Phil Hicks

Baseball is going strong, the Olympics are nearing, and in less than a month the Dallas Cowboys begin training camp.

That means high school football can’t be far off.

High school football drills begin Aug. 4 with the regular season starting on Aug. 28. It seems like the school year just ended.

Well, anyway, there is something new for the football season as the sports staff of the Tyler Courier-Times--Telegraph and the Longview News-Journal decided to spark a little debate by naming an East Texas High School Football Preseason Dream Team.

Last week, we got together in Longview and picked a team. We chose a first team only and players eligible were those in an area that included north to Interstate 30, east to Waskom, south to Lufkin and west to Trinidad. It basically encompasses the circulation areas of our two newspapers.

We took nominations from area coaches — not only their players but players they have faced. Also, we took into account past performances as well as scanning college recruiting lists.

We discussed it and talked it over and came up with our Dream Team.

It will be announced on Saturday, Aug. 2, right after Coaching School and just before preseason drills begin.

The team is still subject to change so you can let us know what you think.

Who do you think belongs on the team?

So, just email us at sports@tylerpaper.com for your thoughts.

At the end of the season, we will revisit the team and file a report card.

Rangers Love .500

After a horrible start (7-16), the Texas Rangers got to .500 on May 17 (22-22) — quite an accomplishment considering the season began with poor defense, poor pitching and poor decision-making in the field.

They were 2? games out of first that May day and over a month later the team is still hovering around .500, but now they were 7? games behind the Los Angeles Angels entering Saturday’s game with the Philadelphia Phillies.

This season has been marked by no long winning streaks and no long losing streaks.

It’s been an odd pattern for the Rangers. After reaching 22-22, they lost three straight to go to 22-25, then they won three straight to go 25-25.

From there it’s been — 26-26, 27-27, 28-28, 29-29, 30-30, and 31-31. They messed the pattern up when they missed on 32-32.

But it continued when they were 33-33, 34-34, 35-35, 36-36, 37-37, 38-38, 39-39 and 40-40.

Entering Saturday’s game with the Phillies they were 41-40.

Anyway …

As usual, the Rangers have the firepower and they are a pleasure to watch with Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Milton Bradley, Ian Kinsler, etc.

They are on pace to score 900 runs.

Still, the pitching is suspect (where have you heard that before?).

Vicente Padilla has pitched well and Ranger fans are hopeful he will keep his head on straight.

But wouldn’t John Danks look good in a Ranger uniform right now? It’s amazing the Rangers baseball people said he wasn’t ready for the big leagues, but he went immediately to the rotation for the White Sox.

Where is Brandon McCarthy by the way? (On the 60-day DL).

It would be nice to have Edinson Volquez and his 10-3 mark along with his ERA of 2.08, but the Rangers traded him to the Cincinnati Reds for Josh Hamilton.

Hamilton’s status as an everyday player with amazing stats (.310 batting average while leading the league in RBIs – 78 – and home runs – 19) proves it was a great trade for both teams.

After Sunday’s home game with Philadelphia, the schedule gets really tough for the Rangers — there’s three at the New York Yankees (June 30-July 2), three at the Baltimore Orioles (July 4-6) and then home for four with the Angels (July 7-10) and the Chicago White Sox (July 11-13).

The dog days of summer always seem to get to the Rangers and the fans (a roof would be nice in Arlington).

Hopefully, the Rangers are on the right track.

Silver Boot Series

The Rangers and Astros tied their Interleague series at 3-3, but the Rangers got to keep the Silver Boot for the second straight year and for the fourth time in five years.

Texas gets the boot by outscoring the Astros, 34-28, in the series.

Phil Hicks
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