But how did things come out in District 5-4A? Guyer won with a point total of 105.5, which was third among 4A schools behind only Highland Park and Waco Midway. Ryan finished third in 5-4A behind Wichita Falls Rider with a total of 75.

In my own formula in which I pitted Ryan against Guyer, Guyer topped Ryan, 57-55, a much closer total than the DMN.

First of all, my formula pitted two school against each other, and I awarded points for Ryan victories against Guyer, and vice versa. The DMN obviously is looking at things on a much broader scope and doesn't consider whether Ryan boys basketball beat Guyer twice, and rightly so for what it is doing.

But the primary difference is that my formula omitted tennis, swimming, golf and cross country. I did this for two reasons: 1) I wanted to focus on team sports. 2) I believe those sports tend to lean not toward athletic competence, but the school's resources and demographics.

Now let me elaborate on the latter point. Since 1988-89, Highland Park or Southlake Carroll won every year in the DMN's 4A rankings except one. In Class 5A, Southlake Carroll, Plano West, Flower Mound Marcus and Highland Park has won every year since the DMN began the All-Sports Awards in 1985, aside from a few stray victories by Duncanville and Dallas Skyline.

Recognize a pattern? The affluent communities win. That's due in large part to the fact that they win in the team sports. One only needs to look at Carroll and Highland Park's football teams to know that.

But where they pull away is in tennis, swimming, wrestling and golf (what I cynically refer to as "rich kid sports"). Those sports make up a third of the criteria in the All-Sports Awards. How was Highland Park able to pull away from Guyer this year?

The Scots got 14 points for team tennis (4 for Guyer), 11 points for boys swimming (nine for Guyer), 15 points for girls swimming (3 for Guyer), and 13 points a piece for boys and girls golf (two and eight for Guyer, respectively).

So did Highland Park win because they have better athletes and coaches or because their parents can afford the expensive equipment, lessons and club memberships needed to excel at tennis, golf and swimming?

Then there's the issue of track. If you don't have bodies to participate in all events, you will not be good at track -- Period. For example, Denton didn't receive more than three points in any of the four cross country and track categories from the DMN. The school simply doesn't have the athletes to compete in those sports.

Guyer, on the other hand, has an abundance of athletes (at the expensive of Denton?) and ran away with those categories on the DMN list. Guyer outscored Ryan 29 to nine in the four track categories on the DMN list. That's a 20-point swing.

In the "rich kid sports," Guyer outscored Ryan 26 to 16 on the DMN list. That's a 10-point swing.

Guyer topped Ryan 105.5 to 75 overall. That's 30.5 points. 20 of that came from track. 10 of that came from "rich kid sports." Take out track and rich kid sports, and Guyer topped Ryan by 0.5 points. In the Andrews Quotient, Guyer topped Ryan by two points. Ladies and gentleman of the jury, I rest my case.

That's not to say Guyer (and Highland Park) shouldn't be proud of their accomplishments. Denton ISD and John Walsh have built a phenomenal operation that is competitive in all but a handful of sports, and the ones that are struggling have had success in the past and will have success in the future. They work hard and reap the benefit, as does Ryan.

But before anyone cracks their shoulder blades from excessive pats on the back regarding a victory in the DMN's All-Sports Awards, I think some perspective on the numbers is needed. I'm looking at you, University Park. I still remember the "Cash over trash" sign you waived at me when I was 10 years old. I still remember you calling a 10-year-old kid "trash" to his face. That wasn't very nice, University Park.

His team trailed 9-1 at one point and won, 10-9, thanks in part to Salter's contribution. He started in center field.

It was Salter's final high school at-bat before he goes on to play at New Mexico Junior College. The game was a nice Father's Day gift for Mr. Salter, and not a bad way to go out for Master Salter.

The first day he can sign a national letter of intent is Feb. 3, as oral commitments are non-binding.

Russell really picked up his play late in the 2008 season and into the playoffs, highlighted by a 221-yard game against Arlington Seguin, a 113-yard game against Wolfforth Frenship and a 118-yard game with a score against Longview.

Russell had many reasons for committing to UNLV when bigger schools would have come calling this year, and still might if what Guyer head coach John Walsh says is true.

"We had a good spring with him," Walsh said. "He catches everything thrown. He's gotten stronger and faster. Whatever weapon he was at the end of last season, we expect that to be magnified from start to finish this year."

So what about UNLV was appealing to Russell, besides the spread offense and the Vegas scenery?

"They had Taco Bell and Sonic in their school, I thought that was pretty cool," he said.

Just off the top of my head, here's what sticks out to me. Feel free to add your suggestions:

Guyer vs. Ryan football, Guyer vs. Frenship football, Guyer vs. The Colony football, Guyer vs. Longview football, Ryan vs. Wichita Falls Rider football, Ryan vs. Lake Dallas football, Lake Dallas vs. WF Rider football, Argyle vs. Ponder basketball, Argyle vs. Dallas Madison basketball, Guyer vs. Arlington Heights baseball Game 2 & 3.

Again, that's just what came to my mind in about five minutes of thinking. I'm sure I'm leaving plenty out. That's where you guys come in. Let's hear it...

On the Class 4A team, Guyer's Brad Kottman earned second-team honors as a first baseman. Kottman hit .512 in district play with an .837 slugging percentage. He had a .983 fielding percentage as he committed just one error in district play. He was also 8-0 on the mound in district play with a 1.43 ERA, which helped earn him unanimous District 5-4A MVP honors. The senior will continue his career at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

Ryan was also represented on the Class 4A team, as senior outfielder Ryan Salter landed on the third team after his final season that helped land him on the 5-4A first team. He hit .381 in district play with 10 home runs and 12 stolen bases.

Ponder's freshman phenom Dalton Brown earned second-team honors at shortstop after helping lead the Lions to the Class 2A state tournament. Brown hit .458 on the season with three home runs and 34 RBIs along with 32 runs scored. He was also one of three pitchers the Lions used, going 5-2 with 58 strikeouts in 38 1-3 innings.

UPDATE: Ponder's Micah Easterling also earned all-state honors as a third-team pitcher. We missed him on the list because the press release said he was from Peaster. So props to Easterling, who went 6-2 with two saves off the mound this season. He struck out 88 batters in 60.1 innings of work and only walked 13 batters. Offensively, he hit .424 with 12 doubles, 5 home runs and 35 RBI. He only struck out 10 times in 105 at bats.

Whitney Hand, an Liberty Christian graduate and a sophomore-to-be on Oklahoma's basketball team, is competing for a spot on the U.S. women's team for the World University Games, July 2-11 in Serbia.

Hand is among 15 players competing for 12 spots.

Petersen has not pitched this year after playing the with the GCL Marlins last year following his fourth-round selection in the 2008 MLB Draft.

I'll have more on what Curtis has been up to a bit later. But you can keep an eye on our man here.

The signing caps off a big year for Dodd. On the basketball court he led the Bobcats to their upset win over rival Ponder, and then on the golf course he finished in fourth place in the Class 2A state tournament.

Dodd hopes to play two years at the junior college and then get picked up by a Division-1 program.

Dodd will join fellow Krum graduate Derek Howell, who will play baseball there. The two expect to be roommates.

It is expected that Baker will not return to Oklahoma for his senior season and make the jump to the pro level.

The Broncos, Lake Dallas and Guyer will be three of the 16 teams competing in the all-day event that begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m.

Denton is in Pool A to be played at Bronco Stadium. It will face Greenville at 8:30 a.m., A.M. Smith at 10:30 a.m. and Lamar at 12:30 p.m.

Lake Dallas is in Pool B to be played at the Track Stadium. The Falcons will face Midlothian at 8:30 a.m., Hebron at 10:30 a.m and Rockwall at 12:30 p.m.

Guyer is in Pool D to be played at the Track Stadium. The Wildcats will face Legacy at 9:30 a.m., Jesuit at 11:30 a.m. and Plano at 1:30 p.m.

Pool C consists of Sam Houston, Lewisville, Desoto and Mesquite.

The semifinals will be at 3 p.m. Pool A winner will face Pool C winner. And Pool B winner will face Pool D winner.

The championship game is at Bronco Stadium at 4 p.m.

Sasser has offers from Texas Tech, Tulsa, Purdue, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Arizona, and more may be coming as people find out more about him.

The link I posted is to the Class 4A boys 4x400 relay, but if you look on the left side of the screen, you can choose any race you want to watch. Enjoy.

He's actually mentioned in a story in the most recent edition of ESPN The Magazine as a previously unheralded guy relatively speaking with the bigger names at the camp.

But anyone who's seen Franklin plays knows he's nothing resembling an average quarterback. You can see some of his highlight video from the camp, which is actually kind of boring, just drop-backs and sprint-outs and the like.

Both are 2008 graduates, as Whitney Hand started as a true freshman for the girls basketball team, and now Ben Habern is listed as the starter at center on the depth chart that Oklahoma released today.

Habern is probably the most dominant football player I've seen at the high school level, though some of his competition in high school was questionable. But now, there should be no doubt that the former U.S. Army All-American is a certifiable beast. Starting at Oklahoma as a redshirt freshman is not an easy thing to do.

Field event people seem to be the most outgoing with the crowd, as sprinters are usually so intensely focused, and Retzloff is the epitome of a showman.

He even used the words "putting on a show for the crowd" and boy, did he ever. He was bowing, saluting, clapping over his head toward the crowd and being an all-around showman as he had the fans' support throughout the competition. It was fun to watch.