Bayou Bowl poised to go international

[KFDM COOP]

Bayou Bowl poised to go international

By Dave Rogers

 

Published January 18, 2008

Update your passport. The Bayou Bowl is going international.

It could happen as early as this spring, Lee football coach Dick Olin told the Bayou Bowl steering committee at its monthly meeting Thursday.

“I got a phone call from Canada and some people up there want us to bring the Bayou Bowl (Texas) team to Canada to play a team up there,†Olin said.

The invitation, Olin said, came via a Texas rep for Riddell, a football helmet manufacturer and Bayou Bowl sponsor, who told Olin the Canadians were looking for a Texas team to travel north of the border.

Olin, Baytown’s representative on the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association board that created and oversees the high school all-star game, had conversations with Canadian football officials to confirm that their interest is genuine.

“They told me the biggest TV show in Canada is ‘Friday Night Lights’ and because of it, they’re all excited about Texas football,†Olin said.

“Because ‘Friday Night Lights’ is so popular and because they saw the Bayou Bowl on TV (last summer’s delayed broadcasts on the NFL Network), they contacted us about playing.â€

The sixth annual Bayou Bowl between Texas and Louisiana all-star teams is scheduled for Saturday, June 7 at Baytown’s Stallworth Stadium.

Olin says the Canadians want to play Friday, May 16, in Hamilton, Ontario, about 100 miles northwest of Buffalo, N.Y.

“They want to fly us to Buffalo and we’d travel by bus to Hamilton,†said the Gander coach. “We’d play the Canadian all-stars in the (Canadian Football League’s) Hamilton Tiger-Cats Stadium.â€

Obviously, many special arrangements would need to be made for the Canadian trip to become a reality.

For starters, school will still be in session.

“This was totally unexpected,†Olin said, “but it appears do-able. I’d say it’s in the negotiating stage right now.â€

Olin may know a bit more about Canadian football today than a year ago. His son, Drew Tate, played in the CFL this past summer and fall.

“Those kids come down to the States and they’ll play games against schools on the East Coast. They’ll go down to Florida,†Olin said of the Canadian high schoolers.

“There’s a lot of Canadian kids who end up at places like Penn State and Rutgers. Their football is getting bigger all the time.â€

First thing on the to-do list is selecting the Texas all-stars.

“We’ve got to get our kids in the Bayou Bowl,†Olin said, “and we’ll go from there.â€

The coach reported that most of the defensive picks had already been made by a group of coaches headed by Clear Creek head coach Darrell Warden and Clear Lake head coach Troy Aduddell. Former Spring Branch Memorial coach Wayne Hooks is heading up the offensive selection committee that is beginning to wrap up its work.

Players and their high school coaches will be contacted and the first commitments are expected in the next few weeks.

One who won’t be coming, Olin said, is Stratford quarterback Andrew Luck. He will be in Germany this summer, the coach said.

There is interest in beefing up the Texas all-star roster in light of a three-year victory streak by the Louisiana team, which has been bringing all the top players from that state to Baytown each summer.

Several other high school all-star games in Texas compete against the Bayou Bowl for players and some college coaches, notably the University of Texas’ Mack Brown, have not allowed their incoming freshmen to play in the Bayou Bowl.

“Basically, we’re trying to get the best from Texas,†Olin said. “Most of our players come from the Greater Houston area, but we’re going to look outside the Houston area when we have needs.â€

Many college programs encourage their incoming freshmen to enroll in summer school before their freshman football season, but Olin says the Texas Legislature’s moving the start of public schools back a couple of weeks this year could work in the Bayou Bowl’s favor.

“They can’t enroll in college if they haven’t graduated from high school,†he said.

Would students still in high school be available for an all-star game.

“Most seniors are exempt from final exams anyway,†Olin said.

But he had no comeback for one of the latest trends in college football.

“Three kids we’ve asked to play are already in college,†he said, meaning they had graduated early, so they could get a college spring training in before their freshman season.

In other business, Fan Fest was set for 7 p.m. June 6 with the Bayou Bowl banquet set for noon June 7. The golf tournament has been moved up a week, to May 30. An update is expected soon for the game’s Web site, bayoubowl.org .

Tom Ed Gooden, Goose Creek schools athletic director reported that renovations to Stallwoth Stadium, including a new press box, are scheduled to be complete May 1, in plenty of time for the Bayou Bowl.

Committee chairman Pete Alfaro said there was an upside to the Texas team losing 31-15 last summer.

“The way the Louisiana team won last year has really helped interest in the state of Louisiana,†he said. “They definitely want to come back.â€

[bluedevil]

Deapauldrick Garrett is an great pick for this All-Star game.

[Guest Orangeboy]

I didn't know so many people wanted to see OF and BC play. This is awesome. ;D

[Bobcatfan4life]