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I heard back from a handful of readers about Texas Monthly's ranking of the Top 20 programs in Texas (see previous blog).

Fortunately, the tones of the e-mails were much kinder than those I received for my upset picks. And there were some really astute points about teams missing from the list. I think a reader named Manfred caught the most glaring omission:

"Great list with one exception. Dallas Highland Park. I believe they are close to the top in total wins, district championships and play-off appearances/wins. Maybe two state championships?"

Manfred didn't even allow me to answer his own question. He did the research on his own (the check for your work is in the mail) and came back with this:

"Did a little research on Highland Park:
State Championships: 1945 (tie with Waco), 1957, 2005
Runner Up: 1944 and 1947
District Titles: 42
Total points: 166
They have the second best winning pct. of all time which should win the tie breaker. I am guessing that they are #3."

I believe he's right. Now that you're done with me, Manfred, you might pass that on to the editors at Texas Monthly.

Some other selections:

"Even though Temple has not had good luck in recent years," reader Christopher writes, "you certainley cannot forget the 73 games that they won from 1976 to 1981 or the fact that they have been in the 500 win club since 1994? Or the fact that until this year they were the only team to have had 5 perfect regular seasons? I hope you take these things into consideration and hopefully make a change or two."

I agree with these points, but he did miss the fact this list isn't our list. I merely passed it on. Anyway, from another Chris, this one in Frisco:

"Jake: Just a couple of my issues with the list. Where is Tyler John Tyler? I think you can bring up two items, and they instantly gain credibility: (1) Earl Campbell (he ran all over Austin Reagan in the state championship game…and they’re on the list); (2) they played in arguably the most exciting game in the history of football at ANY level…and won!"

Chris obviously is referring to the JT classic vs. Plano East in 1994 at Texas Stadium. Chris goes on for his second point: "Southlake Carroll is only #11? Granted, I HATE that school with a passion…but they do have lots and lots of skins on the wall."

Carroll does draw a lot of ire from fans around the state. But more often than not, find a team that's strongly disliked, and that's a team that's probably winning.

Finally, a Wolfforth Frenship grad named Mike made a case for his alma mater:

"I think u missed one really good program on your list, Wolfforth Frenship! Take a better look into their deep playoff runs the last few consecutive years. There will be a state championship coming to wolfforth in the near future. This is an elite program and will be for many years to come."

Many thought 2007 could be their year, but those chances took a hit when QB Seth Doege went down with an ACL injury. Still, that same thing hapened in 2006, and Frenship made it as far as the state semis.

Readers, you can still e-mail me if you still think some teams got the shaft.

Each time, I have the urge to tell them to substitute "Football" for "Monthly" and they'd have it right. But I usually realize it's not worth it.

Not that getting confused with that magazine is a bad thing. They often consult us when doing football-related stories, and that was the case with a feature in their September issue where they ranked the Top 20 programs in Texas High School Football history. The story's author, Drew Webb, came up with a systematic approach, assigning point totals for state titles, state runner-ups, and district titles.

That formula produced the list to the right. Along with each team's point total, Webb offers other vital stats (key players, memorable games and coaches) to lend more creedence to their selection.

I have several thoughts on this -- from how the list was devised to the order of some of the teams. But I'm pretty interested in what the readers have to say.

Any team you feel was slighted? How would you rearrange the Top 20?

Let me know what you think.

Tuesday, the Valley bid goodbye to Robert Vela. The coach of Edinburg the past 10 years was revered both by his community and anyone associated with football in the region.

Early this summer, doctors discovered a tumor in Vela's stomach. He spent the following weeks getting treatment in Houston, and by his own account, things looked good. Even in this year's DCTF, it was said "when (Vela) gets back to football full-time," assuming Vela would take his familiar spot on the sidelines. But the cancer took a sudden turn in the wrong direction, and Saturday morning, coach Vela lost the battle.

Oscar Gonzalez, the McAllen Monitor sports editor and a contributor to this year's magazine, perhaps summed up coach Vela best in a moving column shortly after Vela's passing:
"Many of us who knew him will always remember Coach Vela as one that always thought there was a way. Everything was possible. That’s why he was successful as a football coach — he believed.

"That’s why when doctors gave him 24 hours to live, they probably failed to mention they were referring to the next 24 hours. Instead, Coach fought on and picked his own time frame. He fought on until he couldn’t fight anymore, and didn’t just give up when people thought the game was all but over.

"That, in all likelihood, will be part of his legacy. He was the coach that never stopped believing."

In Dallas, Kimball players didn't have time to prepare for the loss of assistant coach Samuel West.

Early Monday morning, West was fatally shot in a church parking lot. Police are still trying to find a suspect, who apparently demanded money from West before the shooting.

Trying situations often bond teams and spark unity, but you can't blame either of these teams for slow starts this season. There likely will be just too much on their minds.

I found another newly-released college poll, and four Texas programs cracked the Top 25. But none are likely to post it on their official web sites.

The people behind coacheshotseat.com have released their complete coaches on the hot seat rankings. SMU and Phil Bennett got the highest (or lowest?) ranking at No. 9.

Baylor (Guy Morriss), UTEP (Mike Price), and Texas A&M (Dennis Franchione) also made the Top 25. Mack Brown (Texas) and Gary Patterson (TCU) ranked near the bottom (reminder: that's a good thing) of these rankings. They're each sitting pretty at their respective jobs.

Staying with college football ... since I got so much feedback about my column about potential HS upsets, I thought I'd predict five college upsets involving Texas programs. Here we go, in order from least to most likely to happen:

#5: Houston over Alabama
If this were the season opener, I wouldn't give the Coogs much of a chance. But four weeks into the season, the new QB (whoever that is) will have adjusted to live games. This road game for Houston follows two relatively easy games at home (Colorado State and East Carolina), so Houston could be hitting stride. Alabama's three games preceding this one: Arkansas and Georgia at home, followed by a trip to Florida State. Not exactly an easy stretch. This is a prime setup for a win over an SEC team, something which Houston came close to achieving in a 44-36 loss to South Carolina in last year's Liberty Bowl.

#4: Baylor over TCU
I'm still saving my secret reason why the Bears will win this game for a later blog, but here's additional rationale for this upset: TCU's preseason has taken a rocky turn of late. Aside from Tommy Blake's temporary AWOL incident, the Frogs have lost a starting OL to injury, a starting DL to suspension, and handed over the offense to a QB with no career snaps and no real game time since the 2005 high school season. These factors make the opening 21.5 point spread seem too high. Also, TCU is not over-looking the Bears, but they're definitely pointing to the UT game as their "big game." Baylor, meanwhile, has been acting like they're 2007 schedule has just one game: the season-opener at TCU.

#3: Texas State over Baylor
Am I crazy? Perhaps, but if Baylor does indeed win at TCU, the emotional high from that victory could work against them at home with a DI-AA (or in the parlance of the NCAA, "football championship subdivision") team they might overlook. Texas State only has one DI program on its schedule in Baylor, so this will be the "it" game for the Bobcats, who have a new head coach wanting to make a big impression in his first marquee game. As a Baylor grad, I've witnessed too many mark-it-down-as-a-win losses to mark this game down as a win.

#2: Texas A&M over Oklahoma
Part of a murderous four road games over five weeks, the timing of this game benefits the Aggies more than the other away contests. It will come after a home game against Kansas, a game that should get the Aggies in gear after consecutive road games at Tech and Nebraska. I also have a feeling OU's offense won't be as potent with a green QB, so A&M's ball-control offense will really make a big difference in Norman.

#1: SMU over Texas Tech
I swear this isn't meant to enrage Tech fans and readers. I really believe this can happen. Starting with Tech -- the losses this year are ironic. Tech's seasons usually focus on finding a QB; that's not the case this year. Graham Harrell showed he has the Tech offense down as well as any predecessor, but the cast around him is mostly inexperienced, especially at receiver. SMU, meanwhile, returns nine offensive starters and seven on defense. Quarterback Justin Willis greatly progressed last season. If the breakout year many expect starts on Labor Day weekend, SMU could score its biggest post-death penalty win and get a head start on ending a long bowl drought.

In many other states, however, the season starts this weekend. A good college friend of mine now honing his professional craft in Indiana told me he's going to a game Friday night in a Top 20 clash of Indiana teams.

There are options for those in Texas. Aside from scrimmages around the state this weekend, ESPN in its seasonal coverage of HS football has two games scehduled for Saturday:
-- Noon on Saturday — Booker T. Washington (Miami) at Summerville (S.C.) Noon, ESPN
-- 4 p.m. on Saturday —First Coast (Jacksonville) at Berkeley (Moncks Corner, S.C.) ESPNU

That won't cut it for true Texas football fans, I know. You'll just have to wait for Labor Day weekend. Still, there will be TV options this fall: For those in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, KTXA Channel 21 will air tape-delayed games at 11 p.m. on Friday nights. Schedule is at right.

If anyone knows of a similar setup in other cities, please let me know.

Now, some random thoughts ...

• Our 1A breakout player in the aforementioned season countdown is off to a good start. One of Traylon Shead's coaches e-mailed me his numbers from a scrimmage vs. '06 state semifinalist Lovelady: 9 rushes, 146 yards, 2 TDs. Not too bad.
• A recent blog subject (8/17) also had a good showing in a scrimmage. Highland Park's Winston Gamso led the second-team offense and scored five times (three passing, two rushing), while totaling nearly 200 yards and no INTs. Still think that's an interesting position to watch at one of 4A's top programs.
• I went back and read the live blog I wrote during Southlake Carroll/Allen state semifinal last year. In it is mentioned the 5A breakout player we higlighted yesterday, Stephen Payne. I enjoyed looking back and reading my thoughts at the time, as I'm sure Carroll fans will (but not Allen's). I did bump into Payne three months later at a recruiting event, and he shrugged when I mentioned the game. He vividly remembered the holding call that brought back a would-be Allen score and said he'll make sure his senior season is much more memorable -- in a good way.
• I have one year of coaching on my resume that I've never mentioned. While at the newspaper in Corsicana, I was the special teams coordinator (seriously) for my editor's son's 11- and 12-year old YMCA team. We prided ourselves on a play called "confusion," where once we were in formation, our QB would walk to the sideline with his hands in the air as if he misunderstood the play. Our center would then direct-snap to the RB, hopefully catching the defense off guard. It did work for a TD once, but it has nothing on this trick play.
• Finally, for you canine owners, here's a treat your dog will love to sink its teeth into.

I don't remember being under the influence, but perhaps that's how strong the stuff was? Who knows. Anyway, Gary in Grapevine had this to say about Rockwall upsetting Southlake Carroll:

"Jake...where is your source for the strong stuff you must have been smoking when you made your prediction that Rockwall would beat Southlake? I need some of it. I seem to remember that Southlake beat them 47 to 7 last year and are coming back loaded! ... How long did it take for the buzz to go away after you made your prediction?"

Gary, the buzz I feel is from the season about to start -- it will last through December when the season is over. Most likely, Carroll's buzz will last that long.

I still think they're the best team in the state with a great chance to four-peat, but I think a new staff, graduating a lot on defense, and playing a very good offensive team on a short week gives Rockwall a chance in this game.

Now, where is my ashtray? Just kidding ...

Another reader, Robert, was a little kinder in his assessment. He thinks Carroll isn't in danger of an upset because defense doesn't beat the Dragons -- offense does.

"Best defense to beat Southlake Carroll..... is offense. Not defense like you mentioned in your article......everyone knows this!!"

Except for me obviously. Robert goes on:

"Long sustaining grind-it-out drives to keep the Carroll offense off the field!!! Katy did it in '03 and Trinity was close." But, Robert surmised, "Carroll is just too good on offense. No huddle, fresh WR's....that throw it all over the field. You will see there are some close games at halftime...but 2nd half the defense of the opposing team is tired! Best defense is the other team's offense."

Second on the reader rage-ometer was Friendswood over La Marque. And again, the responses varied from me being slightly wrong to me knowing as much about Texas high school football as Oprah.

From "Avid LM Fan": "Although I do not disagree that this could happen this year. You fail to mention that last year, although La Marque was the home team, the game was played in Pearland due to weather-related field issues in LaMarque. So, yes, Friendswood gave LaMarque all it could handle, and yes, LaMarque was the home team, but the game was in Friendswood. I predict this year will be the same as last year... Friendswood gives LaMarque all it can handle but LaMarque prevails."

A reader who signed off as "The Truth" was a little more to the point with his e-mail. I had to edit some for brevity's sake:

"You can't be serious to think Friendswood is going to beat La Marque. All I kept hearing is that Friendswood has a good team this year and how they got such a good offensive attack...BIG DEAL. I got one question what about their defense? They kept talk about this Linebacker that suppose to be a Division-I prospect. Well they had two good Linebackers last season and still lost to La Marque and went home after the first hour of the playoffs."

There's more: "And your can't really talk about La Marque victory against Friendswood last season. Mainly because they won the game and kept the Mustangs from scoring a TD. And because La Marque had to play Texas City the following week in which you know Texas City vs La Marque is one of the biggest rival game in the state of Texas, so La Marque didn't want to show everything they had against Friendswood for the Texas City scouts."

He goes on some more, and at least "The Truth" is a reader of DCTF: "I'm a big Texas Football Magazine Fan and buy the magazine every year. Jake you have to go back to the drawing broad and figure out why you picked a team like Friendswood over a juggernaut team like La Marque that is always rich with talent. Don’t be fooled by all the players Friendswood has coming back this year ask yourself what did those plays do last season that sent them home early last year against Lamar Cons. I'll be writing you an e-mail on Oct. 12."

I sincerely look forward to hearing from you again. This might be my favorite part of my job: hearing from fans. Even when they think (sometimes justifiably) I'm a nut.

Finally, here's some fightin' words. A Klein fan wrote in that both Spring Westfield and Katy are upset-potentials to Klein, saying: "Klein was berating both at halftime last year and will finish this year."

Since I was WAY OFF on my upset predictions, I'd love to hear from readers what upsets they think might happen in 2007.

Allen told me the other day the starting QB for the Scots will be Dutch Crews. The 5-10, 170-pounder played DB last season, but he resembles the type of QB Highland Park had last season, William Webb, who in his only season to start came just short of 3,000 yards of offense.

If Crews comes close to matching that, Highland Park will remain one of the top teams in 4A.

In my best Stephen A. Smith voice: How-ev-uh ... with Crews playing baseball over the spring, senior Winston Gamso got the first-team reps during spring football.

The 6-4, 220 Gamso better resembles former Scot Matthew Stafford. By that, I don't mean in ability -- it's unfair to compare any prep QB to a guy now starting at Georgia.

But Gamso is more of a pocket passer, a guy who wil beat you with his arm and will leave the pocket if it's his final option. Gamso started for the JV last year, but Allen said "he has improved more than any QB I've had in the last year."

Crews is the starter, that's for sure. But I'm interested to see if Gamso -- who's video has hit the net (including on our site) and has helped attract recruiting interest -- can earn more than mop-up time this season.

If he continues his progression, he might leave his coaches no option. That's not a bad thing.

There are worse problems than having two capable QBs.

Until Costa Rico got wind of Southlake Carroll vs. Miami Northwestern.

The sports betting web site 5dimes.com is taking bets on the Dragons' inter-state matchup with Northwestern, to be televised on one of the several ESPN stations Sept. 15.

The founder and operator of the site (based out of Costa Rica) essentially said once the game was scheduled for TV, it became fair game. He even claimed that's the case with televised little league baseball games.

(You know you have a problem when you're putting money down on 12-year olds. Or at least I hope you know it then.)

I don't think prep sports should fear the point-shaving and game-fixing scandals that have crept into college sports. Nevertheless, as Carroll AD Ronnie Tipps pointed out, "high school football is one of the purest forms of entertainment."

The games shouldn't have to put up with this. Save your bets for the pros. But it looks like Carroll doesn't have a choice.

Sticking with the Dragons, a reader (Courtney) recently asked: "From what I hear from my SLC buddies, they may have as many as 11 D-1 seniors this coming year. Is that true?

Courtney, your SLC friends are not drunk off the success of the last half-decade. From what I can tell, there are at least nine Dragons getting recruited by DI programs:

-- RB Tre' Newton (UT pledge)
-- QB Riley Dodge (UNT pledge)
-- OL Jake Jackson (Baylor pledge)
-- WR Blake Cantu (Oregon pledge)
-- LB Derek Tomlin (UNT pledge)
-- OL Sam Schwartzstein (several offers)
-- OL Nick Leppo (getting looks)
-- WR Chris Brainard (getting looks)
-- WR Ethan Cunningham (getting looks)

First, notice how many of those guys on offense. It's no surprise in the system the Dragons run that offensive prospects will be produced. But also remember that nearly every starter from last year's defense graduated.

Secondly, I did only list nine players. But that number is likely to grow during the season. Carroll will again make a national TV appearance this season (again, please save your bets for the pros) and most likely will make another deep playoff run.

That will give Carroll players more exposure than what the average prospects receive. And you can count on some new players stepping up and thus getting noticed by recruiters.

Brad Davis, not the Dallas Mavericks "legend" but the Wolfforth Frenship head coach, will again enter the season scrambling at QB. That's nothing new in the coaching world, but Davis' case is different.

Last year, 4A Frenship welcomed Seth Doege, a QB transfer from 2A Crane who lit up West Texas as a sophomore (over 3,000 yards passing). In Frenship's spread attack, Doege (good enough to pledge to Texas Tech two years ago) would likely light up Class 4A.

Except that he tore his ACL before the 2006 season. Doege rehabbed and was back at 100 percent this summer, and Frenship earned a Top 5 spot in our preseason rankings.

Frenship, unfortunately, will have to back that up once again without Doege, who injured his ACL in his other knee last week. For the second straight year, Doege will be limited to chearing on his team from the sideline.

Some might wonder how this will impact Doege's recruiting status, and the closest example I can think of is former SA Churchill QB Nick Fanuzzi, who signed with Alabama this past February. Fanuzzi missed nearly his entire sophomore and junior seasons, yet was good enough to earn offers from the likes of Miami before the first play of his senior season.

Admittedly, Fanuzzi benefitted from playing a full senior year, but if Tech (and others) already thought highly enough of Doege, they'll likely keep the offer on the table. In fact, it could protect them. If Doege had an enormous year, other teams could come calling. Tech fans: remember Southlake Carroll's Greg McElroy?

McElroy seemed Lubbock-bound until, ironically, Alabama came calling very late in the recruiting process (appears he made a good decision).

I've also heard that nowadays, after an ACL injury, the repaired ligament is stronger than pre-injury. Of course Doege would rather not have to experience that twice, but this injury could prove just another setback in what otherwise can be a long playing career.

Arlington Bowie, meanwhile, lost one if its playmakers, but under much different circumstances.

RB Jeremy Davis -- a 1,000-yard rusher in 2006 -- has been dismissed from the team for a "rules violation." Bowie was in consideration for our top dark horse in Class 5A in our "20 Days" series, but this might drop the Volunteers down a bit.

Taking a tragic turn, as I was just about to post this blog, I came across this story: Class 3A Tyler Chapel Hill is grieving after the loss of Derek Timms, a senior who lost his life in an auto accident early Tuesday evening. Timms was a projected starter on the offensive line, the second player mentioned by Chape Hill coach Phil Castles in this year's DCTF.

The DCTF staff offers its thoughts and prayers to the Timms family and the Chapel Hill community.

But if McGuffie can imitate this move in a game, we'll have seen it all. That's simply amazing.

I sent it to a brother of mine who replied: "I've seen this already. I have to admit I'm a McGuffie Junkie." I'm supposed to be the writer, but I think my brother just came up with a nice name for McGuffie's future fan club ... The McGuffie Junkies.

By the way, the other guy in the video is McGuffie's friend and a prospect himself, Klein OL J.B. Shugarts, an early commit to Ohio State.

After this season, their paths will cross again, as McGuffie is headed to rival Michigan. That will really test their friendship.

Elsewhere ... in repsonse to a blog (8/13) about Rice and its game programs ... got an e-mail from Chuck Pool, a member of the Rice sports info department, who cleared up my co-worker's half-joke that Rice intentionally is avoiding using images from Todd Graham's only season coaching the Owls.

Pool wrote: "The cover concepts are based on several different themes, including introducing our new head coach, highlighting a couple of our notable players, as well as potentially highlighting several other themes that will surround the various games, including the induction of the 2007 Rice Athletic Hall of Fame class, the reunion of the 1957 Rice football team for homecoming, and a salute to our departing seniors for the final game.

Pool went on that the inside of the programs will be filled with photos from last season. In a way, that mirrors Texas Football's philosophy.

The last handful of years, we've wanted our covers to tell a unique story, something you won't get anywhere else.

Sounds like the Rice programs will be unique and worth picking up.

-- Rice will be wearing new uniforms this season. -- Didn't they debut new unis last year? A co-worker said "they must be trying to completely wash Todd Graham's influence out of the program." So much so that I've heard from a source that Rice will not have photos of the 2006 season on their game-day programs. Graham's sudden departure or not, it's kind of hard to believe a season so memorable would not have any place on the programs.

-- North Texas continues serious discussions and drawing-board options to construct a 30,000-expandable-seat football facility to replace 55-year-old Fouts Field. I think this is needed (as does UNT obviously), and this should help an already solid recruiting effort by Todd Dodge. I took a tour of UNT's athletic offices this spring, and an official showed me where the proposed site of the stadium would go. If all goes as planned, UNT would have a very nice setup for the future.

Some non-Texas (but interesting) excerpts:

-- Ticket City.com has rated the five current "toughest" tickets in 2007 FBS ranks. They include Notre Dame at Penn State, Sept. 8; Ohio State at Michigan, Nov. 17; USC at Notre Dame, Oct. 20; Notre Dame at Michigan, Sept. 15; Boston College at Notre Dame, Oct. 13. While I'll argue till death that the greatest football is in Texas, it seems tickets to games outside the state are harder to come by (especially if Notre Dame is involved). I would think Texas/OU would rank in the Top 10.

-- Boise State and Oregon are looking at the possibility of playing the first major college football game ever in China in 2009. The NCAA already has given permission to play a contest there, and Oregon officials are looking at sites, logistics, funding, and a possible television package before extending contracts. The ultimate road trip?

-- Washington trainers and sports nutritionists have added chilled chocolate milk to the Huskies' post-practice fluid replacement menu along with sports drinks and ice water. Will the players get orange slices after the games too?

-- Oklahoma and Cincinnati have scheduled first-ever meetings in 2008 in Norman and in '10 at Cincinnati's Paul Brown Stadium. Word is TCU will also be on OU's schedule in 2008. Think the Sooners will overlook the Frogs this time around?

Finally, and not on the release from the National Football Foundation, I posted a pic of my groom's cake in a previous blog. I'll have to admit this one -- to use a horrible pun -- takes the cake.

Mike in Arlington, creator of The Bucky (given to "the best QB you don't want throwing the ball") offered this sidenote to his award: "There was a T-shirt that said 'see Bucky, run… See Bucky throw… Run Bucky, Run!'"

A frequent e-mailer, Ben (yet to get his town of residence), had my overall favorite submission:
The Applewhite -- Best senior QB to get passed over by a younger player.

Ben also had a few really good NFL QB awards:
The Bledsoe -- The best QB to benefit his team by getting hurt, benched, or retiring;
The Favre -- The best QB that overstays his welcome;
The Vick -- The best QB to have been involved with the law. (Named for both Vicks);
The Kosar -- Best QB with the worst technique.

Robert (a Longhorn presumably) in Spring offered a few ...
The Young Award -- Best use of charisma and broad shoulders to carry a team on your back;
The Staubach -- Best passing performance by a service academy QB.
The Crouch -- Best use of a college career to get NFL money and never play a down.

My boss, THE Adam Hochfelder, took a crack at it as well:
The Tedford -- The best QB guaranteed to go early in the draft yet bust as a pro;
The Next Vince -- The best tall, athletic QB who is tabbed as "the next…"
The Simms -- The best college QB whose dad was a better NFL player than he'll ever be.

Funny the Applewhite/Simms controversy was referenced twice. Let it go folks! (just kidding ...)

Thanks to those who responded ... I'm still accepting award names. As I noted, with so many college football awards out there, one of these might even find a sponsor some day.

Now, to something totally unrelated. My boss's mention of Cal coach Jeff Tedford prompted me to look up his bio.

Tedford either has something to hide, or the web staff doesn't know what a new paragraph is, because I've never seen anything so difficult to read than the online bio of Tedford. Scroll down below his photo and you'll instantly see what I mean.

Also .... some big news that perhaps I should've led off with instead of burying at the end of a blog that 5 percent of readers will get to.

Tomorrow (Saturday, Aug. 10th to be exact), we're kicking off our "20 Days 'Till Texas Football." When the 20-part series ends, football season will be here. We'll name the toughest district, the breakout player, top darkhorse, and preseason MVP for every 11-man classification. I hope it's a can't-miss for you HS fans out there.

To see how we did last year, here's a refresher on the 2006 countdown.

• A point of irony that may be only interesting to me: To open the preseason schedule, tonight the Cowboys (of the NFC) are hosting Indianapolis, the AFC (and Super Bowl) champs, while on Saturday the Texans (of the AFC) are hosting the NFC champs in the Chicago Bears. Not like you can gauge anything from preseason openers, but these matchups do give reason to watch games that quickly digress into sloppy play.

• For those wondering why the Toyota Tundra Texas Football Classic is not on the opening week of the season, the Alamodome had a scheduling conflict that weekend. We got the boot in favor of some kind of narcotics convention. After reading this story, I don't feel so bad. The Cowboys won't have the Alamodome next year for training camp because of a church convention. Let's hope the Alamodome keeps its schedule straight and doesn't mix the drugs with the church crowd.

• Read another story about push coming to shove at TCU's preseason practices. Is there a training camp in America where fights don't break out? Shoot, I'm not even a player, but the tension and desire building up inside while having to wait for the the football season is enough to make me come to blows. I can't imagine how badly players want to hit the field (rather than their teammates). If I were a coach, I'd be worried if fights weren't breaking out in camp.

• Here's an interesting story that places the BCS teams in a pecking order. As bad as my Baylor Bears have been recently, I'm glad to see he classified us as "peasants." He could've just called us "the dead." Before fellow Baylor alum accuse me of giving up, I have a good feeling about the opener at TCU. Not necessarily that Baylor will win, but it will be much closer than the opening spread of 21.5. I'll explain my (likely faulty) reasoning as the game gets closer.

• Finally, for you Houston-area coaches, football players, and parents out there, the Houston Texans are teaming with Reliant Energy to award scholarships to "Houston-area high school student-athletes who have exhibited remarkable leadership in athletics, academics, and/or extra-curricular activities so that these outstanding students can pursue their dreams with fewer economic limitations." Go here to nominate a student, or for more info, go here.

Apparently, it takes "bowl performance" into consideration. Doesn't the Davey O'Brien award already take that into account? Or the Sammy Baugh? There's also the Unitas award, given to the best senior quarterback (wait your turn, Colt).

I've also heard of a Heisman Trophy, which doesn't always go to quarterbacks. It just seems that way.

Seriously, college football awards are taking a page out of Texas high school all-district teams, where three quarterbacks, five running backs, and 10 offensive linemen can make the first team.

Still it got me thinking ... what quarterback awards are on the horizon?

The Leach: Given to the fifth-year senior who performs best in his only season to start.

The Tebow: Given to the true freshman who makes the most of three carries and two pass attempts per game.

The Notre Dame: If you're good enough to start for the Irish, you've already earned the right to win a postseason award. Even if you don't deserve it.

The Weinke: Given to the best 30-year old or over college quarterback.

The Mustain: Given to the QB who can best involve his mother in team affairs.

The Booty: The recipient of the Heisman trophy. It's a lock for USC's top skill player, right?

Would love to hear some reader suggestions for more award names.

Robert in Spring pointed out what normally is a hotbed: Westfield High. In the past five years, Westfield has had 20 players sign DI scholarships (plus numerous others sign JC, DII and DIII). Only Southlake Carroll's 21 is more in that same span.

But while Westfield averaged 5 signees per year through 2005, the Mustangs had zero this past February. That really shocked me when I did that research back in April. I even had to call Westfield coach Corby Meekins to confirm.

"Believe me, it won't happen again," Meekins told me at the time, before adding: "How many other teams went to the fourth round of the playoffs without one Division I signee?" (My quick research pointed out that only San Marcos and Westfield made the 5A fourth round and didn't have a DI signee).

Back to our e-mailer Robert's original point:

"Regarding a hotbed this year -- though it probably goes w/o saying, Westfield has about 12 DI-A recruits this year. With three commits already, and a lot of guys mainly waiting to get back SAT scores (thank you schedule-maker for NOT putting the Klein Forest game on an SAT day this year), I think 9-10 will definitely be signing I-A letters."

Those three commitments are Herman Mitchell to OU, Broderick Brown to OSU, and Nick Sampson to SMU (at least one of them stayed in state).

Going up to Austin, like Klein, Anderson High is receiving abnormal amounts of interest from recruiters as well. Michael Feeley in Austin, whose son (Coleman) is an offensive lineman and the subject of a couple previous blogs, writes that:

"This might not be up to some school’s standards but L.C. Anderson has five seniors that have received D-1 scholarship offers already and that is probably a record for Anderson. The combination of the new head coach, Mark Reiland, his new coaching staff and sixteen returning seniors has everyone excited about this season. The boys are FIRED UP and ready for 2-a-days."

The five players with D-1 offers at Anderson:
-- Coleman Feeley-OT - UNT (click here for video)
-- Patrick Kurunwune-RB – NM St, Duke (committed) (click here for video)
-- Duncan McGee-QB – LA Tech (click here for video)
-- R.P. Stewart-Receiver – LA Tech
-- Jackson Wehmeyer-LB – Army, Air Force

We ran the Top 10 schools that have signed the most DI players in the past five years in this year's magazine. I've had some people ask about other teams they thought would be on the list, and since that ties in to this blog (they usually lack coherence), here's a list of all schools with double-digit signees over the past five years:

Southlake Carroll, 21
Allen, 20
Cedar Hill, 20
Dallas Carter, 20
Spring Westfield, 20
La Marque, 19
Dallas Skyline, 18
Tyler Lee, 18
Irving MacArthur, 18
Garland, 17
South Garland, 17
DeSoto, 17
Lufkin, 17
Arlington Bowie, 16
Galena Park North Shore, 16
Mansfield Summit, 15
Plano West, 15
Duncanville, 14
FB Marshall, 14
Denton Ryan, 13
North Mesquite, 13
Port Arthur Memorial, 13
Richardson Berkner, 13
Humble, 13
Copperas Cove, 13
SGP, 13
Houston Cypress Falls, 12
Colleyville Heritage, 12
Euless Trinity, 12
Longview, 12
Dallas SOC, 12
Pearland, 12
Brenham, 11
The Woodlands, 11
Keller, 11
Fort Bend Hightower, 11
Highland Park, 11
Arlington Houston, 10
Baytown Lee, 10

The longer I believe in something and the more time I've spent thinking about it, the harder it is for me to change my view. I think I'm capable of seeing things from other perspectives, but not necessarily changing my stance.

All that to say, from the start I've been opposed to the steroid testing plan approved for high school athletics in Texas. Before accusations of lacking values, let me explain ...

The plan is to test a very small percentage of athletes (something like three percent). My question all along is how do they choose who to test?

If it's completely random, if that three percent include sports like volleyball, tennis, golf, or cross country, I don't believe it will produce results (which would be viewed, strangely, as a good thing -- people might believe steroids aren't a problem if nobody gets caught). And because of that, it would be a colossal misuse of much-needed funds.

But if testing targeted the sports where steroids most likely were to be used (football, basketball, baseball), wouldn't that be a case of profiling? Wouldn't it be unfair to target a certain area of athletes?

Up until yesterday, this led me to believe the steroid testing introduced in our legislative halls wasn't worth it the time and money. There are too many holes in the testing strategy (not to mention the recently developing story that certain legal nutriotional supplements would produce positive test results).

That changed when I came across this remark from my favorite sportswriter, Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Smith:

(S)ports has become the religion in this country," Smith said in an interview following a cover story in 2005 about how steroids have affected the public's view of baseball. "And if we're going to justify raising it that high and making it that important, it has to earn its place and it has to have values. We hand sports over to coaches and programs ... and if sports are our vessel for teaching our kids, they have to be operating on a sound, moral basis. Otherwise, there's no justification and we've just sold our souls. It's just a really important question: If we're going to have sports play that role, but we allow elements that are very dangerous as well as deceitful and fraudulent, then we really need to look ourselves in the mirror and question our obsession with sports."

My wife will always question my obsession with sports. At times, I've wished I could attenuate that obsession.

But as Smith says, if we admit that obsession and continue to hold sports -- from the pros down to the pee wees -- in such high esteem, we must treat it as such.

If we don't, we'll have more stories like the Texas Christian vs. Austin NYOS six-man game played, ironically, the same year of Smith's cover story (and subsequently covered by fellow SI writer Rick Reilly).

Because of that, I now have the belief that steroid testing of student-athletes at the high school level is our moral obligation. When we put so much time, energy, passion, and money (high school athletics is a vast, potentially fruitful frontier when it comes to sports marketing and sponsorship) into sports, we owe it to ourselves to correctly police it, to ensure the integrity of the game.

I feel stupid for not thinking that from the start (and am interested in what our readers think).

On to a few other unrelated topics ....

-- College coaches think more of UT than we did in the magazine. The Longhorns rank 4th in USA Today's first coaches poll. We had UT 8th in the magazine. TCU and A&M ranked 22nd and 25th, respectively, according to coaches, while we had them 13th and 14th in the magazine.

-- Looking to make a college road trip? Let helmets be your guide. This complete Division I schedule has become one of the releases I anticipate the most. Unaware who's the brainchild behind it, but we could've used him to help judge our Helmet and Mascot Bowls.

-- Back to UT ... was saddened and shocked to hear the news about the warrant out for Andre Jones. He was our 2006 Class 4A coverboy, and the story showed how he overcome a tough upbringing to make the most of himself. I hope he still gets that chance.

However, I couldn't help but notice the irony when looking back at that 2006 story. The inset featured a "Where is he now?" for the 2005 Class 4A Coverboy. It was Woodrow Wilson product Sergio Kindle, who like Jones, is on the UT roster and facing legal problems of his own.

And as my groom's cake to the right shows, during the last couple weeks, football was never too far from thought. People have asked how TCU (my wife's school) and Baylor (yours truly) could meet at the Cotton Bowl.

It's my groom's cake. That's how it can happen.

Anyway, back to topic ... I got an e-mail from Bret Shugarts, whose son, J.B., is one of the most recruited players in the state this year. His presence has helped his Klein teammates get added attention, as Bret says:
"Great article on FB Marshall. Klein is in new territory with their D1 prospects this year."

Klein indeed has become a magnet this year for recruiters:
-- J.B. Shugarts, OT pledged to Ohio State
-- Brian Moore, OLB pledged to Tulsa
-- Clay Hebert, OG pledged to Rice
-- Randy Bullock, K with offers from TCU, Tulsa and Rice
-- John Yoboty, DE with offers from Missouri, Bowling Green and Marshall

Bret Shugarts also listed these others as "Potential D1's"
-- Matt West ILB
-- CJ Palmer RB
-- Nick Farley RB / CB
-- Joe Garza DT
-- Henty Kaetzer DE

If, say, every Klein player above signed a DI scholarship next February, that would give Klein 10, one short of Cedar Hill's 11 this past February, which is the highest single-school total in the last five years.

Bret also mentioned "JB has been selected to play in the Army All American Game and will be the 3rd (Klein) player to play in the game. Chris Stewart in 2005 and Robert Killebrew 2003."

If you know of a program getting an unusual amount of recruiting interest this year, give me a shout.

To prepare for my absence, I wrote a few stories that someone on the DCTF staff will post while I'm gone. The subjects:
-- How Fort Bend Marshall has generated so many signees in the last few years;
-- The Mullinix family of Normangee (father is HC, twin sons are stars of the team);
-- Sonny Detmer grooming San Antonio-area quarterbacks

Hope you enjoy them.

Meanwhile, among the most frequently asked questions is how Dave Campbell came up with this whole "Texas Football" magazine idea. Instead of answering that myself, I'll let the founder have the honors:

But I'll admit I became a fan of NBC's made-for-TV version of "Friday Night Lights," which was loosely based on H.G. Bissinger's best-seller of the same name, which was based (Odessa natives would say loosely) on Permian's 1988 football team.

However, I'm not fan enough (nor in shape enough) to appear on the show. But NBC is giving Texans with football experience that opportunity. The crew of FNL has set an open casting call starting at the end of the week. You don't need to be a thespian -- just need to be willing to work a full day for $75, suit up in pads, and "look the part."

For more info, read NBC's casting call release.

Critics loved the show, but some said it had nothing to do with football in Texas. Not sure about that, but I am sure this highlight video clip has absolutely nothing to do with football in the state. But it's well worth watching. This little guy looks like he has a bright future.

In a week from today, I'll be a (happily) married man. My wife-to-be is a graduate of The Woodlands High, and though she's more out of tune with football than what you'd expect of a football writer's wife, she is a little upset about Wisconsin's beef with her alma mater.

An issue the past several years, Wisconsin reversed tracks recently and said The Woodlands' use of Wisconsin's trademark "W" on its helmets "dilutes the identity and value to the University."

Apparently, when people see the "W" on The Woodlands' football helmets, they no longer think about the Big 10 university with tens of thousands enrolled and millions of former students. Instead, they think about a high school a decade old with enrollment of several thousand.

Give me a break.

I suppose UT needs to chase down every program in the state with the Longhorn logo unrightfully being used. And how many schools in Texas alone are using the Kansas State Wildcat logo? (Too many in my opinion .... helmets could always use a little more creativity).

Heck, Jerry Jones needs a lawsuit directed at Brownsville ISD. Porter High, in fact, uses the same helmet as America's Team. Surely Jones is concerned that Porter's use of the star-emblazoned helmet is hurting his team's identity.

Yes, my sarcasm is thick (and hopefully slightly funny). But hopefully it points out the absurdity with Wisconsin's argument.

I'm all for branding. And I'd understand if, say, Washington tried to adopt Wisconsin's logo and Wisconsin had a problem with that.

But The Woodlands' use of Wisconsin's logo is as much of a threat to Wisconsin's identity as I'm a threat to take away Rick Reilly’s job at Sports Illustrated.

Got a call again from Randy Rodgers, and though the score had already been erased fromthe board (to make room for scores from the big boys' event), he knew Celina beat 2A Crane by a scored believed to be 28-21.

Celina also won the event in 2000 when there was no small-school event. They are now two-time champs, and there's no need for an asterisk next to this year's title.

Rodgers said he missed the smalls-school finals because he was watching the first half of Brownwood vs. Wolfforth Frenship in 5A/4A pool play.

"Might be the best quarterback matchup I've seen in a while," he said. Brownwood features junior Casey Pachal, while Frenship has Seth Doege, a Texas Tech verbal commitment.

"'If you are a recevier, you'd better be ready, because the ball was coming," Rodgers said.

That's perhaps why I like 7-on-7 so much. You get closer to the action than a regular (or real) football game. It's like sitting on the sidelines of a basketball game.

Up close, and just as fast.

Celina, my pick to win it all, is making me look smart. The Bobcats are currently playing in the finals against 2A Crane.

It's not like I was going out on a limb with that pick; nevertheless, I'm still a bit proud of that pick.

How Celina and Crane made it there:
Quarterfinals:
Celina 34, Pilot Point 0
Diboll 31, Navasota 27
Mabank 49, Pleasanton 48 (OT)
Crane 40, West Orange-Stark 32

Semifinals:
Celina 25, Diboll 19
Crane 50, Mabank 48 (2 OT)

I'll get the word out on the champion as soon as I can get it myself ...

The game was in jeapordy when the supt. of Miami schools threatened to cancel Northwestern's season after a sex scandal was mishandled by school authorities -- including the coaches.

But instead of canceling the season, the supt. made the right decision by punishing the culpable parties -- the administrators and coaches -- and allowing the players to continue to play football.

Again, I've followed this from afar as afar goes, but it seems this was the proper end to this situation, though it does make for a tough job for whomever takes over the program.

He'll inherit talent no doubt, but unifying the team will be his greatest challenge.

Carroll's nationally-televised game against Miami Northwestern (also a defending state champ) in Week 2 was threatened when the superintendent in Northwestern's school district seriously considered canceling Northwestern's season in light of a sex scandal that school officials tried to bury in the ground.

This afternoon, reports indicate Northwestern's season will go on, allowing organizers to roll on with the anticipated Sept. 15th matchup at SMU's Ford Stadium.

From my limited knowledge of the case, Northwestern's program really needed cleaning up. And it appears that process has been started; the longtime AD is out, as is the principal in place when the scandal occurred.

Hopefully, the superintendent will right the ship -- without keeping dozens of innocent players from playing the game.

Had Northwestern lost its season, Carroll would've had a very hard time filling in that hole. That's a bridge they won't have to cross now.

For those in support, evidence that it works is seen just about everywhere outside Texas' borders. Many states have private and public schools competing in the same leagues for the same state titles.

And the way Dallas Jesuit and Houston Strake Jesuit have easily acclimated is additional proof.

But with the number of charter schools popping up, and the fear these schools can gain an advantage by recruiting, I can see why opponents hope to keep the privates and publics separated.

Some reader e-mail might help me formulate a more concrete opinion, but in the meantime, another opinion of mine seems borderline fact: The 2008 recruiting class seems to have more players getting recruited than in year's past.

To wit: the Super Team has a private school player on the first-team on offense and defense (LB Emmanuel Acho and OL Ben Habern). Working from home today, I can't dig through past magazines to see when (or if) that's happened before, but I doubt it has.

But it's not limited to those two players (Acho a UT pledge, Habern an OU pledge). UT has another commitment from a private school prep (Beaumont Kelly's Kheeston Randall), while Texas A&M has a pledge from Colleyville Covenant OL Jeffrey Hyde.

Houston St. Pius DL Richard Cagle has a form pledge to Vanderbilt, while his teammate, QB Billy Noonan, is getting looks from Houston and Fresno State.

The Texas Top 300 this year reached double figures in number of private schoolers on the list, and our recruiting video database has most of those players included.

Going back to my original thought, I'm not sure if the increase in private school players getting recruited is a sign the two fields of play should merge, but it's definitely worth exploring.

After serving as an assistant and consultant at Somerset, Sonny Detmer, father of NFL veterans Koy and Ty and former Mission head coach, has been promoted to head coach.

His name hasn’t been in the news a whole lot, but coach Detmer has stayed active through the years. He holds QB camps in various locales statewide aside from tutoring QBs in the San Antonio area.

In fact, just last week Detmer called me out of the blue (he didn't mention the coaching change ... guess he didn't want to break the news himself) to tell me about two of his pupils he thinks should get more pub: SA O'Connor's Bruno Reno, and Pleasanton's Niko Salinas.

When someone like Detmer recommends a QB, I listen. I've put in film requests to each of their head coaches and hope to get them in our database soon enough.

Salinas, by the way, will face off against Somerset and Detmer in district play this season. Detmer said he has no qualms coaching up opponents.

"I've got some of them from each of (our rival) schools, they send them over to me," he said.

In exchange, Detmer gives them the insight that helped two of his sons play major college football before lengthy stints in the NFL. Both Ty and Koy are known to pop up at these sessions (here's a great story that ran in Sports Illustrated 10 years ago).

"They like seeing them out there," Detmer said. "They pay a lot of attention to them."

And add this Detmer pupil to your radar: Stevie Don Dorman ("that's a football name, isn't it?" Detmer joked). Dorman is the son of one of Detmer's two daughters and will be a freshman at Somerset this fall.

Dorman, who will likely be second-string this season, has already been clocked at 83 in baseball (as an eight-grader, mind you), so needless to say the arm strength is there.

Said Detmer: "He's going to be a good one."

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