WAKE UP! ON ETBLITZ | Sunday edition; G&Y Team of the Year announcement at 2:30 p.m.
EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s been a few months now since Cozy Coffee Station joined ETBlitz.com as an advertising partner, and we’ve had a great time doing Wake Up! every morning. We hope you’ve had a great time reading it, and also, that you’re going to see Oscar and Ashley and their team at both the Kilgore and Gilmer locations of CCS – in Kilgore at 110 Midtown Plaza, and in Gilmer at 755 Highway 271 North. Their products are innovative and absolutely fantastic. If you haven’t tried ‘em, look them over on their menu online here, Home | Cozy Coffee Station, and if you have tried them, then chances are great you agree with me!
Team of the year
We use common sense here at ETBlitz.com – imagine that? – and common sense dictates that we give out the Goudarzi & Young / ETBlitz.com Team of the Year Award right after the conclusion of each school year, not at the end of the calendar year.
We’re only giving out one of these, and we’re announcing it today at 2:30 p.m. here on the site. A few minutes after it’s announced here, it’ll be announced on the other forms of ETB’s social media. Obviously, the vote is now in and complete, and while I know everyone out there will want their own teams to have won, I’m hoping you guys can understand why the winning choice was actually chosen by our panel.
I didn’t unilaterally make this pick; we don’t do that here. We have a panel, an odd-numbered panel so that we avoid a tie, that does this, based on a lot of different factors that will be explained in the story at 2 p.m. We’ll also list the nominees and the order of finish.
So come back at 2:30 and celebrate the Goudarzi & Young / ETBlitz.com Team of the Year along with us, won’t you?
Camp Central updated
It’s been a few days since we did it, but our Camp Central story is updated. We’ve pulled out the camps that have passed, and updated the ones that are about to start. Camp Central is presented by Energy Weldfab this year, and features all the upcoming youth sports camps this summer.
You can find it on the home page, or dang, just click here and go there: CAMP CENTRAL, presented by ENERGY WELDFAB | Upcoming youth sports camps, updated on June 8.
Great Texas Balloon Race
They tell me we may have thunderstorms tomorrow.
That could put a damper on the start of the Great Texas Balloon Race.
But just in case, I’m going with this information, anyway.
The balloon race is based in Longview and culminates next weekend on Friday and Saturday at the Longview Convention Complex at 1123 Jaycee Drive.
It’s the BFA U.S. Nationals Hot Air Balloon Championship Practice Flight and it begins at 6:30 a.m. Monday.
On Tuesday, it also starts at 6:30 a.m., and it’s listed as a competition flight.
Wednesday through Friday, June 13, same thing, same time, and on Friday, the special events for the public begin. Gates will open at the Longview convention complex at 4 p.m., and there’ll be a concert at 6:30.
The public is free to walk around and see the balloons and visit until 8:30, and that also includes the tethered balloon rides (those are $25 per person, and can only be cash payments).
Opening ceremonies are at 8:45 p.m., and then the Bill Bussey Balloon Glow starts just after that. Gates close up at midnight.
The whole thing begins again at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 14, and then the public activities at the same times, with the tethered rides also, starting at the balloon glow at 8:50, and gates closing at midnight.
Here’s a link to the Great Texas Balloon Race site, and you can purchase tickets to the concerts at the bottom of this page: Schedule of Events – The Great Texas Balloon Race
Tickets to get into the event, though, should be purchased at the gate, or right here at this link: Buy Tickets – The Great Texas Balloon Race. Tickets are $20 Friday night, $25 on Saturday night, or $40 for both nights. Kids 12 and under are admitted free.
If you have other questions, this might help, and usually does: Frequently Asked Questions – The Great Texas Balloon Race.
Kilgore in 7-on-7 state tourney
I don’t want to forget (or you to forget) that Kilgore has a team playing in the Texas State 7-on-7 Football Tournament in College Station near the end of this month.
Qualifying tournaments begin in May, so it’s kind of out-of-sight, out-of-mind for a while if you qualify early, like Kilgore did. But the tournament is June 26, 27, and 28 at Veterans Park in College Station, and that’s at 3101 Harvey Road, College Station, TX, 77845.
Kilgore is in Division II, and will play those first two days, just like last year, when they reached the state semifinals. That’s the equivalent of Class 4A and 3A in UIL football.
There are 13 to 15 fields there at Veterans Park, and you should know there’s a lot of walking involved for spectators.
There’s no entry fee for spectators. It’s free.
They do allow you to set up chairs, bring water, that kind of thing, because there is no stationary seating, and there is a concession stand, but you’ll still want water because it is very hot.
Pool play begins at 10 a.m. Thursday, and just like the local qualifying tournaments, there will be four teams in each pool, so that means three pool games for each team on Thursday.
All teams advance to bracket play on Friday morning, and everyone will play at least one game.
On Friday, the first round of the Division II bracket will start at 8:45 a.m.
We’ve gone over the 7-on-7 rules here a bunch, and we’ll do so again when it gets closer, but the basics are that there is no tackling, there’s no running plays called, and there are two 15-minute halves, with no time-outs unless there’s an injury. It’s touch football, and the players were soft helmets. It’s passing-only, and the field the games are played is 45 yards long – cones are used to mark the dimensions.
High school coaches aren’t allowed to coach; they can sit in the end zones during games, not on the sidelines. Kilgore’s coach this summer is former Bulldogs’ quarterback Da’Marion Vanzandt.
The offense has 40 seconds between plays to snap the ball, and the clock starts as soon as an official rules a play dead. After four seconds if the quarterback still has the ball in his hand, the play is ruled dead.
Defensive and offensive pass interference is still 15 yards, like in regular high school football.
Each team can have about 20 players.
And yep, ETBlitz.com will have a crew on hand for Kilgore’s trip to College Station (You knew I was going to say that).