TexSport Publications: January 2016

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Concerts, parades highlight first weekend of Mardi Gras Galveston 2016

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016 All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

GALVESTON, TEXAS (January 31, 2016) Mardi Gras 2016 kicked off in Galveston, Texas on Friday, January 29 and continued through Sunday, January 31 with concerts, parades, and the usual celebrations. People from all over the Texas Gulf Coast, Houston, and southeast Texas area converged on the island to partake in the revelry.

On Sunday, January 31, Cajun and country music performer Kevin Anthony took to the Budweiser Stage on The Strand at 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Fans danced and sang-a-long to “The Gulf Coast” sound, which combines honky tonk stylings and hill country music to produce his unique music. Beginning at 2:30 p.m. and continuing until 3:30 p.m., The Bilge Pumps took to the Budweiser Stage to entertain the crowd. The pirate music group from the Dallas/Fort Worth area performed Celtic, sea songs and shanties for a mixture of music and comedic antics.

Sunday also saw the first two parades of Galveston’s Mardi Gras with the Sunshine Kids Parade beginning at 1 p.m. in downtown Galveston. The Sunshine Kids is a charitable organization that provides activities for children with cancer. At 3 p.m., the Shriners Hospital for Children-Galveston Parade began in The Strand District of Galveston, featur;ings the world famous Clydesdales.

Mardi Gras Galveston will continue on Friday, February 5 until Sunday February 7 with more parades and concerts by headliners Collective Soul, Cory Monroe, and Candyland & Fight Clvb.

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Saloom, Rapp take top honors in ABB 5K on Houston Marathon Weekend

Over 4,000 runenrs took to the streets of Houston for the
ABB 5K on Houston Marathon Weekend.
Photo by Kristine Kelly-TexSport Publications
Copyright 2016 All Rights Reserved.

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 16, 2016) Houston Marathon weekend kicked off day two on Saturday, January 16, 2016 with the running of the ABB 5K through the streets of Houston. Over 4,000 runners started at the corner of McKinney and Crawford Streets in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center with the first runners crossing the finish line 15 minutes later.

Placing first overall in the men’s division was 26-year-old Adam Saloom. The former distance runner for the Stephen F Austin State University Lumberjacks covered the distance in 15:11. He was closely followed by Jason Garcia. The 25-year-old former Texas A&M-Corpus Christi runner finished seven seconds behind Saloom, for runner-up honors. Third place, with the same time as Garcia, was 23-year-old Geoffrey Speelman. Overall, six male runners cracked the 16-minute barrier to lead the field.

In the woman’s division, Sarah Rapp topped all female runners with a 16:52 performance. The former Virginia Tech runner rans away with the female division, posting a 2:06 victory over second place Mary Alenbrat. Rapp was the seventh person overall across the finish line, only being bested by sex male runners. She, along with Garcia, runs for Team Green Running and is coached by Dan Green, the winner of the first Houston Marathon in 1972. Finishing in third place was 39-year-old Mandy Plante, who completed the course in 19:07.

Houston Marathon weekend will continue on Saturday with the Memorial Hermann Ironman Sports Medicine Expo from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the George R. Brown Convention Center. On Sunday, January 17, 2016, the Chevron Houston Marathon and the Aramco 13.1 Houston Half Marathon will kick off at 6:45 a.m. CST with the wheelchair division of the marathon and half marathon. Fifteen minutes later will see the open division of both events beginning. Live coverage will be broadcast in ABC Channel 13 in Houston and ESPN3 on the internet.

Monday, January 04, 2016

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to release performance lineup for 2016 Rodeo Houston on January 11

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography

By Robert H Kelly

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 4, 2016) The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will release the performance lineup for the 2016 edition of Rodeo Houston on Monday morning, January 11, 2016 at 12:05 a.m.

The announcement will be made via Facebook, Twitter, e-mail and text alerts, along by general press release through local and national media outlooks. Rodeo Houston will run from March 1-20 2016 on the grounds of NRG Park in Houston.

The daily rodeo competition and concerts will be held in NRG Stadium with other rodeo and livestock show events scheduled for NRG and NRG Center. Performances by country entertainers are scheduled for 20 days, with R&B, classic rock, pop/rock, and Tejano music taking up the remaining seven days. The livestock show and rodeo will be proceeded by World’s Championship Bar-B-Cue Contest on February 25-27, 2016.

In the past, RodeoHouston has presented a great selection of performers which is certain to continue in 2016.

Country favorite Trace Adkins performed in 1997, 1998, 2009, and 2011, in addition to Alabama (1986, 1988-1992, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2012), Kenny Chesney (2001-2005, 2010, 2013) and Tim McGraw (1996-1997, 2003, 2008, 2010-2011, 2013, 2015).

Others who have graced the stage at RodeoHouston include Bruno Mars (2013), Emilio (1990, 1995-1997, 1999, 2007), Chicago (1987, 1989, 1990), KISS (2011) and Gladys Knight (1984, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2009).

In addition to the performances on the rotating stage inside NRG Stadium, rodeo fans who are 21-years-old and over can listen some of the best local and Texas music performers in The Hideout.

The Hideout will be open from March 1-20, 2016 and is located in the big white tent on the west side of NRG Stadium and will be open from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Sunday, January 03, 2016

Houston defeats Jacksonville 30-6; wins AFC South

Photo by Darla Tamulitis-La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2016, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 3, 2016) The Houston Texans punched their ticket to the NFL Playoffs on Sunday, January 3, 2016 with a 30-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. With the victory, the Texans win the AFC South; their first division title since 2012. Houston head coach Bill O’Brien discussed the Texans’ playoffs with the media in the post-game press conference.

“We got to really take advantage of the momentum that we have. We got to put extra time in because there’s more to it than this hat. Congratulations on this hat but let’s keep getting some hats.”

The Texans drew blood first on a 29-yard field goal by Nick Novak. The drive lasted 3:30 and cover 47 yards in eight plays. Novak is now 16-of-18 in field goals this season. They added to their lead 46 seconds into the second quarter when quarterback Brian Hoyer connected with running back Jonathan Grimes on a 12-yard pass for the touchdown. The drive covered 79 yards in 10 plays; lasting 4:33. Novak split the uprights for the extra points, his 27^th in 28 attempts this season.

The Jaguars answered at the 10:13 mark in the second quarter with a 43-yard field goal by Jason Myers to make the score 10-3 in favor of the Texans. Houston added 10 points in the final 5:37 of the first half. Grimes again got the call and romped the final three yards of a 42-yard, six play drive for his second touchdown of the game. Novak added the extra point to give the Texans a 17-3 lead. With three seconds remaining in the first half, Novak booted a 51-yard field goal to give Houston a 20-3 advantage with 30 minutes to play.

After a bit of give and take during the third quarter, Myers added three points to the Jacksonville total as result of a 34-yard field goal with 43 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Texans added an insurance field goal with 3:24 remaining in the game when Novak connected from 51 yards out for the score. They added another touchdown when Kareem Jackson picked off a Blake Bortles pass intended for Allen Robinson with 3:09 remaining in the game. He returned the interception 27 yards for the score. Novak added the extra point to take the score to 30-6.

Hoyer was in good form, coming back from concussion protocol, completing 25-of-40 passes for 249 yards and one touchdown. He discussed the season after the game in the press conference.

“It’s been a crazy year, but we’ve stayed the course. When we could have split apart, we really came together. I was just always staying ready. I never knew when that opportunity would come. It came a few weeks later and eventually, after the Colts game, I was back. It was just one of those things that for me, dealing with that adversity, coming in every day and staying ready, and then having to come in and deal with the injuries and stuff like that, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Billy (O’Brian).”

Alfred Blue carried the ball 21 times for 102 yards while DeAndre Hopkins caught seven passes for 89 yards. Grimes, with his two touchdown passes, caught four passes for 27 yards. Defensively, J.J. Watt accounted for eight tackles, three sacks and one forced fumble. Brian Cushing tallied six tackles and one forced fumble. Bortles completed 17-of-32 passes for 239 yards and one interception for Jacksonville. Robinson caught five passes for 108 yards while Jonas Gray carried the ball nine times for 23 yards for the Jaguars.

Friday, January 01, 2016

Rice Owls fall to UTEP in hard-fought C-USA game

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2016 TexSport Publications

HOUSTON, TEXAS (January 1, 2016) The Rice Owls outscored the UTEP Miners 16-10 in the third quarter, but were unable to keep the momentum going and dropped a 60-54 Conference USA game at Tudor Fieldhouse on the campus of Rice University on January 1, 2016. The Owls fell to 0-1 in conference play and 1-11 for the 2015-2016 season. The Miners went to 1-0 in conference and 10-1 for the season.

The Miners jumped out to a 26-21 lead at halftime by shooting 37% and shutting down the Rice offense. The Owls shot 22% with 13 of their points coming from Alyssa Lang, Jasmine Goodwine, and Shani Rainey. In the third quarter, the Owls capitalized on UTEP’s mistakes and took a 37-26 lead by the end of the period. Maya Hawkins went on a seven-point scoring streak as Rice tallied a 9-0 take the lead. However, that would not be enough as the Miners outscored the Owls 24-17 in the final quarter to take the win.

Rice head coach Tina Langley talked about the Owls’ effort in the post-game press conference with the media.

"We took some strides forward today. Obviously we still need to value the ball more and protect it when the game gets physical. We've got to continue to get better at building leads and just keep fighting."

Hawkins was 4-of-15 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line to tally her 16 points for the afternoon. Wendy Knight chipped in 11 points while Rainey pulled down eight rebounds. UTEP had three players scoring in double figures; with Starr Breedlove scoring 15, followed by Jenzel Nash with 12 and Sparkle Taylor added 10. Agata Dobrowolska pulled down seven rebounds to lead UTEP.

Next on tap for the Owls is a 2 p.m. CST C-USA game against UTSA, who are 4-7 for the season and 0-1 in conference play.