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Former HP quarterback Luke Woodley is transferring to Texas A&M. The Aggies were among the schools recruiting Woodley while he was leading the Scots to 11-2 seasons the past two years.  

Woodley signed with Louisville last fall and graduated ahead of his class in December in order to enroll at the school in time for the spring semester and prepare for the Cardinals' spring practices. He left Louisville in March, however, citing personal reasons.  

Woodley threw for 7,941 yards and 81 touchdowns in his three seasons on HP's varsity, completing 65 percent of his passes. He ranks just behind now-NFL starter Matthew Stafford in most of HP's career passing statistics, but is ahead on career completions.   Woodley joins former HP players Winston Gamso and Seth Gardner on the Aggies' roster heading into preseason workouts.   

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

OK, I know we just cover news and events relevant to HPISD athletics and the Park Cities as a whole. But I saw this in the daily newspaper here in the Quad Cities, Iowa, today and had to share.

The Quad Cities Times did not list its source as to whose betting lines they were publishing, but the Texas Rangers are listed second among the teams to not only appear in the 2010 World Series, but to win it. The New York Yankees, of course, lead the field with 3-to-1 odds to win it all. But Texas, with its six-game lead in the division as July comes to a close, are listed at 4-to-1 after opening the season at 30-to-1.

Have the Rangers ever been shown that much promise from a national sports organization, especially a gambling syndicate? Tampa Bay, which trails the Yankees in the AL East, is listed third at 7-to-1 with Atlanta and Boston fourth at 8-to-1.

I'm on my way to Iowa to visit family, and went straight up Highway 75 headed north. As we went through Sherman, I took a look at Bearcat Stadium, home to the Sherman Bearcats and site of HP's non-district game on Sept. 10. I did a double-take when on first glance the stadium's playing surface looked like pure dirt.

Sure enough, on the second glance there was no green grass to be found on what has been one of the few natural grass fields still left in the area. No yellow grass or any other color either, for that matter. Just brown dirt. So I looked on the Sherman ISD website, but couldn't find any information concerning the field being resurfaced. So the guess is either the Bearcats are going to be playing on Field Turf this fall (and work better begin soon), or they will be laying a stadium's worth of sod in the next few weeks to get ready for the season.

They've got time to work with. The HP game is Sherman's home opener after the Bearcats play on the road for their scrimmage and open the regular season at The Colony and at Little Elm. Coincidence?

Park Cities residents Fin and Charlie Ewing won their flight in the Texas Golf Association's Father-Son Championship last weekend at Miramont Country Club in Bryan. The Ewing duo shot net scores of 62-66-66 to win. 

Charlie Ewing, a stalwart as part of three HP state-champion golf teams, is a rising sophomore on the men's golf team at Vanderbilt.

Incoming HP freshman Scott Scheffler, 14, placed in another prestigious tournament over the weekend, parlaying his recent success after a runner-up finish at the Byron Nelson Junior Championships last month.

Scheffler, 14, finished third in the Charles Howell III Junior  Championship last weekend. The tournament is an American Junior Golf Association event at West Lake Country Club in Augusta, Ga. Scheffler closed at 1-under-par 215, four strokes behind Dru Love, the son of PGA Tour veteran Davis Love III.

Dodgers manager Joe Torre didn't say there's been a shuffle in LA's rotation, but he did announce today that ex-HP pitcher Clayton Kershaw will be on the mound when the Dodgers open the second half of the season on Thursday in St. Louis.

LA's  Hiroki Kuroda (7-7, 3.87 earned-run average) had been the No. 1 starter in the rotation for most of the first half of the season, with Kershaw (9-4, 2.96 ERA) second. As of Monday, Kuroda is slotted into the third spot in the four-game series in St. Louis. 

Whether this marks a pitching rotation change still remains in question, especially since Torre continues to ease Kershaw along with strict pitch counts and a few quick yanks this season.

LA (49-39) is tied for second place in the National League West at the All-Star Break, two games behind San Diego. 

Clayton Kershaw missed the National League All-Star team despite having credentials worthy of consideration. Kershaw's 116 strikeouts rank fifth in the NL, his eight wins are tied for ninth, and his earned-run average of 3.02 ranks 14th.      

Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel selected the NL's pitching staff, and perhaps his miss on Kershaw was due to unfamiliarity. Kershaw hasn't faced Manuel's Phillies this season.  

Here's an interesting point - the American League will feature six left-handed batters in its starting lineup, but Manuel has only one left-handed pitcher (Arthur Rhodes) in its entire pitching lineup. Kershaw, of course, is a lefty.