KVILLEKIDD

Thursday, November 20, 2008 5:30 p.m.

Reliant Stadium gets another Final Four

Houston will get it's second Final Four in 2011 and again in 2016 as announced recently by the NCAA.

Reliant Stadium will also host the 2010 South Regional basketball tournament. The national finals will be April 2-4.

In the last Final Four held in Houston, UCLA beat Villanova 68-62 in 1971 to win the fifth of seven straight titles with well-known coach John Wooden.

The 40-year drought of being named a host has ended with a bang as the announcement makes note that Reliant Stadium will be the host site twice in a six-year period.

There has been only  two cities that have hosted the Final Four twice in five years since the start of the 70s. Indianapolis (1997, 2000) and San Antonio (2004, 2008). Indianapolis is a different situation since they have an agreement which holds that the city hosts a Final Four every five years through 2039.

Sunday, October 26, 2008 5:25 p.m.

What can a football combine do for you?

By Dwight L. Bullock

The Texas football season is coming to close for hundreds of high schools as only district winners will continue on into regional play. However, this not the end of play for some of the players who failed to reach th playoffs. This is where football combines come into focus. Many of the playoff players will also began to focus on the activities of combines in Texas and around the country.

One of the best marketing tools an athlete can receive is to be recognized at a nationally exposed combine since many high school received little or no publicity outside their loca community newspaper or radio station.

So it boils down to the athlete, coaches and parents to take what he athlete does on the field and put it in front of those who are selecting high school players capable of playing at the next level of football.

Nationalunderslassmen.com is one of the best locations on the Web to began that focus beginning with Schuman's National Underclassmen Combine, which is for current high school junior (class of 2010), sophomores (class of 2011) and freshman (2012).

Scouts from Rivals.com and Elite College Combine, as well as others, will be present at showcases. The invite only combine will be video streamed live to more than 200 coaches across the state and around the country.

Area athletes will benefit greatly from the state-wide and national exposure that may come from participation in the combine in DI, DII and DIII teams.The Top-200 partcipants in the country, in each region, will be invited to regional camps in Atlanta, New Jersey, Dallas, Los Angeles and Columbus, Ohio. Schuman's National Underclassmen Combine taunts inself as "exclusively for top freshman and sophomore athletes.

Details of the 2009 Nike Nike Combine are available at sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/football, which is not for 2009 seniors or eight graders. Yes, that is correct! Eight grade football players are being looked at by recruiters. There are some athletes who are being looked at from the first day they set foot on the green from Day 1 in Pee Wee Football.

Other excellent resources are:

www.ncsasports.org (scholarship and combines info).

www.berecruited.com (join the largest and most successful online network connecting high school athletes and college coaches)

www.nflhs.com

www.40speed.com (wondering what it take in order to stand out and make your mark)

Monday August 18, 2008 8:42 p.m.

Chiefs tap into area talents

The Kansas City Chiefs have talent from as far as Port-te-Prince, Haiti and Kingston, Jamaica and they also have two local talents in former UT and Westbrook running back Jamal Charles (#29) and RB Jackie Battle from Humble .

Charles is the speedy running back who joined Kansas City as the club’s first of three third-round choices (73rd overall) in the 2008 NFL Draft . He was also a two-year member of the Texas track and field team … Entered the draft with a year of eligibility remaining.

Charles' teammate, Jackie Battle, hails a little further from East Texas but that does not take away from the fact he is family and that gets you mentioned in this column.

Sturdy and speedy young running back enters his first training camp with Kansas City in 2008. Battle originally joined the Chiefs practice squad a year ago before being promoted to the 53-man roster for the final three contests of 2007. A physical performer who can run between the tackles, but also owns the quickness to turn the corner.

Bio and photos courtesy of Kansas City  Chiefs.

For more on the Chiefs visit kcchiefs.com