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The defending state champion HP tennis team opens the 2010 season on Friday hosting its annual HP/Plano West Fall Tournament. The Scots have 18 players returning from last season's perfect 16-0 season that won a second consecutive UIL title.

The 16-team bracket contains an entirely Class 5A field except for HP and Richardson Pearce. Lubbock Coronado, which reached the state semifinals last season, is included in the field along with local stalwarts Plano West, Plano, Allen, Coppell and Flower Mound Marcus. Three of the UIL's four regions are represented in the field.

Here are the first-round matchups for Friday and their various locations. HP will host one semifinal and the championship match Saturday at the HP Outdoor Tennis Center at 8:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively. 

HP-Plano West Fall Team Tournament
Friday's Schedule
Opening Round
Midland HS at HP, 8:30 a.m.
San Angelo Central at Plano, 8:30 a.m.
Richardson Pearce at Allen, 8:30 a.m.
The Woodlands at McKinney Boyd, 8:30 a.m.
Katy Taylor at Coppell, 8:30 a.m.
Lubbock Coronado at Flower Mound Marcus, 8:30 a.m.
Odessa Permian at Plano East, 8:30 a.m.
Lubbock HS at Plano West, 8:30 a.m. 

Consolation and Championship Quarterfinals
1:30 p.m. at varying sites    

The UIL released its boys and girls soccer alignments for the 2011 season, and HP will compete against some long-time foes but also against some newcomers in what will be a revised District 20-4A.

The UIL broke  Class 4A into 64 districts two years ago, and will use the same format this season. HP is still in Region II-4A but as mentioned is now in 20-4A along with Richardson Pearce and The Colony, which were in HP's District 21-4A alignment the past two years. 

Joining those three of Carrollton Creekview, Carrollton Newman Smith and Carrollton Turner in the six-team loop.

Soccer practice begins the first week of January. HPISD will release the boys and girls schedules later this fall.

In 2008-09, the first year of the state-mandated random testing, the UIL spent $6 million to test 45,193 student-athletes and found 19 testing positive. If we double that figure to represent the second year, that's $12 million for what, at most, is three dozen positive tests. That's $333,333 to find one positive test. Whew. That possibly represents three dozen lives saved, but oh that cost.

Breakdown of tests conducted by sport:

A multi-sport athlete will be represented more than once in this list. Therefore, the individual sport numbers will differ from the total number of athletes tested.
Baseball: 148
Male basketball: 176
Male cross country: 41
Football: 590
Male golf: 40
Male soccer: 209
Male swimming: 29
Male tennis: 77
Male track & field: 59
Male wrestling: 56
Male multi-sport: 682
Total Male: 2,107

Female basketball: 105
Female cross county: 20
Female golf: 29
Female soccer: 166
Female softball: 143
Female swimming: 40
Female tennis: 87
Female track & field: 81
Female volleyball: 123
Female multi-sport: 405
Total Females: 1,199

(Taken from MLB.com)
LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw dropped the appeal of his five-game suspension Monday and will begin serving it Tuesday, when the Dodgers open a three-game series in San Diego.

Kershaw will be eligible to make his next start Sunday in San Francisco. In his last start, on Sunday, Kershaw made 112 pitches over eight shutout innings, so the two extra days of rest figure to help freshen his 22-year-old arm. He had been scheduled to start Saturday due to the Dodgers' day off on Monday.

Kershaw was handed the suspension and undisclosed fine for, according to MLB vice president Bob Watson, "intentionally throwing at" San Francisco's Aaron Rowand with a pitch in the seventh inning Tuesday night. Kershaw received an automatic ejection from home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson, who had warned both benches after Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp was hit by a pitch from Tim Lincecum. No action was taken against Lincecum. 

Ex-HP pitcher Clayton Kershaw pitched one of his finest outings of the season in his longest stay on the mound this season. Kershaw got his 10th win of the season against only five losses by holding off the New York Mets in a 1-0 win Sunday night. He also maintained his earned-run average under three at 2.96.

Kershaw was able to start for the Dodgers while appealing his five-game suspension from the MLB office stemming from two hit batsmen in Tuesday's loss to the Giants.  He should know the results of his appeal later this week.

Kershaw, 21, gave up seven hits and had struck out only three, but had a two-hitter going through seven innings. The Dodgers' defense helped by not allowing a runner to reach third base in his eight innings on the mound. Kenley Jansen came on in relief and retired the Mets in order in the ninth. 

Should Kershaw's suspension be lifted, his next scheduled start would likely be Saturday in San Francisco in an interesting rematch of last Tuesday's game that started it all.

Clayton Kershaw has been suspended for five games and fined an undisclosed amount in addition to being ejected from Tuesday night's game at Dodger Stadium. MLB vice president Bob  Watson issued the suspension to the ex-HP hurler for "intentionally throwing at" Aaron Rowland of the San Francisco Giants in the seventh inning of LA's 7-5 loss. Kershaw will appeal the suspension, which will keep him scheduled for his next start in the Dodgers' rotation Sunday against the New York Mets.

"I can't comment," Kershaw said in an MLB.com story. Kershaw received a standing ovation from the crowd as he left field following the ejection. "Yeah, I heard it. It was great."

Below is the link to the complete story, along with a video package of what led to  ejections, from MLB.com.

Link to story/video on MLB.com

If it wasn't his best outing of the season, perhaps Tuesday's game was the most dramatic of Clayton Kershaw's short career in the majors. Kershaw earned an ejection at the start of the seventh inning for hitting Aaron Rowland in the hip with the first pitch of the seventh inning. It was Kershaw's second bean of the game, as he hit Andres Torres in the first at-bat of the game.

It was the first ejection in Kershaw's career, and he left the field to a standing ovation. LA manager Joe Torre was also tossed. Here's more from the MLB.com story by Evan Drillich.