Thanksgiving Parade

Ranger Football 2009

It's after Thanksgiving and the only El Paso team left in the playoffs is Chapin. They are playing tonight and look to be the only team from the border city to make it past the third round. Our team looked good at times and we had a huge victory over Del Valle to give us a shot at the 2-4a district title. We came up short of a title and had huge losses to Parkland and Canutillo. The biggest surprise was in our Bi-District match against the Irvin Rockets. We were leading through the 4th quarter but couldn't put them away. On fourth and one our quarterback couldn't get a first down and we turned the ball and the momentum over to the Rockets. With seconds remaining on the clock the Rockets threw up a fade in the end zone and their receiver mad a heck of a catch to steal the game. The bright side is that we are very young on both sides of the ball. Almost all of our skill guys are sophomores and should be stronger next year with one year of Varsity experience under their belts. Lots of surprises might be in store if the UIL decides to move schools around through re-districting. Think we will be able to make our push and re-establish ourselves as one of the elite programs in the city. Find it odd in a way that so many schools from South Texas, Corpus, are still in the playoff hunt and only one El Paso school is left in the running. Is the competition we face from out of town teams that much tougher? Wondering who will be left standing after this week. The pictures in this post were taken by Nidia. She has a great eye and is a talented young photographer. Some of the pics are of this years freshman team and some are of the varisty team.

UTEP Football What Could Have Been.

It wasn't that long ago when Stevo, Jazz, and Jess were watching Utep upset nationally ranked Houston in the Sunbowl. The fans actually rushed the field and we were already planning to get tickets to their upcoming bowl appearance. UTEP has fallen in serious hard times after that win and have fumbled away victories on their way to a losing record. I really had high hopes for Trevor Vittatoe and his receivers however he just never was able to produce in the clutch. The defense was terrible as always losing huge games to SMU and Rice. Games that they clearly should have wn by more than one touchdown, I just don't think Osia Lewis is getting the job done as defensive coordinator and would be surprised to see him return next year. I love having college football in our own backyard but would like a dang wining season and bowl possibilities to go along with the team. Too bad NMSU stinks too. Hopefully next year both programs will be a little more competitive and finally get into a bowl game. We are going to the last game in the Sunbowl tomorrow to see them play Marshall. Marshall is headed to a bowl game and is favored, of course, to beat the miners. The one bright spot has been the running of the junior Donald Buckram. He is on pace to be UTEP's all-time leading rusher and leads all conference USA rushers this year. He has played brilliantly but had two huge fumbles in last weeks loss to Rice. Guess I can't complain seeing that living in Corpus the only college football we had was Texas A&M Kingsville. Going to the Sunbowl game this year and look forward to seeing the Riverside kids play in the Senior bowl coming up in a few weeks.

Stevo and Jazz in their Fall Sports

Fantasy Football Sunday

Admit to being totally addicted to fantasy football. Agonized over my starting players more than Obama over his health care plan. Started off slow to day and was down to Steelman by almost 90 points due in part to big games by Ben Rothlesberger and some no name running back for the Detroit Lions. Made my move late in the day with huge games by Brady and the running back and receiver from the Jets. Cowboys made me sick to my stomach again today by only being able to score a touchdown. They came away with the win but see bad things on the horizon for the boys. Watched the Utep Miners basketball team demolish the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Saturday at the Don Haskins Center. Still a little upset that is cost almost 55 bucks to for all of us to see a less than marquee matchup. Chapin Huskies are the only team still atanding in the football playoffs from El Paso. Thought Coronado would do much better but they jus couldn't stand toe to toe with their bigger opponent. WOuld like to see chapin make it into the elite eight and represent El Paso. Was surprised to see that Corpus Christi West Oso girls basketball team has fallen on hard times. Hope they can get it together for Coach Williams. The Oso boys team looks reals strong. They are ranked in the top ten and should mak a strong run for the State Title. Promise to go this year once they make the tournament in Austin. Riverside girls lost to Andres and to Chapin in the Canutillo tournament this past weekend but we were playing without our spark plug point guard. We play A tough Irvin team this Tuesday then are off for the holidays before we head to Abiline to play in their tournament. Life is good.

BASKETBALL DIARIES

Lost by ten last night to the Chapin Huskies and their super sophomore center. This girl put the H in huge. Despite playing so bad we actually had cut it down to eight in the second half and had a chance to make a run. I was impressed with Burges overall as a team . Think not having our point guard hurt us but the girls have to be ready to step up and score in situations like that. We saw Parkland play Santa Teresa. They have a great post player team. Only had three players on their bench. They are ranked in the top ten in the city. I am taking the jv team to their tournament today in Chaparral. We play Deming at 5:30. Hope they come to play and limit their mistakes. Haven't coached anyone on this team except for the point guard so I'm sure they are going to have a hard time adjusting to my coaching style. The freshman won last night vs. Irvin without having a few of their key players. They take on Bel Air in the second round of their tournament today. Our program is headed in a good direction overall. Learning a lot from coach Graham. Last day of school before Thanksgiving holiday. Kid broke my heart today when she came in and told me that one of her relatives, a policeman, had been gunned down in Juarez. Crazy how close to home the whole Juarez thing is to our kids and our school. Switching gears. I am addicted to fantasy football. kicking myself for not taking it serious earlier in the season and losing games I should have won. have a 5-5 record going into this weekend. Brady is my qb and Stephen Jackson my runningback. Huge points with these guys. Hurting a little at wide receiver but mad a few trades and should be ok this weekend. Heading to see the Chapin Huskies play against Frenship on Saturday in the area playoffs. Glad El Paso schools are getting a little respect from the out of town teams. Hoping Coronado can make it to the next round. UTep basketball Saturday night. They take on another Arkansas team. Utep is loaded this year and should make a run at the Tourney and win their conference now that Memphis is rebuilding. Good life....

Basketball Off To a Good Start

The varsity girls are off to a good start despite dropping games to Burges and Coronado. The girls came out flat against Coronado but battled back to erase a twenty three point deficit and make it a game in the last quarter. We are young all around and depend heavily on our juniors to step up. The one sophomore we have on the team, Dorothy Stewart, has been a nice surprise. She is tough in the paint and plays hard when she gets the chance. This week the girls faced the number three team in the city, Burges, and took them down to the wire before losing on the free throw line. We were outmatched in the paint but we were scrappy the entire game and held a lead in the fourth quarter. Burges has a great point guard who put up twenty plus against us and they are a team who will be competing for a District title this year. Heading to Canutillo to play in their tournament today. We face Chapin in the first round so our work doesn't get any easier. Good to face this competition early. (Just found out that we are playing tonight without our point guard and best player). Jr's have to play big again to get past the huskies.