The Mule Fan

Wednesday, August 27,2008

Welcome Back Mules Fans.


It's time for another year of football fun with your Alamo Heights Mules. First, thanks so much to Erik Andersen for hosting The Mule Fan the past year. It certainly will be difficult to match his enthusiasm. With Erik freed up to watch the games this year, rather than report, we're sure everyone in the stands will hear him screaming for the Mules even more so than he has in the past. Erik, stay in the stands and don't hang any banners from trees in front of the school this year---we need you with us in person! And thanks in advance to Mary Candee for her help with pictures allowing us to bring you the best of the action. Remember to buy pictures directly from her at Dulce Designs Photography--these football memories you will want to capture forever. The website is www.dulcedesigns.photoreflect.com.


Now, down to business.

THE SENIORS:

This year we have a tremendous group of returning seniors. We hope to pay tribute to the Class of '09 throughout the season. To meet this years seniors (and their moms) from picture day, go to http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ViewAlbum.aspx?a=539983 and click on the Slide Show[Sorry if we missed anyone on this slide show--First Attempt]...and Garza, you can thank us for not including all of the photos of you kissing your mom--how sweet!!! Thanks to this years Senior Class for all they've done for Mule Football throughout the years---this is one of the largest senior football classes in recent memory. Let's go out in style Seniors.

THE NEW DISTRICT:

UGH!?!?!

I suppose "Terrific, a great challenge" would have been the appropriate response when the new District 27-4A was announced on February 1st. However, my immediate response was not so positive but rather was a group of words better left unpublished in the blog. That being said, it is what it is, and everyone in the District has to play the Mules. Furthermore, any of the four(not three any more) teams coming out of the District should be poised to make a nice playoff run. Rumor across the State is that this is definitely the toughest 4A District in Texas. The District---Steele, Heights, Kerrville, N.B. Canyon, San Marcos, Boerne, Clemons and Seguin. The teams were picked by the Express News to finish in that order and Heights was picked by Texas Football to finish first. The Express News places 5 of the areas top 6 Sub-5A teams in this District. More detail on each team in our district as we prepare to face them throughout the year. Now throw the rankings out the window and pay no attention to them from this point forward. WHO CARES? The Mules must play football one game at a time and take care of our own business regardless of what the other teams do. That's where the senior leadership and the dedication of Coach Byrd and his staff will keep us focused throughout the year. With the heart and commitment of this team and its coaches--and support from all of us at home AND on the road, we'll be just fine!

NEXT UP:

2008 Regular Season Opener

Round Rock Stony Point--7:00 p.m. Thursday, August 28 in Round Rock

Tickets available in advance and are $7.00 for adults and $3.00 for students. Everything at the gate is $8 in Round Rock. Tickets are on sale at the AH Athletic office Wednesday August 27 from 8.30am-12.00pm and again from 1.30pm-3.30. They will also be on sale at the Fall Kickoff Picnic this evening at the stadium gate from 5.00pm-6.30pm. On Thursday tickets will still be available at the AH athletic office from 8.30-noon. Also, Patty Juarez informs the Mule Fan that if you've pruchased reserved season tickets, she will be handing those out tonight at the picnic as well. (The Mule Fan encourages you to wipe the barbecue sauce off your hands before you get your tickets. That way, you won't smudge up your seat locations.)

Our Mules will get a great non-district test right out of the gate. The Stony Point Tigers return 6 offensive starters and 7 defensive starters from a 2007 squad that was 6-1 in last years district and was a DII Area Finalist. Stony Point, with twice as many students as Alamo Heights, is predicted to win District 16-5A.While QB Nyk McKissic(6-1,210) is back, the Tigers are rebuilding the offensive line. Look for an aggressive Heights defense to put pressure on McKissic to keep him of balance in and out of the pocket. The Tigers strength is purportedly in its defense, so the Mules will need a solid game from the entire offensive squad. This should be a great challenge for the Mules to be able to evaluate where they stand early in the season in the first of three tough non-district games.

A Few Words with the Head Coach of the Mules – Don Byrd
August 26, 2008

The Mule Fan: It’s opening week. You’ve been at this for 2 ½ weeks now. The kids are probably tired of hitting each other and are looking forward to teeing it up against a real opponent. How do you feel about your preparation and your team going into opening week?

Coach Byrd: There are a lot of things you look at. First of all you look at your conditioning. Our kids came back in great shape. They performed well in the first scrimmage so I was happy with that. The ones that started last year of course are calmer and confident and making fewer mistakes. We have areas where we have a bunch of new faces and they’re getting better by the day but we’re going to have to be patient with them. You get better during practice but all of a sudden during that first game where there’s a big crowd against a good team they’re going to make a few mistakes. But we just need to realize that and hope that the kids with experience will carry the load for a little bit until these young ones get a little more experience, come together and we keep improving as a team.

The Mule Fan: This was the first year in many years that you had Spring ball. And of course that means you can’t start as early as you did in the past. But now that you’ve seen all of the components together, how do you feel about how that turned out and what drove that decision originally?

Coach Bryd: Several things drove it. I’ve been wanting to do that for the last few years but we’ve always had this commitment with Clemens that we’d always scrimmage them in the first scrimmage and I’ve kind of held with that. And we’ve had success doing it but in the back of my mind as the program grew number-wise that it would be nice to have three weeks at the end of the school to get to know some of the younger kids, spend a lot of time on technique and build some more foundation of the game of football. So when we figured we’d probably be in the same district as Clemens we went ahead and started Spring. Talking to the coaches and just thinking about it myself and just seeing things it seems like it has been a good move for us. We won’t know until a little later in the season but right now we’re happy with the fundamentals, the retention the kids brought back. Some of the kids saw that they weren’t as good at some positions and I think they worked harder during the summer. Some of them had success at the positions and knew that there would be some competition so they worked a little harder during the summer. There’s been a lot of plusses with it but we’ll evaluate it at the end of the season and see how we’re going to do it next year but right now it seems like its been a good move for Alamo Heights.

The Mule Fan: Of course with every new year you get a new senior class and each of those classes has its own leadership style, its own personality because they’re new to the role. But you’ve had these kids for a couple of years. What are your observations about the characteristics of the leadership style and personality of this senior class? Or is it even fair to ask that at this point of the year?

Coach Byrd: It’s a little early but so far I’ve noticed just how well every person on the team gets along and how well they pull for each other. That’s been nice to watch the camaraderie of the team. They work hard. They play well together. They do the things right now that we need them to do as a team. It’s a little easier now even though two-a-days are hard but you don't really hit any adversity until you start playing games. Some guys make big plays and can they handle it? Some people make mistakes. I’ve told them for three weeks that there isn’t anybody out there who isn’t trying and nobody is out there for Stony Point. They’re all going to be for us so they’re going to try their hardest. We as coaches are going to correct them and make them play better. Our players need to encourage each other. That’s kind of our theme for this year and so far it’s been great.

The Mule Fan: So it’s opening week with Round Rock Stony Point. You’ve always tended to schedule very tough teams in non-district and this year is no exception. And the game is in a stadium which looms large in the history of Alamo Heights football. What can we expect out of Round Rock Stony Point?

Coach Byrd: They’re a very talented team. They have a lot of team speed. It’s a big 5A school with over 3,000 students. It’s a newer school, seven or eight years old I guess and they struggled for a while. They got a new coach, Coach Cheshire and he did a phenomenal job last year going 9-3. They beat the state semi-finalist, Pflugerville in district I believe. So it’s a strong program and it’ll be a great test. It’s not one that I really went out and looked for. We had a hard time scheduling games this year across the board so they were ones that were looking for a game the first week. I hate traveling that far and I particularly hate playing on Thursday nights but that was the only game we could find. That’s fine. It’s going to be a great opponent. We’re going to be a better football team on Friday no matter what happens with the outcome. We’re going up there to win a game but we also realize that it’s a long season. We’re not going to get fired up just for the first game and get at this high level of intensity and then work real hard all year to keep it that high. We’re going to keep building like we do each year. The key is to extend our season. That’s what our goal is and that’s what we’re working for.

The Mule Fan: So what are the key things you’ll be looking for in the first game?

Coach Byrd: First games are crazy. The ball bounces funny. You’ve got kids that all of a sudden get big eyes. So those games are crazy. But it comes down to who plays with the most poise. And always in the first game you watch the first few plays and then as the game goes teams get better and the ones that figure it out a little quicker start moving at a faster and faster level. The team will improve during the first game and improve their confidence. Its just like any other time. You can’t turn the ball over and you’ve got to play smart. I watch so many offenses. They don’t give themselves a chance. They’ll jump offside or get a holding penalty or not execute a play. You only get so many plays a game and you’ve got to make the most of them. First game you do make mistakes like that so you’ve got to learn to overcome plays like that.

IN THE NEWS:

September 27th is a big Alamo Heights day in Houston as Chase Clement and Rice face off against Gio Vizza and the University of North Texas--we're checking the record books for most offensive yardage combined in a game. Game time is set for 4 p.m. allowing anyone wanting to go to Houston to leave after the Varsity Saturday morning practice and be back late that night. Anyone needing tickets, contact Ron Mills who has secured a large block of tickets.

Editor's Note: We'll do our best to keep the information on this blog topical, informative and perhaps even entertaining. If you have any news of Mules playing college ball, we'd like to include that. Please send it our way so we don't overlook it. For any news item related to Alamo Heights Football, please send either of us or both of us an e-mail at the addresses below.

Bobby Rosenthal and Bob Cohen

brosenthal@trpsalaw.com

bobcohen@sbcglobal.net

NOTE:To add your e-mail address to the blast notification advising of new posts to The Mule Fan, send an e-mail to brosenthal@trpsalaw.com and we'll add you to the blast.

GO MULES!!