PURPLE 4EVER

Heart is.... Being a senior on the varsity squad and your only involvement is being on the scout team in practice. Although you never play, you take pride in practicing the best you can to make the TEAM better. When asked to play in a game, you give 110% every time. Very few schools have six or more of these players. When I was in school, these players took pride in being a letterman on the "scout team". Heart is.... Being in the 4th quarter, losing by 5 touchdowns, but still giving everything you got on every play. Heart is.... Playing for a greater cause than the team winning the game. The "greater cause" is the building block of "tradition". You are playing for the community and to carry on the tradition that the players that played when you were in elementary help build. The players realize that they are being "idolized" by the elementary kids in their district and are playing the game for them. Your school district has this tradition when you see some 3rd or 4th graders playing street football. Instead of wanting to be a star NFL or college player, they are wanting to be the players on their varsity football team. Very few school districts can say this. IT ALL STARTS WITH HEART!!! The words on the PN-G press box say it all... Heart is... HONOR, PRIDE, TRADITION

Give credit for Lumberton going undefeated. Dayton is 1 and 2. The rankings now mean nothing. In seven weeks you want to be #1, 2 or 3.

Just finished updated my website and I have posted some amazing photos on it... Don't you wish we could always have sunsets like this.... Taken last year during a junior high game. To view some more neat photos of mine... Go to... www.toupsgraphics.com and check out the photo album pages. LCM fans.... Go to the Animal photo album for an AWEsome picture of a black bear with 2 cubs! I was about 20 feet from the bear (in a slow retreat) while I took the picture. I'll just post it below....

DAYTON AT LUMBERTON The Raiders really remember what happened last year at Bronco stadium There undefeated team was taken to the wood shed and left Liberty county with reality staring them in the face. The Broncos have lost their star quarterback, but the replacement is a different type of threat. AJ is likely to be the quickest one on the field and if Lumberton can not contain him, watch out Raiders. Will the L-Train keep on steaming, or will the now powerful L-Train be turned into a Fisher Price play toy. Who will win this one? Check back Thursday for.... TOUPS GRAPHICS FEARLESS PREDICTION For more previews go to... [Hidden Content]

VIDOR AT NEDERLAND This will be one of the biggest home games in Bulldog stadium history. The 50th anniversary of their last state championship team will be honored in an emotional homecoming game, topped off by the appearance of legendary coach Bum Phillips. The Bulldogs will be riding an emotional rollercoaster with MORE POWER in this game. Could the Pirates spoil the festivities of the night, or will they be cast off the plank and stranded on a deserted island? Nederland's schedule gets really tough after this, and the Bulldogs can ill afford to go 0 - 1. Who will win? Check back Thursday for .... TOUPS GRAPHICS FEARLESS PREDICTION For more previews go to... [Hidden Content]

CENTRAL AT LC-M If the Jaguars play to their potential they should take this one, but they are on the road and just ask PN-G what it is like to visit the Bears. Give LC-M a couple of turnovers and the cries of BOJO BOJO may possibly be heard from the Sabine to the Trinity. Who will win this one? Check back Thursday for.... TOUPS GRAPHICS FEARLESS PREDICTION For more previews go to... [Hidden Content]

DISTRICT PLAY STARTS THIS WEEK TOUPS GRAPHICS PREVIEWS OF WEEK 1 GAME OF THE WEEK PN-G AT OZEN PN-G crushed Ozen last year. Ozen seems to be much improved. PN-G finally got the offense rolling in their last game. This game could go either way, making it the game of the week. The loser of this game could be fighting an uphill battle to get a playoff spot that they may not be able to climb. Will Ozen finally gel into a contender, or will PN-G scalp the Panthers. Who will win? Check back Thursday for.... TOUPS GRAPHICS FEARLESS PREDICTION For more previews go to.... [Hidden Content]

Didn't VY win state at Madison... He might get the Super Bowl year within 5 years if the Titans can get him some play makers.

Good choices... PN-G excellence has spanned through the decades.

Before you consider an upset, you have to look at who the favorite is.... So.... Dayton at Lumberton.... Dayton should be the favorite Central at LCM Central should be the favorite Vidor at Nederland Nederland should be the favorite PN-G at Ozen Probably you would pick Ozen as the favorite If Central makes a few mistakes, you could see LCM taking that game. Dayton would really have to play horribly for Lumberton to stay in the game, just too much of a speed and skill player mismatch. With everything going on at Nederland this week, I don't see Vidor staying in the game. PN-G and Ozen could be a toss up, really no upset either way. So.... LC-M would be my pick. If Central plays a good game, forget it, LCM will need some help to get a HUGE victory.

That is correct... Sorry about that... It should say.... Top three EAST of the Brazos are... 1. Cy Fair 2. North Shore 3. Stallworth Thanks for correcting me...

Top three west of the Brazos would be.... 1. Cy Fair 2. North Shore 3. Stallworth

It is nice to root for the underdog.... I don't see Dayton demolishing their opponents again this year, but I don't think this is the game they will slip up or have a bad game. Good luck to the players and coaches at Lumberton.

Agree.... It seats around 9,800.

I wish my Uncle could have made it to this night... Donald Sims passed away about 4 weeks ago from asbestos cancer. He always talked highly of Bum and being on the state championship team. There was some players on that team at this funeral. I hope the weather is spectacular this Friday night. It is also very nice Bum is coming. He is a very special person. Didn't know it at the time, but while I was growing up on Merriman street, three houses down from me was the house that Bum lived in while he was coaching at PN-G and Nederland. It is still there. Good luck to the Bulldogs this Friday and I hope the homecoming celebrations top off a magical night for the 57 team and the 2007 team.

North Shore is spectacular. The double deck "mini Rice stadium" Cy Fair uses is also tops. Once they finish PN-G's stadium, it might just top the list. The pictures in the proposal just look unbelievable.

Just got finished with the my game video of Dayton's 7th grade. They crushed Crosby and does this group have some talent! Easily the best bunch of kids Dayton has had since the 11th graders. The 8th grade bunch lost to Crosby by 2 points, but they do have a couple of good running backs. Looks like the Ponies will once again be a dominating force in their district.

Friday Nights are all about the kids playing their hearts out. As long as the kids play their best, that is all the coaches and the parents and the fans can ask. Dayton lost last time to a very good Friendswood team, but despite the loss, I saw the Broncos get much much better. AJ has taken over the leadership of the team, and he will be very hard to contain for the Lumberton Raiders. Good luck to all the teams in 22-4A as they start the games that count.

Typical "Cougar fan".... Since they almost never beat Dayton, they always root for someone else to do their work....

Nederland can ill afford to not win this game. This is a big game for both teams.

AWESOME PICKS MICHAEL!!! This is all about the kids playing for their schools and communties... I concentrate on 22-4A, but it looks like Michael does his picks with... "MORE POWER!". Maybe next week on Thursday after I put up my "fearless predictions" Michael can post his picks by mine. Good luck to all the teams that start district next week! Hopefully there will be no more season ending injuries.

I wonder... How many times has Lumberton won at the Reservation?

Look at the records for attendance in the state of Texas. PNG is in almost half of the top 10 attended games, including the largest ever attended game in US history (50,000 in the 1977 state game). You wonder why PNG and Nederland were asked to play in Reliant? One reason is Reliant knew they would bring a substational fan base.

TOUPS GRAPHICS FEARLESS PREDICTION..... LIVINGSTON AT VIDOR Look for the Pirates to trap up the Lions. Vidor's offensive running machine will not be stopped in this one. Vidor wins big. PREDICTION Vidor 35 Livingston 14

TOUPS GRAPHICS FEARLESS PREDICTION.... LUMBERTON AT CLEVELAND Look for the L train to keep on rolling up the offensive and defensive stats in this game. Lumberton wins by at least 4 TD's.... PREDICTION LUMBERTON 42 CLEVELAND 7 Good luck Lumberton!! Hope you play well this week. For this weeks predictions go to.... [Hidden Content]