WAKE UP! NIGHT SHIFT VERSION ON ETBLITZ! | High school football previews start today; we love our ad partners (& how to become one)
EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s hot outside. There’s a news flash. You know where you can get something to cool off? You KNOW what I’m going to say. COZY COFFEE STATION! That’s right! They open early in the morning before you’re even up, getting ready for YOU to come in and order. Find your favorite coffee or hot drink to get you started in the morning, or something good and cold here on their fantastic menu (Home | Cozy Coffee Station), order online and come by and get it; the one thing they won’t do is drink it for you! They’re located in the Credit Union of Texas in both Kilgore (110 Midtown Plaza) and Gilmer (755 Highway 271 North), and ready to make something for YOU.
Wake Up! Night Shift
We’ve done this before – a late version of Wake Up!, our daily column / update. Hey, it’s a tremendously busy time of year, and sometimes, things happen to force our daily update to later in the day. When that happens, we either call it Wake Up! (And Eat Lunch), if it’s in the afternoon, or Wake Up! Night Shift if it’s after 6.
In this case, we have a TON going on that we’re trying to get completed: football previews, volleyball previews, scrimmages set, photo assignments done, and so on – and more that I can’t tell you just now. In order for all of that to get done, sometimes my schedule gets shifted. And that’s why the later time today for Wake Up!, and my apologies if I threw your schedule off. I try most of the time to hit between 4:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. Today, it just wasn’t happening. Even Spongebob and Squidward couldn’t get in all their work during the day.
Wake Up! will be back in oh, say, about eight hours, with updates on the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Cowboys and Micah Parsons, and the reveal of what football team’s preview will run Friday.
Football previews begin Thursday
with Troup High School’s Tigers
There are 15 programs in the ETBlitz.com coverage area now, and beginning Thursday – that’s TOMORROW – we’re going to have 15 Previews in 15 Days, winding up on Thursday, Aug. 21.
First, out of the gate: the Troup High School Tigers, ranked No. 14 in the Dave Campbell’s Texas Football 3A, Division II preseason poll.
That preview will be up on ETBlitz.com at 9 a.m. Thursday morning, and then another program – I won’t tell you who just yet – will follow on Friday.
Here’s just a clip from tomorrow’s preview of Troup…
“If Troup High School could start the season hot, the way they’ve heated up the last two seasons, it’ll go a long way to helping them live up to high expectations for the fast-approaching 2025 football season.
To be certain, a lot is expected.
The cupboard is a far cry from being bare after a season that saw the Tigers finish as the runner-up to New Diana in District 11-3ADivision II, reaching the area, or second, round of the University Interscholastic League’s 3A-DII postseason. The Tigers were 8-4 a year ago and are 23-11 in three seasons with Wells as head coach.
Continuing to build on the success of last season, “Dominate the Day” is this year’s catch-phrase, the order of business, around the Tigers’ practice facility as they prep for the upcoming season.”
Welcome, new ad partners!
Those of you who are really observant might have noticed that we have two new advertising partners here on ETBlitz.com. Both of them are traditions, and I mean institutions, in Kilgore.
It’s Kilgore Mercantile & Music, located at 105 N. Kilgore Street in downtown Kilgore, and Ragin’ Red Broadcasting, calling Kilgore High School football in their 44th season this fall.
You’ll read more about both this week here on ETB, as we prepare to unveil their advertising, specially designed for ETBlitz.com. We are so proud to welcome them to the ETBlitz.com advertising family!
In the coming days, you’ll see both their ads, their artwork, unveiled here on ETBlitz.com, including – as I understand – a special coupon with a QR code for Kilgore Mercantile & Music. Aren’t Fred & Vivian wonderful? Yes, they are! And so are Doug, Don and Jason with Ragin’ Red Broadcasting, and all of our advertising partners.
ETBlitz has monthly traffic averaging over 500,000 hits, and in the active school year, it’s way more than that. In the entire year of 2024, we had 3,154,632 hits, a good number, but not great.
We have already passed that number in 2025 – as of August 6, 2025, ETBlitz.com has had 3,250,594 hits, and that’s eyes on YOUR business, East Texas eyes, and East Texas customers who spend their money here.
If you’d like to have your business here on ETBlitz.com, give me a shout at mlucas@etblitz.com, and let’s talk.