Myra Ical Case Update

You may remember I posted the Myra Ical vigil video a few months ago.  There have been recent developments in the case that may hopefully lead to the apprehension of her killer.

Cristan Williams received an anonymous letter in June at her Transgender Foundation of America office in June from a man who may have run into Ical's alleged killer.


According to KTRK-TV 13 a person who identified himself as "Matthew" in that letter describes two chance meetings with a man that happened in February at the Guava Lamp Bar on Waugh Dr. in February and at the South Beach Nightclub in Montrose in May. 

The Houston trans community is concerned that Myra's killer is still on the loose and could kill again if he isn't captured..

If you're in the Houston area, are reading this post and have information concerning this Ical case,  Crime Stoppers is offering up to $5,000 for information leading that leads to the arrest of a suspect.

Anyone with tips is asked to call the hot line at 713-222-8477.
  

2010 UH Cougar Watch-Coogs Rebound

The Cougars went to Los Angeles last week ranked number 23 in the nation, its quarterback Case Keenum being considered for the Heisman Trophy and the school considered a potential BCS bowl busting program.

UCLA not only put an end to that talk with a 31-13 Rose Bowl butt kicking, they ended the seasons of Case Keenum and his backup Cotton Turner.

The Cougars bounced back with their true freshman quarterback Terrance Broadway at the helm as they returned to the friendly confines of the Rob to play the Tulane Green Wave.

Thanks to 113 yards and four Bryce Beall touchdowns, 173 passing yards from Broadway and timely interceptions from the Cougar defense,  Terrance Broadway's debut as the UH starting quarterback got rave reviews from the Cougar faithful.

The Coogs beat Tulane 42-23 to stay unbeaten in C-USA West Division play at 2-0 and extend their home unbeaten streak to 18 games.  

They have an open date before they return to action at the Rob on October 8 to play Mississippi State

Team USA Women 2010 FIBA Worlds- On To The Second Round

Another day at the FIBA World Championships for Team USA, another slow start.

This time it was because the competition was ratcheted up another level against a determined French team playing for the top seed in Group B.   Team USA eventually woke up, tightened the defense and used its depth and superior talent to prevail over Les Bleues 81-60.

Team USA tri-captain Diana Taurasi was the scoring leader in today's game with 15 points with Tina Charles and Candice Dupree coming off that deep bench to score 10 points apiece.   Maya Moore came close to positing a double-double with 9 points and 8 rebounds.  Angel McCoughtry chipped in 9 points and Sue Bird had 9 on perfect 4 for 4 shooting to help move this team to a 3-0 record and clinch the top seed in Group B.

“I thought the first half, the first 10 minutes especially, were difficult for both teams to make any shots,” said USA head coach Geno Auriemma. “Usually when you play pretty good defense and hold the other team to three or four or five points, you would think that you would come down and get maybe 10, 12, 14, but it was difficult for both teams in that first 10 minutes. As we settled into a rhythm we played really well. Our defense was much better in the second half. Our second group that came in did a great job in the third quarter. We have a young team, but we have some talented players and we have depth. I think that helped us again tonight.”

To illustrate how tough it was, Team USA had a slim 13-10 lead at the end of the first quarter before extending that lead to a 35-29 bulge at the halftime break.

A 25-19 third quarter built that halftime lead to a 61-48 lead by the end of it.    It also didn't hurt that the Americans had a 41-25 rebounding edge and for the third straight game had great shooting.   They shot 55.6% for the game and a scorching 42.7% from 3 pt range while forcing 15 French turnovers they converted into 20 points..    


FIBA Number one ranked Team USA will have a day off  in Ostrava before the second round  basketball action starts.   They start by taking on Canada Monday, Belarus on Tuesday and their longtime basketball rivals and defending FIBA women's champ Australia on Wednesday.

The Civil Rights Football Game

I'm a football fan and this is my favorite time of the year.  I'm awash in football games at the high school, college and professional levels from Thursday to Monday night.

While watching the TCU-SMU game last night it reminded me of of the TBLG rights struggle and how the gaining and losing of progress was in a way like the game I was perusing on TV.

You may have plays in which you go for the bomb and connect for big yardage or a touchdown.   You may have your quarterbacked sacked or your running back stuffed for negative yardage.   You may gain five or six yards on the next run or pass play.

And you have to watch out for backstabbing allies who while holding the civil rights ball for you to kick it like Lucy in the Peanuts cartoon does for Charlie Brown, pull it away at the last second.

But as long as you and your team are making forward progress toward the opposing team's end zone to score, it's a positive and wonderful thing despite the setbacks at times.

Basically, that's my generation's job to pick up where the last one left off and move the civil rights football toward the end zone of freedom, fairness and equality.   We have a formidable opponent in terms of the  Forces of Intolerance squad.  They will use every dirty defensive trick in the book to keep that freedom touchdown from happening.   We are going to lose yardage on some plays while others will result in huge gains.   But the focus should always be we not only build a winning team, but stay focused and even more determined to score that winning touchdown for the Civil Rights team. 


Sad to say it, but let's get real for a moment.

There may be many of us who toil in Equality Football League play for decades and never get to play in that Equality Super Bowl championship game.

Some of us may not be alive or will just be cheering from the stands when we see the day that full equality is reached.   But that shouldn't stop us from while we still have the energy to do so fight to advance the ball down the civil rights football field so that the next generation has less yardage to travel to get to the end zone for that winning touchdown.