By Gabriel Pruett
The News Sports Writer
Talk around the newsroom this week has been heavily leaning on football season. The News and Orange Leader staffs even held their first meeting this week to discuss the annual football preview section. The tentative date set for its publication is Wednesday, Aug. 26…Speaking of the pigskin, this Friday I will be in College Station to watch the Port Neches-Groves Indians 7-on-7 football team compete in the state tournament. 7-on-7 is based around offense which is a perfect time for quarterback Adam Morse to work with receivers like Caisen Sullivan, Jack Giblin and Keynel McZeal. Giblin is featured below in a story and I appreciate him taking time out of his day Thursday to get with me at The Reservation. Giblin seems very eager to get back on the field after suffering a season-ending injury three games into the 2014 season…Thursday and Friday were good days for fans of Port Neches-Groves golfers Chris Stroud and Andrew Landry. Stroud was in contention at the Greenbrier Classic while Landry was alone in first at the Nova Scotia Open. Stroud had the same opening round score as Tiger Woods, a man Stroud has never been paired with for a round of golf. Lets hope both players keep it up so this weekend can end with one, if not both, holding a tournament trophy…Time for some futbol speak and not necessarily football. How popular and important is Lionel Messi? Argentine man Santiago Lopez Menendez was taken captive in Nigeria two Wednesdays ago and beaten while also deprived of food, sleep and water. His captives believed he was American and spoke no English. It was not until Menendez started to shout “Messi. Messi. Messi,” that the kidnappers realized he was not American and released Menendez to the Argentine embassy in Abuja, Nigeria…Tonight at 6 p.m. the United States women’s national team takes on Japan in the final of the Women’s World Cup. The semifinal against Germany got over a 7-percent rating on Tuesday and it is expected the final will get a 12. This is proof soccer is on the rise in the United States. Take for example the World Series games this past year did not even get a seven rating in households. Watch tonight as Hope Solo and the rest of our national team go for the title. It takes under two hours and when we win, cheer loud and proud…Vegas has come out with the NCAA football odds and if you think Charlie Strong and the Texas Longhorns are going to win it all, place a bet and get rich if you are right. The Longhorns have 65/1 odds to win the college championship. Texas is predicted to win six games this year and carry 10/1 odds to take home the Big 12 title. Kevin Sumlin and his Texas A&M Aggies have 70/1 odds to win the college title and 20/1 odds to win the SEC. Urban Myer and the Ohio State Buckeyes are the favorites to win it all followed by Alabama, TCU and Auburn. Only Ohio State, TCU, Boise State and Clemson are favored in every game while Alabama is not an underdog in any game with a pick em at Georgia. Bama has been favored in 68 straight games…Enjoy your week folks and thanks for reading The News. We appreciate your loyalty.
Gabriel Pruett is a sports writer at the Port Arthur News. He can be reached at gabe.pruett@panews.com.