PORT ARTHUR — One of the most fascinating insights in Jim Dent’s planned book — The Kids Got It Right — about the Texas-Pennsylvania Big 33 High School All-Star games in the mid 1960s is how the assassination of President John F. Kennedy played into it. Big 33 game one, in what became a very short series, was played in 1964 during the same week as the Texas Coaches Association All-Star game. Consequently, Bobby Layne, the coach of the Texas team, didn’t have access to the Lone Star State’s best players and got beat. Layne, according to Dent, didn’t have any luck talking the THSCA into changing dates for the 1965 game, so he went to Texas Gov. John Connally and told him how Pennsylvania fans at the 1964 game were harassing his players about Kennedy being assassinated in Dallas. Connally, who was riding in the same car as Kennedy, didn’t take that well at all. Shortly thereafter, the THSCA changed the date of its game and, as you can read in John DeViller’s excellent piece elsewhere on this page, Lamar defensive coordinator Bill Bradley and Beaumonter Jerry LeVias sparked the Texas team to victory . . . Speaking of the classy LeVias, isn’t it past time for the Beaumont Independent School District to do the right thing and put his name on their gem of a football stadium. Naming it after departing superintendent Carroll Thomas was a political farce that needs to be rectified sooner rather than later. LeVias, for the racial barriers he broke down, for his football accomplishments, for the highly respected person he’s become and for his place in history, should be the face of BISD football. Kids who play for Central, West Brook and Ozen could certainly draw more inspiration from him than from an overpaid superintendent.

Best thing that’s happened to the Astros all season was being scheduled to play in New York the night Roger Clemens made his over-hyped return to professional baseball with the Sugarland Skeeters. With Clemens pitching before a sellout crowd of over 7,500 at Sugarland’s Constellation Field, in a game televised by ESPN Classic, and the Houston Texans facing the New Orleans Saints on CBS, there wouldn’t have been 5,000 people in the stands had the Astros been playing at Minute Maid Park. How embarrassing would it have been to draw fewer fans than a team in the Atlantic League ? ? ? Don’t buy Clemens’ aw shucks, this could be just a one-time deal, in relation to pitching for the Sugarland team. The Rocket is one of the most coldly calculating figures ever in the professional sports arena, and he’s on a mission to feed both his monster ego and his need to spike the ball after wiggling off the hook on federal charges of lying to Congress. Turning back the Hall of Fame clock is almost surely a factor. With the Houston media having spent the week fawning over him, it’s almost like old times for ego enhancing. All that was missing was  George Bush to help him declare mission accomplished and the ever-important Andy Pettitte to provide a high five before he took the mound . . . Back to the Astros, it’s worth noting that they are so bad they are responsible for a negative attendance mark for the St. Louis Cardinals. Only 30,343 showed up Wednesday afternoon to watch the Cardinals finish off a three-game sweep. For St. Louis, which has averaged over 40,000 in all but one year since new Busch Stadium opened in 2006, it was the smallest crowd in stadium history.

Lamar University football coach Ray Woodard has given me the honor of introducing Bum Phillips as the guest of honor at the Cardinals Kickoff Banquet this evening. Ever since Woodard mentioned it in March, I’ve been wrestling with how you introduce a legend to football players who were born long after he retired. The solution was calling in a favor from NFL Films for sending them roast tapes and photos for a documentary it is producing on Jimmy Johnson. NFL Films sent two DVDs on Bum, one of four minutes that’s perfect for an introduction, and another of 44 minutes that I wish all Bum’s fans could see. It’s called Lost Legends of the NFL, and it’s an amazing piece of insight into the most unique coach I’ve ever met. One other thing I’ll mention about Bum tonight is what the Houston Chronicle wrote about him in a listing of the most beloved sports figures in the city’s history. “O.A. Phillips was the face of our city. Other than Sam Houston himself, there might not be a more iconic hero.” I couldn’t agree more . . . It’s always tough to decide what to say about Jerry Jones in a given week, but after sifting through the numerous options always available, I’ve settled on the fact he’s taking heat in Dallas over his foolish decision to draft Felix Jones in the first round four years ago. To a caller on his radio show who wondered about the possibility of cutting the under-producing Arkansas running back, Jones responded that it was a ridiculous thought, that he’s expecting a big season from him. We’ll see. In the meantime, Cowboy fans should consider where their team might have been if Jethro hadn’t passed up Jamaal Charles to take Jones. Jamaal had worked out for Dallas and thought they might take him. That they didn’t is just one of many personnel decisions which explains one playoff win in 15 years.

A slow start at the plate, in a very limited number of at bats, has relegated PN-G ex Lew Ford to a platoon situation with the Baltimore Orioles. Since there aren’t nearly as many southpaw pitchers, the right-handed-hitting Ford hasn’t been getting many playing opportunities. He did get a chance Wednesday night against the Texas Rangers and delivered a double off the centerfield wall in four at bats. Looking on at The Ballpark in Arlington were his dad, Buck Ford, his two sons and a sprinkling of fans from Port Neches, including former PN-G coach Mickey Lane and former Indian teammate David Bonura . . . Buck Ford, by the way, had an interesting observation after watching two games at the Ballpark in Arlington. He said the difference in atmosphere at Rangers games is stunning from what it was five years ago when he watched his son play there as a member of the Minnesota Twins. “I could go to a game there and sit just about anywhere I wanted,” he said. “There wasn’t much enthusiasm. Now, everybody is wearing Rangers colors and the atmosphere is just electric. It’s an exciting place to watch a baseball game.” . . . If Lance Berkman is able to play next year, and knee injuries that have pretty much shut him down this season make it iffy, wouldn’t the American-League bound Astros be smart to bring him back as a designated hitter. Berkman, at 36, is still one of the game’s best hitters. With his knees not having to take the pounding of playing in the field, the career .296 hitter might able to play two or three more years. Just having him around all their young players would seem to be invaluable for the Astros.

Nicknames of Texas high schools, from the Hutto Hippos to the Frost Polar Bears to the Itasca Wampus Cats to the Progresso Red Ants, have always been fun to throw into football conversations. Based on a cross-country drive by Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, Texas doesn’t have the market cornered on unique nicknames. Here’s King’s top five: Yuma (Ariz.) Criminals, Effingham (Illinois) Flaming Hearts, Cairo (Ga.) Syrupmakers, New Berlin (Illinois) Pretzels and Speedway (Indiana) Sparkplugs . . . In case you know somebody, who says they know somebody, who told them they met somebody, who visited somebody who was on a cable system that gets the Longhorn Network, pass along this monumental announcement from last week. The Longhorn Network has obtained exclusive rights to air Texas’ first two games against feared collegiate powers Wyoming and New Mexico. It’s a good test for the troubling question about whether any sound is made when a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it . . . The NFL is launching a new network using digital technology for communication between coaches, quarterbacks and  the one player on the defense allowed to have a receiver in his helmet. The old technology, it seems, had gotten more and more unreliable. San Francisco offensive coordinator Greg Roman was once trying to communicate with his QB and wound up on a frequency with Southwest Airlines pilots. Another time, Minnesota offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave wound up hearing Madonna rehearsing for an afternoon concert at an adjacent arena. Sounds to me like Jerry Jones needs to be outfitted with one of those old headsets when the Cowboys play.

Sports editor Bob West can be e-mailed at rdwest@usa.net