HoopInsider_Cooper

[font=Courier]It's at 5:30 Mr. Whorn.[/font]

BEAUMONT - Season tickets for the 2010 Lamar University football season will go on sale to the general public on Saturday, Jan. 23. "This is another major step in our endeavor to return an exciting brand of football to Southeast Texas," said university president Dr. James Simmons in encouraging fans to come to the Montagne Center that day to join in on the fun and make their season ticket purchases. "For the very best seats available, we encourage fans to make their selections as early as possible. "We have four different pricing options for our six home games this fall, and my dream is to see Provost Umphrey Stadium packed and rocking for our season opener against Webber International on Sept. 11, as well as for the rest of our home games." For this first day of sales, tickets will be available for purchase in person only, and the Montagne Center ticket office will be open from 7 a.m. until noon. Telephone orders and online orders to www.lamarcardinals.com will begin Monday, Jan. 25. The ticket office's regular hours are 8 a.m. until noon and 1 p.m. until 5 p.m., Mondays through Fridays. Fans will be able to select their seats as they purchase them, and they will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Friends who wish to sit together should arrive together to purchase their tickets or send checks and forms with one designee to select seats for the group. The first 100 fans to purchase season tickets will receive officially licensed, replica mini-football helmets autographed by Cardinal head coach Ray Woodard as special gifts. Attendees also will be able to register to win other prizes, including official Lamar football sideline apparel and VIP experiences during this first season of Cardinal football since 1989. Fans can purchase season tickets in four different price and seating location categories. Two premium seating options are available and require a three-year commitment with pricing at $225 and $400 per seat, per season. Premium seating tickets include a donation to the Cardinal Club that is partially tax deductible. Additionally, two very affordable options of $60 or $100 per seat for the six-game package are available without a donation to the Cardinal Club. Season priority parking and tailgating privileges will also be for sale in four price and location categories. To view all of Lamar's ticket policies and frequently-asked questions with their answers, visit the Lamar athletic web site at www.lamarcardinals.com. For further ticket information or questions, call the Montagne Center ticket office at (409) 880-1715 or Lamar associate athletics director Jason Henderson at (409) 880-8303. The Cardinals' other home games during the 2010 season will be against Sam Houston State on Oct. 2, against Langston University on Oct. 9, against South Alabama on Oct. 16, against South Dakota on Nov. 13 and vs. Panhandle State on Nov. 20. Early birds attending the Jan. 23, opening day of season ticket sales will be treated to breakfast served by Big Rich Courville of Courville's Catering, beginning at 6:30 a.m.

F YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT YATES BASKETBALL BEFORE, YOU DO NOW! By: Jim Hicks (RCS Sports.com) Houston Jack Yates (the country's #1 ranked public school) found themselves the subject of controversy after Tuesday’s 170-35 record setting win over Houston Lee.  Not since 1992 (Hardin Jefferson HS) have a team scored this many points during a regulation high school game.  Ironically, that East Texas based team was coached by current UIL director Charles Breithaupt.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t recall this much (ahem) backlash, criticizing, antagonizing, etc. eighteen years ago.  But that’s really not the point I want to hammer.  Head coach Greg Wise is not a rookie to success.  He has been to the state tournament three of the past four years which he’s been a head coach (Hightower HS 2002, 2003, and Yates HS 2009).  His winning percentage over the past decade is more solid than any active 5A coach in the area (who is not named Ronnie Courtney or Royce Huseman).  Not to mention the fact that as a parent, he is the nations only high school coach with two sons (non twins) currently playing division one basketball for the same school.  Therefore, on paper, it’s safe to say that he’s done well in the fatherhood category as well.  No, I ain’t his lawyer, publicist, or nothing like that.  In a span of 24 hours, he’s been flat out hammered over the airwaves regarding the outcome of Monday afternoon’s game. BUY THE RUMOR, SELL THE FACT! Weeks prior to the season opener, Wise publicly stated the Lions would basically flex their muscles against every single opponent on schedule.  That “unofficial disclaimer” must have been ignored or dismissed as tea steam.  C’mon now, this team was fresh off a dominating state title run captivated by handing Dallas Kimball their worse loss of the season.  Truth be told, I’m a sports fan who just happen to get paid for my analysis.  Understand one thing - this Yates team is really and truly just “that good”.  This isn’t one of those cases where a bully is picking on some helpless kid for his lunch money.  Don’t get it twisted.  The Lions have also hemmed up the very teams that over half dozen states view as bullies within their borders.  Case in point, over the holidays, Yates beat up on some of the prized possessions representing the states of Hawaii, Georgia, California, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Alabama.  Still, some of the local media personalities must have seriously ignored the national headlines, press memos, and of course the updates on Rcs Sports.com.    If not, then why has the fact that Yates scored 170 or beat an opponent like Houston Lee HS by 135 points been presented as such shocking news?  Did you not get the hint during the first week of the season after Yates beat Sam Houston (which featured a nationally Top 100 player) 163-71.  A couple weeks later their victim was Kashmere HS, 146-47.  One of the main reasons they didn’t reach 170 points in either of those games is simply because the clock expired.  Sometimes what we actually do is not as great as what we are expected to do.  In economics there’s a long standing proverb – “Buy the rumor, sell the fact”.  In this case, maybe folk didn’t exactly ignore the potency of Yates, but perhaps they didn’t take this high school team seriously.  Within the past 24 hours countless media outlets, radio talk shows, and barber shops became the platform for many hoop fans to express their views and opinions while casually pointing blame where they deemed most convenient.  Just think of your favorite college football or baseball team, and imagine what would happen if they went head to head against one of the absolute worse programs?  In baseball, a mercy rule prevents scores from getting astronomical.  Basketball in the state of Texas does not possess a limit on how many points a team may score, or the margin of victory.  However, I feel optimistic that such a rule may be incorporated into legislation in the near future. I DON’T AGREE, BUT ATLEAST I DO UNDERSTAND! Let’s get one thing straight, I personally don’t necessarily agree with smacking a team by 135, but I do understand many of the intangibles that went into Wise’s logic for proceeding with his attack.    They basically have one gear, and the manner of which they substitute is far different from what you might think.  Very seldom will you see five in for five out.  Instead, there may be three subs here, next dead ball – two more.  Two dead balls later, four more would be inserted, and so forth.  This team has long been programmed to attack like Vick’s old pits.  The last two times Wise instructed his players to mash on the breaks, they found themselves on the short end of a devastating and embarrassing losses at the hands of Wheatley HS (March 2008) and Alief Elsik HS (Dec 2008).  Make no mistake about it – Yates players and coaches watch the news, listen to talk radio, and read the internet.  You can rest assured they heard many of your piercing complaints and belittling accusations regarding the blame. Man, that Wise don’t know what he’s doing! What da heck was he thinking? He’ll never win the big one! That’s what they get, for running up the score! See there… I told you they should’ve hired (insert your favorite coach here) at first? If you thought or said it, don’t lie to yourself.  Go ahead admit it, none of us can hear or see you smiling on the other side of your computer screen. DON’T ACT LIKE YOU FORGOT! The first string of national milestones occurred during the Thanksgiving holidays of 2007 when Yates shocked West Monroe HS from Louisiana.  That team featured then #1 player in the country Greg Monroe (currently at Georgetown).    A month later at the “Houston vs. The Nation”, Yates became the first public school to beat the nation’s #1 and #2 teams during the same weekend.  I remember it like yesterday, and will do my best to not allow you to forget.  Two of the nation’s most respected and heralded basketball programs, Oak Hill (VA) and St Patrick’s (NJ) both left Houston that year wondering as if they’d been ambushed.  Fast forward into January 2010, a counter productive experience resulted from the combination of Yates being so prepared with Lee HS being so unprepared.  After leading 100-12 at the half, the Lions started the second half with a few quick baskets to extend the lead to a “yard”.  Moments later, as one of the Yates player went up for a dunk, a defender created a harder than expected foul.  Tempers flared, benches cleared, and smack was exchanged.  Although it’s rather unusual for the amount of participants, not a single punch was thrown.  With that being said, I’ve been scratching my head trying to figure out why and how did this episode turn into a bench clearing brawl? FACT VERSUS FICTION! Most of the Houston area outlets who helped release this story presented it with a splash of false negativity which insinuated the Yates players to be a bit on the thuggish side.  Most of the time, media will write or say something that their primary audience wants to hear.  I totally understand how that game is played.  But in this particular game, there was no fight whatsoever.  The Houston Independent School District athletic director has confirmed that no reprimands have been handed down to either coach, but he will speak with both teams on Thursday afternoon in regards to sportsmanship. After the halt in action, a 20 minute meeting was held between coaches, officials, and a HISD administrator which was on site.  A decision was made that since both benches emptied onto the court, those players in violation would be suspended for the remainder of the game.  Lee HS coach wanted to simply pack up and forfeit the rest of the game, but what is a coach to do if your players look you square in the eye and tell you they want to play the game?  Any coach would have been less than man had he not granted his team a simple request to prove they aren’t quitters.  Therefore, the game was resumed with both team’s starters and no bench players to substitute.  From my understanding, although they did play mostly man to man defense, Yates did not apply their normal dose of aggressive full court pressure because their lone five players would have possibly collapsed on the court in attempt to do so.  Also, another stipulation was implemented by the referees – the first player from either team to foul out (5 fouls) will result in the ending of the game.  Obviously, if Lee players had grown tired of the demolition derby, they could have easily created five consecutive fouls and that wouldn’t have been a wrap.  In the light of things, I respect the act of courage from the entire Lee HS team.  In this different time and era, often we grown ups under estimate the mindset of our youth, especially 16-18 year olds.  These guys are much stronger than most of us have given them credit for.  If some of these same young men committed a felony crime tomorrow, they would most likely be tried in adult criminal court.  On the flipside, there’s plenty of life lessons that can be attained from this 170-35 experience, even for the thousands of fans who have jack knifed themselves into this great debate of blame assessment.  As a matter of fact, I just locked into my Blackberry calendar for the date, June 2020.  That should be the month of the ten year class reunion for the seniors on both teams.  If I’m able to see the day, I hope to attend and personally witness to what extent this historic occurrence had on any of these players during their evolvement from young boys to men. 

[font=Courier]Bridge City and Newton moved their game to Saturday....too cold for hoops?[/font]

[font=Courier]I heard they didn't press in the 2nd half....Jim Hicks will have something to say about this sometime tomorrow and I will copy and paste his first hand account. Tell me again what the difference between yates scoring and previous H-J record? Press or no press. There's no difference. Both rang it up and I have no probs with it. [/font]

[font=Courier]Absolutely no politics here...bring it to the other forum: [Hidden Content]]

[font=Courier]Mr. Houston basketball Jim Hicks is going to speak his mind later tonight about the game. I'll post it when he emails me his take.[/font]

[font=Courier]Gabe & I agree!!!!!!! Roll 'Tide[/font]

[font=Courier]Just posted the score above....lost by 20.[/font]

[font=Courier]The only way he gets fired is if Yates doesnt win the 4a title....[/font]

[font=Courier]At HISD, some of these schools could care less about football. [/font]

[font=Courier]I heard....He must be with a score like that![/font]

[font=Courier]Ouch catman!!!![/font]  :D

[font=Courier]Poppabear, welcome to the world of inner city basketball....They do the same in Dallas. Coach Greg Wise is a good guy...He told every coach on the schedule this year - No offense but we want to break the all-time scoring record....Well, they are well on their way. Has nothing to do with class. These are how these kids play basketball. baseline to baseline from start to finish. [/font]

[font=Courier]Nederland continues to struggle trying to find an outside shot.... At 30-16 in the 2nd half, I thought it was all over. But nederland kept pressing and speeding up the tempo and got rolling late. They are pretty athletic. [/font]

[font=Courier]From what I hear, Newton had a pretty good game plan and guess what? It didn't work. I am glad to see Newton still have fight in them and not roll over after a rough start. Good teams have bad nights but find a way to win (IE: the NBA).[/font]

[font=Courier]Me too....this is the lowest my percentages have been since I started this.[/font]

[font=Courier]nm[/font]

[font=Courier]Most scores posted above....[/font]

[font=Courier]Thanks grad! Next week, we will have everything tuned up.[/font]

[font=Courier]Yea, this is ruining this board. I'll post a final as soon as it's done. [/font]

[font=Courier]HC from newton said final: H-J 47-34[/font]

[font=Courier]End 1: PN-G 12, Nederland 4 Half: PN-G 21-12 End 3: PN-G 32-31 [/font]

[font=Courier]Reyes was offensive nominee from WB.[/font]

[font=Courier]Ah....Thanks slam....That's where ol' Coach Ricky is.....[/font]