footballgal
08-04-2006, 11:00 PM
Such a feel good article, that I had to bring it back to share one more time.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/images/uploads/Jason_McDaniel.jpg
Tarpons, Raiders better than the movies
Oliver Stone couldn’t have written a better football script.
Ron Howard couldn’t come close to producing a more convincing Alamo battle scene.
What transpired Saturday afternoon between the Tarpons and Raiders in San Antonio was simply the most impressive display of everything beautiful about football, and sports in general, I’ve ever seen.
In fact, thinking back on that four-overtime, almost four-hour long, 63-61 Port Isabel victory, has me a little upset.
I mean, who do these Tarpons think they are? With my journalistic career still young, I’ve already witnessed the most spectacular game I’ll ever see.
I’m ruined!
But seriously, this game had it all – passion to prevail, players giving everything they have inside, emotions of every kind and highlight reel action play-after-play-after-play. The list could go on longer than the James Bond franchise.
My first reaction after the game was to think this has to be the climax of PI’s season – a win can’t get any bigger than this can it?
This game was the San Antonio Spurs vs. the L.A. Lakers in a Western Conference Finals showdown that should have been for the NBA Championship.
Which quickly reminds me that one thing would be bigger — a state championship game. But taken as a singular example of football at its finest — a game just doesn’t get any better.
Look at the numbers: Rice racked up 500 total yards — Port Isabel responded with 588.
Rice notched nine touchdowns, three extra points, one two-point conversion and a safety. Port Isabel answered with nine touchdowns, seven extra points and one crucial overtime two-point conversion from Gabriel Alvarez to — Frankie Herrera?
Johnny ‘Nitro’ Nieto, held scoreless in regulation, dug deep within himself and came up with three of the Tarpons’ four overtime TDs.
Rice took the lead six times – Port Isabel took it back six times, and a gang of Tarpons tacklers made sure they kept it in the end.
And all this just six days after they piled up 579 total yards of offense against another tough team in Liberty Hill.
All I heard before I ventured into the Valley for the first time this summer, was teams there don’t have the size and talent to keep up.
Then I get here, and see the Porter Cowboys — their historical run and their very talented quarterback Billy Garza, who is now considering a career at the University of Illinois.
I see the Rivera Raiders and St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds, teams loaded with youth and lacking in preseason expectations, make valiant forays into the playoffs.
And I see the Tarpons on their thrilling postseason tear. And one thing I can definitely say about Valley football — it’s played with heart the size of Texas.
As I was driving home late Saturday night from San Antonio, trying to put what I had just seen in perspective, I saw a shooting star flash across the night sky above me.
No really – I did. And it got me thinking.
That star was only visible for a second, maybe two. But it was a brilliant spectacle, and there is no denying the power contained inside that brief moment.
Saturday’s colossal clash between Port Isabel and Rice was like that.
It was an amazing sight to behold; packed with more compelling storylines and drama than anything Hollywood could dream up. However, in comparison to the span of the players lives’ involved in that game, it was really only a small, fleeting moment.
But there is no denying the lasting power and impact that participating in that game will have on the lives of all 70 players listed on the game day roster.
Because it was truly a defining moment.
Jason McDaniel covers football for the Herald and can be reached at 982-6621 or jmcdaniel@link.freedom.com.
Posted on Dec 11, 03 | 12:05 am
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/images/uploads/Jason_McDaniel.jpg
Tarpons, Raiders better than the movies
Oliver Stone couldn’t have written a better football script.
Ron Howard couldn’t come close to producing a more convincing Alamo battle scene.
What transpired Saturday afternoon between the Tarpons and Raiders in San Antonio was simply the most impressive display of everything beautiful about football, and sports in general, I’ve ever seen.
In fact, thinking back on that four-overtime, almost four-hour long, 63-61 Port Isabel victory, has me a little upset.
I mean, who do these Tarpons think they are? With my journalistic career still young, I’ve already witnessed the most spectacular game I’ll ever see.
I’m ruined!
But seriously, this game had it all – passion to prevail, players giving everything they have inside, emotions of every kind and highlight reel action play-after-play-after-play. The list could go on longer than the James Bond franchise.
My first reaction after the game was to think this has to be the climax of PI’s season – a win can’t get any bigger than this can it?
This game was the San Antonio Spurs vs. the L.A. Lakers in a Western Conference Finals showdown that should have been for the NBA Championship.
Which quickly reminds me that one thing would be bigger — a state championship game. But taken as a singular example of football at its finest — a game just doesn’t get any better.
Look at the numbers: Rice racked up 500 total yards — Port Isabel responded with 588.
Rice notched nine touchdowns, three extra points, one two-point conversion and a safety. Port Isabel answered with nine touchdowns, seven extra points and one crucial overtime two-point conversion from Gabriel Alvarez to — Frankie Herrera?
Johnny ‘Nitro’ Nieto, held scoreless in regulation, dug deep within himself and came up with three of the Tarpons’ four overtime TDs.
Rice took the lead six times – Port Isabel took it back six times, and a gang of Tarpons tacklers made sure they kept it in the end.
And all this just six days after they piled up 579 total yards of offense against another tough team in Liberty Hill.
All I heard before I ventured into the Valley for the first time this summer, was teams there don’t have the size and talent to keep up.
Then I get here, and see the Porter Cowboys — their historical run and their very talented quarterback Billy Garza, who is now considering a career at the University of Illinois.
I see the Rivera Raiders and St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds, teams loaded with youth and lacking in preseason expectations, make valiant forays into the playoffs.
And I see the Tarpons on their thrilling postseason tear. And one thing I can definitely say about Valley football — it’s played with heart the size of Texas.
As I was driving home late Saturday night from San Antonio, trying to put what I had just seen in perspective, I saw a shooting star flash across the night sky above me.
No really – I did. And it got me thinking.
That star was only visible for a second, maybe two. But it was a brilliant spectacle, and there is no denying the power contained inside that brief moment.
Saturday’s colossal clash between Port Isabel and Rice was like that.
It was an amazing sight to behold; packed with more compelling storylines and drama than anything Hollywood could dream up. However, in comparison to the span of the players lives’ involved in that game, it was really only a small, fleeting moment.
But there is no denying the lasting power and impact that participating in that game will have on the lives of all 70 players listed on the game day roster.
Because it was truly a defining moment.
Jason McDaniel covers football for the Herald and can be reached at 982-6621 or jmcdaniel@link.freedom.com.
Posted on Dec 11, 03 | 12:05 am