No Joshin'

'Boys Buc up: Dal 31, TB 15

2011-12-18T06:32:00.000-08:00

Dallas built up a monster first half lead that -- despite the doubts of the Twitter community -- even the Cowboys (8-6) wouldn't blow. Tony Romo tossed three touchdowns and ran for another in a 31-15 win at Tampa Bay much needed victory for morale (if not for the playoff picture) after a pair of narrow losses centered around missed field goals and poor time management.

Before dismissing this win as "a game the Cowboys should have won handily" which it was, that doesn't make it easy to do. How else do you explain the Rams rising up to beat the Saints this year. Or anything Denver has done the last six weeks? The Cowboys knew they had an inferior opponent on the road, and they handled their business. The last time Dallas was in that situation, facing a weaker team on the road that they "should have" beaten, the Arizona loss happened. So while the 4-10 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going nowhere quickly just a year removed from going 10-6 and missing the playoffs (allowing the eventual Super Bowl champion Packers to sneak in), nothing is guaranteed.

Romo led all four Cowboys TD drives in the first half, and Dallas led 28-0 at intermission. But the gaudy and primarily-first-half numbers Romo was able to tally (23/30, 249 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT) was more the result of an offensive line that was able to keep Romo upright, even when he was running into them on his own. The Cowboys offensive line has had serious issues this season, but they were able to overcome against a hapless Buccaneers team. In fact, at one point, Romo used what has to be the funniest snap count I've ever heard, "Come on, Phil!" beckoning for center Phil Costa to snap the ball.

On his first TD pass to Miles Austin, Romo had 7.5 seconds to bounce around the pocket, more than twice as long as a quarterback should hold the ball. The Bucs on 3rd down and goal only rushed three, dropping eight into coverage. On his second TD pass, a completion to the facemask of Dez Bryant, Romo rolled away from pressure and got rid of the ball within four seconds. When Romo passed to Laurent Robinson for the third Cowboys TD, he had five seconds to work with before rolling right and getting out to the numbers before finding his TD target.

Without running back DeMarco Murray, the Cowboys leaned heavily on Felix Jones, matching a career-high 22 caries for 108 yards, the first time in his career Jones has strung together consecutive 100-yard games. In fact, the running back we've seen the last two weeks has not looked like the No. 28 of the last couple years. That guy wasn't here during the first 12 games of 2011 -- had he been and had he remained healthy, Murray never would have exploded onto the scene. Perhaps Jones' injury, making way for Murray, gave Jones an up-close look of running tougher. The "Fast Felix" we saw during his rookie year still exists, as we saw during last night's 38-yard run to help set up Romo's TD pass to Laurent Robinson.

Romo spread the ball pretty equally to his receiving targets, as six Cowboys finished with at least three catches and no one with more than five. All three wide receivers -- Austin, Bryant and Robinson -- hauled in scoring catches, while tight end Jason Witten led the Cowboys with 77 receiving yards.

Defensively, Rob Ryan said before the game that he would fix the problems his unit showed in previous weeks. The Dallas defense looked less like "Doomsday" for opponents than for the Cowboys, unable to prevent long scoring drives against Arizona in overtime and New York in the 4th quarter over the last two games. The first impression from last night's game had the Cowboys defense on its heals as Bucs QB Josh Freeman scrambled 25 yards on 3rd and 5 on the game's first series of downs, but Anthony Spencer (who couldn't wrap up a sandwich last week vs. New York) chased down Spencer as he began to scramble on the very next play, stripping him after seven yards. Bradie James recovered the fumble, and the Cowboys took over with a short field. Seven plays later: 7-0, Cowboys.

With how well the defense played, this game can be looked upon like the DeMarco Murray conundrum after he ran roughshod over the St. Louis Rams. Murray's breakout game came against an awful run defense, but if you're not going to succeed against the bottom-feeders of the league, there's no way you will against the cream of the crop. Until his injury last week, Murray had been a solid back, proving his effort against the Rams was no fluke. Hopefully for the Cowboys defense, this game will be a similar launching point as pivotal December games continue.

How good was the Cowboys defense? And just how bad is the Tampa Bay offense?

The Buccaneers first drive, they gained one first down on the long Freeman run one play before Spencer's forced fumbe. After that, they didn't pick up another first down until the clock was inside of 6:00 in the 3rd quarter. After forcing a turnover, Dallas forced four 3-and-outs in the first half.

The Cowboys offense gave up just as many scores as the defense. Romo was strip-sacked on the first drive of the second half, and the Bucs defense returned the ball walking distance into the end zone.

When the Bucs offense finally touched the ball in the second half, they used 6:15 off the clock to put together a strong 12-play touchdown drive with a successful two-point conversion to pull within two scores, 31-15, with one quarter still to play. Tampa Bay turned the ball over on downs on both of their 4th quarter drives, and the Cowboys short-handed running game managed to churn down the clock as if Marion Barber was still in that three-year window called his "prime." In the 4th quarter, Felix Jones carried three times for 21 yards, and the just-signed-off-his-couch Sammy Morris proved serviceable with seven carries for 17 yards (he finished with 12 caries for 53 yards).

It does seem baffling that Dallas would need to give Morris 12 carries considering he admitted to reporters that he'd all but retired until his phone rang after DeMarco Murray's season ended last week. Dallas could have brought back Philip Tanner, who has been with the Cowboys since training camp and runs very similar to Murray, but despite Tanner saying he felt he could have been back this week, Dallas put him on IR last week to save a roster spot for John Kitna who then went on IR himself with a back injury. It's not that Morris wasn't good enough on the 12 caries he had -- he was -- but it's easy to get away with a journeyman running back against the sluggish Tampa Bay defense. Make no mistake, the days of Monte Kiffin's defense are long gone. If Morris can be as productive against the Eagles and Giants to finish the season, Dallas can win the NFC East. But in the event he transforms back into a pumpkin in Week 16, Dallas could be in big trouble when Felix Jones needs a breather. And if Jones gets hurt, forget any farce of a running game.

This team will go as far as Tony Romo and the defense will take them.

Dallas now prepares for a rematch of the only one-sided loss they've suffered in the Jason Garrett era. The Cowboys lost to the Eagles by 27 points on October 30. The teams other five losses this season are by a combined 20 points. In fact, under Garrett, the Cowboys have gone 13-9. Adding in the three losses last season under Garrett (3-point losses to the Saints and Eagles, and a 1-point loss at Arizona), the Cowboys have lost eight games under Garrett by the same point total as the single loss to Philadelphia earlier this year. Point being, it was an aberration for this team. And come next week, the Cowboys can set themselves up with a rematch against New York for the division crown. They must beat the Eagles for that to happen. Dallas is no longer in the position where it can rely on other teams to help them back-door into the postseason. Win and get in, starting with the Eagles at Cowboys Stadium.

In defense of Tony Romo

2011-12-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

A couple friends over at the Stubborn OXen sports blog asked for my two cents today on Tony Romo: franchise quarterback or franchise disappointment. Here is how the dialog started followed by my response:

Austen: The more I watch Tony Romo, the more I am confused by what he actually has to offer the Cowboys. I have long been a defender of him, despite hating the Cowboys and the entire state of Texas. However, this season is making me reconsider what I think about this guy. I feel like he has lost more games for the Boys this season than he has won.

Is Romo a top 10 quarterback? Does he have what it takes to get this team to a Super Bowl? Is he simply a good quarterback who just falters under pressure? What do you make of Romo?

Romo. Franchise quarterback or franchise disappointer?

Stally: Before we get going with this question, let me introduce Josh Feldman. Josh writes one of the few blogs we follow, No Joshin'. He's a sports broadcaster and a lifelong Cowboys fan, so he should be able to provide some good perspective on what's going on in Dallas. Now, to my answer...

Tony Romo's a franchise quarterback in my mind. I'm glad he's not running my team, but I have Tom Brady. Thank goodness I'm not, but if I were a Jets fan and given the option of Romo or Mark Sanchez, I'd take Romo without putting much thought into it.

Romo's a playmaker that finds a way to distribute the ball to all the different weapons he has. Sure, he's got some solid targets out there in Dez Bryant and Jason Witten, but where would guys like Miles Austin and Laurent Robinson be with a league average QB (like Sanchez)? Probably muddling around as slot receivers like Brandon Stokley after he left the Colts (kinda like the Jets' Jeremy Kerley).

The biggest issue is that Romo lacks confidence late in games. This is a mental issue, and something that's capable of being overcome. It's not a question of talent and it's not something that affects his whole game (like being soft, in Blaine Gabbert's case, for instance). He (and the Cowboys) remind me of my pre-2004 Red Sox. They'd always give me hope that they'd win the big games, but, deep down, I always feared they'd lose it and those fears were usually realized in heartbreaking fashion. But, as the Red Sox have proven, that didn't mean they weren't capable of one day figuring it out.

Tony Romo is basically the anti-Tim Tebow. He plays well for 55 minutes and then has some sort of mental block late that usually results in a stupid decision. The difference between the two is that Romo is legitimately a very talented quarterback and he shows plenty of intelligence and poise for much of the game. If Romo overcomes whatever mental issue he has that hinders him late in games, there's no reason why he and the Cowboys can't be one of the best teams in the league and contend for a Super Bowl. Not only this year, but in the next several.

Austen: Ever since I started watching Romo, I have compared him to Brett Favre because of his gunslinger mentality, and I think that still holds true today. He tends to throw balls into tight coverage often and makes throws while he is being hit or falling down, trusting in his athletic ability maybe a little too much. Like Favre, he is desperate to make a play, yet they do this for very different reasons.

Favre always wanted to make a play because he wanted to be a hero. It was his ego that drove him to try to attempt the impossible because the payoff for him was the glory of making a spectacular play. In Romo's case, it seems to be having to do with his own confidence problems, which leads him to try to make a play in order to prove himself to the media and the Cowboys' fans. Romo just needs to settle into his role as a starting quarterback and find some sort of confidence from all the talent he has.

His main issue as a quarterback is his leadership skills. His inferiority complex clearly effects his ability to lead others and that is why the Cowboys as a team seem to always fall short. Obviously a lot of that falls on the quarterback, but this is a team problem and not a Romo problem.

Had Dan Bailey made that field goal against the Giants, which was set up by Romo driving right down the field with 30 seconds left on the clock, Romo would have looked like a hero. Instead, everyone gets to nitpick possibly his only bad pass of the game when he overthrew a wide open Miles Austin on third down. Considering Austin has missed the majority of this season, is still not playing at 100%, and now claims that he lost the ball in the lights causing him to slow down, I'll give Romo a pass for a game in which he threw four touchdowns and had to overcome the loss of their star rookie running back.

The Cowboys defense has been awful this year and has put a ton of pressure on Romo. The Cowboys simply cannot win games when they give up so many big plays on broken coverage, which allowed the Giants to score two touchdowns in about three minutes.

If Romo just finds a way to be confident in his skills and to steps up into a leadership role on this team, the Cowboys could be scary good once they sort out their defensive backfield.

Oh my, where to begin...

First, let's start with what I believe is the question at hand -- is Romo a top 10 quarterback/franchise quarterback? -- before refuting and clarifying some of the beliefs, misinformation and fallacies about Tony Romo.

Is Tony Romo a top 10 quarterback? The easiest way to answer this is by simply going through the Cowboys schedule one week at a time and with each match up determining which quarterback you'd like on your team. It's an easy proposition for teams with Aaron Rogers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees (Super Bowl winning quarterbacks), but with a controversial QB like Tony Romo whose dynamic comebacks and clutch performances are only surpassed by the glorification of his failures.

The other quarterbacks on the Cowboys include Mark Sanchez, Alex Smith, John Beck, Matt Stafford, Tom Brady, Sam Bradford, Michael Vick, Tavaris Jackson, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Moore, John Skelton (Kevin Kolb was injured), Eli Manning, and Josh Freeman. Only Tom Brady and Eli Manning are legitimate quarterbacks to argue having over Romo. In fact, other than teams with the obvious franchise quarterback, someone who already has hardware in the trophy case, tell me another quarterback you'd want instead of Dallas' #9?

Those fringe franchise quarterbacks include Philips Rivers (who appears to be on a mission to get Norv Turner fired based on his play), Jay Cutler (who was nearly run out of Chicago after last year's NFC Championship game), and Michael Vick (who is about as healthy as one of his dogs). Tony Romo has shown more consistency over the last five seasons than all of those quarterbacks. By a long shot.

There are other quarterbacks like Tim Tebow, Joe Flacco, Alex Smith, Mark Sanchez. Their teams win, but arguably in spite of their quarterbacks, not because of them.

How importantly is a quarterback? Just ask the winless Colts.

Is Tony Romo a franchise quarterback? Absolutely. If he played for a franchise like the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions or Arizona Cardinals -- teams that really haven't had a franchise quarterback in the last 50 years or ever -- Romo would be the greatest QB any of those teams could ever hope for. But Romo is cursed with the same thing Troy Aikman had to deal with: following a legend in Dallas. Never mind that Aikman didn't come to Dallas until '89 and Roger Staubach retired almost a decade earlier. There was a six-year gap between Aikman and Romo too, but in Dallas, it's all about the Super Bowl winning QB, and until you bring home the thing, you'll forever play in the shadows of those who did, fairly or not. That is what Tony Romo is up against.

Is he a franchise quarterback? Yes. Has he lived up to the ridiculously high Dallas Cowboys fans' definition of a franchise quarterback? No, and no one will until the Lombardi Trophy returns to Dallas.

If anything, Romo gets better as the game goes on. There have certainly been exceptions this season, but take a look at those "exceptions" more closely, and you'll find that over his career and even in 2011, Romo has been plenty good in the 4th quarter.

If you had to name the top five 4th quarter quarterbacks in the NFL so far this season, who you put Tony Romo in that group?

If not, you'd be wrong. Tony Romo has posted a 103.9 rating in the 4th quarter this season, and based on the stats compiled by the Washington Post, only trailing Eli Manning, Aaron Rogers, Tim Tebow and the (always throwing because they're behind before he was hurt) Jason Campbell. See for yourself...

Frankly, this notion that Romo has a confidence issue -- a notion that y'all continue to perpetuate without basis -- sounds more like something out of a Cialis commercial than an NFL locker room. Where does this even come from? Austen, you made the point you feel like Romo "has lost more games" than he has won. Stally, you claim Romo is the anti-Tebow, turning back into a pumpkin during the final five minutes of the game. Both assertions need to be addressed.

Romo In The Clutch: This issue has been so overblown, I feel we need to start much farther back than this year (I promise, we won't go snap by snap, but you almost have to in order to make people see the light on this guy. Why he's such a lightning rod, I guess that has to do with the star on his helmet and the position he plays, but look at where he came from and what he accomplished.

An undrafted rookie free agent, Romo only made the Cowboys roster in 2004 after starting QB Quincy Carter was released after a positive drug test, severing the franchise's ties with the man who the team invested a second round draft pick in and who led them to the playoffs the previous year before losing to eventual NFC champion Carolina. Romo watched Vinny Testaverde, Drew Henson and Drew Bledsoe lead the Cowboys pretty much nowhere before taking the reigns six games into the 2006 season and leading Dallas to a wild card berth. If not for the botched hold by Romo, he would have led the Cowboys in an upset over the defending Super Bowl champions on the road. Keep in mind, the only reason it had been such a chip shot field goal is because Romo had led Dallas down the field to put them in position to win. As I wrote in 2006:

This year, Romo proved that he has what it takes to be the quarterback in Dallas. Without him, the 'Boys may not have even made the playoffs. Making the Pro Bowl was no fluke; the final five games of the season were.

The Bobble will not be as catastrophic as "The Catch," which not only launched a dynasty but crumbled another at once. Instead, it will most likely be looked back at as Romo's humble beginnings after a career of success.

A gaffe like that could have buried the undrafted rookie free agent now at the helm of America's Team. How was he supposed to come back from that? Parcells left following the season, and Romo managed to "pick up the pieces" en route to a 13-3 season in 2007. The record alone is impressive for a season-year starter (technically, his first full season, but really, it was Year #2 for Romo).

The fingerprints for Romo's comeback abilities trace to this season on a Monday night in Buffalo. Dallas trailed the Bills by 24-22 after a failed 2-point conversion with :20 to play in the 4th quarter. Keep in mind, Romo had already led Dallas on what could have been a game-tying drive in the 2-minute drill that would have forced overtime had T.O. not dropped the 2-point try. The Cowboys recovered an onside kick, and Romo completed two quick passes to set up a 53-yard field goal by Nick Folk. In fact, the only loss Dallas suffered that season prior to December came at the hands of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. (By the way, Stally, beating the Giants in the playoffs that year -- and Dallas would fail to do -- was not as easy as it seemed, would you agree?)

Romo had another great comeback in 2008 in Arizona, only no one remembers the game for anything other than the blocked punt that ended it. The Cowboys trailed the Cardinals by 10 points with two minutes left in the game before Romo led a pair of scoring drives to tie the game and force overtime. On the first play from scrimmage in overtime, Romo was hit awkwardly and broke his finger. Three plays later, the game was over. To any Romo detractors, I ask you this: how did Dallas fair without Romo that season? It wasn't pretty. There was a loss to the St. Louis Rams mixed in there -- and they were worse then than they are now!

There are other examples of Romo's clutch performances leading up to this season (leading a game-winning drive at Washington in 2008, Miles Austin's breakout game at Kansas City in 2009 (someone was throwing the ball), comebacks against Philadelphia and Washington in 2009, plus ruining the Saints perfect season that same year). In an injury-shortened 2010 season, Romo had Dallas on the brink of another comeback win if not for Alex Barron's holding penalty on the final play of the season opener in Washington. Obviously, there are games during the last five years where Romo has faltered, but the point is he does have a healthy pattern of success as well.

Romo This Season: In the season-opening loss to the Jets, Romo did throw a poor interception, but his other 4th quarter turnover -- a fumble while diving for the goal line is exactly the type of play that demonstrates why a Cowboys quarterback is playing against a stacked deck when it comes to the judgment he'll receive. If he'd slid feet first inside the five yard line, everyone would challenge his heart for not pushing toward the end zone. His criticism in this game was results-based. The interception was bad, absolutely, but the fumble would be like criticizing John Elway had he fumbled on his helicopter run during Super Bowl XXXII.

The very next week in San Francisco -- keep in mind this wrapped up a grueling four-week travel schedule that included games in Miami, Minnesota, New York and now San Francisco (in other words, all edges of the country) -- Romo overcame some terrible play-calling (the Miles Austin run) and led the Cowboys on a game tying drive before connecting with Jesse Holley in overtime for a long pass play to set up the game-winning field goal.

He did throw three second half picks against Detroit. How Bobby Carpenter returned one for a touchdown, it must have been Romo's present to a member of his wedding party. In that game, however, the Cowboys had not yet stumbled upon what they had in DeMarco Murray. It's easy to look back and say "they should have run the ball" but until that point, Murray hadn't had his breakout game against the Rams, and Felix Jones was running timid.

In fact, Romo has led potential game-winning or game-tying drives in each of the Cowboys last four games, seeing his efforts come to fruition against Washington and Miami with successful Dan Bailey field goals and watching the Cowboys crumble after Jason Garrett's timeout and Jason Pierre-Paul's block against the Cardinals and Giants. To say he hasn't gotten it done in the fourth quarter is to only look at the final score, not at how the Cowboys arrived there.

His leadership skills aren't a problem. This "confidence" question is unfounded.

Austen, your point about the Cowboys problems being team problems is spot on. Check the defense and special teams in some of the Cowboys losses. Dallas has lost six games, and the first two (New York Jets and Detroit) can be put squarely on Romo's shoulders. However the losses in New England, Arizona and at home to New York could have all resulted in wins with better 4th quarter play from the defense and special teams (the loss to Philadelphia was a blowout, so a lot would have had to work out differently).

Tony Romo offers the Cowboys a chance to win more often than "any given Sunday." Romo is the reason the Cowboys are a favorite most weekends. And unless you have a team with a quarterback who already has hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, you don't have a quarterback better than him.

Ice Ice, Bailey & can we believe in Garrett?

2011-12-16T11:43:00.000-08:00

Another missed field goal following a time out, and another crushing Cowboys loss to begin December 0-2. Is this really going to happen again?

The Dallas Cowboys' attempt to force overtime against division rival New York came down to Dan Bailey's right foot, but Jason Pierre-Paul blocked the 47-yard field goal to pull the Giants even with Dallas at 7-6, temporarily giving New York the tiebreaker in the NFC East. For Dallas, it's been another week of pondering two issues: 1. Did Jason Garrett learn to manage the clock by watching Andy Reid? And 2. Can Bailey make the clutch kick after a timeout is called?

The Cowboys don't need to worry about the latter. Dan Bailey has been the best kicker Dallas has seen since Chris Boniol's time in Dallas. Think about the other names that have come through town since Boniol's last year in Dallas in 1996: Richie Cunningham, Eddie Murray (again), Tim Seder, Jon Hilbert, Billy Cundiff, Jose Cortez, Mike Vanderjagt, Martin Gramatica, Nick Folk, Sean Suisham, David Buehler.

Of that bunch, Billy Cundiff was probably the most consistent despite kicking for the mediocre Cowboys of the Dave Campo era. Nick Folk appeared to be the long-term solution, but he fizzled in 2009 before regaining his footing with the New York Jets last season.

Rookie Dan Bailey has made plenty of clutch kicks for the Cowboys this year. In fact, after missing his welcome-to-the-NFL chip shot in San Francisco in Week 2, he went on to make the game-tying field goal to force overtime and kick the game winner in the same game. He kicked six field goals to push the Cowboys past Washington, 18-16, in Week 3. He booted a 39-yarder in overtime to beat the Redskins again, this time in Washington in overtime in Week 11. That game was followed by his most clutch boot of the season, the game-winner as time expired against the Dolphins on Thanksgiving.

In fact, it's because of Bailey's Turkey Day boot that Jason Garrett didn't call the timeout against Arizona and allowed the clock to run all the way down before Romo spiked the ball to set up a 49-yard kick for Bailey to win the game without having to go to overtime on the road in the desert.

Jason Garrett has had one stand out year as an offensive "mastermind," coming in 2007 when the Cowboys went 13-3 in the first season under Wade Phillips. That's the year he turned down head coaching jobs in places like Baltimore and Atlanta to stay in Dallas. Now he's at the top of the coaching food chain in the Metroplex (aside from Jerry, I know. Just let it go). And it's Garrett's responsibility to assess the best way for the Cowboys to continue to increase the number in the win column.

Against Arizona, Garrett thought a 49-yard field goal on what had been the reliable leg of Dan Bailey was better than putting the ball in the hands of Tony Romo and an offense that includes Jason Witten, Dez Bryant, DeMarco Murray, and Laurent Robinson to make it a shorter kick. Garrett made the wrong choice. It happens. He compounded that by -- and I can't believe I have to type these words -- ice his own kicker when Bailey first attempted the game-winner against Arizona. Garrett thought the play clock was running down, didn't think Dallas would get the kick off, and I do think it rattled Bailey having his own coach call a timeout.

Fast-forwarding to the Giants game that could have buried New York and all but clinched the NFC East. Once again this season, Dallas gave up a mammoth lead in a 37-34 loss, but the Cowboys had a chance to force overtime on another Dan Bailey kick. His 47-yard kick sailed through the uprights while whistles nullified a beautiful kick. New York called time out. At that point, it was easy to flash back to the previous week and Garrett's gaffe, but Bailey regrouped and put a good leg into his retry. The only problem came up front. The offensive line allowed Jason Pierre-Paul enough ground to leap up and block the kick to preserve the Giants win.

That fell on the protection, not the kicker, but in the end it goes on his tab. The only way for Bailey to prove he has moved past these last two weeks will be to keep on kicking. For Jason Garrett, in the unlikely event he sheds he robotic persona and just levels with the media, with the fans, with the world about what he's doing, perhaps he too can prove he has overcome.

During Bill Parcells' four-year stint as the head coach of the Cowboys, he had what can only be described as the gift of being incredibly blunt. He was as subtle as a swift kick to the crotch. This is the same coach who, when asked about Terry Glenn's status during their time in New England, responded with, "She's doing fine." Maybe it's because he has the skins on the wall to call out a player, or maybe it was because that in New England -- and here in Dallas -- players knew the buck stopped with Parcells. Do players fear Jason Garrett the same way? And if they don't, does he have any credibility when honestly assessing who needs to improve? And if he doesn't have that, is that way he won't answer questions but instead talk around them?

How much confidence can we have in Garrett? It doesn't actually matter.

But how much confidence does the locker room have in Garrett? There's certainly room for speculation.

Breaking down the Chris Paul trade aftermath

2011-12-16T07:30:00.000-08:00

Two days after the most recent blockbuster trade that shipped Chris Paul from the league-owned New Orleans Hornets to the Los Angeles Clippers, the dust is still settling and some fans and franchises are left unsettled by how this happened. The end result, Chris Paul is now a Clipper, and the NBA office is about as credible as a politician. This deal was absolutely going to get done without a doubt, no matter what. It had to. If not, then David Stern would transform from pariah to parasite.

“Let’s not talk too much about how the sausage was made,” Stern said late Wednesday after the trade sending Paul to the Clippers had been completed.

Of course he doesn't want to focus on that. This is the same butcher who didn't wash he hands before grabbing fistfuls of meat.

When the league nixed the three-way trade that would have sent Paul to the Lakers for what is claimed to be "basketball reasons," they were then putting themselves under the gun to make some trade -- any trade -- happen before Chris Paul played out his final year in New Orleans. Had Paul left for nothing in return, fans would have an eternal gripe with the NBA more so than any team that ever had Tim Donaghy ref a game. The league had to make a move but the Lakers removed themselves from the bidding when they dealt Lamar Odom to Dallas. The only serious bidder willing to negotiate with the equivalent of a basketball terrorist in Stern was the Clippers.

When Paul made it clear he wouldn't sign a contract extension with the Hornets and was interested in playing in Los Angeles, the Clippers watched while the Lakers' three-team trade for Paul was blocked by the NBA last week - and then they pounced, offering a deal that not even Commissioner David Stern could reject.

"It was a pivotal moment for us," Olshey said. "It took a long time to accumulate the assets for a deal like this."

It seems everyone can move forward as the 2011-2012 season is now nine days from tip off. Except when you consider all the different moving pieces it took for the Clippers, the last serious bidder, to pull off this deal -- a deal where they were bidding against no one else, why did they eventually cave and offer the king's ransom for which David Stern was asking?

It was just earlier this week that the Clippers-Hornets trade talks fell through after the NBA raised its asking price, demanding not only the unprotected Minnesota draft pick but also Eric Gordon, the Clippers top two trade assets. So what changed? Why were the Clippers willing to meet the demands after initially walking away from the table? Well, because the NBA needed this deal to happen, so by any means necessary, there must be a way to entice the Clippers into paying the steep price for Paul.

Enter the not-so-crazy conspiracy theory of Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski and the curious timing of the Clippers submitting the top offer for Chauncy Billips who had just been amnestied by the New York Knicks.

The coincidence was uncanny: Blind bidding on the amnesty waiver wire, several teams with a chance to claim Chauncey Billups, and somehow the Los Angeles Clippers made the highest offer. All these years owner Donald Sterling was the bane of the commissioner’s existence, and now David Stern needed him in the worst way. All the times Stern let the creep slide on professional and personal indiscretions, the NBA knew the Clippers were the final, most legitimate suitor still standing to bail the league out of its own self-created Chris Paul debacle.

So, yes, the Clippers bid just north of $2 million on Billups, and the NBA has left everyone justified to wonder about the purity of that process. No one blinked. No one voiced a grievance. Nevertheless, this is the fairest question of the post-lockout NBA: From Stern to deputies Adam Silver, Joel Litvin and Stu Jackson, how can anyone ever be sure – despite denials to the contrary – that someone didn’t tip Clippers management to make sure they placed the highest bid?

After all, Stern and his lieutenants were no longer playing commissioner and bureaucrats, they were playing basketball God in the NBA. This isn’t to charge them with fraud, but to simply say: There’s an appearance of impropriety that ought to be unsettling to everyone.

Wojnarowksi goes on to put it a little more bluntly:

Make no mistake: The amnesty bids were shuttled through the same office – the same desk – as the bidding on the superstar point guard. Whatever the outcome the NBA truly wanted, the assignment of Billups played a critical role in the outcome of the trade. It doesn’t matter that the NBA muscled a better deal than the one Hornets GM Dell Demps negotiated with the Los Angeles Lakers.

...

“Once it was the NBA running things, it was no longer a negotiation process,” one official said. “It was a shakedown.”

This entire saga, what should have been an easy trade to move along a player unhappy with his current situation became incredibly complicated when David Stern interjected himself into the proceedings under the guise of doing what's best for the league-owned team. Really, he's doing what's best for himself and the other NBA owners. Remember, they all own the Hornets, and as they try to find a buyer for the Hornets, they must do what they can do raise the value of the franchise to drive up the asking price. Combine that think-with-your-dick mentality with the fact that Stern is no longer interested in players dictating their "super-team destinations" a la LeBron James last year, and the league was fast to act to prevent the Lakers from reloading. In the process, the Clippers became a legitimate franchise. From ESPN.com's J.A. Adande:

The Clippers died Dec. 14, 2011, and will be a distant memory as soon as CP3 throws his first alley-oop to Griffin. Remove the italics. The Clippers just made their boldest move since relocating to Los Angeles in 1985. They brought in an All-Star in his prime.

...

The Lakers can complain all they want about the league shooting down the proposed three-way trade that would have put Paul in purple and gold. As the Clippers just demonstrated, trades can come back to life. Except the Lakers damaged their chances of re-forming the trade when they overreacted to Lamar Odom's pouting and shipped him off to Dallas for nothing more than a draft pick and salary-cap space.

So where does the NBA go from here?

Fans in unaffected markets (mainly the Eastern Conference) will go about their business. But out West, it will be a season of chaos and understandable excuses. The Rockets will slog through another year of post-Yao mediocrity without Pau Gasol, who they were just moments away from acquiring in the initial three-way trade before Stern's veto. The Lakers didn't get that shiny new point guard they coveted and are now without the reigning NBA Sixth Man of the Year and a player that, by all non-reality-TV-related accounts, should be a tremendous asset for the Mavericks moving forward. Worst yet, Chris Paul is now in the Lakers own division, in their own building. The league has forfeited any sign of legitimacy for the Hornets franchise.

Just know, as you watch the NBA season unfold this year, this is what David Stern wanted. Much like the architect of "The Matrix," he designed it. He built it. And he'll have to live with the consequences.

Clippers/Hornets trade fiasco is why Stern must go

2011-12-12T13:11:00.000-08:00

For the second time in less than a week, a trade that would send point guard Chris Paul from the NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets to Los Angeles has fallen through, and once again, commissioner David Stern is the reason.

Just days after Stern blocked a deal to send CP3 to the Lakers (who were willing to give up Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol in a three-team deal with Houston), the Hornets were once again back at it trying to wheel and deal the soon-to-be free agent, once again finding an interested buyer in the Southland. The Los Angeles Clippers stepped to the plate, working to create a package that would team up Paul with human highlight reel Blake Griffin. Instead, Stern upped the asking price to a point where the Clippers back out, and here we are.

You know something was amiss when the Clippers looked like they might become a contender. David Stern, however, was forced to raise the asking price at the 11th hour from the league-owned Hornets. Part of the controversy over killing the Lakers deal involved the fact that if the Hornets don't trade Paul, he leaves as a free agent after the 2011-12 season with New Orleans receiving zero compensation for his services.

When Stern, at the behest of other NBA owners, vetoed Hornets-Lakers-Rockets trade, he said the deal was nixed for "basketball reasons." As a result, the Commish painted himself and the Hornets into a corner. Stern must now as for a kings ransom and then some for Paul after turning down what was a more than reasonable offer from the Lakers. As a result, the initial offer made by the Clippers was deemed unacceptable, and Stern (yes, a league commissioner now negotiating a trade on behind of the Hornets), upped the anti. In fact, in this story from ESPN.com about the Hornets-Clippers trade, the name of the New Orleans GM isn't even mentioned. Why? Here's why...

At the NBA's direction, sources said, New Orleans was insisting upon the inclusion of both shooting guard Eric Gordon and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round draft choice in addition to former All-Star center Chris Kaman and prospects Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe.

The Clippers found the demands "too steep," according to one source close to the process, even after Paul told the Clippers he would invoke the 2012-13 option in his contract as part of the trade, ensuring that L.A. would have him next to Blake Griffin for at least two seasons.

Just re-read the first four words of that paragraph again:

At the NBA's direction...

This is an atrocity. Fans of both the Lakers and Clippers should be outraged in Los Angeles. Hornets fans must worry whether or not they'll get anything for the lone bright spot since the franchise moved from Charlotte. And the rest of the NBA should be terrified of even attempting a trade now the league is making the "fairness" of trades its business. Teams win and teams lose in trades. It's not the leagues place to attempt to make it "fair" for everyone. And the fact that the NBA must now ask for a new starting five for Chris Paul just to save face after blocking the Lakers trade is a farce.

David Stern should be forced out, not by the 29 league owners he works for, but by the fans. Stern has a responsibility to act in the best interest of the game itself, not the 29 owners who have a loophole into the management of a team with a superstar on the verge of free agency. The commissioner is no longer acting to serve the game or the fans. He has abused the trust of both, and for that, his time at the top of the NBA must come to an end.

Giant collapse: Dal 34, NYG 37

2011-12-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

How does this keep happening?!?

The most disturbing statistic that emerged from the wreckage of last night's Cowboys loss: the team has blown five leads of 12 points or more in franchise history. The first two occurred between 1960-2010, and three have come this season.

Dallas managed to capitalize on a pair of touchdown drives to open the fourth quarter, taking a 34-22 lead before the New York Giants scored 15 points over the final four minutes in New York's 37-34 victory that kicked every Cowboys fan between the legs and crippled even the strongest allegiance of backers of the blue star.

The Cowboys now trail the Giants for the NFC East lead, but with both teams tied at 7-6 and one game between them left on the schedule, each team still controls its own destiny. For Cowboys fans, don't worry about it though. That game, this season, should tell you all you need to know. Dallas had every opportunity to shut the door on the Giants and the rest of the division with a win. Sunday's game had many remarkable moments, and they will all be forgotten like Josh Hamilton's 10th inning home run in Game 6 of the World Series (yeah, remember how the Rangers had a lead in extra innings). Dallas entered this season projected to be around 8-8. If not for heartbreaking losses at the New York Jets and at home against the Detroit Lions leading to a 2-2 start, the team could be in contention for a first-round playoff bye. Instead the team may be saying bye to the playoffs before the first round arrives.

In the fourth quarter, Tony Romo connected with Laurent Robinson on a 74-yard pass to set up a six-yard TD pass to Miles Austin, giving the Cowboys a 27-22 lead with just under 13 minutes left in the game. On the Giants ensuing drive, the Cowboys defense did nothing to inspire confidence in an imminent Dallas victory. The Giants ran 10 plays starting from their own 20 yard line, including converting on 4th & 3 from the Dallas 37 on a 15-yard pass from Eli Manning to Mario Manningham. But on the 11th play of the drive with New York facing 3rd & 9 on the Dallas 21, Victor Butler tipped Eli Manning's pass and it somehow landed in the hands of Sean Lee. The second-year linebacker returned the pick to midfield, and two plays later the Cowboys were in the end zone when Dez Bryant defined wide open with a 50-yard TD reception.

34-22, Dallas. 5:41 left in the fourth quarter.

And yet, it's as if people pretend Eli didn't already lead a comeback drive in the Super Bowl against an undefeated New England Patriots squad that was destined to be known as the "Greatest Team Ever." Not to mention the fact that Manning did this just last week against the undefeated Packers only to leave too much time on the clock for Aaron Rogers to eek out a win.

Everyone knows the prevent defense "only prevents you from winning" but why do people keep going to it?

The Cowboys should be embarrassed by these losses. The loss to the Jets in New York was asinine, blowing the first 14 point fourth quarter lead in franchise history, but ultimately it had been pencilled in as a loss to begin the year. The collapse against the Detroit Lions seemed to be the result of something in Romo's brain "going rogue" in the second half. But this loss to the Giants, this reason for defenestration (yes, the English language has a word meaning "to throw yourself out of a window", from the french for window: fenetre), is the most disappointing of them all.

With a chance to all but close out the division (the magic number would have been 1 -- either one more Cowboys win or one more Giants loss) with three weeks left in the season, Dallas couldn't get it done. And everyone is responsible.

The Dallas offense put up great numbers. The team converted when it needed to on 3rd down. Romo & Co. was even able to get into field goal range with :46 seconds on the clock to set up a game-tying field goal (more on that later), but the offense had a chance to ice the game needing just two first downs when leading by five points with 3:41 on the clock. Instead, Dallas went three-and-out and gave the ball right back to Big Blue. Third down and five, Dallas opted to throw, which is fine despite the fact that an incompletion stops the clock. The risk-reward of that situation is :20 extra seconds for the Giants or a dagger in the heart of New York's playoff hopes. But when Dallas really, truly needed its offense to carry the load (because the defense clearly hasn't been able to do so), Romo lofted a ball over the outstretched arms of Miles Austin. It's being called a ball that was lost in the lights, but it sure looked like a blatant overthrow to me. Either way, it's unacceptable and it could have won the Cowboys the game.

Speaking of potential game-winning plays, Terence Newman dropped what could have been a tone-setting interception with nothing but open field in front of him. I understand the old saying of "if he had better hands, he'd be a receiver, not a cornerback, but there comes a point where you have to catch the ball and make the play. Rob Ryan's defense has certainly generated more turnovers than during the Wade Phillips era, but that's one pick the Cowboys had to have.

So many other Cowboys thoughts still to get to, but I need to let this simmer for a bit. More later.

Stern is full of it

2011-12-09T14:14:00.000-08:00

With more details pouring out about the NBA's blockage of a trade that would send Chris Paul from the league-owned New Orleans Hornets to the mighty mighty Los Angeles Lakers, it's clear David Stern has either lost control or lost his mind. Both explanations are still clearly on the table.

Earlier today, you read about how a blockbuster trade was undone at the league office level. Now NBA Commissioner David Stern has said that this decision is based not upon the fact that the majority of the other 29 NBA owners (aka: the NBA, aka: the owners of the Hornets) didn't want the trade to go through. In fact, now Stern says it's because this deal was not in the best interest of the league-owned franchise. From the NBA:

"It's not true that the owners killed the deal," NBA spokesman Mike Bass said. "The deal was never discussed at the Board of Governors meeting and the league office declined to make the trade for basketball reasons."

Basketball reasons? Oh, please.

While true that this deal is arguably a great benefit to the Los Angeles Lakers (who, despite being swept out of the second round by the eventual champions in last year's playoffs, are still only a year removed from consecutive titles), the deal is also a great benefit to the New Orleans Hornets. The franchise is going to lose its best player, Chris Paul, at the end of the 2011-12 season. That's not speculation. It's fact. He doesn't want to play there. This isn't LeBron potentially choosing to stay near home and play for Cleveland forever. Paul is from North Carolina. He went to Wake Forest. His first six seasons in the NBA were played as a Hornet, but he has no obligation to stay.

He wants to go. He's going to go.

Point being, once the 2011-12 season ends, Paul will be free. The Hornets, knowing he would be leaving, tried to do what any intelligent franchise would: unload him for something. Anything. Just don't let him walk away for nothing. There's a reason team's like the Seattle Mariners traded Cliff Lee to the Texas Rangers during the 2010 baseball season. Team's that know they can't or won't re-sign a player deal them before they end up being left with nothing to show for a talented star.

New Orleans GM Dell Demps organized a trade that would in fact benefit the Hornets. Right now, New Orleans has a fraction of a team under contract. They were trading one player for a total of four players -- Lakers star and NBA Sixth Man of the Year Lamar Odom and Houston Rockets players Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Goran Dragic and a first round pick from Houston (acquired from the Knicks) -- revitalizing their roster. Now, you might say none of the players they were getting are as good as Chris Paul, but the fact of the matter is the Hornets aren't going anywhere anyway, so they might as well get something for CP3 and begin the rebuilding process sooner.

The NBA declaring this trade was a bad basketball trade for New Orleans is lunacy. David Stern is doing this for what he (and a majority of owners) feels is in the best interest (read: financial interest) of the league. A league that just went through a lockout because many of the owners aren't profitably running their organizations. Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cavs flat out said it was about money in his email to the Commish.

Many sports fans already have a sense of distrust in the NBA. My brother, an avid sports fan, feels the league's credibility was more than questionable. It's hard not to feel that way. And I'm not talking about conspiracy theorists who want to talk about Patrick Ewing going to the Knicks -- I couldn't care less about that. I'm talking about the only major American professional sports league with an official who went to jail for betting on games he worked. It's a league where the average fan (and heck, even the hardcore fan) cannot identify what truly is and is not a foul. It's a league that is now being compared to a fantasy league with a vigilante commissioner wielding unchecked veto power.

The NBA's credibility is already shaky. Saying this trade was nixed for "basketball reasons" doesn't help.

"I feel betrayed by what happened on behalf of the sport, regardless of how protective I've been," he said. "This is not something that is anything other than an act of betrayal of what we know in sports as a sacred trust."

That quotation wasn't issued in response to this situation, but ask yourself if you feel it applies. Now understand that the quotation is from David Stern in 2007 after the NBA was rocked by the Tim Donaghy scandal.

Once again, the fans have a reason to distrust the league. In a world where Bud Selig is the commissioner of the major American professional sports league that has gone the longest without a work stoppage, David Stern is empty the chamber into his own league's foot with each new step this story takes. It's too late for the NBA to un-ring this bell. To allow the trade now as presently constituted would be to admit an egregious error and lose all trust. To prevent the Hornets from dealing Paul prior to him leaving after the season with zero to show for it would be even more responsible as the stewards of the league-owned franchise.

There will be no winners in this situation. It is unfortunate for a league coming off a work stoppage. The NBA appeared to have "saved the season" by working out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in time for basketball this year. Now the league is working to save face, whatever it has left, that is.

NBA blocking trade leaves no winners in its wake

2011-12-09T08:58:00.001-08:00

"Somewhere, Chairman Mao is proud of David Stern."
- Brad Williams, comedian & Lakers fan

It's hard to disagree with these sentiments that have engulfed Los Angeles and the NBA realm in a conflagration of disgust and distrust. Less than a few hours after reports of a 3-team trade that would send New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers for Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol, an insurgency of NBA owners forced the hand of league commissioner David Stern to block the trade.

First, a few ground rules:

Understand that David Stern works for the owners, not anyone else. So when he makes a move to block this, it's because he must. His bosses, the other 29 owners, wanted this to happen -- at least a majority of them.

Secondly, this is the biggest problem with a league allowing itself, and thus by proxy it's other owners, to own a team. The New Orleans Hornets are a financial mess and have thus been returned to the custody of the league rather than an owner who can't pay his bills. As a result, feel free to think of the Hornets as owned by Mark Cuban, Jerry Buss, Michael Jordan, Paul Allen, Mickey Arison, and the rest of the NBA owners, each with 1/29th of a piece of the Hornets pie. Now the people in charge of the purse-strings of the organization have direct conflicts of interest as owners of competing teams.

So when David Stern axed the Chris Paul trade, they not only made a bold statement about the truth reign of ~~terror~~ power the league has when it owns one of its teams, but they inevitably hurt the three franchises involved, the Lakers, Hornets and the Houston Rockets.

The letter written by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert sums up exactly where the NBA owners, each owners of the New Orleans Hornets for the time being, are coming from in their rational to block the trade. Some don't want the Lakers to gain a competitive advantage. For others, it's all about the benjamins, baby:

Commissioner,

It would be a travesty to allow the Lakers to acquire Chris Paul in the apparent trade being discussed.

This trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets.

Over the next three seasons this deal would save the Lakers approximately $20 million in salaries and approximately $21 million in luxury taxes. That $21 million goes to non-taxpaying teams and to fund revenue sharing.

I cannot remember ever seeing a trade where a team got by far the best player in the trade and saved over $40 million in the process. And it doesn’t appear that they would give up any draft picks, which might allow to later make a trade for Dwight Howard. (They would also get a large trade exception that would help them improve their team and/or eventually trade for Howard.) When the Lakers got Pau Gasol (at the time considered an extremely lopsided trade) they took on tens of millions in additional salary and luxury tax and they gave up a number of prospects (one in Marc Gasol who may become a max-salary player).

I just don’t see how we can allow this trade to happen.

I know the vast majority of owners feel the same way that I do.

When will we just change the name of 25 of the 30 teams to the Washington Generals?

Please advise….

Dan G.

I don't know how big a problem Gilbert would have had with this deal if LeBron James hadn't gone to Miami and thus returning his Cavaliers franchise to a small market, sad-sack destination that must once again rely on the NBA's revenue-sharing system for sustenance. Many teams rely on franchises like the Lakers or the Dallas Mavericks to overspend well beyond the cap, generating what used to be a dollar-for-dollar tax that went to help the rest of the league. But since the NBA's new CBA will institute a tax of $2.50 for every dollar spent over the cap, many teams -- including former big spenders like the Lakers or Mavs -- are looking to get under the cap before the storm hits (just look at the Mavericks opting to not bring back any of their free agents after a championship run this past summer ... more on that later).

The Lakers were trying to clear cap space, many believe in preparation for the Dwight Howard 2012 bonanza. But for 2011, the Lakers would not be a contender had this deal gone through, at least not any moreso than usual. Los Angeles was giving up Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol -- a Sixth Man of the Year and an All-Star. (Plus, they were going to get rid of one of the three Kardashians. What a great deal for the city!) But in return, they were getting a point guard who, while is certainly a great player in the NBA, hasn't proven he can be the lynchpin of a championship team.

Champions are won with big men. If the NBA really didn't want the Lakers to stack the deck and win it all, then they'd make sure Jerry Buss doesn't get within three states of Dwight Howard next summer. But this was not about preventing the Lakers from winning. It wasn't about doing what's fair for the competitive balance of the league, and it certainly wasn't done in the best interest of the team owned by the collective owners: the New Orleans Hornets, which by the way is the only reason the owners have any true right to interfere in the first place.

No. This was done for greed and self-preservation of the other 29 franchises at the expense of the Hornets.

New Orleans will lose Chris Paul in 66 games, one lockout-shortened season away. At that time, he leaves unabated into free agency and the Hornets will receive nothing in compensation. Nothing. Remember how little the Lakers gave to the Memphis Grizzlies to originally acquire Pau Gasol back in 2008? Yeah, New Orleans will get even less than that. NOTHING. The acting GM of the Hornets had an opportunity to at least gain some value, bring in some assets to the franchise for the team's only decent player. Instead, the rest of the league prevented it from happening.

How do they plan on unloading the Hornets now, exaclty?

It's unfair, it's unreasonable, and it's unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. In fact, the GM of the Hornets Dell Demps had to be talked of the ledge of wanting to resign after the league undermined what he'd worked out in -- what he felt was -- the best interest of the club. And he's probably the only one involved concerned for the true best interest of the Hornets. This from an ESPN.com article:

But Stern stepped in to nix the swap and leave all three teams with several shell-shocked players and officials heading into Friday's scheduled start of training camps, after the commissioner insisted for months that Hornets general manager Dell Demps and the rest of the team's front office had autonomy over basketball decisions. Sources close to the situation said Demps and teams that have pursued Paul had been assured the Hornets had the clearance to trade Paul as they saw fit.

"WoW," was Paul's reaction on Twitter.

Said Odom via his Twitter feed: "When a team trades u and it doesn't go down? Now what?"

Any time a player is traded and for whatever reason the trade doesn't go through, it's not exactly easy for that player to return to his organization, knowing he felt expendable or unwanted. The Rockets or Lakers will now open training camp today with a collection of unhappy campers rather than the teams their GMs had worked to assemble.

I realize that the Hornets, Lakers and Rockets are now in the process of appealing the league's decision to prevent this trade, but perhaps the only thing more stunning than this trade being blocked would be for the league, for Commissioner Stern to go against his employers (the owners) and reserve his decision. To do that would not only be admitting to what is a blatant atrocity against fairness and team autonomy, but it would also act as a slap to the face of the other owners Stern serves.

See ya, CJ

2011-12-08T09:21:00.000-08:00

It's official. Texas Rangers ace C.J. Wilson is going home to Southern California, signing with AL West Division rival Anaheim -- oops, I mean the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim -- this morning. The Rangers home-grown ace inked a five year, $77.5 million deal to stay in the AL West after leading Texas to consecutive World Series.

Rangers fans need to realize a few different things on this note:

First and foremost, this is a significant loss. Don't talk about how "he choked in the postseason" or mention the hit batter with the bases loaded against the Cardinals. It's simply not relevant. The Rangers wouldn't have been in the World Series, let alone the post season without CJ Wilson's contributions. In 2011, he went 16-7 in 34 starts with a 2.94 ERA in the American League. He made 34 starts. Seriously, 34. Wilson worked 223.1 innings. Forget the fact that his numbers were outstanding, but who is going to eat up those innings for Texas in 2012? Martin Perez will likely debut out of the bullpen. Neftali Feliz needs to be stretched out from his role as a closer. Scott Feldman needs to stay healthy, and the Amish Assassin and 2010 Opening Day starter could move back into the rotation. But for now, nothing is certain except that Wilson won't be back.

Secondly, all the ill-will toward C.J. Wilson seems a little misguided. Who did he sign with here? He didn't take the Miami Marlins money -- money that I'm still not sure isn't being funneled through some Sheik overseeing an oil field in the MIddle East. He went home. He's a SoCal guy, and he'll now get to ply his craft at home. He's from Newport Beach, California, which is 20 minutes from the Big A. He went to Loyola Marymount University before the Rangers drafted and developed him.

The dream of every little leaguer is to grow up and play in the big leagues. And 99 times out of 100, that little leaguer dreams of playing at home for the nearest big league team. Well, that's exactly what C.J. Wilson is doing.

Hey, I want to be a baseball broadcaster. Right now, I call games for the Kannapolis Intimidators in North Carolina. If the opportunity presented itself to call games in my home state of Texas, I'd be hard pressed to ignore that (granted, I do get my Metroplex fix broadcasting high school football each fall).

C.J. Wilson comes off as incredibly cocky, arrogant, and a braggart. But there are plenty of worse personalities in clubhouses across MLB. Fans shouldn't be booing him for that. The same way that any Rangers fan would be wrong to boo Cliff Lee, they would be equally wrong to treat C.J. with anything but respect and an appreciation for taking our Rangers to the promised land.

Cliff Lee was a hired gun who spent a half-season in Texas, a magical half-season that saw the Rangers win their first ever playoff series as Lee beat the Tampa Bay Rays on the road in Games 1 and 5. Well after he left, the pressure well to fellow lefty C.J. Wilson to get the Rangers back. Last time I checked, the Rangers went back to the Fall Classic, and Wilson was a big part of that. This is not a back of the rotation starter (although he might be in Anaheim behind all the arms they've stockpiled), but for the Rangers, he was the ace this past season. There is absolutely no denying that.

I still hate the Angels. I still don't want them to win. I hope C.J. and the Halos are not as successful as the Rangers next year, because that's where my loyalties as a fan lie. But I certainly have no ill-will toward a player who wants to spend his career playing in front of friends and family in Orange County.

Anyone Rangers fan who criticizes C.J. for wanting to play at home isn't thinking rationally. They're thinking like a spurned fan, which this morning we are. C.J. left us. The options were Texas, Miami and Anaheim: a current power in the AL, the new kid with all the cash, and going home. Texas may be the current top dog of the American League, but it's not the Angels are too far removed from success. They owned this division for the better part of the 2000s. And with Wilson (and let's not forget Albert Pujols), they must be considered a favorite to get back on top of the AL West in 2012. To claim Wilson is leaving a winner for Anaheim is asinine. The Angels are and will continue to be a successful franchise. Wilson only helps solidify their positioning.

We (still) run LA: USC 50, ucla 0

2011-11-27T08:03:00.000-08:00

What's the difference between a Pac-12 South Champion and merely a division representative playing in the conference championship game?

Answer: 50 points.

USC has spent the last two years with an arm, a leg and 30 scholarships tied behind its back. Still the Trojans made sure that anyone under the illusion of a closer gap between the two Los Angeles schools was abruptly slammed back to reality. By the end of the night, I couldn't tell if the chants of "One more year!" were for Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley or for UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel. Either way, it would be good news for USC.

The Trojans dominated UCLA, 50-0, in their final game of the 2011 season. USC is still under sanctions for "not knowing, but should have known" an agent gave Reggie Bush a house seven years ago. But after last night's performance, you can't quite say USC is still reeling from some of the harshest punishments doled out by the NCAA since SMU was slapped with the death penalty in the late 1980s.

The Bruins have every right to enjoy their default berth into the inaugural Pac-12 Championship game next week versus Oregon, who lost to USC in Eugene, Ore., earlier this season (the only other Ducks loss was to No. 1 LSU at Cowboys Stadium to open the year). Heck, UCLA could even play their way into a BCS Bowl with a win over Oregon. But even if they go on to win the Pac-12, they'll still know they weren't the champs. They'll know they didn't truly earn it.

To be the best, you have to beat the best, and neither Pac-12 Conference representative in next week's championship game has proven that this season. UCLA. Oregon. It doesn't matter. One of you may get a shiny new trophy for the display case in Westwood or Eugene, but when you look back on 2011, everyone in the footprint of the conference will remember it as the year that was won by technicality, when the true conference champion -- still heavily sanctioned (and yet we wait for the other shoe to drop at Ohio State and Miami) -- dominated whoever will falsely wear the crown.

The Pac-12 has said that USC can call itself the "first place" team but cannot declare itself the champions. That's fine. We still know. The same way that Trojans still know 55-19 happened. The same way we know Reggie earned the Heisman. It's easy to tell when someone is peddling a product that no one is buying, and right now the conference is trying to unload plenty of aluminum siding. Sorry, but no takers here.

USC still runs LA.

USC still runs the Pac-12.

And if Matt Barkley returns next season, USC runs the table.

Fight on!

Frisco Kilgore Highlights

2011-11-26T17:54:00.000-08:00

Listen in to some of the audio highlights of the Frisco Fighting Raccoons and Kilgore Bulldogs 4A Div II playoff game from this weekend in Forney, Texas.

Frisco Kilgore 2011 Playoff Highlights (mp3)

Martin Trinity 2011 Highlights

2011-11-26T16:50:00.000-08:00

Hear some of the highlights of today's Texas 5A Division I High School football playoff as Arlington Martin beat Euless Trinity, 19-7, to advance to the Regional Finals next week.

Trinity Martin 2011 Highlights (mp3)

Thankful for a kicker: Dal 20, Mia 19

2011-11-24T17:49:00.000-08:00

It didn't have the ease of the wins over Buffalo or St. Louis. It wasn't as meaningful as another season-sweep of the Redskins. But tonight's Thanksgiving Day victory over the Miami Dolphins is the best possible springboard for a franchise that desperately needs to avoid another disappointing December.

The Dallas Cowboys rode the right leg of Dan Bailey 28 yards for the game-winning field goal as time expired in a 20-19 win at Cowboys Stadium on Thursday afternoon. With Bailey's 26th straight made field goal, dating back to the chip-shot he missed early in the OT win at San Francisco, Dallas improved to 7-4 and claimed a half-game lead in the NFC East over the New York Giants.

The Cowboys were able to get touchdowns while too often the Dolphins settled for three-pointers. In all, Miami kicked four field goals, and none of them was longer than 28 yards. In fact, the four Shayne Graham kicks of 26, 28, 27, and 23 yards were all the result of a Dallas defense that bent but failed to break once Miami entered the red zone. Miami faced 4th down on the Dallas nine, 11, 10, and six yard line, and each time they trotted out a kicker.

Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan's unit surrendered 352 yards on the afternoon, including 263 through the air by former Cowboys practice squad QB Matt Moore, but the Cowboys defensive success on third down made this victory possible. The Dolphins converted 3-of-12 third downs.

While the Dallas offense wasn't much better (2-of-9), Tony Romo managed to avoid a sure sack and loft the ball to Jason Witten on a crossing route on 3rd and 3 from the Miami 23 yard line. Witten picked up enough for the first down before being tackled into a cheerleader, and one play later Romo found Laurent Robinson in the corner of the end zone for a 17-16 lead. The Cowboys capitalized -- the Dolphins didn't.

Miami failed to take advantage of two ugly first quarter interceptions. On the Cowboys opening drive, Romo aired the ball out deep for Martellus Bennett, but Vontae Davis made a great adjustment to step in front of a ball thrown too low. If Romo lofts the ball higher, Bennett has an opportunity to run under it and make a catch. Instead, he's waiting to intersect with a ball thrown on a rope, and Vontae Davis beats him to the punch. Reggie Bush ran for seven yards on first down, but a pair of Matt Moore incompletions later led to the Dolphins first of four punts. Two Cowboys drives later, Dallas had the ball on its own three yard line. After a pair of DeMarco Murray runs gained a first down, Romo targeted Laurent Robinson, but Sean Smith undercut the route for the second interception of the first quarter, setting up Miami with 1st and 10 on the Cowboys 26. The Dolphins could only gain one first down before settling for a field goal.

Meanwhile the Cowboys secondary struggled much of the day. Dallas committed 11 penalties for 69 yards, and every member of the secondary had at least one flag thrown on them. Alan Ball was flagged for pass interference, providing 20 complimentary yards for the Dolphins en route to a field goal. Abe Elam's illegal contact penalty on third down gave Miami a fresh set of downs instead of forcing a punt from their own territory. Later in the drive, Frank Walker's late hit set up 1st and Goal for Miami on the three yard line. (Speaking of late hits, how the Cowboys didn't get a few extra yards when Witten was dragged into that cheerleader is beyond me.) Regardless, Rob Ryan's defense turned the Fish back, and they settled for a three-pointer yet again.

And while it wasn't an accepted penalty, Terence Newman was draped all over Brandon Marshall who still managed to haul in a 35-yard touchdown grab for Miami's only TD of the day. If Newman is going to commit PI, at least make sure the receiver doesn't catch the ball!

It's easy to be "thankful for a win" today, but I'm really more thankful of the different adjustments that seemed obvious yet took far too long to come about. Fortunately, Dallas made the changes necessary to put this team in position to continue it's now four-game winning streak.

Felix Jones returned kickoffs. Brilliant. As a rookie in 2008, Felix Jones was an explosive back with the potential to electrify the Cowboys with a long kick return. He ran one back for a touchdown that year, and he showcased his quickness at several other points in the season. Some have said that he has lost a step since coming into the league, but the only thing he has clearly lost is his starting job to DeMarco Murray. As a result, Jones can be a bigger asset to the Cowboys by rotating into the backfield when Murray needs a breather and presenting a legitimate threat as the team's kick returner.

I'll put it this way, Cowboys fans, would you rather have Felix Jones deep to receive or Aquasi Owusu-Ansah? Felix may not have the speed of three or four years ago. But even if he does, that won't be proven until he breaks a big run from scrimmage or accelerates for a large return. The potential is there. Whether it happens or not is still to be seen. With "AOA" the potential for a big return doesn't exist. As long as DeMarco Murray is the feature running back, Felix Jones should be returning kicks.

Staying with the return game, the Cowboys forced a Dolphins three-and-out after giving them the ball back with 4:47 left in regulation. Owusu-Ansah began to run onto the field but was recalled quicker than lead-based toys. Dez Bryant had trouble finding his helmet, but he buckled his chin strap and made it onto the field just in time to receive the Miami punt on his own 16 yard line. Dez cut right and sped forward to 20 yards up to the 36, putting Dallas only 64 yards for a touchdown and only 41 yards away from comfortable field goal range (40 and in). Bryant had not been back to return a punt yet in the game, despite the ample punt-receiving opportunities (the teams combined for nine punts on the afternoon).

I understand with Miles Austin still injured the Cowboys are being more careful with Dez Bryant. They are less willing to use him in on special teams regularly, but this was an opportunity where the Cowboys put their best players in position to make plays. You hear it all the time -- let your playmakers make plays. Again, I'm not trying to just kick Aquasi Owusu-Ansah between the legs with each new paragraph, but he's just not as good as Bryant. That's not breaking news. The Cowboys read the situation and reacted appropriately. That hasn't exactly been a regular occurrence in Dallas.

Offensively, the Cowboys seemed relatively stagnate throughout most of the game. Murray carried 22 times for just 87 yards, far from one of his breakout games, but he was effective enough to force Miami to respect the ground game. Romo went 22/34 for 226 (a 6.6 yards-per-attempt average) with a pair of touchdowns to Robinson and the two first-quarter picks. It was far from his best game this season, but he got the job done when it mattered -- the final drive.

When Dallas got the ball back with 2:59 left in the game, the team trailed by two points with a chance to drive for the win. Dallas ran 10 plays and moved 54 yards before Dan Bailey kicked his game-winner with 0:03 seconds left. Romo went 2-for-3 for 29 yards on the game-winning drive, and Murray ran five times for 27 yards. The team's key players stepped up when it counted. Prior to this year, we hadn't seen that from the Cowboys.

Bailey has now kicked the Cowboys to victory in the last two minutes of the 4th quarter or in overtime four times in the team's seven wins (San Francisco, Washington, Washington and Miami). The other three were decisive victories over St. Louis, Seattle and Buffalo. Bailey may be only a rookie, but his streak of 26 consecutive field goals must inspire confidence. Even though Nick Folk was ostensibly the kicker of the future in Dallas after a strong rookie campaign in 2007, he didn't have as many big kicks as Bailey has been counted on for in 2011.

Dallas is a better team than Miami. I would have liked to believe they were more than one point better, but a win is a win in the NFL. When teams like St. Louis can defeat New Orleans or the Tim Tebow-led Denver Broncos knock off the New York Jets, I'll settle for a Cowboys win any way they can get it.

Happy Thanksgiving. Go eat.

Vick-timized: Phi 34, Dal 7

2011-11-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

My, that was unpleasant.

As if the Metroplex sports fan hadn't had a rough enough time seeing the Texas Rangers come perilously close to a World Series championship, the Dallas Cowboys -- almost on cue -- played their worst game since last season's clunker in Green Bay that resulted in the team firing head coach Wade Phillips.

First year head coach Jason Garrett hadn't been on the wrong side of a blowout until Sunday night's 34-7 drubbing at the Linc, but in a game where Dallas could have buried Philadelphia for the season, instead the Cowboys found themselves six feet under before the second quarter arrived.

The Eagles took the opening drive 79 yards for an early 7-0 edge. Dallas found its foot stuck in a bucket on 1st and 20 on the Cowboys first possession. After a punt to the Eagles 10 yard line, Philly drove 90 yards for a 14-0 lead. Three plays later, Tony Romo's pass to Martellus Bennett was bobbled and batted into the air where Nnamdi Asomugha gladly opened his arms to receive an early Halloween treat.

Game over.

The Eagles marched down the field yet again, this time a 61-yard drive to make it 21-0.

This loss was so ugly, I almost would have rather watched the David Freese walk-off home run from Game 6 of the World Series on a continuous loop instead of suffering through the second half of a game that had been decided long before intermission.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the loss is not that the Cowboys laid an egg under Jason Garrett. It was bound to happen. In fact, up until last week's blowout of the Rams, every single game under Garrett had been close (for better or worse). Every team throws up a clunker. Heck, the New Orleans Saints somehow lost to those same Rams just one week later. But the fact that it was this team that Dallas allowed to clobber them.

And the excuses only make it worse.

Philly was at home. Philly was desperate. A loss would virtually end the Eagles post-season hopes, a dagger to the heart of the dream team. They needed it more, and came out swinging. For lack of a better metaphor and with no pun intended regarding Michael Vick, if you corner a rabid dog, expect it to attack. And the Eagles did just that. That's what makes it so frustrating.

The Cowboys were in this spot a year ago. On the verge of being buried alive in a season that everyone hoped would end with a Super Bowl at the home stadium. Instead, the Cowboys suffered through an injury to the franchise quarterback and terrible loss after terrible loss, watching that dream turn into a nightmare. Dallas could have enacted that same nightmare on Philadelphia, the team that has virtually owned the division since Andy Reid took over. It didn't happen. Dallas came out flat, and now it's the Cowboys at 3-4 who have little chance to leapfrog both Philly and New York without getting on a strong hot streak in November.

Fortunately for Dallas, plenty more rams (and teams like the Rams) are available on the Cowboys' schedule for slaughter. If ever Dallas needed to take out its frustrations on a hapless organization just looking to get beaten, they've got Seattle coming to town this weekend.

And yet, it's hard not to think, just for a little bit, if any hangover from the defeat in Philly combined with a potential fast start from the Seahawks could result in another layer of dirt being tossed upon the Cowboys' 2011 season. Dallas cannot afford a loss to Seattle. Frankly, they couldn't afford a loss to the Eagles after letting games against the Jets and Lions slip away.

Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan referred to the Eagles as the "All-Hype" team before the season, and the Eagles lived up to it against the Cowboys. It wasn't the offense that hung Dallas out to dry. But when an opponent scores on each of their first seven possessions, there's no offense this side of "The Greatest Show on Turf" that can keep up. Maybe if Martellus Bennett makes that catch in the first quarter, the bleeding can stop if Dallas finds the end zone. A 14-7 score is still anyone's ball game. So is 21-7. But the Cowboys couldn't keep up with Philadelphia. Ryan's defense was impotent trying to stop Michael Vick (21-28, 279, 2 TD) and running back LeSean McCoy (30-185, 2 TD).

The Cowboys need to unleash hell on Seattle this week to get back to .500 at the season's midway point. A win is a win, but a squeaker against Seattle should signify the end of another fruitless Cowboys season.

Game 7: Still a hell of a run

2011-10-28T21:14:00.000-07:00

The Texas Rangers fired every bullet in their chamber last night and fell short in Game 6 of the World Series, missing on a pair of opportunities to claim the franchise's first title when St. Louis found itself down to its final strike. Tonight, the Cardinals closed the series out in St. Louis, 6-2 in Game 7 for their 11th World Series championship. The fact that this team came so close -- again, one strike away twice in Game 6 -- makes it so much more painful, but maybe the most healthy thing Rangers fans can do is take a step back, or ten, and look at just how far this organization has come.

The Rangers made it to Game 7 of the World Series.

The Texas Rangers!

Last year's ride that ended against a super San Francisco pitching staff in five games was magical just to experience the Fall Classic for the first time. This season, yes, expectations were raised. Those expectations skyrocketed when Texas took a 3-2 lead going back to St. Louis. Those same high expectations came one strike away from reality -- twice -- before eventually succumbing to the Cardinals.

Part of me wants to go on a witch hunt for scape goats. My brother's graphic regarding Game 7 home plate umpire Jerry Layne's strike zone is a humorous beginning as we light our torches.

But the witch hunt doesn't need to start and stop at the Game 7 crew chief. Texas had its chances. This isn't the Dallas Mavericks in 2006 against the Miami Heat -- although it certainly crossed my mind more than once on Twitter, especially in the fifth inning when Scott Feldman allegedly walked Yadier Molina. When it comes down to it, however, the Rangers were in control of their own destiny and their carriage turned back into a pumpkin three nights before Halloween.

The bullpen that was so strong throughout the entire 2011 season, ALDS, and ALCS. That same bullpen disintegrated against the Cardinals in the Fall Classic. The pitching staff in general fell victim to walks that didn't come back to bite them in the earlier rounds of the postseason. Texas set a new record for walks in a World Series with 41 over this seven-game set, and too many of them came around to score.

In Game 7, the Rangers walked six batters (one intentionally) with three of them coming around to score. Scott Feldman walked in a run, and CJ Wilson hit a batter with the bases loaded to score another. Overall in the postseason, Texas played with too much fire (77 walks in 17 games) to not get burned. Here's a look at the walks, intentional walks, and subsequent runs during this playoff run:

Round Game Walks (IBB) Scored
ALDS 1 vs. TB 2 (0) 1
ALDS 2 vs. TB 4 (0) 1
ALDS 3 at TB 5 (0) 0
ALDS 4 at TB 3 (0) 2
ALDS TOTAL 14 (0) 4

Round Game Walks (IBB) Scored
ALCS 1 vs. DET 6 (1) 0
ALCS 2 vs. DET 6 (1) 0
ALCS 3 at DET 2 (0) 0
ALCS 4 at DET 5 (1) 0
ALCS 5 at DET 3 (0) 0
ALCS 6 vs. DET 0 (0) 0
ALCS TOTAL 22 (3) 0

Round Game Walks (IBB) Scored
WS 1 at STL 6 (2) 0
WS 2 at STL 4 (0) 0
WS 3 vs. STL 6 (1) 5
WS 4 vs. STL 3 (0) 0
WS 5 vs. STL 9 (4) 2
WS 6 at STL 7 (1) 1
WS 7 at STL 6 (1) 3
WS TOTAL 41 (9) 11

Round	Game	Walks (IBB)	Scored
ALDS	1 vs. TB	2 (0)	1
ALDS	2 vs. TB	4 (0)	1
ALDS	3 at TB	5 (0)	0
ALDS	4 at TB	3 (0)	2
ALDS	TOTAL	14 (0)	4

Round	Game	Walks (IBB)
ALCS	1 vs. DET	6 (1)
ALCS	2 vs. DET	6 (1)
ALCS	3 at DET	2 (0)
ALCS	4 at DET	5 (1)
ALCS	5 at DET	3 (0)
ALCS	6 vs. DET	0 (0)
ALCS	TOTAL	22 (3)

Round	Game	Walks (IBB)	Scored
WS	1 at STL	6 (2)	0
WS	2 at STL	4 (0)	0
WS	3 vs. STL	6 (1)	5
WS	4 vs. STL	3 (0)	0
WS	5 vs. STL	9 (4)	2
WS	6 at STL	7 (1)	1
WS	7 at STL	6 (1)	3
WS	TOTAL	41 (9)	11

The Rangers walks were certainly part of the problem, but the bullpen's collapse -- a bullpen that looked like it would be the reason Texas would win the series -- became the team's fatal flaw over this seven game series. This team's starting rotation was never heralded as a great rotation like the 2010 Giants staff we ran into that featured Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgardener.

Somehow starters CJ Wilson, Colby Lewis, Derek Holland and Matt Harrison as well as regular season starter Alexi Ogando forged one of the most consistent starting rotations in the big leagues in 2011. In the post season, however, things got a little dicey. After starters earned decisions in all four games against Tampa Bay, the bullpen earned all four wins in the ALCS and two of the three victories in the World Series.

We didn't see the same bullpen against St. Louis. Alexi Ogando was un-hittable against Detroit in the ALCS and somehow looked liked a 2010 version of Derek Holland when he reached the World Series. Neftali Feliz had never blown a postseason save until Game 6 on Thursday night. Scott Feldman worked 8.2 scoreless postseason innings before allowing three earned runs over 4.1 innings in the Fall Classic.

Offensively, Nelson Cruz and Mike Napoli were amazing. Adrian Beltre's bat -- the same bat that launched three home runs in Game 4 of the ALDS -- was perhaps out-shined by his glove-work at third base. But Josh Hamilton's power faded, save for the two-run home run in the 10th inning of Game 6 which might have gone down as the Kirk Gibson moment of the franchise if not for the Cardinals' amazing comeback. Hamilton and Mike Young seemed out of their element in the World Series. Not that the moment was too big for them, because I don't think it was, but they had opportunities that went unfulfilled.

Manager Ron Washington made some critical errors in Game 1 and Game 6, both costly losses on National League turf. But for anyone who is ready to get rid of the skipper, pull on the reins because Texas wouldn't be where they are if not for "Wash." He was not Boston's Grady Little leaving in Pedro Martinez too long in the 2003 ALCS. Washington was out-managed in a National League park by Tony LaRussa -- and I don't think anyone anticipated something different. Washington twice sent Esteban German to the plate in the World Series. He kept going back to Ogando out of the bullpen. And he opted for Darren Oliver in the 10th inning of Game 6 instead of giving Feliz another shot at a save (a move that I did agree with at the time).

The World Series is over. The season is over. But hopefully for Rangers fans, the fun is simply just starting. For anyone who wants to compare this franchise, now twice losers of the World Series, to either the Atlanta Braves or NFL's Buffalo Bills, go ahead. Considering where the Rangers have been for a majority of the franchise's history, to have a run of success like the Braves (five pennants and a World Championship while winning 14 straight division crowns) would be a much welcomed new era.

The future is bright in Texas, despite how dark it may seem tonight.

Loved the call, hated the moment

2011-10-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

When St. Louis Cardinals hero David Freese belted a solo home run to dead center field to lead off the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, the Rangers fan in me cringed and tried to sink deeper into the couch. But as a broadcaster, I couldn't help but appreciate FOX's Joe Buck tipping his cap to his late father Jack.

"We'll see you tomorrow night!"

The same words that Jack Buck used to punctuate the dramatic finish of Game 6 of the 1991 World Series when Kirby Puckett launched a bomb over the left-center field wall.

Now those words are part of St. Louis Cardinals lore, the same team that featured Jack Buck as lead broadcaster for decades.

And while this tribute to his father is certainly significant -- not just for the World Series Game 6 parallels but also the fact that it was a Cardinals victory -- it's not the first time Joe Buck attempted a tribute to his father. In Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, the Boston Red Sox staved off elimination on a David Ortiz walkoff home run after midnight on the East Coast. Joe Buck capitalized on the moment:

"We'll see you later tonight."

Whether you love Joe Buck or hate him, anyone who has an appreciation for broadcasting knows exactly what was going on in that booth. All broadcasters have their vocal heroes they have either worked to emulate, blatantly or subconsciously. Ernie Harwell, Vin Scully, Jack Buck -- these are legendary voices, and in this era of broadcasters, hearing Joe Buck pay tribute to a man he no doubt admired as a broadcaster but also as his father was special.

Broadcasters of the world, I don't believe what I just ~~saw!~~ heard!

Game 6: Full for now-forgotten moments of Rangers greatness

2011-10-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

I don't even know where to begin. I'm sick to my stomach. And while the Texas Rangers, my Texas Rangers, were on the receiving end of the ultimate kick to the nuts, the most crushing part of it might be the fact that I don't know how I'll be able to muster hope for tomorrow -- actually, for later tonight.

In a 4 hour, 33 minute, back-and-forth, eyelash-away-from-a-championship game -- TWICE -- the St. Louis Cardinals forced Game 7 of the 2011 World Series by defeating Texas, 10-9 in 11 innings in Game 6 to tie the series, 3-3. But while the number of games each team has won might be tied, the Cardinals have such a big lead at this point, I don't know how Texas is supposed to recover.

The Rangers twice had the Cardinals down to their final strike, not their final out, but their final strike, and couldn't get the job done. Texas led 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning before Neftali Feliz blew his first career postseason save in eight chances. One inning later, the Rangers lost a 9-7 lead after Josh Hamilton hit was could have been a legend-cementing home run. Instead, Hamilton's go-ahead home run in the top of the 10th inning, his first of the playoffs and first since September 25, will be forgotten like Jake Delhome's TD pass to Ricky Proehl with just under two minutes left in Super Bowl XXXVIII to put the Panthers ahead of the Patriots. But no one remembers that because of what happened next.

In the case of the 2003 Panthers, Tom Brady drove New England to a Super Bowl title. In the case of Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, Hamilton's blast was erased by Lance Berkman's game-tying single in the bottom of the 10th and David Freese's walkoff home run in the bottom of the 11th.

Hamilton's home run, for all intents and purposes, never happened.

Neither did the three St. Louis errors that led to a pair of unearned runs for the Rangers.

The back-to-back home runs by Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz? Vanished into a footnote.

Those same solo shots to begin the top of the 7th to put Texas ahead immediately after Michael Young's defense went to hell, Alexi Ogando reverted to a 2010-version of Derek Holland, and the Cardinals tied the game 4-4 in the bottom of the 6th... those two home runs are now almost as memorable as Mike Napoli's throw to third base in the bottom of the 6th to pick off Matt Holliday and prevent any more damage.

And speaking of Napoli, his Wolverine-like healing power after snapping his ankle sliding into second base early in the game? Now an afterthought.

So many Texas Rangers chances in this game. So many opportunities.

So many great moments that could have be just a part of the magic of the franchise's first World Championship. Instead, those are merely some of the hurdles that fans in St. Louis can reminisce about for generations to come unless Texas has a shorter memory than a housemate on Jersey Shore.

(Translation: I'm not optimistic.)

(Bluntly: How is this team not entirely F'd right now?)

Skipper Ron Washington was out-managed by Tony LaRussa, which isn't shocking, but Washington was not ready to work lineup card magic in a National League ballpark. He kept Colby Lewis in the game in the top of the 5th to hit with the bases loaded and two outs. He brought in Alexi Ogando who melted down yet again in the Fall Classic before yanking him off the mound in favor of the Dutch Oven. Wash left Holland out there to allow a solo homer to Allen Craig in the 8th to pull St. Louis within two runs instead of immediately going to right-handed set up man in Mike Adams. And in extra innings, Washington and the Rangers seemed out of sorts deciding whether to keep Feldman in the game and on the mound or pinch hit for him with two outs in the top of the 11th.

By the end of the night, Mike Napoli was playing on one ankle, Nelson Cruz strained a groin, and the Texas Rangers' fans hearted suffered the ultimate bruise.

Somehow the Rangers -- a team that hasn't lost consecutive games in more than 40 days -- must continue that streak to claim the franchise's first championship.

Two strikes away. Twice.

And tomorrow, if the Rangers do win, this misery goes away almost as quickly as the legend of the Hamilton's home run in tonight's 10th inning. But if St. Louis completes the comeback, it's a game that will haunt these players, these coaches, these fans, and this Metroplex until ~~Dirk and boys redeem themselves five years later against Wade and Heat~~, until...

?

Rangers now one win away

2011-10-25T09:07:00.001-07:00

The year was 2007. A North Texas franchise long-starved for a championship had just hired a new man to lead players on a team clearly on the uptick to a title. The team was stocked with talent and people thought the new coach's laid-back personality was exactly what the team needed in order to succeed. He would be replacing a man very highly thought of in the sport -- perhaps bigger shoes than he was ready to fill.

But while Wade Phillips never again came close to that 13-3 record in his first year with the Dallas Cowboys after replacing Bill Parcells, the new manager of the Texas Rangers began working with a rag-tag team in financial stress with no foreseeable trophies in the team's future. Who the heck is Ron Washington, and is this guy really going to manage the Rangers to victory when Buck Showalter couldn't? Clearly the new baby-faced GM who has already traded away every usable part the Rangers appeared to have is trying to see if he can make the fan base miss John Hart.

But Jon Daniels, Ron Washington and eventually Nolan Ryan began building something that not even the most die-hard Rangers fan could think would one day be able to play one game for a chance to be World Series Championship. And here we are in late-October of 2011 (forever to be known as the Year of the Napoli), and the Texas Rangers have that opportunity in front of them.

Texas defeated St. Louis on Monday 4-2 in Game 5 of the World Series at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, put the Rangers up 3-2 over the Cardinals with the series returning to Missouri.

Leading the charge for Texas was an offseason pickup whose "dirtbag" style of play might personify exactly what the Rangers are about. Mike Napoli came to Texas for Frank Francisco and a couple bucks back in January, almost to a half-hearted shrug of the fan base. This is someone we'd seen for year with the Angels. He was good, but only because the Rangers weren't. Nevertheless, catcher needed addressing in the offseason with both Benji Molina and Matt Treanor going on their ways, so sure, plug in Napoli with Vorvit Torrealba, and that could work. The Rangers made the World Series last year with what could be considered afterthought backstops. Maybe we can do it again.

The fact of the matter is Texas wouldn't have been anywhere near the Fall Classic, perhaps the postseason, without Mike Napoli. He hit .320 with 30 home runs and 75 RBI and an on-base percentage of .414 over 113 games during the 2011 regular season, and as if he hadn't already "careered" during the 162-haul, he's on his way to making sure thie fairy-tale season ends "Napoli ever after."

With the World Series tied, 2-2, Napoli had as impressive a game as any position player in recent postseason memory. He twice threw out Allen Craig attempting to steal second base with the dangerous Albert Pujols at the plate. Throwing out two baserunners would be impressive enough, but in doing so the first time, he gave his manager the strategic ability to take the bat out of the Pujols' hands and intentionally walk him to the now-open first base. The second time Napoli gunned down Craig, it was to complete the most important double-play in Texas Rangers history, a strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out twin killing that not only bailed out Neftali Felix for plunking the leadoff batter but leaving the Cardinals down to their final out.

That alone would have been enough for a great game by the catcher that Angels manager Mike Scioscia didn't care for. But there's no doubt Napoli's bat is arguably the most important physical ability he brings to the table. With the game tied 2-2 and one out in the bottom of the 8th inning, lefty Mark Rzepczynski allowed a David Murphy single to deflect off his glove to load the bases for Napoli. Due what we have since learned where telephone problems that seemingly could have been solved by the "Can you hear me now?" guy, the Cardinals didn't have the right-handed arm they wanted ready for Napoli. As a result, Rzepczynski faced Napoli, and the Rangers backstop atoned for his near-homerun-turned-fly-out two innings prior. Napoli hammered a 1-1 pitch the right-centerfield gap to score two runs and provide the Rangers margin of victory, leading St. Louis only three outs to work with for any comeback attempt.

Tampa Bay manger Joe Maddon deemed this the "Year of the Napoli" and the echoing chants of NAP-OH-LEE, NAP-OH-LEE at Rangers Ballpark are a reminder for anyone who hasn't recently taken a look at their Chinese food menu.

Naptober is in full swing, and if Texas can close out the series in St. Louis, he is the frontrunner for World Series MVP.

And I'm still not sure how we're talking about the Texas Rangers having a World Series MVP, because that would mean the Rangers are in the World Series. I grew up rooting for the Rangers, and I never thought they'd win a pennant, let alone two in a row and one day be in position to play one game for baseball's ultimate prize.

Here are a few other thoughts on Game 5 that I have to get down on paper (or on Internet):

+ If this was CJ Wilson's last appearance as a Texas Rangers pitcher, then despite all the manufactured animosity that has grown with each postseason loss, realize that he has been a constant for this team over the last two years. Wilson has had a rough postseason -- he hasn't made himself any additional money for his looming free agency -- but he has won 31 games for Texas over the last two seasons since moving into the starting rotation compared to 15 losses. This season, his 2.94 ERA is the lowest by a Rangers pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1991. If he ends up commanding the type of deal that Cliff Lee was being offered by Texas and New York last offseason, then he might not be worth it, but Texas has never had a consistent home-grown arm like CJ Wilson.

Wilson now has a 1-5 career postseason record with a 4.94 ERA over nine playoff starts. He didn't have the best start by a Rangers pitcher in the World Series -- and unless Colby Lewis tosses a complete game in Game 6, no one will nop Derek Holland's 8 and 1/3 scoreless innings of Game 4 -- but he gave Texas a chance to win, limiting the Cardinals to two runs over 5 and 2/3 innings.

+ Mitch Moreland took his sweet time to get going in the 2011 postseason, but his solo home run off Chris Carpenter to put Texas on the board looked like something Josh Hamilton hit during the 2008 Home Run Derby. The ball was devastated to right field, landing halfway up the porch, 424 feet away. Ron Washington inserted him into the lineup for Game 4 after Mike Napoli's throwing error at first base aided a 5-run inning by St. Louis in Game 3. If not for his home run and subsequent Rangers win, Moreland made a fielding error that could have left Rangers fans kicking themselves for years. It could have cost Texas the series. And while it was not recorded as an error in the official score, don't let that fool you.

While the FOX broadcast team was busy interviewing Derek Holland during the top of the 2nd inning, CJ Wilson was struggling on the mound, walking two batters to begin the inning. With one out and runners on first and second, Yadier Molina singled in a run to left field, and David Murphy misplayed the ball, leading to an extra base for Lance Berkman. At that time, it was 1-0 St. Louis. Skip Schumaker followed by grounding a 2-2 pitch up the first base line to Moreland, who had time to go home with the ball for a run-saving second out. Instead, Moreland couldn't cleanly field the grounder and had to resign himself to stepping on first base to retire Molina who doubled the Cardinals' lead with his RBI-out. While I doubt the play would have ended up in an inning-ending 3-2-3 double play (keep in mind, there was no force at home plate, so Napoli would have had to wait to tag Berkman before throwing back to first), it could have saved a run.

+ Neftali Feliz must get some sort of bonus for suspense with each save he records. As if it's not enough to walk the first batter he faces in too many different big games this year, the fireballer hit the leadoff batter in the top of the 9th inning after getting ahead of him 1-2 in the count. After the strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out double play to retire Albert Pujols, Feliz walked Matt Holiday on nine pitches before finally striking out Berkman to end the game.

This postseason, Feliz has thrown 10 and 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits with stress-inducing seven walks and 10 strikeouts. He has saved six games in the 2011 postseason, including all three wins of the ALDS and two games of the World Series. I suppose that end result is what's most important, but the walks (and hit batter) are certainly concerning, if not for the Rangers for my blood pressure.

+ The in-game interview with Derek Holland during the 2nd inning made me cringe at the time. After a win, this concern melts away, but having Joe Buck and Tim McCarver egging on the young lefty while the Rangers fumbled away fielding plays was infuriating at the time. It was as if Holland fiddled while Rome burned to the ground, and if Texas had gone on to lose that game, never overcoming the two runs St. Louis scored in the 2nd inning, that's exactly how it would be perceived this morning. Holland is a goofy, kid, a 25-year-old with undoubtable talent and a need to mature, but I suppose when you darn-near single-handedly win a World Series game like Holland did -- just as Napoli did in Game 5 -- you earn a little leeway. I still think the mustache needs to go.

All right, folks. Texas is one win away. Let's please, please, please get this done. Make this happen, Rangers. There may never be another opportunity like the one in front of this franchise. The team has two games in St. Louis -- albeit under National League rules -- to win one game. And to quote the marketing campaign that worked so well for their Metroplex basketball counterpart, The Time Is Now.

Murray's Flurry: Dal 34, StL 7

2011-10-24T10:47:00.000-07:00

It's a line I've used plenty of times regarding the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys over the last five years, but after Sunday's 34-7 win over the hapless St. Louis Rams, let's temper the enthusiasm regarding the new franchise single game rushing record-holder:

Put the anointing oil away.

DeMarco Murray gashed the NFL's worst rushing defense for 253 yards on 25 carries and a touchdown -- including a 91-yard score that is second only the Tony Dorsett's historic 99-yard run -- in the second-greatest game by a rookie running back in NFL history. It was fun to watch, and it was a win that Dallas needed to return its record to 3-3 through seven weeks of the season.

With this performance, Murray has certainly leapfrogged Tashard Choice on the depth chart and must be given strong consideration about his number of touches compared to the injured Felix Jones when he returns. The Oklahoma product busted out several long runs against St. Louis, something the Cowboys running game hadn't shown signs of since Jones' rookie season when he displayed an explosiveness that only the likes of Wade Phillips could deny putting him in the starting lineup. In a franchise that ostensibly found its "Next Troy Aikman" in Tony Romo, DeMarcos Murray showed signs of being the closest thing to the "Next Emmitt Smith."

Again, allow me to put the anointing oil away.

The great thing about Emmitt, about any of the good-to-great running backs in the NFL is consistency. They don't have just one big game. They bring it every single week. And despite the fact that Murray will continue to run behind an offensive line that consists of two rookies and another player who Dallas thought enough of to cut in training camp before an injury to Bill Nagy for them to re-sign him, the threat of the Cowboys passing game should help open some running lanes.

Murray has said all the right things in the aftermath of his great performance -- and don't get me wrong, it was a great performance -- still referring to Felix as the starter and crediting his offensive line.

But the St. Louis defense proved so porous that even fourth string running back Phillip Tanner, who you may remember from a helmet-less TD that was called back during the preseason, was able to keep the pace and finish the drive in the first action of his pro career. In total, Dallas rushed for 294 yards on 34 attempts.

The Rams are junk, and it's not their fault they can't plug a toilet, let alone a running lane. And while it will inevitably detract from his single-game performance on this day -- much in the way that sports fans who remember Baltimore's Jamal Lewis running for nearly 300 yards in a game also remember that he did it against the Browns -- if he does go on to accomplish great things (or even just stabilize the Dallas backfield for more than five years), this will be the genesis of it all.

Just a few other points:
+ Nice touch by the Cowboys having a member of each World Series team on hand to participate in the coin toss. Frankly, after country music star Ronnie Dunn performed the National Anthem at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday (one day after doing so before Game 3 of the World Series), I was wondering if Jerry Jones would have Dirk Nowitzki flip the coin too. St. Louis Cardinals fans and Texas Rangers fans alike enjoyed seeing Lance Berkman and Josh Hamilton join the coin toss ceremony. I don't know how often teams playing in the World Series (or any other championship) have the same cities represented in a different major professional sporting event in the same town on the same date, but it's gotta be a short list.

+ Quarterback Tony Romo didn't need to do much as the ground game rolled over the Rams, but let's not discount what was a solid performance. Romo has lost two games for Dallas this year with untimely mistakes, coughing up a 14-point 4th quarter lead in New York in Week 1 and tossing three second-half interceptions against Detroit in Week 4. Those were two games that Dallas had in control and gave away. Is it sad I'm borderline praising him for not imploding like Texas Stadium?

Two TD passes, no interceptions, no rushed throws that sailed into double coverage that left fans grasping for air. None of that. Good. It wasn't a great game. It didn't have to be. Moving on...,

+ Rob Ryan's defense held St. Louis to seven points. An analysis of this game will show the Rams did not have starting quarterback Sam Bradford -- not that it's made a difference in any of their previous five games this year. This is now an 0-6 team, a team that Dallas (which could easily be 5-1 if not 6-0) should and did dominate for four quarters. While I don't think it's necessary to drop to our knees and bow before our homeless-looking defensive coordinator, there is one noticeable difference between this year's defense and even the good units that Wade Phillips commanded here in Dallas: the creation of turnovers. Specifically: multiple turnovers.

Dallas took the ball away twice on Sunday, the team's fourth game with multiple turnovers in six games this season (although this is the first win of 2011 in which Dallas has won the turnover battle). The Cowboys have now taken the ball away 12 times through six games. Both takeaways on Sunday led to scores with Abe Elam's fumble recovery leading to Romo's TD pass to Jason Witten and Mike Jenkins' interception set up a 30-yard field goal for Dan Bailey.

Last year's Cowboys team was horrible through six games, so let's compare how Rob Ryan's defense compares to the Wade Phillips team that ended up going to the playoffs in 2009 (interpret: 2010 was such a lost season, let's just ignore it). In 2009, the Cowboys forced seven turnovers over the first six weeks but didn't take the ball away once in three of those games. This year, the Dallas defense has taken the ball away at least once in every game.

+ Speaking of turnovers, Dallas is still -1 on the season when it comes to turnover +/-. Here's a look at each game so far in 2011 and how the Cowboys have done when it comes to turnovers.

Opponent	Take Aways	Giveaways
New York Jets	2	3
San Francisco 49ers	1	2
Washington Redskins	2	2
Detroit Lions	1	3
New England Patriots	4	2
St. Louis Rams	2	1
Totals	12	13

Don't let the four take aways in the New England game make your mind melt. Yes, if Dallas capitalizes on those opportunities they could have not only been the first team to beat Tom Brady in Foxboro since 2006, but that along with the mistakes in the Jets and Lions games explains why this is still a .500 team through seven weeks of play. ~~But damn it, it's maddening!~~

+ Last point. At yesterday's Cowboys game, my dad turned to me before kickoff and noted, "Why is the roof closed? It's a beautiful day outside." I don't think it would have been a big enough deal to mention except for the true "idiocracy" of what was noticed during the World Series game next door later in the evening. FOX returned from a commercial break to show Rangers Ballpark's neighbor on Randoll Mill Road, Cowboys Stadium, and there was the $1.2 billion facility with the roof open for National TV's audience to see. Has Jerry Jones lost his mind? Or with Al Davis now dead, is he just trying to make sure no one leapfrogs him as the new "Craziest NFL Owner" (although Davis' legacy lives on as the team traded a pair of No. 1 picks for Carson Palmer last week).

Hello, World Series!

2011-10-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

For a franchise that seemed to personify mediocrity at its best, the Texas Rangers are leaving past perceptions far, far behind them. For the second year in a row, the Rangers won the American League Pennant and a berth in the Fall Classic. After 38 years in Texas without winning so much as a playoff series, the Rangers have once again captured the Cowboys-crazy Metroplex well into football season.

Unlike the 2010 run to the World Series that featured a hired gun in ace pitcher Cliff Lee, the Rangers played what can only be described as "classic" Rangers baseball in this year's Pennant-clinching win, slugging a gaggle of runs to topple the Tigers, 15-5, in Game 6 of the ALCS. Overwhelming offense.

And no, the honeymoon period for this team's success is nowhere near over. The NBA's Dallas Mavericks strung together 10 years of unfruitful playoff trips before reaching the mountain top this past season, and prior to Dirk and boys raising the Larry O'Brien trophy, the fan base grew skeptical and tired of each post-season trip that didn't result in a title. So before everyone rushes to say the Rangers now "have to" win the World Series this season, let's temper that just a little. After so many years of futility, it's exciting to see the team playing deep October, regardless of the outcome.

The Rangers aren't the Yankees -- don't confuse them as a "Championship or Bust" franchise. Frankly, it's been a just a "~~Championship or~~ Bust" franchise for the majority of its existence. But of course, having said that, if you're going to make it this far, then damn it, go win it.

That's the way baseball go
I wonder if fans realize just how good the Rangers have it with Ron Washington and just how close the franchise came to parting ways with him. Think about it. Until last year when he navigated this organization to the World Series, did you ever think of Ron Washington as a great manager, a good manager or even a Major League caliber manager? A career third base coach from Oakland that Texas hired because, well, what options did the club have back in 2007. When he came to Texas, we were told he was a baseball lifer, the "Old School Brother," who was capable of getting the most out of his players. But don't they always talk up the new coach/new manager right after the hire.

After his first two seasons, Texas had gone a combined 154-170 with a last-place finish in 2007 and ending the season in second place in a watered down AL West in 2008. Sure, Texas had some solid pieces in place -- Michael Young, Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton and David Murphy being the main holdovers from that 2008 season (keep in mind Chris Davis was the primary first baseman, Ramon Vasquez manned the hot corner, and Milton Bradley spent 126 games as the DH) -- but it was by no means a Championship squad.

That's when John Daniels got to work. He brought in new pieces to fill spots in the lineup. Young kids who seemed like throw-ins from big trades began to arrive at the big league level. Elvis Andrus was the opening day starting shortstop in 2009, displacing Michael Young to third base, prompting the first of his trade demands. Thank goodness management didn't oblige.

Can you imagine this team making a run to the World Series without Michael Young? If his three-run home run against Tampa Bay in the 2010 ALDS wasn't enough, his play as a super-utility man in 2011 put this team on his back when teammates missed time with injury.

Through two different off-season's featuring Young demanding to be traded, staging the sequel before the 2011 season after Texas signed Adrian Beltre to strengthen the club defensively at third base. The team was coming off a World Series berth and the face of the franchise looked like he was being forced out by management despite all he'd done to help get the team to this level. And yet there was manager Ron Washington to assure Michael Young that as long as it was his lineup card to fill up, Young would be an integral part of the equation.

With Washington at the helm, Young led the Rangers with 159 games played (if you're a subtraction aficionado, you know he only missed three games) making 40 starts at third, 36 at first, 14 at second, and one game at shortstop. The rest of the time, he left the glove in the dugout and worked as the primary DH. He led by example and damn near won a batting title. How was Michael Young going to succeed, let along thrive (a .338 average seems like thriving to me), after all the conflict between a star player and the front office? Ron Washington was a calming buffer between the two sides. Nothing more than his soothing presence to let Young know that he was still an integral part of the lineup, of the organization, quelled the shaky waters before Texas set sail on 2011. And almost poetically, Young got a chance to play a quarter of the season at third base while Adrian Beltre was injured.

Ron Washington supported Michael Young by putting him on the lineup card in 159 of 162 games in 2011. And it was Michael Young who stood up in support of Ron Washington before the 2010 season after news of a cocaine-fueled scandal led Washington to offer his resignation to Nolan Ryan and John Daniels. Once again, thank goodness management didn't oblige.

Texas is going back to the World Series because of strong leadership at the top of the organization, great managerial moves, and tremendous talent between the lines. How else can you describe was Nelson Cruz did in the ALCS?

Cruz Control
Any time you're breaking records that involve Lou Gehrig, you're doing something right. In his first 25 postseason games, Nelson Cruz hit 11 home runs. Gehrig has nine in his first 25 playoff games. Cruz went on to smash six home runs and 13 RBI, both Major League records in a single series. All of this coming after the Boomstick was M.I.A. against Tampa Bay in the ALDS. How scarce was Cruz against the Rays? The 1-for-10 Mitch Moreland thought Cruz was slumping. The Rangers right fielder went 1-for-15 in four games against Tampa Bay with no walks and five strikeouts. *Woof*

He followed that performance by batting .364 (8-for-22) against Detroit in the ALCS. Keep in mind, that's six home runs in eight hits. Those other two hits: doubles.

Side note: In baseball, Slugging Percentage is calculated by adding up the total number of bases divided by at-bats. The formula looks like this:

1(1B) + 2(2B) + 3(3B) + 4(HR)
AB

Apply that to Nelson Cruz's numbers:

1(0) + 2(2) + 3(0) + 4(6) = 1.273
22

Cruz's slugging percentage of 1.273 may be a small sample size of only six games, but to put it in perspective, it's more than three times greater than the American League average in slugging percentage, a .408 clip in 2011. Nelson Cruz may have been "Boomstick or Bust" in the LCS, but it a much greater dose of the former than the latter. Will he stay that hot in the World Series? I'm not sure, but it's safe to say he's the greatest seven-hole hitter in the 165 years since Henry Chadwick codified the rules of baseball in 1846, or since the James K. Polk administration (our 11th president, if you're keeping score at home). I'd be shocked if he kept that kind of pace in the Fall Classic, but even half of that production would be spectacular.

Something Special
What we're witnessing in Texas this year is again something special. I'm not sure how to compare it to the first time Texas put on its big boy pants and ventured past the first round of the playoffs for the first time ever and pushed past the hated Yankees in the LCS to reach the World Series in 2010. I'm not sure how Texas will match up with either St. Louis or Milwaukee, but neither have the pitching prowess of the 2010 San Francisco Giants that featured not only Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgardener but also an offence that got hot at the best possible time. Perhaps that's the lesson of last year, that even a team like San Francisco can get hot at the plate and propel a team to a World Championship. And the opposite can manifest itself as well.

A player's ability can betray them at the worst possible time. It's a defeating feeling, and I feel the essence of that type of disgust was captured with this shot during the Rangers' 9-run 3rd inning in Game 6 against Detroit when Tigers reliever Daniel Schlereth mouthed "F my ass" when skipper Jim Leyland emerged from the dugout to remove him from the game.

Cards on the table: I really just wanted to find a way to work that video clip into this blog.

The Rangers are sitting pretty right now. They are off until Wednesday with the luxury of sitting back and watching the Brewers and Cardinals decide where in the Midwest the Texas charter will fly. For fans, it's an opportunity to once again drink in the magic of playoff baseball. Even if you were around for three AL West Championships in the late 1990s and despite how fresh 2010's Pennant is engraved in your sports brain, this season is still a special feeling.

The honeymoon feeling may be far from over. As fans, we should enjoy the next fews days of relaxing and waiting. Don't let the anxiety of a looming World Series weigh you down. Last season, this franchise playing so deep into October was a classic case of an organization running on house money. There was nothing to lose. And if you can honestly say that isn't the case this year, then maybe you don't remember watching Rangers baseball during the team's the first 38 years in Arlington.

Without that pressure, and with the experience of having been there before, it's time for the Texas Rangers -- yes, the Texas Rangers -- to win four more games. When you think about the run that the Atlanta Braves had under Bobby Cox that won 14 consecutive Division Championships and five pennants from 1991-2005, they came away with what some would call "only one World Championship." If that's the type of trajectory the Rangers are on right now, and based on the new ownership's ability and willingness to spend, combined with a young and talented core and supported by a great management team and coaching staff, you've got to like how Texas is positioned not only for the next four-to-seven games but the next four-to-seven years too.

Redemption: Dal 27, SF 24

2011-09-19T04:23:00.000-07:00

Redemption is a beautiful thing. And Dallas grabbed handfuls of it with a 27-24 overtime win in San Francisco to improve to 1-1 this season. Despite a botched field goal, plenty of injuries, question-marked play calls, and facing the pressure of last week's last-game collapse to the Jets, the Cowboys found a way to rally from 1o down in the 4th quarter with everyone getting their own piece of redemption along the way.

Dallas got a crazy comeback win on the road, and it's not the first time Dallas has done so in the Tony Romo era. Buffalo in 2007 and Kansas City in 2009 each come to mind. There was also a game in which Dallas rallied from 10 points down to force overtime in Arizona in 2008, however Dallas lost on a blocked bunt in the extra period. Maybe the Cowboys found a little magic, the same time of magic the Jets used last week against Dallas. Redemption is sweet.

At the top of the list is Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. A week after everyone, myself included, put him as Reason No. 1 for the opening week loss in New York, Romo re-asserted himself as the leader of this football team. The QB led Dallas on a long opening drive that had all the elements a fan could ask for, except points (more on that later). He left the game with sore ribs -- and reports this morning indicate he has a pair of fractured ribs -- but after a pair of Jon Kitna turnovers, Romo forced himself back into the game to lead the Cowboys to a come-from-behind win.

Any thoughts of Kitna leading this team based on last year's second-half success combined with Romo's Week 1 struggles evaporated as Romo toughed out a painful rib injury. And his return to the game came only after the television audience was informed that the Cowboys quarterback would not return to the game. Not only did Dallas need that to save their season (starting 0-2 is a great way to miss to the playoffs unless you're one of the great dynasty teams -- and this isn't one of them), but Romo and other members of the team needed to prove themselves again.

Field goal kicker Dan Bailey also got himself cut and re-earned his roster spot all in the afternoon. Bailey missed a chip shot 22-yard field goal after a long Cowboys opening drive, an extra-point range kick. It's inexcusable to miss those distance kicks in high school games. In the NFL, it can and (unless you finish the game the way Bailey did) should cost you your job. Bailey lined up to kick a 48-yard field goal to force overtime with just enough time left in the game to get the kick away. I'd say my confidence level was on EMPTY. When he kicked the overtime winner from 19 yards, maybe that meter was on a 1/4 tank. When a kicker missed a 22-yard field goal, you aren't expecting him to make the game-tying and game-winning kicks. Baily did. Redemption.

Dallas put itself on the verge of 0-2 and the making of another depressing season. If the Cowboys lose that game -- and they did plenty to try -- where do you start with your frustrations? If not for Doug Free diving on a Miles Austin fumble on the second-to-last play of regulation, Dallas never gets a chance to kick that game-tying 48-yard field goal. I don't necessarily blame Austin for fumbling nearly as much as I question Head Coach Jason Garrett's decision to hand him the ball in the backfield for the first time that afternoon.

In overtime, Romo connected with Jesse Holley for a 77-yard pass that took the Cowboys down to the shadow of the goal line, setting up Bailey's 19-yard game-winning chip shot one play later. Holley is an interesting case. This is the same guy who is in the NFL because Michael Irvin felt like hosting a reality show where a player can earn an invite to an NFL training camp. If Romo has made the most of being an undrafted rookie free agent, Holley appears to be making the most of a reality TV show. And even after his long pass play where he appeared to have just felt the presence of God while the rest of America wasn't as sure he'd set up the winning kick (Bailey already missed from 22, and that kick wouldn't have been good from 19 either, Holley was still a more amicable reality star than anyone from Jersey Shore.

Holley had never caught a pass in the NFL before making three receptions during the crucial moments of the game. So maybe his "just met Jesus" actions on the sidelines after that catch were much more acceptable when you realize he can't exactly "act like he's been there before" because he hasn't. Not even close. The guy just won a football game in the NFL for the Cowboys. But hopefully next time he won't almost lose it. Holley doesn't have breakaway speed, which is why he was caught from behind on the long pass. Right as he was brought down, Holley was extending the football in the air from the eight yard line in. If he fumbles that ball any direction other than out of bounds ahead of the end zone, it's a disastrous play. San Francisco would get to take over on the 20 if the ball rolled out of the end zone. Instead, Holley holds on, and Dallas kicks the game winner. I'm happy for him -- how can you not be after watching how emotional of a play it was for him? -- but he needs to learn from that and NEVER expose the ball like that in the future.

On a day when Dez Bryant didn't dress for the game, Holley came up big late in the contest but Miles Austin had the biggest day of all Cowboys, catching nine passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns, including one score coming from Kitna. Austin and tight end Jason Witten (seven catches, 102 yards) led all receivers going over the century mark in yardage.

Witten and running back Felix Jones joined Romo playing hurt in a game that Dallas found a way to come back and win. I'm still not entirely sure how exactly, but I'm relatively certain that if not for a team as young and inexperienced as San Francisco, the Cowboys might not be so fortunate.

After Kitna threw his first interception, a pass into the heart of the end zone after Witten had broken off the route, Cowboys cornerback Alan Ball got the football back with an interception of Alex Smith, the only Cowboys takeaway on the day. Ball's pick set up a Dallas drive starting from the 49ers 18 yard line. Five plays later, Kitna found Austin to tie the game, 14-14, with 6:50 left in the third quarter. Dallas had been down 14-0 until their final drive the first half, where Austin broke free for a 53-yard score with just under two minutes left before intermission.

The Cowboys would again have to rally from a double-digit deficit. It's hard enough to do once in the NFL, but Kitna's second interception on a tipped ball over the middle set up a 49ers TD under a minute left in the 3rd quarter. Kitna tossed a pair of picks in the quarter, and Romo took over on the next Cowboys offensive possession. San Francisco got the ball back at the start of the 4th quarter and drove to the Cowboys 37 yard line where David Akers nailed a 55-yard field goal to make it 24-14. Two score game with 11:12 left on the clock.

The field goal was not without controversy, however, as Dallas' Keith Brooking was flagged for leverage, a 15-yard penalty that could have given the 49ers 1st and 10 on the Dallas 22-yard line. San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh decided to keep the points on the board, a decision that seemed like the smart move at the time. You've just got up two scores on Dallas in the 4th quarter, and maybe it's harder to take a 55-yarder off the board compared to a 30-something yard (especially because the 15-yard penalty on a 30-something yarder puts your offense deep in the red zone).

Dallas answered the long kick with an 80-yard drive that culminated in a Romo-to-Austin touchdown to pull the Cowboys within three points, 24-21. But that TD pass came one play after Romo connected with the man who is trying to become the Bob Lilly successor as Mr. Cowboy, Jason Witten, on 4th and 5 from the San Francisco 34. The Cowboys passed on a chance to kick a 51-yard field goal, which seemed like a no-brainer based on Bailey's earlier 22-yard miss and David Buehler's struggles last year. Everyone in the world knew Romo was going to Witten, and the Cowboys still completed the pass.

The Rob Ryan defense stopped San Francisco after five plays, and Dallas got the ball back on their own 33 with 4:03 left in regulation trailing 24-21. Romo's first two passes of the drive went to Jesse Holley, and he dropped other short passes off to Austin and Demarco Murray. From 1st and 10 on the 49ers 36, Romo connected on a seven-yard pass to Austin, but Dallas then ran up the gut with Tashard Choice for one yard, and Austin was given an ill-advised handoff that Free saved with a fumble recovery. The Cowboys may be starting three young pups on the offensive line, and thank goodness Free, not one of the kids, was there to pounce on the ball. The Cowboys let the clock tick down to 0:04 before calling timeout and setting up Bailey's 48 yarder.

All is well in Dallas. Redemption shines down on the Cowboys this week. Monday night the team opens at home against division leader (yeah, that's weird) Washington. So yes, after the disaster in Week 1 and what appeared to be a game destined for a loss in Week 2, the Cowboys (1-1) will play the Redskins (2-1) with a chance to get out in front of the division next week. Still a long way to go this season, but it's much easier to feel good about the team's chances after the final 15 minutes in San Francisco.

Jet-tisoned: Dal 24, NY Jets 27

2011-09-12T05:05:00.000-07:00

I forgot just how sickening a feeling football season brings with it. It's not that the Cowboys lost -- I wasn't expecting them to win heading into the game -- but how they pulled off the worst collapse in franchise history. The Dallas Cowboys dropped their prime time season opener for the second straight year, a 27-24 loss to the New York Jets.

I fully expected the emotion of the day, being the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, to help the Jets romp over the Cowboys, but somehow Dallas was not only able to stay close but managed to open up a 14-point lead. My, how things unraveled over the final 15 minutes of the game. And as much as I'd like to look at so many of the positives of this game (and there are plenty of positives), the end result was a blooper-filled loss that marred the first three quarters of great football. It was the first time in franchise history Dallas dropped a game they led in the 4th quarter by 14 points, a 248-game sample size.

By comparison, the Carolina Panthers and rookie quarterback Cam Newton dropped their season-opener to the Arizona Cardinals, 28-21, and everyone is talking about how it was almost like a win for the Panthers. Newton set a rookie passing record (422 yards), and Carolina did not appear to be the hapless bunch of misfits people might have been expecting. The difference is a team that went 2-14 last season and is starting a rookie under center (or really, primarily in the shotgun) is allowed to have moral victories. The team that blows a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter isn't afforded the same luxury.

And that is how the Cowboys began their season, with a 24-10 lead seconds into the fourth quarter only to give up 17 unanswered points, two critical turnovers, and a blocked punt. It almost makes me wish the lockout lasted a little longer.

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was turnover free for the first 48 minutes of the game but went on to fumble inside the Jets five yard line and throw an interception to Darrelle Revis that set up New York's game-winning field goal. The field goal was a 50-yard dose of irony as former Cowboys kicker Nick Folk buried the ball between the uprights with seconds to go to give the Jets the lead for the first time all game.

There were so many potential positives for the Cowboys in a game that no one was expecting them to win, and that's what makes this so disappointing. Not that they lost, but how they lost. The Cowboys hung with one of the top teams in the NFL, a team that has come within one game of the Super Bowl each of the past two seasons, and had a chance to beat them. If not for three abominations on fourth quarter drives (fumble, blocked punt, interception), Dallas would have left the Meadowlands (Metlife Stadium?) with a 1-0 record and plenty of healthy momentum. Instead this team will travel to the other side of the country next week for a game against San Francisco in what -- in an incredibly unhealthy way -- is somehow already being deemed a must-win game for Dallas.

What a sickening football feeling that loss forced upon Cowboys fans. I'd almost prefer, no, I would absolutely prefer to lose decisively than to hold a 14-point lead only to see it evaporate in the face of one of the most embarrassing statistics every to be displayed across the TV screen. In the 50-year history of the Cowboys franchise, Dallas was 246-0-1 when leading by 14 points or more in the fourth quarter. After last night, make it 246-1-1.

Thoughts on last night's game:
+ If the Cowboys had to lose last night, which I had been expecting just not in that fashion, good for the Jets for sticking to the script of the day. To think that it's been 10 years since September 11, 2001, and to still remember the details of that day so clearly brings with it a chilling effect. Everyone knows exactly where they were, and everyone has a story to tell even if they were thousands of miles away from New York, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania. The memorial held at Ground Zero in lower Manhattan was amazing, and it's definitely something I want to visit at some point in the future, if for nothing more than to pay respects.

The morning carried such a somber mood (an inevitable effect of what we were remembering) having to reflect on and in many ways relive that day through the images and memorials. I honestly felt guilty changing the channel on my TV from the news networks carrying the memorial to NFL football. Part of me couldn't quite balance whether I should be able to derive so much enjoyment from watching this game on a day where so many people can't help but grieve. And as a result of that feeling, I gained a true understanding of just how important football -- sports in general -- are for our society.

Watching the Bears/Falcons game begin on FOX at 1pm, members of the armed services began unfurling the American Flag across the entire field, and suddenly the crowd erupted into cheers as members of both football teams walked to the edge of the flag to hold on to it, to connect themselves with the flag, with this country, and all that the Stars and Stripes represents. And when the National Anthem began, fans erupted again in cheers, using the Star Spangled Banner as a rallying point. Soldier Field didn't appear to have any empty seats, yet in that moment not one of them was occupied by a Bears fan or a Falcons fan, only Americans united. We needed football yesterday, especially yesterday, to not only help ease the pains and wounds of September 11, but our stadiums personified the unity of our nation rather than highlighting hostilities between people based on something as trivial as being a Redskins fan or a Giants fan.

If ever there was a day America needed football, needed sport, we can be thankful for yesterday's NFL and Major League Baseball games as significant outlets of positivity. If only that unity, that positivity could be easily restored at the end of each game, win or lose. It's hard to be bitter, to be upset with your team losing -- I was and I am -- but it's not something I hold against a Jets fan after yesterday's Cowboys loss. Jets fans, like myself, are Americans, and I hope that moving forward fans can look to yesterday as an example of how we can root against each other during the game inside the stadium or at local bars or gathered around TVs at a buddy's house just so long as we arrive united as Americans and leave the same way.

+ After tying all of the above, which I wasn't really expecting myself to get into (yall know I typically keep it pretty light-hearted), I'm not quite sure the best way to transition into breaking down football. So let's go with this stat: Dallas is now 0-2 when former President George W. Bush flips the coin before a Cowboys game against a New York team (the Giants beat the Cowboys at the opening game at Cowboys Stadium in 2009). Also, did anyone notice the look President Bush gave the Cowboys captains after Dallas one the toss. It was almost like, "Hey, yall see what I did there? I got your back. Now go win this for Texas!" If only it worked like that.

+ The Rob Ryan defense impressed last night, especially when in theory he was facing a team coached by the one guy who would be better equipped to understand what Rob would try to do. His twin brother Rex Ryan, head coach of the Jets, ended up getting the better of the match up on the scoreboard, but Rob can probably take a little solace in the fact that it wasn't his defense that cost the Cowboys the game. In fact, the defense overcame a vastly depleted secondary with a combination of tremendous pressure up front from DeMarcus Ware and company and what can only be described as a scrap-heap secondary squeezing every ounce of talent and ability out of themselves.

The team's top cornerback Terence Newman missed last night's game, and Orlando Scandrick missed pretty much the final three quarters with a high ankle sprain. Mike Jenkins was in and out of the ball game with injuries. The Cowboys top three corners were hobbled, and seeing guys like Alan Ball and Danny McCray step up was a very good sign for Dallas.

+ Tony Romo .... ugh. I wanted to lead with this, but I didn't want to get so negative so quickly. Might as well dive headfirst into that pool now. Dallas didn't turn the ball over until Romo fumbled inside the five yard line in the fourth quarter. It was play that Romo of 2006 and 2007 would have probably made. At the very least, those were the last two seasons I remember thinking that whenever Romo drops back good things will happen. Now when Romo drops back, I slink into a ball of mush on my couch, cringing what I fear might happen. Lo and behold, Romo goes diving toward the goal line with the ball in his right arm away from his body. Fumble. Jets football. Momentum: New York. At the very least, protect the football. A loss of a yard or two is okay. Throwing the ball away is perfectly fine. A fumble when you're up by seven with a chance to at least tack on a field goal (which would have made it 27-17) is unacceptable.

Meanwhile the Cowboys defense hung on to force a fumble on the ensuing Jets drive, giving Dallas the ball, 1st and 10 from the Jets 47 yard line. At that point, Dallas still led 24-17 on the right side of midfield with six minutes to play and a chance to ice the game. Instead the stout New York defense forced a 3-and-out. Mat McBriar came on to punt, but a breakdown in protect allowed Joe McKnight to go up the gut untouched to block the kick, which was scooped up and returned 18 yards for the tying touchdown with five minutes to play.

The teams traded punts leaving Dallas with the ball in a tied game, 24-24, with a minute to play. The Cowboys had a timeout to work with and the ball on their own 41 yard line, only 35 yards away from a realistic field goal attempt. At the very least, Dallas would wind up in overtime. Instead, on the first play of the drive, Romo let loose a dud toward the sideline where Dez Bryant was in bracket coverage. Revis intercepted, setting up the Nick Folk game-winning field goal from 50 yards out. Game. Over.

Again, it's not that they lost, but how they lost caused this morning's football ulcer.

+ Speaking of Dez Bryant, the funniest tweet of the night came early in the first half when Bryant got off to a hot start against the Jets all-everything cornerback. "Dez Bryant just set up a beach chair on Revis Island." Too bad that a stay on Revis Island will take a lot out of you, and by the fourth quarter Dez was gassed, he was gimpy, and he wasn't going to beat Revis. For Romo to target him on that final interception was even more ridiculous when you consider how Bryant had slipped over the course of the game. Bryant is a big, physical beast of a wide receiver. If he stays healthy not only through the season (or at the very least through the course of an entire game), Dallas has one great offensive weapon wearing No. 88.

+ On the other side of the formation, Miles Austin showed by we can't automatically pass the torch of No. 1 WR to Dez just yet. Austin took away an interception with a simultaneous catch in the end zone for a touchdown. He finished with five catches, 90 yards, and a score, leading all Cowboys options not named Jason Witten.

+ How great was Sean Lee? The second-year linebacker had a monster game, proving that even the blind squirrel that has overseen recent Cowboys drafts is capable of finding a nut. Lee picked off a Mark Sanchez pass that he returned to the red zone, and he recovered the fourth quarter Sanchez fumble on the defense's last stand. Lee also led the team with 12 tackles. On a team that last season favored seniority when determining playing time, it was great to see No. 50 on the field for the majority of the game with elder statesmen Bradie James and Keith Brooking rotating in.

+ Center Phil Costas premature snap during the Cowboys last-ditch final drive made me miss Andre Gurode, who Dallas cut in training camp this season. Granted, Gurode also used to suffer from premature snapulation, but during the broadcast I saw several commercials for pills that are supposed to help you with that. Just say Jimmy Johnson.

+ For a team that struggled so heavily in past seasons in goal-to-go situations, it was nice to see Felix Jones punch the ball into the end zone in short-distance situation. Marion Barber handled those goal line situations in past seasons, but again, it's out with the old and in with guys who we will threaten to cut unless you play to a level we deem fit. Jones didn't have a spectacular game, but few do against the Jets run defense. It was good to see him succeed in this situation, especially with how often Barber failed to get the 3rd-and-short, 4th-and-short yardage over the last few seasons.

+ This loss reminded me of a 2008 defeat in Pittsburgh late in the season. Not because it's a game that Dallas should have won (based on the first three quarters, not pre-game predictions), but because the guys that lost this game for Dallas were the guys who you wouldn't expect to be the ones to burn you. Romo and Witten cost Dallas on a December day at Heinz Field in 2008. Romo again hurt Dallas in this game. Moreso than last year's season opener, which could be blamed on Tashard Choice's fumble on an ill-advised before the half and Alex Barron's game-ending holding penalty, this game was lost by the team's franchise quarterback.

Jason Witten: Cowboy for life

2011-09-11T16:57:00.000-07:00

By all accounts, today's contract extension for Cowboys tight end Jason Witten is intended on making him a "Cowboy for life." Jerry Jones inked Witten to a five year, $37 million extension to keep a star on his helmet through 2017. In an era of free agency and no loyalty, this signing can provide a link to what the legendary Cowboys have in common: they spent the entirety of their careers in Dallas.

Emmitt's two years in Arizona notwithstanding, virtually every current member of the Ring of Honor was a Cowboy for life. No one in that group is thought of as anything other than a Dallas Cowboy. Seriously, who honestly even remembers where Tony Dorsett finished his career? (And if you say Denver, then you looked it up.)

Witten was a rookie with Dallas in Bill Parcell's first season as head coach in Dallas. Thank goodness. I'd hate to think what might have happened if he'd been subjected to even one season of the Campo regime. He has an opportunity not only eventually become to Cowboys all-time pass catcher but possibly the best tight end of all time (although Shannon Sharpe's three rings put him atop my list over Tony Gonzalez as it currently stands).

Not many guys on the current Cowboys roster have the making of "Ring of Honor" potential. If Demarcus Ware remains one of the top defenders in the league for another five seasons, sure. If Tony Romo wins a Super Bowl to put him past the "Danny White" level of Cowboys quarterback, of course. But other than Witten (and I suppose punter Mat McBriar), who else on this roster has excelled so consistently over the last decade?

Jason Witten may not ever win a ring, but he became a Cowboys immortal figure when he ran without a helmet down inside the Eagles five yard line back in 2007 during the Cowboys 13-3 season. He wasn't the reason the team lost to the Giants in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. He will one day go into the Ring of Honor in Cowboys Stadium as the first of this generations Cowboys -- perhaps the only representative of this generation's Cowboys barring magnificent success still to come.

A lot of times I worry when a player gets a big contract extension. How will it affect their on-field performance. It didn't seem to affect Romo (only his ability to stay healthy). But Witten represents a rare instance where I'm not concerned. I don't see him kicking his feet up because he's been paid. As a Cowboys fan, I look forward to seeing Witten play the entirety of his career with Dallas. Not because he's a "good guy," a great representative of this franchise, which he is, but because he's a damn good football player.

Intimidators Audio

2011-08-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hey Intimidators fans,

Broadcaster Josh here. If you'd like to hear some of the archived highlight calls from some of this season's games -- as well as player interviews from the pre-game show -- I'm working to post a lot of what I've got right here on my blog. Feel free to take a listen, and let me know what your favorite moments from this season have been. Thanks, and GO INTIMIDATORS!

JUMP TO: GAME HIGHLIGHTS ... PLAYER INTERVIEWS

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

PLAYER INTERVIEWS:

And In Other Sports News...A Post By Vanessa.

2011-08-21T19:56:00.000-07:00

THE RUGBY WORLD CUP IS ALMOST HERE!

Aaaaaand you probably don't care. I know, I know, it's football season and there was a lockout and O-M-G aren't we all excited that there is a season this year (as if there was ever actually a chance they wouldn't sort that out in time to make MORE money), but it's here and there are somethings you should know:

Team USA qualified to play!
Game #2 is against the first time qualifying Russia. EFF THE RUSSIANS AND THEIR WORLD CUP ASPIRATIONS.
The Eagles (you guys) have a legitimate chance of getting out of their bracket.
If they do they will more than likely play South Africa... and lose. Sorry, beating the RWC 2007 champs is a long shot.
You should follow and support them anyway- they are representing your country, get behind your flag.
I'm South African-hence the "you guys" and "you" references to America.

Go Eagles!

PS. Your rugby jerseys are SWEEEEET.

http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/

Addison's Ascent

2011-08-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

In years past when I worked in independent baseball, teams I worked for had players purchased by Major League clubs and assigned to their minor league affiliates. I enjoyed seeing how those guys did and if they'd be able to keep that job for future seasons. Working in affiliate ball, one of the neat things is watching players already in an organization -- for me, the White Sox -- move up the ranks to High-A or even Double-A. Plenty of guys who started the season here in Kannapolis with the Class A Intimidators in the South Atlantic League have since moved up to Winston-Salem. Some guys have even jumped two levels and are now part of the Birmingham Barons, the Double-A squad. But only one so far has reached Triple-A.

Addison Reed.

I got the chance to interview Addison early in the season, which is a good thing because he was not long for the Intimidators. He struck out 11 batters in just 8.0 innings with Kannapolis and just two weeks into the 2011 season, the White Sox moved Reed up to the Dash. Same song, second verse: he was 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA (5 ER/28.1 IP) in 15 games with Winston-Salem before becoming a Baron. The former San Diego State Aztec continued to torch opposing hitters. He struck out 33 batters while walking only six in just 20.2 innings at Double-A Birmingham; his ERA was a microscopic 0.87 (2 ER/20.2 IP).

At this point, the White Sox moved last year's third round pick back into the Carolina's, promoted him to Triple-A Charlotte. Reed is now with the Knights and through two games appears to be the same guy who lit up the South Atlantic, Carolina and Southern Leagues in his stops at each level.

This season, Reed is 2-1 with a 1.34 ERA (9 ER/60.2 IP) with 90 strikeouts and 11 walks. Maybe he shouldn't get too comfortable in Charlotte. At this rate, he'll be bound for the Windy City come September.

From Low-A to the Big Leagues in a single year? It's not exactly easy. There's a reason a lot of guys spend a year in rookie ball, then a year in low-A, and then on to High-A, and so on. Making that transition from each level to the next is not easy. As a pitcher, the batters you face get smarter. They remember what you threw them last time. They talk in the dugout about what you're doing on the mound. They go up there with a much higher baseball IQ than the hitters at the level below.

For folks who follow the White Sox system, Addison Reed probably triggers memories of Daniel Hudson who started the 2009 season in Kannapolis before moving to Winston-Salem after just four starts. Hudson reached Double-A by June 20 where he went 7-0 with a 1.60 ERA in nine starts -- in fact he didn't surrender a run in his last 26 innings with the Barons before joining the Knights.

Hudson started 2009 in Fieldcrest Cannon Stadium in Kannapolis, North Carolina, but on September 4 of that year he was making his Major League debut at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. Are you kidding me? That doesn't happen all that often.

It may happen for each Major League team once every decade, maybe. But here are the Chicago White Sox with a chance to have a second hurler shoot up the ladder and into the bigs from Low-A just two years after Hudson did it.

Reed has been impressive, obviously. Numbers don't lie -- especially not in baseball. And now he's in Charlotte just one level away. Today is August 1. Minor League seasons end in a month. When that time comes, feel free to look for Reed coming to a major league ballpark near you.

Outrage and Ecstasy over the Women's World Cup

2011-07-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

I just spent three and a half hours watching soccer.

Women's soccer.

On a weekend!

And it was entirely worth it. The United States just defeated Brazil in penalty kicks in the quarterfinals of the Women's World Cup, and it prompted a similar reaction from me as when Dirk Nowitzki nailed game-winning shots during the Mavericks championship run earlier this summer. I left off my couch screaming in ecstasy.

And I don't care about soccer. At all.

The last time I watched soccer, a friend dragged me to some bar in Dallas at 7 a.m. to see some game that I didn't really care about. Prior to that, I watched the USA men's team compete in South Africa during the 2010 World Cup. The only MLS game I've ever seen start to finish was last year's championship between Dallas and Colorado. Frankly, unless it's international competition, it wasn't going to move the needle for me.

I might have to reconsider my stance. Or at least start watching international competition prior to elimination rounds.

Perhaps I felt compelled to watch in the hopes that an apparent injustice had to be righted. That I couldn't see my own country's national team be robbed the way I felt my Mavericks were unjustly cast aside during the 2006 NBA Finals. I have no other frame of reference for soccer, but I've watched enough sports to know how to feel and when to feel as if my team has been dealt an unfair hand.

The United States lost a player to a red card resulting not only in a penalty kick, but also having to play the rest of the man a man, *cough* excuse me, a woman down, 11-on-10. Still, leading 1-0, the US needed to save the penalty kick and hold on for a 1-0 win.

The penalty kick... SAVE BY HOPE SOLO! Yes! The United States is going to... Wait, what? What's happening now? A re-kick?! FOR WHAT?!?!?!

I was enraged, and unfortunately I don't have a large enough knowledge of soccer to make sense of why I should feel that way. Based on the reactions of American players and the announcers seemingly unable to find fault with how the United States played the PK, I grew even angrier when Brazil buried the second-chance penalty kick.

Now the USA and Brazil, tied 1-1, would play the rest of the match with the Americans down a player. The game went to extra time, stoppage time, hammer time ... whatever it's called, it still seems mysterious. Every other sport in the world seems to be able to accurately stop and start a clock when necessary, but soccer just keeps it running. Heck, just add on more when we're finished. If you think Major League Baseball should have replay because it's easy enough to determine Safe vs. Out, the fact that soccer doesn't feel the need to accurately use a stopwatch will result in an aneurism.

Still tied at 1-1, now to a pair of 15 minute halves. No sudden death. And Brazil friggen scores on what originally appeared to be offsides. Don't give me more reason to watch to smash my TV while the Cowboys and Mavericks are each locked out. If ever my household appliances should feel safe, it should be during an NFL and NBA lockout, right?

With Brazil holding a 2-1 lead, I couldn't help but think how the game should be over. Hope Solo saved that first penalty kick, and I still hadn't heard any logical reasoning from the announcers of why the PK has been retried. The US should have won, 1-0, in regulation. Why are they even playing these extra periods? And now with Brazil ahead, 2-1.

It was a sports injustice of the highest order.

My mind began creeping toward a dark place I didn't know existed prior to the 2006 NBA Finals. The United States was being absolutely screwed out of advancing to the World Cup semi finals. I wanted to lash out. It didn't seem fair at all. The announcers had resigned themselves to the fact that America's run in this World Cup would in fact end earlier than ever before. That the United States would lose twice in a World Cup for the first time ever. That Brazil was heading to the semis. But that's not the mentality we have here. I began screaming louder at my tv (my neighbors hate me, by the way), trying to will the USA to a goal that was certain never to come.

The first 15 minute period ended. Only 15 minutes until Brazil moved on and the United States went home. With four minutes left, one of Brazil's players went down with an injury. She was on the ground writhing in pain. Either she'd be shot or was about to give birth, but clearly this was no fake injury. Something serious must have happened. Medics brought a stretcher out to the field to move her off the pitch and allow play to continue. Then, as they were loading the Brazilian onto the stretcher, they showed a replay. The woman just laid down and FAKED the injury.

And just to make sure we knew she was full of shit, as soon as she was carried off the field on a stretcher, wasting four minutes of time, she sprung back as if re-spawning in a shoot-'em-up video game and ran back onto the field as if nothing had happened. That right there is why I couldn't stand Dwayne Wade clutching his eye at the end of Game 2 of the most recent finals, and it's why I've never liked soccer. If flopping is ruining the NBA, soccer is a lost cause.

Not only was the US going to lose, but Brazil was doing its best to cheat away the precious remaining seconds left on the clock. Had I been on the field, I might have been inclined to make sure that injury-faking cheater left the field on a stretcher, seeing as how she seemed like she wanted so badly to get out of playing just moments earlier. In baseball, pitchers retaliate with brushback pitches and plunking batters. If ever a player deserved to be taken out, it's the player who is already faking a catastrophic injury.

Referees tacked on three minutes of stoppage time, which seemed rather meager compared to how long the fake injury lasted. Oh, but they gave her a yellow card. Who gives a flying shit?! Unless that yellow card was going to add another minute or two back onto the clock, don't even bother.

Time ticked away. The first minute faded, the United States still trailing. And with just over a minute to go, a perfectly lobbed ball made its way toward the Brazilian net where Abby Wamback drove home the game-tying header with the latest goal ever scored in the World Cup, 122 minutes into the match.

After the Brazilians were gifted second life in this game with an extraneous penalty kick that proved fruitful, the game would be decided by penalty kicks, a strength favoring the Americans and goalkeeper Hope Solo. Poetic justice prevailed as the Americans were granted a second chance at their first penalty kick with Brazil's goalie leaving the goal line early. Boxx drove home the goal, and the penalty kick stage of the match was on!

Solo guessed wrong at the first two shots, but after the USA made its first three PKs, Solo lunged to her right and tipped a penalty kick wide of the net, making the only save America needed to advance on penalty kicks (5-3) past Brazil and into the semifinals.

Everything we pride ourselves on in the United States. Everything we strive to achieve. Working to be the best and carrying a never-say-die attitude into everything we undertake. It all paid off in this match. Soccer -- women's soccer! -- boosted National pride an extra notch on Sunday afternoon. Who would have ever thought that would happen? And who would have ever thought I'd spend three and a half hours of my weekend watching soccer?

Intimidators Interviews (June)

2011-06-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

Tune in to a few of our Kannapolis Intimidators pre-game interviews. Here are the ones we recorded before the All-Star Break in June...

6/17 - Tommy Thompson

6/18 - Ross Wilson

6/19 - Kyle Eveland

Previous interviews this season:

April Interviews

May Interviews (Part 1)

May Interviews (Part 2)

Intimidators Interviews - May (Part 2)

2011-06-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

The rest of the pre-game interviews from May 2011:

5/20 - Tommy Thompson

5/21 - Trayce Thompson

5/22 - Spencer Arroyo

5/23 - Brady Shoemaker

5/29 - Ross Wilson

5/30 - Dexter Carter

5/31 - Kenny Gilbert

Intimidators Interviews - May (Part 1)

2011-06-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

Here are more of the pre-game interviews with Kannapolis Intimidators players from the first part of May.

5/6 - Matt Heidenreich

5/12 - Charles Poe ("C-Poe")

----

(Click here to listen to April's interviews)

Intimidators Interviews

2011-06-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

With the first half of the South Atlantic League season in the books, now seems like a good time to post some of the interviews I've done with Kannapolis Intimidators players and coaches (including Friday conversations with manager Tommy Thompson) during CMC-NorthEast Pre-Game Show. Feel free to go back through some of the conversations and enjoy the insight and the humor with the Intimidators.

4/15 - Tommy Thompson

4/20 - J.R. Ballinger

4/21 - Jake Petricka

4/22 - Tommy Thompson

4/30 - Dan Black

A Mavs fan, rewarded

2011-06-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

Dallas Mavericks. World Champions.

Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Did it really happen? As a fan who has rooted for this team since literally before I can remember -- as a toddler who went to games with my dad at Reunion Arena in the late 1980s -- and seeing this thing through always believing and rooting for the Mavericks, last night's 105-95 win over the Miami Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals is the ultimate payoff, for myself and all Mavericks fans worldwide.

And when I think about what this means, not only being a lifelong Mavericks fan who grew up in Dallas, I truly believe that this championship, the first for the Dallas Mavericks, is the most meaningful that I've experienced as a fan. And it makes perfect sense.

First of all, it's the fifth championship won by one of my professional teams that I grew up rooting for: the Cowboys, Mavericks, Stars and Rangers.

The Cowboys won three Super Bowls just as I reached sports-consciousness. I had just turned eight years old when Troy Aikman quarterbacked the Cowboys to the first of three titles in four years. The Cowboys greatness became an entitlement to me, as it to some degree has been for fans of America's Team since the 1970s. I couldn't appreciate just how low things had been just four or five years earlier for that franchise when Jerry Jones fired Tom Landry in 1989, and the Cowboys followed with a 1-15 season.

Now as a Cowboys fan who has experienced only one playoff victory since the 1996 season, I'm beginning to understand what other NFL fans face year in and year out. Apparently the Super Bowl is not our birthright as Dallas Cowboys fans. It's something I didn't quite comprehend growing up.

As for the Dallas Stars Stanley Cup win in 1999, oh, I was excited about it. I wore my Stars jersey to games during the '99 season, painted my face, cheered in Reunion Arena for this newfangled hockey team that had just come to town six years earlier and was originally marketed as "football on ice" to a gridiron-centric sports town. The Stars went back to the Stanley Cup finals the following year, losing the New Jersey Devils, and have advanced to the Conference Finals just once since then, in 2008 when they fell in six games to the Red Wings. But hockey was never on the forefront of my mind. The Stars were a cool novelty compared to the Cowboys, Rangers and Mavericks, all of which had predated my existence in Dallas.

Yes, the Rangers run last fall was magical. I still don't know how it happened. But to some degree, it came out of nowhere, and there is still a sense of being content with just getting to experience a World Series without actually winning it. I loved the Rangers growing up. I enjoyed going to games at the old Arlington Stadium. Hell, I work in baseball now. A Texas Rangers Championship last fall would have been amazing. It's what the long-suffering Rangers fan dreams of.

Except the suffering of a Rangers fan is different than that of a the Mavericks fan. As a Rangers fan, we suffer through mediocrity year in and year out -- up until last year of course. The Rangers' success came out of nowhere. The 2010 Opening Day starter, Scott Feldman, and No. 2 starter, Rich Harden, didn't pitch in the postseason. The Cliff Lee deal? Was anyone expecting that at all? No. Rangers fans slogged through 39 subpar seasons with flashes of success in 1996, '98 and '99, but the thought of winning the World Series was never something to be seriously considered. Yes, Rangers fans suffered, but only through the acceptance of rooting for what appeared -- until last season -- to be a perennial loser. Not until 2010 could Rangers fans experience true pride in their team.

The Pain of Mavericks Fandom
But the suffering of Dallas Mavericks fans is that of a dangling championship that appeared would always elude us. Dallas reached the Western Conference Finals in the late 80s, falling to the mighty Los Angeles Lakers in a deciding seventh game. Eventually the Mavericks of Mark Aguire and Rolondo Blackman faded, and the Dallas NBA franchise became basketball bottom-feeders, putting together 11-win and 13-win seasons in consecutive years in the early 90s.

That is where I came into sports-consciousness with the Mavericks. My dad took me to games to root for the Mavericks. I got to see Jamal Mashburn and Jimmy Jackson join a rookie named Jason Kidd to form what was supposed to be the trio to propel the Mavericks to compete for relevance in the NBA. Triple-J had arrived, but nothing ever game from it. Eventually the three left or were sent away from Dallas. Jimmy Jackson was part of the trade to bring Shawn Bradley to Dallas from New Jersey. Jason Kidd was shipped to Phoenix for a young gun out of Wisconsin named Michael Finley.

And still I watched as this ragtag basketball team trudged through games at Reunion Arena, all the while cheering them on with no real expectation of success. Heck, sometimes I even got to see them win. A game. But win anything of significance? Only once.

My dad took me to Reunion Arena on March 12, 1998, to see Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, the defending NBA Champions. The biggest star in the NBA was coming to our neck of the woods. It was like a great national concert tour that was going to make a stop in our little city. Sure, the Mavericks were going to probably get crushed by the two-time defending champs, but who cares.

Then out of nowhere, something completely unexpected happened. We won. Wait, what? The Mavericks beat the Bulls, 104-97. I can still remember standing at the end of a concourse tunnel as the final seconds ticked off the clock. That night, I can still remember calling in to 106.1 Kiss-FM in Dallas to tell Sammy G how "I wanna be like Mike ... FINLEY!" It was the best win in Dallas Mavericks history in my sports-consciousness. I was just two years or three years old when Dallas went to the conference finals against LA in the 80s. But this win over the Bulls was the ultimate win.

The win over Chicago was so big that the Mavericks put out a VHS of the game, "Unforgetta-Bull: Mavericks shock Bulls 104-97 in OT" and a copy of that tape sits somewhere in my parents house.

Little did I know this win, a win that seemingly would never be surpassed in the annals of Dallas Mavericks history, would pale in comparison the ride we as Mavericks fans were about to take.

In the summer of 1998, just weeks after the Chicago Bulls -- the same team that lost to lowly Dallas in March -- claimed their third straight NBA Championship, that miserable Dallas franchise made a draft day trade for some German teenager that would forever alter how people in the Metroplex and around the world would view this organization.

Dirk Nowitzki.

If you doubted him before, his greatness is now, FINALLY, validated with the label of NBA Champion. But I'm jumping ahead in the story. (Sorry, I still can't believe it happened.)

Building For Success
Dirk's emergence combined with Mark Cuban's purchase of the franchise in January of 2000 kick-started what would become the most successful stretch in franchise history. And short of Tom Landry's 20 consecutive winning seasons, it's the most successful stretch for any Dallas-area franchise ever.

Dallas made the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade after the 2001 season and met the Utah Jazz in the first round. John Stockton and Karl Malone, two Hall of Famers, taking on the little Mavericks' "Big Three" of Michael Finley, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki ... in that order. And when we say "Big Three" it was a big three for Dallas, for a franchise that had tried to assemble it's last "Big Three" with the Triple-J boys of the mid-90s. But it wasn't a true Big Three compared to what we see today with Miami. It wasn't three players who could conceivably win a championship -- and at the time, I think we all knew that but were still happy to root for them.

Utah quickly jumped out to a 2-0 lead in a then-best-of-five first round series against Dallas as the series shifted to Reunion Arena for Game 3, and if necessary Game 4. The Mavericks won game three. They squeaked by in Game 4, I want to say 94-93, but I can't remember and don't feel like googling. The series was going back to Utah for Game 5. Wow, so this is what playoff basketball is like?

I was experiencing it for the first time in my life. Playoff basketball was new to me. I'd never had a team to root for, never had a dog in the fight until now.

And facing a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter of a deciding Game 5 in Utah, the Dallas Mavericks led by Michael Finley and Steve Nash with help from Dirk Nowitzki came charging back to eliminate the Jazz. At that time, I was convinced Calvin Booth was going to forever hold a place in Dallas Mavericks lore ... and maybe because that playoff series win was the first to start this amazing run, perhaps he does. (What a crazy-ass realization.)

Can't Settle For Satisfactory
Dallas started a string of 11-straight 50-win seasons, and with each year, Mavericks fans -- now fully embracing our new "Mavs fans" persona became less and less enthralled with playoff participation and more and more focused on achieving success. The mindset shift, I feel, came in the 2003 postseason. Dallas began the playoffs with a first-round series (now in best-of-seven format) against the Portland Trailblazers. The ~~Mavericks~~ Mavs jumped out to a 3-0 series lead before dropping the next three games as the Blazers forced Game 7. Dallas prevailed, advancing to the next round.

Enter the Sacramento Kings. Dallas and Sacramento began a seven-game series that highlighted what would be my final few weeks of high school. In one of the first two games of the series in Dallas, the score was 44-40 Dallas after the first QUARTER. By halftime, the high-scoring blitz saw the Mavs lead, 83-80. And these numbers are coming from memory. I know I have these numbers right. In fairness, I don't remember the final score of that game. I'm not even sure if we won that high-scoring affair. I just know the series was a lights-out shootout. Chris Webber went down with a knee injury early in the series, and Dallas and Sacramento eventually found themselves in Game 7 in Dallas, on the exact same night as my senior stinkin' prom.

My little brother Matthew and a friend went to Game 7, getting to witness the Mavericks advance to the Wester Conference Finals against the in-state rival San Antonio Spurs. Meanwhile, I was at prom with my high school girlfriend. There were no smart phones. There was no "checking the score" to see how the game was going. At some point, someone made an announcement that Dallas won, but I never saw a second of the game. The night, for me, was highlighted when I got back to my then-girlfriend's house (no, this isn't going where you think it is ... remember, I'm a sports nut, so my focus was not where other high school seniors' focus would be after prom). My girlfriend's dad was at the door waiting for us, and he handed me a printout of the post-game story detailing Dallas' success. That, to me, was awesome on his part, and is in fact my highlight memory from senior prom.

Dallas stole Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals in San Antonio despite only leading for something like 67 seconds of the game, but Dallas shot 49-50 from the free throw line (again, I promise you I'm not looking these numbers up. Someone feel free to google and see what I've missed, but I doubt it's much of anything. In fact, it was Eduardo Najera who missed the first free throw for Dallas before the Mavs made 49 straight in the game.) But Dirk got hurt, and Dallas eventually lost in six games to the eventual champs.

Still, the bar had been raised. Simply participating in the playoffs was no longer satisfactory. Now, we want--, no, we need to win it all. Easier said than done, as we would find out.

That was after the 2003 season. It wouldn't be for another eight seasons that the Mavericks would finally achieve this dream. A new type of suffering was about to begin.

Struggling With Success
Dallas continued to win at least 50 games each year, continued to make the playoffs, but continued to fall short of its ultimate goal. The Mavs showed promising signs. There was a series win over Houston in 2005 after Dallas trailed 0-2, losing the first two games at home. There was a great Game 7 in San Antonio to beat the arch-nemesis Spurs in 2006 to advance to the Conference Finals against MVP Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns. Six games later, Dirk helped elevate Dallas to a place it had never been: the NBA Finals.

We all know what happened in 2006. And as much as last night is revenge, 2006 will always hurt. The series was right there. Many Mavs fans will always blame refs, and I can't disagree to strongly based on some of the generous called afforded to Dwayne Wade. Let's just say, I'm glad Bennett Salvatore didn't make an appearance in the 2011 finals. Still, the refs didn't make Josh Howard call timeout after Dwayne Wade's first free throw, not his second, in the pivotal Game 5 (granted, Wade shouldn't have been on the line, but I digress). And no one was complaining about the officiating when Dallas was leading the Heat, 2-games-to-none and up by 13 points with 6:28 left in Game 3.

The next year, Dallas got off to a rough start, beginning 2006-07 with four straight losses before going on to an NBA-best 67-win season, but the first-round loss to Golden State was a kick to the groin of our playoff hopes. Former head coach Don Nelson guided the Golden State Warriors to a six-game series win, becoming the first 8-seed to top a 1-seed in the first round since the NBA went to a best-of-seven first round format. That team was supposed to redeem the '06 Finals collapse. Instead, it was an even bigger failure. As Mavs fans, it was devastating.

Head Coach Avery Johson was jettisoned after the 2008 season and a first-round loss to Chris Paul, David West, Tyson Chandler, and the New Orleans Hornets. Dallas had traded young point guard Devon Harris for aging veteran Jason Kidd. It was a move I didn't understand. It was a move I blasted Mark Cuban for saying he would do it again if given the chance to do it over. It was a move that didn't payoff, and that playoff failure cost Johnson, a former NBA Coach of the Year, his job.

In Avery's goodbye press conference, he noted five things that a championship-caliber team needed to have. At the time, it seemed like he was making excuses for coming up short. But retroactively, it seems he was right, because it's those five things that Dallas put together three years later to achieve ultimate glory.

Avery noted that championship teams need:
1. A superstar player
2. Strong center position
3. Guard that can dribble-drive, get to the free throw line
4. Depth on bench
5. Experience on coaching staff

Well doesn't that sound like the 2011 Mavs?
1. Dirk
2. Tyson Chandler and Brendan Haywood
3. Jason Terry, Kidd & Barea
4. See Game 4 of the Lakers series
5. Rick Carlisle.

Yeah, so Avery had it right. Dallas, in fact, didn't have the pieces in place to win in 2008. But it's not like Rick Carlisle found the magic formula right out of the gate. Fans were calling for his head after last season's first-round exit to the seventh-seeded Spurs. The Mavs lost in the first round for three times in the last four seasons. Maybe that window that Dallas flung open with Dirk's and-one against Manu Ginobili in Game 7 in San Antonio in 2006 was slamming shut before our eyes.

50 Redundant Wins
Dallas was rocking and rolling to start the 2010-11 season. There were plenty of big wins, and the Mavs were one of the NBA's best teams before injuries to Dirk Nowitzki and Caron Butler proved to be significant setbacks, leading to a six-game losing streak, the longest since Mark Cuban bought the team, but merely "just another week" by 1990s franchise standards.

In November, the Mavs had a great come-from-behind win over the Detroit Pistons, at which time I wrote this blog about the greatness of Dirk and what we as Mavs fans were fortunate enough to witness. At the time I wrote it with the hope that one day he would win at title but knowing the reality didn't look too good. I finished the post by saying:

There will at some point come a time when he no longer suits up for the Mavs. I hope it's not for a while, because as he displayed on Tuesday night against Detroit, he is still very much capable of dominating a game in the NBA. But when his time as a Maverick is done, with a ring or not, he will be looked back at as one of the greatest sports figures the DFW metropplex has ever seen. He'll be up there with Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Nolan Ryan. He's one ring away from immortality status as far as the rest of the NBA is concerned, but here in Dallas, let's hope his team's fans know better than that.

He's already achieved it.

It feels so much better knowing his legacy will not be accompanied with the Stockton/Malone-esque "greatest to never win a championship" label.

Dirk and Mavs finished the 2010-11 season is somewhat of a slump, although it's hard to remember now. Dallas was 0-8 against playoff teams to finish the season and had lost out on the second seed to the Los Angeles Lakers, setting up a second-round match up with LA holding home court.

Bracing For Another Disappointment
There was no indication this would be a special playoff run at the time the post-season began. Dallas started off with two wins against Portland at home before dropping Game 3 on the road. Nevertheless, the Mavs had a 2-1 series lead with home court in the series, but was facing a Portland team that many predicted to upset Dallas in the first round (little did we know it would be the other Texas playoff team, San Antonio, that would suffer a first-round exit at the hands of Memphis). Then, the moment Mavs fans have sadly become accustomed to occurred.

Dallas led by 23 points against the Blazers when Brandon Roy had a career performance, scoring 24 points and leading a shocking comeback to tie the series, 2-2. If the window of opportunity for Dallas to win a championship was still open at this point, it wasn't by much. Buckle up, because this was the first-round upset everyone was project about to happen. Dallas was cooked.

But then, something different happened. Something even the most diehard of Mavs fans might have been cringingly expecting. Dallas didn't complete the collapse. Instead, they bounced back, winning Game 5 and going into Portland to win their first road playoff game in the last 10 years (okay, that stat is not accurate, but it sure felt like it before the LA/OKC/Heat series, right?). Dallas closed out the series in six games but would have an even bigger task waiting for them in the next round.

Defeating Goliath
The two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers earned home court by winning two of three games against the Mavs during the regular season. Kobe Bryant is an assassin with a basketball, and his supporting cast is nothing to scoff at. He has former, current and future All-Stars all around him along with the greatest coach in NBA history, Phil Jackson, on the bench to guide this basketball juggernaut against the Mavericks who barely edged the Blazers in the first round.

Dallas and Los Angeles went down the final minute with the game still in doubt, but Dirk made the plays when it mattered and Kobe clanged out what could have been the game-winning three as time expired. Dallas escaped LA with a Game 1 win, 96-94, and captured home court. Good. Now Dallas could just take care of business at home and win the series. Wasn't that what we all were thinking?

If you were thinking Dallas would sweep, you're either A. mentally challenged, or B. a LIAR! (and you've already read all this, so I doubt you're not all there in the head).

But that's what Dallas did, including an all-out blitz in the Game 4 clincher that was marred by flagrant fouls from Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum. I thought J.J. Barea might have died that day. How he survived that cheap shot from Bynum, let alone was still able to play in that game, heck, in these playoffs, was amazing. If anyone was going to question the collective toughness of Dallas anymore, just look at that play. The Mavs were going to take every shot put on them, both legitimate within the game and otherwise, get back up and continue to go to work. With a defeat of the Lakers, Dallas had a clear path to the finals basket with San Antonio already out of the picture. A return to the Finals was the light at the end of the tunnel, and we could clearly see it.

Handling The Little Brother
Dallas faced the new young guns of the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder. If you really think about it, the Thunder is exactly where Dallas was in 2003, a young team finding itself on the brink of the Finals for the first time. Maybe the lights were too bright for them on that stage, or perhaps Dallas simply willed themselves past OKC. Whatever had happened in that series prior to Game 4, however, didn't matter.

The Mavs trailed by 15 points with five minutes to play. Oklahoma City was sending the series back to Dallas tied, 2-2. The Mavs would have three games, including two at home, to win two more to advance to the NBA Finals. Not a bad position to be in at all. But that wasn't good enough for these Mavs. Dirk put Dallas on his back, the Mavs ended the game on a 17-2 run to force overtime, where they went on to part the clouds with a 112-104 win, sending the series back to Dallas 3-1, and the Mavs closed it out in front of their fans to advance to the NBA Finals.

But when Dallas was awarded the Western Conference Finals trophy, they didn't celebrate. Instead, Dirk walked off the stage, headed to the locker room. His teammates saw this and followed. This was not the trophy they came for. There was still work to be done. They have one of these trophies... and its meaning is hollow after how 2006 ended. The tone was set. Dallas was going back to the Finals on a mission.

A Familiar Foe
If Mavs fans dreamed of making a run to the Finals as the 2010-11 season began, it might have been wise to anticipate a rematch with Miami after they assembled their three-headed monster in the offseason. LeBron James was the big national story, but to Dallasites, Dwayne Wade was the true enemy. Wade, not LeBron, took what we were so close to capturing in 2006. Wade, not LeBron, said Dirk wasn't the leader Dallas needed him to be after that series. Wade, not LeBrong James is who Dallas needed revenge against. But beating the self-proclaimed King in the process, that's just icing on the cupcake.

Wade quickly reminded Mavs fans of what they were up against in 2006, pushing the Heat to wins in Games 1 and 3. The Mavs had a chance to win Game 3, but Dirk's shot, his flamingo one-footed fadeaway didn't fall -- perhaps for the first time ever? -- and Miami led the NBA Finals, 2-1. The Mavs would need to win three of the next four games if they were going to validate the previous decade's streak of 50-win seasons and the franchise's entire existence with a championship.

Dirk's flu game in Game 4, followed by an offensive outburst for the first time in these Finals in Game 5 put the Mavs on the brink, one win away from a title for the first time ever.

Last night, June 12, 2011, the Dallas Mavericks finished the job. Dirk bounced back from a 1-for-12 first half in which Jason Terry dragged the Mavericks kicking and screaming to an improbable 60-57 halftime lead. The Big German shook off the cobwebs after the break for 18 second half points to achieve him dream, to help us as Mavs fans achieve a dream of all of ours. There's no need to go into overdrive on last night's Xs and Os for why Dallas won, but it was so very fitting that the one Mavericks aside from Dirk who made the Championship-clinching victory possible was the same Maverick who took so much heat - no pun intended - since his arrival in Dallas simply because, frankly, he wasn't Steve Nash. Jason Eugene Terry, the JET, finally took flight to new height, scoring a game-high 27 points as the Mavericks etched themselves into immortality as NBA Champions.

Meaning
Forever the names of these Mavericks players will hold a special place in the heart of all Mavs fans. Dirk Nowitzki would have been remembered as the greatest Mav ever regardless. Now, it's just got a nicer ring to it (that time, yes, pun intended). Jason Terry is also now a Maverick-immortal. And the names of Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, J.J. Barea, Shawn Marion, DeShawn Stevenson, Brendan Haywood, Peja Stojakovic, Brian Cardinal, Corey Brewer, Ian Mahinmi, and even Caron Butler along with head coach Rick Carlisle, this will forever be the group that got it done for Dallas. These are the ones who brought Larry O'Brien to Dallas. Their legacy, in our eyes as Mavs fans, is forever sealed. Much in the way I remembered Calvin Booth's contributions as a young Dallas team beat the veteran-laden Jazz in 2001 to begin this incredible journey, I will remember these players who came along a decade later for finishing the job.

The Dallas Mavericks are NBA Champions. If it means suffering through the types of 11- and 13-win seasons we had to endure in the early 90s, so be it. Because we will forever be able to look the rafters of the American Airlines Center to remember what was accomplished this year.

Long before Mark Cuban's marketing team coined the phrase, I was a Mavs fan for life. And today, I find myself living a dream.

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks, the 2011 NBA Champions, and thank you for rewarding our loyalties with your demonstration of class, dignity, and above all else, a title. This season will live into eternity.

NFL Playoffs

2011-01-08T13:57:00.000-08:00

January has arrived and with it the return of playoff football. The weekend's festivities kick off with the defending champion New Orleans Saints in Seattle to take on a team that Ohio State's president might describe as the Little Sisters of the Poor in terms of NFL playoff teams.

The Seahawks went 7-9 in the regular season. The Saints 12-4. And yes the game is in the Pacific Northwest because Seattle won the NFC West while New Orleans finishes second in their division. In fact, Seattle finished behind a few other teams that did not make the playoffs, such as Tampa Bay and the New York Giants. And while fans in those markets may cry foul, I am staunchly in favor of keeping things as is.

Radicals might want to abolish division and even the conferences and just take the league's top 12 teams, but that would be a mistake. Not only does winning your division need to mean something, but scrambling the NFL's playoff format is not the right answer. There is no need to try to fix a system that isn't as broken as people are making it out to be. This isn't the BCS.

Another new wrinkle to the NFL playoffs this year are the adjusted overtime rules. In the past a team could receive the opening kickoff of overtime, make 2-3 first downs, and kick a long field goal to win while the other team never sniffs the ball. Now the league has adopted rules that say a team must score a TD to end overtime within the first two possessions essentially. So if a team kicks a field goal on the first possession, the other team can kick a FG to force the start of "sudden death" or can score a TD for the victory.

The purpose of this is to make sure a coin toss doesn't determine the overtime winners, but if you looks at the evidence of overtime playoff games in the past, the percentage of teams who lose and never touch the ball are not overwhelming. However the NFL is trying to give each team a chance to touch the ball regardless of what past stats indicate. And in the playoffs, unlike the regular season, the constraints of jamming a game into a hard 3-hour block aren't as demanding.

Regardless, it should be a great NFL postseason. Frankly, I don't think Seattle will win, as much as I'd like them to, but they will play a much closer game with New Orleans than people are expecting. Granted, I haven't been much of a fan of seeing playoff games in Seattle (not since that dropped field goal by Tony Romo ended the Bill Parcells tensure in Dallas ... now I'm sad).

NFL playoff format & the NFC West

2010-12-31T10:16:00.000-08:00

With the NFL playoffs less than two weeks away and only a few playoffs spots truly up for grabs in Week 17, it seems that the debate over which teams should get it has reignited, mainly as a result of this week's Sunday Night Football match up featuring two sub-.500 teams with a home playoff game on the line.

The 2010 edition of the NFC West division may not be the home to the year's best football, but it has shaped up to be the most competitive division this season, with three teams all in the hunt for the division crown until the 49ers loss in Week 16. Granted, that doesn't mean any of these teams are playing great football -- or even "winning football" for that matter -- but that's no reason to lobby for playoff restructuring or even division restructuring.

First of all, for those who say the NFC West is watered down and doesn't provide strong competition to the rest of the NFL, even if their junior varsity skill level does translate throughout the four teams in the division, this is clearly an aberration and not the norm. In the NFL over the last ten years, only two divisions have sent three different teams to a Super Bowl. One of them in the NFC South ('02 Buccaneers, '03 Panthers, '09 Saints) and the other is the NFC West ('01 Rams, '05 Seahawks, '08 Cardinals). So not only have three of the teams in the NFC West been to a Super Bowl recently, but the fourth team in that division is once-mighty San Francisco which, despite a rough patch in recent years, is one of the most successful franchises in NFL history. The potential for strong competition exists in that division, so please don't think blowing it up is the right call.

Furthermore, if you win your division, you should get a home playoff game. Period.

If the Falcons end up 13-3 and win the NFC South this season while the Saints finish 12-4, then you know what, the Saints should have beaten Atlanta when they had the chance at home in New Orleans back in September. The Saints and Falcons have 12 common opponents this season plus two head-to-head games. NFL schedules are set up to provide an equal challenge among division teams. Whichever team handles that schedule the best wins the division and should be properly rewarded by hosting a playoff game.

Wasn't it just two years ago we were having this same debate about how good a 9-7 NFC West Champion Arizona Cardinals team really was, and they went all the way to the Super Bowl. If you're good enough to win you're division, you belong in the playoffs. Teams in other divisions might have not had to face as challenging a schedule as teams from another division.

The NFL playoffs are set up just fine. And if a 7-9 Seattle ends up hosting a 12-4 New Orleans Saints, then they better pack warm clothes. If 8-8 St. Louis hosts a team with a better record in the first round, they earned that right. It's not something that can be altered based on one or two fluky seasons.

UNC, Tennessee & the 10-second runoff that wasn't

2010-12-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl pitting North Carolina against Tennessee, an entire nation of football fans and passers by wake up to something that - for most of them at least - is a new concept: a 10-second runoff. Diehards who know "all the rules" may still be a bit confused by this concept, but that's what this blog is here for.

Admittedly, my own knowledge of when 10-second runoffs are applied was taken to task on Christmas night in the Cowboys-Cardinals game [How the Cards stole Christmas] when Arizona's game-winning drive would have been thwarted by draining the remaining 10 seconds from the clock after an illegal formation penalty. The Cardinals right tackle was uncovered on the line of scrimmage, but instead of a 10-second runoff and thus a Cowboys win, instead the Cardinals were merely penalized five yards and allowed to kick the game-winning field goal. Bah humbug.

As far as penalties go late in the game, it's widely known that "a game cannot end on a defensive penalty" at really any level of football. Offensively, however, it's a little more complicated. In fact, plenty of games end on offensive penalties -- just ask Cowboys backup tackle Alex Barron after his holding penalty cost Dallas a Week 1 win at Washington. I always knew that if the clock is running inside the two-minute warning, and a player gets injured in a tie game (or the players of the injured team is losing, presumably on offense), and that team does not have any more timeouts, 10 seconds are run off the clock (see NFL rule). This is to prevent players from faking injuries to stop the clock and give a team an unfair advantage in driving for the last-second score.

The 10-second runoff due to an injured player on a team lacking timeouts might even be common knowledge, albeit a rare occurrence in the NFL today. However it can also be applied on some offensive procedural penalties. I say some because I used to think it was all until the Christmas night Cowboys/Cardinals game corrected my beliefs. To clarify, an offensive procedural penalty is something like a false start, two men in motion at the same time and not getting set, motion toward the line of scrimmage, too many men or not enough men on the line of scrimmage resulting in illegal formation. So prior to the Cowboys loss in the desert, I would have thought that any of these sort of penalties would result in a 10-second runoff if an offense was without a timeout, tied or trailing under two minutes in a half, to prevent the offensive from stopping the clock and absorbing a 5-yard hiccup of a penalty all to preserve time. It is for that reason exactly why when the Cardinals were able to spike the ball with 10 seconds left in the Christmas night game without being properly set on offense that the Cowboys bench thought they had won. That and, frankly, Jeff Triplett leaves much to be desired when it comes to portraying confidence in the calls he makes (the man looks so beaten down with every call, he makes Toby from "The Office" seem peppier than Oprah giving away cars to her audience).

You know the rest of that game, the Cardinals ended up with 10 seconds left on the clock from the time the ball was spiked, no runoff for not getting their offensive line set on that spike-play, and kicked the game-winning field goal on the next snap.

And that's not the first time this has happened in the NFL either.

In October 2006, the Rams and Seahawks were locked in a division match up (by the way, how that division will be decided on Sunday night with the 7-8 Rams and 6-9 Seahawks for a home playoff game makes the NFL awesome; no restructuring necessary). Here is an excerpt from an ESPN.com article about how that game ended and the Rams' frustrations with the 10-second runoff rule, which has not since been changed by the way:

The Seahawks, down 28-27, used a running play to reach the St. Louis 31 in the final seconds Sunday and hurried to the line. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck spiked the ball with 4 seconds left to set up a field goal to win the game.

The yellow flag flew, and many of the Rams began to celebrate in anticipation of an offensive penalty that would require a 10-second runoff, which would have meant the game was over and the Rams won.

Wrong.

The Seahawks were whistled for an illegal formation, not a false start. The false start penalty would have required the runoff. The illegal formation call simply moved the ball back five yards.

Josh Brown made a 54-yard field goal to win it for Seattle (4-1), which moved back into first place in the NFC West, a half-game ahead of St. Louis (4-2).

Linehan didn't question the ruling, just the rule.

"I think the integrity of the 10-second runoff is in question here because the whole idea is you can't have an illegal play of any kind without any timeouts while the clock is running to ensure that you get a chance to get a kick," Linehan said.

Teams could use the loophole to their advantage, Linehan said. For example, a trailing team that completes a long pass might not have time to get the rest of the team to the ball in the waning seconds. So why not just have the receivers who are downfield run a play and take the illegal formation penalty?

That's the same situation that happened to the Cowboys on Christmas night. No 10-second runoff. Tough. At least the NFL is consistent, even if they need to revisit of the letters of their law so as to protect the spirit.

Now, back to the Music City Bowl from last night [recap] and the outcry of what people are saying would have been a different result in the NFL (which, sorry, Tennessee, that wouldn't have been the case. You still would have lost).

Trailing by 3 points with 16 seconds left in the game, the UNC Tar Heels faced 2nd & 10 from the Tennessee 25-yard line. Head Coach Butch Davis called for a run (and just because it worked certainly doesn't make it right!), and the UNC back runs 7 yards to the 18 where he is tackled, the clock running all the while. In a mad scramble that can only be described as Music City Mayhem (Music City Miracle was already taken ... and that time, there were "NO FLAGS ON THE FIELD!" but I digress), the UNC field goal unit ran onto the field while the main offense remained in place. With somewhere around 16 men on the field, the UNC quarterback received the snap and spiked the ball with :01 second left.

Yes, the referee initially signaled that the game was over, but it was reviewed and one second was put back on the clock, allowing UNC to kick a game-tying field goal to force overtime where they eventually pulled out the 30-27 victory over the Volunteers of Tennessee. And thus all the outcry this morning. How could UNC be allowed to get that :01 second back on the clock if they were penalized on the previous snap for illegal formation?! It shouldn't be allowed! It's a travesty! This would never happen in the NFL!

Actually, had it been a false start there would have been a 10-second runoff, and that final second would have harmlessly ticked away, giving Tennessee the Music City Bowl victory. And, no, it wouldn't have been a false start on the handful of Tar Heels running toward the sideline because they were never set prior to the snap of the ball. Instead it was an illegal formation, and UNC was pushed back 5 yards before the game-tying field goal was attempted.

So for the pundits crying foul -- and it certainly was -- just know that this play wouldn't have unfolded any differently in the NFL, except for the fact that I can't think of one NFL head coach who would be dumb enough to call a run in that situation. Heck, I even have to give time-management-impaired Andy Reid the benefit of the doubt here. It wouldn't happen in the NFL.

The harm of illegal procedure not being a 10-second runoff however is the fact that an offense could complete a LONG pass play and have its two speediest players race up to the line up scrimmage and execute a snap and spike to stop the clock with the rest of the offense still trying to get up to the line (although, I suppose technically they couldn't have any vertical motion toward the line of scrimmage, so just run sideways for a bit or stand still or something). That team could take the five yard penalty but still save all the extra time it would take for five fat lineman and your immobile quarterback to get up to the line, get set, and get the ball snapped and spiked. At some point, an NFL coach will test the rules and try to sneak a win out of this loophole -- Bill Belichick, anyone? -- and the problem won't be fixed until that time.

College football may very well need a 10-second runoff, but you better tap the breaks if you think the solution lies within the NFL's rule book.

12-team NABL in 2011. Who's missing?

2010-12-30T20:25:00.000-08:00

It has certainly been a busy offseason for folks in the Golden Baseball League. The six-year-old independent league's remnants have joined forces with teams from the United League and what's left of the Northern League to form a 12-team indy league that stretches from Alberta to Texas and from Hawaii to Illinois. And, yep, there is even ~~are you freaking kidding me?~~ a team in Tijuana. Skepticism about the latest Tijuana "adventure" aside, it's good to see the new North American League taking shape as the new year looms.

[skip to bottom for official press release]

There is still plenty to do before the first pitch is thrown, but the league's website is already up and running, albeit with limited content to this point. The most telling bit of information is the "Teams" section that lists 12 clubs for the 2011 season. Just as telling are clubs that are omitted.

Eastern Division

Western Division

The Eastern Division comprises three teams from the Northern League (Lake County, Rockford and Schaumburg) and three from the United League (Edinburg, Rio Grande Valley and San Angelo). The Joilet JackHammers from the Northern League were originally speculated to be joining the party but based on the website won't be part of the new North American League. As far as old United League teams, the Laredo Broncos, Alexandria Aces and Amarillo Dillas are MIA instead of NABL.

In the Western Division, everyone still playing baseball from the Golden Baseball League will be a part of this half of the new league. The two remaining teams in Canada - Calgary and Edmonton - are back, along with GBL originals Yuma and Chico. Maui appears set to return for a second season and a new Tijuana franchise is listed as well. Missing participants of the 2010 GBL include the Tucson Toros, which have gone dark while the Padres Triple-A affiliate is in town after moving from Portland, the Victoria Seals, which ceased operations during the fall, and the St. George RoadRunners, which essentially folded midseason last year.

The other team missing from the list of NABL Western Division clubs is the Orange County Flyers. The Flyers had been a part of the GBL since the inaugural 2005 campaign. While ownership is working to get a new stadium deal done, and they say they are making progress on that front, it seems the club is going dark for 2011 but would have the option to return in following seasons. While the Flyers situation has been in flux since the end of the 2010 campaign, this is the first true indication of any kind that they won't be fielding a team next season.

No official word yet from the Flyers, but you'd have to think something from them is coming at some point soon. The team's 2010 manager Paul Abbott is heading to the Lowell Spinners, a short-season A Red Sox affiliate as pitching coach for next season, so finding a new manager would be on the franchise's to-do list as well. If this is the end of the Flyers, it was a hell of a ride. The franchise definitely brought a lot to the community, but a pain-in-the-ass lease at Cal State Fullerton and declining revenues in tough economic times aren't exactly easy obstacles to overcome.

Official press release from NABL

New League Announced!
Northern and United Leagues Join Forces with Golden Baseball League to Create New Circuit

Date: Dec 22, 2010

The Golden Baseball League, Northern League, and the United League announced today that they have joined forces in the creation of a new professional independent league that will be known as the North American League. The league will have 16 - 20 teams in multiple countries and cover many of the major markets in the U.S. and Canada in 2011 with expansion already set for 2012. Except for Major League Baseball, it will be the largest professional league in terms of number of teams and geographies and amongst the top minor leagues in terms of attendance. The existing leagues will keep their names and their baseball operations structure while consolidating and enhancing a number of business activities and will adhere to a single and consistent set of league operating by-laws.

"This is an exciting opportunity for the teams of these three leagues", said Kevin Outcalt, Chief Executive of Diamond Sports & Entertainment, the company that owns and operates the Golden League and will administer the North American League. "This will provide more value to our marketing and business partners, more exposure for our players to advance their careers, and increased excitement and fun for the fans of all of our ballclubs. In addition, the business advantages of league-wide advertising and sponsor revenue, collective/volume purchasing to lower costs, and shared best practices amongst the teams in the league should drive additional profitability for the North American League member clubs."

The structure of the NAL will be set up with the three original leagues covering their respective regions where the teams will play approximately 75% of their games within their region and 25% outside their region/division. This will be followed by playoffs that will conclude with a North American Championship Series. It is anticipated that the league will play a 92 - 100 game regular season schedule that will be determined at the inaugural NAL meetings that will be held in northern California at the end of this month. All of the existing Golden League, Northern League, and United League teams will be part of the circuit, and it is expected that additional teams will be announced in the coming weeks as well. The full slate of 2011 NAL teams and the makeup of each region will be announced following the league meeting. Baseball related playing rules will also be finalized including player classification/eligibility and playing rules (National League or American League).

"This is an excellent move for the Northern League," said Northern League Commissioner Clark Griffith. "By becoming part of this new league, we will enjoy benefits that can't be found anywhere else in minor league baseball and some exciting opportunities that were never available in the Northern League in the past."

Although these three leagues totaled 35% of the professional independent minor league baseball teams in North America in 2010, they were responsible for placing half of the players on the Baseball America Indy Top Prospects list and six of the fourteen players named to the all Independent Leagues First Team by Baseball America. In addition, the three leagues have sold 35 player contracts to major league organizations so far in 2010 and are all recognized as an important source of baseball talent including players, umpires, coaches/managers, and front office/business personnel by big league clubs.

Byron Pierce, United League president, stated, "The United League is pleased to announce it is becoming part of North American League Baseball. By doing so the United League will be able to bring a national presence and the rich tradition of three leagues to each of our United League cities, while maintaining our regional rivalries and identity."

About the North American League
The North American League (NAL) is the largest, in number of teams and geography, professional independent baseball league worldwide. With operations in Western Canada, Mexico, and much of the United States the league brings affordable family entertainment to over 2M fans a season. Formed in the fall of 2010, through a combination of three leagues with over 30 seasons of playing experience between them, the NAL is able to offer opportunities to players and marketing partners that cannot be found in any other league. League play level is considered AA to AAA, the alumni of the three founding leagues (Golden, Northern, United) have seen over 40 of their group reach the major leagues over the years and another 35 players had their contracts purchased by MLB organizations in 2010. A division structure with teams playing a 92 -100 game schedule is planned for 2011.

How the Cards stole Christmas: Dal 26, Arz 27

2010-12-26T08:08:00.000-08:00

Twas the night of Christmas out in Glendale,
A game between teams whose records showed fail.
WIth seconds to go, and a win oh so close,
Once again Dallas lost by a nose.

With no shot at the playoff, and McGee under center,
I don't see this team getting much better.
But if this was bad, Cowboys fans may shriek,
When they check the schedule and see Philly next week.

Ugh, what a brutal game. The Cowboys once again had a chance to lock up a win and failed to make the necessary plays. All too typical of a sub-.500 team. It's easy to go "glass half full" in a three-point loss to New Orleans, but when it's the 4-10, now 5-10 Arizona Cardinals, the pessimism oozes. The Dallas Cowboys used a collection of early catastrophes and late blunders to gift-wrap a Christmas win for the Arizona Cardinals, a 27-26 loss at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale on Saturday night.

Before all the oozing pessimism begins, let me just say it was nice to see Stephen McGee play efficiently and - frankly - at "back up quarterback" levels, not at the inept level of the typical third-string quarterback. Kitna has played so well this year as Romo's backup, and he should retain the job for 2011 (if there is a 2011 season, *gulp*), but McGee is certainly an asset. Maybe with a little more development, another team might want to trade for him to be their current backup and QB of the future. At the very least, when the 38-year-old Kitna retires - presumably soon - McGee would seem to be fit to slide into the backup role. Granted, all this is based on half of a football game's performance.

Last nugget of positivity before I get into the kicked-in-the-groin-ness of the game. Coming back from a 14-0 first quarter deficit, not to mention a 21-10 halftime deficit, showed a lot of resolve in this team. Only thing that hurt then was the NFL rule book that states a football game is 60 minutes, not 58 and a half.

Jon Kitna tossed a pair of interceptions for touchdowns in the first quarter, both could arguably be blamed on his receiving targets Miles Austin and Roy Williams. On the first possession, Austin slipped as the ball squirted into the awaiting arms of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie who ran 32 yards for the opening score. Cardinals kick off, Cowboys start to drive, but another interception on a ball behind Williams gets batted up in the air and snagged by Greg Toler. After a 66-yard jog, it's 14-0 Cardinals. I'm not sure if the NFL keeps stats on this sort of thing or not - they probably do (the NFL keeps stats on everything) - but I've got to believe the 2010 Cowboys lead the NFL in tipped-ball interceptions. Jon Kitna might be setting some sort of NFL record by a backup QB for that particular category in the second half of this season. Then again, when you're a 5-10 team like the Cowboys are, you just don't get the gratuitous bounces of the 10-5 teams.

Frankly, the Cowboys dodged a bullet not going down 17-0 when Jay Feely missed on a long field goal attempt. If only that particular trend repeated itself. Unfortunately the Cardinals kicker made a pair of long fourth quarter field goals to win the game for Arizona.

It's a difficult balance, losing these games with the prospects of a higher draft pick hanging the balance doesn't make falling in the final seconds to stinkin Arizona that much more of an attractive option. Give me the win. Every. Single. Time.

Now is not the time to get into whether or not the Cowboys front office would wisely use that pick 4-6 spots higher based on one win like this could have been. But recent history outside of Dez Bryant isn't on their side. And when the head coach is trying to get an interim tag removed, these are games you cannot lose. Dropping a game to New Orleans on Thanksgiving when a big-money wide receiver fumbles away what should have been the game-clinching drive is one thing. That's a playoff-bound opponent and a fluky play. Losing a game to woefully bad Arizona and having a repeat of early-season gaffes like Marion Barber taking his helmet off to celebrate resulting in a 15-yard penalty is unacceptable.

Off with his ~~Head~~ Helmet
I'm more disturbed by Barber's blatant defiance of the rules, slinging his helmet off after a score while still on the field and costing his team 15 yards, than I am with David Buehler missing a crucial extra point with less than two minutes to go. I'll get into the reasons why I think Buehler should keep his job -- even though immediately after the game I was convinced he should be and would be released before Week 17 arrived. But first, Marion Barber.

With the Cowboys trailing 21-13 in the third quarter, Barber broke what certainly seems like his longest run of the season, a 24-yard hammer off defenders and into the end zone, putting the Cowboys on the verge of tying the game had they elected to go for two (we'll get to that as well). Barber, perhaps disillusioned from not having seen the end zone much at all this season, removed his helmet to survey the foreign surroundings. There are two distinct reasons you can tell these aren't the 90s Cowboys, three rings notwithstanding: 1. the running back removing his helmet after a score will never get to Canton without buying a visitors day pass, and 2. the present-day NFL will hit you with a 15-yard penalty for such an act.

How big was Barber's 15-yard penalty? It probably cost the Cowboys the game just as much as Buehler's extra point. And while a kicker should be 100% on extra points for his career, the Cowboys have already had two incredibly STUPID celebration penalties this season. Granted, one of them on Marc Colombo falling down was more accidental, but when your team has been out of playoff contention since your bye in Week 4 (certainly felt that way, at least), there isn't much to celebrate. MB3 knew it would be a 15-yard penalty. Every NFL player does. He didn't care. And the fact that the Cowboys coaches didn't nail his ass to the bench after the fact is another distressing sign that even though Wade Phillips might be gone, his legacy is clearly alive and well on the Cowboys sideline.

So, how big was Barber's penalty? The Cowboys, after kicking the extra point to pull within one, 21-20, kicked off from their own 15-yard line. David Buehler thunderlegged the ball all the way to the Cardinals 9-yard line, where Andre Roberts returned it 32 yards to the Cardinals' 41 yard line, 1st & 10 Arizona. Had the Cowboys kicked off from the 30 instead of the 15, the 76-yard kickoff would have been received by Roberts six yards deep in his own end zone, resulting in a kneel down and the Cardinals taking over 1st & 10 from their own 20, not their own 41. The Cowboys defense held the Cardinals to a three-and-out, forcing them to punt from their own 49-yard line to the Cowboys 10, where Bryan McCann called for a fair catch. On the following drive, the Cowboys eventually face a 4th & 20 from their own 37 and send Mat McBriar on to punt. Had Barber not cost the Cowboys with his penalty, the Cowboys would be 21-yards closer and could have been in position to send David Buehler on to attempt a long field goal. And while 4th & 20 isn't incredibly appetizing anywhere on the field, the preceding 3rd & 9 wouldn't have been as much of a desperation attempt from the shotgun for McGee to convert on. The Cowboys would have been at the Arizona 31-yard line on that 3rd & 9 and McGee would have known he could have thrown the ball away and preserved a chance for the Cowboys to come away with three points. It didn't happen, and it all started with Marion Barber removing his helmet. When former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells spoke of "hidden yardage" these are the types of things he meant.

Kick Me With Your Best Shot
As far as the kicking situation, Buehler has certainly has his demons to work out this season, and there are clearly more that need to be exorcised. He struggled earlier in the season, going 6-for-9 (.667 pct) through the first four games. Since that time, he has gone 18-for-22 (.818 pct). He has four field goals of 50 yards or more on the season. And this is his first year on the job as the field goal kicker. If the Cowboys were a contender, he would have already been replaced, just as Nick Folk was last season, and that was after the Cowboys even switched holders from McBriar to Tony Romo to assuage Folk. But with the Cowboys clearly in a rebuilding state - last night's loss made that abundantly clear to everyone hopefully including Jerry Jones - and as a result, I'm changing my tune. The Cowboys should continue to develop Buehler. They might be pleasantly surprised. Dallas drafted Nick Folk in 2007, but the WIN NOW Cowboys of 2009 couldn't count on Folk. The 2010 Cowboys are anything but WIN NOW, and as a result, Buehler will be granted a stay of execution.

Last season, the Cowboys carried three legs on the 45-man game day roster, a punter (Mat McBriar), a field goal kicker (Nick Folk/Shaun Suisham), and a kickoff specialist (David Buehler). This season, Buehler has handled the dual role of kickoffs and field goals, freeing up another roster spot for the Cowboys on their game-day roster. Unlike Folk, Buehler has the ability to boom the ball out the back of the end zone resulting in touchbacks and opponents starting from the 20 (which, as we just discovered in the Marion Barber helmet discussion, can be a big deal). He also has demonstrated that he can bang home the long field goals as well. Other teams have in the past had to trot out their punter for a rare field goal attempt late in games because he has "the big leg" on the team despite being less accurate than the regular place kicker. Dallas has its "big leg" already in the role of field goal kicker. The Cowboys have a chance to develop something special in Buehler. As much as I hate David Akers of the Eagles, he has been one of the tougher kickers in the league over the last decade. Buehler has the potential to be that for the Cowboys, a franchise kicker who does it all. After his first year in that role, it should come easier to him in following seasons. And while, yes, missing an extra point is inexcusable, it does happen. Adam Vinatieri has missed 10 in his career.

The Cowboys don't historically give kickers much leeway. Folk was replaced last year despite being a mid-round draft pick in 2007 and a Pro Bowler. And the only reason Folk was drafted was because the Cowboys had gone into the 2006 season with high-priced free agent kicker Mike "Modesty" Vanderjagt, who kicked his way out of favor with Bill Parcells and was replaced by Martin Gramatica, who I'm still convinced could have at least tried to block on the bobbled hold in Seattle which could have given the Cowboys a playoff victory under Parcells and perhaps kept this franchise on a more stable path. Instead, Wade Phillips, 13-3 but bounced by New York, 44-6 in Philly, a playoff win to save his job in '09, and fired midway through 2010. Talk about the butterfly effect all from the kicking position.

Miss ya, Dez
How much does this offense miss Dez Bryant late this season? The rookie was having an outstanding campaign not only offensively, but also as a punter returner. His injury has made way for Sam Hurd, Kevin Ogletree and something called a Manny Johnson to see much more time on the field than Cowboys fans should be comfortable with. Even Jesse Holly came in last night in a 3-wide set when Miles Austin limped off the field for a play or two. Yuck.

Bryant was a man among boys even as a rookie. It might be his mindset of running over the defender that gets him banged up, but it's also that attitude that Cowboys fans love. Seeing No. 88 with the ball this season brought back amazing memories of other No. 88s doing similar things with the football. Does anyone remember or care if carries pads anymore? Just saying.

Revenge, but barely: Dal 33, Was 30

2010-12-20T11:41:00.000-08:00

The Dallas Cowboys continue to play encouraging and distressing football. At a point in the season where - as Bill Parcells would say - you are what your record says you are. The Jason Garrett Cowboys had a chance to take on what appeared to be a dysfunctional Washington Redskins team that was coming off the awkward announcement that head coach Mike Shanahan was rolling out Rex Grossman over Donovan McNabb at quarterback. The Redskins started off the season hot thanks in large part to ~~the last time Alex Barron saw the field~~ wins over the Cowboys and Eagles. It looked like the McNabb/Shanahan duo would be a force to be reckoned with within the always grueling NFC East.

Yeah... not so much these days.

Washington fell to 5-9 after the Cowboys edged them out, 33-30, on Sunday at Cowboys Stadium. And sadly for the Cowboys, there is no excuse for the game being that close.

Dallas was in a no-win situation really. Beat down the hapless 'Skins and it's simply an easy victory over a distressed football team. Lose to them and the once-encouraging Garrett-Cowboys are back to the laughing stock that got Wade Phillips fired, and any talk of Garrett as the next head coach comes to a screeching halt. The Cowboys had their blowout in hand, leading by 20 points in the second half, but somehow allowed Rex Grossman -- he of "Rex is our quarterback" fame -- to throw for more than 300 yards and bring Washington back from the brink to tie the game in the fourth quarter. Are. You. Kidding?

Perhaps we're at the point where "a win is a win" for a Cowboys team rolling out an interim head coach, a backup quarterback, missing two of its top three receivers, ~~and the worst mascot in all of professional sports~~ (sorry, not the time). Or maybe even with all those ailments on the offensive side of the football, a virtually injury-proof defense should still be able to step up and make a stop. Or two.

Terence Newman picked off Rex Grossman to end the game and preserve a 3-point win for Dallas over Washington in a rivalry match up that has had about as much hype over the last decade as a Rangers-Royals midweek July day game over the same time period. My how the mighty have fallen.

Never mind the fact that these were once upon a time two of the premier football organizations in the nation. Now they are laughing stocks, deadlocked at the bottom of their division looking up at New York and Philly.

The Cowboys led 27-7 over Washington in the third quarter before Grossman (seriously, how did this guy light it up against Dallas in the second half? I can't get over this.) led a game-tying rally that could have made this another "Classic Cowboys/Redskins matchup" if not for the complete lack of playoff implications heading into the game. He threw four touchdown passes and helped the 'Skin convert on a pair of 2-point conversions in the fourth quarter to tie the game up.

The disturbing part of giving up 30 points to Washington is not the fact that the Cowboys defense gave up 30 points. In fact, that's been this team's MO for really the entire year. Since their bye (week 4), the Cowboys have given up an average of 31.2 points per game, including at least 30 points to each of their last four opponents. Clearly giving up a lot of points isn't anything new for the Cowboys. But the fact that Washington put up 30 is not just cause for self-reflection. It's cause to break out the half-gallon tub of ice cream, curl up under your blue and silver snuggies, and weep softly until you fall asleep, hoping to wake up with it all having been just a dream.

How bad is Washington offensively? This is a team that doesn't score. Their 30 points against Dallas was a season-high, albeit in a losing effort. They had broken the 20-point barrier only four times in their first 13 games, one of those games a 59-28 blowout against the Eagles that wasn't even that close.

Pony Pride

2010-12-12T13:53:00.000-08:00

Immediately following the eyebrow-raising presentation of the Heisman Trophy to Auburn's Cam Newtom -- eyebrow-raising because of his father trying to shop him around to different SEC schools before he eventually settled in at Auburn -- ESPN aired PONY EXCE$$, a two hour film about SMU football's prominence in the early 1980s followed by their ultimate demise through the death penalty.

If you get a chance to watch the 30 for 30 film about Southern Methodist University receiving the harshest punishment in the history of the NCAA, I'd strongly recommend it. Growing up in Dallas, I always knew that SMU once dominated the football landscape and eventually suffered what my father always said was a punishment the NCAA would never dish out again. But I never fully understood the depth of what was happening on Mockingbird until last night's feature.

Some background...

SMU's dual backfield of Eric Dickerson and Craig James, aka the Pony Express, ran over the rest of the old Southwest Conference as the Mustangs won three conference titles in four years while players received cash gifts and other benefits from boosters around the program. With the program riding high, other colleges started encouraging officials to look into the program's success -- how could dinky little SMU be beating the likes of Texas?

The corruption and payments were bad, but it's foolish to think SMU was the program doing this. One of the players in the documentary spoke of how recruiters from SMU once played a briefcase of $20,000 cash in front of him, and the recruit said that the amount "wasn't even close" compared to what another school was offering him. Programs throughout college football were dirty, but SMU ended up being made an example.

After violations came to light in 1985, the Mustangs were caught as repeat violators a couple years later. The NCAA banned the program from competition in 1987 and would allow it to play road games only in 1988. The Ponies opted to go two years without a team, and the "death penalty" produced a two decade drought of success that took until the 2009 season when the Mustangs got back to a bowl for the first time since the 80s.

Growing up just a few miles away from the SMU campus, I knew their football team was bad, and I knew they had been punished for paying players. But I had never linked the downfall of their program to the beginning of the end for the once-dominant Southwest Conference. SMU football was once a strong point of pride in Dallas, but for pretty much all of my life, it was a point of embarrassment.

Just a few weeks ago, ESPN's 30 for 30 series aired a program about Oklahoma's Marcus Dupree and the over-the-top offers he was getting from college recruiters to entice him to come to their schools. SMU wasn't the only program that was dirty, but they were the program to get caught and punished the hardest.

As a result, no one ever really talked about SMU football while I was growing up in Dallas. Games were played, sure, but it wasn't worth taking note. I went to one SMU football game while living in Dallas in 2000, the year it opened, but really only to see the new facility. I wasn't a a Mustangs "fan" because there wasn't much to be a fan of. I wanted SMU to beat Ft. Worth's Texas Christian University to represent for Dallas in the Metroplex battle, but that was about it.

With this 30 for 30 feature re-airing SMU's past dirty laundry, some people might think that this will again rehash those feelings of embarrassment around the Ponies. I disagree.

In fact, I think that SMU can expect a strong swell of phone calls on Monday for 2011 season tickets.

As Brent Musberger pointed out in last night's PONY EXCE$$, the story of SMU football is so compelling because it's no longer a story of corruption as it was two decades ago. Now the story of SMU football is about a program rising from the ashes. No, they have not had to overcome tragedy in the way that Marshall's football program did after a 1970 plane crash of a flight carrying the team crippled the Thundering Herd; SMU brought it's downfall upon itself. But folks in the Metroplex love a winner, and the Mustangs did play for the C-USA Championship this season. They're going to a bowl game for the second straight year. And there's nothing terribly exciting happening in Arlington this year.

The re-telling of the "Death Penalty" experience in PONY EXCE$$ on ESPN coupled by the recent rebirth of SMU football will result in a swell of Pony pride around Dallas. That's just how our city works (exhibit A: people weren't wearing Texas Rangers gear out and about until October).

I want to be able to support SMU football. I have family and friends that went to SMU. It's the closest university to where I grew up. And I know that there are plenty of folks in the Metroplex who will view PONY EXCE$$ as the easiest way to say "It's officially behind us. Now we can talk about it." Being able to accept your past and move forward will be a big step for the program. Someone on Mockingbird might want to pen a thank you note to the Worldwide Leader and get a few extra folks ready to answer phones this week.

The Pony Express may not ride again any time soon, but for the first time in a long time, it's acceptable to take pride in SMU football.

God drops touchdown; public crucifies receiver

2010-11-29T11:35:00.001-08:00

One of the wackier sports stories of the weekend came down late Sunday when Buffalo Bills wide receiver Steve Johnson tweeted his frustrations about dropping what would have been the game-winning touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime. It was a ball that hit him in the hands, and he flat dropped it. That wasn't the controversy. Receivers drop balls all the time. They don't however then lash out at God as a result.

And, unlike most of the sports-loving public out there, I don't have any problem with his frustrations or the way he expressed them.

If you haven't seen it yet, here are the comments he posted on his twitter account:

Okay, now before you get all up in arms, let's take a breather. Calm down. Let's look at this objectively as well as somewhat spiritually.

If you aren't a religious person, then you probably are saying he should have just kept his eye on the ball, reeled it in, made the play, and won the game. He can blame it on whoever he wants, and that's fine, but he lost it for his team.

If you are a religious person and you tolerate the outbursts of other NFL players and superstar athletes thanking God, Jesus, and other supreme beings for their success, then don't you also have to take the good with the bad? When Kurt Warner screamed "Thank you, Jesus" into the microphone after the Rams beat the Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV, what you probably didn't see where the Tennessee players who came up one yard short who were thinking the complete opposite because their God didn't bring them the Lombardi Trophy. Heck, Warner even quasi-joked about everyone knowing he was going to thank Jesus when the Cardinals advanced to the Super Bowl two years ago.

Let me just put it out there that. Yes, I believe in God, and no, I don't believe he concerns himself with the NFL or other sports, even if I did believe that Texas Stadium had a hole in the roof so God could watch his favorite team play on Sundays.

Athletes thank God all the time for touchdowns, home runs, buzzer beaters, goals, and every other little play in sports. It's nice to be able to believe in something. People turn to religion for strength among many other reasons. And in the grueling world of competitive athletics, I do think some of these athletes are sincere in their thanking a deity for their success.

So what is the problem with one of these athletes who, I would assume, is just as devout as the rest, taking the other side of this coin? He's upset. He should be. He lost the game for his team, and he knows it. But with that in mind, if he believes that he has "paid his religious dues" to his God, then in turn I can understand his frustrations in how he feels that God let him fail when instead he was all set up to be the hero.

Maybe this is his moment of frustration where he finds clarity in the aftermath and becomes a better player and a more spiritual person. Maybe he renounces religion all together. I don't know which, if either, will happen.

But everyone who is kicking this poor guy's butt because he lashed out in frustration needs to back off. Anyone who is religious has felt frustrations toward God when things don't work out. Some accept it as a challenge, perhaps that God is testing them to become better. Others might see it as God rejecting them perhaps. To each their own. I truly believe that.

If you don't have a problem with players dropping to a knee and pointing to the heavens after each touchdown, then it's tough to also condemn a player who vents his frustrations in the same direction when things don't work out.

Saintsgiving: NO 30, Dal 27

2010-11-26T07:25:00.000-08:00

It looked like the Saints would feast on the Cowboys this Thanksgiving. Dallas had its opportunity to win fall out of the arms of Roy Williams with less than four minutes to go in the game. And while there are no moral victories in the NFL, it is safe to say that the Wade Phillips Dallas Cowboys would have had zero chance to take a lead in that game after trailing 17-0 with just over 10 minutes gone by in the first quarter.

They could have folded. They didn't. At least not until the very end after coming back from a 20-3 deficit right before the half.

The Cowboys had Thanksgiving dinner spoiled by defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans, 30-27. Roy Williams will catch plenty of flack for his role in the loss, and rightfully so, but the Cowboys also caught plenty of breaks from the Saints. It was tough to tell if New Orleans took their foot off the gas in the third quarter or if Dallas simply ramped up their efforts, or perhaps some combination of the two, but after slogging through the first 29 minutes and 17 seconds of the game, the Cowboys finally showed some signs of life.

Interim head coach Jason Garrett missed out on starting his tenure 3-0, and while his first victory can be attributed to the emotional swell of his first week on the job, and his second win can be attributed to playing the Detroit Lions, this game would have been by far the most impressive victory he could have added to his resume in his personal quest to retain the job on a permanent basis next season.

Dallas drops now to 3-8 on the 2010 season and that should stop any hallucinating talk of a massive table run into the playoffs. After the loss, Jason Garrett spoke of how there are no moral wins. Can you imagine what we would have heard from Coach Wade after something like this. Yes, there were some strong efforts to praise, but Dallas also caught a few breaks down the stretch as well.

A few thoughts on a crazy game that appeared to breathe live back into the Cowboys just as quickly as it then fumbled that life away:

+ Watching Jason Garrett wind up and chuck a pair of first-quarter challenge flags was certainly entertaining, however it left the Cowboys in a tough spot the rest of the way. In both instances, the officials made questionable calls that Garrett correctly challenged and won. The problem there was that the officials had demonstrated that they were having an "off" day, so to speak, and so why should the Cowboys be limited to only having one more challenge the rest of the game?

The first play challenged was 1st and 10 from the Dallas 28, and the Saints threw a pass over the middle that Devry Henderson corralled as Terence Newman rolled over him. The referees allowed the play to continue instead of making the blatantly obvious call that Henderson was touched down, and the receiver got up and flailed into the end zone for a Saints score. Now even though the Saints scored one play after a challenge ruled Henderson down by contact at the six yard line, the onus should not be on the Cowboys to have to waste one of at the most only three challenges to correct the officials.

Ever since the Ed Hocculli blown call between the Chargers and Broncos that cost San Diego a game when a play was whistled dead too soon, the NFL has encouraged its officials to err on the side of letting a play continue. The problem, however, is that referees now have the "out" that if they aren't sure about a call, a team can challenge it. That's not okay. The ref should be confident in what he saw, even if he's wrong, and make his call firmly. If he saw a receiver touched down, blow the whistle and don't allow the play to continue because, oh what the heck, it can just be challenged.

After the Saints scored on that possession to take a 17-0 first quarter lead, Jon Kitna threw a quick strike to Miles Austin for six yards which was ruled a fumble on the field. Replay clearly showed Austin down, and Garrett slung his second red challenge flag onto the field. The call was overturned, and Dallas retained possession. Still, the Cowboys shouldn't have been in the position of being out of challenges in the first quarter. Garrett was right to challenge. The officials were wrong for allowing the plays to continue when the right calls could have been made if not for the league's guideline to allow plays to continue if there is any doubt.

+ Okay, I had to get all that challenge stuff out of the way because going into this next topic was going to make my brain hurt. How Roy Williams didn't hold onto the ball is criminal for a football player. No, not football-criminal like O.J., but still pretty heinous for on-field actions. Williams said as much that he "lost the ballgame" for the team with his fumble, but apologies don't make up for costing the team what would have been the team's biggest home win of the season.

With a little more than 3 minutes left in the game and the Cowboys facing 3rd and 6 from their own 42 yard line, Kitna found Roy Williams on a quick slant. The cornerback slipped and Williams broke into the open field for a big 47-yard gain. He saw a defender on his right and switched the ball into his left arm where Malcolm Jenkins came from behind to take down Williams while ripping the ball out of the receiver's arm.

Roy has had his moments with the Cowboys, and he was strong early in 2010 for Dallas, but this might be his lowest moment with a star on his helmet. Immediate reaction toward Williams is going to continue to be hostile among Cowboys fans. Some could argue that many, many other plays factored into the Cowboys loss: not kicking a field on an early 4th down that went unconverted when 3 points would have been the difference in the game, deciding to punt in Saints territory in the second half, Buehler connecting on a 59-yard kick, or Reggie Bush not dropping a pass over the middle that he could have taken into the end zone (instead the Saints settled for a field goal). There were lots of plays in the game where things shoulda/coulda/woulda/mighta turned, but Roy's fumble was the moment that the game was lost.

Dallas could have been cozily in Saints territory with a clock that would have wound to under 3 minutes with a four point lead. Instead, the Saints took over, drove down the field, found the end zone, and took the turkey out of the Cowboys mouth. Ouch.

+ Kicker David Buehler had his own chance to be the hero in the Thanksgiving Day classic, but his 59-yard field goal try with under a minute left in the game fluttered wide left to preserve the Saints victory. The second-year kicker had the opportunity to silence his own critics - and at least stun Roy's - but was unable to convert. There is a reason 59-yard attempts aren't seen regularly. It's tough to hit from that distance. Buehler has the leg to do it. While he won't receive as much scrutiny for missing from that range, it is still another missed kick that could have changed the outcome of this game.

Buehler did have a strong 53 yarder in a similar situation in the first half. Cowboys in a hurry up offense mode with less than a minute to go, just trying to get down the field and somehow cut into the Saints 20-3 lead. Buehler was true from 53 yards as the first half clock expired. A solid kick, but Dallas could have used a second fifty-yarder. His penchant for touchbacks seemed to return on Thursday, one of the reasons the Cowboys carried the extra leg in 2009. Buehler boomed four kickoffs for touchbacks, starting the Saints on their own 20 instead of allowing what has been a shaky Dallas kick cover unit a chance to get gashed.

+ It wasn't all Dallas self-destruction however. The Saints tried to chip in their own failings. Specifically, Reggie Bush. After missing a chunk of the season with injury, Bush returned to the field and the thousands of Saints fans in Cowboys Stadium echoed the chant of "REG-GIE, REG-GIE, REG-GIE" as he set up to return punts. On 4th and 16 from the Dallas 26 yard line, Mat McBriar boomed a 64-yard punt to the Saints return man. Bush cut right and met reality-tryout-star-turned-special-teamer Jesse Holley, who forced a fumble that the Cowboys recovered deep in Saints territory.

Not only was it a great play by Holley, who is quickly establishing himself as more than a novelty on the field but actually a useful special teamer, but Cowboys Stadium then exploded into a sarcastic chant of "REG-GIE, REG-GIE, REG-GIE!" Six plays later, MB3 plunged into the end zone for what was hard to believe to be only his third rushing TD of the season. The previous drive, Bush dropped a pass on 3rd and 7 from the Cowboys 10 yard line that could have resulted in a Saints' TD. Instead, they settled for a field goal, and the four fewer points gave Dallas an opportunity to surge ahead.

+ By the way, how scary is that stat. Marion Barber took 12 weeks of the NFL season to get three TDs. This guy was in the Pro Bowl just a few years ago. Now he has barely been able to help the Cowboys, let alone even fantasy football owners. The days of "Marion the Barbarian" are far, far behind us. And yet he still stomps the ground with each seven yard gain -- which are coming fewer and farther between.

The Cowboys running game was bad. The stats say Dallas rushed 32 times for 144 yards (4.5 yards per carry). That seems efficient, but 60 yards of that were on the one end around run by Miles Austin to open the second half strong for Dallas. Then subtract another 20 yards on five scrambles by Jon Kitna, and you realize that the Cowboys only gave the ball to their running backs a total of 24 times for 64 yards, an average of 2.67 yards per carry. Thank you, JV squad.

It's tough to evaluate Tashard Choice as he was limited to just one carry from the one yard line, but he took advantage and squeezed into the end zone. With Marion Barber suffering a left calf strain in the Saints game, perhaps Choice will get a real chance to showcase his talents against the Indianapolis Colts next week. It's about time the Cowboys find out what they truly have in Choice, the same way they are finding out if Jason Garrett is truly head coaching material and not just a once-hot coordinator who may or may not get that "guru"-type of status back.

Dallas has to figure out its ground game. The offensive line seems to be doing better in recent weeks, but that still hasn't translated to success running the ball. I don't know if it's the backs, the plays being called, or some combination, but this is a problem that must be fixed before the Cowboys contend for Division titles again.

+ The Cowboys may have lost to the Saints on Thursday, but they had a chance to win at the end because they were fortunate enough to survive five fumbles that preceded the death blow drop by Roy Williams in the fourth quarter. Here's the five fumbles you probably forgot about (not counting the Miles Austin fumble that was overturned on Jason Garrett's second challenge):

1. 1Q, 3rd and 6, Dal 24 -- From the shotgun, Andre Gurode and Jon Kitna aren't on the same page as the snap goes past the unsuspecting QB. Kitna retreats back to the 7-yard line and dives on the ball. Instead of potentially converting and at the very least making the Saints cover more ground on their ensuing drive, Dallas punts the ball away on 4th and 23, and New Orleans started with a shorter field. New Orleans did end up driving 58 yards for a TD. The fumble certainly didn't help, and it only could have been worse had, I guess, the Saints scored sooner.

2. 1Q, 2nd and 10, NO 30 -- On the final play of the first quarter, Kitna hands off to Dez Bryant on an end around. Bryant drops the ball but it bounces right back into his hands six yards behind the line of scrimmage. Bryant picked it up and was able to get back to the line of scrimmage for no gain. Two plays later, Marion Barber was snuffed on 4th and 1 from the Saints 21-yard line.

A side note on that 4th and 1 from the Saints 21: It was early in the game and Dallas was already down 17-0. If it's late in the game, and you're trying to "make a statement" because you know the game is over, then sure, what the heck. But this early in the game, you "settle" for the 38-yard field goal try. It's easy to see a 3-point loss at the end of the game and look back to this point as an opportunity to get those missing points to tie the game.

You never know how NFL games are going to unfold which is why it's important to take the points in a situation like that. If you're on the goal line or the 3 yard line on 4th and 1 with room for a first down and four more tries to get into the end zone, I can understand going for it. But in this case, the Cowboys still had another 20 yards to go to get into the end zone, or else they'd have to settle for the field goal anyway if they don't end up converting on a potential 3rd and long in the next set of downs. This is one of those early head coaching lessons for Jason Garrett to learn. Take the points in that situation. Next time Dallas has a 4th and short in makable field goal range (under 40 yards), look for Dallas to kick, especially if it's early in the game.

An example of Jason Garrett learning this coming very, very soon in this blog.

The Cowboys forced a 3-and-out on the Saints ensuring possession.

3. 2Q, 2nd and 7, NO 9 -- A crucial red zone fumble that does damage the Cowboys chances to get back into the game at the time. Kitna is under center but the snap from Gurode is fumbled. Kitna falls on the ball, losing two yards and the Cowboys are unable to move the ball forward in the red zone. The next play is an 8-yard pick up down to the Saints 3-yard line. Those eight yards would have resulted in a touchdown from the Saints seven without that fumble. Instead the Cowboys settled for the points, kicking a 21-yard field goal on 4th and 1.

And... QED

Cowboys might have retained possession of the football, but this center-quarterback exchange cost the Cowboys four points in a three-point loss on Thanksgiving.

4. 3Q, 1st and 10, Dal 35 -- The Cowboys have just stopped New Orleans on a 4th and 5 attempt, taking the ball away on downs. On the first play of the Cowboys drive, Kitna find Felix Jones over the middle for 13 yards before Sedrick Ellis jars the ball loose just shy of midfield. Jones falls on the ball, and the Cowboys drive continues instead of giving the Saints the ball back in Dallas territory. This was probably the closest of these five fumbles to being recovered by New Orleans.

5. 4Q, 4th and 4, NO 35 -- Dallas opts to punt and play defense instead of attempting what would have been a 52-yard field goal. Dallas is trailing 23-20 at this point with most of the 4th quarter still to play. Punter Mat McBriar bobbled the long snap and, feeling the rush of the Saints special teams, toe poked the ball down to the 14-yard line. What appeared to be a nice impromptu punt on a broken play turned out to be an illegal kick penalty. Rather than giving a former Pro Bowl punter a chance to re-kick and pin the Saints deeper, Sean Payton declined the penalty. The Saints started with the ball on their own 14 instead of recovering the fumble near midfield (remember punters stand about 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage, which was the 35). Three plays into the drive, Drew Brees threw deep and was picked off by Gerald Sensabaugh, setting up a 39-yard TD drive by the Cowboys.

Five opportunities for the Saints to regain possession with the ball on the turf. Five times the Cowboys regained control. At this point, you can almost argue that Roy Williams losing the ball on that fatal fourth quarter fumble was simply the odds stacking up against the Cowboys and the laws of probability. You can't put the ball on the turf that many times and not lose it once. And the Saints proved that by taking away the clincher from Williams.

What an emotionally painful game for Cowboys fans. On a Thursday where there was enough black and gold in the stands to make you think it could be a neutral site game, Dallas was on the verge of a signature win for their interim head coach. Instead their efforts to win go unfulfilled, and the team fell to 2-1 under "Garrett-top" after three games.

Next up, Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Something tells me the Colts probably remember their trip to Texas Stadium in 2006 where a mid-season replacement QB Tony Romo and the Cowboys stopped the Colts undefeated season to week before Thanksgiving. Now Dallas is traveling to Lucas Oil Stadium. It's a down year for Indy, but if it's only a 'down' year for them, then the Cowboys are stuck in Death Valley. Even though these aren't the AFC frontrunner Colts of years past, a road win against Manning Almighty would still qualify as a "signature win" for the Garrett-era Cowboys.

What we're watching with Dirk

2010-11-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

It sure seemed like just another ho-hum Tuesday when the night began. Back in Dallas for Thanksgiving, I headed for the American Airlines Center to take in a Mavericks game. The Pistons were in town, not exactly the team that dominated the Eastern Conference the middle of the last decade, but certainly not a slouch either.

Dallas started off hot with an 11-0 run, but an ugly second quarter resulted in Detroit working their way back to take the lead at the half, 42-38. And all the while, there was the main Mavs man, Dirk Nowitzki chipping away, bucket after bucket. Swish. Swish. Swish. His 17 first-half points weren't much to write home about for two reasons: one because mailing a letter all the way to Germany is expensive, and secondly because the Mavs were losing.

The Mavericks weren't able to cut into the deficit in the 3rd quarter either, trailing 63-56 heading into the final period. Hey, there's 82 of these games, and Mavs fans have become accustomed to ramping it up when the playoffs begin, keeping energy levels during regular season games in on the early side of New Year relatively "meh" so to speak. Dallas is trailing. Dirk is playing well. But the team just might not find the win column tonight. Most of the wine-and-cheese crowd at the "Double-A C" on Tuesday weren't going to lose a lot of sleep without a mad fourth quarter rally.

But Dirk continued to make these buckets and make it look effortless. His trademark fallaway-off-one-foot shot from near the elbow continued to fall just as it has for more than a decade in Dallas. The man who cause Dallas fans -- which were small in number and perhaps even smaller in faith -- to scratch their heads on draft day 1998 made them slowly start to believe in yet another comeback win in Big D. And row by row, with each bucket from the Big German, fans rose from their seats, believing that this could be a special night. Help from Caron Butler and Jason Terry certainly made a comeback opportunity possible, but all the while #41 continued to do what makes him so special.

Decibel levels climbed within the AAC, and the Mavericks chipped away at the Pistons lead until Dirk Nowitzki sank a pair of free throws as the Mavericks snuck ahead, 68-67. After a Pistons' 3-pointer, Dirk drew another trip to the line, two more free throws and things were tied up, 70-70. A quick trip down the court later, Jason Kidds slings the ball over to Dirk for the go ahead 3-pointer, and as soon as it left his hand, there was no more doubt in the building.

There were six minutes left on the clock, but by that point, it was essentially over. Detroit tried to keep it close down the stretch, but the Mavericks withstood the best efforts of their opponents. And when the dust finally settled, there was Dirk with 42 points, 12 rebounds and yet another impressive comeback win. Dallas 88, Detroit 84.

It's just another November win. It doesn't make a whole lot of difference in the overall scheme of things for this franchise, let alone for the 2010-11 season. But it's also the mark of what Dirk Nowitzki has been doing for a dozen years in Dallas that has made him the most special player in franchise history in what must be considered the makings of a hall of fame career.

The off-balance shot falling away. The flailing limbs on a take to the hoop. Heck, even the goofy videos on the jumbotron. It's all part of the quirkiness and Dirkiness that has been a staple in Dallas. People may still remember the Mavericks before Dirk. People might remember Don Carter's hat, Triple-J, Rolando Blackman, Derek Harper, and Reunion Arena. There might be some "good old day" feelings toward those early days of the Mavericks, be it fond memories of Moody Madness or the run to the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers in '87 when the Reunion Rowdies were at their finest.

But what this 7-foot phenom has done in Dallas is rewrite the franchise's history books. We don't know where this team will go after Nowitzki takes his final shot with the Mavs, whether or not that ends up being the final shot of his NBA career. Maybe this franchise, 20 years from now, will win a title without him and that will be the greatest Mavericks team ever, featuring players who are currently in kindergarden. But what can't be questioned is that this franchise is now talked about in pre-Dirk and post-Dirk terms.

Pre-Dirk, they were the little Mavericks, a team that at one point won 11 and 13 games in consecutive seasons. Yuck. Yes, they'd been to postseasons, but aside from a seven-game series against the Lakers, there weren't many highlights. Dirk changed all of that. He essentially erased those memories. At the very least he sent them to the back of the memory bank, piling ahead of those old memories countless jump shots, 3-pointers, dunks, drives and yes, even those goofy videos on the jumbotron.

Seriously, think back to what you thought of the Mavericks before Dirk arrived. More importantly, did you even think of the Mavericks? Did you look at them as a novelty, merely a way to witness Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan or Larry Bird or other superstars come through town to play our city's version of the Washington Generals? What did you think of the Mavs?

What do you think of them now?

One player changed the trajectory of this franchise. Obviously coaches, GMs, role players and a owner who appears to be equal parts fan and businessman helped the process. But it can all be traced back to #41.

There will at some point come a time when he no longer suits up for the Mavs. I hope it's not for a while, because as he displayed on Tuesday night against Detroit, he is still very much capable of dominating a game in the NBA. But when his time as a Maverick is done, with a ring or not, he will be looked back at as one of the greatest sports figures the DFW metropplex has ever seen. He'll be up there with Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Nolan Ryan. He's one ring away from immortality status as far as the rest of the NBA is concerned, but here in Dallas, let's hope his team's fans know better than that.

He's already achieved it.

Yes we McCann: Dal 35, Det 19

2010-11-22T09:18:00.000-08:00

Channelling my inner Lou Brown from Major League, "That's called a winning streak."

The Dallas Cowboys gunned the engines in the second half and stormed away from the Detroit Lions in a battle of 2-7 teams each playing their backup quarterback. The Jason Garrett era continued to impress, and players who had underachieved throughout the first eight games of the season appeared to hustle (what a novel concept!) throughout the game. Heck, Mike Jenkins even made a hard-hitting tackle in the game.

It's hard to get too excited with a 35-19 win over the lowly Lions, but sadly this was a game between two last place teams, two evenly matched teams, and that's where this Cowboys season is. Now, if they can topple the defending champion Saints on Thanksgiving, then by all means, go crazy Dallas. But the now 3-7 Cowboys are at the point where players must simply maintain the mindset of "I'm playing for my job this week" every week throughout the end of the season.

In 2008, the St. Louis Rams fired their head coach a few weeks into the season and Jim Haslett took over. The previously winless Rams under Haslett won his first two games, beating the Redskins on the road and then beating the Cowboys in St. Louis (and it wasn't pretty by any means). The Rams went on to lose their remaining 10 games, finish 2-14, and they brought in a new coach the next year, blowing up what they had in place and slogging through 2009 before getting top pick Sam Bradford out of OU to help them right the ship this season in 2010.

So this is just a cautionary tail that while the Cowboys under Garrett do have two wins, impressive in many aspects but also faulty in others, it is a weekly battle to prepare and execute and cannot be taken lightly the rest of the way. We saw this team take it lightly through the first eight games, resulting in inexcusable losses at Washington, at home to Tennessee and of course that embarrassing loss to the Jaguars. We've seen the team give up in Green Bay, resulting in Wade Phillips getting fired the next day. If they give up at this point, Garrett isn't getting fired before the end of the season, but he at least has to make the players believe that they could be cut loose or demoted if they don't give at least 100% each week.

This team has made too many strides in the last two weeks under Garrett to regress to the Wade-levels they were at. But in watching the recent success, it's only more maddening to think that had they actually played to their abilities throughout the first half of the season, the now 3-7 Cowboys might be at least 5-5 if not better and still in the hunt for a playoff spot instead of solidly filling the role of spoiler the rest of the way. (And, yes, I realize they aren't mathematically eliminated, but winning out means going 9-7, and there are already six teams in the NFC with at least 7 wins, so let's table any playoff talk until Week 15 or so when we can definitely say if it's still likely at that time.)

What Garrett's new style has done is pushing players to get the best out of them. Plain and simple. The prime example is Jon Kitna. Garrett's offense looks revived, ready to attack, and Kitna leading the way has been more than impressive. When he took over, everyone in DFW held their breath fearing Brad Johnson 2.0, which was so bad that fans were calling for (and briefly got) Brooks Bollinger into a blowout loss against the Giants. Kitna is proving he can still play in this league, and he is more than capable to be a solid backup QB behind Romo in 2011 as well.

Defensively, the Cowboys are becoming ballhawk players, creating a pair of turnovers yesterday that helped solidify the win. Rookies Sean Lee and Bryan McCann, two guys who didn't really get a chance under Wade, are starting to make sure Cowboys fans -- and more importantly for them, the Cowboys front office -- know their names. Lee provided a big forced fumble moments after McCann added another long return TD to his resume. Meanwhile Terence Newman accepted the challenge of taking on Calvin Johnson and other than Detroit's first play from scrimmage in which Newman got tripped up, taking down Johnson through incidental contact, was is no real jeopardy of surrendering the big play throughout the game.

It's a short week until the Super Bowl Saints come marching in, and they'll be looking for payback against the team that ended their undefeated run in 2009 at the Superdome. The fact that these Cowboys of 2010 are not the 2009 Division winners that ~~stormed New Orleans~~ (poor choice of words) won in New Orleans is of little consequence to Drew Brees and company. As Garrett likes to say, they'll be ready at 3:15 on Thursday. Only difference is that, under Jason Garrett, I'm convinced the Cowboys can be as well.

A few other thoughts on Sunday's 2-7 showdown:

+ The Pony Express Rides Again! Bryan McCann's heads up play on Nick Harris's punt changed the momentum of the game. While a later replay shows he might have stepped out of bounds, the tide turned on McCann's second big play in as many weeks. After going 101 yards on a Pick 6 against the Giants last week, he caught a punting going into the end zone that was tipped back out by a Lions special teamer.

Frankly, it would have been a sweet play regardless of if it had gone for a TD or was stopped at the 50ish, or wherever he went out of bounds. Reason being that the Lions had already had two punts downed inside the 20, or to be more specific, one at the 4-yd line and another at the 7-yd line. Dallas was in jeopardy of starting this drive at the 3 when McCann snatched the rebound and took off. The young corner might not have the ability to cover as well as Newman, Jenkin or even Orlando Scandrick, but he's at the very least earning his stripes as a valuable member of this team. To some degree, he's becoming the Kenny Gant of the current Cowboys.

+ Speaking of Kitna, his 29-yard touchdown run was longer than any TD run by a Cowboys quarterback that I could remember. There's a good reason for that. The last Cowboy QB to run for a TD that long was Roger Staubach, and it happened 39 years ago. Of all the things the Lions were thinking might happen on that 4th and 1, a naked bootleg for Kitna to keep was somewhere down the list between Emmitt Smith comes out of Jerry's suite to take the handoff and Aliens land outside the stadium. It wasn't even considered. Doug Free got out in front, ran over the safety, and Kitna went untouched into the end zone to seal the game.

+ A quick note about Emmitt, seeing him get his Hall of Fame ring at halftime was special. Reminiscing back to the 1990s Cowboys and seeing all the highlights on the mega-videoboard, oooh, those were fun times to be a Cowboys fan. Smith ran his way into the record books and football immortality as a member of the Cowboys from 1990 through 2002, and when the Cowboys aren't winning a la this season, it's fun to have a reason to reflect on those good times from the past. Hearing Jerry speak from the heart toward Emmitt, and hearing the tailback's attempt to motivate the fans to motivate the Cowboys, it was almost fun to be a Cowboys fan again this season. The stadium got rocking, and even though the Cowboys went 3-and-out to open the second half, and took a safety on their second possession on a holding call in the end zone. McCann quickly rectified that when Detroit punted on their ensuing possession.

+ McCann's game-saver early in the third quarter helped erase the memory of an ugly end to the first half that gave the Lions a 10-7 lead going into the locker room. Leading 7-3 with less than a minute left in the second half, the Lions punted away to the Cowboys and downed the ball on the 4-yard line. Dallas didn't have much room to take a knee, and with 48 seconds and Detroit with only two timeouts, they probably could have squeezed in a couple of kneel downs and then a drive play to a running back. Either way, a dive play would have been necessary. First and 10, the Cowboys hand the ball off to Felix Jones from the 4-yard line. It's pretty much the end of the half just so long as he doesn't fumble. Yup, he fumbles.

The Lions take over at the Dallas 14-yard line and three plays later find the end zone for a 10-7 halftime advantage. It was the Cowboys only turnover of the game, but it could have been incredibly costly. Looks, it's always bad to fumble, but when you're inside your own 5-yard line to start a drive with :48 seconds left in the half, clearly you're not going for a touchdown when a running play is called. You're trying to end the half. So while you always want to protect the football, this is the one case where protecting the football is more important than gaining yardage. You can afford to not have this drive go anywhere, but giving the ball back could have been catastrophic without McCann's spark in the 3rd quarter.

+ With Dallas ahead 14-12 thanks to McCann's return, Detroit took over at their own 10-yard line. Two plays into the drive Lee jars the ball out of the grasp of Jerome Felton, and Jason Hatcher pounced on it at the Lions 19-yard line. Four plays later, Kitna found Miles Austin for a 21-12 lead. The game was by no means out of reach, considering the Lions drove right back down the field and scored.

+ What did put the game out of reach was the Cowboys ability to take the ball and work long, drawn out drives. After the Lions scored to put the game within one possession, 21-19, Dallas took over with 4:10 left in the third quarter and went 71 yards in 16 plays, spanning nearly eight minutes (7:57). It's been a while since the Cowboys had a long drive like this, let alone two in a game. The Cowboys first drive of the game was a 13-play, 98-yard drive that took 7:16. Kitna methodically marched down the field and put them right into the end zone.

+ The Lions did get screwed on the hair-tackle/horse-collar call when Marion Barber was yanked down by his dreadlocks. As a Cowboys fan who has seen the horse-collar rule from its humble beginning with Roy Williams (the last one) yanking down TO and several others and snapping their ankles, I've been a fan of the league implementing the rule and protecting its players. However I've also seen the rule completely butchered in its implementation.

A player cannot get inside the shoulder pads or the jersey and immediately yank a receiver/runner down from behind. But they can be pulled sideways and they can grab on to a players hair. I couldn't hear the announcement from the ref if it was a face mask call or horse-collar call at the time, but Suh did seem to get a finger on the face mask. Meanwhile, if he dragged MB3 down by his dreads, it's a legal tackle, and if long-haired offensive players don't like it, they can go with a crewcut next time.

Gardenhire, not Washington, AL Manager of the Year

2010-11-17T11:31:00.001-08:00

News just hit the wire that Minnesota Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire has been named American League Manager of the Year for 2010. Gardenhire certainly was more than qualified for the honor, helping to lead the Twins to the AL Central Division title, despite being bounced from the playoffs in a three-game sweep by the Yankees.

Granted, postseason play does not factor in to these regular season awards. That being said, it's still disappointing not to see Texas Rangers skipper Ron Washington take home the honor. Maybe it was the preseason news of his positive cocaine test. Maybe it was the fact that Texas is considered to play in a weaker division with fewer teams. But don't think that Washington isn't deserving of this honor.

The Twins finished 94-68, with four more wins than the Texas Rangers (90-72) in 2010. Minnesota finished six games ahead of the second-place White Sox in their division while the Rangers bested second-place Oakland by nine games. Gardenhire's Twins were certainly a strong team, but the Texas Rangers overcame much more and Washington helped mold a group that (outside of Cliff Lee) hadn't ever achieved anything.

The Rangers hadn't won the AL West since 1999, going 11 years between playoff appearances. Texas had guys who had career years, and Washington's fingerprints were all over it, putting them in positions to succeed. The Twins have won their division in six of the last nine seasons (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2010). Bottom line, this is a group of guys that have been their before. It was known that they should finish atop their division. Meanwhile the Rangers have been nothing more than a dark horse contender, a trendy up-and-coming pick for several years, but never have been a team to take seriously.

Ron Washington changed that. He took a group of guys that had a handful of All-Star appearances along with castoffs (Colby Lewis), aging veterans (Vlad Guerrero), and other parts, throwing together a division winner with some clear staying power. Bringing in a hired gun in Cliff Lee helped push the team to the division crown and through the playoffs, a move that must be credited to Jon Daniels and Nolan Ryan, but when Lee wasn't on the mound, it was Washington's philosophy of how to play the game that fueled the Rangers' success.

Perhaps this is one of those things where Gardenhire's time had finally come. He had finished second a handful of times before finally breaking through and earning the honor this season. For Ron Washington, if his Rangers continue to produce at the level we saw from this season's American League Champions, he deserves to be recognized for his efforts as well.

North American Baseball League

2010-11-16T13:57:00.000-08:00

It looks like enough cats are getting out of bags across the country that independent baseball fans can see the handwriting on the wall of a mega-merger that would weave what's left of the Golden Baseball League, United League and Northern League into one big baseball league. While merger talk had been speculated over the last week, Ballpark Digest brought it all together in a Sunday article that detailed some of the how and why of the new league.

Low and behold, yet another cat escapes from the bag today as Ballpark Digest reports that the name being kicked around is the North American League. Either that or the North American Baseball League, according to a source close to the negotiations. While nothing is finalized and formalized just yet, it seems like things are progressing as all three leagues are not in a position to survive on their own in 2011, but combining the trio would infuse new life into all remaining markets.

While the sale of the (?ex-)Northern League Joliet JackHammers seems to be the big hang-up currently stalling any major announcement, it appears 16 teams are listed as potential cogs in the new league's big machine.

Northern League
Joliet JackHammers
Lake County Fielders
Rockford RiverHawks
Schaumburg Flyers

United League
Coastal Bend Thunder
Edinburg RoadRunners
San Angelo Colts
Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings

Golden League
Calgary Vipers
Chico Outlaws
Edmonton Capitals
Orange County Flyers
Na Koa Ikaika Maui

Three other potential teams include a Tijuana franchise, reportedly nicknamed the Ambassadors or Embajadores, as well as Omaha and Yuma.

It all sounds well and dandy, but this issue of high travel costs will still be an issue for teams in the "Canadian" or "West Coast" divisions. I can't imagine any bus trips going from Chico or Orange County to Illinois, and Texas-area teams will probably have to make their way to Houston or Dallas-Ft. Worth for the best flight options to get to Calgary or Edmonton. Obviously not every team will play each other, especially if there will only be 76 games with 24 of them being played "out of league."

It's somewhat irking to see that Tijuana is again a project that these leagues are entertaining. Last season was the first year a Tijuana franchise got off the ground and actually hosted games south of the border. It was something the GBL had tried even for its inaugural season in 2005 with another strong push in 2009 that resulted in a reshuffling of the schedule on May 9, less than two weeks before the season was set to begin.

Putting a team in Tijuana is going to cause some head-shaking. While the original idea was for teams to stay in Chula Vista just outside San Diego, last season teams did end up staying at what was reported to be a resort-quality locale. Apparently only the Chico Outlaws stayed there. For reasons that still aren't clear to me (because frankly I've heard too many versions to know what exactly is true), the Calgary Vipers ended up staying at some slum of a hotel while they were down there, and Maui's team didn't have a much better experience before their series was eventually cut short with a forfeit. The other markets in the league have potential, but Tijuana seems to bring only headaches. If the Ambassadors get off the ground this year, here's to hoping it's not the same old circus.

Tijuana is one roadblock that can be overcome. As I said, it's mainly a headache that really shouldn't be messed with, but if the allure of being a three-country league as the GBL dreamed in 2010 is out there, then so be it.

A more disconcerting bit of news is the fact that Joliet might join four other teams that were part of the 8-team Northern League in 2010 and join the Frontier League in 2011. Half of the NoL is already on board, and the Joliet City Manager and city officials are steering the team toward the Frontier League.

It makes sense why city officials would want their team to play in the Frontier League. The teams are closer and the financial risks involved with such a widely spread out league as the North American League are greater. And because the group selling the team still owes back rent, the City is going to have some say in this. It doesn't seem this would completely put the kibosh on the "Midwest Division" of the North American League, but if one of the other three teams (Schaumberg, Lake County or Rockford) decides to also jump to the Frontier League with them, the remaining two teams become their own version of Calgary/Edmonton, a pair of markets on their own island (as opposed to the Maui franchise, which is literally on its own island).

It seems there are still many remaining factors that must be sorted out and loose ends that need to be tied up tightly before these three leagues make this anticipated big announcement. The potential for this new league is clearly there, but certain things -- like getting a second team in Hawaii and renewing Chico's lease -- are still up in the air and must be locked in if this league is going to work as it is currently seemingly constructed.

Garrett gets it done: Dal 33, NYG 20

2010-11-14T20:55:00.000-08:00

Let me begin the "Jason Garrett era" with a quick reminder from the last Cowboys era that inspired the type of confidence that I'm feeling tonight:

Put the anointing oil away.

Bill Parcells' words regarding a new starting quarterback named Tony Romo in 2006 are just as fitting for the Dallas Cowboys' new interim head coach midway through 2010. Jason Garrett took over the franchise after an embarrassing 1-7 start to the season and was given less than a week to change the culture of a team that lost all discernible heart and will the previous two weeks and prepare them for "4:15pm [Eastern] Sunday" as he stated all week long. And while it is just one week, one game, 1/16th of the entire season, Jason Garrett got more out of this squad -- his squad -- than we'd seen in quite some time.

Dallas Cowboys 33, New York Giants 20. (recap) (highlights)

Again, I realize this one win doesn't put the now 2-7 Cowboys into the Super Bowl (which, if you hadn't heard, is actually going to be at Cowboys Stadium in February). But seeing the way Dallas played tonight, it's also hard not to be infuriated that they hadn't been playing like this all season; playing like that they could be 7-2. One win doesn't change the first eight games. It does, however, give the Cowboys a spark that they can use to ignite the rest of their season.

And for one week, Jason Garrett has produced the "tangible results" that Jerry Jones said Garrett would be judged on. I said before the game that the interim coach will have an 8-week audition. If the remaining seven weeks are anything like what we saw on Sunday night, it'll be hard not to consider him among the Gruden/Cowher/Billick types that will no doubt also be in the running.

I realize the offense had been bad, and we didn't know quite how Garrett being promoted from offensive coordinator to head coach would revitalize a unit that had played without any intensity in previous weeks. But what was more shocking than the offensive productivity was how the Dallas defense awoke from its coma. Yes, it was easy to focus on Mike Jenkins actually trying to tackle people (see, that wasn't so hard, was it? Even got a helmet on the ball to cause a fumble), but I was more impressed with Orlando Scandrick who was playing with the fire of someone who thought he was about to get cut and this was his last pre-season game to change the coaches mind. I don't know how he got into the backfield so fast to make that tackle on Ahmad Bradshaw, and his pass break up in the end zone looked like 2006 Champ Bailey wearing a Scandrick halloween costume.

Big plays from the offense. Pick-6 from the defense to turn back the Giants in the red zone. The only big blunder of the night, aside from David Buehler's kicking, was the power outage. (By the way, while I'm sure Jerry is happy about getting the win, how much do you think he enjoys seeing New York's billion dollar football stadium unable to maintain power while he can run godzillavision at JerryWorld with the only problem being the ill-conceived and self-inflicted 3D fiasco? I'm just saying, that had to also had to add to his post-game smirk.)

The hardest part for Garrett will be to make sure his guys don't let this game get to their-- Wait. I'm sorry. I have to stop. I forgot Wade Phillips isn't the coach anymore. I have no doubts that Jason Garrett is not only capable of but in fact will bring his team back down to earth after a win where perhaps the rest of the football world is about to look at their schedule and say "hmm, maybe they can go 8-8 and sneak into the playoffs." Don't even start. That Koolaid is not to be consumed because lord only knows what you'd have to put into that mix to believe this team is going to be playing post-season football. I'm sure some pigskin pundits will go out on that limb; I'm simply saying that Garrett knows, much like everyone else should realize, that this was just one game. It does not erase the record of the first eight games even if it helps to overshadow the memories from them.

The road does not get easier for the Cowboys. Yes, Detroit is up next, but the 2010 schedule brings the defending Super Bowl Champion Saints to town on Turkey Day before Dallas must hit the road to face Peyton Manning and the Colts. The Cowboys still have two games against the Eagles as well as another date with division rival Washington and a road game in Arizona, which may be in the middle of its own playoff chase. Bottom line, this one win doesn't change the fact that Dallas is looking at an incredibly steep uphill battle. At least, if but for a week, it appears they have the leader who won't shy away from the challenge.

A few thoughts on the first game of the Jason Garrett era:
+ Dez Bryant. Need I say more? The kid was amazing. It's scary to think that once upon a time, some brash hotshot wide out put on the coveted No. 88 and made everyone forget it once belonged to Drew Pearson. Fast forward and now Bryant is doing is best to erase memories of "The Playmaker" Michael Irvin. Irvin was a Hall of Famer and the heart of three Super Bowl Champion teams in the 1990s, a remarkably talented wide receiver who was physically superior than any defensive back who dared match up against him. Dez Bryant, well, the kid is on his way to becoming something special. You could argue he's there already, which is scary.

The most telling thing about Bryant's performance from this game, check out Jon Kitna's post-game press conference (go to the 2:10 point in this video), because the face Kitna makes when talking about the receiver catching that first deep ball sums it up perfectly. Kitna might be a backup quarterback, but he's been around the NFL a long time. He's played with some solid wide receivers in the past. Yet reflecting on Dez's early catch reduces Kitna to a befuddled state of "Wha.. wha... what happened?"

He made three catches for 104 yards a touchdown plus a fourth catch that was overturned that might have been his most impressive of the bunch. His touchdown grab in which he leaps forward like a dog jumping off a dock to catch a frisbee before splashing into the lake, it was a thing of beauty. When is the last time you felt this good about a first round pick of the Cowboys? Seriously?

+ Bryan McCann, the former SMU Mustang, brought the Pony Express to New Meadowlands with the biggest defensive play the Cowboys have had since a pair of early picks in the first game against the Giants three weeks ago. The Cowboys led 9-3 with Eli and the Giants on the doorstep of tying the game with a touchdown and pulling ahead on an extra point. At the very least, they were getting three points. Instead McCann, a rookie in single coverage against Hakeem Nicks, jumped the inside slant route and went 101 yards for a touchdown and a 16-3 Dallas lead. This came after both Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins, the teams No. 1 and No. 2 corners, had left the game with injuries. McCann wasn't on the roster a few weeks ago, yet here he was setting the tone early as the Dallas defense capitalize on self-made opportunities when it could just have easily receded back and allowed the Giants to take a 10-9 advantage.

+ Remember Felix Jones? If you'd forgotten, which would have been understandable considering how this season has gone, the third-year back made sure to remind the NFL that he was very much still a threat. Kinda nice for his old college buddy Darren McFadden and the Raiders to enjoy a bye week so this Razorback to enjoy some highlight reel time. With the game slogging through the stadium's first power failure and end zone lights out at their backs, Kitna tossed a screen to Jones who rode the blocks of his lineman and receivers before gunning it up the field for a 71-yard TD. Run toward the light!

+ Speaking of the power failure, when FOX cut away for a game break in the Denver/Kansas City game only to come back to Curt Menafee saying there was no game to go back to, I was about to smash the TV. When they got back from commercial and we found out Giants Stadium was smoking and had blacked out, well, let's just say I wasn't exactly thrilled to be patched to San Francisco for 49ers/Rams with no idea of if or when the Cowboys game would get back on. Incase you missed this moment, here is the fiasco as it unfolded on TV:

It must have been scary to be a fan in a blacked out stadium (no, Jaguars fans, I'm not talking about TV blackouts). That is a major blunder, and apparently they have had electrical issues there before. Remind me never to go to New Meadowlands without a flashlight (is there an app for that?).

+ There's a lot of reasons why teams win games. Some stats are better indicators than others. Winning the turnover battle, 3-1, is probably the biggest. The Pick-6, a what-was-Eli-thinking fumble on a low snap, and Alan Ball's clincher. You don't have to be +2 in the turnover department to win games, but it sure beats the alternative.

+ It wasn't all pretty on Sunday night. Kicker David Buehler had an extra point blocked and missed a 34-yard field goal, a gimme by NFL standards, with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter that could have essentially put the game away (the Giants would have needed two TDs and a pair of 2-point conversions to tie it up). Under the old regime with Wade Phillips at the helm, Buehler would have been allowed to get by because the team won. Under Garrett, I'm not thinking he'll be instantly cut a la Jimmy Johnson, but it wouldn't surprise me to see the interim coach bring in another kicker or two to practice and at least make Buehler again prove himself. At the very least, Buehler should catch some heat for this. A kickoff out of bounds didn't help his cause.

+ Eli Manning hit Hakeem Nicks for a 48-yard touchdown midway though the fourth quarter, a score that would have brought the Giants back within a touchdown of the lead had it not been negated by a holding call. ~~When did the Giants sign Alex Barron?~~ The very next play, a low snap scooted past Manning who retreated to pick it up and inexplicably tried to fling it off the turf to an imaginary friend (no one else was in the area). Anthony Spencer pounced on the loose ball. Even though Buehler missed the ensuing FG try, that was the last realistic chance the Giants had.

+ No idea what the bruhaha between Terence Newman and Gerald Sensabaugh was all about. Neither looked interested in hitting someone last week against Green Bay. At least they were showing some sort of fire this week, albeit against each other. Confident Garrett will sort them out however necessary.

+ One last fun thing. The series of commercials that FOX rolled out to promote that they'll be the broadcast home of this year's Super Bowl have been amazing. The concept of "It's Good To Have A Ring" features FOX analysts and broadcasters and the difference in their lifestyle either at parties or going through airport security. The one featuring Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the set of Dr. Phil talking through Buck's innate insecurities having to work with Troy put me over the top. Here is one of the videos with links to the others:

"It's Good to Have a Ring" - Airport Security
"It's Good to Have a Ring" - Broadcast Booth
"It's Good to Have a Ring" - Hotel Lobby
(Haven't been able to find a link for the Dr. Phil/Joe Buck/Troy Aikman commercial, but when I do, I'll put it up.)

Dallas is now 2-7, still last in the NFC East, still a mile and a half out of the playoff race. Crazy things happen in the NFL. By every indication this team had no business beating the Giants after their last three games and then seeing their head coach fired. Where this season is going, it's hard to say with certainty. The one thing for sure is that where this team was going before Phillips was fired on Monday, the ceiling is much higher now.

Garrett, entire roster have 8 week audition

2010-11-14T09:16:00.000-08:00

Today is the day. Offensive coordinator-turned-head-coach Jason Garrett makes his debut for the Dallas Cowboys in the wake of Wade Phillips' firing. Garrett has had what seems to be an "impressive" week -- and that's impressive based on the recently lowered bar that has been set over then last three and a half years. The fiery redhead comes across pointed and stern in his press conferences. Will that translate to wins on the football field? It's no guarantee, but it's certainly refreshing.

People are making a big deal about the Cowboys practicing in full pads on Wednesday for the first time since pre-season, and sadly this is a big deal. Don't get me wrong, I think that at times giving players a chance to practice in just shoulder pads and shorts has its benefits. It's a long season, and players will wear down. As a result, sometimes an easier paced practice can help keep guys fresh. But when a team hasn't played football the last Sundays anyway (and, no, they weren't on the bye either, *sigh*), sometimes you need to run then ragged in practice. If they show up flat on Sunday, I'd rather it be because they are exhausted from a rougher week of practice than because they just lost the heart required to compete.

The last 10 quarters have been embarrassing. Since taking a 20-7 lead over the Giants a few weeks ago, Dallas has since been blasted away in the second half of that game, then by Jacksonville and Green Bay. They lost quarterback Tony Romo and are relying on Jon Kitna under center. But please don't mistake an injured QB for being the problem. Dallas wasn't winning with a health Romo. They didn't respond by showing much effort without their leader at home against the Jags. Obviously Romo gives the 'Boys a better chance to win, but they aren't going to win anything without hustle or accountability, two areas severely lacking recently.

And that is where Jason Garrett comes in. He can try to rebrand this 1-7 mess. He's got 8 games before the Cowboys try to find John Gruden or Bill Cowher or another big name coach to try to save this thing in 2011, which Garrett has to use his advantage. He has to believe he will get these eight games and ONLY these eight games to show what he has. If he can motivate this previously lifeless team and win 4-5 games in the process, maybe he retains the job next season.

Garrett and the entire roster is on the chopping block. These Cowboys players need to realized that all of them (as well as what's left of the coaching staff) have NO job security this offseason. If they'd like to solidify a future roster spot on the Dallas Cowboys, they have an eight week audition to prove themselves. Do they "Cowboy up" or continue to fall flat?

Garrett is a fine change of pace from Wade, but it has to translate onto the field. That process, ideally, starts today.

GBL: Giant Baseball League?

2010-11-13T17:36:00.000-08:00

When the Victoria Seals announced the club was ceasing operations this week, the news -- coupled with Tucson taking a year off and three franchises being absorbed by the league during the 2010 season -- seemed to spell the end of the Golden Baseball League. But a report out of the midwest points the other direction entirely. Could we be looking at the GBL going from the brink of extinction to becoming a super-league?

The Rockford (Illinois) RiverHawks will be joining the GBL for the 2011 season, according to a report from WREX Channel 13, an NBC affiliate. Before we get into the ramifications of what it all means, here is the story from WREX:

RiverHawks join Golden League
Posted: Nov 12, 2010 8:20 PM

By: Mike Morig

ROCKFORD (WREX) - After one season in the Northern League, the Rockford RiverHawks leave for the Golden League.

An official announcement is expected next week, but team owner Dave Ciarrachi told the 13 Sports Authority Friday night that the ‘Hawks are Golden League bound and the league itself will expand.

Ciarrachi said the league's new format will feature four divisions, one on the west coast, one in Canada, one in Texas, and one in the Midwest.

The RiverHawks will play in the Midwest division along with former Northern League teams from Schaumburg, Joliet, and Lake County. A potential fifth member of the division could come from Omaha.

Ciarrachi said the Golden League rules will allow the RiverHawks to keep the players they have, no matter their age.

The league will feature 16 or 17 teams and the name of the league along with the divisions will be discussed at the owners meetings later this month.

Talk about a game-changer. When the Golden Baseball League announced on the league's twitter feed that a major announcement was on the way, my only thought was a merger. What else could it have been? No league drums up attention to announce it's folding. But while I thought there might be a "merger" that would either bring the Calgary and Edmonton franchises back into the fold of the Northern League, the idea of a mega-league didn't quite come into focus.

The report indicates four divisions with a total of about 16 teams, which would make logistical sense to have a quartet of four-team divisions. Earlier in the year, the NCAA's Pacific 10 Conference was working to bring half of the Big XII -- including Texas and Oklahoma -- into the conference. What we're looking at here in the independent baseball equivalent, if it comes to fruition.

The RiverHawks spent 2010 in the Northern League after 17 years in the Frontier League (1993-2009). The Northern League and GBL worked together last season to co-host an open tryout before the baseball season began and also faced off in an All-Star Game that pitted the GBL against the NoL.

The Northern League has not been without its own shakeups this offseason. In mid-October, four Northern League teams -- the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks, Gary SouthShore Railcats, Kansas City T-Bones and Winnipeg Goldeneyes -- joined the 10-team American Association to form a 14-team independent league. The "AA" will now feature three divisions (North, Central and South) and a 100-game schedule in 2011. The geographic compartmentalization of the teams should help with travel costs, but that league has long suffered through excruciating road trips featuring 24-hour bus rides. I don't know how long the bus ride is from Winnipeg to Pensacola, but I'd hope for a flight instead. And the American Association might not be done either. Talk is that they are trying to get up to 16 teams before 2011.

When this announcement came down, the independent Northern League was cut in half, left with four of its eight teams, all in Illinois, the Joliet JackHammers, Lake County Fielders, Rockford RiverHawks and Schaumburg Flyers. Given the existing relationship between the GBL and Northern League, it was only natural that the two league look to link up and put together a league that can survive as one rather than two leagues that would surely collapse on their own at the current pace.

Now while that sounds all well and good, there were reports last week that those four remaining Northern League teams were already trying to join the independent Frontier League, according to a Joliet, Ill., news source. The 12-team Frontier League confirmed each team's application last week, but he didn't give an indication if those teams would be granted admission into the league.

Since that time, the GBL has tried to whet the appetites of baseball fans by dangling a major announcement on the horizon, an announcement expected before the end of the month. If the remnants of the Golden Baseball League and Frontier League merge, they will still be faced with some of the same issues that hampered the GBL in 2010, most notably an incredibly taxing distance between markets.

I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the weeklong road trip to Maui last season, but I was glad I didn't have to go to Tijuana (although my brief trip to San Luis on the other side of the border from Yuma wasn't exactly a picnic). But it was no secret that GBL franchises reluctantly shelled out $13,000+ for road trips to Maui, and the Na Koa Ikaika franchise at one point did not make a trip to the mainland (while they had already clinched a playoff berth and thus weren't hurting their own postseason, fans in other markets didn't get the games originally scheduled).

Na Koa Ikaika Maui's website hasn't been updated since the GBL Championship Series in September. The Maui News hasn't reported anything on the team's stability which was an issue toward the end of the season, as the team's owner Michael Cummings issued several assurances to the local media the franchise would be back in 2011. However the entire purpose of the Maui franchise was to be the springboard for two to four franchises in the Hawaiian Islands. The city of Hilo on the Big Island is the most likely spot for a new team with team owners obviously eyeing the heavily populated Oahu for future expansion as well.

If this mega-GBL/Northern League hybrid does form for 2011 with teams in Canada, the midwest, Texas and Western USA, then Hawaii must have at least two teams to be in the fold, otherwise it will simply be a greater financial burden on new teams who haven't had to endure this kind of expensive travel before. While the Illinois-centric Northern League did once comprise the Calgary and Edmonton markets, the league gladly let them go, letting go the higher travel costs of flights to Canada as well. Now the four Illinois teams may again be getting into bed with the province of Alberta. The only disappointing aspect to this is that the shut down of Victoria's franchise now has Canada two teams shy of a coveted 4-team division, as only Calgary and Edmonton currently remain.

Behind the scenes, Indy League commissions must be scrambling to get new markets in place and ready for the 2011 season if this mega-league will become a reality. I'd be rooting for them to succeed despite having seen ill-conceived franchises (*cough* Tijuana *cough*) falter before only to hinder the remaining teams as a result. If they do get a merged mega-league up and running, I hope the ducks are in a row and not still waiting to be hatched.

Just thinking/typing out loud here, if the league will have 16-17 (let's go with 16 for now) teams in four divisions, you'd ~~think~~ hope they would create four 4-team divisions, already projected by the WREX article to be in Canada, the Midwest, Texas and on the west coast.

Midwest
This seems fairly obvious, but the four remaining Northern League clubs would fit nicely into this area, and teams from outside the division would, I assume, fly to Chicago and bus to the first market for a 3-4 team road trip within that division before bussing back to Chicago and flying home. The four teams would ostensibly be Rockford, Schaumburg, Joliet and Lake County.

Texas
One can only assume, barring four brand new teams in four brand new markets coming out of nowhere, that this league would come from the current six-team United League, featuring franchises in Amarillo, Edinburg, Laredo, Rio Grande Valley, San Angelo and Coastal Bend. Maybe all six join the new league. Maybe two are struggling and only four remain. Who knows.

Canada
Two of those are easy: Calgary and Edmonton out of the GBL. Unless Victoria all of the sudden reopens its doors, which isn't very likely or else they would have just kept them open, there need to be two new markets that show up in this division. Maybe they aren't in Canada proper but are close enough to the border for bus trips to be feasible. As it was last year, Calgary to Edmonton was the shortest bus trip in the GBL (Tijuana was in Yuma by the time those teams played, which was 3.5 to 4 hours away from Orange County).

One interesting note here regarding Victoria. Perhaps this franchise is relocating to a new Canadian market. The only thing I'm basing that on is the language in their press release, sub-headlined with "Franchise leaves Capital Region after two years of operation." If a franchise leaves one place, by definition it would have to show up somewhere else, wouldn't it? Why not just say the team shuts down. One of the biggest challenges for this team was the lease at Royal Athletic Park that drove the price of doing business up. But if there is a suitable market for the folks in charge of this franchise to relocate to, you better believe they have the ability to make it happen. The folks running Victoria (or who ran Victoria, I guess?) have their stuff together.

West Coast
Hmm... now this is the tricky part. More importantly, this is the true heart of the Golden Baseball League. Without those West Coast markets, the "GBL" isn't part of the equation anymore. Quick recap of what's left after 2010. Chico is in need of a new lease and last I checked from the Chico Enterprise Record (the local newspaper), the Outlaws still have to fulfill obligations from their past lease before Chico State will begin negotiating a new one (translation: there is most likely still money owed). Tucson is going dark for at least a year with Triple-A returning to the city.

St. George, Tijuana and Yuma all were absorbed by the league during the 2010 season. Of the three, only Yuma has a realistic chance to make it to 2011. The Scorpions had a new owner, Jim McDermott, join the party late last season, and his goal was to become the team's outright owner (or him and other Yuma-area businessmen) for 2011.

The last two teams from 2010 left to be mentioned are Maui and Orange County. The Flyers are still pressing for a deal with the city of Fullerton to move forward with plans to build a new stadium at Amerige Park. I've seen the designs, and they're not half bad. Prior to last season, one of the Flyers' managing partners announced at a team kickoff party that they hope to have the new facility built by 2013, allowing the team to own its own ballpark and not have to suffer through what has to be the worst lease in independent baseball at Goodwin Field. Maybe the City will cooperate, and if so, maybe enough slapdash changes can be made for the Flyers to take the field at Amerige (pre-construction) for 2011. If not, they could return to Cal State Fullerton's Goodwin Field if they at least have the knowledge going forward that Amerige Park will become a reality in the near future.

Maui. Ah, Maui. What has become of you? Frankly, here is one shot-in-the-dark guess at what could come of this "West Coast" division if this mega-league is formed.

Orange County, Maui, Hilo (or some secondary Hawaiian team), and Palm Springs.

Yes, that's right. Let's not forget that it was almost a year ago that the GBL announced plans to have a team in Palm Springs by 2010 or 2011. The easiest way for this West Coast division to function would be for teams to be able to fly into LAX, play Orange County and/or Palm Springs, then fly out to Hawaii for a week against two teams on the islands, then fly back to LAX and either play another series against a SoCal team or fly back to your division's home-area (Chicago/Texas/Canada).

Maybe that's how it will play out. Maybe not. The GBL says the announcement is coming before the month is out, just in time for Baseball's Winter Meetings the first week of December. However it shakes down, it's nice to know that what looked like a smoldering pile of what was once a baseball league just days ago may be on the verge of becoming one of the largest leagues, in terms of teams and geography, we've ever seen.

Goodbye Golden League?

2010-11-11T10:27:00.000-08:00

It's a sad day in the sports world whenever a franchise closes its doors. Seattle SuperSonics fans mourned the departure of their franchise moving to Oklahoma City. Cities that hosted Arena Football League teams saw them shut down in 2009 due to the economy (arena football has since been revived). And in the realm of independent baseball, it seems we are witnessing the inevitable demise -- or best case scenario, the incredibly drastic reshuffling -- of the Golden Baseball League.

The GBL, which played its first season in 2005 with eight teams throughout California and Arizona, finished its sixth season this September after expanding to a league-high 10 team format that stretched from Tijuana to Edmonton to Maui. Many thought the league's massive expansion, especially amid difficult economic times with dwindling crowds, would be the final nail in the coffin for the league. Yesterday, someone took a hammer to that last nail and began driving it home.

The Victoria Seals announced that they would cease operations on Wednesday, putting an end to a two year run that ostensibly appeared successful, at least relative to other franchises in the Golden Baseball League. The Seals cited problems with their lease at Royal Athletic Park along with "uncertainty surrounding the makeup of the GBL and the financially demanding geographic layout of the league."

Victoria drew well for an independent team. Shoot, they probably drew well compared to some affiliated clubs. I was fortunate to witness their inaugural opener in May 2009 when they hosted the Long Beach Armada. It was the first and one of only two full stadiums I ever saw in the GBL over my four years in the league. Their fans loved the team and appeared to support them. While weather clubbed the Seals early in the 2010 season, when the sun came out on Vancouver Island, RAP was the place to be, albeit with a shoddy outfield fence and awkward seating layout (for anyone who never saw RAP, it's a baseball field forced into a soccer pitch -- a diamond peg in a rectangular hole if you will).

[Ballpark Tour of RAP]

With this announcement coming from one of the seemingly strongest clubs in the GBL, it's hard to not forecast the inevitable end of what's left of the Golden Baseball League. In October, one of the other new league "flagship" organizations, the Tucson Toros, announced their would suspend operations for the 2011 season to make way for the temporary return of Triple-A baseball to the city.

These two organizations that joined the GBL beginning with the 2009 season won't be there in 2011 which leads me to believe that there will be no GBL in 2011. Quick review, here's a list of the 10 teams that took the field in the Golden League during the 2010 season:

Calgary Vipers
Chico Outlaws
Edmonton Capitals
Orange County Flyers
Na Koa Ikaika Maui
St. George RoadRunners
Tijuana Cimarrones
Tucson Toros
Victoria Seals
Yuma Scorpions

Of that list, the Tijuana Cimarrones, Yuma Scorpions and St. George RoadRunners struggled to finish the season, completing 2010 either as league-run entities or under different ownership structures than they started the season.

The Yuma Scorpions were reabsorbed by the league after Ricky Smith and the Venezuelan baseball affiliate that was supposed to play the players and finance much of the operations cut ties with the organization midseason, leaving dozens of players missing paychecks. The poo hit the fan in Tijuana when the Cimarrones forfeited their final game as the original "Cimarrones" in June when the uniforms were repossessed or stolen depending on who is telling the story (and, no, I still don't know which version I believe. Sincerely). They finished the season as a duct tape mess thrown together by the league so as not to disrupt the schedule of other teams with home games slated against them the rest of the season. St. George buckled to financial troubles after July, and yet another squad of replacement players finished the year under the RoadRunners moniker.

Those three squads combined with Victoria and Tucson make for half of the league not likely to play in 2011. While Yuma was semi-purchased by a local businessman toward the end of 2010, the league had the option to sell him total control of the franchise for 2011, and while I don't know if that transaction was ever completed, it's hard to imagine he would still want to buy the franchise to play in a league that might not exist next season.

The Chico Outlaws, long held as the closest thing to a "model" example of a GBL franchise until the 2010 season, do not have a lease in place for 2011 at Nettleton Stadium, and based on some of the articles in the Chico Enterprise Record, the two sides aren't close to negotiating a new deal. Chicoans still have a hard on for the Heat of the old Western Baseball League, and the Outlaws have burned bridges with bills that went unpaid, as cited in this article in the Chico ER.

Without the Outlaws, a small market team with what had proven to be a captive fan base -- a fan base that was in some part alienated during the 2010 season despite the Outlaws taking the GBL title -- the GBL would be left with four franchises, the Edmonton Capitals, Calgary Vipers, Orange County Flyers and Na Koa Ikaika Maui.

Na Koa Ikaika Maui was acquired by part of the Orange County Flyers ownership group as the 2010 season wrapped up, and those owners have/had plans to put at least one other team in the Hawaiian Islands for the 2011 season. Don't know if it will happen as the travel to the Hawaiian Islands became the most economically strenuous aspect of the GBL this past season. Teams traveling to Hawaiian to larger chunks out of the bottom line than any road trip before. It wasn't something easy to accomplish in the turbulent economy.

The Orange County Flyers are focusing on trying to get out from under the thumb of Cal State Fullerton and an extremely costly lease at Goodwin Field. The team has been pining for a new facility at Fullerton's Amerige Park in downtown. If that stadium deal doesn't get done, the organization would look into relocating, potentially to the Hawaiian Islands as they now controls the rights to Hawaii. Other options listed by the Flyers ownership group include Palm Springs, which they acquired the rights to prior to the 2010 season; Long Beach, which does not appear feasible as Blair Field is now run by Cal State Long Beach, which had what could be described as an adversarial relationship with the GBL's Armada franchise; or Las Vegas, which already hosts the Triple-A 51s.

While the Flyers are negotiating with CSUF as a backup plan for next season, according to team managing partner Bob Young in this article, the lease at Goodwin has been one of the biggest unavoidable reasons for the ownership group losing a reported $2 million since buying the team from the league in 2007.

If OC and Maui don't field teams in 2011, which while still possible is appearing less likely given the uncertain climate around the rest of the league, that leaves franchises only in Calgary and Edmonton, the two former Northern League transplant communities. The Vipers and then-named Cracker Cats joined the GBL in 2008 after years in the Northern League, looking for a better deal than having to help subsidize the rest of the NoL's clubs to fly up to Canada. The GBL presented much great opportunities for the clubs at the time: Victoria's expansion and the hopes of a fourth team in Kamloops made a "Canadian Division" look like a feasible option. It didn't materialize, and now those two clubs might be left with the option of rejoining the Northern League -- if at all possible -- if they want to remain operational.

There doesn't seem to be many other options for new teams to join the GBL in time for 2011. The person I know who had the ability to somehow throw it all together and, perhaps not always in the cleanest of ways, make it work was the GBL's founder and former President Dave Kaval, who is now working for the Major League Soccer team in San Jose. While Kaval has certainly had his share of relationships go sour around the league, he did seem to have an ability to keep it all together while at the helm, if it required duct tape, chewed gum and a shoestring. There were talks of teams in Medford, Ore., or some old WBL cities, but by this stage of the offseason, it's hard to get anything up and running in time for next season. What potential new owner would cash in while so many others appear to be trying to cash out?

It's unfortunate that these teams may not have a league to compete in for 2011, but the other side of the coin shows a league that doesn't have enough teams to truly compete.

I feel I had a great opportunity to grow as a broadcaster and front office person in the GBL since 2007. I started as an on-field MC and sponsorship/ticket sales account executive and parlayed that into the start of what I hope to be a long career in sports broadcasting. I've met lots of great people throughout my time in the GBL, from other broadcasters, to PA announcers, to GMs, players, managers, salty nut hawkers, mascots, and owners. Lots of rising stars in the game of baseball got their shots to showcase their talents while fans got to watch former big leaguers prove they still had what it took to compete.

If we are truly witnessing the end of the Golden Baseball League, it's a sad day for sports. Lots of great people will lose amazing jobs, and good players will miss out on opportunities. But as the sun sets on this Golden League, I will be thankful for the memories and relationships I've made as a result of the opportunity.

Packing it in: Dal 7, GB 45

2010-11-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

After a third straight butt-kicking, it seems today will finally be the day embarrassed and desperate Dallas Cowboys fans get the bloodshed they have been craving since Alex Barron's holding penalty in Week 1. Jerry Jones and the team has a 4pm press conference today and the general thinking is that head coach Wade Phillips is not expected to survive the announcement.

I don't know what he could have done, being a completely impotent head man under Jones with no true authority of any kind. But it is clear that this team doesn't play hard for him. And if he's not even willing to bench people during games who aren't trying, then there is nothing left to do but to remove the head coach.

Jerry Jones said that people "will suffer" as a result of Sunday night's 45-7 loss in Green Bay. I should hope so.

At this point, the Cowboys need to wipe their personnel slate clean. Not just at the head coaching spot, but everyone on the field needs to realize that they are playing for their position on this club in the future.

Tashard Choice should be the No. 1 running back. Marion Barber is not what he used to be and Felix Jones looks lost. Other than Dez Bryant, is there anyone who isn't a starter that is clearly pushing for playing time? Don't think so.

With as bad as the offensive line is, let's just take them all out and throw the backups in. Let them try to earn their stripes. It's not like they can be any worse. The defense is terrible. Other than Demarcus Ware, not one of the other 10 starters is a lock to have a spot on this club in the future. Anthony Spencer and Mike Jenkins used to look like the future of this defense. This year, they are so bad it's embarrassing. Jenkins isn't even trying. We've seen him make "business decisions" before, but sadly he hasn't learned from that. HIT SOMEONE!

Today Wade Phillips is gone, but that in no way is going to fix the mentality of this team. Thank goodness Romo was already hurt because the last thing this organization needs is the false hope that Romo might provide under center. This season is a loss. It has been since the loss to Tennessee.

So while thing "quick fix" of firing a coach is only the first step, there are too many other steps that still need to be taken for this organization to show any sort of turnaround before the Cowboys wise up and hire a tougher head coach.

Rangers

2010-11-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

What an amazing ride, huh?

The Texas Rangers fell short of baseball's ultimate prize, and while there are no moral victories in sports, I still come away from this postseason run, the first postseason "run" in franchise history with an overwhelming sense of team and civic pride. For the years I've lived in Southern California, I have slogged around Angel Stadium in my blue Rangers jersey whenever Texas came through, all the while knowing I sat at the bottom of the division's totem pole, merely a guest at the house of the big bad Angels.

No more.

The Rangers won the American League West. They won the American League Pennant. Hell, they even won a World Series game. And while it might not be the ultimate prize like the Angels took home in 2002, there is no longer the shame of never having tasted success. Now I have. And, at the risk of becoming greedy (as admittedly I am with the Cowboys), I want more.

I don't have time now to break down what this series has meant and why it's meant that much, but to put it briefly and bluntly: on this Tuesday, November 2, 2010, the morning after the Texas Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs in Game 5 of the World Series one thing is clear: I am more than ever before proud to be a Texas Rangers fan.

Thank you, Texas Rangers, for rewarding my loyalty and for whetting my appetite for more postseason baseball.

It might be time to put the Claw and Antlers shirts back in the closest, but I'll leave them in front of the Romo jersey for quick access when the 2011 season opens up.

Back in the swing of things (SF leads TEX, 2-1)

2010-10-31T07:58:00.000-07:00

The Texas Rangers offense, designated hitter restored and all, sprung to life in Game 3 of the World Series for a 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night as Arlington hosted its first Fall Classic contest.

Just a few quick points to consider about a game that breathed new life into the Rangers after dropping the Series first two games by the Bay:

+ Cliff Lee is great and all, but is there any doubt that Colby Lewis has been equally as important for Texas in this post-season. He now has all three home playoff wins in Rangers club history: Games 2 and 6 against the Yankees and now Game 3 against the Giants. Hopefully a couple of other Texas arms can pick up wins at Rangers Ballpark before the weekend is out.

+ Mitch Moreland's homerun with two outs was big for a few different reasons, but one of the more overlooked aspects of his shot was this: he is the No. 9 hitter. Now, it's not a big deal to get that kind of production for a No. 9 hitter. At some point, everyone who is in the lineup in there because they are capable of producing. It's because because if this game is in a National League park, Moreland is batting 8th and the pitching spot is ninth, which means that three-run homerun probably isn't coming.

+ Michael Young helped quiet the catcalls of "Roger Dorn" with a couple of nice stabs at third base. 1,500 regular season games before he finally makes the playoffs, and don't for a second think that he'll let his post-season legacy be defined by balls that fans think he coulda-shoulda-woulda gotten too.

+ Neftali Feliz had to wait until the Game 3 of the World Series for his first save opportunity. If people thought the young closer might falter on baseball's biggest stage, that certainly didn't show. His first pitch was a strong strike one, and he struck out the first and last batter's he faced in a 1-2-3 top of the ninth inning. There was a very long fly ball that Jeff Francour wrangled in at the warning track for Out No. 2, but Feliz went right back to work after the catch was made.

The Giants lead the Series, 2-1, but Texas seemed energized by the home crowd in Saturday night's game. If they can continue to feed off a fan base starved for success, the Rangers should be able to erase a 2-0 series deficit by the end of tonight.

And speaking of starving for success, I'm off to Arlington for today's Dallas Cowboys game...

Walk 'Em, Texas Ranger (SF leads TEX, 2-0)

2010-10-28T17:09:00.001-07:00

Holy heck, that was terrible.

My initial reaction to that game is going to be one big blur plus the most embarrassing meltdown in DFW sports playoffs since the Mavs were up by 13 points with 6:28 left in Game 3 of the 2006 NBA Finals. This was worse than the Cowboys going down 21-0 in the first quarter to the San Francisco 49ers in the 1994 NFC Championship Game. The Texas Rangers bullpen looked like they were trying to raise money for cancer or AIDS or some other cause because they sponsored a walk-a-thon in the eighth inning, coercing a 7-run frame from the San Francisco Giants en route to a 9-0 loss in Game 2 of the World Series.

Texas is now down 0-2 in the best-of-seven series, and while this is not over by any means, we are coming to find out that Rangers starting pitching must be counted on to go eight innings and hand the ball directly to Neftali Felix. Don't even let another reliever breathe on the ball at this point.

[Bullpen] It was a strong effort by Darren O'Day in the bottom of the 8th inning to keep things close for Texas. Despite a lengthy at-bat by Andres Torres to lead off the inning, O'Day got him fishing for a slider outside for the first out. Three pitches later, he retired Freddy Sanchez before Buster Posey singled up the middle. Ron Washington went back to the bullpen for Derek Holland to face Pat Burrell. One day after O'Day looked rather ordinary in Game 1, it was nice to see him bounce back in Game 2.

On the flip side of that coin, Holland threw 11 straight pitches outside the strike zone and walked three consecutive batters to push a third run across for the Giants. It seemed the ghost of Rick Ankiel usurped the body of Derek Holland and went to work. Wash replaced a nervousfaced Holland with Mark Lowe, but Ankeil's spirit remained on the mound. Lowe walked Juan Uribe to make it 4-0 Giants, and Edgar Renteria worked the count full for before smashing the Giants into the win column in Game 2 with a two-run single through the left side of the infield. The Rangers could have scored two runs in the top of the ninth. Maybe the 3 or 4 they would have needed. But with Renteria's single making it 6-0, that pretty much iced this one.

And as if their was any doubt Michael Kirkman surrendered a two-run triple to Aaron Rowand as the Giants took an 8-0 lead in the bottom of the 8th. Andres Torres, who led off the inning seemingly a half hour earlier, singled to make it 9-0 before Sanchez struck out to end the embarrassment. FOX's Tim McCarver said it perfectly: "The Giants are winning with pitching again, but not theirs."

The Rangers bats went silent for the second straight night, and while it's not crazy to think they could have put two runs across in the top of the ninth inning with Cruz/Kinsler/Murphy due up (plus Vlad Guerrero available as a pinch hitter), they had no purpose in even stepping in the batters box in the ninth with the game already out of hand.

Even in the World Series, an 0-2 deficit is not insurmountable. Not all is lost. It only seems that way right now.

Had the Rangers not just taken all of us on emotional rollercoaster series against Tampa Bay and New York, perhaps I wouldn't be handling this as well as I am right now. It's not panic time yet, but it's getting close. With each playoff series, the losses hit extremely hard and the wins float the fans onto cloud nine.

But in a city where the prized Dallas Cowboys are 1-5, the Rangers bullpen appeared to be working their hardest to leapfrog them for the honor of Most Embarrassing Sports Entity in DFW.

Second-guessing baseball is such a crapshoot because you can have the exact right strategy that for whatever reason is executed near-perfectly and still lose in this game. But what I cannot understand is why Ron Washington felt compelled to lift Darren O'Day from the game with two outs and a runner on first with backup outfielder Nate Schierholtz due up. O'Day is a righty, Schierholtz is a lefty, so bringing in Derek Holland does ostensibly provide the benefit of a lefty-lefty match up, but if a guy is pitching well, then frankly it just doesn't matter what side of the plate the batter is on.

Some other thoughts on Game 2 of the World Series:

+ Correct me if I'm wrong here, but is Giants pitcher Matt Cain the grown up version of the kid from the movie Bad Santa? It's entirely possible.

+ Ian Kinsler and Mitch Moreland combine with a nice stab 'n snag in the Bot 1. Kinsler fielded well in Game 1, especially when he had to range into shallow right field to get to a blooping fly ball and then flung it back to Elvis Andrus at second base to double off a runner. At times, he can make the Rangers fans cringe like on his error on a ball he should have let Nellie Cruz take against the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALCS, but when his defense is on, it's a huge boost to the Rangers right side of the infield.

+ Everyone always says football is a game of inches, but Kinsler's double in the fifth inning off Matt Cain hit the top corner of the centerfield wall. Literally one inch higher or farther, and Texas would have held a 1-0 lead. David Murphy followed with a line out for the first out, and Matt Treanor grounded out to short for the second out. With first base open, Cain intentionally walked Mitch Moreland to get to pitcher CJ Wilson who grounded out to end the frame with the game still locked in a scoreless tie. That's not a "missed opportunity" as much as it is really unfortunate luck. Sure enough in the bottom of the fifth, Edgar Renteria took Wilson deep for a solo shot and a Giants 1-0 lead.

+ CJ Wilson was as good as Texas could have asked for, especially considering the uncharacteristically short outing from Cliff Lee in Game 1 on Wednesday. He tossed six strong innings, allowing two runs off three hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks before a blister prompted his removal from the game. He pitched well enough to win, but the Texas bats went silent.

+ Edgar Renteria say frack you! His solo homer in the fifth turned out to be all they needed, and he finished with 3 RBI, going 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored as well.

+ The Rangers had their best chance to strike back in the sixth inning. Trailing 1-0 with one out, Michael Young and Josh Hamilton hit consecutive singles, and a Matt Cain wild pitch advanced them to second and third base with Nelson Cruz at the plate. Cruz popped out and Kinsler flew out to right to end the inning and the last realistic Rangers threat.

Game 3 is on Saturday at the comfy confines of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, and while the all-time stats say they are 2-7 at home in the playoffs, the have won their last two home games in post-season play. Texas will need Colby Lewis to pitch like the faux-ace who dominated the Yankees for a pair of wins in the ALCS, including the clinching Game 6. A loss in Game 3 and the series is essentially kaput. Lewis has proven he has what it takes to get the job done from the mound, but the bigger concern is the Rangers offense.

Vlad Guerrero will return to his role as the designated hitter, and the Rangers line up will return to it's normal form of Andrus-Young-Hamilton-Guerrero-Cruz-Kinsler-Murphy/Francour-Molina-Moreland. That should help in putting runs (or in Game 2's case, run) on the board in the middle games of the series. Once the claw-happy offense can get back in rhythm, the rest should fall into place for the American League champions.

Come Saturday night, Texas will have to display the heart of a champion. It wouldn't kill them to have the offense and bullpen of at least a contender either.

Frantic-Lee? Take is easy (SF leads TEX, 1-0)

2010-10-28T10:05:00.000-07:00

Apparently it's Armageddon for Rangers baseball. At least, that's the general sense I get from national sports pundits and any halfwit who started watching baseball in October.

The San Francisco Giants handed Texas Rangers ace Cliff Lee his first career playoff loss, chasing him from the game in the fifth inning in their 11-7 Game 1 win. Lee, who had a two-run lead after two innings, had been lights out throughout the ALDS and ALCS but more than stubbed his toe in the World Series opener on Wednesday.

What amazes me though is how not only did everyone seem to pencil in two wins for the Rangers in this series based on Lee's otherworldly presence alone, but now that he has demonstrated abilities of yet another mortal or muggle, many seem ready to cast off the Rangers chances to bring home baseball's championship.

The Giants are now up 1-0 in the Series, but by no means is this thing over. And even though it was a loss to what others were ready to declare the godly Lee, Texas has been here before. In fact, you could make the case that the Game 1 loss in the ALCS to the New York Yankees was a much worse loss, a much more damaging body blow. In that game, the Rangers led 5-0 before surrendering six unanswered runs to NYY and falling to 0-7 at home all time in the postseason. In the World Series opener, they succumbed to one bad inning that broke things open for the Giants.

Unless the Rangers get swept, Cliff Lee will be making another start in this series. That means he might only *gasp* win one game for Texas in this Series ... just as he did in the ALCS for the Rangers. Yes, Texas desperately needed him to be everything he was and is to get past Tampa Bay. But this organization didn't not need to lean heavily on Lee to get past New York. They received one win from him. And if the Rangers can get just that one win from Lee in the World Series, then their odds to bring a championship to the Metroplex are strong.

Don't write off the Rangers because you think Lee turned back into a pumpkin.

He didn't. And they aren't done. It's a long best-of-seven series, and the Rangers will see the Series shift back to Texas after tonight's contest. If the offense can jump out to a healthy lead against Matt Cain, Texas is right back in the thick of things.

A few other thoughts on the first game in Texas Rangers World Series history:

+ The Rangers were one bad inning away from leading the Series, 1-0. But that was the case against New York in Game 1 of the ALCS. What's more disturbing are the careless errors that Texas made throughout the night aside of bad pitches that the Giants took advantage of. People are beating up Vlad Guerrero for a comedy of errors in right field, but the goofy play that signified the Rangers looking out of their element in Game 1 was Ian Kinsler's base-running.

In the Top of the 8th, Kinsler bounced a ball over the pitchers mound and outraced an off-the-mark throw to first for a sure infield single. The throw pulled the Giants' firstbaseman off the bag, and Kinsler rounded the bag thinking he could advance to second base. To his surprise, however, Aubrey Huff sprung up and tagged out Kinsler. Instead of trailing by four runs with a runner now on first base and an opportunity for a late-inning rally, Texas never threatened the rest of the inning, and SF went on to put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the frame.

+ Guerrero's errors in right field were ugly, no doubt about that. Once he was able to wrangle the ball into his glove, he could throw it into the infield just fine, but Vlad certainly looked sluggish in the right lawn. It might have been ugly, and perhaps Ron Washington keeps him on the bench as a pinch hitter for Game 2 instead of starting his DH in the field for the second straight night, but Vlad did what you needed him to do at the plate: drove in a pair of runs going 1-for-4. They need to keep his bat in the lineup.

+ As dumb as some of Texas' fielding and baserunning errors were, I have never in four years of working as a minor league baseball broadcaster seen any player, pitcher or otherwise, look as dumbfounded and little league as Tim Lincecum on Nelson Cruz's first inning grounder back to the mound. Lincecum cut off the ball and looked toward Michael Young who was coming home from third. Young, accepting defeat started to head back to the 3rd base bag, waiting for the Giants pitcher to throw the ball to the base and oust the runner. Lincecum never threw, Young scampered back to the base safely, and Texas sat with the bases loaded and one out in the first inning. The proud pothead pitcher induced a 5u3 double play ball from Kinsler one batter later to keep the early Texas lead at 1-0 and avoid what could have been a big early inning from the Rangers.

+ For the first time in the post season, the Rangers didn't go deep. No home runs in Game 1. Say what you want about how this team has come around and don't live-and-die by the long ball as they did during their late-90s playoff appearances, but it sure doesn't hurt to break out the boomsticks, especially now that we know the Giants aren't the offensively impotent team that we'd heard about coming into this Series.

+ Elvis Andrus continues to be a strong table-setter, leading off the game with a single, and came around to score on Vlad's infield single. He was a force throughout the ALCS, and if the Rangers are going to drive strong to the hoop in the World Series, then the first player named Elvis to play in a World Series (worst tidbit of info that any network has used to lead off a broadcast) will need to keep it up.