Zach Duncan

Workhorses lead to playoff berths - Zach Duncan

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:37:44 -0600

Like the high school athletes going through two-a-days right now, I am starting to pick up my high school football blog production.

Today, we will look at some real workhorses.

Injuries hit a couple 5-2A teams - Zach Duncan

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:37:47 -0600

It has not been a rash of several injuries, like Henrietta suffered two years ago. But a couple of 5-2A squads have suffered a couple of big blows.

Same old song and dance - Zach Duncan

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:34:44 -0600

Still trying to finish up preview stories for the paper's 112-page football preview section.

And I keep hearing the same things:

Agreements and disagreements - Zach Duncan

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:49:14 -0600

Got back from the Big Apple a couple of days ago, and have delved back into high school football.

It is pretty scary to realize there is only 20 days until the TRN Kickoff Classic. And I still have plenty of football previews to write.

Just took a thorough glance through the texasfootballratings.com website, and here are some predictions I agree and disagree with:

District 5-2A indecisiveness - Zach Duncan

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:47:40 -0600

Well, the other day I wrote how Olney could be the team to beat in 5-2A.

That is still possible. But after talking to a couple more coaches (Holliday, Nocona), I think it is too tough to sift through these five quality teams.

Call me crazy - Zach Duncan

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:31:53 -0600

Been awhile since I blogged, but I am just now getting back into the high school football swing of things after a few days off and some non-pigskin work here in the office.

Talked to two more coaches the past couple of days -- Windthorst's Bill Green and Olney's Damon Rodgers -- for my preseason stories.

A couple tidbits I got from them:

Archer City could be my No. 2 - Zach Duncan

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:23:05 -0600

I have started making calls to a few coaches so I can start working on my football previews for the special section we produce right before the season starts.

Talked to Archer City coach Steve Smith, and one of the things I failed to realize was that the Wildcats have their entire offensive line returning.

Does tennis get better than this? - Zach Duncan

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:33:17 -0600

Probably not. If you got up early this morning, skipped church and sat through (or in my case, slept through) a couple of rain delays, you were definitely rewarded for your determination.

Rafael Nadal outlasted Roger Federer in a classic five-set marathon that took 4 hours and 48 minutes.

Spain wins! Spain wins! - Zach Duncan

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:26:30 -0600

You may remember I predicted Spain would win the 2006 World Cup -- or probably not.

(You may also remember I said I would blog every couple days on Euro 2008, something I failed to do.)

Anyway, soccer fans had to love Spain's 1-0 victory over Germany on Sunday, giving the country its first major title in 44 years.

Favorite sports to cover - Zach Duncan

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:48:08 -0600

While high school sports are dormant, it still has been a pretty busy last couple of weeks for me.

First, I withstood a two-hour storm delay in Childress to cover the Greenbelt Bowl (the really bad weather hit that town the next night).

Then I covered the rodeo last weekend. After that, I was at the Texas-Oklahoma Junior Golf Tournament.

I got to thinking, and I figured a blog about the sports I most prefer to cover was in store. So here is the order (Disclaimers: even the last couple of sports on this list I do not mind covering -- but some sports had to come in last):

More musings on Dave Campbell's Texas Football: - Zach Duncan

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:39:09 -0600

I was able to spend another day today checking out Dave Campbell's Texas Football.

And with a deeper inspection came some more thoughts and a couple of corrections I have to point out.

Thoughts on Dave Campbell's Texas Football: - Zach Duncan

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:56:06 -0600

Finally got a copy of the magazine in my hands today, and noticed a few things that were worth mentioning.

So without further adieu:

One heck of a sports-watching day - Zach Duncan

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:08:48 -0600

Dads around the country had to enjoy Sunday. Even if all they got on Fathers' Day was another weird-looking tie.

That is because it was the perfect sports-watching Sunday.

Among the great games that graced the TV were:

The beauty and boredom of soccer - Zach Duncan

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:53:18 -0600

A couple of days ago, the beauty of soccer was on full display when the Netherlands out-finessed Italy, 3-0.

It was everything a fan of the game could hope for. Elegant attacking, brilliant passes. Even up 2-0, the Dutch were searching for more goals.

Unfortunately, if a soccer hater would have tuned into the game before Italy-Holland, then their resentful behavior toward the sport would have been verified.

Scheduling quirks - Zach Duncan

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:20:50 -0600

I have been typing in high school football schedules for next season over the past few days, and I have noticed a few weird scheduling quirks.

Here were the things that caught my eye: