The 1980 football season in Commerce was eagerly anticipated. After a lackluster 4-7 season in 1978, 1979 showed promise despite an average looking 5-5 record. They had shut out the defending NAIA champions in Texas A&I, and were in the hunt for a conference title until the very end of the season. The Wizard of…
Greetings, Lion fans. Here’s hoping everyone is staying safe, healthy, and in these uncertain times, sane. We here at The Wire are doing our best to help everyone through these days. We’re one day closer to a solution. In this week’s edition of the 2020 season preview, we take a look at one of the…
This is Part 3 in a Multi-Part series of the great traditions of our Alma Mater. In sports, the old saying goes that “defense wins championships.” Personally I have not bought totally into that, I prefer that “the best defense is an unstoppable offense.” That being said, nobody can doubt that a team that plays…
This is Part 2 in a Multi-Part series of the great traditions of our Alma Mater. Part of this article is taken from my piece on the Championship Chronicles for the 1958 team. Every great college team has a tradition. Texas A&M has yell practice the night before home games. Texas Tech picks members of…
Greetings, Lion fans, and we here at The Wire hope everyone is staying safe and healthy. We’re starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. In this edition of the 2020 season preview, we take a closer look at the Bowie State Bulldogs, who make the trek south to Commerce from Maryland…
Just a little more quarantine fun. The only qualification to make this team is to have been a teammate of mine at East Texas State. Each guy will have the year they played labeled. That means players who roamed the Hawk between 88-92. This is strictly my picks. Again we will do it two-deep style…
This is Part 1 in a Multi-Part series of the great traditions of Alma Mater Dear. In the Fall of 1964, Sports Illustrated visited the small hamlet of Commerce, Texas to feature the Football program of East Texas State College. They were there to cover the recent passing of Head Coach J.V. Sikes, and the…
Before I get started in revealing who I believe is the greatest ETSU/TAMUC football team ever, I just wanted to say a few words with this being Easter (or as I call it, Resurrection Sunday). First I wanted to wish everyone a Blessed Sunday and let everyone know those of us at the Wire are…
Greetings, Lion fans. The staff here at The Wire hope all of you are staying safe and healthy during all of this madness. We’re one day closer to a solution. To help everyone maintain their sanity during these uncertain times, today we’ll take a look at what has become the Lions most bitter rival, the…
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