The TPX Crew Has Found a Home

[Matthew328]

Well folks, we were free agents for only a day or so. The entire TPX crew will be moving over to the scout.com network on Sunday. Numerous offers for our individual and team services came in, but we felt like it was a necessary evil due to our success to stay together as a team. You will find us at

http://www.texasprepinsider.com

Alan Zepeda will still be the managing editor of the site along with overseeing all of our Houston area coverage.

Matt Diggs will be in charge of our DFW Coverage and will also work on West Texas.

I will be assisting with DFW coverage along with working on my other projects such as "Stepping Stones"

Jeff Howe is back in the fold and will once again cover all of Central Texas

Brandon Williams (formerly of the Galveston Daily News and of tsrn fame) will handle our Houston coverage, along with witty message board junkie James Freemont and Ahmard Vital.

You will find the same original content we have always had plus much more on TPI. We are hoping to add one more big name to the fold by the end of the week, we'll keep our fingers crossed on that one though!

[Emerson1]

So what was the deal with Diggs being fired?

[kepdawg]

You couldn't get rid of Diggs? ;)

[Matthew328]

I would rather let Diggs speak for himself on this issue but in a nutshell, we have been censored for the past couple of years by the rivals.com brass and to be honest he had gotten fed up with it....rivals also wanted to take complete ownership of the site and basically continue to treat us like dirt and ownership (Alan) had enough..

Once we knew we were not going to sign the contract with rivals, Matt decided to repost his SLC 7 on 7 rant from last year, which in my opinion was a wonderful editorial on how corrupt people are..basically the head honcho of 7 on 7 Doug Stephens decided to run a rogue tournament totally against the rules and Matt said something about it....well the editorial was deleted because Stephens is actually related to Bobby Burton...that along with an article that Diggs posted from yahoo.com about possible insider trading among the rivals brass caused rivals to ban him...the really bad part is rivals is now trying to go on the TPX board now and say the contract ran out blah blah funny thing is the contract doesn't run out til Saturday night...but the real story is they didn't like what Matt had to say so they decided to ban him...

I hope everyone decides to give the site a chance even though some folks may not even give it a shot because of Diggs...BUT Matt is a good guy who has said some things that many people don't like and have jumped to conclusions on but he is a tremendous writer and has a passion for Texas HS Football unlike anyone I have ever met...anyone who makes almost 80 games in one season is a person who loves the game...for that reason alone he has my respect but he's great at what he does also.....

I guess he's one of those guys you either love or hate..he's polarizing to say the least

[Horseymen]

Believe it or not, me as part of the deal to some people is a must. Apparently, some corporate people wouldn't take the website without Little Matt and I being a package deal.

I am very, very excited to be associated with class acts like Little Matt, Alan Zepeda and others. I know Little Matt had offers from three other places, and I am very happy he chose to stay with us.

I was fired and banned from Rivals.com on Friday - apparently they didn't like articles about their CEO embezzling stock money and that being a reason why yahoo.com wouldn't buy them - and following that up with my 7 on 7 article revisited from last summer highlighting Bobby Burton's brother-in-law cheating at the Southlake Tournament.

There will be more to the story on Sunday, when we land at our new home, but I am afraid to post all of it as of right now. But, as Dallas Jackson said on rivals.com (the HS Editor of Rivals.com) - This was a contractual dispute based with our parent company, Websider LLC, and we chose not to renew the contract on either the Rivals side or the TexasPrepXtra.com side.

Unfortunately for us, we owned the name "TexasPrepXtra" but they owned the URL "TexasPrepXtra.com" - which really doesn't make any sense that we could be called TexasPrepXtra but we wouldn't have a website name that reflected our name. Kinda like you having to go to www.*********.com to get to 3ADL.

There are lots of moving parts to this story. This truly is a dream. I am a brash young psychology professor with zero journalism experience, and Little Matt is an Everman basketball player with no journalism experience, and we just had a corporate war fought over our services. Not bad for a couple of kids who have never taken JOUR 1301.

Thank you to all of the folks on 3ADownlow.com for your interest and support. We are very likely going to make Matt Stepp into a new title - Managing 3A Editor of the new site. That way, we can give him back to you guys for more of the football season while he hones his craft.

One other note. There was a comment on why I was hated because I made fun of Christopher Lyke's speech impediment. I would like to take this forum to say - that was competitiveness and youthful immaturity taking hold. I have not disparaged Chris in over 18 months since I learned it was a condition - not just an impediment. I would like to take this time to apologize to all those I offended with that commentary - and I can assure you it won't occur from me again. That type of behavior is not reflective of my true character - and I hope Chris the best of luck with his new endeavor with PrepsTexas.com.

Thank you 3ADownlow.com for your time.

[kepdawg]

Good luck to you guys! Even if Diggs is there! ;)

[dogdad]

how does this affect RV Baugus's site on Scout? (TexPreps)

[kepdawg]

This is totally random, but isn't TPX some kind of baseball bat? :thinking:

[LH Panther Mom]

MD - still kinda ticked at 328 having "other" duties Dec. 23....or was that AZ's assignment? :p

[Horseymen]

RV's status is completely up to RV. He has all the cards - I don't even know. I know what *I* would like to have. I think RV is one of the best writers in the state, and I think that he is truly an undiscovered talent. (I know most of you have discovered him - and the basketball side - his magazine has made him big) - but I hope we can feature him.

[Horseymen]

Well, I didn't want to see the 5A games because I could see them on TV - so I went to San Antonio for the 4A game, and then hit Waco on my way back to Plano - and Little Matt handled the 2A game.

[dogdad]

Originally posted by Horseymen
RV's status is completely up to RV. He has all the cards - I don't even know. I know what *I* would like to have. I think RV is one of the best writers in the state, and I think that he is truly an undiscovered talent. (I know most of you have discovered him - and the basketball side - his magazine has made him big) - but I hope we can feature him.
so what you're telling me is that RV loses his spot at Scout
TexPreps goes away or goes elsewhere, right?

[Horseymen]

I'm not really sure - I am not privy to RV's contract. Which is why I said he holds all the cards. He can do whatever he wants -- keep it on the network, keep it off the network, join us, join another site, I imagine it's completely up to him.

I am hoping he joins us.

[dogdad]

I certainly hope that none of this affects his status with Scout. It would suck if he was forced off Scout due to something that did not involve him in any way.

[Horseymen]

I can say with pretty good confidence, if he leaves Scout.com - he will do it on his own volition.

Little Matt and I have used the Scout.com engine and RV's work for the scoreboard to do our previews for 3 years now.

[Matthew328]

Exactly, me and Diggs both think VERY highly of RV and his work and we feel like with him on our team we'll be number one..RV is very similar to Matt and myself because he LOVES HS Football and isn't a big recruiting guy....RV has unreal knowledge and passion....if he leaves scout it won't be because anyone forced him off.....

[dogdad]

I'm glad to hear that.
He is a good man.
Whether he goes or stays or changes, it needs to be up to him.

[Matthew328]

I agree 100%..I just hope he decides to team up with us

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by Horseymen
Believe it or not, me as part of the deal to some people is a must. Apparently, some corporate people wouldn't take the website without Little Matt and I being a package deal.

I am very, very excited to be associated with class acts like Little Matt, Alan Zepeda and others. I know Little Matt had offers from three other places, and I am very happy he chose to stay with us.

I was fired and banned from Rivals.com on Friday - apparently they didn't like articles about their CEO embezzling stock money and that being a reason why yahoo.com wouldn't buy them - and following that up with my 7 on 7 article revisited from last summer highlighting Bobby Burton's brother-in-law cheating at the Southlake Tournament.

There will be more to the story on Sunday, when we land at our new home, but I am afraid to post all of it as of right now. But, as Dallas Jackson said on rivals.com (the HS Editor of Rivals.com) - This was a contractual dispute based with our parent company, Websider LLC, and we chose not to renew the contract on either the Rivals side or the TexasPrepXtra.com side.

Unfortunately for us, we owned the name "TexasPrepXtra" but they owned the URL "TexasPrepXtra.com" - which really doesn't make any sense that we could be called TexasPrepXtra but we wouldn't have a website name that reflected our name. Kinda like you having to go to www.*********.com to get to 3ADL.

There are lots of moving parts to this story. This truly is a dream. I am a brash young psychology professor with zero journalism experience, and Little Matt is an Everman basketball player with no journalism experience, and we just had a corporate war fought over our services. Not bad for a couple of kids who have never taken JOUR 1301.

Thank you to all of the folks on 3ADownlow.com for your interest and support. We are very likely going to make Matt Stepp into a new title - Managing 3A Editor of the new site. That way, we can give him back to you guys for more of the football season while he hones his craft.

One other note. There was a comment on why I was hated because I made fun of Christopher Lyke's speech impediment. I would like to take this forum to say - that was competitiveness and youthful immaturity taking hold. I have not disparaged Chris in over 18 months since I learned it was a condition - not just an impediment. I would like to take this time to apologize to all those I offended with that commentary - and I can assure you it won't occur from me again. That type of behavior is not reflective of my true character - and I hope Chris the best of luck with his new endeavor with PrepsTexas.com.

Thank you 3ADownlow.com for your time.
.
Very eloquently put Mr. Diggs. Thanks for the info...
from one who never understood what the big deal was. Thanks again.
And some fyi, with Matt here for almost six years, he has some knowledge of journalism. lol
This site might be about fun sometimes during the off-season, but many serious football, baseball and other HS sport's articles are published here free-of-charge quite often. Matthew helped nurture that for quite some time.
Thank you both for letting a few of us know what really was happening, even though neither of you had too.:)

[big daddy russ]

I guess I was wrong with my speculation.

Oh well. Good luck to both of you. Let us know when everything's finally ironed out.

[NHSRattler60]

:thinking:

[txkmom]

Did I miss who will be covering East Texas?

[Txbroadcaster]

Originally posted by Horseymen
One other note. There was a comment on why I was hated because I made fun of Christopher Lyke's speech impediment. I would like to take this forum to say - that was competitiveness and youthful immaturity taking hold. I have not disparaged Chris in over 18 months since I learned it was a condition - not just an impediment. I would like to take this time to apologize to all those I offended with that commentary - and I can assure you it won't occur from me again. That type of behavior is not reflective of my true character - and I hope Chris the best of luck with his new endeavor with PrepsTexas.com.

Thank you 3ADownlow.com for your time.

OK..I feel your apology is sincere..BUT why was it ok to make fun of him when you thought it as just an impediment? That is the same thing as a condition.

Little Matt said Your loved or hated and that is great..IF your loved or hated because of your hard hitting opinions of things ON THE FIELD. Being loved or hated because of making fun of towns and teams and things of that nature IMO is not something to be proud of.

I think your a good writer, I was on the show a couple times a few years ago and enjoyed it..I just think IMO the shows tried to be like a jr ticket..and I LOVE the Ticket..But that kind of broadcasting IMO does not work on the HS level.

Glad your wanting to bury the hatchet..I hope Chris feels the same way

[TexasHSFootball]

..

[Horseymen]

When I was younger, I had an S and R impediment. I spent an hour or two a week in speech class from Kindergarten through 7th grade, and although I certainly don't have a radio voice, I was able to get past it. I always figured an impediment was basically laziness in getting it fixed, whereas something you're born with - a defect or something is more developmentally permanent.

We definitely were trying to be a Junior Ticket - and I loved that format. I would consider doing it again as well. I believe imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

And, for what it's worth - it's hard to say that the format didn't work. If it didn't, wouldn't you think I would have been fired by now? That's the slippery slope between my perceived arrogance and trying to explain something. If I make comments like, "I am probably the highest paid HS Football-only sportswriter in the state" - that sounds arrogant, but if I made that comment in defense for your comment of "That format doesn't work" it would probably be an accurate comment.

It all gets down to business models and decisions. I can be completely straight laced and talk nothing but football. I also have a "character mode" I can get into and be more purposefully over the top and arrogant. With our new venture, I am going to try to be less over the top and more straight-laced, but what if we actually lose business with that? It's actually a risk - because people come to my site to read the trainwreck. People pay money to see the trainwreck.

Did you know with Rivals - we grossed over 100,000 dollars last year? Obviously a lot of that has to do with recruiting, Houston and Centex areas as well having subscribers - but DFW had the most subscribers, most registered users and the highest message board views of any of the areas. Maybe Dave Campbell grossed as much with the magazine - so the format is somewhat effective. But, some argue we'd be even more effective if we weren't over-the-top - so I'm willing to try anything - especially in the formative days of our new contract. But I will come find all of you if we fail with me being more straight laced and having tougher message board restrictions. :P

[Txbroadcaster]

Originally posted by Horseymen
When I was younger, I had an S and R impediment. I spent an hour or two a week in speech class from Kindergarten through 7th grade, and although I certainly don't have a radio voice, I was able to get past it. I always figured an impediment was basically laziness in getting it fixed, whereas something you're born with - a defect or something is more developmentally permanent.

We definitely were trying to be a Junior Ticket - and I loved that format. I would consider doing it again as well. I believe imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

And, for what it's worth - it's hard to say that the format didn't work. If it didn't, wouldn't you think I would have been fired by now? That's the slippery slope between my perceived arrogance and trying to explain something. If I make comments like, "I am probably the highest paid HS Football-only sportswriter in the state" - that sounds arrogant, but if I made that comment in defense for your comment of "That format doesn't work" it would probably be an accurate comment.

It all gets down to business models and decisions. I can be completely straight laced and talk nothing but football. I also have a "character mode" I can get into and be more purposefully over the top and arrogant. With our new venture, I am going to try to be less over the top and more straight-laced, but what if we actually lose business with that? It's actually a risk - because people come to my site to read the trainwreck. People pay money to see the trainwreck.

Did you know with Rivals - we grossed over 100,000 dollars last year? Obviously a lot of that has to do with recruiting, Houston and Centex areas as well having subscribers - but DFW had the most subscribers, most registered users and the highest message board views of any of the areas. Maybe Dave Campbell grossed as much with the magazine - so the format is somewhat effective. But, some argue we'd be even more effective if we weren't over-the-top - so I'm willing to try anything - especially in the formative days of our new contract. But I will come find all of you if we fail with me being more straight laced and having tougher message board restrictions. :P

But at what point was bridges being burrned with the SAME people you should have had as contacts such as coaches and school admins?

I am not saying dont be honest and hard hitting..The SLC fiasco was greatness and you showed a darker side of a hidden agenda.

Having fun on the air is greatness being "straight-laced" only is boring as hell...Most people on here who ever heard Josh Manck and I will tell you they loved us having fun on the air and enjoyed the games that much more.

BUT attacking towns and people again IMO and only mine did not contribute to the quality of the shows or the integrity.

BUT..your apology has been accepted..again I feel you reached out in a sincere moment..You and I met once in person, I was on your shows, and what I have said on here is not out of anger, or anything. It was just my view and in noway personal.

Congrats on the new gig and good luck

[Horseymen]

Chris,

You and I really need to have a sitdown conversation on Instant Messenger or something and get it all out there at some point. You actually have done some things to us that maybe you didn't realize you did that has perpetuated some of these feelings.

Certainly, I will take responsibility for everything you've said - as it is true, but it isn't as if you were simply a punching bag. You threw your own shots and did some things as well. I won't air out that laundry on a message board as you just did, in the spirit of friendship and ending a chapter.

I want you to know though - that a lot of my behaviors were well thought out business decisions - and regardless of your opinion of those business decisions, they have been effective - and they've been effective for you as well. You've gotten a lot of anti-Diggs traffic. :)

In all honesty - I don't view you as competition anymore, and that's taken my focus off any business decision negativity. That is not belittling you by any means and your site by saying "I don't view you as competition" - I just think your site and the site we run are apples and oranges - and it's taken awhile to realize that. I think the new Rivals.com HS Football site and DCTF are our competition - pay based sites with recruiting information and HS Football news. Your site has featured article series, team sites and other fan-friendly and free information - which is great! I love and have used your scoreboard in the past for information - as it is very user friendly - and you have great taste in color schemes.

So there you go - you probably know how to get ahold of me via instant messenger.

[Horseymen]

Terry,

We have never really burned any bridges. Most people may be familiar with the Highland Park fiasco - they are now one of the first teams that submits information to us. The "issue" with them has made them more hypersensitive to getting us information on a timely manner. Coach Allen and I probably won't go have lunch anytime soon, but I know we get their team preview and recruiting information as early as anyone - and we did break Stafford's commitment to the Rivals.com network.

You'd be surprised what higher-ups from Southlake have memberships to Rivals.com (through our website) as well. Again, Doug Stephens and I won't be sending Christmas cards to each other - but several of this year's recruits for Southlake love the site. You can see the name "BlakeCan2" on the who's online quite a bit - I'll let you figure out who that is. :)

The Ennis thing is a little more complex, but even though I was able to singlehandedly alienate all their fans, one of their own (BigNasty#1Fan) is marrying Big Kev! So go figure on that - and the coaching staff is ALWAYS friendly to us and the Harrell's still stay in contact with us.

So we haven't burned as much as you think we've burned - at least with the schools. I think the schools still respect us immensely - and realize we are having fun when we trash cities and use the state championship rule to determine what type of Dairy Queen small East Texas cities have.

Again, all of that was purposefully and forcefully done in an attempt to polarize and get us talked about. I think we've done that pretty successfully. While we were being silly and over-the-top - we would still sneak in some of the best football insight in the state.

But, we are making another business decision now to do a little more different approach for a bit. It was my decision and not forced on me. I have enjoyed doing the Metroplex Minutia, which is pretty much 99% straight laced with the occasional comment here and there.

I will chalk most of it up to immaturity though - I have ZERO formal training at this - so all of this is certainly a learning process - and I'm sure one day I'll realize what the mix between appropriate over the top behavior is and what will keep a large audience.


Originally posted by Txbroadcaster
But at what point was bridges being burrned with the SAME people you should have had as contacts such as coaches and school admins?

I am not saying dont be honest and hard hitting..The SLC fiasco was greatness and you showed a darker side of a hidden agenda.

Having fun on the air is greatness being "straight-laced" only is boring as hell...Most people on here who ever heard Josh Manck and I will tell you they loved us having fun on the air and enjoyed the games that much more.

BUT attacking towns and people again IMO and only mine did not contribute to the quality of the shows or the integrity.

BUT..your apology has been accepted..again I feel you reached out in a sincere moment..You and I met once in person, I was on your shows, and what I have said on here is not out of anger, or anything. It was just my view and in noway personal.

Congrats on the new gig and good luck

[carter08]

From one network to another

If you really had what it took to be truly successful, you and your gang would have started an independent site. Of course, that wouldn't happen. The network is your crutch. Without, you are nothing

:)

[Horseymen]

So you think it would be smart decision to turn down tens of thousands of dollars and the security of a network to create our own website and all the expenses involved?

That isn't a smart business decision.

Scout offers us TV and Magazine coverage as well.

I suppose that is a cop-out - but if anyone could do it - why didn't they offer anyone else? :)

[Adidas410s]

Originally posted by Horseymen
So you think it would be smart decision to turn down tens of thousands of dollars and the security of a network to create our own website and all the expenses involved?

That isn't a smart business decision.

Scout offers us TV and Magazine coverage as well.

I suppose that is a cop-out - but if anyone could do it - why didn't they offer anyone else? :)

Welcome to conversations with Carter...don't think too hard! ;)

I think yall are making a great move and I for one look forward to the seeing where things go next...

[carter08]

Originally posted by Adidas410s
Welcome to conversations with Carter...don't think too hard! ;)

I think yall are making a great move and I for one look forward to the seeing where things go next...

Hey, is that an insult

My problem is I think too fast, and type to slow, thus forgetting what I planned to type and being forced to just say some nonsense

[Matthew328]

Starting an independent site is number one an expensive and risky venture. Number two for it to be a success you must devote a full day's work to it...which none of us have for the most part...we all either have full time jobs or are students...and most of the independent sites end up failing financially...the few that do make it great....but for me a good network deal is a win win from a business sense..

[Horseymen]

Little Matt,

Some history for you:

When I was 21, I was in college in the year 2000 - and I wanted to go to games for free - being a struggggggling (in more than one way!) college student. I sent out 5 emails - to Pigskin Prep, to Dave Campbell, to AllianceSports and to TexasPrepFootball - four independent internet football sites.

The only one that emailed me back was TexasPrepFootball. A man named Alan Zepeda interviewed me and quizzed me on my knowledge. He told me I would cover district 9-5A under a man named Jeff Tarpley.

I covered District 9-5A for a year - posted here and there on their message board.

The next fall, TexasPrepFootball.com (an independent site) met a man named Bobby Burton. Bobby Burton was looking for a high school site to run. He was also the president of a company called AllianceSports. He personally chose us from all the independent sites - so we became TexasPrepFootball with Bobby Burton.

Also, at the same time, the Fox Show High School Xtra, was looking for a website to be a presence on their TV show. We agreed in principle with the Jeff Watts Productions, and we became TexasPrepXtra with Bobby Burton.

That summer, Jeff Tarpley, the head DFW Sportswriter, went to spend full time being a part owner of a company called Aggie Websider, LLC. Aggie Websider, LLC had a website named websider.com - which David Sandhop, Tony Hooten and Alan Zepeda owned. Jeff became part of that group.

A young company named Rivals.com bought out Alliancesports.com, and Bobby Burton became a vice president. Over the next 2-3 years, his work on the website would be limited (there used to be a recruiting section where he would answer your questions) - and although we kept the logo on the name, the official company name became TexasPrepXtra.com. Websider.com moved to the new Rivals.com format.

From 2002-2007, the site continued to grow in scope and stature. We were advertised heavily on Jeff Watts Productions' High School Edge - on UPN 21. I hosted a morning drive-time segment for a year on a radio station in Fort Worth. We were featured several times on Fox Sports Southwest's Inside Recruiting.

So, we were an independent site and we came on the network. I think obtaining network status was a reward for years of hard work - not a copout testing our success.

The "name" TexasPrepXtra is a name that Websider, LLC owns. The URL "www.texasprepxtra.com" is a website redirect that Rivals.com owns. Therefore, we felt it was in our best interest to choose a new name (perhaps one people can spell) and rebuild our brand credibility.

A little bit of history on the site for those who are interested in such things.

[Old Tiger]

Is it the TPX crew or Scout crew now? :P

[Matthew328]

yes.....I guess we'll be called the TPI crew?? LOL

[dogdad]

so as a result of all this, RV got the plug pulled on him by Scout

I think that really sucks
he did not deserve to be the one to get peed on
(I realize that it is business, not personal, but it still ain't right)

[Horseymen]

Dogdad,

He probably chose that route then - he'd rather do it by himself at TexPreps.com with an independent setup - and that is his call. He certainly didn't have the "plug pulled" - I sent him an email a few days ago and it has been unreturned, so I can't comment more than that.

[dogdad]

I can't comment either, except to say that he got peed on

[Horseymen]

DD,

Just so you know, we made it CLEAR we wanted him to join us - so I assume that he chose NOT to do so. I think that he would have been great with us. But man, I couldn't even imagine running a statewide website by myself.

[Matthew328]

Yes it is business DD and for whatever reasons things didn't quite work out, but I don't think RV got "peed" on so much.....as Matt stated we made it clear we wanted him, running a statewide site alone is an IMPOSSIBLE task the sheet man hours of it are mind boggling...we thought RV would have been a great fit with us as with our manpower RV could IMO shine even more because he could focus on the things he does so well instead of having to do everything....but its water under the bridge now, we wish RV the best...he's a good writer and a good man and I for one will continue to visit his site wherever it is because like me he simply loves Texas High School Football...

Good Luck RV!

[Old Tiger]

Originally posted by Horseymen
DD,

Just so you know, we made it CLEAR we wanted him to join us - so I assume that he chose NOT to do so. I think that he would have been great with us. But man, I couldn't even imagine running a statewide website by myself. IMO you're better off without him. Caused more trouble than good. :)

[dogdad]

Originally posted by Tiger WR
IMO you're better off without him. Caused more trouble than good. :)
exactly what trouble did RV cause?