* For the third time in as many days, I heard someone tell a friend that they would “facebook them”. What ever happened to a good ol’ phone call? I guess that is just so 90s now. I have a facebook, and for the most part I enjoy it, but when the day comes that I use that for my main means of communication is the day I might as well scrap my cellular device.

* I can’t believe there is just nine more months until we get partying to the tune of another New Year’s Eve. W.O.W.

* I have dealt with some health issues as of late that stem from my Lap-Band surgery. I have multiple ulcers that are an extension of some small erosion of my stomach lining caused by the Lap-Band. The chest pains have have been greatly reduced but I continue to vomit blood. Beating.

* At five minutes and six seconds after 4 a.m. on the 8th of July this year, the time and date will be 04:05:06 07/08/09.

* I have not seen a waiting line at Chili’s in two months, Huddle House has shut down, and Tuesday night there were three cars in the Armadillo Grill parking lot and no cars at Verona’s - things are really getting bad. We got restaurant’s closing for good and/or scaling back its staff along with resale shops such as Just Like New combing their stores, things aren’t good at all. Who closes next?

* I’ve been looking into putting my youngest boy Brad, 7 years old in a month, into a speed and agility training (fast twitch) but I’m not sure if that’s right or wrong at a young age. I’m thinking it’s right. He has played football and basketball for almost three years already and I think he is ready (because he wants to) to work on his fitness part of things.

Paradise High School and Wise County is losing one of the best powerlifting coaches it has ever seen. Paradise coach Kevin Pitman told his kids after the state meet on Saturday that he will not be returning, and then on Monday’ he told the rest of the boys as well as the girls’ team.
Though I just know this great coach, man and father on a work level, I feel like I’m losing a friend. I know how much he has meant to the kids, the community as well as his co-workers at Paradise. He goes far beyond the call of duty to see that his kids get a little ink for their efforts in a sport most people will never watch or read in a newspaper.
This is a man who has been in my corner the last two years that I have battled and beat obesity. Whether it’s at a meet, on campus or at a football game, he has never failed to ask how things are going since my weight-loss surgery, and he always finds the right words to make me feel appreciated at events and even make me feel a little lighter on my feet.
Athletic director Danny Neighbors will not be able to find another Kevin Pitman and his replacement will have some mamooth shoes to fill. Coach Pitman has turned Paradise into a powerlifting haven and the success the last five years speak for itself.
He is moving on to Ponder to lead its powerlifting program and be a part of the football staff as the Lions begin high school football this fall. The decision was made so that the Pitman’s could live closer to family in Denton and allow his talented daughter to play high school soccer. It’s just more proof that coach Pitman puts others before himself.
Coach Pitman, you will be missed and thank you for the memories.

Class 3A, Region I tournament in Lubbock

I bring to you Nick Nolte, whose 48 hours is really over

………vs……..

Boyd head varsity basketball coach Lynn Cranfill …………………The REAL Nick Nolte

* No work has been done on that Bayfront Inn motel over by Arby’s since the calendar year changed, so I wonder if they have jumped ship with the economy as did those folks that owed the apartments by the old high school in Decatur.

* The Chico High School varsity basketball had just six players for its final game of the season last week. There is not a junior varsity team, so that means this school of almost 200 students has just a half dozen basketball players by the final week of the season. I don’t get it, and this athletic program will forever struggle as this trend continues.

* The UIL has done steroid-testing on nearly 800,000 high school students in the first two years and only 7 have tested positive at a price tag in excess of 2 million dollars. And we can’t pay our teachers more? This has got to be the dumbest idea since back in the 80s when I thought my black parachute pants looked cool with my red polo shirt. biggest.waste.of.money.in.the.history.of.ever.

* Three more weeks until I pull out the ol’ dry-erase board and start coaching by varsity select basketball team. good times.

* I have not eaten bread in 2 years and 5 months and want some crust RIGHT NOW! I think I would give up my first born right about now for a big, fat heaping serving of pizza from J&Js in downtown Denton.

* This weekend is the final of my little Brad’s kindergarten basketball league. The boys, yes at this age, are excited about finishing the season undefeated, I kinda don’t want to stop playing win or lose because it has been an amazing ride participating in YMCA sports. Not a practice or games go by that I don’t think to myself how much a YMCA-type facility would be a huge success in Wise County. There are too many programs in this area that thrive on one or two people running the show, and that is what forced us to make the drive to Flower Mound to enjoy a structured program….and the drive there is worth it every mile of the way.

* Speaking of basketball, this has not been the most enjoyable of season covering my second favorite sport. The lack of coaches helping to get results in the paper has reach an all-time low. I know there is not a lot of good basketball being played here this season, but the efforts of each kid should not go unnoticed. I know, I gripe about this problem all the time, so I won’t run on about it this time. Shame on some of you.

* Track season starts Thursday and I’m basically pumped -it’s my favorite sport.

My two favorite pictures from the game:

1st photo: 2 cheerleaders, 1 camera, self pic = future myspace photo

2nd photo: A Decatur basketball boy gets serves with a facial

….I bring to you Chico girls basketball coach Mike Otis in action.

Sports gold

This is the T-shirt that the Bridgeport High School girls’ basketball team wore Friday night during the pregame warmups minutes before taking on rival Decatur. The T-shirts were in remembrance and honor of Chelsea Lunt, a talented and well-liked Decatur High School student/athlete who was killed in a car accident three weeks ago. This my friends, was thoughtful, impressive and pure high school sports gold.

Chelsea Lunt, right

*I have had the unfortunate task of covering many tragic accidents of several local students in my seven years at the Messenger, but none have affected me as much as yesterday’s death of Decatur sophomore Chelsea Lunt. She was an amazing athlete and a great kid that I was blessed to have followed during her short high school varsity career. I consider it a privledge to have watched her play volleyball and run track, two sports of which she awesome. But away form the field of play, people smiled, laughed and just plain loved being around her. I did not have to be in the conversation to know that her love for life rubbed off on every path she crossed. On January 21, 2009, our community of 5,500 people lost one of the great ones that we have come to know. Volleyball will not be the same without her. Today, as she looks down upon all the heavy hearts of those that loved her as the mourning continues, we should honor her by showing there is a little bit of Chelsea in all of us — Smile the next time you make eye contact with a stranger. Laugh when you are with a friend, and most of all, give a hug to those close to you. Chelsea would have, why not you?

* When I learned that the Brownwood heading coaching position opened last month, I just knew that Decatur coach Kyle Story was reserving a U-Haul; he would be a shoe-in for the job since that is his old stomping grounds. However, he told me he never applied for the job, and I of course did not believe it. I discovered he was not one of the 150 or so that did apply for head coach position. Wow, was I surprised and happy to hear the news. I’d like him to stick around a little longer. Also to my surprise was that Northwest head coach Leonard McAngus and Boyd assistant coach Mike Fair both applied for the Brownwood job, but they are not one of the top two candidates. Northwest to Brownwood? Hmmmmm, money must not be an issue (Speaking of the Northwest ISD, I do think coach Story will vy for the top spot at the new Byron Nelson High School).

* If there was an MLK parade around the Wise County Courthouse the other day in downtown Decatur then I must have missed it.

* Arizona, a wildcard team in the NFL playoffs this year, is playing for the Super Bowl in two weeks. This shows us two things — how bad the Dallas Cowboys really are, and how weak the NFL has become.

* I think we are looking at a not-so-memorable basketball season in Wise County. Out of 16 varsity teams, I only see four making the playoffs … Bridgeport girls, Boyd girls, Northwest girls, Decatur boys.

* Speaking of high school sports, Corbin Green is at Bridgeport.

* I just got the nominations for the Texas Sportwriters All-State football teams. 200 athletes in each classification to chose from. BEATING.

* I learned yesterday from my wife’s grandmother that relatives from my wife’s side of the family are looking to open a restaurant in Decatur or Bowie. The kicker: They own the chain of nine Cristina’s Mexican Restaurants, but they want to open a new concept eatery that is diner food rather than their famous Mexican food “because people in the country prefer to have diner-type food.” FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, please bring us some real Tex-Mex. We don’t need more burgers and fries!!!

Well, well, we have brought in a new year. I know we all say it, but it sure seems like each year rolls on faster than the one before. So, before 2009 gets away from me, I’m brushing the dust off my crystal ball and looking into what the future holds.

* More big name restaurants and businesses will continue to close their doors this year as we watch 2009 become the worst economic year since, well, before I was born. The only products that are safe to sell and you won’t lose your business in this era are alcohol (Fat Daddy’s and the bar at Chili’s are safe), make-up (women will never stop putting on their daily mask we know as make-up and that is good news for the Mary Kay lady) and Quarter-pounders with cheese, large fry and a 32-ounce Diet Coke (and McDonald’s is McLovin’ in it because we can continue to raise fatten our families for only $3.99 a meal).

* The Bridgeport ISD will approve a lot of money to increase its athletic complex, which just might include an indoor practice facility….oops, I mean “multi-use facility”. You would think that beating Decatur in varsity football for the first time in seven years is enough, but noooooooooo! Decatur will never sniff artificial turf in its dilapidated stadium, so what better way to kick a man when he is down than to get an indoor practice facility? Cost of turf: $800,000 - Cost of passing a bond that your rival could never pull off: Priceless.

* Speaking of the winningest program this decade, the Decatur Eagles will get back into the state playoffs. However, it just might be the last hoorah for the talented coach Kyle Story. The decorated coach will land the new job at Byron Nelson High School in the Northwest ISD. Oh yeah, they not only have artificial turf, but also have a “multi-use facility”.

* The Bridgeport High School girls’ basketball team advances to the same round that has haunted Boyd and Decatur this decade - the regional tournament.* The Paradise powerlifting program will have the most successful season in their sports history among Wise County schools.

* Boyd football coach J.G. Cartwright changes careers — coaching to retirement.

* Chico athletic director Pete Hart stays put until he finishes the job he set out to do - rebuild the football program (and there is not a better man for the job).

* On the national level in 2009 — Hugh Hefner kicks the bucket. There will be an assassination attempt. The Dallas Cowboys will make the playoffs and win a playoff game in this as Wade Phillips’ final year. The Dallas Mavericks will not make it past round one of the playoffs because their “time frame” for being NBA champions ended two years ago. The auto industry will not be in any better shape after this massive kabillion-dollar bailout plan (which stinks because I only need $5,000 form the government for my personal bailout to be a success). The Fox TV show Prison Break comes to an end. Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson split and we finally stop hearing about those two idiots. Texas Rangers field the worst pitching staff in Major League Baseball; oh wait, that’s nothing new, sorry. MTV will continue to be the non-music video channel (And to think I loved MTV back in the early late 80s and early 90s).