WAKE UP! FRIDAY on ETBLITZ.COM | Overton will play for the title; how well can YOU spell?; let’s take it to the limit
EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s WAKE UP! on ETBlitz.com on a Friday, the last Friday in May, and we are officially ready for summer here at ETB. Wake Up! is presented each day by Cozy Coffee Station, and they’re ready for you not just on the morning drive – then, too – but all the time, at both locations in Kilgore and at Gilmer. Check out their socials for their menu; find ‘em at Home | Cozy Coffee Station on the web, and then drive as safely as possible to 755 Highway 271 North in Gilmer, or to 110 Midtown Plaza in Kilgore, and they will hook you up with something great.
Congratulations to Overton baseball!
If you’ve been unconscious the last 24 or so hours, Overton is headed to the UIL State Baseball Tournament at Dell Diamond in Round Rock. The Mustangs will play Collinsville on Thursday, June 5 at 9 a.m. for the Class 2A-Division II state championship.
Overton was in a playoff battle – that’s not even really a strong-enough phrase – with Burton in the 2A-Division II semifinals at Sam Houston State. After winning game one, the Mustangs dropped game two, took an early 1-0 lead in game three and had to hold on for dear life.
That is, until talent and baseball strategy by coaches Chris Cook and Scotty Laymance took over. Landon Hill on the mound pitching almost the entire game, Braxton Harper coming on late, and the Mustangs’ defense led by shortstop Mason Rowe held Burton to just one run. They added three runs on another inside-the-park home run by Bryce Still in the sixth, and put the fire extinguishers on the Panthers in the top of the seventh, cooling them off for good when Jayden Edwards caught a fly ball for out three.
Here’s our story by Shawn Christopher: OVERTON MUSTANGS HEADED TO STATE TITLE GAME!!.
ETBlitz has been all over the Mustangs’ run to Austin, and we’ll continue to be in the next week until they (hopefully) lift the state title trophy. We’ll have all sorts of things leading up to the title game.
But first thing’s first: great job, Mustangs, coaches and players. We’re pretty sure a LOT of East Texas is behind you guys. Go bring it home.
Camp Central updated
We’ll point out quickly that our list of youth sports camps coming up this summer, which we’ve so quaintly named “Camp Central,” is updated once again, and you can find it right here: ENERGY WELDFAB CAMP CENTRAL | Youth sports camps coming up across the ETBlitz area (updated May 29). Hopefully, that’s helpful for parents who are looking for camps for their kids, having announcements in one place rather than having to look at all the different schools’ social media individually.
Coaches, if you have a camp that’s not listed in the Camp Central round-up, e-mail me (Mitch) at mlucas@etblitz.com.
Also, coaches, if you’d like to have a camp photo ran on the site, take one before your camp ends and send it to me at that same e-mail. We’ll run it at absolutely no cost.
The spelling bee that wasn’t
So, have you heard about the Scripps National Spelling Bee?
We certainly do NOT want to take anything away from the young man, Faizan Zaki, who won it – and he’s from Allen, Texas, by the way.
But in the first round, the contestants only had to have the definition of the word correct – they didn’t have to spell anything at all.
Um, am I crazy? (The answer to that is obvious, but still…) It’s the national SPELLING bee. Why wouldn’t they also have to spell the word in addition to knowing its meaning?
At any rate, the event, in its 100th year, was held at National Harbor, Maryland, and Zaki correctly spelled “éclaircissement” – an enlightening explanation of something, typically someone’s conduct, that has been hitherto inexplicable, according to the dictionary – to win the event’s final round.
Zaki was the runner-up last year, but he’s the champion this year, and here’s what he won: a $50,000 grand prize in cash from Scripps; $2,500 more from Merriam-Webster, and a reference library; $1,000 in scholarship funds (Scholastic Dollars); a package from Encyclopedia Brittanica (which still exists, by the way, I found out); and a five-year subscription to something called News-O-Matic for his school.
Here’s how 13-year-old Faizan won:
It’s a 70’s Friday
And because it’s Friday, and we’re all in a good mood, it’s time for a classic from the 1970s. And you don’t get much more “classic” than the Eagles. Take it to the limit, boys, and take me outta here.