A crazed 48 hours

As I write this, I've just wrapped up my story on Frankston's Michael Warren and Treston Coleman signing their National Letters of Intent.

In just a little bit, I'll head out to Palestine for a similar ceremony for Palestine's Bobby Walker. Then, I'm off to Neches to talk to the stellar seniors of the Lady Tigers.

Then, tomorrow, I'll be in early for Realignment Day, when the University Interscholastic League releases all the new districts and regions.

Realignment Day especially excites me, because I've never covered one before, not the mention that locally, there are storylines galore.

Storyline No. 1: Where will Westwood end up?
Palestine turned in a solid 3A number and will stay in the classification its occupied for the better part of a decade. Westwood, on the other hand, turned in a number of 448.5, less than 20 kids away from the 3A/2A cutoff number from two years ago. Where the Panthers fall on the new cutoff number will be big. A move to 2A would be best for Westwood, in my opinion. It's not real fair to ask a school with less than 450 kids to compete against schools with 900. Which brings me to my next point...

Storyline No. 2: What district will Palestine/Westwood wind up in?
Let's say, for argument's sake, that Westwood stays 3A. Multiple projections have the two schools moving north to join up with Athens, Chapel Hill, Bullard and Brownsboro in a new district. Travel-wise, that's a win for everyone. But, in that scenario, three schools (Chapel Hill, Brownsboro and Athens) are bigger than even Palestine, who at 805 students is one of the bigger 3As around. As for Westwood, they'd still be the small fish in the pond, with only Bullard (around 550) coming close.

Storyline No. 3: Will Frankston stay or fall?
The Indians turned a 206 kids on "snapshot day," a number that by 2010 math would put them seven kids above the 1A level. If the UIL's pattern of gradual increases keeps up, the Indians may find themselves in a district with Anderson County's own Cayuga, and possibly Grapeland. Cayuga turned in 199, exactly on last realignment's number for 1A.

There are plenty more storylines to follow, mainly concerning where each teams will end up and what that will do to traditional rivalries. Beginning at 9 a.m. tomorrow, it'll all start to fall together.

Stay tuned.