A handshake is worthless today

I admit it, I'm very old school. I was brought up in west Texas, where a handshake was a solid contract, and I've always tried to conduct my life that way. I have always believed that if you treat people with respect, they will return the same. I was sadly mistaken. Archer Communications will not be broadcasting Highland Park high school football this fall. It seems that I was blindsided by a member of my crew, who unexpectedly resigned in March "to pursue other interests". As it turned out, those interests were stealing the broadcasts away from our company, and putting some of my crew out of work. I still don't understand his logic. The crew was the best paid high school crew in the area, and had everything and anything they needed. I made sure that each broadcast was critiqued so that we could improve every week (and I hate critiques as much as the next person, so I made sure they were positive in nature). But this crew member was not satisfied, and decided that he could do a better job. The Highland Park people were part of this ruse too. Each year, I meet with the incoming captains dads to set up the season, and give them the assistance they need to market the broadcasts. I had my meeting, and at no time did they say anything about any plans to move the broadcasts away from my company. I discovered later that my former crew member had already made arrangements to steal the property, and had encouraged the dads to get as much information from me. They called me 3 weeks later (the last weekend of May) to tell me the news, that they would no longer need my services, that they were going to go another direction. They were not concerned that I had been working on the upcoming season since the close of the last season, nor were they concerned that I had already spent money in preparation. I was told that people from Highland Park could not be trusted, and I didn't believe them. Turns out I was wrong. So this fall, Archer Communications will not be in a football stadium. We will not be calling the action of any team. We tried to find a compatible school for the radio signal we had, but the lack of time to make the arrangements made it impossible.

A tragic week for local athletics

This has been a very devastating week for high school sports, with the apparent drowning death of Coppell wide receiver Jacob Logan, and the apparently unrelated suicide death of Coppell track athlete Jonah Blackwell. Add to that the death of Creekview linebacker Kiet Nguyen last month, and a lot of people are wondering why. Our children are attending too many funerals…not just the three we mentioned. Many of these deaths can be prevented, and we encourage parents to talk honestly with their kids about all the dangers out there. We’ve lost three athletes this year…one to an accident, one to a suicide and one to a drug overdose, We can only hope that some good will happen out of these tragedies. The crew of Archer Communications sends our thoughts and prayers to the families and friends affected by these three tragedies.

Sad to say, I've been replaced

After six incredible years, with one of the best crews a man could wish for, Archer Communications was summarily dismissed as the producer for Ennis HS football.

The radio station that owns the rights has decided to go in a different direction, and produce the games in-house, with their own talent (the crew that called Navarro College last season).

Obviously we are very disappointed with "The Ranch"s decision. I personally have treasured working with athletic director Bill Cox, and head coach Sam Harrell, who I've known and respected for many years prior to my involvement with Ennis. I've also worked with some incredible talent. Micah Weaks has proven to be a top notch color commentator, and Ronnie Greer brought an insight to sideline reporting that is rivaled by none. Gilbert Santos and Rick Nelson always had great stats for us, and Leonard Novak made an art form out of working with the Archercom parabolic, bringing us some audio that just was incredible.

As for me, I'll be at another press box this fall. I'm negotiating with another station to cover some games for them, and we'll see if a deal can be made. And we are still producing Highland Park, but I already have a great crew calling those games.

To our fans in Ennis who have supported us for these last 6 years: Thank you! It has been my pleasure to be able to bring you the action. Hopefully someday we'll get invited back!

John

Is Mike Leach's time over?

I'm guessing you've seen the story. Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach suspended by the university and will not coach the Red Raiders in the Alamo Bowl thanks to some questionable tactics involving Adam James, the son of ESPN (and former player) Craig James. I won't go into details of the story, you can read that just about anywhere, including ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls09/news/story?id=4776848).

In that ESPN Story, it is reported: A source close to the family said James sustained a concussion on Dec. 16, was examined on Dec. 17 and told not to practice because of the concussion and an elevated heart rate. The source said Leach called a trainer and directed him to move James "to the darkest place, to clean out the equipment and to make sure that he could not sit or lean. He was confined for three hours."

What makes this worse is that from what I've read, Leach has not denied this treatment of the player.

It's time for Texas Tech to do what Kansas did, and get rid of these negative coaches. Don't get me started on why Mark Mangino had no business running a college football program.

Frankly, I think that major college football is out of control. There is now so much emphasis on winning at any and all costs, that whatever guise of academics is not even worried about any more. Coaches are encouraged to cheat because if they can't win, they won't have a job. Just look at the payouts that the bowls are paying. $17 million for a BCS game. $2.25 million for the Alamo Bowl that Tech is playing in. $3 million for the Cotton Bowl. That's some serious money for these schools and conferences.

Major college football does not have to be this way. Morals and ethics can be restored, and programs can still win. We don't have to have Bear Bryant-types taking their teams to the heat of Junction, and denying them water. We don't have to punish kids because they are hurt.

We need more college coaches that are like Sam Harrell at Ennis High School, or Tim Buchanan at Aledo High School. These are two men who hold ethics and sportsmanship in the highest regard. They breed winning teams, and build great men, not just athletes.

Or how about Ronnie Gage at Austin College, in Sherman, Texas. Coach Gage left high school coaching to become athletic director, but loved the game so much he left, and went to the Division III school. He had a situation in which an assistant coach went out of control at a road game in an open air press box, and was letting expletives fly everywhere. That coach was removed after the game.

We need coaches in the college game that garner respect, not those like Leach who are court jesters. Leach has made Texas Tech a good football program, but he has also made Tech a laughing stock.

But yet, many, if not most, Tech fans are already clamoring for Leach to be reinstated. They don't care about the players, they just want to see a win, and they don't care who gets hurt along the way.

Is the NFL friendly to High School football?

This Saturday, Fox Sports SW will air the class 5A football championships from the Alamodome in San Antonio. Euless Trinity will meet Austin Westlake at 2 pm for the Division I final, and the Abilene Eagles meet Katy for the Division II title at 7 pm.

7pm also happens to be the time that the Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints play on the NFL Network (a game that will air in the DFW market on KTXA-21).

This is the second year in a row that the NFL has put a Dallas Cowboys game on the Saturday night of the UIL football championships.

I don't understand why the NFL has to do this. It's not like the UIL dates aren't known when the NFL schedule is put together. Jerry Jones (owner of the Dallas Cowboys) has always been friendly to high schools, as evidenced by the hundreds of high school playoff games at Texas Stadium, and the games played so far this year at his new palace in Arlington.

Here in Texas, high school football is big. The two games Saturday in San Antonio will likely draw over 30,000 fans, possibly even into the 40,000 range. There will also be a fairly large television audience for both games, although probably smaller for the 7 pm game, since many fans who have NFL network will probably switch over.

I just don't understand why the NFL has done this to the UIL for the last two years, especially when a game of the stature of Dallas at New Orleans would be an easy fit for Sunday night, or even the Fox nationwide game on Sunday afternoon, but yet, the NFL network rules.

I guess the NFL is saying Bah Humbug! to the Abilene and Katy fans.

Football is a funny game

As you probably know by now, the Ennis Lions, a team that we produce for 106.9 The Ranch, will miss the playoffs for the first time since the 1995 season.

It's been a funny year for Ennis. They started the season as a favorite to not only reach the playoffs, but have a long run towards their 5th state championship. The year started well, with a very convincing 62-16 win over Crosby, a playoff team from Region III, that lost to eventual state runner-up Dayton. Follow that with a hard-fought 36-32 win over a scrappy Lancaster team, and things were looking good.

After a week off, it was a trip to Mesquite to meet the Horn Jaguars. Ennis didn't look very good in that game, and lost a couple of key players in the first half, as both wide receiver Kyle Guinyard and Jyavon King went out with torn MCL's. Guinyard was lost for the season, and King didn't come back til week 8. Ennis went on to lose that game in overtime.

With key starters out, Ennis was unable to win their district opener at Waco, losing 38-25, and then losing the next week to eventual district champion Waxahachie.

Ennis, despite all the injuries, had a chance to make the playoffs in week 10, but lost to Waco University 27-21 to end those hopes. Ennis had lost two more starters before that game, this time on the defensive side, and it was just too much for Ennis to overcome.

A couple of thoughts. First on Crosby. Ennis absolutely dominated Crosby, and we wondered how they could have ever been considered a playoff contender. Crosby lost in week 1 to Port Neches-Groves, but then won 8 in a row to win their district, and advance to post season.

Lancaster was another team that had high hopes, and after a close loss to Ennis on the road looked primed to go, but something happened to this team, and they finished 2-4 in District 15-4A and missed the playoffs.

Mesquite Horn started the year 5-0 against some very tough opponents, but then couldn't win in their district, going 0-4, until the season finale against Mesquite, which they scratched out a win, and advanced to the playoffs with a 1-4 district mark.

Corsicana started 0-4 under new coach Phil Castles, but the team continued to believe, and earned a post-season bid, defeating another surprise team, Cleburne, to advance to post season play.

As for Ennis, its time to reload. D.J. Betik and Kyle Guinyard had been playing catch since grade school, and really thought they would be having a lengthy post season. Alas, that is not to be. Guinyard continues to recover from knee surgery, and hopefully will still get a good scholarship where he can show off his skills next year. Texas Tech already pulled its offer, but guaranteed that another school will pick up a major find.

And then there is coach Sam Harrell. The coach made public his fight against MS just prior to the season starting, and one wonders if he can continue to take the rigors of coaching, while fighting his health. But if you saw Coach Harrell on the field this fall, you could see the spark in his eye, the strength in his handshake, and the drive to continue to be the best. I think Coach Harrell will return next year.

Congratulations to all the teams that will play in the post season. Enjoy it, relish in it, and fight to play the next week.

This is a special time of year.

So now what for Ennis?

If you follow the Ennis Lions, you know that they have lost some key components to their offensive team, namely wide receiver Kyle Guinyard, slot receiver Jyavon King, guard Aaron Armstrong, and tackle Hugh Emmert. One other offensive player is hurt, and may not play against Waxahachie this Friday.

Its very tough to win when you lose one key player, much less two, plus two offensive linemen. The Dallas Morning News mentioned that this morning that from the 4A level on down, it gets very tough, because of the numbers game. Ennis is a mid-sized 4A squad, and just doesn't have the numbers of a Southlake Carroll, or even Highland Park, one of the largest 4A schools in the state, and all the great coaching in the world is not going to overcome a loss of key talent.

Ennis still has a good chance to win this year, and make it to the playoffs. A win against a very talented and undefeated Waxahachie squad is going to be tough, but Ennis should be able to handle Corsicana, Midlothian, and Cleburne, and if they can beat Waco University, or Midway, or Hatchie, then the Lions will return to the playoffs.

Sam Harrell has a pretty remarkable record at Ennis. Since he came to the Ellis county town in 1994, the Lions have made the playoffs for 13 consecutive years, and were heavily favored to make it 14 this year. Don't count out Ennis just yet. Coach Harrell has always preached to the kids that any one of them are one play away from starting. That preparation will help Ennis continue their run to a 14th consecutive post season in 2009.