Were the Brahmas left out? I don't think so...

South Texas All-Stars vs. CHL All-Stars January 13, 2010

OK, so why would you think that the Texas Brahmas were left out of the 2010 CHL All-Star Game?

Once again, the host city gets to determine the format. Most of us hated the format last time when it was the Colorado Eagles versus the CHL All-Stars. Apparently, that was a different Colorado team than we saw in the finals. Or was it? How hard is it for one of the best teams in the league with one of the best coaches in the league to win at home? The Eagles played against a group of guys, most who had not played together before, coached by someone who had not coached them before. They had little time to prepare and were a ragtag team at best. Was there an advantage for the home team? Sure. But that was their prerogative and I'm sure the league loved having their darling Eagles in the spotlight.

This year, the Laredo Bucks have decided to join forces with their division rivals, the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees and the Corpus Christi Ice Rays to form the South Texas All-Stars. Are the Brahmas conspicuously absent from the mix? Sure, but are we in South Texas? No.

Why the strange trio of teams? Who knows. Maybe Coach Roscoe didn't think he was going to field a team that could beat the rest of the league's best.

My guess is that the only way they thought they could fill up the Laredo Entertainment Center was to put this trio of teams together, with the hopes that fans from Hidalgo County and Corpus Christi would make the trip to see their respective teams. Will it work? I doubt it. That's still a long haul. Even with the added audience, I doubt they'll "sell" the thing out.

Will the grouping of these three teams provide an advantage against the rest of the league's best? I don't think so. We're more likely to see fights break out between the South Texas All-Stars than with anyone else. Three coaches? A team made up of guys that normally hate each other? My money's on the CHL All-Stars.

Now back to the Brahmas being "excluded".

Brian Sandalow, a pretty good guy who writes for The Monitor (the local paper in McAllen, Texas) makes a good argument in his blog:

"The Bees played the Brahmas all of four times in the regular season, and just once at the Dodge. Laredo played Texas eight times (which is a bit odd, actually) and Corpus played the Brahmas five times. Combined, the Brahmas played 17 divisional games out of 64, which is just three more times than the Bees played the IceRays alone. Seventeen divisional games does not mean the Brahmas are a part of the Southeast rivalry."

That's very true. Besides, the Brahmas were busy most of the season playing better teams in tougher divisions. And with respect to the coaches and players of our Southeast Division rivals, we have a better coach and a better team. (Anybody want to check the record of the Bucks, Killer Bees or IceRays versus the Texas Brahmas over the past two seasons).

We're not being excluded. By the way, our team is the 2009 Central Hockey League Champions and we have a very nice silver loving cup in our barn. Can any of the South Texas All-Stars say that? And maybe we'll be able to send someone along with Justin Kinnunen this time.

I think having the All-Star Game back in Texas is fantastic. Something to look forward to on that weekend. I'm going to go. Why not? I'm sure Laredo in mid-January is beautiful (that's sarcasm folks). Besides, Brian Benway (Voice of the Bucks) and Joy Lindsay (Sports writer for the Laredo Morning Times and my favorite blogger) are two of my favorite people in South Texas. I'll just have to say hello somewhere other than the press area as Greg Rajan's ego will occupy most of the free space.

Besides, the Purple and Black need to have a strong contingent in the stands to cheer on their champions (we'll no doubt be the largest group of Caucasians in the building - no offense to my Hispanic cousins).