Saturday Update:
The Ruff Riders announced Brooks will be able to watch Saturday night's football game against San Angelo via a special internet feed from the hospital.

Gerald Dockery, the head coach of the Abilene Ruff Riders, told Bigcountryhomepage.com Sports that defensive lineman Rico Brooks is getting better.

Brooks was shot in both legs outside his south Abilene apartment last week. The gunman has not been identified. Witnesses say he was wearing a mask.

Brooks underwent several hours of surgery at Hendrick Medical Center following the shooting. Coach Dockery says the team owes this season to Brooks. Dockery says Brooks probably won't play next year, but is improving and should play again some day.

Stampede Express (0-0) at Riders (0-1)

Kickoff: 7 tonight

Home turf: Taylor County Coliseum

Last season: The teams split two regular season games, the Riders winning 59-20 in Abilene and the Express winning 56-32 in San Angelo. In the playoffs, the Express kicked a field goal with no time remaining for a 39-36 first-round win.

Last week: Abilene opened with another late loss, falling 36-33 to the West Texas Roughnecks on a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown with under 2 minutes to play. San Angelo scored first against Arkansas but then gave up four straight scores in a 33-26 road loss.

Riders on offense: Which offense will show up, the one that scored 30 first-half points against WT or the one that put three points on the scoreboard the next two quarters? The opener produced no true leader — two quarterbacks completed a total of six passes and RB Carlos Alsup had only three rushes. The game is in the hands of Haven Mosely after the team cut backup Kewan Dewberry. Mosely threw for a TD — a 31-yard strike to Juan Reese — and ran for another score in the Riders’ productive first half.

Stampede Express on offense: Former Ruff Riders’ receiver Mychal Carrillo had a big opener catching 10 of his team’s 16 completions for more than 100 yards and two touchdowns. The Express ran 65 plays to 37 for Arkansas, had an 11-6 edge in first downs and outgained the Diamonds 180-113 in total yards. QB Chris Draper threw for three TDs.

Riders on defense: End-linebacker Rico Brooks had one official interception and another returned for six points negated by a penalty. He’s out for the season, which means Anthony Hines or Larry Brown will have be the team’s pressure point on defense. Riders gave up 191 yards — 177 passing to a Roughnecks team known for its rushing prowess. But the team had four picks, forced two fumbles and had a sack.

Stampede Express on defense: Team gave up four rushing touchdowns, three to Diamonds QB Graylin Allison. But overall, the Express surrendered just 113 yards.

RR game plan: Eliminate the turnovers that turned stymied team in second half vs. West Texas. Play with emotion for the injured Brooks and finish — the Riders have been beaten in the final quarter in its last two home losses, not a good display for the home fans.

Saturday Night Weather

Outside Cloudy. Lows in the lower 30s. Northwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Inside mid 72 degrees with 0 wind and hot action. Come in and Play!

Indoor Football League internet radio show titled "This Week In The IFL" starts.

The show is scheduled to start Wednesday evening (March 17) at 8:00 p.m. and it can be heard at www.goifl.com or at www.puskaonpucks.com. This week's show will recap all the action that took place around the IFL in week two. Denis Puska from Puska Media Services will be the host of the new internet radio show which will feature interviews with players, coaches and front office staff representatives from around the IFL. This week's show marks the second show of the 2010 Indoor Football League regular season

Michael J. Redden, Abilene

We appreciate the Abilene Reporter-News’ recent coverage of the Ruff Riders’ 2010 season and the excitement generated for indoor football. With the recent change in ownership, the question has been asked: “Why would three of the partners of this football team be from a local nonprofit?”

I was concerned that my involvement with the partnership had caused confusion between my role with the Abilene Ruff Riders and New Horizons. But over the last couple of weeks I have realized that there is a larger picture that defines my personal goal, “to help children.”

At New Horizons we work extremely hard to establish healthy relationships between children and families. It is just as important to create relationships between children and their role models.

For example, the NFL supports the United Way and the NBA has its own charity called “NBA Cares.” Coach Gerald Dockery and the Ruff Riders understand the importance of giving back to the community, and have worked with New Horizons in the past by hosting football camps and giving tickets to Abilene Ruff Rider games for the children.

It is important for me to note that there is no legal or financial connection between New Horizons and the Ruff Riders, just a personal one. However, all partners have agreed that if the team makes any money, a significant portion will be contributed to support New Horizons.

NOTE: Michael J. Redden is executive director of New Horizons and a partner in Big Country Professional Sports Association LLC, which owns the Abilene Ruff Riders.

Reported by: David Robinett

Thursday, Mar 11, 2010 @12:19pm CST

We know you're on Facebook all day long anyway, so why not become a fan of BCH Sports?

All of our BCH Sports Facebook fans will be entered in a drawing to win one of two pairs of tickets to the Abilene Ruff Riders game versus San Angelo on March 20.

That's right; more than one fan will be a winner.

The drawing will be made on Wednesday, March 17. Maybe the luck o' the Irish will be on your side that day!

Other benefits of becoming a fan include live score updates from games we're covering, breaking local sports news (waiting til 6 p.m. is so 2004), and schedules.