Austin is a sports town. Whether participating or spectating, we take our sports seriously. Some of Austin’s most-heralded celebrities are either athletes (Lance Armstrong) or dedicated fans (Matthew McConaughey, Richard Linklater) with UT being a veritable training ground for first-round draft picks (Kevin Durant, Vince Young, D.J. Augustin, and Cedric Benson, to name a few). It was an exceptional year for local sports – the excellence of almost every UT sports program, the Toros’ championship run, the ascension of the Aztex – that was tempered by some less-welcome news (the loss of the Ice Bats and Wranglers and the death of Rooster Andrews). Here are a few of the many notable events from the past year in CenTex sports.
1) While Austin doesn’t boast an NFL, MLB, or NBA team, we have more than our share of minor league franchises. There’s the ongoing success of the Round Rock Express, the Austin Outlaws women’s football team, the impressive first year of the Austin Aztex (see “Soccer Watch,” for more), and the recent announcement of Austin’s newest sports team, the indoor-football-playing Austin Turfcats. To top it off, construction has begun on the fancy-pants Cedar Park Center, which will house Dallas Stars affiliate the Texas Stars, who begin play in the American Hockey League in 2009.
2) Which brings us to the bad news, the loss of the Austin Wranglers and the Austin Ice Bats. The Wranglers never seemed to grab a foothold playing in the cavernous Erwin Center, while the Ice Bats fan base didn’t follow them to the rinky-dink Chaparral Ice Center. The Ice Bats continue to consider their options for the 2009-10 season.
3) The 16-0 Lake Travis Cavaliers won their second straight 4A high school state football championship, pushing their overall winning streak to 30 games! The Cavs’ stud quarterback, Garrett Gilbert (who holds the state high school career passing record with 12,534 yards), has committed to play for UT next season.
4) Texas fans feel they got punked by the criminally bad Bowl Championship Series selection system, losing out on a chance to play for the National Championship to the Oklahoma Sooners, who they beat head-to-head earlier in the season. Once Barack Obama has ended the war in Iraq and turned around our flailing economy, maybe he can get college football to set up a playoff system fer chrissakes.
5) A record-setting 23 athletes and five coaches made the trek to Beijing to represent the University of Texas in the 2008 Olympics. Current and former Longhorns brought home 10 gold, two silver, and two bronze medals, with swimmers Aaron Piersol and Garrett Weber-Gale sporting two golds each.
6) Hurricane Ike hit Texas hard, and all aspects of life were affected, including sports. Parts of the Houston Texans’ stadium’s roof were ripped off, forcing them to change their home schedule and bye week; the Houston Astros had to move a “home” series with playoff implications vs. the Chicago Cubs to Milwaukee; and the Longhorns rescheduled their home game vs. Arkansas.
7) The Austin Toros advanced to the National Basketball Development League championship, losing to the Idaho Stampede in a hotly contested three-game series. Tony Parker and Eva Longoria Parker lent their support to the Spurs’ NBDL affiliate, catching a game at the Austin Convention Center last season.
8) ESPN brought its Friday Night Fights program to the Music Hall Sept. 5, as Austin’s own pugilist, James Kirkland, showed a national audience what all the buzz was about, knocking out opponent Ricardo Cortes in the second round.
9) Richard Linklater‘s Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach debuted on ESPN in June, honoring the winningest coach in NCAA baseball history, UT’s own Augie Garrido.
10) The formation of the Alternative Softball League. The Austin Chronicle took home the championship trophy in the inaugural season with the ASL looking to expand from five to eight teams in ’09. BookPeople, KOOP Radio, Emo’s, and Waterloo Records rounded out the first-year teams.
This article appears in 2008.