WAKE UP! ON ETBLITZ | Happy Monday, yeah, don’t punch me; if you can get to College Station for 7-on-7, do it: it’s cool

EDITOR’S NOTE: Wake Up! is a feature we have daily, every morning, here on ETBlitz.com, brought to you by Cozy Coffee Station, located in Kilgore at 110 Midtown Plaza, and in Gilmer at 755 Highway 271 North. Their menu, and it’s big, can be seen on their website here: Home | Cozy Coffee Station, and you can interact with them on social media on Facebook at Cozy Coffee Station-Kilgore, and Cozy Coffee Station-Gilmer. And on Instagram: @cozycoffeestation_kilgore, and @cozycoffeestation_gilmer.

It’s summer, but things are about to pop

It’s been kind of a sleepy summer so far, but there are some things coming up here on ETBlitz.com you guys might want to watch.

Obviously, if you’re a Kilgore fan, you’re probably aware of the 7-on-7 football team headed to the Texas State 7-on-7 Tournament at Veterans Park in College Station this Thursday and Friday. And so are we.

Weather kind of – well, not “kind of;” it did – delayed us on Sunday. But our preview story eventually hit, listing all of the pools in all three divisions, every single team in the state tournament, from Division I all the way through Division III.

Kilgore and Chapel Hill are both in Division II, and play Thursday and Friday. Bigger teams like Longview and Tyler won’t begin until Friday, and play Friday and Saturday.

To read that story, which didn’t hit until later last night, click here: 7-ON-7 STATE TOURNEY PREVIEW: Who’s in the pool with Kilgore, who from East Texas is in: your need-to-knows.

If you just haven’t been in tune with the whole 7-on-7 thing, but you wanna know more, and maybe you’re thinking about going and checking this out, we’ve got a primer story here: 7-ON-7 | Wanna know more about it? Here’s your guide, before the state tourney starts Thursday.

That one tells you what 7-on-7 is, explains what you’ll see, and so forth. We’ve done that before, but it’s worth taking another look.

I’ll confess it: prior to Kilgore’s first trip to the state tournament last year was MY first trip. I’d never been, and kind of had a closed mind about it.

My mind changed when I got there and saw the wide-open football. It’s really a cool product.

I think it’s one of those things everyone should experience once. The crowd is not far back from the field; everybody is in chairs (***THAT YOU NEED TO BRING, by the way***); the pace is incredibly fast; you really have to pay attention. It’s like football at real speed times 1,000.

Now, would I want this translated to fall football? I don’t think so. I wouldn’t want a ban on the running game, and all that jazz. But for one weekend, this game is fun. Just have an open mind and go enjoy it.

Whataburger Personality Profile

Our Whataburger / ETBlitz.com Player(s) of the Week don’t happen during the summer, because organized sports have came to a screeching halt until the 2025-26 school year.

But next week, we’ll begin our Whataburger Personality Profile. Think of it as an extended feature on folks you know that are here in our coverage area that are really an important part, that play a big role, in sports and in extracurricular activities here.

Beginning next week, we’ll have features from all across the area. Officially, our area is (in ol’ alphabetical order) is Arp, Gilmer, Gladewater, Henderson, Kilgore, Kilgore College, Leverett’s Chapel, Overton, Sabine, Tatum, Troup, West Rusk, and White Oak.

And we thank Whataburger, specifically the great folks at DKT Investments, for their own role in helping to get ETBlitz.com where we are. ETBlitz launched in October, 2023, and Whataburger and Energy Weldfab were advertising partners with us from the beginning. We haven’t forgotten that, and will always be appreciative of that.

One more thing

We’ve touched on this before, but in July, we’ll announce new schools, new programs, that will be added to the ETBlitz coverage area this fall.

And we are excited about it.

Hopefully by the end of this week, we’ll have an actual date for that announcement.

You guys have a great Monday!