ETBLITZ RETURNS JAN. 1 | Holiday break is about over, and there are exciting things coming
The holidays are almost over, and so is the ETBlitz.com Christmas / New Year’s break.
Our coverage returns early-morning January 1, with a new Wake Up!, presented by Cozy Coffee Station, and then we begin coverage of basketball, soccer and other sports in earnest.
You’ll find schedules and rosters for Kilgore College men’s and women’s basketball, as well as Tyler Junior College men’s and women’s basketball, on the site right now, right here: KC BASKETBALL | Catching up with the Rangers, Lady Rangers as holiday break nears its end; TJC BASKETBALL | Updating the state of the Apaches’ basketball programs. All four of them return from their own lengthy holiday break in the coming days, with the well-traveled Lady Rangers hosting the Evelyn Blalock Classic (see the story) and the other three teams jumping right back into the grind that is the Region XIV Conference schedule.
I’ll personally be delivering prizes from our Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Players of the Week to a big BUNCH of deserving student athletes when school resumes (WHATABURGER / ETB PLAYERS OF THE WEEK | The list for this school year so far, and the new shirt!). If you’re on that list, I’m coming your way if I haven’t already done so. By the way, the Whataburger / ETB Players of the Week awards will return on Monday, Jan. 12, and that would be announcing winners from performances based on the week before (Monday, Jan. 5 through Saturday, Jan. 10).
Speaking of Whataburger, don’t forget to vote for the 300 best players in the state, as a part of the Whataburger Super Team, alongside Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. Carthage linebackers Carson Crawford and Da’Quives Beck, running back KJ Edwards, White Oak quarterback Jaxsen Ludlow and Henderson running back Jesstin “Meaty” Starling are all nominated and would love your vote. But you have to do it by Wednesday! Here’s where to vote: www.texasfootball.com/whatasuperteam.
We’ll announce our own ETBlitz.com Volleyball All-Star Team this Sunday morning, likely including players from our entire 15-school coverage area, and on Sunday, January 11, the annual ETBlitz.com Football All-Star Team, recognizing the top players, coaches and even games from 2025, will hit the site, officially putting a wrap on the 2025 high school football and volleyball seasons and moving on to the area’s other sports.
All sorts of things will be happening as we enter what is really the busiest portion of the local East Texas high school calendar, from February until May – including some surprises.
The 2025 calendar year was a big one here for this website, which launched on Oct. 20, 2023 and has changed the way area media covers sports.
To date, ETBlitz.com has had just over 9.3 MILLION hits since that October day in ’23, and just in 2025, ETB has had 479,729 unique visitors and 5,775,000 hits.
We’ve said it before, and it bears repeating: here, there’s no pay wall, no subscription. We’re proud of that, and we’ll even give you this sounding board. Anyone who’d like to reach out to ETBlitz.com editor / publisher Mitch Lucas (that’s me) can do so at mlucas@etblitz.com . That 9-million number is a LOT, and we’re thankful for every single one of them, and the advertising partners that make it possible for us to do so without charging you guys. For anyone who sees this site and wants to find out more about how to advertise with us, just send me an e-mail and I’ll put you in charge with the right folks.
We know WE can do a better job covering sports and the activities / events / entertainment that surround them. And we’re going to strive to do better than ever before in 2026.
So, let us be the first to wish you guys a happy new year, and thank you for reading ETBlitz.com.