Who’s playing where?

he venue was not an end-of-the-season tournament, as I reported in my previous article. These teams had not competed during the fall. It was, instead, just a tournament, scheduled among some of the better teams from that district: Hanna, Porter, Lopez, Pace — all from Brownsville — and teams from three other district cities, San Benito, Weslaco, and Los Fresnos.

But Weslaco and Los Fresnos wound up playing — unexpectedly — against San Antonio teams in the third round of the state championship play-offs. It’s the round where the Valley, my area, always loses: Our small, Chicano players lock horns with squads made up of BIG Anglo and African-American players. In recent memory, only one Valley team came out on top in the third round. (And they were swamped at the next level.)

Any coach who says "it’s not the size of the dog in the fight" is coaching Chihuahuas, not Great Danes. If size in football isn’t important, why does a Dallas Cowboys’ offensive lineman — on average — weigh 330 pounds?

Continued...