It’s hard to believe it has been more than two decades since the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park originally hit the big screen. Now, 22 years later, they’re back in Jurassic World he original series featured three movies.

After all these the years, Jurassic World, a popular adventure park featuring dinosaurs, is owned by Patel Corporation as Owen Grady (played by Chris Pratt) is a member of the park’s staff who decides to conduct in depth behavioral research on raptors. Before too long, the park’s attendance begins to decline significantly and an attempt on increasing attraction goes terribly wrong.

Other cast members include Vincent D’Onofrio, Bryce Dallas Howard, Judy Greer, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, Lauren Lapkus, Katie McGrath and more.

The movie will be released Friday, June 12 and is oriented on the release date of the original move which was released on June 11, 1993.

In 2001, rumors of a fourth movie of the series surfaced, but Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston denied the rumors. Director Stephen Spielberg came up with an idea for the fourth film that he believed would take the story line to a new depth. Sam Neill, who played major role in the franchise, chose not to be part of this year’s release, stating his character wouldn’t fit into the story.

NBA basketball was a blast to watch in the 1990’s. You had the obvious stars like Michael Jordan, David Robinson, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and several others, but what about those who we forget about, who if you were to hear their names, a bell would ring in your head?

Remember Penny Hardaway who played along Shaq? Remember his commercials? What about Shaun Kemp? Kevin Johnson on the Suns? What about Larry Johnson?

I remember watching Larry Johnson particularly because he was teammates with Mugsy Bogues, who at 5-feet-3, was the shortest player in NBA history. Johnson, Bogues and Alonzo Mourning were the leaders of Charlotte Hornets, and although I wasn’t a Hornets fan, I enjoyed watching their big three (or big two and little one).

What makes it more interesting is Johnson was born in Tyler.

Johnson had an interesting career is one of those guys we often forget about. After playing for the Hornets, he left for the Big Apple to play for the Knicks. During his time there, he converted to Islam.

His career only lasted 10 years, five of which were spent in Charlotte and five in New York. He finished his career with 11,450 points, 5,300 rebounds and 2,290 assists.

Here’s the biggest understatement ever: The Rangers are terrible. No really, they’re so hard to watch it’s not even funny. What’s even stranger is the fact the Astros are currently at the top of the American League West. You have to wonder how much Nolan Ryan has to do with that.

That brings me to my next point; the Curse of the Ryan Express.

We’ve all heard about the Curse of the Billy Goat and the Curse of the Bambino but what about the Curse of the Ryan Express? Just look at the evidence. Ryan helped lift the Rangers from being the laughingstock of Major League Baseball to legit contenders with back-to-back World Series appearances. For years and years, the Rangers had some solid bats but their pitching was horrendous and the defense was an embarrassment. That is until the Ryan Express pulled into town as a member of the front office. He was a member of a group that bought the team and he helped lead them to the World Series.

Eventually, something happened behind closed doors and for one reason or another, Ryan and the Rangers parted ways. He head for his former home in Houston to help his son run the Astros and as of now, the Astros lead the division. What happens from here has yet to be seen but if the Astros go to the World Series before the Rangers, can you really argue against the Curse of the Ryan Express?

On Tuesday, June 16, the first ever, Best of East Texas Prep banquet will be held at the Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center in Longview. The banquet will honor some of the best high school athletes in east Texas for the schools in the coverage areas of the Longview News-Journal, the Marshall News Messenger and the Panola Watchmen. After each season, the sports staff of those papers vote on the Best of East Texas All-Star team and every athlete voted to the team is invited to attend the banquet free.

There will also be rewards for every sport as well as the overall female athlete, the overall male athlete and overall coach of the year. All the awards are named after athletes with East Texas roots who high school sports in the area.

The list of names includes people like Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles, Pro Football Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle, Super Bowl Champion Terrance Shaw and many others. On top of that, the guest speaker will be 1982 Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL running back Herschel Walker. Walker played 11 years in the NFL including two stops with the Dallas Cowboys, the team with whom he began and later ended his career.