KFDM COOP Posted October 7, 2008 Report Posted October 7, 2008 ‘Rivalry week’ might just be one By Dave Rogers The Internet radio folks at psnsports.com are calling this “Rivalry Week†for area football teams and they may have a point. Even if they’re a tad ahead of the curve. Add Thursday’s first-ever meeting of Goose Creek Memorial and Barbers Hill at Stallworth Stadium to Friday’s 42nd annual edition of the “Battle of Baytown†between Lee and Sterling and this weekend has the makings of a classic. Maybe. “If this is a rivalry, I’m not aware of it,†Barbers Hill head coach and athletic director Don Price said. “This is the first time we’ve played Goose Creek Memorial and we’ve never played Lee or Sterling before, except at the subvarsity levels. “I don’t know if you can call it a rivalry. We’re not building bonfires or shaving our heads. We’re 1-3 just like they are and we’re just trying to win a football game, just like they are.†Tom Ed Gooden, athletic director for the Goose Creek schools, said putting the intracity rivalry on the same weekend as what may become an intercity rivalry wasn’t his idea. “ Well, we just plan for them and make the best of them,†he said of hosting games at Stallworth Stadium. “It would probably be better if we didn’t have two (games) back-to-back, but at the same time, that’s the way the schedule fell. We deal with it. “It ought to be exciting as far as whole district is concerned.†Hurricane Ike caused the cancellation of what would have been three home games at Stallworth Stadium on as many nights, back when Memorial was set to play Bellaire Episcopal on Thursday, Sept. 11, Lee host Clear Creek on Friday, Sept. 12, and Sterling take on Pasadena Rayburn Saturday, Sept. 13. Stadium workers had their own fire drill last week, when the Memorial-Crosby game was switched to Stallworth on little more than 24 hours notice, with that game being held Friday ahead of Saturday night’s long-scheduled Lee-Katy Taylor game. “Any time you have two big crowds back to back, it doesn’t give grounds people, maintenance, operation people time to get ready,†Gooden said. “Last week, it was really hectic, but I was really proud of our people and especially Sandy (athletics business manager Sandy Martin)for putting it together in a hurry.†Putting another game on the night before “The Game†will call for some adjustments. “We spend a lot of time getting ready for the Lee-Sterling game, decorations and things,†Gooden said. “Some of those decorations won’t be able to be set up until Friday, but that’s OK.†Another change is that a Thursday night Barbers Hill-Memorial game at Stallworth will mean that the stadium can no longer host the subvarsity games for Lee and Sterling. “Those games will be on the campuses. That’s a little different, “ Gooden said. “The JV game at Sterling High School and the freshman games will be at Sultis Stadium at Lee. The last two years we played the JV games at the stadium (Stallworth). The athletic director for the Baytown schools is another who isn’t ready yet to buy into the “rivalry†between Barbers Hill and Memorial. “The big rivalry here has always been the game, Lee versus Sterling. Now, Goose Creek Memorial and Barbers Hill is on the block and I think people are assuming there will be a rivalry because their campuses aren’t that far apart,†Gooden said. “But that remains to be seen. “A lot of times your rivals are geographic. Other times it’s competitive, who you’re competing against to win championships. We’d love for this one to be both of those.†Smart money is that a rivalry between Baytown Lee and Barbers Hill is more likely than one between Memorial and Barbers Hill. That’s because the expectation is that Memorial will end up in Class 5A and Lee will drop to 4A. “I can’t really predict that,†Gooden said when asked about Memorial going to 5A. “We would hope that it wouldn’t be next go-round. We’d hope we could go four years, maybe even six years before they go 5A. “Some folks might speculate Lee might not be 5A in next realignment, but we still have a year and a half in this alignment. We’ll play that other one when it happens.†Lee head coach Dick Olin is expecting change to come in a hurry. “We’ll play them (Barbers Hill) in two years; we’ll be a 4A,†Olin said. “There will be a rivalry there. I know Don (Price) does a great job and before him coach (Kenneth) Skidmore. “I know we’ve played them in girls sports and they do a great job there. They’re a really successful program out there. They’ve got great facilities and their coaches do a great job. “As far as a rivalry, I don’t know if one exists yet, but I’m sure it will.â€
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