Colored Rock Map of Texas at I-20 in Pecos, Click for Travel Guide

Pecos Enterprise

Home
Enterprise

ARCHIVE
Pecos Country History
Archive 62
Archive 74
Archive 87
1987 Tornado Photos
Rodeo Photos 88
Archive 95
Archive 96
Archive 97
News Photos 1997
Rodeo Photos 97
Archive 98
News Photos 1998
Rodeo Photos 98
Parade Photos 98
Archive 99
Photos 99
Archive 2000
Photos 2000


Area Newspapers
Commerce
Classified


|

Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas

Sports

Tuesday, August 8, 2000

Grid practice opens under cool skies 

By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer

PECOS, Aug. 8, 2000 -- Cloudy skies and cooler temperatures made things a  little easier on the Pecos Eagles' football team Monday, as they  began preseason workouts with an evening/night workout session  at the Pecos High School practice field.

A total of 64 varsity and junior varsity players turned out for the first of four days of non-contact practice. Workouts in full pads will begin at the end of the week, which will also give the Eagles a chance to try out the new blocking sled the school district purchased during the summer.

"I'm excited about the attitude of the kids," said head coach Gary Grubbs. "This is the best number of kids we've had in a while.

Grubbs said overall, the Eagles should have about 100 players on the varsity, JV and freshman teams by the time the first regular season games are played on Aug. 31-Sept. 1. "We've still got several on vacation," he said. "Of the varsity kids we only had three absent and I'm sure two of them will be back tomorrow."

Most of the team went through a 2 ½ hour practice session outside, followed by 30 minutes in the field house weight room, but several players also had an extra session, as running backs, quarterbacks and receivers worked on the new option offense the Eagles plan to run this season.

"They did a good job with it," Grubbs said. "We pretty much threw what they had down in the spring (workouts) on them and they got it back pretty fast."

The Eagles are trying to improve on their offense, which was the main problem last season, when Pecos went 5-6 and finished third in District 2-4A, losing in the opening round of the Class 4A, Division I playoffs to El Paso Ysleta. The Eagles do return the second-highest number of starters of any of the six 2-4A teams, but at least in the first pre-season poll out, by Texas Football Magazine, are only picked to finish fourth in the district standings.

"I'm real excited about our chances," said Grubbs. "We did all right conditioning-wise for the first day, and all the kids have good attitudes."

While this week's workouts are being held on the PHS practice field, with the freshmen working out on the baseball field, Grubbs said the team would hold a practice session on Saturday night at Eagle Stadium, starting at about 7 p.m., after individual and team pictures are taken. The Eagles will then scrimmage Carlsbad's varsity the following Saturday, after the JV scrimmages the Cavemen, Jal Panthers and Loving Falcons starting about 10 a.m.

Regular season play for Pecos starts Aug. 31 for the freshman and junior varsity teams and Sept. 1 for the varsity, all against the Kermit Yellowjackets.

The Pecos Eagle Athletic booster club also has a concession stand set up at the practice field this year, and is planning to sell burgers and sodas during the scrimmage again this year. The boosters also are offering helmet-shaped yard signs for sale to the parents of the Eagle football players this season.

Yanks' role for Canseco is unsettled

By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK, Aug. 8, 2000 — The New York Yankees wanted Jose Canseco  in previous years, yet never were able to acquire him. 

They didn't particularly want the slugger now, but ended up taking him to prevent their rivals from getting him.

"I'm stunned," manager Joe Torre said Monday after New York claimed Canseco off waivers from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. "I don't get surprised too often, but I was surprised. Hopefully, he will help us win a game."

That wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement.

Canseco, who has been an every-day player — when healthy — for his entire career, also was a bit confused.

"I don't know how I'm going to fit in," he said. "I really don't know what they want me to do. I don't know my role yet."

It appears like the Yankees were more interested in blocking Oakland from adding a needed right-handed bat than adding Canseco to their crowded left field-DH rotation.

Canseco was placed on waivers Thursday, and Yankees GM Brian Cashman put in a claim, one day before Oakland acquired Mike Stanley.

"We are very aggressive on the way we claim players," Cashman said. "Essentially, we got a player for nothing."

The only other AL teams the Yankees could block were Chicago and Seattle, which both have entrenched designated hitters. And NL teams likely had no interest.

The Yankees, who paid Tampa Bay a $20,000 waiver fee, will be responsible for the remainder of Canseco's $3 million contract this season, about $900,000. The Yankees hold a $4 million club option for next season with a $500,000 buyout.

"I was happy in one sense and depressed in another sense," Canseco said. "I made a lot of great friends here in Tampa, and in that sense I'm sad I'm leaving. I'm getting an opportunity to play for a team in contention right now."

Torre will try to fit Canseco — who has a feared bat to go with his bad back — in with David Justice, Glenallen Hill, Luis Polonia and Ryan Thompson.

Either Polonia or Hill will likely be let go to make room for Canseco when he arrives Tuesday.

"My job is to manage the players who are in uniform," Torre said. "I have no opinion of the move. I know what Jose is capable of. There's no question that he's a threat, but this was a surprise."



Search Entire Site:


Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.

324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net

Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.

Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise