I have some fans
February 13th, 2008, 6:06 pm · 15 Comments · posted by Peter Rasmussen
First let me start by saying I am still kind of upset that Kanye West was snubbed again for album of the year at the Grammys and more than upset that my colleague Jason McDaniel thinks he’s over rated and even said Ludacris is better. Whats over rated is Texas beating USC in the national championship. Come on man, no one has cooler shades or rhymes than Kanye.
Enough about Kanye … I have to give a shout out to juanpelotas24 (Where did you come up with that name?) He’s a follower of my blog. I need all the support I can get.
He asked me a couple of questions. I goofed on the South-Memorial game. It is actually on Friday. I worte my blog after my long trip back from Roma. It would be a HUGE upset, but I think South is just too strong.
I am not sure where you got the info that I will be covering a boys game. I’ll be covering Economedes at McHi.
Games I am looking forward to is Edinburg High and Aleaxnder, which I think might be the best area round game. Edinburg High had some trouble against Weslaco but I think some people underestimate the a talented and well-coach Lady Panthers team. I wouldn’t be surprised if EHS pulls off an upset of Alexander.
Economedes might give McHi some trouble because they have a couple strong post players but I know they have had to deal with some injuries and don’t have the weapons McHi does.
Don’t forget to check out my Web cast Thursday on rgvsports.com. I have a sit down interview with McHi coach Teresa.
February 13th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
My bad Pete, I was really misinformed. I can almost guarantee you that my sources are laughing at me right now. JP is just a random funny name i made up when i was bored while blogging. Its really funny how anyone and everyone can make up any names on the comments at the bottom of the page.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Yippee now Peter has two fans on the blog - Welcome Juanpelotas (Gosh that is hilarious, but i love it) Lets keep um coming we know you are out there bloggers.
February 14th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
The audio was very bad during Coach Casso’s interview. With so many webcast done, I am surprised this wasn’t corrected early during the interview. Webcasts are a great idea, keep them up.
February 14th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I agree Paul, the audio was very bad atleast for the important person in the interview. Hey Peter, if it was such an honor to have Coach Casso as a guest, why did she play 3rd fiddle to the twins?
February 14th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Good Stuff Pete…your right about one thing a lot of people underestimated the talent at Weslaco…but it was a heck of a game you missed. Two very well coached teams, two totally different styles of play! But the challenge is on friday night as the bobcats take on Alexander. If the bobcats can hang with the Hawks! Watch out RGV the bobcats might just be on the loose to a huge Victory! About Casso interview…good stuff! But what coach keeps tracks of there wins and losses that tight? I bet if you asked Coach Carmona or Coach Zamaripa how many wins and losses they have they couldn’t tell you. But they might be able to tell you how many times they have been to the regional tournament over the years past. Those are numbers that are worth talking about!
February 15th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Chiquita, just to let you know McHi and Coach Casso has made two trips to the Regional Tournament. I think if you were to count that would be just as many as Carmona and Zamaripa. And when McHi made it, you had to beat teams who weren’t from the Valley or Laredo. Keeping track of wins is not that hard, just look at you record after each year and add them up, it is really pretty easy. I guess when you have a career record as good as Coach Casso’s you tend to remember your record.
February 15th, 2008 at 9:26 am
La Chiquita, please come back to reality. Carmona and Zamaripa can rattle off their won/loss record just like any coach can. Why don’t you ask Zamaripa how much easier it is to get to the regional tournament now that it was back in the day. McHi has had some good teams but unfortunately ran into better teams Harlingen South/Alexander in recent years and missed out on the regional tournament. But, if I remember correctly they were 2 point losses each time.
February 15th, 2008 at 10:36 am
I’m living reality! Coaches aren’t concerned about their win loss record. And as a matter of fact I asked Carmona what her record was…and she didn’t know her record. She has more important things to focus on like building her program. Have you ever heard either coaches talk about records…never. Humble Coaches And McHi hasn’t had good teams…they’ve had great teams, years in and years out. In the last ten years I can recall at least 5 groups that she has been able to go far with! But in the end doesn’t quite get where she needs to be. And it is much easier now to get to the regional tournament, since you don’t have to face corpus or san antonio teams. Were fortunate that we get to stay close for playoffs. This is the year of truth! I’m in reality…smell the coffee….
February 15th, 2008 at 11:48 am
I do recall a recent story about Coach Z winning her 600th game and her talking about it there so, yes I have heard atleast one of them talk about it. Then again, Carmona has a long way to go to reach the milestones that Coach Z and Coach Casso have surpassed. Also, if you watch the interview again, Peter is the one who brings up the topic of wins/losses and Casso is just responding. Thanks for pointing out that Carmona’s 5A teams made the regional tournament 2 times this decade and they made it when they did not have to face any CC teams. What happened to the other times she was in or NOT in the playoffs? There are many ways to paint a picture
February 15th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Of course they would write about a 600 win, it’s a milestone mark! But when do you see her talk about it or flaunt it. Yes Carmona does have a long way to go, but she has over ten years to catch up there is a huge age difference! And yes Carmona did make it twice in this decade, and has made it to the playoffs every year that she’s been at EHS. How many times can you say Casso has made it to the regional tournament, with much more talented basketball players. Have you seen her program being built first hand. Have you seen kids with some talent become very talented basketball players. No she’s blessed with talented kids that fall into her hands. Kids that want to keep the tradition going. This is how i paint my picture.
February 15th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Casso is 10 wins shy of 800 coaching victories and she has spent 30 years at the same school. THAT IS BUILDING A PROGRAM WITH TRADITION. Yes, I have seen her build her program over the last 30 years and what I have seen is kids with not so much talent become talented players. I agree that several of her teams have not reached their potential but the same can be said about teams from every school during any time period. How BLESSED she must be that 30 years of talented kids happen to live where they can go to school at McHi. Carmona might have a bright future in coaching but can she average 25+ wins a year? One thing is for sure, you don’t have a bright future in painting.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
My painting is super bright! 25 plus wins a year in probably one of the weakest 5A districts in the Valley I can say ! Not so much talent, that’s funny because I would say i’ve seen about 17 of those years and i’ve seen very talented players come in as freshmen….year after year. Stacked with talent that are developed at a very young age. But where does all that talent go when there done. It’s great to say she has all those wins, but it would look even better if she could say she’s made it to regionals or even state now wouldn’t it. And since you had open enrollment, it makes things even better for her now doesn’t it. I guess will have to wait and see where Carmona is after 30 years..she might not have 800 or 900 wins but she proably would have more regional and maybe even a state appearence. Only time will tell…But a competitive district keeps you from 25 plus wins year after year.
February 15th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Competitive district? I did not realize that Edinburg was the only team caught up in realignment. It is great to see all those EHS players playing and mediocre colleges. Says alot about the EHS program. What college did the 4 ft stud go to? 26.3 wins a year has not always been in what makes up the current district. 26.3 wins a year in districts that have included teams from across the Valley over the last 30 years. 26.3 wins a year while taking her teams to tournaments in San Antonio, Midland, Pasadena and hosting Border Bash. You must do your painting in the psych ward if you think a state appearance is in the future.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
I feel honored that some of you are speaking highly about my wife, but for those of you that are speaking poorly, well that’s your opinion. I’m not here to talk about other coaches nor brag about her, but give you some history about her. She played for Laredo Nixon High School (they were in the SA District and I believe won district), Kilgore Jr. College, sat out a year, then continued at Pan American University where she also was a student assistant coach for the Volleyball and Basketball program. Her first job was at Lyford High School were she began coaching freshman boys basketball then JV boy basketball beating Jaime Gongora’s Hidalgos JV team for the District Championship. The boys head job opened up, she applied, but didn’t get the job, of course you all know the reasoning behind that, so she decided to move on. She coached at Alamo Junior High and made those girls learn what winning was about by becoming district champs in both volleyball and basketball, which was the first sense the school was built. We can thank Jaime Gongora, for giving Rachel the opportunity to be a head coach at Hidalgo in 94. She had the opportunity to go home and coach, but wanted to prove herself. In the six years that she was there, she had, three district titles, one bi district title, three area titles, and one regional appearance. She came in last place one of those years, and became district champs the following. In the 15 years of coaching she has over 350 wins and less than 130 losses. She loves to coach and teach the game. Coaching isn’t easy, you need to be strong, because it’s lonely being on top. She is always criticized, she also has enemies, and she is also looked up too. She is always helping her athletes move on to the next level if they wish too. I ‘m her #1 fan, and I am very proud of her accomplishments.
Rachel, I’m Very Proud of You, good luck tonight.
Love you,
Francisco
PS forgive my spelling and grammar, I only had five minutes to write this.
February 15th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Let me retract the comments about the EHS girls. My beef is not with them. They practice and play hard and are deserving of playing college basketball no matter what level it is.