it dealt with the 40th anniversary of the Beatles’ most famous album.

But the comment said:

“Who in God’s name suspected creating a mosque at Ground Zero was likely the best idea? I am not much of a great fan of either Glenn Beck or Sarah Palin. Still, vs. Obama and the idiotic government, those two are geniuses. Get real, America. There is a little strange stuff gong down.”

Debbie

OhhhhK.

What Beck, Palin, Obama and a mosque in New York have to do with Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds — I really don’t know.

What’s worse is over in my “Junk E-mail” is my company credit card travel/expense request for the month of August.

This gives a whole new meaning to “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.”

In an earlier blog, I gave some thoughts on the two games I covered last weekend. Here are a few on the others.

* Sounded like a crazy back-and-forth affair in Jacksboro. Thought that game would be a toss-up, and it was. Lots of scoring, too.

* Great wins for Archer City, Seymour, Iowa Park, Quanah, Electra and Graham.

* Tough losses for City View, Bowie, Jacksboro, Henrietta and Rider.

* I thnk I might pick WFHS to beat Rider if the two teams played right now. The Coyotes can score way more easily than the Raiders.

* The seven new 11-man coaches went 3-4, with Iowa Park’s Scott Ponder, Graham’s Kenny Davidson and Quanah’s Jason Sims earning victories.

* Also, Steve Smith at Archer City is now the school’s winningest coach after the Wildcats beat Haskell. His record there is 37-29, and the turnaround of that program the last few years has been pretty remarkable.

* I thought Stamford might be flying under the radar a little bit. And I noted how I wasn’t sure the Moguls were the No. 4 team in Class A Div. II the other day. But I was still shocked the Bulldogs routed the Moguls, 53-19.

* I knew Nocona and Petrolia were breaking in some new guys and might need some time to time to jell, but both teams losing by a combined 80-6 makes me think both could be in for a long year.

* I’m starting to think Olney is cursed. Found out that all-state WR Reed Mankins had surgery on his knee in the preseason, and could be out for the whole year. It’s not an ACL repair, but it’s a meniscus repair.

I had this done to me my senior year of high school, and it’s more detailed than just a scope (that’s when they remove the meniscus. I still have a good 2-3 inch incision on the side of my knee from the repair. And yes, I’ve had both done. I was kinda walking the next day after my scope; I was on crutches a few weeks after my repair).

Coach Rodriguez hopes Mankins will return and it sounds like he’s rehabbing already, but I was sidelined for about 3 months. So I’m not optimistic he returns.

And this is after the Cubs lost QB Callen Pittman to ACL injuries the past two years. It’s a rough deal.

* I’m done playing doctor and evaluator. What were some of y’alls thoughts on the first week of the season?

I went to the TRN Kickoff Classic on Thursday night to watch WFHS take down Burkburnett. I wasn’t working, but I was up in the pressbox taking the game in.

Then I covered Holliday-Windthorst on Friday. Another blog is coming soon about all the weekend events, but here is what I witnessed with my own eyes during Week Zero:

* WFHS is super fast, and it’s not only Devontay Chaffin. Bubba Mathis is a sneaky little receiver who had lots of yardage after the catch, and WFHS QB Dylan Sheffield has a couple other weapons to choose. The Coyotes could very well score at least 30 points a game this season.

* But even if they do, the Coyotes won’t just have a ton of easy wins. Because I’m not sold on their defense yet. Burkburnett ran the ball pretty well on them, and the Bulldogs were a couple dropped/underthrown passes away from scoring three times through the air. The Denton Ryans of the world will hit those passes and score plenty if the Coyotes’ defense doesn’t improve.

* WFHS was able to get some soild pass rush on Burkburnett, and Sheffield had lots of time, although many of his throws were quick ones. Even though they didn’t run the ball real well, I’d say the Coyotes won the trench battle.

* Chaffin could lead WFHS in receiving and rushing. He looks to be their most dangerous backfield guy when he takes direct snaps.

* Speaking of Chaffin, I liked what I saw from Devin Chaffin of Burkburnett. He was battling through an ankle injury but kept coming back and looks like another threat in the backfield with QB Canon Cornelius.

* I liked how Burkburnett never quit in this game. I’m sure Coach Boswell would have liked to not give up 59 points, but often the Bulldogs were just overwhelmed by WFHS’ speed. And even though they led for most of the game, the Bulldogs kept battling.

* I called Chaffin’s long TD catch on 3rd-and-24. He hadn’t been in the first two plays, but the Div. I speedster lined up in the slot for that one. He got open pretty effortlessly through the Burk zone, too.

* I showed up 13 seconds into the game, and I had already missed a WFHS score on a kickoff return. Fitting in a game that featured 94 points.

Now onto Holliday-Windthorst

* I know Coach Green was pretty disappointed after the game, but I feel better about the Trojans now than I did after a similiar Holliday rout a year ago. That’s because although Joe Hoegger threw three costly picks, Windthorst’s passing game looks more in sync than at any time last year.

It obviously didn’t cost them the game, but 35 yards of penalties on their first drive was almost overcome. And besides a long TD run in the third quarter and a couple long TD runs by the Coles, they didn’t give up many big plays.

And I thought Windthorst kept Tyler Cole in check somewhat. Take out his 40-yard TD run, and he had something like 46 yards on 10 carries.

* Getting tossed out of any game isn’t smart, but the Windthorst lineman who got the boot on Holliday’s first offensive series didn’t help his team at all.

* Holliday is going to be tricky on offense this year. It only tried three passes, but didn’t really need to throw more. Their QBs — Jacob Hardin and Jacob Cole — will switch back and forth between plays, and then sometimes Tyler Cole takes direct snaps.

There was a nasty rumor going around this summer that I had called the Hotter’N Hell the Dumber than Do-Do.

Not true. My language was a bit stronger.

I wasn’t misquoted, but what I did say was taken out of context.

If you haven’t read my explanation, go back and check out my June 21 blog.

All I am here to say today is there in nothing dumb about our Hotter’N Hell Hundred.

Anytime you can get 13,000-plus people to come to our town in August to do anything, it has to be genius.

For three days, we filled our hotels and our restaurants with out-of-town visitors.

They left a lot of their dollar bills here.

We appreciate that for sure.

But the Hotter’N Hell does more than just put money in our cookie jar.

It is great PR for our town.

No longer are we “the town that has those big tornadoes.”

Now we are known as “the town that has that big bike race.”

Thank you, Roby Christie for having a dream.

About 55 people picked games this weekend (including my lovely wife — I’ll let you figure out her user name), but nobody was able to get more right than me.

That’ll probably be the only time that happens this year. I chose 14 of 18 correctly, while nine different people were 13 of 18.

But this week’s winner is RCC, who guessed the total score of Holliday-Windthorst on the dot — 42 points. So RCC, email me at duncanz@timesrecordnews.com so I can get you a TRN high school football shirt.

Thanks everyone for playing — that’s the most we’ve ever had, so we’re off to a great start. The Week 2 games should be up soon.

A few quick big games this week and who I think will win.

I promise next week we’ll have a full slate of predictions. But for now, the games I think are the biggest.

Rider at Abilene Cooper – I’m going to go with Cooper on this one. It’s a tough road game for the Raiders against a 5A school. If Rider can win, then it’ll be a wonderful way to start off the season, especially for new coach Jim Garfield.  

Sanger at Hirschi – The Huskies will be improved this season and I think they may even surprise some people. But this might just be their toughest non-district game. Sanger’s the pick.

Windthorst at Holliday – For the Trojans to keep this close, they’ll have to keep Tyler Cole in check somewhat. He is averaging 16 yards per carry against Windthorst the last two years. I think it’s going to be a close game, and I am anticipating Windthorst’s offense to show more teeth this year. But I don’t think the Trojans can afford to get into a shootout, and I think that might happen. Eagles by 10 or maybe a little more.

Iowa Park at Pampa – Coach Ponder’s debut comes against a team hoping to have better success at the 3A level. I think the Hawks win, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was closer than expected.

Seymour at Jacksboro – I think it’s a toss-up. Should be a real good game. The reason I leaned with the Tigers in the paper is that the Panthers’ unproven area on defense is in the secondary, and that’s exactly Jacksboro’s strength — its passing game and talented WR Taylor Spear. But like I said — a Panthers win wouldn’t surprise me.

Haskell at Archer City – This game starts at 8 p.m. (all but one of the Wildcats’ non-district games do) but it’ll be over pretty quickly as both teams are going to run, run, run. I give the edge to Archer City, who won this game last year and bring more people back this year.

The last of the district predictions has us looking at the area Class A races.

The main two districts are 4-A Div. I and 8-A Div. II, and if you ask me, those both should be pretty competitive.

Here’s how I voted for the football preview section:

4-A Div. I

1. Albany — Pretty much the same reasoning for Graham being the favorite in 6-3A. They made a run to the state title game last year, and while the Lions lost their biggest weapon, there’s still plenty of parts there to justify this top spot.

2. Seymour — This district is pretty brutal, but unless something crazy happens, I can’t see the Panthers not making it. They have a good QB and quality defensive front, plus the program has tasted never-before-seen success.

3. Stamford — The Bulldogs are my last playoff pick because I bet they have a chip on their shoulder after the letdown from last year. Stamford might have the best skill set of anyone in this district, and if they can get good line play, then watch out.

4. Olney — I hate to pick the Cubs on the outside right now, especially with WR Reed Mankins. But I want to see Olney’s defense to improve before I call them a playoff team. One thing’s for sure — they are going to score points.

5. Haskell — I’m probably the only person putting Haskell this low. Olney has been predicted here a lot. While the Indians return a couple big-time players off last season’s state semifinalist, they have a lot of holes to fill, too. But putting them last isn’t really an insult — it’s just how an example of how deep the district is.

8-A Div. II

1. Munday — First, let me say that any of the top three teams in this district can win this. The reasons I picked the Moguls over the others is because I believe Dee Paul will be the real deal (although I’m sure there will be some hiccups along the way); I think Kyler Urbanczyk is the district’s best defensive player and Blanford Paul will be a force up front (and I want to know how he looks running the ball). Not sure if they’re a legit No. 4 team in Div. II like Texas Football said, but they’ll be tough.

2. Windthorst — The Trojans will be tough — how good their offense is will be based on line play. I think Windthorst will be better than last year, and like my preview story said, they were a couple close games away from being district champs. This team has the potential to be real good, but we’ll have to wait and see. It’s worth noting the last three Trojan teams (since Brad Green left) have been around .5o0.

3. Archer City — I know Coach Smith expects them to win district, and they could very well win it. They have the most guys back. But the Wildcats need to stay healthy (they didn’t last year) and get into a groove on offense. They’ll be a tough team to beat, but I’m not ready to call them the team to beat yet.

4. Electra — I like the Tigers to be better this year, and I think they could snag a playoff spot. Electra is coming off a win vs. Archer last year in the finale, so I think they can play with anybody (plus they have more depth than in the past). But it’s a really tough district, and I like the the other three teams a little better.

5. Perrin-Whitt — I know they are much-improved from back when Windthorst and Archer City used to play them a few years ago. And they’ve made the playoffs the last two years and have a good RB coming back. But this district is 12 times tougher. The Pirates could pull an upset, but I don’t think they will make the playoffs.

Also

Quanah — I think they’re in the playoffs, although I;m not sure just how good they’ll be. I saw some good things on offense in the City View scrimmage (QB Tyson Marsh look liked he’s adjusted to the spread well) but the defense looked like it needs a lot of work. But I just don’t think they’ll finish in last.

Petrolia — I’d say they are out just because I think Collinsville and Lindsay are probably better, and both Muenster and Valley View are right there too. The Pirates made some strides last year, and they could even be better this year. But three of their four wins last year could have gone either way, so Petrolia will need to win the close ones again to get in.

High school football season officially opens tonight.

Life is good.

I fell in love with high school football back in 1955.

I was only 8 years old.

And it was more than just a game to me.

It was the autumn that followed by parents’ divorce.

My life had been torn apart.

I escaped the pain by falling in love with the Coyotes.

And old Coyote Canyon was my Friday night refuge from a broken home.

Here we are 55 years later.

Mama has been gone since 1963. Daddy died in 1968.

Coyote Canyon is a school bus parking lot.

But high school football lives on in a generation of grandchildren.

And just because it is now my job doesn’t mean it has quit being my passion.

I am ready for tonight’s TRN Kickoff Classic.

Burkburnett vs. the Coyotes. 7 p.m. Memorial Stadium.

Mom and Dad, take your kids.

I’ll see  you there.

The season kicks off tomorrow, and we’re wrapping up the daily preseason blogs here in the month of August. Hope you’ve found at least some of them enjoyable and informative.

Today we’re going to examine District 3-2A Div. II and Thursday we’re going to look at the Class A districts.

Here’s how I picked it for our preview section:

1. Holliday — There’s really not a whole lot seperating Holliday and Henrietta. Both had good teams last year and lost key pieces, but there is still some talent on both sides. And both schools’ tradition is excellent, so there won’t be a huge dropoff. Last year I went with Holliday and ignored that the Bearcats had the best player in Seth Crumpton. Should have gone with the Bearcats. This year. the best player — the guy who can really take over and win a game — is Tyler Cole. So that’s why I chose the Eagles.

2. Henrietta — Like I said, not much between the two teams. The Bearcats have some uncertainties but I have no doubt they’ll slowly improve during non-district and contend for the district title.

3. Jacksboro — The real unknown in this district. New coach. New system. New quarterback — a 6-3 sophomore that I’ve heard some good things about. One thing I do know is Taylor Spear is a heck of a player, and I’d be surprised to see the Tigers any lower than this.

4. Alvord — When Alvord was in this district, they never made the playoffs  but they were always hanging around on the outside. They have a solid team, and they could pull an upset in district. But I think they’re barely out.

5. City View — Can the Mustangs compete for a playoff spot? I’m not going to go out on that limb. But I think there are some parts — a deep backfield, a veteran QB, some solid defensive guys — that make City View a possible threat. The thing is (and I’ve mentioned this before) is injuries would devastate this team more than any other.

6. Nocona — The Indians could finish a couple spots higher than this. A lot of it has to do with how its handful of sophomores perform. I chose the Mustangs over Nocona because City View won last year’s meeting (on the road, no less) and City View has more players back from that team. Nocona lost a lot of guys off last year’s team (more than some people realize) and I think it’s going to take them a while to hit their stride.

Just wanted everyone to know the TRN Kickoff Classic between WFHS and Burkburnett is at 7 p.m. — not 7:30 p.m.

It was wrong in our tab section today — I guess we moved up the start time than in past years, but I know some of the coaches didn’t know it was earlier and I don’t think the sports guys up here knew either.

So show up at 7 p.m. It may be a little hotter, but it will get you home a little earlier.

I didn’t go to my 10th high school reunion, conveniently missed the 25th and skipped out on any of the other ones that might have taken place since then.

Of course, I never received an invitation to any of them, but that is understandable.

I have lived in Hooterville Falls most  all my life.

My picture has been in the hometown newspaper four or five times a week for the last 38 years.

I can see how they might have not been able to find me.

But one guy from the Wichita Falls High School Class of 1964 did manage to locate me this week.

I don’t know him, but what the hell?

I doubt if he remembered me from high school (there wasn’t much to remember).

The guy said he is trying to round up some of the Class of ’64 to help get the 50th reunion planning kicked off.

He said he talked with the executive director of the WF symphony orchestra about our class sponsoring one of its fall concerts in 2013.

Now, the way I figure it, our 50th reunion won’t be until 2014.

So I don’t understand why the 2013, but that’s not the story here.

He said we could all get together (and celebrate our 49th anniversary) by going to a Coyote football game on Friday night and then all go to the symphony on Saturday.

A “homecoming weekend reunion” is how he put it.

Now here’s the catch.

The sponsorship of the concert is $5,000.

He wants all who can to chip in for this “class project.”

“To fame and fortune, we shall soar — senior class of ’64.”

That was our class slogan.

This guy has soared a lot higher than Nicky G.

He has a Ph.D in petroleum engineering and works for an oil company.

I write stupid crap like this for a living.

Now if he had suggested we all chip in as many one dollar bills as we can and have a senior class reunion at Maximus — hey, I might go.

But the symphony?

I haven’t been to the symphony since the third grade.

It cost 35 cents.

I fell asleep.

So this was my reply to his offer.

“ I may be just ignorant or unsophisticated, but I wouldn’t go to the WF symphony if you paid me. Sorry, not interested.”

Write back in 2089 when you’re planning our 75th.

Or, by your strange count, 2088.

Time to look at some 3A high school football action as we count down the days until the season starts.

And remember, “Sack Zach” is up and running. The website relaunches tomorrow but you can still go in and start selecting this week’s games for “Sack Zach” today.

Here’s how I voted for the 6-3A race in the TRN football preview (coming out tomorrow)  and why I did so.

1. Graham — I tried, I really did, to find somebody or some website/magazine that didn’t have the Steers in first. I kinda thought they’d be the favorite all along, but I wanted to hear somebody credible tell me they thought otherwise. I couldn’t. It’s because of the continuity on staff, a really good receiver and a few defensive holders, plus a quality JV team in which QB Layne Bynum played on last year. Obviously, Bynum is inexperienced, but nobody will have more kids out — Graham didn’t have a single two-way player in 2009 — and all these young guys got to not only taste playoff success, but also had six more weeks of practice during their run last year. It wouldn’t be shocking if they didn’t win district, but the Steers are definitely the current favorites.

2. Burkburnett — QB Canon Cornelius is a good one, but others in the backfield still will need to emerge before the Bulldogs can be considered district favorites. And for the last couple years, the center of the defense has been Lorenzo Barnes and Malachi Naef, who both are now playing in the LSC. The loss of those guys may mean more to Burk than losing McCoy did at Graham. Last year Burkburnett started out kinda slow and then really turned it on by the time district rolled around, and I’m a firm believer that will happen once again.

3. Iowa Park — Did you know the end of the Wing-T in this area is over? Now that both IP and Vernon don’t run it, there’s not a single area school whose offense is based out of that formation. Obviously, Ponder has the kids excited, and Lee Clubb is an amazing player who will be a very good QB. The question is on the lines, where a lot of guys graduated last year. The Hawks will be competitive right from the start, but I think it’ll be tough to win a district title right off the bat with the adjustments to the new system. Finishing second wouldn’t surprise me though.

4. Hirschi — I like the Huskies ahead of the other 1-9 team (Vernon) because of the coaching continuity and the fact that the Huskies are never hurting for athletes. Maybe the best thing is that Coach Searcy has a deeper line than he’s ever had. The Huskies seem like they always have line trouble so this is a good thing. The biggest thing is winning a couple games early. Last year Hirschi went 1-4 in non-district but it could have easily been 3-2. Once district started they had winnable games against Vernon and Decatur, and couldn’t come through in either. Maybe with a couple more wins under their belt, they do. This district is wide open at the bottom, so fourth place is a real possibility. And with some pre-district wins, the Huskies could even possibly knock on the door for the playoffs.

5. Vernon — The Lions will have a very good running back in Devin Butler, but I’m not sure where else will be a real strength. They have got to get better on defense. I only saw them play once last year, and Burkburnett had their way with them. I’m sure Andy Correll has the kids fired up, and with Vernon’s tradition and amount of athletes they generate, they’ll be better this year. But seeing is believing, and I’m not ready to pronounce the Lions a playoff contender.

6. Bowie — The Jackrabbits could finish as high as fourth, but I’ll be real surprised if they are a playoff team. Look at their history of playing in 3A — it’s been rough. Something like one playoff berth from 1983-2007. The number game absolutely kills them. Plus, Bowie was getting third in the area 2A district the last two years. I’m not even sure if Henrietta would made the playoffs as a 3A in this district in 2009 (behind Bridgeport and Burkburnett for sure, maybe the Bearcats would have beaten IP). So what I’m saying is they weren’t good enough the last two years to make the 3A playoffs, and I’m not sure the 2010 team is strides and strides better than the last two groups. Castles is a good coach, and I know he’s playing the “us against the world” card. But I don’t see David knocking off Goliath in this one.

It might not mean much to you or to anybody else — but when my cell phone rang on Monday and the caller-ID read “Danny Hodge,” I got pretty excited.

Now realized this is coming from a guy who has interviewed a whole lot of big-time sports stars over the years.

O.J. and Tiger.

Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.

Magic Johnson and Sugar Ray Leonard.

Nolan Ryan. Lee Trevino. Cal Ripken Jr. Tom Landry.

Shaq. Kobe. Dr. J.

Bo Jackson. Bob Lilly………………………

The list goes on and on and on and on.

You see where I’m coming from. It’s hard for me to get “pretty excited” about talking to some  celebrity.

But my heart skipped a beat when I saw that Danny Hodge was calling me.

If my caller-ID had read “White House,” I doubt I would have been as excited.

You may be too young to know who Danny Hodge is.

But during the 1960s everyone in Wichita Falls knew he was the best damn wrestler on the planet.

He was a hero on Thursday nights at the 4-H Barn.

Danny Hodge was Roy Rogers without Trigger.

He was Superman without the cape.

He is Luke Skywalker defending us from Darth Vader.

He whipped up on all of those bad guys — the ones wearing masks, the pretty blonde boys, the foreigners who waved their strange flags and burnt our red, white and blue.

Was it fake or real?

Let’s put it this way — we damn sure wanted it to be real.

We wanted more Danny Hodges to make us safe from evil threats.

As you can see, this old man is really getting worked up writing about this Hodge fellow.

There was nothing fake about Danny Hodge.

This country boy from Perry, Okla., had a 46-0 amateur wrestling record with 36 pins at the University of Oklahoma.

He won three straight NCAA national champions with pins in all three championship matches.

He was a two-time Olympian and a silver medal winner in 1956.

He was also a great Golden Gloves champion with a 17-0 record (12 knockouts) in his amateur career.

Today the Dan Hodge Trophy is to amateur wrestling what the Heisman Trophy is to college football.

Danny Hodge was always a good guy, a hero to us all.

And at age 78, he still is.

There are four more days until the high school football season starts, so we’re going to spend these next four days looking at my district predictions.

My predictions are going to be exactly how I voted in the TRN football preview section that hits newsstands on Wednesday. By the way, everyone should check it out. It should be a good one.

Anyway, we’ll start off with District 4-4A, which features Rider and WFHS as well as five other Metroplex schools. Here’s what I had, plus some thoughts on the matter:

1. Denton Ryan — It’s the easy pick. And the most realistic. RB Kaylon Alexander may be the district’s best ballcarrier, and I’m betting he’ll be relied on more now that QB Scotty Young is gone. The defense has some very talented players, too. Ryan always reloads, and they’ll be the team to beat.

2. Lake Dallas — Though not as stacked as in recent years (and without the do-everything QB James Franklin), the Falcons still have some dangerous playmakers, led by Dalyn Williams. They could slip down a spot or two, but they have lots of kids in their program who have discovered how to win the last two years.

3. Rider — Lots of people have Rider in second, and they may very well finish there. But there’s a lot of unproven pieces on offense, and this is a district that you’re going to have to score points in order to win. The Raiders’ defense will be very good, too. So that should help the offense out the first few games. Still, I can’t put a team that won two games in 2009 all the way at second in district the next year.

4. Little Elm — The Lobos are going to have lots of athletes — I saw that at last year’s district track meet. They did win some close games last year, so maybe those games go against them this season. But they’ll be in the mix either way.

5. WFHS — Full disclosure here. I picked the Coyotes fifth when Devontay Chaffin was off the team. Now that he’s back, I would have switch the Coyotes’ place with Little Elm. I hate to say one player makes that much difference — WFHS has a bunch of good guys — but I have a feeling Chaffin will win a game or two that the Coyotes would’ve lost without him. A big key here for WFHS this season is its line play on both sides.

6. The Colony — The Cougars used a bunch of young guys last year, so it’s very possible they will be improved after a two-win season. Just not so sure it’ll be enough to make the playoffs.

7. Denton — No surprise here. Ever since Denton Guyer came around about 10 years ago, it has been real hard for Denton to compete. That won’t change this year.

Just letting everyone know “Sack Zach” — the weekly high school football  pick ‘em game — is now up and running.

Go to our high school football section, and you’ll have to come up with a new log-in. Even if you played last year, all used IDs were wiped clean. So get a new user name and go ahead and pick the winners for this week’s games.

Play here

Texasfootballratings.com finally came out with their preseason package, predicting how every team will finish and how the playoffs will play out.

Obviously, this has to be taken with a grain of salt. But it’s fun to look at.

So here’s how every area team is predicted to fare in the playoffs. After that, I’ll share a couple thoughts of what I think.

Class 4A Div. I – Rider loses to Wolfforth Frenship in bi-district

Class 3A Div. I – Burkburnett loses to Abilene Wylie in bi-district

Class 3A Div. II – Iowa Park loses to Brownwood in bi-district; Graham beats Snyder, then loses to Kennedale in Area

Class 2A Div. II – Jacksboro loses to Crawford in bi-district; Henrietta beats Millsap, then loses to Idalou in Area; Holliday gets a bye, beats Post and Crawford, then loses Idalou in quarterfinals

Class A Div. I – Quanah loses to Canadian in bi-district; Seymour beats Olton, loses to Stratford in Area

Class A Div. II – Roscoe beats Archer City in bi-district; Windthorst beats Ralls, then loses to Iraan in Area; Munday gets a bye, then beats Van Horn, Bronte and Iraan before losing to Springlake-Earth in the state semis.

Six-Man Div. I – Crowell beats Turkey Valley, loses to Meadow in regionals; Knox City beats Zephyr, loses to Avalon in regionals; Throckmorton beats four teams by at least 30 points before narrowly losing to Garden City

Six Man Div. II – Bryson loses to Fannindel in bi-district; Harrold loses to Milford in bi-district; Newcastle beats Rule and Fannindel before losing to Strawn in quarterfinals

Other thoughts:

* I think WFHS will do better than 2-8 and they’ll finish better than sixth in district

* Surely Hirschi will win more than one game. Same thing with City View.

* Think it’s too early to say Holliday is going to go 10-0. They’ve got enough tough games and are inexperienced enough for that to be a strong possibility.

* If Olney only wins one game, I’ll be shocked. Not sure how good the Cubs will be, but they’ll be better than that.

* Munday will be good and right now they’re my pick to win the 8-A Div. II district, but 10-0 will be a very daunting task. The Moguls have a tough non-district schedule (starting Friday with Munday) and district won’t be easy either.

It’s just not cool for little boys to like the first day of school.

It just goes against boys are all about.

Swimming.

Baseball.

Hanging with your buddies.

Sleeping late.

Family vacations.

The start of school means the end of all things fun.

Reading, Riting and Rithmetic take their place.

Goodbye pizza. Hello cafeteria food.

I recently asked my 7-year-old grandson if he was looking forward to school starting back up.

“No way,” he answered.

I knew his answer before he opened his mouth.

He has spent the last couples of months at a baseball camp, a soccer camp and a basketball camp.

He goes swimming two or three times a week.

He plays video games. He eats pizza.

He hangs out at the Boys and Girls Club.

What boy would want to see all that come to an end?

Any boy who says he likes the first day of school is looked at as  a nerd by other boys.

So even if you do — never, ever, ever, ever, ever admit it.

Or do like me and wait until you are 60something before you do.

It took me awhile, but I now confess that  I always looked forward to the first day of school.

I wanted to see which kids — especially the cute girls — were in my new class.

I wanted to know who would be my new teacher.

I wanted to feel a little more important now that I was in a higher grade. It’s so much cooler being a second-grader than being a first-grader.

And the first day of school meant that football season, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas were right around the corner.

Also on the first day of school, the good teachers never handed out homework.

And the last bell always rang a couple hours early.

I loved the first day of school.

It was the second day of school that I hated.

Will blog real soon on thoughts of Pigskin’s Preps predictions, but for now, here’s a couple random little nuggets:

* Devontay Chaffin is back on the WFHS team. He caught a long touchdown pass in Friday night’s scrimmage on the very first play.

* WFHS played Saginaw Boswell in last year’s TRN Kickoff Classic. This year in the TRN Kickoff Classic, they’re playing Burkburnett, which is coached by Scott Boswell.

* Another fun name game. Hirschi plays Ponder early in the season. Then once district starts, the Huskies will play a team coached by Scott Ponder.

Well, scrimmages are now over with, and there’s less than one week until the season starts.

And a couple quarterback battles have been decided.

In Holliday, the Eagles will enter the season with not one but two Jacobs — senior Jacob Hardin and sophomore Jacob Cole will split time.

Coach Wolf said both bring different things to the table — Cole has the better arm and moves around better in the pocket, while Hardin offers leadership and solid decision-making you’d expect from a senior.

Who knows if it stays this way, but since both guys are full-time starters on defense and Coach Wolf likes to give them some rest, I’d think it would take one guy really outplaying the other once the season starts to earn the gig full-time.

The other QB battle of note in Quanah was between Tyson Marsh and Roderick Woodard, who was the team’s tailback last year.

Marsh earned the right to keep his job (although his job in the spread this year is a lot more different than last year), and I’m not at all surprised after watching him at the scrimmage at City View.

I only saw a couple plays of Woodard running the offense (he got the first 15 on offense), but Marsh looked pretty good in his 15. He found open receivers, bought time in the pocket and even made a couple plays with his feet. Looked like he’d been playing in the spread all his life.

Coach Sims said Marsh showed some moxie the last couple weeks. So Woodard stays at RB, which is where he rushed for about 1,600 yards a year ago.

I was kinda impressed with City View at the scrimmage. Their first 15 with the offensive starters wasn’t great, but they moved the ball well on their second 15. Fernando Moore had a long TD run, and City View would have scored another time if it wasn’t for a goal-line fumble.

I didn’t stay around for the timed quarter (I had a 17-month-old with me who was getting a little bit too creative in the pressbox) but I heard City View won that too, 19-7.

Here’s the deal witht the Mustangs. I don’t know how good their defense is going to be — it had a few breakdowns against Quanah, a team that’s not as scary as most City View will face in their district.

But I like the Mustangs’ offense. The three backs — fullback Bill Powers, Moore and speedster D.J. Brown — complement each toher well with their strengths. And the line looked solid, too.

Health is the deciding factor. City View QB Stephen Leija was held out with a tweaked hamstring (Jarrett Rangel played instead) and their center is out a month with a broken foot. Injuries can kill this team in 2010 because it’s not a deep one. So maybe City View is in the mix right now, but it’s margin for injury error is slim.  

Other things I heard about at scrimmages:

* That J.T. Barrett looked good for the Raiders. He may not be Rider’s QB this year, but I bet he is in 2011.

* That Holliday looked real sharp against Seymour, winning the timed quarter 17-0. Was leaning toward picking the Trojans in next week’s Archer County showdown, but I definitely have to rethink that one.

* That Nocona had its way with Chico. I’m not surprised there.

* That Henrietta’s defense played well against Hirschi. Didn’t allow any big plays for scores.

To some Americans, the plan to put a mosque and Islamic cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero would be like opening a Japanese restaurant at Pearl Harbor.

Hey, I like my teriyaki, but can’t I eat it in another zip code?

I also believe in religious freedom, but can’t you pray to Allah over in Brooklyn?

This week I got an e-mail from the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA and it expressed my feelings over what has become such a hot issue.

“As our Muslim neighbors begin their observance of Ramadan with fasting, re-dedicating themselves to God and God’s service, we as Christians are troubled by fellow Christians in the United States who are expressing intolerance against Muslims in words and deeds.

“Christ calls us to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39). It is this commandment, more than the simple bonds of our common humanity, which is the basis for our relationship with Muslims around the world.

“Grounded in this commitment, we question the anti-Muslim tenor of actions and speech regarding the building of Cordoba House and mosque near the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City. We are keenly aware that many Muslims, as well as Jews, Christians, Hindus, and others, lost family members in the attacks on September 11, 2001. We recognize, as does the Muslim community around the world, that it was a group of Muslims who embraced terrorism and teachings counter to the Qur’an and Islam that carried out this action. We stand with the majority of Muslims—including American Muslims—who are working against such radical influences in their communities. They have our support for building the Cordoba House as a living monument to mark the tragedy of 9/11 through a community center dedicated to learning, compassion, and respect for all people.  This effort is consistent with our country’s principle of freedom of religion, and the rights all citizens should enjoy.

“We also decry the anti-Muslim actions and plans of many church leaders and members, such as those of the Dove World Outreach Center in the U.S.A.  Misguided or confused about the love of neighbor by which Christ calls us to live,  leaders and members of this church and others are engaged in harassment of Muslims, and in the planning of an “International Burn the Qur’an Day,” to be held on September 11th.   Such open acts of hatred are not a witness to Christian faith, but a grave trespass against the ninth commandment, a bearing of false witness against our neighbor.  They contradict the ministry of Christ and the witness of the church in the world.

“We ask all Christians to promote respect and love of neighbor, and to speak and work against extremist ideas, working with Muslims as appropriate, in order to live out the commandment to love our neighbor, and to promote peace.”