Random observations

I would have filed this blog right after I got home from St. John's-St. Thomas last night, but a flat tire sustained at I-45 and the 2351 exit dictated otherwise, as in I got everything posted when I got home, then went straight to bed.
A few observations from Friday night:

- Congratulations to North Shore and coach David Aymond on their 73rd straight regular-season victory, a state record. Aymond is a total class guy and though I'm not the closest to their team, I always enjoy talking to him and stepson Dustin Porterfield, who is hard at work with the new VYPE publication here in town. The best thing about this win, as far as I'm concerned, is Aymond didn't schedule the sisters of the poor! They went 100 miles north into a potential hornet's nest and survived.

- I wasn't surprised that Memorial beat Stratford, but I was surprised it was by 18 points. The defense sounds like it was awesome; a Jared Carameros INT return for a touchdown and 190 total yards allowed. Unless they slip big-time, I'll put it on record now that Memorial goes undefeated in the district.

- Even having lost 20-12 to Langham Creek, Cy-Fair seems to have improved considerably. They rushed for 320 yards and shaved their turnovers considerably (one fumble and one interception). That said, they're already behind the 8-ball and need to punch through for that first win soon.

- Congrats to Aldine for getting that first win, 14-7 against Nimitz. The offense amassed only 210 yards but resorted to trickery for the winning score; the winning touchdown was thrown by quarterback/kick holder Alex Jones on a fake field goal attempt.

- Kudos to St. Thomas band director Donald Thoede, who was invaluable in more ways than one Friday night. Not only did he give me the complete bios of all the Homecoming candidates for that short story (I had it finished before the queen was announced!) but his band's selection is outstanding. Not every band plays "Day Tripper," the opening drum line of "Those Shoes" (by the Eagles) and other pop staples but they do. It was great not to hear the Hey song for once.