nothereoften

Kevin Dove from El Campo is pretty good, and his yardage total is down some because he has a partner back there to share the load.

How good is Dove? Is he Div. I?

People on the Gulf Coast head also asked that, but they learned a long time ago to know when you ask you will hear Fighting Ricebirds!!! And you can make fun and tease, but you probably better respect them. There may be a lot of red and white teams, and there are a lot of Bulldogs, Tigers and wildcats out there, but in TEXAS, there is only one group of Ricebirds!!!! And they are still PLAYING!!! So now another group of fans can start making fun of their mascot and wondering if a Rattler can beat up on a little weak bird but I promise you better respect them. Just being playful. I'm not talking trash. Just proud to be a RICEBIRD!!!!

You may not know what a Ricebird is, but I bet you will always remember them now!!!!!! Not talking trash, just pointing out that people in that area don't run around making fun of the name. They have learned it should be respected.

Regarding the 10 rings comment and Coach Gillis, I don't think he meant that the way you took it. I know both coaches. And both are great. But Coach Gillis has been at this a longer time. Thus the advanced # he could have. He usually loses to teams with much more talent than his team has. I took it to mean that over his career, if he had been coaching the kids like Surratt had for his career (which has been longer than Surratt's) he would have A LOT of rings too. They are both great coaches. BTW, I think both communities are very similar. Love their football and baseball teams, and the community teaches their kids to compete the right way at an early age. And then the schools hire and support coaches who mold those kids into great high school teams. When I drive by Carthage's little league fields it reminds me of El Campo Texas. With that all said................Go 'Birds. By the way, having a unique nickname is a very cool thing. Kids take a lot of pride that when they say they are from El Campo to a stranger they will respond........"oh, the Ricebirds!" You don't get that notoriety when you have a boring common nickname. And EC has enough winning tradition that most people have heard of them. A Ricebird may not sound fierce, but people aren't blowing up the phones wanting to play them either. I promise you, it will take you one or maybe two plays before you forget what their mascot is, and you realize they will fight you like a DOG!

Go Fightin' Ricebirds.