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Thanksgiving makes me think of football

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It is a cliché at this point that Thanksgiving is so entrenched with the sport of football.
There is a whole “Friends” episode about it along with probably and many other Thanksgiving themed episodes from television shows.
For me, my pea brain sat out the 1990s in some other room because football on TV was repellent to my adolescent eyes and my parents weren’t strict enough to make me watch things I would regret missing out on years later.
Only through the combination of renting some NFL Films video cassettes at the local Blockbuster, my family finally scrounging for satellite television and my then discovery of ESPN did I finally start following sports in 2001 when I was 11.
By then I found I missed the Dallas Cowboys 1990s renaissance glory years despite actually being alive during the time, enough to be disappointed in my dad for not forcing me to watch it.
My history of actually watching football on Thanksgiving reflects my history with watching the Cowboys in general. The heartbreaks outweigh the wins in my memory since it seems there is a whole lot more of those than the other in my mind despite Dallas actually having an 11-11 record since I’ve been watching.
What makes watching these games harder for me is I usually watch games by myself. Even when I started watching as a preteen and my dad would have the game on in the living room, I would be watching the same game upstairs in the game room. It was funny at times because my television was a few seconds ahead of the living room one so I spoiled some big plays for my dad during the early years.
My sports fandom was and is a very personal thing that I isolated from other people. The only kids my age who actually followed sports didn’t start to pop up until several years later in junior high. With my several years head start, my hobby of reading books about professional sports league’s history that included perusing the 2003 sports almanac, I had a superiority complex discussing sports with them since it felt like having a conversation with a five-year old.
My dad I could have conversations about it, but he was usually vague on the details so it only went so far. Plus, he was more invested in his Texas A&M football fandom which I couldn’t relate with.
So usually being forced to watch the Cowboys with other family members on a day of celebration when my investment in them can turn my whole mood depending on the results can make for some ugly Thanksgiving Day memories.
With other family members not being as invested, making oddly hopeful comments that elude me as a game watcher and other things I am not used to has always made the experience weird for me.
Thankfully, it’s not all bad and I have gotten better as I have gotten older. I usually only save my full on investment while watching the most important games and I know I need to watch by myself if I can.
I also have developed a technique where I am ready to give up and detach if I see a game is going bad and no longer take the performance as a personal attack against me and my caring.
My favorite memories around Thanksgiving and football though centers on the college games in the days that followed.
Despite not being as big of a fan of college football as the NFL, I still follow it enough to know which games are big and the traditions behind some.
One such from growing up was the vaunted A&M vs UT game that was always during that weekend.
My family would usually travel to see family somewhere and stay for several nights before and after Thanksgiving.
Football would just be on and it was up to anyone sharing the room on how invested you got watching a rivalry game you did not care about and see how it played out.
What made the A&M vs UT rivalry fun though is because it split the family. My dad is and was the biggest Aggie fan and graduate I know and gets more invested than I do with my Cowboys since he regularly scares the dogs from wanting to sit with him.
My mom graduated from UT and is enough of a sports fan and proud of her alma mater to at least follow them even if she doesn’t seek out to watch every game.
You have to understand the hatred Aggie fans have about Longhorn fans to realize it went deeper than just football or sports. I’ve heard the speal from my dad himself and it almost makes me question how he allowed himself to marry my mom.
It would come out during games to the point my mom would have to watch in another room. Obviously my dad took it way more seriously and she would never rub it in if Texas won, which they did more often than not in the 2000s, but it was still a fun dynamic for me as a sidelined observer.
The last game happened 12 years ago and I miss the weird tension it would cause since my parents are as civil as any married couple of 37 years are.
Nowadays, I like watching my sports averse older cousin, whose only football watching of the year comes when he is forced to watch it at Thanksgiving since that is what the rest of us are doing.
It’s not that he can’t stand to watch sports or never played and enjoyed them, he just never got in the habit of regularly following or watching them on television. I like getting his unique perspective while watching and filling him in on the context and other things.
While I am more chilled out these days the games usually don’t ruin the memory of hanging out with family, let’s just say I am glad Dallas plays a really crappy Washington team this year on the day. I hope my chill does not get tested.

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Bowie track runs at Peaster in final meet before district

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The Bowie track team competed in its final meet before district last week on March 27 at Peaster.
The boy’s team finished fourth overall while the girl’s team got seventh place.
The boy’s team had three athletes who won their events.
Russell Anderson won the 400 meter race, Braden Rhyne won the triple jump and Tyler Richey won the pole vault events.
Some other highlights for the team included Cody West getting second in the shot put, the 4×400 relay team getting second place, Richey getting fourth in the 110 meter hurdles, Rhyne getting third in the 300 meter hurdles and Jorge De Leon getting fourth in both the discus and shot put.
Brayden Willett got second place in the 3200 meters, third place in the 1600 meters and fourth place in the 800 meter race.
The Lady Rabbit highlights included Dallie Monroe getting fourth in the shot put, Laney Segura getting fifth in the 800 meters and Olivia Richey getting sixth in the 100 meters.
The 4×200 relay got fifth place and the 4×100 relay got sixth place to earn points.
Bowie competes in the district rack meet this week at Iowa Park. The running finals are scheduled for 5 p.m. on April 4.

Results for all Bowie varsity athletes who finished sixth or better are in the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

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Montague County has nine named all-region basketball players

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Nocona’s Meg Meekins (above) not only earned all-region honors, she also earned all-state honors and was named the Texas Girls Coaches Association 1A-4A Player of the Year.

Other Montague County basketball athletes who were named to all-region teams including Rayder Mann from Bowie and Reagan Phipps from Nocona. From Saint Jo, Payzlie Cervantes, Taylor Patrick and Barrett Johnson were named to the all-region team. From Forestburg, Jesus Sanchez, Brenna Briles and Kyler Willett were named to the all-region team.

For pictures of all nine athletes, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

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Baseball Roundup

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Logan Hoover dives head first into home plate, beating the tag to score one of Saint Jo’s three runs in the game. (Photo by Jennifer Gaston)

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost a close game at home against Perrin-Whitt on March 28.
The Pirates won 8-3, only taking the lead in the seventh inning after the Panthers had come back to tie up the game.
Saint Jo was coming into the game after a close one-run loss in extra innings against Perrin-Whitt earlier last week.
The second game started with two scoreless innings before the Pirates got on the board in the third inning. A line drive into left field resulted in a fielding error that allowed one run to score. A double followed that drove in another run as Perrin-Whitt went up 2-0.
The Pirates added to the lead in the fourth inning, driving in a run on a single to extend its lead to 3-0.
Saint Jo answered back in the same inning. Charlie Evans drove in one run with a single. Later in the inning, with a runners on second on third base, the Perrin-Whitt pitcher balked twice, an illegal pitching motion, that allowed both runners to advance to home plate. The Panthers had tied the score at 3-3.
After a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, the Pirates had the pressure on in the seventh inning.
With the bases loaded, a hit batter and later a walk scored two runs for Perrin-Whitt. Then a bases clearing double scored three more runs to break the game open in the final inning.
Saint Jo tried to answer in its final at-bats, getting two singles and drawing a walk but could not get enough things going to score.
The Pirates won 8-3.
Evans led the team with one RBI and two hits as the team finished with five hits and drew six walks.
Sam Martin allowed eight runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out six and walking three batters in 6.2 innings of work. The defense committed three fielding errors overall.

Nocona
The Nocona Indians had a tough start to district last week, losing both games in their series against Lindsay.
The Knights won 11-4 and 7-3 against the Indians last week as Nocona hopes to get back into the playoffs.
Nocona was coming off a string of good wins the previous week against smaller schools, but knew Lindsay would be tough.
The first game saw Lindsay continually score runs in the first four innings, building a 9-0 lead before the Indians could get on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning with two runs.
Nocona added two more runs in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 9-4 and get some momentum heading into the final two innings.
After a scoreless sixth inning, the Knights scored two runs in the seventh inning to extend their lead and eventually win 11-4.
Miller Jentry led the team with two RBIs while RJ Walker also drove in two runs. The team had only two hits, but drew nine walks in the game.
Brody Langford allowed six runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out three in three innings pitches. Landon Fatheree allowed five runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out one and walking four. The defense committed five fielding errors.
Nocona knew it could play better and tried to in the second game later in the week while playing on the road at Lindsay.
The Knights again took the early lead, scoring in three of the first four innings and going up 6-0. The Indians scored two runs in the fifth inning and one in the top of the sixth inning to initially cut the lead to 6-3. Lindsay answered with one run in the bottom of the sixth inning and held on to win 7-3.
Walker Murphey led the team with two RBIs after hit a double. Kutter Cabrera drove in the other run for Nocona. The Indians finished with three hits and drew only two walks, making the most of their limited opportunities.
Walker got the start on the mound and allowed seven runs (two earned) on eight hits while striking out six batters and walking two in six innings of work. The defense committed six fielding errors overall.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles started district last week playing a series against fellow 1A team Bryson.
Unfortunately, the Cowboys won both games handily 11-1 and 10-1.
Bellevue was coming off a tough week where it hung tough playing 2A teams Nocona and Chico, not getting wins but competing well against the more experienced and bigger schools.
Unfortunately against Bryson in the first game, a few bad defensive innings threw away a good start to the game. Bryce Ramsey drew a leadoff walk in the first inning and stole his way around to second base, third base before eventually coming home on a steal.
Bellevue led 1-0 after the first inning.
That was the highlight as the Cowboys scored four runs in both the third and fourth inning to take control of the game. Bryson eventually added three more in the sixth inning.
The Eagles needed to score at least one run to avoid getting run-ruled and play the seventh inning, but could not do it. The Cowboys won 11-1.
Walker Strahan, Ryan Jones and Ramsey each had one hit to lead the team. With the Eagles drawing only one walk, it was a tough day swinging the bats for Bellevue.
Defensively, the Eagles allowed 12 hits and walked four batters, though avoided committing any fielding errors.
The second game on the road was not much better.
Bryson built up a 6-0 lead before Bellevue scored in the fifth inning. Cam Blaylock scored on the base paths to cut the lead to 6-1. The Cowboys responded in the same inning scoring four runs to go up 10-1.
The game cuts off on the Game Changer app from there.
Ramsey led the team with three hits in the game and Strahan was behind him with two hits as the team finished with six total and drew one walk.
Defensively, Bryson had nine hits and drew eight walks, but Bellevue did not commit any fielding errors.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.

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