St. Thomas football named state finalist for national academic honor

By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com

A local private high school football team has been recognized as a finalist for a national athletic academic performance award that is the first of its kind.

On Jan. 20, the Texas High School Coaches Association announced 53 state finalists for the National Football Foundation’s inaugural National High School Academic Excellence Award, and the finalists include St. Thomas High School’s football team.

The award is the first nationwide recognition honoring individual high school football teams for excellence in the classroom with a team GPA of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale, according to a news release from the THSCA. The state champions and national finalists will be announced at the beginning of February during Super Bowl Week.

“Academic success is as important as ath -

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Our new chairman, Woke, strode to the podium and, quick as a wink, began the session. “Welcome to another meeting of Club Cliché, when we honor those threadbare terms that are overused by the vocabulary challenged. I see some old members here like Show Me the Money, In frastructure, Whatever and #MeToo. Hello again, Com prehensive Immigration Re form. Incidentally, does any one know what you mean? You are bandied about by ev ery politician from the far left to the far right without any explanation, details or solid proposals. Keep ‘em guessing. Now, to begin our session, I want to introduce some of our new members. Stand up and be recognized, You Cannot Be Serious. John McEnroe made you so familiar that he even parlayed that into a lucrative TV ad. We also have Weaponize and your cousin, Politicize. Every politician who wants to blame an opponent trots you out.”

“We must give credit where credit is due to Donald Trump. Make America Great Again, also known as MAGA, and Voter Fraud are now part of our worn-out lexicogra-

Lynn Ashby Columnist

for Anti-fascist. Trump’s ac cusers say he gave us January Sixth, a mere date that means an entire event, like Nine Eleven and December Seventh. Trumpism stands beside McCarthyism, people’s names that conjure up a scathing political movement. You two may qualify as an eponym, which, as you know, is a word derived from a person. We have diesel, boycott and graham crackers.” If It Walks Like a Duck spoke up. “Don’t forget the Victorian and Elizabethan Ages. And Blanket.”

“That’s wrong,” said Myth Buster. “It’s a popular theory that supposedly derives from Thomas Blanket or Blanquette, a Flemish weaver in the Fourteenth century. But it was used even before then. Besides, Blanket is not a cliche. We’ve got to keep our membership pure. Incidentally, Woke, you’re our new chairman and deservedly so. But what happened to our former leader, Bottom Line?”

“That’s a great question,” said That’s a Great Question, who qualified for membership since every politician being interviewed on TV begins an answer with that tired old line.

Woke replied: “Bottom Line has been so overused that it’s being retired along with Twenty-Three Scadoo, You’re the Bee’s Knees and Kilroy Was Here. America’s Team, you lost, so give back your membership card. Moving on, after every tragedy we have governors, presidents and senators turn to Our Thoughts and Prayers. It’s as meaningless but right up there with Bill Clinton’s I’ll Feel Your Pain. Earlier, I was introducing some new members, but there are more. Stand up and be recognized, The New Normal. You came into being because of the pandemic, when everyone was wearing masks and avoiding crowds. Social critics – whoever they are – asked constantly if such changes were – ta-da! –The New Normal. Also, Pandemic, take a bow. You have replaced Epidemic, although I’m not sure of the difference. Hi, there, Gold Standard. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is enviably called the Gold Standard of Public Health. Twenty-Four Seven, you are a major cliché, so is I’ve Got Your Back, I Gave It My Best Shot and LOL, you are not new, but certainly a qualifier.

Now we come to Cancel Culture. The dictionary defines you as ‘a form of shunning or slamming an individual or movement you disagree with.’ You come up every time Critical Race Theory or CRT is mentioned, and that’s a lot. Most people don’t have a clue what Critical Race Theory means, but you sound suspicious and should be avoided in all classrooms. We also have a newcomer: Not Named. I keep reading terms like; ‘The best NFL quarterback not named Tom Brady’ and ‘Congressman David Crockett of Tennessee was the most famous man in America not named Andrew Jackson.’”

Woke continued without missing a beat and quicker than a New York minute. “And now for something completely different. As you know, each year the Oxford English Dictionary, that arbiter of what the English-speaking world says, picks the Word of the Year which also means the most overused word of the year. Oxford’s editors tracked candidates throughout 2022. They analyzed how often various words are used, checked statistics and other data. Previous words have included vax (2021), climate emergency (2019) and selfie (2013). This year they changed their methods and, for the first time in history, let the public vote. More than 300,000 people cast their vote. The winner is – stand by to be surprised -- goblin mode – a slang term. It’s ‘a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations.’”

“The Oxford editors say that although the term was first seen on Twitter in 2009, goblin mode went viral – that means you, Went Viral -- on social media in February

2022. They attribute the overuse of the term to Covid-19, or rather, its aftermath. Their reasoning is that as the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions eased in many countries, people ventured out of their homes more often. Then, their theory goes, goblin mode became the new mood of people who rejected the idea of returning to normal life and did as they pleased, no matter how gauche. In other words, ‘I’m liberated from all those restrictions foisted on us because of Covid-19 and now I don’t care what you think.’ Second place went to metaverse which describes ‘a (hypothetical) virtual reality environment.’ Don’t ask. Not to disagree with the Oxford editors, but I have never used, or even heard of, goblin mode and metaverse. How can they be clichés?”

Woke looked at its watch. “We’re running out of time. Sorry, Existential. We didn’t even have time for you to tell us exactly what you mean. Anyway, that wraps up this meeting. Just remember, avoid clichés like the plague.”

Ashby is woke at ashby2@comcast.net

By Landan Kuhlmann landan@theleadernews.com

A case involving an alleged home intruder who was fatally shot in the Central Northwest area will be referred to a grand jury, according to the Houston Police Department. The identity of the 19-year-old man who was shot is pending an autopsy by the county’s medical examiner, according to the department. He was allegedly shot by a neighbor after allegedly letic success, as it can take student-athletes to the next step in their lives and on the path to becoming successful citizens,” THSCA executive director Joe Martin said. “This is a team-oriented award that promotes the importance of academics.” trying to break into an empty home, police said.

St. Thomas was one of just 53 high schools in Texas to earn the distinction, and one of just four private schools in the state, out more than 1,500 teams that competed during the 2022-2023 athletic seasons.

According to the school, the team’s current GPA was 3.48 among 71 players on the team, with seven players – including All-State defensive back Caleb Davis – earning recognitions from the National Merit Scholarship program according to the school. The team GPA of the official varsity team roster was based on the longest official documented grading period during the 2022 football season.

Twenty-two of St. Thomas’ football players had a 4.0 GPA, according to the school, with an additional 18 student-athletes carrying a GPA of at least 3.5 or higher.

Officers responded to a home in the 4000 block of Saxon Drive in the Central Northwest at 11:40 p.m. on last Saturday, Jan. 31 to find the man unresponsive and having been shot once according to the department. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

According to police, the homeowner was not in the house at the time of the

“These kinds of measurables speak to the mission of the St. Thomas experience,” St. Thomas athletic director Mike Netzel said in a news release from the school. “The focus and dedication that drive our student-athletes to excel on the field also serve them in embracing the demands of being a complete St. Thomas student. Their academic and athletic pursuits provide complementary learning opportunities.” shooting. Citing eyewitness reports, police said the man was allegedly seen and heard attempting to break into the house. There was allegedly then a confrontation between the man and the home’s neighbor, according to police, during which the neighbor allegedly shot the suspect.

Netzel said he credits head coach Ray McGuire and assistant Ray Davis, among others, for developing the full studentathletes in addition to the athletic success that has seen them advance to four TAPPS state semifinals in the past eight seasons.

““They are partnering with exceptional leaders on the sidelines and behind the scenes who have a passion, a vision, and a charisma to inspire elite achievement in those around them,” Netzel said.

For more information about the award, visit www.thsca.com/nff.

The alleged shooter was questioned by investigators at the scene, according to HPD. After consulting with members of the Harris County District Attorney’s

Office, the department said it was determined the incident would be referred to a grand jury.

Anyone with additional information in the case is asked to call HPD’s Homicide division at 713-308-3600.