November 1

Billy Guerin looks back at his time in our city …and does not mention the BaD Radio curse…

The next season, the Stars struggled and came in as the No. 5 seed in the West. Still, Guerin led the team with 34 goals among 69 points. Then came the NHL lockout in 2004, and Guerin, one of the vice presidents for the players association, became immersed in the business of hockey. Guerin said the decisions he had to make stuck with him for months.

"It was just a bad overall situation, and we were all stuck in the middle of it," he said. "The negotiating committee – we were presented with a lot of options, and some of those options would hurt some players financially and help others. And we had to make decisions on those. I mean, you had some really good friends and you were making decisions that could affect their careers and their families."

But he said those are reasons, not excuses.

"I didn't do my job. That's the bottom line," he said.

Guerin finished last season with 13 goals among 40 points, and the Stars had to decide if they wanted to pay him $6.7 million or buy him out and use the saved cap space on other players. They bought him out.

"It was hard to take at the time. But I know it was a business decision, and I think they made some good choices," said Guerin, who will turn 36 next week. "I mean, they brought in some good players, and they couldn't have done that if they'd have kept me."

Guerin signed a one-year deal with the Blues for $2 million and has four goals and four assists in 10 games. He's happy being reunited with teammate Doug Weight and said he's having fun.

But when asked if he wonders where his career will go from here, whether the Blues will be a playoff contender or whether he will have to find a new home next summer, he didn't take long to try to put a stop to the madness.

"There was a time when I might have thought about all of that stuff, but it just becomes too much," he said. "For me, the best thing to do is just try not to think too much. If I can just concentrate on the hockey, then I seem to do OK."

Weekly Buccigross mentions longest Stanley Cup Droughts …

1961 (44 seasons) -- Chicago Blackhawks
1967 (38 seasons) -- Toronto Maple Leafs
*1967 (38 seasons) -- Los Angeles Kings
*1967 (38 seasons) -- St. Louis Blues
*1970 (35 seasons) -- Buffalo Sabres
*1970 (35 seasons) -- Vancouver Canucks
1972 (33 seasons) -- Boston Bruins
*1974 (31 seasons) -- Washington Capitals
1975 (30 seasons) -- Philadelphia Flyers
(* -- have never won the Stanley Cup)

Finley still mad about last spring …

"He's in that Joe Dumars mold," Popovich said. "He comes to work, he does his job, and he cares about everybody."

He's also a fierce competitor. Finley claims losing to Dallas in last season's playoffs didn't bother him as much as simply losing. But this much is certain: He hasn't forgotten all that transpired during the series.

After Mavericks guard Jason Terry was suspended for jabbing Finley in the groin near the end of Game 5, Cuban complained Finley had faked the severity of the blow. "Maybe the crybaby from Tim Duncan wore off" on Finley, Cuban said in a radio interview at the time.

Finley said he has no problems with Terry, who apologized to him after Game 7. "He told me it wasn't personal," Finley said. "I know he's not that kind of guy."

As for Cuban, Finley will continue to receive checks from him for the $52 million he was owed when waived by Dallas. But he hasn't spoken to the Mavericks owner.

"I have no reason to talk to him," Finley said. "He's his own man, and I guess he made comments he's going to stand on. That's on him."

With the NBA season back, how about a refresher course on the wisdom of Bill Walton …

“Tracy McGrady is doing things we’ve never seen from anybody – from any planet!”
"Steve Nash is the most unathletic player in the league."

Whenever the refs aren't up to Bill's standards: “Why even have a rulebook?”
On Kobe's offseason weight training: "The added muscle and bulk from pushing that steel and the natural maturation process now enables this grandmaster to regularly accomplish the unimaginable without dragging around excessive bulk and baggage.

Most top players get to the point where they truly believe that anything is possible. Most are also governed by gravity, the laws of physics and self-regulating mental control mechanisms. Kobe has left all these behind. The extra strength and stamina have made him a superior 3-point shooter, a most dominant defender and arguably the game's top rebounder."

On Rasheed Wallace: "He's like a four-armed Dikembe Mutombo around the basket!"
"Throw it down, big man! Throw it DOWN!"

Now, Martellus Bennett and Mike Goodson show their 5 star status …

Tight end Martellus Bennett and running back Mike Goodson are the two highest-rated recruits of Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione — and on the same night, each showed why.

On Saturday at Baylor, Bennett roared 75 yards for a touchdown after catching a short slant pass across the middle, shaking a defender and outrunning the Bears secondary.

"I saw the defense was man-to-man with the safeties," Bennett said. "I knew all I had to do was break one tackle, and I would be off to the races. I was gazellin' it."

Late in the game, a 31-21 A&M victory, Goodson took a handoff and ran to the right before cutting back to the left and also outrunning the Baylor defensive backs. Franchione had said that Goodson owns an "extra gear" he kicks in during practice. Finally, it was on public display.

"You saw the jets that he has," Franchione said.

No. 21 A&M (8-1, 4-1 Big 12) hosts No. 18 Oklahoma (6-2, 3-1) at 7 p.m. on Saturday, and the Sooners will see two touted youngsters on the A&M offense who are hitting their stride. While Franchione claims Bennett and Goodson as two of his prized recruits, the sophomore Bennett claims the freshman Goodson as his top enlistee to Aggieland.

"I recruited Mike Goodson here," Bennett said. "I gave him No. 3. At first, I tried to charge him for it."

Weekly Easterbrook …

From Romo to Zero to Hero: Tony Romo sure looked good for Dallas. Just as good blocking instantly causes quarterbacks to become more talented, a mobile quarterback instantly causes offensive linemen to become better blockers. Strange playcalling by both teams' coaches hung over this game, however. Drew Bledsoe's interception disaster against the Giants came when Dallas coaches called a short square-out at the goal line, one of football's riskiest calls -- and did so mere weeks after Bledsoe had an interception disaster against the Eagles when Dallas coaches called a short square-out at the goal line. What did Dallas coaches call Sunday night at the goal line against the Panthers? Two short square-outs, one for a touchdown, one for an incompletion that forced a field goal. Dallas coaches: If you keep calling the short square-out at the goal line, you will pay the price again.

As for Carolina, here is the Cats' next possession after Dallas recovered the fumble and jumped to a 21-14 lead: incompletion, incompletion, incompletion, punt. There was 9:43 remaining when Carolina got the ball, why go into pass-wacky panic? Entering the fourth quarter with a 14-10 lead at home, Carolina proceeded to run the ball zero times: every play was a pass, resulting in an interception and a lost fumble on a sack. Bad enough that Carolina receivers dropped the ball multiple times. If you've got the lead and are at home and every fourth quarter snap is a heave-ho, you deserve defeat.

NY Times looks at the life and times of David Carr …

Now into his fifth year as the team’s starting quarterback, Carr’s tenure has been troubled. He has been sacked 228 times, and his miscues have led to frequent booing by Texans fans, even those who wear his No. 8 jersey to home games.

Houston (2-5) has tried to build its offense around Carr, surrounding him with wide receivers Eric Moulds and Andre Johnson, the league’s leader in receptions and receiving yards, and running back Domanick Davis, who has not played this season because of injury. But the Texans’ game Sunday against the Giants (5-2) at Giants Stadium could be something of a crossroads for both the team and for Carr, a starter in 66 of the franchise’s 71 regular-season games.

During Houston’s 28-22 loss on the road to the Tennessee Titans last Sunday, Carr was benched early in the third quarter after his third turnover. His replacement, Sage Rosenfels, rallied the team by throwing for 186 yards and tying a team record with three touchdown passes.

The loss was particularly bitter for Texans fans, many of whom were displeased when the team, in April’s draft, passed over tailback Reggie Bush and quarterback Vince Young, a native Houstonian who led Texas to last season’s national championship.
The Texans selected defensive end Mario Williams with the No. 1 pick, and paid Carr an $8 million bonus to keep him through 2008. His opposing starting quarterback last Sunday was Young, who ran for a touchdown and threw for another.

“It means something to me, my family and all the fans back home in Houston,” Young said after the game.

Charlie Casserly, the Texans’ general manager who selected both Williams and Carr, remained adamant that the team made the right decisions. Before the loss to Tennessee, Casserly said Carr had been playing well this season. In a telephone interview, Casserly, now a studio analyst for CBS, said: “There’s no regrets at all. Zero at all. Absolutely not.”

Rosenfels’s impressive performance against the Titans continued the strong play he has displayed all season. Still, Gary Kubiak, the Texans’ first-year coach, announced that Carr would be the starter against the Giants.

“I’m going back to David because I know he’s the best thing for our football team,” Kubiak said Monday at a news conference. Indicating that the franchise was still committed to Carr, Kubiak added that Carr’s “growth process and his leadership and the type of player he becomes is what’s important to the Houston Texans and this franchise. I’m going to do everything I can to make him the best possible football player he can be."

Statistically, Carr, a 6-foot-3, 216-pound Fresno State product, is having his best season as a professional. He is completing an N.F.L.-best 70.5 percent of his attempts and has a quarterback rating of 94.3, which ranks sixth in the league.

Spin-off of the Shield? …

CABLE channel FX is reportedly working on a spin-off of "The Shield" starring relief Det. "Dutch" Wagenbach.

The seventh season, set to end in 2008, will be the show's last.

And yesterday, it was reported that actor Jay Karnes, who plays the cut-up cop of the otherwise hard-bitten drama, is under consideration for a series of his own.

Bag of Nothing.com talks about TonyRomo.com …

Every now and then I like to type in interesting URL’s just to see if something is there. Today it was www.TonyRomo.com.

Care to guess what’s there?

Some dude owns the domain and is trying to sell it for $25,000.

Pictures of Mike Schank’s wedding …


And now, some email:

Bob,

Knowing your penchant for ol' Colt McCoy - I had to pass along how his stats and record compare to a prominent Heisman candidate - gotta love stats!

In each of the categories below, compare Quarterback A's passing stats with those of Quarterback B's and try to determine if you know which one is Colt McCoy.

Pass Completions
QB A: 147
QB B: 145

Pass Attempts
QB A: 217
QB B: 214

Pass Yards
QB A: 1705
QB B: 1898

Completion %
QB A: 67.7%
QB B: 67.8%

Longest Completion
QB A: 62
QB B: 58

Passing Touchdowns
QB A: 24
QB B: 22

Interceptions Thrown
QB A: 4
QB B: 2

Most TDs thrown in single game
QB A: 6
QB B: 4

Times Sacked
QB A: 10
QB B: 8

In the above stats Colt McCoy is "Quarterback A" and, by the way, "Quarterback B" is the hands down Heisman favorite Troy Smith. Was it fair to just compare their passing stats? Of course not. The senior Buckeye has that extra dimension that separates himself from other top quarterbacks,
including the freshman Lonhghorn. So, for full disclosure, below are rushing stats.

Rush Attempts
QB A: 55
QB B: 42

Rush Yards
QB A: 174
QB B: 169

Most rush yards in single game
QB A: 68
QB B: 54

Longest Rush
QB A: 33
QB B: 34

Rush Touchdowns
QB A: 1
QB B: 1

Once again, McCoy was "Quarterback A" and Smith was "Quarterback B."

I hope this helps explain why Smith will win the Heisman and McCoy will be fortunate to gain any conference honors that aren't preceded by the term "Freshman."

Either that or Colt McCoy needs to insist on being refered to as Heisman Candidate Colt McCoy rather than Redshirt Freshman Colt McCoy.

----

Good morning gents,

Try this on for size....

You spent last week looking for other big time #9s in the QB slot. Perhaps it isn't that 9 is a spare number....maybe it is simply this: 9 comes after 8.

Isn't that what Dallas has been doing for the last few years? We've been searching for the next #8. I'm no sports expert or sports humorist, for that matter, I'm just a fan. I'd have called in with this HSO, but I know how Dan feels when a female voice starts talkin' sports. Hey Dan....do you
tune out emails too?

Thanks for making it so good to be a BaD fan...........

Jen

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