High School Athletics

Possibly Coming to a Texas High-School Football Field Near You: Only One Full-Contact Practice Per Week

Last Thursday, State Representative Eddie Lucio III, a Democrat from Brownsville, filed House Bill 887. If enacted, the law would limit middle-school and high-school football programs to one full-contact practice per week. "Like most people, I'm influenced by the stories I read and the news I see. ... More >>

Notre Dame Football Recruit "Catfishes" Himself In Lie About A Campus Visit

Sometimes the sports gods have a sense of humor. For example, a player named Nomar Garciaparra (and the multiple "ar" sounds in his name) landing in Boston, with the natives' ridiculous accent, is funny to me. Sometimes the sports gods are cruel. Refer to the entire sports history of the city of Cl ... More >>

ESPN's Tom Rinaldi And Tim Tebow Are BFF's, Somewhere Thom Brenneman Weeps (w/ PHOTO)

It's been a rough few months for one Timothy Tebow. Despite his excitement over being traded to the Jets during the offseason last year, he's been relegated to punt protect and gimmicky specialist roles (some of them working out with predictably hilarious results), been passed on the quarterback dep ... More >>

Kountze High School: Keep Jesus on the Football Field, Where He Belongs!

If there's one thing we learned from the Bible, it's that Jesus loved high school football. Remember Galatians 2:34? "And yea, Christ the Savior sayeth unto the Jerusalem Central Serpents, 'We are Bethlehem West, we couldn't be prouder, and if thou didn't hear us, we shall shout a little louder!'"? ... More >>

We're Goin' Streakin!! High School Football Streaker Narrowly Escapes Castration (w/ VIDEO)

I've reached the point with television shows where I rarely watch them in first run anymore. I find it much easier to satiate my TV thirst if I sit down and plow through an entire series on Netflix or DVD over the course of a few weeks. It's what I did with The Wire, it's what I intend to do with Br ... More >>

Carthage, Texas, Hometown of Bernie, Now Gets Fanciest High School Football Scoreboard in the World

Score another coup for the newly famous East Texas town of Carthage: the town Richard Linklater, Jack Black and Sonny Carl Davis put on the map for its eccentric views on punishing murderers now has scoreboard on the entire state -- nay, the whole entire world of high school athletics. Literally. W ... More >>

Deontay Greenberry: A Texans-Related Grain Of Salt For College Football National Signing Day

There was a time not too long ago when the last-minute defection of wide receiver Deontay Greenberry from my alma mater Notre Dame to the University of Houston would have sent me into a mental funk that would have taken me a week from which to recover. After all, Greenberry is a dynamic "four star ... More >>

Knocked Out

Medical effects of concussion far worse for kids.

Women's World Cup Means a Lot to Local Soccer Playing Teens

Everyone's favorite, Amy Wambach.​Good friends, Julianne Kovacik and Carly Naylor, both 15, are at Naylor's family reunion in Ohio until Saturday. They were originally scheduled to return home to Houston (Kingwood, to be precise) Sunday night after a couple days of driving. But, when the U.S. ... More >>

The Final Play

After traumatic knee injury, Case Keenum has one more season to prove his talents.

High School Recruitnik -- The Silent Predator

You fail, social media stalkers of high school athletes​Well, today is the day. The day where entitled 17-year-old kids everywhere say hello to the free world by putting five hats of various universities in front of them, faking that they will grab one (completely offending that school which ... More >>

Yates High: 1985 State Champs and 'Team of the Decade' Celebrates 25-Year Anniversary

Photo by Chasen MarshallYates High '85: the debate continues over whether it was the greatest Texas team ever.Twenty-five years ago, Houston was home to, arguably, the greatest high school football team ever to take the field in Texas. During that season, Yates High was unstoppable on offense and im ... More >>

Resurrecting Phi Slama Jama

Can UH resurrect its basketball glory days?

High School Football In Full Swing; Katy The Team To Beat In Region

Photo by Chasen MarshallOne of many Katy High TDs on opening night​Click here for a slideshow from the Katy/North Shore game Friday night. The east stands were alive and doused in red, with chants of "Ka-ty! Ka-ty! Ka-ty!" before the team had even taken the field. The number of dancers and cheerl ... More >>

Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, Shoots Hoops With Yates

Photos by Paul KnightSecretary of Education Arne Duncan made an appearance at Sam Houston High School.​Arne Duncan, the federal Secretary of Education, had to cut his trip to north Houston's Sam Houston High School a bit short, because there were more pressing matters. Duncan was headed to the Thi ... More >>

A Rock & Roll Time Capsule From Friday Night Lights Country

myspace.com/sweetmikeycThat's right, that's former Elvis Presley guitar-picker Scotty Moore on the far left.​ As Lonesome, Onry and Mean noted yesterday, even in an age when no one supposedly buys, listens to or reviews albums anymore - three words: Record Store Day - too many albums pour into our ... More >>

Third Ward High

The 2010 Yates championship team proved nobody does it better.

ESPN And CNN In Death-Cage Opinion Brawl Over Yates High School

Yates represents.​Yates High School's basketball team continues its roll to a state championship, a role that's included some very large blow-outs of over-matched opponentsIt's attracted nationwide attention, and now two of the biggest brand names on television are getting into it.First came Rick ... More >>

Yates Vs. Lee, The Rematch: Generals Stay Within 100

Photos by Aaron M. Sprecher / Click here for a slideshow​The Lee High School "cheering section" sat in the smallest little section of stands, in the lowest corner of the east side of the bleachers at Delmar Field House, during Saturday's rematch between the Lee and Yates High School boy ... More >>

If Katy Actually Faced Cinco Ranch In The Playoffs, Who Would Win?

Photo by Paul Knight​Here at Hair Balls, we seem to talk a lot about Katy High School football, even though we try not to. When the high school playoffs started this year, we really wanted to cheer for Galveston Ball, and we thought The Woodlands and Hightower High School would surely go deep in t ... More >>

Friday Night Lights, Houston Style: Why Does Everyone Hate Katy So Much?

Photos by Paul Knight​Standing in the rain on Saturday afternoon, watching Katy High School play Atascocita in a playoff game, Hair Balls remembered something we read on the Washington Post NFL blog this past week. This question, about the Dallas Cowboys, was asked: "Why are the Cowboys So Hated? ... More >>

As The HS Football Playoffs Begin, Here Are The Three Best Games Of The Past 15 Years

High school football playoffs start this weekend, and Hair Balls is excited.The Woodlands and Hightower High School finished undefeated and, from what we saw this season, look like they'll be tough to beat. Katy High School, whose only loss came in the team's opening game against The Woodlands, won ... More >>

Friday Night Lights, Houston Style: The Difference Between High School Football In Texas And Pennsylvania

Photos by Paul Knight​Hair Balls traveled to a high school football game this weekend with a native Pennsylvanian to see how high school football in that state matches up against high school football in Texas. We went to Rosenberg to watch a Saturday night match up between the B.F. Terry Ran ... More >>

Friday Night Lights, Houston-Style: Hightower-Dulles, And Ranking The Best

Photos by Paul Knight / Click here for a full slideshow​Hair Balls watched a game about a month ago between two old HISD rivals, and we noticed that the stands were a little empty and the game play was a little soft. We found an old Madison coach, Richard Blair, who told us that he thought H ... More >>

Friday Night Lights, Houston Style: What Ever Happened To The Yates-Madison Rivalry?

Photo by Paul Knight​Hair Balls traveled to HISD's Barnett Stadium on Friday to check out the James Madison Marlins play the Jake Yates Lions, a refreshing change of pace from last week's Battle of the Super Suburbs. Madison and Yates are apparently old rivals, and we went to the game with high ex ... More >>

High School Football Classic 2009

Web exclusive

The Thing About Frito Pies

Photos by J.C. ReidHaute cuisine? For people who did not grow up in Texas, and for the occasional Texan who did not spend time in public school lunch rooms or patronize the concession stands at Friday night high school football games, a Frito pie is a dish containing three ingredients: Fritos corn ... More >>

Coach Leads His Team To 100-0 Victory, Gets Fired

The Covenant School in Dallas got hit with a bunch of unfavorable publicity after its girls basketball team beat another school 100-0. (That  score is not a typo.)School officials posted a message on its web site apologizing for the game, saying "the school and its representatives in no way sup ... More >>

Madison High's Ray Seals Honored By NFL, As Vince Young Finally Does Something Right This Year

Seals and VYRay Seals, head coach at Madison High, has been chosen the 2008 National Football League High School Coach of the Year. Two of his former players, Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans and Moran Norris of the Detroit Lions, nominated Seals for the award.  In his essay, Norris called S ... More >>

Countdown To Championship Saturday: Hightower

The Hightower High School football program fielded its first varsity team in 2000, but in just nine seasons, the school has graduated some great players -- two have played in the NFL -- and made the playoffs seven times.     This year, however, is the first time the team has adva ... More >>

No Pressure. It's Just Texas High School Football.

Katy High School was going to play against a Florida team on national TV. Now all it had to do was find a way to win again.

Let The Bidding For Galveston's HS Football Stars Begin!!

The Five Biggest Choke Jobs in Houston Sports History

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: John McClain, Coach Fran and Mike Sherman

Lights On or Off?

The fight for a TV show about truth, justice and high school football

Making the Call

Broadcasting high school games, ESPN-style

Drummer Love

Out of the Park

Second Ward slugger Aaron Treviño scores a scholarship and prepares to leave the barrio behind

Letters

What Price Glory?

In an era when booster dollars give high school football teams a high-tech edge, scratching out a winning season gets tougher and tougher

Hell of a Catch

Friday Night Lights goes deep -- a rare route for football movies

Best Landmark

Tee Time

Lee High School dropped football, deciding golf was a better sport for its kids, no matter how poor or new to this country they might be

Best Texan

Aaron Glenn

Best Place to Turn Back the Hands of Time

James Coney Island

Pipeline to the Pros

One of the straightest paths to the NBA begins on the summer hoops circuit. All the kids have to do in return is wear the right shoes.

No Sissies Allowed

They'll run. They'll catch. They'll tackle. Women's professional football ramps up (again) in Houston.

Winning in the Worst Way

Rock Knapp transformed little Northwest Academy from gridiron patsy to playoff powerhouse. So why are some parents calling for his head?

Final Down

The Trophy Son's family not only loses in court, but will have to pay the school system's legal costs

Taking Care of the Boys

High school QB Kyle Heine broke his neck on the field. How well was he treated?