This Week in HS Sports - December 19, 2009

Championship Saturday...

I won't personally be on-hand for the Class 5A state championships today.  That will be the first time I will have missed a 5A championship since 2004.  But I am already making plans to be back in 2010...to start a new streak!

For the record, I'm going to go with Austin Westlake in the Division 1 final over Euless Trinity.  And, in the Division 2 final, I will go with the Katy Tigers in a dogfight over the Abilene Eagles; however, I won't be surprised at all if it goes the opposite way.  Everyone in the Houston area knows about Katy.  Abilene is just as good.

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Did you know that Alabama was the first state to officially recognize Christmas as an official holiday?  It says so right here.  And here.  And here.  I'm trying to interpret that as a bad sign for the UT Fightin' McCoys in the BCS Championship Game, but haven't been able to so far.   However, it does solidify the universally-held opinion that the state of Alabama is always progressive.

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There's an interesting high school hoops showcase coming up after Christmas in the Houston area.  The John Lucas Holiday Explosion and Athletic Conference will feature some local high school teams in showcase games against teams from around the country.  The top-ranked Bellaire Cardinals headline the Houston-area teams, which also include last year's 5A state semifinalist Strake Jesuit along with Atascocita and Christian Life Center Academy. 

I'll give more details about this showcase in an upcoming blog post, but if you were a fan of the old Academy Invitational Tournament and it's short-lived successor, The Houston vs. the Nation Tournament, you'll want to spend a couple of days at the Campbell Center in north Houston.

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We'll recap the football championships next week.

 Previous stories : August 15, 2009  August 20, 2009  August 26, 2009  August 31, 2009
                                 September 8, 2009  September 16, 2009  September 18, 2009  September 25, 2009
                         September 28, 2009  October 5, 2009  October 7, 2009  October 15, 2009
                         October 19, 2009  October 23, 2009  October 25, 2009  November 2, 2009
                         November 9, 2009  November 11, 2009  November 18, 2009  November 25, 2009
                         December 5, 2009  December 8, 2009