WAKE UP! ON ETB | Check out the football previews, because they’re good, and stuff; it’s a Classic ’80s Saturday
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So, the White Oak preview, and the 15 In 15 series…
Our preview of the White Oak Roughnecks went on last night, Friday night, following their home scrimmage against New Diana. White Oak is the ninth in our 15 In 15 series, 15 Previews in 15 days.
Joe Hale has done an absolutely fantastic job with this series, and he did once again, focusing this time on coach Michael Ludlow and the Roughnecks’ journey back to not just respectability, but a legit threat to win District 8-3A, Division I, and maybe more.
We began the 15 In 15 on August 7, and it’ll continue today with… well, come back and find out.
If you’ve missed any of this series, and you’re a high school football fan, you’re going to want to go back and read the ones you’ve missed, and the ones we’ve yet to do. I gave Joe a mission: do actual previews, not just tell who the coaches are for each program, drop a few names, what their record was last year, and this year’s schedule. That’s what you get with some media outlets. We know you expect more than that. And we do actual season previews.
Here’s the programs who have been featured so far, and the links to their previews.
Troup (On Thursday, August 7): 2025 ETB OFFICIAL TROUP FOOTBALL PREVIEW | Tiger by the tail? LOL, not this one! | Troup aims to start, and finish, strong in ’25.
Gilmer (On Friday, August 8): 2025 ETB OFFICIAL GILMER FOOTBALL PREVIEW | Glory days: A return to the big time for the Buckeyes?
Overton (On Saturday, August 9): 2025 ETB OFFICIAL OVERTON FOOTBALL PREVIEW | Can Mustangs ride back to double-digit wins, and keep up winning ways?
West Rusk (On Sunday, August 10): 2025 ETB OFFICIAL FOOTBALL PREVIEW | WEST RUSK / A decade of postseason runs? Well, let’s run it back, son
Beckville (On Monday, August 11): 2025 ETBLITZ FOOTBALL PREVIEW: BECKVILLE | Records falling, winning being done — just another weekend for Ross and the Bearcats
Sabine (On Tuesday, August 12): 2025 ETBLITZ FOOTBALL PREVIEW | SABINE / A reset, a new season, and this Cardinals team has talent (Presented by KILGORE MERCANTILE & MUSIC)
Carthage (On Wednesday, August 13): 2025 ETBLITZ CARTHAGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW | Armed & loaded Bulldogs on Drive For 11 / Presented by ZIPPY J’S
Henderson (On Thursday, August 14): 2025 ETBLITZ FOOTBALL PREVIEW / HENDERSON | Meeks returns, and Lions fans, get ready for a ride | Presented by WHATABURGER
And the most recent:
White Oak (On Friday, August 15): 2025 ETBLITZ FOOTBALL PREVIEW / WHITE OAK | In a stacked district, could Roughnecks challenge for title? | Presented by ENERGY WELDFAB
Now, here’s who’s left, the previews that are upcoming.
The others will all hit, one per day, until we finish this coming Thursday, August 21. They are: Kilgore, Pine Tree, Tatum, Gladewater, Arp, and Leverett’s Chapel, although that’s not necessarily the order.
Y’all enjoy them, and check out the White Oak preview today, as Joe works on getting Pine Tree finished for later today.
The Bulletin Board
Remember also to hit up The Bulletin Board, our list of things that are upcoming in the schools and communities we cover: Arp, Beckville, Carthage, Gilmer, Gladewater, Henderson, Kilgore, Leverett’s Chapel, Overton, Pine Tree, Sabine, Tatum, Troup, West Rusk and White Oak, as well as Kilgore College, Tyler Junior College, Panola College and their conference.
If you’re a coach, or an event organizer of some sort, and you need help getting the word out about your event, email me at mlucas@etblitz.com. It’s no cost whatsoever to you, and we’ll do our best to help bring attention to them, especially fund-raisers, or upcoming items on school calendars.
The Bulletin Board is presented by Clower Meats in Kilgore, the very best since 1969.
Rangers Report
Well, this’ll be short and sweet.
Texas dropped a 6-5 decision at Toronto on Friday, and that gives the Rangers a losing record (61-62) overall this season.
And that’s not good. It’s bad. Because the American League West has a surprise this year: the Seattle Mariners, who are giving the Houston Astros a run for their money.
Some of us (admit it if you know you did it; my hand’s up) thought the AL West would be a two-horse race: the Astros and the Rangers. Well, Houston is in the lead, BARELY, by a half-game over Horse No. 3, Seattle. The Astros are 68-54, the Mariners 68-55. Houston is 6-4 in its last 10 games, and is hosting Baltimore in a weekend series. Seattle is 8-2 in its last 10, and is playing at the New York Mets this weekend.
The Rangers? Well, they’re playing a series this weekend in Toronto, against a Blue Jays team that has one of the best records in Major League Baseball (72-51). In fact, only the Milwaukee Brewers (77-44) and the Detroit Tigers (72-52) have more wins this season than the Jays.
Texas plays in Toronto at 2 p.m. today, and if you want to follow the other two, the Mariners and Mets play at 3 p.m., and Houston hosts the Orioles at 6 p.m.
On Sunday, Texas has a 12:30 p.m. first pitch in Toronto (our time). The Astros meet the Orioles at 1 p.m., and Seattle-New York is on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Football” slot at 6 p.m.
Classic ‘80’s Saturday
Been waiting on this all week. If you’re not a regular reader, we bring – once a week – songs from the 1980’s back here in Wake Up!, and that’s the right thing to do, since music from the ‘80s was the BEST MUSIC EVER (with apologies to the 1960s and ‘70s, who are also very good).
Now, today’s song: I absolutely hate his politics, and bringing political rhetoric to his concerts now. But I loved his music in the ‘80s, when – you know – WE JUST LISTENED TO MUSIC BECAUSE WE LIKED IT. People just performed and did music WITHOUT PREACHING TO YOU who you should vote for, or threatening to leave the country, etc.
Here it is, it’s “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen, when he was just a great singer and entertainer.