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December 2008
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March 2008 ArchivesWarning: This article is rated PG (Under 17: Parental Guidance Suggested) On second thought, perhaps a little guidance for us all wouldn't be such a bad idea. Ok, so do you want the good news or the bad news first? For the moment let's pretend to practice a little self-delayed gratification. So here is the grim news, your Texas Rangers are ranked 24h out of the 30 major league teams to win the 2008 World Series, according to ... If you insist on staying in the camp grounds at the Texas Motor Speedway, I found the perfect place. It's the home of Mike Bell, who is in charge of facilities security at the track. He lives in a house with a view of turn three. The house is owned by the track and is occupied by Bell so he can keep an eye on things. In the 90's, he worked for the Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys. "It's just like living in the country," says Bell... It was only fitting that I was mining Maverick first half fools gold against the Nuggets. Josh Howard scores 20 points in the first half, the Mavs are pushing the tempo, moving the ball, slashing to the hoop, and making shots. Maybe they can hang in there until Dirk gets back. Maybe they can put some distance between themselves and the Nuggets and release some of the pressure they're no doubt feeling. Maybe they can score half as man... IT WAS THE CLIPPERS PEOPLE!!! L.A. had about as much intensity as a bassett hound on valium. I'm sorry Mav nation, but that Clipper win meant about as much to me as the 5-game win streak that preceded the tri-fecta of terror. That might be over-stating that 3-game downer to the Lakers, Celtics, and Spurs, but you get the picture. Now, its time to prove you can win without Dirk. Its a 3-game west coast swing, starting with ... We were out at the Dr Pepper StarCenter in Frisco today for Dallas Stars practice. The mood of the team during practice was good -- several of the players were smiling during the workout, none more than Sergei Zubov. I think he's just happy to be nearly 100% healthy again. The team's recent skid, losing 7 of 8, has put the Stars in a situation very similar to the Dallas Mavericks. Both teams spent time earlier in the season in the up... The Texas Rangers announced today that Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Pitcher Kameron Loe have been optioned to the Minor Leagues. Saltalamacchia was beaten out by Gerald Laird, the third time that he has been the teams opening day Catcher. Loe has struggled with an ERA of 6.59, in just 13.2 innings of work. With these moves, the Rangers now have 33 players on the Spring Training roster, including 5 non-roster invitees. That figure... I woke up this morning realizing that the Adam "Pacman" Jones visit to Michael Irvin's talk show on ESPN radio Tuesday was more than a mere coincidence. In my view, it was strictly a public relations move to try and soften his checkered background so that when he signs with the Cowboys in a couple of weeks, the shock of who he is and what he's done in the past has been reduced. How did he end up on the ESPN radio in the first place? ... Mavericks Forward Dirk Nowitzki seemed to negotiate the stairs at the American Airlines Center fairly well, despite wearing a protective boot on his left ankle. Nowitzki suffered a moderate high left ankle sprain and a mild left knee sprain in Sunday's game against the Spurs. Asked if needs a Hyperbaric Chamber, like Cowboys Wide Receiver Terrell Owens used during his rehab process, Nowitzki seemed open at the idea. "I don't have any e... Dallas Mavericks forward and seven-time All Star Dirk Nowitzki, who left yesterday's game at the 3:18 mark of the third quarter, was re-evaluated today. An MRI confirmed he suffered a moderate high left ankle sprain and a mild left knee sprain. He is currently walking in a protective boot without crutches. Nowitzki (7-0, 240) has played in 69 games this season and is the Maverick lead... If there's one thing that seems to raise the hair on the neck
When the clock stopped at 3:18 in the third period of
Can you imagine how good the Longhorns men's basketball team would be this year if they had Seniors >> Continue reading: How Good Would They Be? After the Mavericks latest loss, Dirk Nowitzki was really down. I went into the Mavericks locker room and was a little surprised at just how bummed out he was. I've seen him after a tough loss, but this was different. He and his teamates had just held the Celtics to just 34 percent shooting, but still found a way to lose. For those of you keeping score at home, the Mavs now 0-7 against teams with winning record since Jason Kidd has come ab... It was interesting to watch two time defending NASCAR Spring Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson try to negotiate the ice at the Stars practice facility in Frisco. Johnson flew into town to take a hockey lesson from Stars Center Mike Modano. Chalk it up to another interesting promotional idea from Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage. "I think he's best suited as Race Car Driver and Modano is best suited to be a hockey player," Gossa... Most Americans have no idea what Premier League is. We have enough sports to follow without adding new foreign sports into the mix, right? Wrong. Even Nascar has its share of foreign drivers entering the sport every season. Believe it or not there are a surprising number of American footballers playing in England's highest levels of competition in Football. The only way Americans will follow a sport like "soccer" is if Americans ca... I'm not exactly sure why I kept watching when the Mavs were trailing the Lakers by 25 points in the 3rd period. I guess I just wanted to see if they'd have any heart. They proved what I thought I knew. Avery Johnson won't allow his team to be quitters, and the comeback they put on was stirring. But did you notice where number 2 was when the Mavericks made most of their headway and got back into the game. It was sans Jason Kidd, and... The last play summed it up. The timing on the inbound pass was a little off, Dirk mishandled it and the frantic shot was just a bit off. The Dallas Mavericks showed a lot of resiliency Tuesday night against the LA Lakers, but by the end of the 102-100 loss, it just wasn't quite enough. I don't like calling a loss good, but the Mavs have had a few that could fall under that category recently. Maybe the best way to describe it ... The stage at Texas Hall on the UTA Campus was actually packed with five local television stations, covering the Mavericks and their historic accomplishement on Monday. Preparations for Friday's game against number one seed Memphis won't begin until Tuesday, but it was obvious, this is a team that was still on cloud nine. The game is in Little Rock, Arkansas. Junior Forward Anthony Vereen doesn't like to fly. "I'm not a fan of flying ... The TV was on with the Mike and Mike radio show, and they had an interview with Dick Vitale. He was talking about teams that he thought should have made it into the NCAA tournament. It reminded me of a conversation he had on the air several years ago, probably 2001 or 2002, during ESPN's selection show. Vitale was complaining about severeal teams that he thought should have made the tournament but didn't. The anchorman, I think it was Chris Fo...
The news came three days after the Horned Frogs ended their season with their sixth 14-16 record and their third sub par .500 season under Dougherty. Sunday, athletic dir... A lot of TCU basketball fans, if there are any left, are happy tonight. Coach Neil Dougherty was fired Sunday after posting just one winning season in six years at TCU. Everyone at TCU wanted Dougherty to succeed. He had the reputation as a nice guy, great dresser, but the 75-108 record wasn't enough. He had just one winning season and followed up his 2004-05, 21-14 NIT season with a 6-25 record. Fans wanted him gone then, but he was g... As an avid golfer, Tiger Woods has provided me so much excitement that I've come to expect greatness. But on the 72nd hole of the Arnold Palmer Invitational I actually let out a yell. I hadn't done that in quite some time with Woods because when you expect the greatness, it doesn't come as a surprise. It was a 24 foot putt. Before it, Woods was 0-for-21 on putts longer than 20 feet at the tournament. I knew he'd give it a good run,... So I watched the TCU-UNLV MWC tournament game last night at a sports bar with a fellow TCU alum (shout out to Tom) and it was one heck of a game. Back and fourth, tons of 3s and even a controversial ending (questionable call that basically ended the game), but I was trying to look on the bright side, that maybe a loss will be good for the program. If they had won wouldn't that give AD Danny Morrison a reason to keep coach Neil Dougherty? ...Both the NBA and the NHL playoffs are going to be here before we know it. I was just wondering what other people thought about the chances of either the Mavericks or the Stars bringing a championship back to Dallas. Which team do you think has more of a realistic shot of bringing a championship home? Personally, I think the Mavericks have better shot of winning a championship this year. I know a lot of people really did not like th... Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage has noticed a new trend in NASCAR this year. Cheverolet, which dominated NASCAR last year, is winless so far this year. But his immediate concern is with the tire issue raised in Atlanta last weekend. Goodyear provided NASCAR teams with a compound that drove the drivers crazy. Did you see Tony Stewart's quote? He said this: "I can't say its surprising," he said. "Goodyear can't b... The Champions League tournament will resume the quarter finals and semi finals following Friday's drawing in Switzerland to decide the pairings for the eight remaining teams. Four of the eight are of English side. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United all hail from England, and two (Chelsea and Arsenal) are based in London, England. The other non-English teams are FC Barcelona(Spain), AS Roma(Italy), FC Schalke 04(Germany), and... The McDonald's high school All-American game will be played this year in Milwaukee, on March 26th. Tonight, a Ft. Worth McDonald's is hosting a send-off for the three Texas basketball players who will go: North Crowley's Willie Warren, Dunbar's Brooklyn Pope, and Kennedale's Destini Hughes. We'll have a story on those three tomorrow during our 6:00 sportscast. I watched Warren in North Crowley's state championship win over Fort Bend Du... So you want to talk about a learning experience. Try this one on for size. I received a phone call from the Texas Christian University campus CAMPUS CLASSIFIEDS ATTENTION:
Ok, the headline is a little deceiving. As a very proud TCU grad, I join many who are frustrated with the men's basketball program, but there is some good basketball being played by Horned Frogs! TCU women advance to Mountain West semifinals. A couple notes from the story... TCU is the top seed remaining and has won 11 ... The Mavs have looked great the past three games with dominating wins, but as good as they've looked they've done it against three teams (New Jersey, New York and Charlotte) that are all below .500 and play in the East. What fans should hope for is that this is tune-up time for the reworked Mavs with Jason Kidd. Momentum as they prepare for the playoffs. They have a couple more easy games (Indiana and Miami) before a tough str... Long suffering Ranger fans are bummin' again, they're team can't even get spring training right. G.M. Jon Daniels said the most important thing for the team headed into the season would be the health of the starting rotation. Ouch Jon! I feel your pain, and unfortunately so do many of your other starting pitchers. Nothing MAJOR yet, but they are the nagging type of injuries that'll steal much needed prep-time, and with this team, ... Avery's apparently been battling the flu this week. He left the bench area midway through the first quarter, but he's back now with 9:37 left in the 2nd period. Tune in tonight at 10pm for Maverick hi-lites. ...Something's not right at the Mavericks game. Head coach Avery Johnson left the bench area near the end of the first quarter and we're not sure why just yet. Mavs assistant coach Paul Westphal has assumed the head coaching duties Make sure to tune into the news tonight at 10 for the latest. ...
The good folks at the Society of Professional Journalist must have read my post from the other day. Actually, not, but they came to the same conclusion when it comes to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban banning DMN blogger Tim McMahon fr... Thanks for all the great e-mail on the Marques Haynes Story that ran a week ago Sunday on Dale Hansen Sports Special. There have been a few of you that heard about it, but didn't see it. Got you covered. Click here to watch Marques Haynes story. Marques is 81 and lives in Plano. He's forgotten more about the game of basketball than most of us will know. And talk... When Stars Forward Steve Ott left the ice on Wednesday, he still couldn't believe the NHL had suspended him for three games. Ott will be allowed to travel and practice with the team during his suspension, but his paycheck will be three games lighter. Ott is a victim of television replay which showed he left his feet to make a hit on Jordan Leopold during the first period. "I finished my check and didn't even know he fell," says Ott. ... Charles Barkley was in Dallas to speak at the SMU Forum. So how does he think the Mavericks stack up in the West? Barkley says his top 3 teams are San Antonio, Utah and the Lakers. He believes the Mavs have a chance to be that 4th team and is looking forward to watching them down the stretch. As for Head Coach Avery Johnson? Is he on thin ice? Barkley says every coach is. Every coach is going to get fired, says Barkley, its just a mat... Quick thought on Keith Davis signing with Miami: I remember at a Bill Parcells press conference (I think it was during the 2006 season) during which he said that if he could put only one player on the team bus for a game, it would be Keith Davis. That's how much value Parcells put on Davis' importance to the special teams. ...With March Madness approaching it brings up a good question. What's your favorite time of the year for sporting events? Here's my top 5: 5. Masters' Week - Golf at its best. The way CBS televises the tournament with all the cameras and great shots is terrific. I can almost smell the azaleas. Watching Tiger Woods make a charge in the final round is competition at its greatest. ...BLOG DRAMA And Mark's reasoning >> Continue reading: Blog Drama and My Blog By-Laws Hope you saw my piece on the Mavericks saying goodbye to Devin Harris Monday. The jury's still out on whether Jason Kidd can be the catalyst towards a championship, but this much is clear already - he makes like easier on Dirk Nowitzki. Here's the great nugget I culled for the piece. I ran Dirk's scoring numbers and here's what I came up with. In 57 games prior to Kidd joining the Mavericks - Dirk averaged 22.1 points/game. Since Kidd arri... TCU Men's Basketball Head Coach Neil Dougherty has been issued a public reprimand for his remarks regarding the officiating in the TCU versus BYU contest played Saturday, March 8. The public criticism, which appeared in the Sunday, March 9 edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, was in violation of MWC Sportsmanship Rule Sections 4.2-e and 4.4.5. The MWC expressed appreciation for the support of the MWC Sportsmanship Policy by TCU a... Former Cowboys safety and special teams standout Keith Davis is re-joining Bill Parcells, Tony Sparano and company with the Miami Dolphins. Can't blame Keith - it's a 3+ million dollar deal, and now he'll get a chance to start at safety. That spot was a revolving door last year in Miami. But it will hurt the Cowboys - Davis was the heart and soul of the Cowboys special teams. But not anymore - the Italy, Texas native is a Cowboy no more.... TCU's Men's basketball team left for Las Vegas this morning, where as the seventh seed in the Mountain West Conference, they're not given much of a chance to win the tournament. And that's a shame for a guy like Head Coach Neil Dougherty who has always been a standup guy and a nice guy. Danny Morrison, the schools athletic director has always said that all of his head coaches are reevaluated at the end of their seasons, but at 14 wi... Just a quick thought on the Jason Kidd trade. The media interviewed Kidd, Malik Allen, and Antoine Wright after the Mavericks' practice today. Allen and Wright don't do a lot of interviews, mostly because we don't ask for them. But both admitted today that the transition into head coach Avery Johnson's system has been tough. Wright said that he caught himself running New Jersey plays a couple of times during last night's Knicks game. Allen sai... The New York Knicks are terrible. This is not a shocking revelation -- their 18-46 record is proof enough. But seeing that garbage in person really is the only way to see just how absolutely terrible that team is. They gave up an incredible amount of uncontested lay-ups and dunks, as a result of both bad defense and bad effort. Zach Randolph put up 21 points and 14 rebounds, and he was awful. If it wasn't happening on the Knicks' offensive end... As the TCU men's basketball team prepares for yet another Mountain Fort Worth's own Kevin Langford and Brent Hackett have earned Keep your eye on Former Marcus Star and Desperados QB Chris Sanders. ...This is how they play basketball where I come from. The 3-A State Final in Iowa. Harlan and Dubuque Wahlert. Harlan was down 4 with 10 seconds to go but a lay-up made it a 2 point game. They steal the inbounds pass and Michael Kaufman gets the game tied at 67 with 2 seconds to play. But after a time-out, Dubuque's Eric May gets a shot off from mid-court and it goes in. Harlan, right up the road from my hometown Logan by... |
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