MAYBE NEXT YEAR AND HAPPY TRAILS......

From the RiverCityHoopScoop website, a little recognition for SA Islanders Tara and Alexia as their freshman High School season comes to an end.

THE SCOOP
 The Latest News in San Antonio Girls Basketball
Monday, February 11
MAYBE NEXT YEAR....
Before the playoffs begin tonight we want to pay tribute to a few teams that are missing out this season. Some teams barely missed the playoffs on play-in games while others couldn't wait for the brutal regular season to end so they could prepare for next season. With that said, it's only hope for the future for those non-playoff teams...Maybe next year???? 
 
The Marshall Rams cracked the Honorable Mention of our High School Rankings a few times and started off district on the right track.  The story with Rams was injuries. UTSA commit Carlie Heineman had a phenomenal junior campaign but was sidelined with injury on several occasions. Marshall's other major contributors Alexia Torres and KK Saenz also were sidelined on occasion.  It was a great run for the Rams and promise for the future but this year's run was cut short. Alexia Torres and Carlie Heineman give Marshall a returning backcourt that could compete for a district championship next season but until then... Maybe next year for the Marshall Rams.....
For all the other programs that missed the playoffs, we commend you for your completed seasons and wish you all the best. MAYBE NEXT YEAR....... 


Wednesday, February 13
HAPPY TRAILS
The first round of the playoffs is in the books. We wish all the winners the best of luck in the second round, but would like to send the others off with "Happy Trails".....  
 
Happy Trails to the Johnson Jaguars:
According to several preseason polls, the Jags were one of the favorites to win Region 4 and make it to the state tournament.  After only 11 games, UCLA commit Recee' Caldwell chose to part ways from Johnson high school basketball.  Caldwell's departure was a shock to many and brought even more drama to a program that was already in question because of recent transfers.  New head coach Randy Evans and the Johnson Jaguars were forced to play point guard by committee and had to find a new identity in the post-Caldwell era. Nevertheless, the talented Jags were just fine and still remained one of the top teams in the city.  Dallas area transfer Tiara Davenport (2014-Texas Tech) was a huge addition to the Jaguars and filled the void of a "Big" the Jags had always been missing. They will return 2014 stud Gabbi Bowie, 2015 Texas Tech commit Erica Sanders as well as two 2016 rising stars Sandy Ramirez and Tara Molina. Next year the Jags will once again be a Top 5 team in the city.  Happy Trails......
And Happy Trails to the rest: Lanier, Harlandale, Somerset, McCollum, and Smithson Valley   

Girls High School Action

 SA Islanders Tara Molina 




 Click link below

SA Islanders Tara Molina playing with Johnson against Judson

What's up with that again?

Well, well, well,
Another year, same old song.
Deja vu for all you cowboy fans...
The Dallas Cowboys are home Again for the playoffs. Is it the owner, lack of talent, the coach or Who Cares?

A little dude with a big heart from Kerville, wins the Heisman, beats the defending NCAA Football National Champs, beats Oklahoma Sooners down, is dating a model/beauty queen, wins the hearts of many and the big bad Texas Longhorns passed up on him.....WOW!


Allegedly the mighty Lakers already chalked up another Championship ring when they got big man Superman (Dwight Howard) and signed Steve Nash. Things are not looking too good right now. Time is running out on one essential ingredient of Championship teams.....
Chemistry!

4 teams in the NFL, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington and Indianapolis, had rookie quarterbacks leading them into the playoffs. Unheard of in any day of age.

Girls High School Basketball. What's up with that?
Well some things never seem to change. The top teams are the same as last year. 

Where is the underdog team? Where is the little guy that comes out of nowhere to make noise?

In most cases, the top teams are winning because of talent and skill, not Chemistry.

So where are the rookies making an impact with their respective teams? Are they going to be any leading their teams to the playoffs? For sure.

Will there be any surprises? Only time will tell.......

But in the meantime, they still don't serve NACHOS at any NISD Gym Facility!

What's up with that?

GO SUPPORT GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL!

Benefits of Chocolate Milk

Click on the following link 

Benefits of Chocolate Milk after a Workout

Black Friday

Black Friday.
As I drove my daughter to work at 11pm Thanksgiving day, I couldn't help myself from shaking my head in disbelief.  
The Walmart parking lot was so full that all you could see was red lights glowing from all the cars stagnate looking for parking spaces which were not existent. Down the line Target, Old Navy, Bath and Body Works, Kohl's, people were in their LAWN CHAIRS lining up waiting for stores to open up.
My daughter said when they finally opened the doors to let people in where she works, people were Running in!
I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief.

Fast forward one week  to the next Friday. I took my daughter to catch some girls High School Basketball action at Paul Taylor Fieldhouse where the NISD Basketball Tournament was under way.
A lot of the top teams in the city were participating so I was anxious to see some great action. Defending Region IV champs, Reagan, young talented reloaded  Wagner, highly skilled Johnson, extremely athletic Judson, multi-talented Stevens and Brennan, fundamental and well coached Amarillo were some of the teams participating.
As we were watching a semifinal game, one Parent was so upset that he started yelling at his daughter to get off the court and sit down on the bench because he didn't like what the coach was doing. What was weird is that I couldn't figure out which Coach he was upset with, his own team's coach or the opposing coach.
I shook my head in disbelief.
But that only bought my attention to this. You have the majority of the City's premier teams participating in one location. Yet the stands were empty with fans. You had more players and coaches from the teams waiting to play than actual fans in the Stands!
I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief.

Where is the support for the young ladies? Somehow I felt it translated into how the teams played.
Somehow the day transformed into my own definition of how I felt......
my very own.... Black Friday.

Go Support Girls High School Basketball!

TJ'S ULTIMATE CHAMPIONS WORKOUT

SA ISLANDER'S ALEXIA TORRES WORKING OUT WITH BASKETBALL TRAINER, TJ WITH ULTIMATE CHAMPIONS.
Click link below

ULTIMATE CHAMPIONS WORKOUT

ultimatechampions.net

sanantonioyouthbasketball.com

Presidential Politics and Promises

Never ever ever get into a deep conversation about politics. It could wind up into an all out brawl. But with the Presidential election upon us, let me hit on a couple of observations.

The big day is Tuesday, Nov 6th, with early voting going on already. Obama vs Romney, who should you vote for and who is going to win. By all indications it can come down to the wire in a very close contest between two tough opponents.
But hey wait a minute, Girls High School Basketball season openers are in full swing on Monday and Tuesday, Nov 5th, 6th as well. And by the looks of things, you will have many tough opponents getting ready to go at it against each other. It might very well be that a lot of contests go down to the wire. Reagan vs Brennan, Jay vs Johnson, Wagner vs Stevens and Steele vs Clark. Arguably the top 8 teams in the city playing against one another to kick things off.

Going back to the election, many long days of campaigning are finally coming to a head. I am sure Obama and Romney can't wait till election day.
As for the girl basketball teams, many days of practicing and preparing are coming to a head as well. And I am sure, many of the girls are nervous and excited and probably can't wait for the season to begin.

Back to the politicians for a second. How many countless ads promising empty Promises can one person take? How many campaign speeches have you heard where the candidates are endlessly Promising you that they are the right person for the job? How many debates have you seen where you hear the candidates declaring and Promising that they are the right person to take the country in the right direction?
Promises, Promises, Promises

I am no Politician but I have One Promise for you.

After you go Vote, Go out and Support Girls Basketball Season Openers, it will be the Right Decision,  PROMISE!

SMITHSON VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS BBALL

Here is a nice article on the 2012-13 Smithson Valley Girls High School program which includes some future SA Islander stars.
Click on the following.

SVHS GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM

SA ISLANDERS BASKETBALL II

Here are Kaitlyn, Hannah (2015) and Alexis (2017) getting some work in with Coach Drew.
Click on the following link.

SA ISLANDERS BASKETBALL II

Cats in the Cradle and the Silver Spoon

Do you ever get that feeling that you want to say," Wow, I am getting old?" Especially when you start seeing your kids doing and experiencing things that not too long ago it may seem you were doing the same exact things. School, Halloween costumes, Homecoming  to name a few.

That feeling gets exponentially worse if you don't have a healthy balance between your work and family time. It is worse because with no family memories of events that are happening in your child's life, your kids may seem like they were just born yesterday and now they are in college, which in turn makes us feel one step closer to retirement age.

So as my schedule became more flexible with the ending of the AAU club season, my attention turned like a laser beam to my 7 year old son, AJ.

For AJ, after a short summer break of practically sleeping to about 2pm every afternoon, the first day of school was upon us. The 6:30am alarm clock rang and AJ was up and adam. No Problem. Ok, let's wait till school is over, he is going to be sleeping in class for sure. So as we pulled in the curved driveway in the after school pickup line, we saw him walking by the sidewalk with his teacher. As he looked up at us, he broke away from his teacher running towards the car yelling, "Dad, First Grade is Awesome!". Turns out, No Problem staying awake for Mr AJ.

So we enrolled him in Cub Scouts at the school and we go out to get his uniform. When we were at the Uniform store getting all his stuff, AJ looked at the wall full of patches that can be earned as you move up the ladder in the Scouting World. His eyes fixated on one in particular, the Skydiving Patch. With an uneasy low tone voice, he nervously muttered, "Dad, I don't think I want to jump out of airplanes".  I went on to calmly explain to him that it wouldn't be necessary to join the Cub Scouts and have to jump out of planes. Somehow he understood but was not completely 100% assured. So when he had to wear his Cub Scout uniform to school in honor of  9/11, I explained to him why it was important for him to walk straight and tall while he wore his uniform. As we walked through the school hallway, it seemed he garnered a lot of attention from the young ladies. I heard someone ask,"AJ are you in Cub Scouts?". AJ with the machismo of JohnWayne, the suave of Cary Grant, the coolness of Clint Eastwood, the bravado of James Bond smoothly and reassuringly responded "Yeah, and I am going to do SKYDIVING....". When I picked him up after school he yelled at me, "Dad, Cub Scouts is going to be Awesome!"

As we went to the movies to go see Frankenweenie, I was thinking to myself that would be a good opportunity for me to take a nap as the movie showed. Wrong. As I thought the movie was boring, he kept me wide awake with his mesmerizing interest in the movie. Heck I almost shed a tear myself with him at the end of the movie. Afterwards, you guessed it, "Dad, that movie was Awesome!"
So the following week, we go see Hotel Transylvania. I thought to myself, might as well join in. We both laughed so hard that when we both came out of the theater we both yelled out at the same time,"Awesome!"

I can go on and on, but sometimes some things are better kept between the two parties involved. That way it makes it more Awesome especially as your reflect on your memories as you get older.

So what does this have to do with Basketball. Well the GIRLS High School Basketball season is about to get going.

Cats in the Cradle and the Silver Spoon.........

Don't stay home saving all your money. Take out your family and go out and spend some money and time supporting Girls High School Basketball.

Me and AJ will tell you that you will not be disappointed cause it's going to be "AWESOME!!!!!!!"