Shh…Dallas fans, just watch and pray

That’s right, I imagine Dallas’s sports gods are the Von Erichs

I think that somehow, somewhere, the Sports Gods have decided to temporarily hold their hands over Dallas.  I’m not sure if they’ve heard our bitches and moans and prayers.  It might be forgiveness for time served after Laura Miller doomed us all with the “parade incident” in 2006.  Either way, something is changing on the Dallas sports scene.

You might remember that since 2006, Dallas sports teams have broken hearts across the city.  It was a bit staggered, Rangers winning 80 games then returning to suck.  Mavs winning 63 games then flaming out against Golden State. Cowboys winning 13 games and returning to suck.  Stars making an improbable run to the conference finals only to be ravaged by injuries and losing this year.

However, I went to the Mavs game last night and noticed something I haven’t noticed in a very long time.  First, the Mavs were playing some of the best basketball they’ve played since 2006.  Second, not a single fan in the house was “bandwagoning” (or so it appeared) .

Then, I get into the car to go home and flick on the Ranger postgame, and it dawns on me that the Rangers have started the season 2-0 and it has been a very convincing 2-0.  I know, there’s 160 more games to play, but if you’ve ever been a Rangers fan, a 2-0 start with the way they’ve played these 2 games and the possibility to rock Pavano and then sweep a weak Detroit team and possible open 6-0?  That’s nuts.

Compound that with all the stress reduction, fat cutting and new house moving that the Cowboys are doing and the fact that a disappointed Stars team is going to be healthy and hungry next sesaon, and you can almost feel a change brewing in the city again.

I’m not saying we’re going to be sweeping all the major titles in a single year.  I’m not even saying we’re going to in a single title.  What I’m saying is, perhaps the fans and teams have reached a sense of happy equilibrium…it’s something to think about.

And Tom Hicks takes the lead.

Am I Really About to Say This?

I can't believe I'm about to say this, it hurts every bone in my body, every being of my soul wants to smack me in the face and say "what you talkin' about white boy," (i know its strange that I feel my soul is an old black guy), but I have come to the conclusion that..........

Tom Hicks is the best owner in Dallas right now.

I can barley type that with out my hands shaking worse than Michael J. Fox popping some no doze while coming off a two week crack binge.

Still, I think it's true. Let me try and explain it.

For the longest time, people have thought half of the ownership group of our fare mextroplex's sports teams, The Cowboys and Mavericks, have "do anything to win" owners who will......well, do anything to win.

While the Rangers and Stars have an old "money first" blue blooded shill as an owner. And Its been long thought of that this is the way it will always be. I can't count the times that I myself have said, "If only Tom Hicks(owner of the Rangers and Stars) would open his pocketbook and bring in players, this team could be something." It would take more than my and and feet to count, I will say.

But over the past two years, something has changed. Something has gone terribly wrong.

When you think of Jerry Jones, you think of the meddling owner with a desire to do anything in his power to win superbowls, yet this team hasn't won a playoff game in over a 10 years.

When you think of Mark Cuban, you think of a in your face owner who sits court side, loves his team, and will do anything he can to make the Mav's the best team in the NBA, yet they have gone in a span of 3 years from choking away(with a little help from the refs) a world title to losing in the first round of the playoffs the last two years, to now being not even guaranteed a playoff spot come may.

So what's the problem here? If these two coaches want so badly to win, and will do anything to win, why arn't they winning?

In the case of Jerry Jones, in his heart of hearts, it isn't about just winning, its about proving to everybody that he can win without anybody else getting the credit. If you were to ask Jerry Jones what he wants more, to be the GM of the Cowboys or win a Superbowl, he has proven though his actions its the former. If you look at his record, trades, drafts and over all running of the team over the past 15 years(since Jimmy left), the cowboys themselves haven't been any better than a team like the lowly Lions. They have been more often at the bottom of the standings than at the top, and have 2 good runs (bills first year, and last year), but have still failed to win a playoff game.

The only constant here is Jerry. If a restaurant has bad cook, It doesn't matter how good the ingredients are, or where the restaurant is, or how hot the staff is, if your cook is bad, the restaurant will fail. So Jerry can bring in more TO's, more Packman's and more first round draft picks, but until he realises the cook is why the food sucks, the Cowboys might be doomed for more years like this, than like last.

With Mark Cuban, the same problems are there, but for different reasons. Where Jerry it is pride and desire to prove that he can do it all by himself, Cuban's problem steams from how close he is to the team he owns. Its no secret that Cuban loves his team, and by loving the team he has developed personal relationships with his players, and thus, will over pay and over value them.

His latest statement, and I'm pretty sure I'm not messing this one up, is "I'm not trading Josh." Its not "I'm not trading Howard" or even "Josh Howard," but simply Josh. Josh has been here almost as long as Cuban, and was a big part of the Mav's return to glory, so its easy to see why Cuban would have an emotional attachment to him, but that isn't always the best thing when it come to running a team. Its that whole bit of you don't want to have your friends work underneath you, because it makes it hard to fire your friends, even when they deserve it, or in this case, is better for the company.

And This brings us to the other owner of sports teams in the Metroplex, the oft hatted Tome Hicks, the guy would if a poll was taken today, would be the least liked owner of a sports team in Dallas by a large margin.

But why?

Tom Hicks has made no secret that owning a sports team hardly anything more than a money making venture to him. He's not a big fan of the sports, or at least he doesn't seem to be. He won't knee jerk and make a big splash like signing TO, or get in front of a camera and bash the referees of last nights game.

What he will do is find a person who know the sport of the team he owns, put them in charge of player/personal, and let this person, or in the stars case persons, make the decisions that they feel are right and best for his teams. Now granted, he does this with a very strict budget in mind, and the end results that he wants isn't trophy's, but large bank accounts. Still, he finds smart baseball people like John Daniels and Nolan Ryan, and then steps away to let them work. If the team doesn't make any money, he gets rid of them and trys something else.

He has allowed John Daniels to make moves with the roster of the Rangers. At first they didn't look so good, (Young, Gonzalez) but now he has built one of the best farm system's in all of baseball.

He has allowed Brett Hull of the Stars come to him and say "we need to get nastier on the ice, so let go get Sean Avery," and they did. AND THEN when it became obvious that Avery wasn't the answer, but a GIGANTIC locker room cancer, Hull told Hicks they had to cut him, and Hicks said yes.

Now, if any of these moves lead to the Ranger or Stars not making any money, believe it that Hicks will find replacements for everybody.

So Which owner is the truly the best?

The "I'll do anything to win as long as its my way, and I'm in charge" Jerry Jones.

The "I put so much into this team, i can't let go of the friends that I have made on it" Mark Cuban.

Or the "I'm going to find smart people, put them in charge, yet give them a tight budget to work with" Tom Hicks.

I'm giving (gulp!) the nod to Hicks.

Now I need to go take a shower to wash off all this shame.

The Ticket might have met its match

They're in big trouble...

I was driving home yesterday and reached the same level of confusion you all did when I realized that Live 105 was no longer around because it had become 105.3 The Fan.

Best picture I could find..

That's right, DFW has a brand spanking new sports radio station, and this one threatens to legitimately challenge The Ticket for supremacy.

Let's look at the lineup

Mornings
The Jagger Show versus Dunham and Miller

Nah, I'm still going to listen to Dunham and Miller.

Mid Days
Kevin Scott and Greg Hill versus Norm Hitzges and BaD Radio

Well then, have Bob and Dan got some legit competition? I've always been a big K-Scott fan, and I heard him and Greg Hill on the radio yesterday, and they've already got a semi-funny rapport. By the way, seeing as Greg Hill referred to himself as "the Michael Jordan of Texas A&M" and K-Scott referred to himself as "the Jesus of Texas Tech", well sign me up. Bob and Dan had better bring the fire.

Afternoon Drive
Ben & Skin versus the Hardline

That's right. The Fan has taken the station's anchor team and is putting them against the Hardline. Quite frankly, the Hardline is going to lose a lot of listeners, me included. Ben and Skin are one of, if not my favorite, radio teams right now, and pitting them against the consistently "meh" Rhyner, Davidson and Balis team is going to drive a lot of station switches.

Nights
Pete Stein and Mike Rodriguez versus The Top 10 and Dan Patrick

I don't really care because I'm not listening. If I am, I'm more likely to go with Gamenight with Choppy and Greggo.

Contracts
The Cowboys and SMU are with The Ticket. Westwood One and The Longhorns are with The Fan. I should also mention that The Fan is owned by CBS Radio and has more than 10 times the broadcast capability (100K Watts versus 9K Watts) than the Ticket. The Cowboys might opt out of the Ticket contract this year and hop to the Fan which would be a HUGE coup in listenership.

I've said it before, the Ticket has gotten too comfortable in DFW and they've gotten a bit full of themselves and they haven't made the effort to really change and keep the broadcast fresh for the fans. I think with Ticket favorites like Ben and Skin and K-Scott leaving with spotlight positions, you've got familiar voices and a new offering that can be listened for a longer amount of time.


On a side note, I hope this forces ESPN to just quit the local shit and go with the national programming. I'm starting a personal vendetta against Randy Galloway. I hate that son of a bitch.

Another interesting observation. If you read Richie Whitt's blog at the Observer, he gives the coverage an objective, almost positive view. If you read Robert Wilonsky's blog at the Observer, he deadpans it as though it is just another flash in the pan version of the Ticket. Wilonsky is buddies with the Hardline guys. Whitt became persona non grata for providing coverage of the Greggo story when no one at the Ticket wanted him to...good times.

If the Starbury thing happens, then the theory is true

I bet her breath smells terrible

I posed a theory to Big and Bear while walking down the street the other day. Sure, that might seem gay if you think about the fact that no one walks down a street in the state of Texas, let alone a fat guy, a bear and the guy from "Temple of Doom" who keep saying "Kaaliiimaaa!", but that's not really relevant here. (And have I got a sitcom idea for ABC!)

I posed the theory that Dallas fans are given a choice. Either the Cowboys are good and all the other teams suck, or the Cowboys suck and some of the other teams do well. While the Cowboys have had their downswing over the past decade, we've seen the following happen:

-The Stars become a relevant team and won the Stanley Cup in 1999.
-The Mavericks become a relevant team and a perennial 50-win, playoff bound, championship contending team.
-The Rangers have an 80 win season and we see players like Teixeira, Young, and Hamilton play.
-The Dallas Burn leave the Cotton Bowl for their own stadium in Frisco and re-christen themselves FC Dallas.
-North Texas wins the Sun Belt conference a few times and makes bowl appearances.
-South Lake High School becomes the darling of a nation's high school football programs

Now, the Cowboys see a turn around and begin to swing back towards greatness, and what happens?

-The Stars are the second to worst team in their division and can't seem to right the ship.
-The Mavericks look old and overpaid and, oh dear god no, are looking to make a TERRIBLE TERRIBLE decision.
-The Rangers are about to overpay free agents and trade away young talent in an effort to be the next Tampa Bay Rays.
-FC Dallas trades away their best forward for Kenny Cooper and haven't smelled a solid victory against the in-state rivals, Houston Dynamo, in awhile. (I have no idea if that's true, but you'd believe me anyway)
-Todd Dodge, in one move, screws two programs, South Lake and North Texas

So which do you prefer?

America's Team going through epic fail with the relative success and championship contention of the rest of the teams in the area?

OR

The Cowboys making runs at the title and the rest of the city's sports teams stuck a shit storm.

Sure, we've got a new president, but what about my teams!

I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing or saying right now. I've been in a haze since Saturday night when Michael Crabtree went Tyrone Prothro before he mangled his leg, Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson all wrapped into one college receiver.

The Mavericks have started the season with a full blown "meh" feeling.

The Cowboys...well, this sums it up

The Stars, well, at a distance I think they've also got this "meh" thing going but I think I remember hearing something to the effect of them having the highest goals against average in the league.

The Rangers just signed Mike Maddux, brother of Greg, to be the new pitching coach. Maddux is, for all intents and purposes, "the best pitching coach in the league", so the Rangers wallet whipped him to come here. Welcome to hell, Mike. Maybe you and Orel will be doing some broadcast work together when you inveitable lose faith in baseball and quit for good.

I'm not trying to be bleak here, but I'm starting to worry about the overall health of my fandom.

I need something, anything to bring me out of my sports lurch...

Ramblings from a Bear

Well, arn't we full of guest posts this week? If you have read the site for awhile, you know we have a buddy/reader, who goes by the name of manBEARpig. Bear is buddy of ours who not only likes piknik baskets, and honey, but sports pretty much in general. He sent us a post about his thought about the dallas sports scene. Enjoy.

Something I realized last night as I was heading home from the bar where I caught the last of the Mav’s game, and the start of the Stars/Ducks game. We Dallas fans are either very shallow, or have very short-term memories! Watching Dirk drain a .9 second three to clinch the Mav’s playoff birth, the bar was clearly elated, and my spirits were lifted. Visions of grandeur and hopes that they will get back to finals started to swoon through my head, but just a week ago, everyone was saying that the Mav’s wont even make the playoffs! Or if they do, they won’t make it past the first round!

It was all doom and gloom in Dallas land, not a single sports broadcaster was giving the lowly Mav’s any credit, with speculations of Avery firings and Lottery picks was all anyone spoke of. But a couple of wins later, and they are all switching gears to “Finals here we come!” We do it with all of our teams… The Cowboys, The Stars, The Rangers, The Mav’s, Desperados, FC Dallas (if you follow that) and I’m sure we did it with the Sidekicks when they were here! So why is it that we can’t just enjoy watching our teams play, win or lose? Why is it that when they lose, they’re the worst team in their sport, and when they win they are slated to go all the way (exclude the Rangers from that)? Are we so snobbish from the 90’s Cowboys that any time we have a winning record they’re supposed to go to the Superbowl? Were we so spoiled by the Hitch Stars that every year we’re supposed to be going to the Stanley Cup? Did we get so bought into Avery’s first year that we expect the Mav’s to be in the Finals every year? Imagine if you were a Sonics fan!

at this point, while Bear was writting this post, Brown threw a salmon at him and then hid some honey in a tree. Needless to say we laughed as the Bear tried to get at the honey and killed two people in the process

I think all those have a part to do with it. But that’s called being a sports fan. Period. You always want to see your team do good, and win the biggest game in their sport. Yet, being a Dallas sports fan, especially recently we’ve been a bit jaded by our teams lately! Yes, there’s the undeniable fact that our teams haven’t proven much lately in playoffs (if they make it to the playoffs… Rangers). We’ve had one and dones with the Mav’s, Stars, Cowboys and a even with the Desperados. The Dallas fan has developed a “We can’t finish” mindset and the only cure seems to be winning. The second we get a great win from any team, we are back on cloud nine and proclaiming Dallas sports victory! But why can’t we just enjoy watching our teams play?

Before I make this claim… I have had my times when I’ve cursed the sports gods for my teams performance on the field/court/ice. But I am a sports fan, and I enjoy the sport for the sport. I have cheered for other teams because I respect the history with those teams (unless they were playing my team, and they were the mortal enemy)! I can enjoy a game between two storied franchises and watch the game for the game. Yet, if it’s my team… they better win or die! Is that fair? Probably not, but you know what? That’s the life of a Dallas sports fan! So GO MAVS, GO STARS… give us all the cure we need!

Feel free to let him know what you think in the comments.

Local announce teams...not bad at all

I'd like to think that every city's fandom thinks they have the best announcers for their sports in all the world. If you're an LA, Chicago or New York, that may be true in that your guys are that famous. However, I'd like to think the four sets of announce teams that Dallas has are very very good. No one is truly annoying, and each set seems good humored enough make fun of each other when they screw up.

Football - Dallas Cowboys - Brad Sham and Babe Laufenberg

Brad Sham is all over the place these days. I heard him calling an NCAA tournament game with John Thompson. However, could you really imagine the modern day Cowboys being called by anyone else? Doesn't matter if he is with Babe, Charlie Waters, Grady Tinker, Bob Sturm, Larry Brown. Brad Sham is a guy who you just like to listen to when he's calling the game.

Baseball - Texas Rangers - Josh Llewyn and Tom Grieve

I might be one of the few, but damn it, I like this duo. Sure, show me the Eric Nadal's every now and then. Sure, Knox in the Fox Box is always a good time. However, I challenge you to find me a better time then on a Saturday in May, windows open and the fan on, laying on the couch with a beer and the Rangers game. Now do you really want Buck and McCarver with that call? No, you want Josh and TAG.

Basketball - Dallas Mavericks - Mark Folliwill and Brad Davis

Ahh yes, "Laser Cannon Mouth" himself and the man who stole the job from Bob Ortegal. Again, I like these guys. Would I prefer the national team? Yes. Do I enjoy the channel 21 broadcast? Yes. Plus, when they're on the radio, they have no problem making fun of each other. You gotta love that.

Hockey - Dallas Stars - Ralph Strangis and Darryl Reaugh

If you haven't heard Ralph and Razor call a Stars game, you're missing out. These guys make hockey fun and if you dont think that Razor is down for a bit, then you are kidding yourself.