This article was written by Sandra Porter.
Friday nights are special in the fall. They are filled with football, team spirit, cheer teams, bands and banners. They are intended to be fun competition, excitement, and opportunities to develop sportsmanship.
But this past fall in the La Grange vs. Sweeny game, the game went off the rails. With two minutes remaining, La Grange was driving to tie the game. The comeback seemed a sure thing, until a Sweeny defender intercepted a pass. As the defender was running the ball back, and being ushered out of bounds, my grandson Mason, who was a good 10-15 yards from the action on the play, was pounded by a Sweeny football player -- and critically injured. His spleen was ruptured and he was bleeding internally. With his life hanging in the balance, he was air-lifted to a trauma center in Austin for emergency surgery – one that required 7 units of red blood cells and 2 units of plasma to save his life. Though he survived, for the rest of his days he will be at increased risk for infection as a result of the removal of his spleen. Video of the hit can be viewed above.
That nightmare still haunts me. I can still feel the scare of seeing my grandson in shock trauma ICU and watching my daughter fear for the life of her son. How have we gone from football being a game meant to be a fun extracurricular activity to one that can threaten the lives of our youth? And where is the discipline to ensure sportsmanship?
Notably, the player who hit my grandson was penalized for a personal foul -- but nothing more. There was no further action than a meaningless penalty at the end of a game. My daughter was told by the Superintendent of Sweeny Schools that the Sweeny player was under the team's disciplinary protocol the week following the hit, yet he played the next full district playoff game that week. And, a week after critically-injuring Mason, he gave the opposing team's QB a concussion, with a helmet-to-helmet hit that sent the QB to the hospital.
To be fair, the University Interscholastic League (UIL) website addresses this issue clearly. The protocol for a blatant personal foul should result in the player at fault missing a full half of a game; if it occurs in the second half of the game, the player should miss the first half of their next game. However, the UIL rule was not followed nor enforced. Despite numerous requests by my daughter that the UIL investigate the foul and discipline, the UIL has neither acknowledged her communication nor responded.
Youth participation in football is down across the state. Some suggest the sport is at risk all together, if it does not ensure the safety of its players. To be sure, the game is a contact sport; injuries will happen. But a blatant, punishing and unnecessary hit that threatens a child's life is one that requires our attention.
I write today with two motivations. First, I want to draw attention to safety for the game. Mason's younger brother, a sophomore, loves the game and wants his own Friday night lights experience—but he and others need us to protect the game. Bluntly, it is time that schools and coaches take stronger action to discipline unwarranted injuries, and it is past time for the UIL to take a stronger stance and to look to the examples of the NCAA and the NFL as they work toward a safer game.
And, second, in order to make a positive difference now, my daughter and I have started a GoFundMe page with a goal of providing EvoShield shirts with abdominal and rib protectors for La Grange freshmen, junior and senior varsity football teams. There has been a great deal of healthy attention to protecting against head injuries; these shirts serve to protect the abdomen and ribs. Any donation, no matter how small, is sincerely appreciated. https://www.gofundme.com/please-help-us-protect-our-youth
Interested parties can also donate by tagging the La Grange (Texas) Leopards football team on the Taylor Haugen Foundation website. The foundation was established by Taylor's parents following the death of their 15-year-old son, resulting from a hit to his abdomen during a high school football game.
We hope you will join us to protect our youth and do all we can to make football as safe as possible.
What looked like a minor blip after an emotional series win in Los Angeles has turned into something more concerning for the Houston Astros.
Swept at home by a Guardians team that came in riding a 10-game losing streak, the Astros were left looking exposed. Not exhausted, as injuries, underperformance, and questionable decision-making converged to hand Houston one of its most frustrating series losses of the year.
Depth finally runs dry
It would be easy to point to a “Dodger hangover” as the culprit, the emotional peak of an 18-1 win at Chavez Ravine followed by a mental lull. But that’s not the story here.
Houston’s energy was still evident, especially in the first two games of the series, where the offense scored five or more runs each time. Including those, the Astros had reached that mark in eight of their last 10 games heading into Wednesday’s finale.
But scoring isn’t everything, not when a lineup held together by duct tape and desperation is missing Christian Walker and Jake Meyers and getting critical at-bats from Cooper Hummel, Zack Short, and other journeymen.
The lack of depth finally showed. The Astros, for three days, looked more like a Triple-A squad with Jose Altuve and a couple big-league regulars sprinkled in.
Cracks in the pitching core
And the thing that had been keeping this team afloat, elite pitching, finally buckled.
Hunter Brown and Josh Hader, both dominant all season, finally cracked. Brown gave up six runs in six innings, raising his pristine 1.82 ERA to 2.21. Hader wasn’t spared either, coughing up a game-losing grand slam in extra innings that inflated his ERA from 1.80 to 2.38 in one night.
But the struggles weren’t isolated. Bennett Sousa, Kaleb Ort, and Steven Okert each gave up runs at critical moments. The bullpen’s collective fade could not have come at a worse time for a team already walking a tightrope.
Injury handling under fire
Houston’s injury management is also drawing heat, and rightfully so. Jake Meyers, who had been nursing a calf strain, started Wednesday’s finale. He didn’t even make it through one pitch before aggravating the injury and needing to be helped off the field.
No imaging before playing him. No cautionary rest despite the All-Star break looming. Just a rushed return in a banged-up lineup, and it backfired immediately.
Second-guessing has turned to outright criticism of the Astros’ medical staff, as fans and analysts alike wonder whether these mounting injuries are being made worse by how the club is handling them.
Pressure mounts on Dana Brown
All eyes now turn to Astros GM Dana Brown. The Astros are limping into the break with no clear reinforcements on the immediate horizon. Only Chas McCormick is currently rehabbing in Sugar Land. Everyone else? Still sidelined.
Brown will need to act — and soon.
At a minimum, calling up top prospect Brice Matthews makes sense. He’s been mashing in Triple-A (.283/.400/.476, 10 HR, .876 OPS) and could play second base while Jose Altuve shifts to left field more regularly. With Mauricio Dubón stretched thin between shortstop and center, injecting Matthews’ upside into the infield is a logical step.
*Editor's note: The Astros must be listening, Matthews was called up Thursday afternoon!
The Astros are calling up Brice Matthews, their top prospect on @MLBPipeline
via @brianmctaggart pic.twitter.com/K91cGKkcx6
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 10, 2025
There’s also trade chatter, most notably about Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, but excitement has been tepid. His numbers don’t jump off the page, but compared to who the Astros are fielding now, Mullins would be a clear upgrade and a much-needed big-league presence.
A final test before the break
Before the All-Star reset, Houston gets one last chance to stabilize the ship, and it comes in the form of a rivalry series against the Texas Rangers. The Astros will send their top trio — Lance McCullers Jr., Framber Valdez, and Hunter Brown — to the mound for a three-game set that will test their resolve, their health, and perhaps their postseason aspirations.
The Silver Boot is up for grabs. So is momentum. And maybe, clarity on just how far this version of the Astros can go.
There's so much more to discuss! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday.
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*ChatGPT assisted.
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