The Mule Fan

STEELE KNIGHTED

LOOKING BACK: STEELE 49, HEIGHTS 31

On a cool Friday night, the Steele Knights traveled to Alamo Heights with the District Championship on the line...and boy did they travel. The Steele band accounted for about 10 school buses but, amazingly, another 10 school buses arrived at Harry B. Orem Stadium carrying Steele fans. The Steele busloads helped pack the east side stands to capacity. The Mule fans arrived by the carloads as well, filling parking lots and neighborhood streets. However, let's get this out of the way. Except for the spirited student section and despite pleas from the cheerleaders and Erik Andersen, we, as fans, seemed lethargic for some reason. Maybe we had left our enthusiasm on the field in Kerrville but the normally vocal Mule crowd just wasn't there. We've got to do more to support the team. Fortunately, we've got another chance to redeem ourselves this week (more below)....but remember---WE ARE THE KEY. The Steele crowd kept the Knights motivated from the beginning of the game through their post game celebration. How about us fans show up enthusiastic from here on out?

Steele was as large and athletic as any team Heights faced all season, save Stony Point. They were big, fast and strong...and it showed, especially late in the game. The Mules came in a bit banged up--starters Beau Wilson and John Cabell were both out with short term injuries and defensive back Luke Maloy was out as well, with a season ending injury sustained in Kerrville (The Mule Fan's thoughts are with him and we look to his quick return next semester as one of the leaders of the Mules baseball team). The Mules were playing for an outright district championship while a Steele victory and a Kerrville win would force a three way tie.

The Mules kicked to start the game. With its starting running back, sophomore Malcolm Brown, out of the game, Steele went back to its senior running back Cory Anderson (6'0", 190) to carry the load in the backfield. Steele also brought several other weapons, including senior QB Jacob Trevino, a 6'0" senior who had a heck of a night and was named the Express News Offensive Player Of The Week after the game. On its first drive, Steele moved the ball well, converting a few first downs before watching #1 senior Anthony Foster (6'2", 178) drop a sure touchdown, bringing back memories of a similar drop by a Kerrville receiver a week earlier. Unfortunately, Foster's hands got better as the evening progressed. The teams traded posessions before Trevino found #85, junior Sheldon McClain ( 6'2"...starting to get the idea?) for a 60 yard touchdown catch. The Mules were down 7-0. Get this...in ALL 10 games this year, the Mules gave up the first score, so this was nothing new or troubling. Austin Amaro jumped on the short kickoff and the Mules started at their own 44. Drew Allen found Andrew Richter and then, on a gutsy call by the coaching staff early in the game, on 4th and 11, he connected with Tyler Marshall. After a couple more plays, Andrew Bailey was good on a 38 yard field goal and the Mules trailed 7-3 with 2:53 left in the first quarter. Steele returned the Heights kickoff to the Mules 37. The best The Mule Fan can recall, this was the first major kickoff return against the Mules all year and was also a sign of things to come on the evening. After a 12 yard run by Anderson, Trevino connected with Cameron Chandler for a 25 yard touchdown and a 14-3 Steele lead. Terry Andersen's kickoff return to the 37 and a couple of catches by Senior Nicky Helm ended the first quarter with the Mules poised to strike back, but trailing 14-3.


The second quarter was one of the most entertaining of the year. It started well as Allen hit Helm (who had a great night) at the one and then took it in from there, cutting the lead to 14-10 thirty seconds into the second quarter. But, Steele struck back quickly as Trevino connected with #1 Anthony Foster for a 69 yard TD and suddenly Steele was back up by 11, 21-10. Steele's pooch kick was fielded by Car-Car Thurmond, who brought it out to the 40. A couple of short passes and a roughing the passer penalty set the ball for the Mules at the Steele six. From there, Allen hit Givens for the TD and with the Bailey extra point, it was 21-17 Steele with 6:05 left in the quarter. At this point, the Mule Fan began looking frantically for a backup pen as, with the quick action, it appeared this sucker might run out of ink before the half was over. After another Foster catch, a big hit from a Mule defender caused a fumble recovered by the Mules and again, the Mules were back in business, this time with 5:41 left in the second quarter. Allen completed a center screen to Rosenthal, hit Richter on a key 3rd and 14, ran for 9 and finally Allen found a very happy Kyle Flores in the end zone for a 24-21 Mules lead with 2:30 left in the half. Steele had one more chance but faced a 4th and 1 around midfield. Since the smart Mule defense didn't jump, Steele called a timeout and punted. The Mules half ending drive stalled and the Mules went into the locker room up 24-21.

Collin Bibb's kickoff return gave Heights the ball at their own 40 to start the second half. The Mules put together a good drive including a 4th and 1 option keeper by Allen. With 9:12 left in the 3rd, the Mules extended their lead to 10 with the Allen sneak. Mules up 31-21. The Mules again kicked and again tried to keep the ball away from the speedy Steele backs. Unfortunately, Steele had 11 speedy players on the field at all times--sometimes it seemed like much more than 11. Bailey's kickoff intentionally was high and short but on the return Bailey had to make the stop, all the way at the Mules 47. For those of you football novices, it's never a good thing when the kicker or punter has to make the tackle. Steele's drive was quick from there. After a couple short passes, Trevino lofted the ball to Foster in the corner of the end zone and a 31-28 Heights lead with 6:06 left in the quarter. Actually, coverage was very good on the play as the two Mules defenders were in good position. But, when a receiver is 6'2", fast and headed towards our high jump pit, he's going to get some elevation. In case you haven't noticed, we are not the tallest team in the City. These matchups were tough for the Mules on the night, and understandably so. On the next offensive drive, the Mules went three and out giving Steele the ball at the Mules 45. On a third and 8, Chandler again made a nice catch. To end the quarter, the Knights converted a 4th and 1 to the Mules 3. Though the Mules were up by 3, this didn't feel real good.

If you are not a fan of scary movies or creepy things upset you, this paragraph regarding the 4th quarter action may not be for you--it was not pleasant to watch and is not much fun for the reporters. But lessons come from disappointment and our boys will learn from what happened in the last 12 minutes of the regular season. Trevino quickly found Anderson from the 3 and Steele was up 35-31, the first of 4 Steele touchdowns to come on the quarter (That last comment---the one about the 4 Steele TD's in the quarter---was our way of saying, you still have a chance to skip this paragraph and move to the next section of the blog..like the sign that reads "Last Rest Area for 78 Miles", or the "Last Free Exit" before the Toll Road, or the "Last Turnaround" before you find yourself on the bridge across Lake Ponchetrain [30 miles] in New Orleans, from which there is no turning back, you can take a break, get out of here or go another directon). The Mules started at the 20 and actually had a very nice drive going, though two Allen passes were batted down by John Bailey, a 6'4" defensive lineman--yes 6'4"!!! Allen completed passes to, among others, Lovelady and Helm, an intentional grounding was waived off, the Mules converted a 4th and 1 but then, just as the Mules were headed back to take the lead, Allen's pass to Lovelady bounced into the air and into the hands of the fortunate Knight defender who then sped about 60 yards to the Mule 30. Unfortunately, this motivated the Knights and their enthusiatic fans (repeat, enthusiastic fans). The Mules defense seemed exhausted, rightfully so, as the Knights kept the ball on the ground where Anderson pounded it in from the 4 giving Steele a 42-31 lead with 4:06 left in the fourth. On the next possession, the Mules offensive line, rightfully so, seemed tired themselves--they'd battled some large, fast kids the entire evening. In the second half, Steele rotated defensive lineman, each of which seemed bigger and stronger than the last one. What do they grow in Cibolo? The Mules were desperate for points and Steele knew that was the case, so they dropped about 17 d-backs into coverage. The Mule pass on the drive was picked and returned for a 35 yard TD and a 49-31 lead with 3:24 left. That's when this Mule Fan put his near-empty pen in his pocket, breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't the OTHER Mule Fan (the offensive lineman's dad) who would have to interview Coach Byrd this week and smiled as he realized nobody was injured AND, unlike most of the teams in the City, we've still got more football games to play.

On the evening,Trevino and his corp of tall speedy receivers were just too much for the defense. Trevino completed only 13 passes but they went for 240 yards. The large offensive linemen prevented the Mules from getting too much pressure on the quarterback. The Heights defense played the run very well holding the Knights under 100 yards. On the other side of the ball, the Mules offensive line had a tough evening with the Knights defensive line. The Knights oftentimes rushed only 4 linemen, allowing them to drop back into coverage. As expected, the Knights shut down the Heights running game, as they had done to most teams this year. Finally, for the first time this season (hopefully the constant praise by The Mule Fan was not the whammy), the opponents kickoff and kick return teams impacted the field position to their advantage. Tough game against a very, very talented Steele team. Hopefully (more below), the Mules will get another shot at the Knights in the playoffs, but that would be a long, long time from now in another place.

A Few Words with the Head Coach of the Mules – Don Byrd
November 11, 2008 (Playoff Edition)

The Mule Fan: The Mules ran into a very talented team in Steele that put up a lot of numbers and has a good chance to advance in the playoffs. Some of us just watched the game film. That’s a team with a lot of good athletes and depth on their roster. It didn’t look like the Mules did anything out of character. What were your views on the game now that you’ve had a chance to dissect the game and the film?

Coach Byrd: I was very proud of our young men’s effort. I think they went out and represented our program our community and everybody to the best of their ability. Steele is a very talented team. They’ve had some guys banged up and got a lot of them back before our game so they were hitting on all cylinders. We just hit the grind of the season so we were banged up and had two or three starters out. We were doing great through a little over three quarters and just didn’t quite finish the game but their athleticism had a lot to do with that too.

The Mule Fan: In your mind, is it better to go up against a strong opponent in the last game before the playoffs – or is it better to have a game where you can get a lot of people in and rest some people?

Coach Byrd: Well, you’d like it where you could get a lot of people in and do that but you really don’t have any control over that. I know that Alamo Heights is a better football team after playing a big game like that or just playing through this whole district. There are so many teams in this district that would have won other districts and don’t even make the playoffs. There are some teams that didn’t even win one or two games in district and they would have made the playoffs in almost every other district. It was really a hard fought seven games with an eight team district like we have. But I was proud of our kids and what they’ve accomplished this year so far and we’re setting our goals high in the playoffs.

The Mule Fan: What changes, if any, do you make in your prep schedules for the playoff weeks?

Coach Byrd: We don’t change it a whole lot. The unique thing is that we don’t have JV and freshman games. But we still work our freshmen out. All these kids while they’re growing up can play baseball, soccer and basketball year round and actually play the game. In football we have 7-on-7 but it’s not a real game. So this is a great time for us to take the freshmen and work out for about an hour during their athletic period in full pads during the playoffs and work on the fundamentals of the game and spend a little extra time for the JV with the people that will be representing Alamo Heights next year and really spend some time working on fundamentals with them because there’s more time without the intersquad games. We don’t take anything away from the varsity but we get to spend some time with a lot of kids now. So that’s a lot of fun. It’s just a playoff atmosphere and have them practice under the lights a little more because the days are getting shorter. We’ll probably have to pass out sweats here by next week because its getting a little colder and that’s kind of unique knowing that over half the state have their pads put up by now.

The Mule Fan: At this point, Alamo Heights has a well-established playoff tradition in football and of course a state title to go with it. When you look back through the years, what is the single most important thing you’ve learned about the mental approach and mental preparation to the post-season?

Coach Byrd: Well there are a lot of things. As we’ve had more success, the kids play with a little more confidence and that is huge. Just a lot of the ins and outs like getting stadiums and officials and setting up different things like that for the playoffs. It’s gotten a lot smoother. That can take up a lot of time. But as you play more and more games you kind of learn the system and what you need to do there. The bottom line over 14 years as a head coach is that we’ve gotten the kids this far. If they really want to have a great team, they’ve got to dig deep in their hearts and push each other and challenge each other in practice. And that’s what we talked about today. We’ve gotten them to where they’re a pretty good team but that last little bit is that they’ve got to take care of business just like they do on the field without the coaches right on top of them. And this team has done a nice job with that. I hope we’ll continue to grow. You’ve got to stay healthy. You’ve got to practice to get better each day. And you’ve got to have a little luck to make a run. So hopefully those ingredients will come together and Alamo Heights will extend their season a few more weeks.

The Mule Fan: Just on that subject, how important does the aspect of leadership from the older guys become during the playoffs?

Coach Byrd: Oh I think it’s huge. I think they set the tone of what type of atmosphere we have at practice and pre-game preparation. They’re the ones that give the kids the confidence throughout the game because they’ve been there before. They’ve been a part of the program. We still have a couple of them that were with us in the state game (in 2006) and got on the field in the state game. A lot of them worked out hard that week. They might not have gotten in the game but they were a big part of the team so we’re hoping that atmosphere and philosophy will carry over. It’s a whole different ball game and the stakes get higher and higher each week as the number of teams still practicing and playing gets cut in half each week.

The Mule Fan: Getting a playoff game is something you strive for but getting a home playoff game is rare so that’s got to feel good. What do you remember about the Brackenridge game last year at Alamo Stadium and what have you seen in their films this week in preparation?

Coach Byrd: Well Coach Hall does a nice job. You know they’re an inner city school and fight a lot of battles that we don’t have to fight here at Heights and he does a nice job of presenting a great program. They’re an athletic team. They can make some plays if they get the ball in the right guy’s hands. We can’t fall asleep. We’re going to have to play good sound football. We were fortunate enough last year to jump ahead of them and got to play a lot of players which was nice and it got us a good start in the playoffs. So we’re hoping that we can continue that and especially being here at home. We’re excited about playing in front of our own fans and hope we’ll get a big crowd for the game.

The Mule Fan: We were banged up a little last week. What is the status of our injuries going into this week’s game?

Coach Byrd: Luke Maloy is out for the season and he was really coming on at safety and had a shoulder injury that had to be operated on. John Cabell was out last week and will be back this week. He practiced today and played real well. Austin Amaro hurt his neck and didn’t work out on Monday and worked out about half of Tuesday so I think he’ll be fine. Beau Wilson is still getting a range of motion back in his shoulder. It’s still weak and of course until he gets his strength back we can’t put him out on the field because he’s liable to hurt it again. Trevor Lovelady has had some problems with his ankle. We’re a little concerned about that. We’ll know tomorrow whether it’s actually broken or not. We’ve got a 24 hour bug going around with a couple of kids but that’ll be over with. It’s just that time of year where we’re a little banged up. We have no control over that. We just hope the guys that are behind them that have been working hard at those positions can step it up and play.

FINAL STANDINGS/DISTRICT DOINGS: Week Seven is in the books (District records after final week): This one was tough to watch as the Mules were one half away from a third undisputed district title in a row and a third undefeated district in a row. But, at 0-2 early in the season, I think all Mule fans are thrilled with a 7-3 season record and, more importantly, a 6-1 record in the toughest District in Texas. The FINAL District Standings are:

Steele..6-1
Heights...6-1
Kerrville...6-1
Clemens...4-3
Champion...3-4
N.B Canyon...2-5
Seguin...1-6
San Marcos...0-7



WEEK SEVEN SCORES
Tivy 31,Clemens 30
Steele 49, Heights 31
Champion 43, N.B. Canyon 42(OT)
Seguin 27, San Marcos 21

LOOKING AHEAD---THE PLAYOFFS!:

Yes Dorothy, there is more football for our Mules, and you don't have to go either Kansas or the Land of Oz to play. The Wizard has told us to forget about the Cougars (Stony Point), and Tigers (Clark) and Knights (Steele), oh my! Get over the Wicked Witch of Cibolo and her Steele (Tin) Man, just remember the Good Witch of the '09 Bubble and a seven game win streak during the year. The Wizard has said "Get Ready for the Playoffs"…and.... "Guess what, Mule fans? Your yellow brick road starts AT HOME." YES, THE PLAYOFFS START AT HOME, this Friday night at Harry B. Orem Stadium against the winners of District 28-4A, the high flying Brackenridge Eagles. Brack finished the season at 7-3 and 4-2 in District play. Brackenridge and Heights have a lot in common. What's that, you say? Well, it turns out that old man Brackenridge owned a ton of land on the north side of San Antonio. He conveyed part to the City of San Antonio for what eventually became Brackenridge Park. He conveyed another chunk which became the City of Alamo Heights. So, without Brackenridge, there would be no Alamo Heights. This is needless, trivial information (like some of the football rulings Charlie Wernette gives us during the year) but the kind of stuff you have to learn to be on Alamo Heights City Council. Plus, we won't have followed these post-season teams the way we've followed our District 27-4A opponents, so we'll be looking for a lot of filler to keep the publishers happy.

The Eagles return four offensive starters and nine defensive starters from last year's squad, which was 6 and 0 in it's district and was bi-district finalists before losing to Heights in the first round of the playoffs. But don't think that this year will necessarily be like last year, with nine starters back on defense, this Brack defense has a chance to slow down the potent Heights offense. Before this past week, Brack's defense held its opponents to 80 yards passing a game. Don't expect an offensive explosion by the Mules, as Brack's defense has held its opponents to some low rushing totals throughout the year as well. Brack comes into the game, having lost its final game to Burbank, in a game that was meaningless for Brack but critical for Burbank to enter into the playoffs. The game featured 432 total yards and 57 points in a wild first half. Burbank collected two interceptions, recovered a fumble and blocked a punt. Otherwise Brack would have held Burbank in check. On defense, the Mules will have to watch running back Willie Culpepper who ran for 1340 yards and over 8 yards per carry---that is awesome. The defense will also have to stop QB David Quiroga who passed for 1217 yards and ran for another 200 and his favorite receiver Earon Holmes, who caught passes for 520 yards and ran for another 100. Holmes made numerous catches to keep Brack in the Burbank game. Even though Burbank scored 42 points, Brack held Burbank to 55 yards rushing on 34 carries, an amazing average of less than two yards per carry. But for 12 Brack penalties and five turnovers, Brack would continue its winning streak into the playoff. This one won't be a pushover, so the Mules will work hard in practice as they look forward to their first round opponent.

Since last year's first round game against Brackenridge was played at Alamo Stadium, the home field for Brackenridge, the Mules elected to play this year's playoff opener at home this Friday night. Come early fans. This week, let's be loud and support our team.

Playoff Tickets

Once again, the Mule Fan has climbed to the top of the mountain to hear this proclamation from Patty Juarez, the knower of all things Mule, as she tells us about buying tickets to the Brackenridge game. First of all, if you’re a season ticket holder and did not buy the seats you’ve had all year on Tuesday, you might not necessarily be able to get your accustomed seat. The reserved seats have now been released to all on a first-come, first-served basis.

This is the actual text translated from the ancient scrolls. Remove your shoes please.

Prices will be $7 for reserved, $6 for adult general admission and $3 for student general admission. All ticket at the gate will be $7 for reserved and $6 for general admission. Wed. & Thurs. 8:30 a.m. - Noon and 1:30pm - 4:00pm
Fri. 8:30am - 3:30pm (open during lunch)
And of course, tickets can be purchased at the stadium box office on game night. Show up early! Watch this space for upcoming ticket information if necessary.

PLAYOFF BRACKETS:
Not that we can, or should, look ahead, many people want to know what the brackets look like in the San Antonio/Austin Region. The loss to Steele forces Steele to play the unanimous #1 4A team in the State, Austin Lake Travis, in the second round. Should Heights make it that far(three wins), Heights likely would face the Lake Travis/Steele winner in the fourth round. Now, no more of that---every team from here on out is a good team, having finished at the top, or towards the top, of a tough 4A district. Don't, for a minute, think that Brackenridge doesn't remember last years playoff game against the Mules. This is a much better team with many returning players, and this years winner of District 28 -4A. But, below is the bracket for the Austin/San Antonio Region (there are 4 Regions in the State). The winner of the first game plays the winner of the second game, and so forth.

Bi-District Round Division 1


Upper Bracket (1) is#1 seed (2) is #2 seedD25(1)


Austin Lake Travis(10-0) vs D26(2) Austin Johnson(7-3) Friday 11/14 7:00 pm @ Austin Lake Travis ISD Stadiium


D27(1) Cibolo Steele (9-1)vs D28(2) San Antonio Jefferson(5-5) Friday 7:30 pm 11/14 @ Alamo Stadium in San Antonio


D29(1) S.A. McCollum(6-4) vs D30(2) Corpus Christi Ray(5-4) Friday 11/14 7:30 pm @ Harlandale Memorial Stadium in San Antonio


D31(1) Alice(10-0) vs D32(2) Mission(4-6) Friday 11/14 7:30 pm @ Alice Memorial Stadium


Lower Bracket


D25(2) Killeen(6-4) vs D26(1) Austin Crockett(6-4) Friday 11/14 7:30 pm @ Kuempel Stadium in Pflugerville


D27(2) S.A. Alamo Heights(7-3) vs D28(1) S.A. Brackenrdige(7-3) Friday 11/14 7:30 pm Harry B. Orem Alamo Heights in San Antonio


D29(2) Uvalde(7-3) vs D30(1) Gregory-Portland(7-3) Friday 11/14 7:30 pm @ Mata Memorial Stadium in San Antonio


D31(2) C.C. Flour Bluff(8-2) vs D32(1) Weslaco East(8-2) Friday 11/14 7:30 pm @ Bob Lackey Stadium in Weslaco

Peek Inside the Mules Training Room

This week, the Mule Fan continues its quest to give you readers a behind-the-scenes look at the AH football program with a stop inside the Alamo Heights athletic department training room. It’s a busy place before a game of any sort. Heck, it’s a busy place period. Head Trainer Mike Post and his staff consists of Assistant Trainer Adriana Hernandez and student trainers Allie Rocha, Allison Cassone, Ashley Sotelo, Daniel Thornton, Erin Gomez, Jackie Rodewald, Kent Harral, Leah Saucedo, Lena Bozzo, Samantha Moreno and Stella Blankenship.

In this video, we get a look at Mike Post and Adriana Hernandez as they tape the hooves…errr ankles that is, of a couple of varsity football players prior to the last regular season home game against Steele. The versatility and skills of these trainers cannot be understated. Just moments before we switched on the camera, they had just finished the cleanup job after successfully removing the spleen of a tennis player using two iced tea spoons and a John Denver CD for anesthesia. Notice how calm they are about switching gears! (Seriously, they attend to the physical health of our boys and girls who participate in athletic activities at Alamo Heights year round and we appreciate all they do for the program. Thanks Mike for letting the Mule Fan bring in its double-secret agent shoe phone and spy camera into your office!)

OTHER MULE NEWS:

The JV-A team ended the year with a thrilling 38-34 victory over Steele. Junior David Garza accounted for four of the Mule touchdowns. The JV-A team came together very well towards the end of the year with some good wins . Many of those players will step in as starters on next years varsity team, which loses an amazing 32 seniors and returns only 14-15 players. From the Junior School, the 7th grade won district while the 8th grade came in 2nd in district. Congratulations to all Mules teams and the coaching staffs who have been working since August with these teams.


MULES ON THE RADIO: The Mules radio home for the rest of the year (unless advised otherwise) is KKYX-680AM. Follow the action there with Ed Suarez and Dave Parker. Airtime will be 7:00 p.m. Don’t forget to patronize and thank the sponsors for their commitment to Alamo Heights.

HOLIDAY GIFTS--DVD and PHOTOS: Except for the Saturday morning film session with the coaches--and we're not invited--nobody can capture your Mules on video like The Murfman. Before you know it, that little Mule of yours will be kicking his way out of the house. Let him relive his high school football days forever. More importantly, let his girlfriend or future wife (what a thought) see what a stud he was (or thought he was) or let his grandparents relive the memories. Contact The Murfman and you can get the full season on DVD. While you are at it, you can talk to Murf about a special DVD he will create for you capturing all the great plays your Mule made during the year, with the ability to edit out the holding penalty or the dropped ball. This is probably the most reasonable gift you can buy and don't forget about extra copies for your household. In 10 years, instead of saying "Remember when?", you'll be able to say "Look at this." You can contact Murf at Michael@Murfman.net or mikepmurf@sbcglobal.net or at 210-216-1865.


Who is that at every event you've attended in the last year with any Mule squad involved? Why, of course, it is Mary Candee taking photo after photo of every event. She's like Santa---she's at every mall and every event. Mary snaps about 500 pictures a minute so there definitely are some good pictures you can find to savor the moment. Mary will also create a collage of photos of your Mule. You can order one picture or 100 pictures but whatever you do, you've got to order them. You know you always order the Class Pictures in the posed position with 1 5X7, 2 3X5 and 600 wallet sized photos. Well, don't you think these will be better than that? And as a gift in a frame?...Uncle Ralph will like it more than a new tie and Aunt Irma will think its even better than fruitcake.....So contact Mary at (210) 241-3112 or http://mail.ljtlaw.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/storecontact.aspx or macandee@aol.com


By the way, these are not two mutually exclusive options---why not do both?

A note from the editors: It has come to our attention that many of you have had story ideas throughout the season but were not sure how to reach the editorial staff to pass them along. It hurts to know that this blog has left anything on the table. Better late than never. We welcome your criticisms, ideas, suggestions, birthday greetings, tarot readings, bouquets and brickbats. If we are to write at a playoff level, we could use a little inspiration from you loyal readers. Please write us with your thoughts. Send them in total privacy to our e-mail addresses below or for all to see in the comment section at the bottom of each post. In appreciation for your feedback and any usable suggestions, we will reward you handsomely with our warmest personal regards.

Bob Cohen/Bobby Rosenthal

bobcohen@sbcglobal.net ; brosenthal@trpsalaw.com