On Friday, I was at Ranger stadium in Spring Branch, TX as the Smithson Valley Rangers (9-1, 6-1) hosted the Jay Mustangs (7-3, 3-2) in the 1st round of the 2017 Texas high school football playoffs. I chose this game because Smithson Valley is the closest school to my house; it’s 6 miles away. I pass…
Author: Mark
Week 11 – KIPP Houston at St. Anthony
On Saturday, I was at Lang field as the St. Anthony hosted a TCAL playoff game against KIPP Houston. Yes, the St. Anthony Yellow Jackets football team are in the playoffs. Now, to be honest, I don’t know how the competition is in TCAL as compared to TAPP; but it looks easier to me. When…
District 27-6A Preview for Week 10 and 11
Here are the standings for District 27-6A going into Week 10: Judson Rockets (8-0, 5-0) Smithson Valley Rangers (7-1, 4-1) Clemens Buffaloes (7-1, 4-1) New Braunfels Unicorns (6-2, 3-2) Steele Knights (4-4, 3-2) New Braunfels Canyon (1-7, 1-4) Wagner Thunderbirds (3-5, 0-5) East Central Hornets (0-8, 0-5) Week 10 Key Games Smithson Valley at Judson…
Week 9 – Reagan at Johnson
On Friday, I was at Heroes stadium for a HUGE 26-6A match-up between the Johnson Jaguars (6-2, 4-0) and the Reagan Rattlers (6-1, 3-0). I know you can’t tell by the records, so I will tell you that these two teams are number 1 and 2 in the district; basically 1st place is on the…
Week 7 – MacArthur at Madison
“Hi, I am a writer and photographer for thestatmanspeaks.com,” I said to the lady at the media/press entrance. “Where do you want to go,” she answered? Without hesitation, I said, “not the press-box.” She said, “ok” and handed me an official NEISD media pass for sideline access. Now, I have that one, mine for www.thestatmanspeaks,…
Week 6 – Austin St. Michaels at San Antonio Christian
Before I write about the football game, I need to address the National Anthem; it will take you less than 2 minutes to read my rant. I will always stand, remove my hat if I am wearing one, and put my right hand over my heart. I really don’t care what you do. All I…
The Working Dad – Part 2
For the past few weeks, Niko has been waking up around 6:30am; probably because we are transitioning him to one nap and haven’t yet mastered the awake and sleep times. Hopefully soon we will get it perfect and he can go to bed later and get up later. This really early wake up time is…
Week 4 – Wimberly at Canyon Lake
Since I finally got my own personal “obligations” of Holy Cross and St. Anthony football games out of the way, I can now cover games that are either close to where I live in Canyon Lake or close to where I work at 281 and Stone Oak. That means, New Braunfels, New Braunfels Canyon, Boerne,…
Week 3 – St. Anthony at Cornerstone
On Thursday, I was at the new Cornerstone Christian campus as they hosted the St. Anthony Yellow Jackets. I arrived a little bit early so I could explore and take picture with my new monopod; yes, I am officially a camera geek! I used it for the 2nd half of the game and to be…
Saturday Night and Day Fever
On Saturday, we took Niko out twice. The first was in the morning as instead of taking him for a walk in our neighborhood, we took him to the Canyon Lake Dam to walk and we also took him to the water and got his feet wet. The temperature was perfect and it was a…
Week 2 – Blanco Panthers at Holy Cross Knights
On Thursday, I was at the Wheatley Heights Sports Complex as the Holy Cross Knights hosted the Blanco Panthers. So, this was my 1st time seeing the Blanco Panthers, a state 3A powerhouse football team in my nearly 20 years of being around high school football. As for Holy Cross, I have worked lots of…
Week 2
On Thursday, I am going to be at the Wheatley Heights Sports Complex as the Holy Cross Knights host the Blanco Panthers. Just in case, I am not able to fill up my gas tank before that particular game, my 1st game will be on September 15th as the Cornerstone Warriors host the St. Anthony…
16 Months Old
On Saturday, Niko turned 16 months old and Nina turned a year older. Last year on this day and for the first time, we crib trained Niko. Basically, we got him out of our bed as he was sleeping on me, and into his crib. I made a promise to Nina that I will never…
Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey
Luckily where we live, we just got rain and wind with no flooding or damage. We were prepared for the worst and when I arrived home from work Friday, I parked next to Nina’s car. That way, if we had to leave the house, we would get in her car and leave! She drives a Pilot…
Holding Hands
On Saturday, we took Niko to The Shops at La Cantera; which according to Wikipedia, “is an upscale open-air regional shopping mall in San Antonio.” I know that, but you probably don’t. When we take him out, we carry him because we don’t like strapping him in a stroller; especially after he has been strapped…
High School Football 2017
You may have noticed that I haven’t had any content since January and I have a great reason. I have a 15 month old baby at home and have been writing a lot about being a first time dad on www.thedadspeaks.com. I did manage to redesign www.thestatmanspeaks.com and I would appreciate your comments; good or…
Home Alone – Part 2
Last Thursday, Nina had more training in Austin for her job as a stylist for Stitch Fix, but unlike the last time on July 19th when she also had training in Austin for her job, she wasn’t gone all day; she was only gone from 10am to 5pm. So, basically, it was much easier for…
The Dad Bod – Part 2
Last month, I had my annual physical and I passed with flying colors. I have dropped 25 pounds; and still losing weight, since last September. What is my secret? Well, the truth is I have a 15 month old baby and I don’t have time to eat. I would rather starve, suffer, and sleep than…
Smash Cake
Something we did on the Saturday before his 1st birthday in May and we didn’t tell anybody till this week was we had a professional photographer take photos of us as a family and of the smash cake. We exchanged soap for photos. Nina makes homemade bath and body products. The photographer wasn’t somebody we…
Nothing
For the past two weekends, Nina and I have been in and even though it sounded relaxing, it was actually busy. Busy because we have a 15 month old baby who likes to play and we like to play with him; although sometimes he plays by himself and we just supervise. It is fun to…