Archive for October, 2011

“Put on ya costume, already”

Richard Carter

X at the Pub Saturday night

Last Saturday, a new band called Doppelgangers performed their first ever show in Wichita Falls at Old Town playing in front of the Blue Light Special band.

To be honest several members of the Doppelgangers play for Blue Light Special but the band sounds quite different. One plays instrumental sort of prog rock tunes, while the other plays sort of ‘70s blues songs.

Doppelgangers features the guitar players and keyboardist of Mr. Fairchild, who played their last show ever Saturday October 29. Anywho, the band also has former 10 Cent Pistol (and current Enthusiast) bassist Jason Cooper. Louis Tucker plays drums but he’s not the guy from Lewis Louis. That’s John Lankford on the drums.

Anywho, the Doppelgangers plays songs by bands that you’ve never heard of before, but the tunes are tight, have tons of energy and a good beat. Nobody danced to their music, though I think they could have. People did nod their heads and seemed to enjoy themselves.

Wow, do we have some instrumental bands in town. We have Broadcasting on all Frequencies and also the Jason Brown Band, and for a small town like Wichita Falls, that’s saying something.

Speaking of Fairchild, they practiced with their original drummer Rob Kirkland who actually played drums with them some Saturday night. He also sang some Dio and that was entertaining. Dude even picked up a guitar and played some. When asked at practice, he explained why he actually quit playing drums, but I am not allowed to say.

Word on the street has it that the Soundgarden show with Mastodon Wednesday night in Grand Prairie was one of the better live shows ever. Supposedly Soundgarden played two hours non-stop and people never sat down. That’s what they call a great show.

There is no word yet what the guys from Fairchild will do now that they’re calling it a day. They’ve been together for over 10 years, and it’s kind of strange to think there will be a local scene without them. No one around them knows what to say about it. Shame that.

I chatted with one of the members of Minor Prophets earlier this week, and they are nearing the end of their recording in Dallas at the same studio that Bowling for Soup and a number of other major recording acts have laid down tracks. I can only imagine that it will sound pretty good. I will let you know when the band is ready to release the CD.

The Derby Dames benefit is coming up on (I believe on) November 11 to replace the one that was rained out. The Doppelgangers will be playing the show. Also playing is Standing Hallow, Roselawn, The Disco Rico and possibly Broadcasting on all Frequencies. There will be some good bands out there and the cause is totally worthwhile, so check it out.

A documentary called “Thunder Soul” opened Friday at the Parker Square Cinemark and from what I have read about the high school funk band from Houston (and the few previews I saw of the flick) it looks absolutely great. There are not that many great documentaries about high school jazz turned funk bands. This looks to be a sweet movie that people should consider checking out.

I interviewed Texas Blues Runners tomorrow, and that’s an awful lot of talent and ability playing together in one band. They will be playing at the Backdoor Theatre as part of band night weekend after next, and that’s a great environment to see a show.

Finally, don’t forget to see Sam Baker next Thursday at the Museum. He’s a pretty talented guy and it’s totally free. No bad, there.

Denton at Rider – Raiders have played well last two times out, and I don’t expect that to change this time around. Rider by 20+.

WFHS at Denton Ryan –Colleague Andy Newberry gave WFHS QB Dylan Sheffield an over/under of 248 passing yards against the soon-to-be 4-4A champs. I’m leaning toward over, but I could be way off. The Coyotes must give him time to throw, something tough with FSU commit Mario Edwards at DE. Ryan by 25.

Hirschi at Vernon –Although it’s not a given yet, this could be the third straight year this matchup decides last place in 6-3A. The Lions have the area’s worst offense, but the Hirschi defense hasn’t really slowed down anybody lately. I like Vernon by 10.

Burkburnett at Graham –I smell an upset here, but I don’t have the guts to pick it. Or maybe I’m just playing it safe. I know Burkburnett will score probably three times at least, but I’m not so sure Graham’s offense can keep up. But it’s in Graham. Still, Bulldogs by a touchdown.

Iowa Park at Bowie – Still can’t say enough about those Jackrabbits. As one of 3A’s smallest schools and after an 0-2 start, Bowie is a game away from the playoffs. I think they got it done tonight — Bowie’s defense has been too good for IP to score enough to keep up.

City View at Holliday –Holliday will win this by 24-30 points, because Holliday, in mine and a lot of others’ opinions, is just that much better than everyone else in district. The thing I am anxious to see is if City View scores.

Henrietta at Nocona – I’m picking Henrietta because I’m a man of myword, and after I picked against the Bearcats last week, I told the Henrietta pressbox guys I’d go with them in this game. But honestly, a Nocona win wouldn’t be surprising. Should be a great game.

Jacksboro at Alvord – Loser gets last place in district. I’ll take the Bulldogs but don’t feel great about it.

Quanah at Panhandle –Quanah has impressed me this season (except for that egg laid against Munday — to be fair, they were without their QB), and the Indians did claim a huge district win last week. Still, I’ll go with the home team and eat my words if I’m wrong.

Olney at Haskell –Like Alvord-Jacksboro, this is for exclusion from the cellar. Haskell has the best district showing of the two (hanging with Seymour), and that’s the only reason I’ll go with them.

Albany at Seymour – Seymour pulled off one mild upset against Stamford a couple weeks ago. Can’t see them pulling another one. Lions by 14.

Petrolia at Collinsville – In the battle of Pirates, I’ll go with the home side by a bunch.

Windthorst at Munday –Here we go. The best game of what is a really good week. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I can’t pick Munday after covering last year’s games. Is that stupid logic? Some would say so. I say the Moguls make this a lot more interesting, but I like Windthorst by 10-14.

Archer City at Electra –A couple of knowledgeable people I’ve talked to say this should be a close game (which I expect) but they are giving the edge to the Tigers because they have more big-play ability. Since Electra is also at home, they’re the pick.

When you ride with Ron Washington, the most successful manager in Rangers history, you get all of him.

The Wash that used Alexi Ogando last night I didn’t like. The Wash who didn’t let Scot Feldman bat in the 11th inning when pinch-hitting meant going to Mark Lowe I didn’t like. The Wash who didn’t let Feliz go out for a second inning I didn’t like. The Wash who played his OFers so deep that Lance Berkman couldn’t help but find an open spot for a game-tying single I didn’t like. Anything over the OFers head would have been a homer anyway.

But when you lose a tough game like that I’m glad Wash is on the Rangers side. He’s calm. He knows how to get his team to move on. And he’s going to love his guys as much today as he did yesterday.

Having Ron Washington perhaps contributed to losing that crazy game. But having Ron Washington in the dugout could mean a win tonight in Game 7.

And having a manager get a team to back-to-back World Series. That Wash I like a lot.

Crossing my fingers.

You just get the feeling that some districts are going to come down to the wire and others just aren’t.

Like in 6-3A. I have a pretty good feeling Burkburnett-Bowie will be for a district title, but other than that, I don’t think Week 10 will have much suspense.

But in 3-2A, I think we’re headed for a possible tiebreaker or at the very least, a Nocona-City View game that will determine a playoff spot.

Here are some other thoughts after Week 8:

* City View’s defense was manhandle by a Henrietta offense that hadn’t done much before last Friday. Hard for me to think they’ll keep the Eagles from scoring at least 3 or 4 times. And trust me, Holliday isn’t giving up more than maybe a touchdown.

* I was right about Holliday being 3-4 TDs better than everyone else in district.

* Not sure what Henrietta coach Byron West was doing by kicking a third onside kick attempt in the first half against City View. Especually with 50 seconds left in the half and the first two had failed. After talking to him afterward, I’m not sure he knew either.

* Not a real district surprise upset last week (I thought Henrietta-City View was a toss-up). And unless Burk or Bowie loses or if Seymour beats Albany, not sure it’ll happen this week, either.

* Big win for Quanah. If the Indians beat Panhandle this week, they’ll be district champs. That’s impressive considering how young they are.

* The Coyotes struggled offensively for the first time in a while against Lake Dallas. And Rider’s offense looked as good as it had all season against The Colony. Harder for me to think there will be an upset next weekend.

* This week is by far the best of the district slate. And I’d be saying that even if it was the first week of district and playoff spots/district titles weren’t on the line.

* Looks like another Hirschi-Vernon bout will determine last place. That’s three years in a row.

For the second straight week, I tied for the lead  but lost out on a tiebreaker. AreaFootballFan and I were the only ones to get 15 of 17 correct.

Here are the season totals:

1. Me — 112

2. AreaFootballFan — 111

3. One-Legged Fade — 107

4. Keystoner — 106

“On the road again”

Richard Carter

The Pretty Reckless in Dallas last week

During the busiest time of the year, I heard that The Pretty Reckless was playing in Dallas. And that a cool new band called Rival Sons out of Los Angeles was also playing.

Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows how I feel about The Pretty Reckless. They’re a fun band with great songs that can play and grab an audience’s attention. Their lead singer sings like she means it, and the rest of the band can jam.

I have seen the band on its first tour in 2009 opening for the Veronicas. I missed Warped Tour two summers ago but saw them again in February 2011 and then again last week. The group has always been energetic and really good. I had hoped to hear a new song or two when they played last week, since the rumor was they were recording in LA right before the tour, but they did nine familiar originals, mostly singles, and an Audioslave cover.

The show started off well but the band was plagued with sound issues, so they didn’t really hit their full stride with their sound, presence and getting the crowd into it by the sixth song. They did 10 songs overall, but there was no encore. I suspect that Evanescence wanted the time to play, and supposedly shows in that venue end before midnight.

It’s fun to watch a band develop live watching them play twice a year or even as little as once a year. The Pretty Reckless continue to get better. The first album did not sell enough to do a major headline tour, so instead they are touring behind a band that draws very well in larger indoor venues. I do think the Pretty Reckless is going to be around for a while. But for them to headline in large venues, they need to put out a second album that’s as good as their first one with enough singles to make them a household name.

I did get a chance to talk with The Pretty Reckless bassist, who is actually quite a nice guy. We had met at their last show and he has a good sense of humor and does not act the way he looks. On this tour, he said that he’d been checking out Rival Sons, who played a 35-minute set.

The band reminded me of an early Led Zeppelin mixed in with an early ‘70s Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart singing. The singer had one of those great blues voices and the guitarist could crank. The bassist is a former 1 o’clock jazz band guy from North Texas State and the drummer was up to the task. They were a lot better than the average opener on a three-band set. I wished they had a second guitarist to cover some of the lines they overdub on the record.

If you haven’t heard The Pretty Reckless (or Rival Sons) yet, you need to check them out.

I went to the Friday night benefit at the Neon Spur and wished there had been a larger crowd. I think that most people don’t even know the club is open this year, or if they did know then that maybe the club had already closed down for the season.

Zombie crawl is next weekend, so I recommend that you check it out and also see X play their annual Halloween show at the Iron Horse Pub. X really is the premiere ‘80s hair band playing locally.  Jac Damsel will open, so it should be an entertaining and fun evening.

Next week we’ll look at district scenarios. For now, here’s this week’s picks:

Rider at The Colony – Rider should come out on top, but nothing is guaranteed in this district. Still, I give the Raiders the edge based on having two weeks to prepare.

Bowie at Hirschi – Hirschi may be able to crack Bowie’s defense a little bit, but I don’t think the Huskies will be able to keep Bowie’s offense from scoring about 25-28 points. Bowie wins this and almost locks up a playoff spot.

Burkburnett at Iowa Park — If IP wants to keep it close — and this game is often close when it shouldn’t be — then the Hawks must run off a 5 or 6-minute drive every quarter, and score on most of those. Just not so sure that can happen. Bulldogs by 14-20.

Graham at Vernon – The Steers can’t play crappy and win this game, and they’ll be without QB Garrett Johnston. But Vernon is not as tough defensively and has a little less offensive firepower. Side note: Only WFHS has rushed for fewer yards in the area than these two teams.

Holliday at Alvord – Not a question of who will win (Holliday by 28 or more), but two questions I have: Will Alvord score on the Eagles (probably, but it might be on backups)? and How many rushing yards will the Twilligear/Cole combo have (Fenoglio had about 350; Brown had more than 250 the last two weeks)?

City View at Henrietta – I see this as a toss-up. If Henrietta turns it over 3-4 times a game like it has the past two weeks, the Bearcats will lose. If City View can’t break 2-3 long TD runs (and the Mustangs didn’t in a 22-7 loss last year), then Henrietta wins. I’ll give a slight edge to City View, but I expect it to go down to the wire.

Nocona at Jacksboro – This could be a trap game for the Indians. City View played Henrietta well and did some good stuff against City View. But there’s only one Tate Fenoglio, and he is on Nocona’s side.

Clarendon at Quanah – I went back and forth on this one. Another toss-up. I’ll probably regret not going with the home team, but I think Clarendon’s just more experienced.

Seymour at Olney – Panthers probably won’t overlook Cubs after huge win last week and huge game against Albany next week. Seymour by at least 20.

Lindsay at Petrolia – Pirates need this one or playoff hopes are done. I think Petrolia can keep it close against a Lindsay team that isn’t as strong as in past seasons, but I like the Knights.

Electra at Windthorst – Trojans in a rout. They’ve been a machine against inferior opponents, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

Munday at Perrin-Whitt – If the Moguls played hard the whole game, I have no doubts they could score 100 on the Pirates. They will win very easily.

Now that we’re two weeks into district play (longer for or 4-4A schools), it’s easier to see come patterns emerge.

Unless Iowa Park can upset Bowie or Burkburnett, it looks like those two schools and Graham will be the three 6-3A representatives. I really thought there wouldn’t be as much seperation between some of those games (IP-Hirschi; Vernon-Bowie, etc.), but this district seems to be getting pretty clear.

Nocona-Henrietta looks like to be pretty big coming up, and if Henrietta beats City View this week, then City View-Nocona is probably for a playoff spot in Week 10.

But one district got tossed for a loop. Good ole 4-4A, which saw WFHS whip district-leading Little Elm 49-21. Now the Coyotes have legitimate playoff hopes if they can upset either Lake Dallas or Rider down the stretch. And with their offense, it wouldn’t be all that surprising.

District 4-4A has been pretty fun to track this season — I really think everyone except maybe Denton Ryan is better than a year ago, and Ryan is still dang good.

Other thoughts from the weekend:

* Uh, Seymour? How do you lose to Electra, almost lose to one-win Haskell and then knock off Stamford? Six turnovers and some timely big plays had a lot to do with it.

Huge win for the Panthers, and if they get by Olney, it sets up next week as the 4-A Div. I title game when Albany comes to town.

* In 8-A Div. II, wake me up when Munday and Windthorst play. Not a ton of intrigue in that race right now.

* I may blog about it more later in the week, but don’t think that Henrietta — which stunk it up against Holliday — can’t beat City View. That should be a heck of a game.

* Good wins for Graham, Bowie, City View, Nocona, Seymour and WFHS. Tough losses for Jacksboro and Vernon.

* These next two weeks are going to be more exciting that the first two. Not a whole lot of good games opening district, but look at Oct. 28:

Burkburnett at Graham (big 6-3A implications);  City View at Holliday (could determine 3-2A title); Henrietta at Nocona (big 3-2A playoff implications); Albany at Seymour (will decide 4-A title); and Windthorst at Munday (will decide 8-A title). And I didn’t even mention IP at Bowie. Why do these games all have to be the same week?

Well, two changes actually. The first one is that while the website says I won the tiebreaker after getting 13 picks right, it was actually Jeff Gregg who won on the tiebreaker. He was closer to the Windthorst score than I was. It helped us to both get the Nocona pick right.

But the main change at the top is in the overall standings. I finally caught AreaFootballFan after picking up three games on him this week. Here’s the season standings:

1) Me — 97

2) AreaFOotballFan — 96

3) One-Legged Fade 41 — 94

4) Keystoner — 92

Honky tonk

Richard Carter

BIlly Joe Shaver at the Pub Saturday night

Friday night I found myself at the Pub to watch the Josh Weathers Band–the first time I have seen the band since the sound check for their very first show in town. That’s kind of amazing, because they completely blew me away in their sound check. but I had a sinus headache that night and didn’t stay around for another four hours to watch them play.

Well, I did get to watch them play about four or five songs on Friday night and the guys were amazing. It’s an interesting mix because Weathers is young, as is his bassist and saxophone player, but the drummer and keyboardist are sort of a lot older, but no less awesome. Needless to say, the band has the musical aspect of the equation wired, and they also have a lot of energy. I can see why the group has become a popular act in Wichita Falls. You might want to check them out their next time through, and it’s actually not that far away. They will be back on November 25 at the Pub headlining over the Blue Light Special band.

Just for the record, I just discovered that the Rocket Boys are coming back to Wichita Falls on November 18^th with Jay Burnam opening up for them. If you have not seen this former Abilene and now Austin band, they are pretty cool. Stephen Welch calls them the Coldplay of Texas, but I think they’re better than that. And, while I am promoting forthcoming shows, I strongly suggest that you go to see Dr. Phil Good do their record release show next Friday. It’s going to be good.

Saturday night, I went to see Shantell play yet another benefit show in town. Not every band does benefits, and these guys are always great at playing things to help other people. They were playing P2, and Doug Boyd was on bass having a great time playing with them as a last minute sub.

Right after that, I went to the Pub to watch the sound check for Billy Joe Shaver  (who is awesome) and also to say hello to Ali Holder and her band (and they are also awesome).

The last time Ali brought her fiddle player and standup bass player to town, they had only been formally together as a band for not that long. The trio played very well the last time in town, and this time they showed the sort of growth a gathering of musicians get with musical familiarity and the time together enough to get to know each other’s style. There was no looking back and forth between the three to figure out where the other was. Sure, Ali was a little nervous as anyone is when they come home to play with their friends and family in the crowd. They knocked it out of the park. Great show, and everyone was asking about the EP. I am pretty sure that Great Neck has some of those for sale, by the way.

Anywho, the headliner, Billy Joe Shaver then brought some seriously awesome honky tonk to the Pub. His band nailed it, and so did he. The man is one of the best songwriters around, and one of the few songwriters who sings all of his own songs. There surely are enough tunes that he’s written over the years, but I don’t think anyone is tired of his tunes. Great performance by a man who belongs in the same sentence as Guy Clark, Waylon, Willie, Joe Ely and the rest of the boys. If you missed it, you missed out.

Always one of my favorite things to look at this time of year is pigskinprep.com’s “How They Would Finish.” Basically, the website plays out the rest of the regular season and then the playoffs based on each school’s rating.

Here’s what they have (as of ratings taken before Friday’s games:

4A Div. I

* Rider loses by Frenship by 1.

3A Div. I

* Burkburnett loses to Abilene Wylie by 11 

3A Div. II

* Bowie loses to Brownwood by 9

* Graham loses to Snyder by 24

2A Div. II

* Holliday receives bye; beats Coahoma by 15; beats Crawford by 5; loses to Idalou by 18

* City View beats Hico by 4; loses to Idalou by 31

* Henrietta loses to Crawford by 14

 A Div. I

* Quanah loses to Canadian by 30

* Seymour beats New Deal by 5; loses to Panhandle by 5

A Div. II

* Windthorst receives bye; beats Van Horn by 25; beats Bronte by 27; beats Munday by 7; beats Wellington by 16; pick ‘em against Tenaha in title game.

* Munday beats Ralls by 44; beats Iraan by 14; beats McCamey by 20; loses to Windthorst by 7

* Electra beats Crosbyton by 5; loses to Bronte by 12

Six-Man Division I

* Throckmorton beats Zephyr by 24; beats Walnut Springs by 37; beats Gordon by 29; beats Rochelle by 13; pick ‘em against Ira in title game.

* Crowell loses to Follett by 5.

Six-Man Division II

* Bryson beats Trindad by 3; Strawn beats Bryson by 9.

* Milford beats Forestburg by 43.

* Newcastle beats Rule by 50; loses to Milford by 6.

Four more weeks left to go in the regular season. Here’s a quick look at our area picks:

WFHS at Little Elm – I can see a lot of point scored in this game by both teams. But I think Little Elm (who ran the ball for 440 yards against Rider) will have more success on the ground than WFHS will have through the air. Lobos are the pick.

Hirschi at Burkburnett – District 6-3A’s best offense by far against the worst defense. Can’t see the Huskies keeping this one close.

Iowa Park at Graham – I expect the Steers to get back on track this week. Although I expected them to do the same thing last week. IP will turn this into a ground-it-out affair and has a solid defense, so a few Graham mistakes could cost them. Still, I like the Steers in a lowe-scoring game.

Vernon at Bowie – Kind of like the 6-3A game above. I like the Jackrabbits, but I think it can be low-scoring and that Vernon will have a chance, especially if the Lions can limit mistakes. Bowie by 7.

Henrietta at Holliday – I’ll be out at this one, and I’d like to see a close game. It’s always fun if it’s close. But I think the Eagles have too many weapons and I can see at least a two-touchdown win.

Jacksboro at City View – Mustangs just have too many weapons and will have to turn it over a bunch to give Jacksboro a chance.

Alvord at Nocona – Call me crazy, but I’m still high on Nocona. They need their QB Hayden Hill to play (he did not against Holliday last week), but this is a winnable game for them. It’s huge too because both teams are 0-1.

Olney at Albany – Lions in a blowout. However many they want.

Stamford at Seymour – I can’t see the Panthers winning this one after a loss to Electra and a near-loss to Haskell. Stamford wins in a game that should feature a lot of points.

Petrolia at Valley View – I like the Eagles in this one, although a Petrolia victory would give them a solid chance to make the playoffs.

Windthorst at Archer City – Trojans should have no problems in this one. At least four TDs should seperate the two.

Perrin-Whitt at Electra – Tigers in a blowout.

Crowds on Vacation

Richard Carter

People on Vacation Friday night at Neon Spur

Before I went to check out the new project by singer and guitarist Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup, I ran by the Mr. Fairchild jampad to check out what was going to happen at their annual Office show. In case you didn’t know, Halloween is actually one of the best nights ion town to go and hear live music. If you decide to dress up like a zombie or whatever, all power to ya.

Anywho, so I was walking into the jam pad when I heard them cranking Dio through the PA. We all love Dio, and I assumed it was a joke, until I heard former drummer Rob Kirkland belting out “Rainbow in the Dark.” It turns out that he will guest sing on the Fairchild set that night by doing some Dio screaming. And let me tell you, getting to hear the guys go through Dio was sort of like hearing Loudness (the Japanese metal band) back in the day.

I am not trying to cause any trouble or anything, but it’s sort of peculiar how the Dio tune sounds a lot like Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” and I may not be the only person to suggest that. Check it out.

Okay, once I was bored of hearing covers of Dio, and trust me about three times is the trick there, I headed out to Neon Spur to check out People on Vacation, the indie pop duo of Reddick and Ryan Hamilton (who does sort of look like a hipster when you meet him). Anywho, the band was really good, and the cool thing is they sounded full by using a laptop, an iPad and all sorts of electronic musical loops to play guitar and keyboard and sing along to.

They are a cool pop band with some indie overtones and nice harmonies and of course a sense of humor. It was perhaps the sense of humor that may have saved the evening for some people that night. Despite getting two guys from successful Metroplex bands with a local tie in, there was less than 100 people there. I mean, what the “what the,” right? You have a cool duo who are about to release a CD that will get national attention and there’s almost no one there?

I mean, the newspaper wrote a story (that was me, by the way) and they were all over the TV, the Facebook.com on the Internet and there was word of mouth. What is it about certain bands that don’t seem to get any love? I don’t get it. it was sort of embarrassing.

I am just saying this so that when Billy Joe Shaver plays the Iron Horse Pub with no less than Ali Holder on Oct 15 at 9 p.m. or so, I want to see a crowd of people out for some very good music. Shaver’s music dates back to the early ‘70s when Waylon Jennings discovered his music and used 9 songs on an album. Shaver is the real deal, and it would be insult to injury of he doesn’t draw well.

Also, Dr. Phil Good is releasing their first CD on Oct 21 at the Pub with a big show, and that should be an all-out blast. Represent.

It wasn’t too crazy of an opening week of district play for most of our area districts. Lots of predictable scores, although there was at least one shocker.

Bowie’s takedown of Graham was absolutely huge for the Jackrabbits. It’s way too early to forecast how 6-3A will play out. But Bowie’s next three games are: vs. Vernon, at Hirschi, vs. Iowa Park.

If they could win two of those three, the Jackrabbits will most likely be a playoff team. And this is a must-win game for Graham coming up at home against Iowa Park.

Other thoughts from last week:

* Bowie was the only team to win its home game out of the 10 I mentioned in my picks last week. But Haskell almost pulled off a huge upset over Seymour.

* Best game was definitely Rider-Ryan. Wished I could have seen the whole thing. And again, a great crowd at Memorial Stadium.

* Can I change my Vernon pick for the last playoff team in 6-3A? Is it too late? Just too many mistakes the Lions made against Burkburnett.

* If you haven’t seen Devin Chafin in person yet, you should. He’s a stud.

* Big win for Iowa Park, which overpowered Hirschi by running it down the Huskies’ throat. Not sure if the Hawks can do it against Graham, though.

* Not as surprising as Seymour’s close call, but it should be noted that Henrietta was losing in the fourth quarter to Jacksboro. Not sure if that means the Bearcats are not as good as I thought or if it means the Tigers are better. Could be an interesting 3-2A race.

* I knew Munday would beat Electra pretty good, but the Moguls pretty much steamrolled them.

* You don’t want to go 0-2 in district. Very rarely does a team dig out of that hole. So that makes Alvord-Nocona pretty huge. And as far as I’m concerned, Graham (vs. IP), Vernon (at Bowie) and Jacksboro (at City View) are playing to still stay alive.

* Not many games I’m looking forward to this week, but Henrietta-Holliday is always kind of fun, although I’ll be surprised if the Eagles don’t win by double digits.

With a lot of games being somewhat predictable, seven people got at least 12 of the 14 picks right this week. I got 12 myself.

But the only person to get 13 right was One-Legged Fade 41, whose only miss was on the Graham-Bowie game.

Here are this week’s season standings:

1. AreaFootballFan — 86

2. Me — 84

3. One-Legged Fade 41 — 83

4. Keystoner — 81

If you ever watch ESPN during college football season, you’re aware that they always try to label certain weeks as “Rivalry Weekend” or “Road Test Weekend” and so on.

Well, this week as most of our area districts open, I’m calling this “Road Trip Weekend.” Why? Because of the 11 remaining 11-man games we have going on, I’d say the favorite in 10 of them is the road team. The only one who isn’t is Electra at Munday.

I’m picking all 10 road teams to win, but be aware of the home teams jumping out and pulling off an upset. Just look at last night. I didn’t stay the whole game between Ryan at Rider (had the little kiddo with me), but the crowd on the Rider side was pretty awesome and the Raiders fed off that and nearly beat the No. 2 team in 4A (although as I’ve said before, Denton Ryan is probably Top 10, but is a little over-ranked at No. 2).

So we’re going to do my picks a little different this week. I’m going to list the 10 games in the order in which upsets are most to least likely to happen. Here we go:

1. Iowa Park at Hirschi – Not a big upset if the Huskies win. Just really hard for me to pick them after I saw IP play Holliday to basically a draw, and then the Eagles overwhelmed Hirschi last week by 30. It’s a matchup between 6-3A’s worst offense during non-district against the worst defense.

2. Burkburnett at Vernon – Some will think this game (which I will be at) is too high up on the list. But I’ve seen too many close Burk-Vernon games in my time here. The Lions had an extra week to prepare and are playing really well on defense. Should be an exciting one.

3. City View at Alvord – The Mustangs haven’t won a lot of big district road games through the years (they had a big 2009 win against Nocona), but they have the big-play weapons to win this. City View has to cut down on turnovers/penalties though.

4. Archer City at Perrin-Whitt – The Wildcats should end their 5-game losing streak tonight. But nothing is guaranteed, especially if some AC guys are still out.

5. Graham at Bowie – Tobin made a good point on our podcast the other day. If you have to play Graham, now is the time to do so. Steers should still come out on top.

6. Quanah at White Deer – No idea about White Deer. All I know is the Indians beat them handily last year.

7. Henrietta at Jacksboro – This is the first of the games where I believe an upset probably won’t happen at all. If the home team wins any of these last four, I would be pretty shocked.

8. Holliday at Nocona – I just think Holliday is a notch above everyone else in 3-2A.

9. Muenster at Petrolia – The Pirates are a solid bunch, but not in the Hornets’ league.

10. Seymour at Haskell – The Panthers will be ready to explode after losing to Electra last week. This one shouldn’t be close.

As promised, although later than I would have liked, here are my thoughts and predictions of the area’s districts with comments about how I’ve switched on some picks since two-a-days.

4-4A

1. Denton Ryan; 2. Little Elm; 3. Rider; 4. Lake Dallas; 5. The Colony; 6. WFHS; 7. Denton

Comments: I had the same four teams making the playoffs in the preseason, but I had Rider second and Little Elm fourth. This district has been too crazy after two weeks to know what’s going to happen. I could see Lake Dallas beating Little Elm and causing a three-way tie. I had WFHS ahead of The Colony back in August; obviously they are behind them now after losing, 45-37.

6-3A

1. Graham; 2. Burkburnett; 3. Vernon; 4. Iowa Park; 5. Bowie; 6. Hirschi

Comments: If Graham is healthy when it plays Burk, then it’s the team to beat in my opinion. If not, then the Bulldogs will win. As I’ve said and written before, 3-6 is totally a scramble. I had IP here in August, I’m going with Vernon now. But I don’t feel good about it. Bowie could also make a run at it and I wouldn’t be surprised.

3-2A Div. II

1. Holliday; 2. Henrietta; 3. City View; 4. Nocona; 5. Alvord; 6. Jacksboro

Comments: The biggest difference between now and two months ago is I had Nocona-Alvord-City View in that order I believe. I feel pretty good about the first and last teams — it’s the ones in the middle that could go either way. Not totally sold on Henrietta, but they always produce. And I could see Nocona getting in if they’re healthy.

2-A Div. I

1. Panhandle; 2. Clarendon; 3. Quanah; 4. Lockney

Comments: There isn’t that much difference between the top three teams. I had Quanah in the same spot back in August, but had Clarendon winning. Wouldn’t surprise me if the Indians finished higher, but I feel OK with them there.

4-A Div. I

1. Albany; 2. Stamford; 3. Seymour; 4. Olney; 5. Haskell

Comments: Same order except I had Stamford beating the Lions in August. Both are 6-0 and have been impressive, but I’m still wondering how Archer City played the Bulldogs as close as they did last week. And is Stamford QB Hagen Hutchinson fully healthy? I have no idea. Seymour will end up right where I thought they would and where they did last year.

5-A Div. I

1. Muenster; 2. Collinsville; 3. Valley View; 4. Lindsay; 5. Petrolia; 6. Chico

Comments: Didn’t pick this district in August,  but I think Muenster wins it. It could be an entertaining race — should be a lot of fun to see where Petrolia falls out. Pretty tough district.

8-A Div. II

1. Windthorst; 2. Munday; 3. Electra; 4. Archer City; 5. Perrin-Whitt

Comments: I had Electra and Archer City swapped two months ago. Not going to rule out the Wildcats, but I like how the Tigers have played the past couple weeks. Looking forward to Windthorst-Munday in late October (and kinda peeved it’s the same week as Burk-Graham).

I’ll try to have Week 7 predicitons put up tomorrow. Not a whole lot of great games this week, but there could be an upset pulled or two. And check out my podcast with Tobin going over all the districts.

As you all know, we don’t give away t-shirts anymore for winning Sack Zach. If we did, we’d have to dole out two after last weekend.

That’s because CPriddy and david_clubb both won with 12 of 14 picks and then had the same tiebreaker. I got 10 right after missing the Burk-Decatur pick right off the bat.

And everyone had Seymour picking Electra, so no one got that one right.

Here are the season standings:

1. AreaFootballFan — 74

2. Me — 72

3. One-Legged Fade 41 — 70

4. Keystoner — 69

“Perfect Storm”

Richard Carter

the members of a group formerly called A Band Called John, Kory and David at the Downtown Culture Crawl Thursday night

Surely the cool breeze in the air means Fall is here, and if there were really any doubt, all it would take would be to look at the cover of NEXT and see that FallsFest was hitting town.

But this year, the music kind of started early—before FallsFest. It was the back to the downtown area culture crawl that came Thursday night, the day before everyone heads out to Lucy Park.

So, downtown Culture Crawl is like turning back the clock 30 years and pretending that downtown is still the coolest place in town to go and to do things. Downtown is, of course, back during the day, and it’s sort of back at night. Indiana on a Friday night can be pretty busy at night with plays at Wichita Theatre and Backdoor Theatre and also the club action.

At the Culture Crawl, all the places stay open late, and musicians play on Indiana and Ohio. The guys from Dr. Phil Good and the Let’s Get It On’s were in front of the Alley Cat Collective, while Bayou Funk Debris was playing in front of Artifact Emporium at the Littlest Skyscraper. I thought I saw the members of a Band Called John, Kory and David in front of the old Muehlbergers building, but I was wrong. They were just hanging out, and it wasn’t a reunion of the famous power trio that was spawned at Vincent’s coffee shop and art emporium so many years ago. It did turn out that Kory and David were playing in front of Eastern Treasures. There were lots of other bands, and the crowds came out to crawl a little late, but they did come.

While it was a nice touch to have a city trolley out there, it was kind of odd to have a trolley at a crawl. It was my impression that crawls are supposed to be about walking or running or maybe even riding a bike. Anywho, I think people had a blast and it set up the following Friday night.

Friday night, I was debating going by to see FallsFest country night, but instead decided to defer going to the big annual party on Saturday night where I am to write about KC and the Sunshine Band and also Slab Rat and whomever happens to win the Battle of the Bands and gets to play on the main stage.

So, I ran into the members of Slab Rat doing a last minute practice, and they were kind of practicing like there was no tomorrow. The worst thing for them was that singer Ben Prater was recovering from a brutal mike stand accident. The bases on those things are a lot heavier than they look, and it would appear that one fell on his right toe. If you see him, wish him well, and hopefully he can still hit the high notes. The horn section sounded fab, and the background vocals were sweet. Should be a fun show.

Bryan Reilly is playing trumpet at Akin Auditorium at 3 or so on Sunday afternoon Oct 9, and I really like his Chet Baker influenced style. It should be a good afternoon.

The new Mastodon CD is solid, and they are playing in front of Soundgarden in Grand Prairie on Oct 26 or so. I think you can still probably find a ticket.