After year and years of debate and arguing, this year we will finally enjoy playoffs in college football. The NCAA finally came to the realization that it was much needed and would be a great improvement to Division I football. It’ll be a win-win situation for everybody involved.

The NCAA was throwing out excuse after excuse as to why it thought a playoff system wouldn’t work. One of those excuses thrown out was that the athletes are student athletes, meaning they’re students first and a playoff games would take away from their classwork. The NCAA is making millions off these athletes and it’s clear that’s what it’s all about: money.

If it were truly about the kids being students first, the NCAA would never allow such a massive shakeup in the conferences. Why would a team in Texas be in the Big East and other teams travel all across the country? A school’s conference isn’t just for one sport but for the entire athletic department. That means the volleyball, softball and baseball teams will be traveling across the country during the middle of the week while missing a lot of school on a regular basis.

At any rate, the top four teams will compete at the end of the year in hopes to win a national championship. Eventually, it will turn to eight teams, which will be a major step up, but until then, let’s enjoy the playoffs because it has been a long time coming. A four-team playoff system is worlds better than the BCS system.

It’s official; the first week of high school football is in the books. High school football stadiums filled up this week as entire towns closed down to watch their beloved teams take the gridiron. The great thing is, we still have another 15 weeks of this leading up to the state championship games at Cowboys Stadium.

This past Friday night saw the John Tyler Lions play host to Plano, beating the Wildcats 30-12. Meanwhile, the Robert E. Lee Red Raiders played host to Fossil Ridge, losing to the Panthers 48-26.

This upcoming Friday night, the Lions will travel to Longview to take on the Lobos while the Red Raiders will travel to Lufkin to take on the Panthers. Then the two teams will return home for the battle of the rose city on Friday, September 12 when they go head-to-head at Trinity Mother Francis Rose Stadium.

If you’re planning on catching just one and only one high school football game at Rose Stadium this season, that might just be the one to see as the rival of Tyler continues yet another season.

With the realignment having officially kicked in this year, the state of Texas officially added District 6A and Tyler Lee is the only 6A school in East Texas.

I still haven’t seen Dawn of the Planet of the Apes but if I were to go see a movie that’s currently playing, that would be the one. What’s not to like about monkeys riding horses? Not to mention, Planet of the Apes has a rich history. How could one not be entertained by Charleton Heston’s movies?
Perhaps I need to see the last Planet of the Apes movie first. I don’t recall if it ended with a cliff hanger. Really, the only thing I remember about seeing that movie has little to nothing to do with the movie itself.
My cousins and I saw the midnight showing of it at Carmike Theater in Tyler. There was a girl behind us making comments all throughout the film. She made comments like, “Oh, he’s such a smart monkey” over and over, as well as something like, “Open up the cage and then see who’s scare, coward.” The context of it doesn’t matter and her pointless rambling was way beyond annoying, although funny. When the discussion on the way home after the movie isn’t about talking monkeys taking over the world but rather a young lady asking, “Why does he look cookies so much?”, you know something big happened.
Regardless, if nothing else, the Apes are worth seeing on the big screen for special effects. If I saw movies in the theater more often, I likely would’ve seen this one by now. Maybe I’ll go before it’s too late.

Dear National Football League,

…And that’s not just an opening by the way. Since I was a young child I have loved football passionately. I still do mostly. I have literally a lifetime of football memories I carry with me, and you feature such a prominent role in all of them. There have been so many holidays we’ve spent together, with family. Late nights with dad and granddad, so many Mondays made livable by the promise of evening football. And now that I’m a dad, I spend the same time with my son watching, what has become the American pastime.

But in the last few years I’ve felt a growing distance between us. I don’t want it to be there, but it is, and it’s pretty much all your fault. So here are a few tips to saving our relationship.

1. Quit tinkering with the game. There have been a rash of major rules changes and suggestions of rules changes ever since Roge… Uhhh, you know who, took over a certain leadership position. I realize that football is dangerous, but so is life. Fine, minimalize the danger but understand you will never remove it completely. Stop messing up the game out of fear.
2. This is a minor one but pick a uniform and go with it! Every season half the teams in the league either add some new third or fourth color jersey, or change their uniforms entirely. Half the franchises now resemble European Soccer teams.
3. And speaking of Europe, enough of the overseas games. American Football has been tried at least twice and failed there both times. Who cares whether or not they like it. We love it. Maybe think of Americans as your target audience. Just a suggestion.
4. Lastly, and this one is really the most important… Stay out of politics! I watch sports to escape politics and social movements, (as do most people I think). I don’t care in the slightest about a player’s sexual proclivities, or his political affiliations, or even whether he supports gay marriage. I do not care! I can sit at the local sports bar with friends of every religious and political stripe I can think of, and the only thing that matters to me is whether or not we’re cheering for the same team. I’m sick of listening to Bob Cos… Uhhh, broad casters lecture me about gun control or the Redskins name. I already hate the Redskins. I’m a Cowboys fan! I don’t need to be offended by a seventy year old name to hate them. I hope they never change the name by the way. For my part I refuse to jettison tradition because a handful of people are determined to misinterpret its intent. And since we’re talking about social causes, here’s one for free. Let’s scrap pink this October. (I know it’s not going to happen) Of course I’m against breast cancer! But how about taking all the money you were going to spend on pink stuff, and give it directly to cancer research. I think it would have a much greater impact than wearing pink socks and towels.

So there is my list of requests. I still have hope for our relationship NFL. I desperately want to make it work. I want my son to have as many great memories of family getting together around the game at Thanksgiving time as I do. But it’s up you. Eternal success and prosperity is not a given. We fans could be driven away.