For DallasStars.com today....

Just have a moment this morning, but a couple thoughts on our Dallas Stars:

* Marty Turco is a solid goalie who has put the Stars back in the mix. But, you could put together a low-light film of his meltdown moments that would make you cringe, eh? Very Brett Favre like, where a high-light film could rival anyone's, but the low-light film would have you wondering "what was he thinking?" The goal last night that was gifted to the Blues was just the wrong night to do it- With this depleted roster, one goal or one mistake can break the entire night's plans. And, last night, that one hurt badly.

* The math is beginning to be difficult for the Stars. I am not saying they cannot make the playoffs, but I am saying it is getting progressively more difficult again. To play 3 home games in the last 7 days and to get 0 points out of the exercise is devastating. Now, they need to get points on the road in the next few weeks to compensate for these blown opportunities. Know this: the playoffs for the Stars have been going on for quite a few weeks already.

* Steve Begin is badly needed as another depth forward and a guy who can play center. Keep your expectations low, but understand that with games coming fast and furious (5 in the next 7 days) this team needs bodies of NHL quality and experience. Almost 400 games makes him a welcome addition just to help row this boat.

* Could TJ Oshie score that goal if he had 10 more chances from that angle? That goal was quality.

* Hockey is a simple game. Put the puck in, and keep it out. All the shots on goal and odd man rushes and big hits and faceoff wins are important - but at the end, they are all window dressing on certain nights. Put the puck in, and keep it out- The Stars have scored 2 goals in 3 games. 42 shots last night are nice, but you have to finish.

* 2 more playoff games this weekend - Ducks on Saturday, Penguins on Sunday. Things are getting critical around here.

Thursday - Linkage

Jeremy writes:

The best thing about the triumphant return of Tiger Woods may be the new commercials! The new Nike Golf commercials are genius! I've seen 2 so far and laughed out loud at both of them. Both set in the locker room. One of other PGA players shaking their heads as a sign of the quiet, more competitive days are now gone with Tiger back on the course. The other with Tiger alone, whistling the theme from Rocky. I damn near got goose bumps and am ashamed to admit it.

I could only find this one, but it is nice:



Tiger Woods vs.
Darren Clark – Thursday 1:02 ….EDIT: Tim Clark. Sorry. I am an idiot.

Good to have you back, Tigre….

Meanwhile, Dirk Speaks …

Here Nowitzki is asked about his own preparation, in an environment where some teammates are less committed:

I know I'm not in an individual sport. If I were in track and field maybe I would have won something big by now. ... Sure it's bitter sometimes when a teammate doesn't invest the necessary time. The best example was Shawn Bradley. He would some times come to training camp and not had a ball in his hands for four months. But what can you do? There is no rule. Everyone needs to figure out for themselves how to stay fit.

On Jason Kidd and Avery Johnson:

Well, we wanted a playmaker who had been around and already seen everything. I also hoped that Coach (Avery Johnson) would let him play his way, that we would play quicker and have more fun. But just the opposite happened. Avery pushed his style on Jason.

It was tough throwing a guy like him into a system which he didn't really like.

On winning a title as a Maverick:

The best thing would be me carrying the team to the title. But the other teams have gotten so strong, also through some unfair trades -- Pau Gasol to Los Angeles and Kevin Garnett to Boston.

Maybe I will see if it helps changing teams in like three years. Maybe it won't be fun any more or I can't keep up with the athleticism anymore. Maybe I will play in Europe again. I can imagine all of that.

What Karl Malone did back then -- heading to L.A. after all those years in Utah -- yeah it was a little questionable. But when you want the championship so bad, then you can't rule out a move like that.

And the Mavs taught the Bucks a lesson ….

A night after getting overwhelmed in San Antonio by a Spurs team missing two All-Stars, the Mavericks returned to American Airlines Center to blister the Milwaukee Bucks, 116-96, Wednesday.

The Mavericks got diverse production from numerous players along with a little payback for the 34-point blowout they absorbed last month in Milwaukee.

But it hardly seemed satisfying, not after what happened the previous night, when the short-handed Spurs held the Mavericks to 76 points and won by 17.

But a win is a win, and at this point, with the playoff picture changing every day, they all count.

"After last night, we needed this," said Josh Howard, who paced the Mavericks with 27 points. "Coach [Rick] Carlisle reminded us of what happened the last time we played Milwaukee. I think everyone took that as a personal challenge."

Five other Mavericks reached double figures against a Bucks team that was missing center Andrew Bogut and is fighting to hang on to the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Mavericks fell behind, 15-7, in the first quarter, then outscored the Bucks, 58-26, the rest of the half. Their giant cushion was safe throughout the second half. It would shrink to 94-83 early in the fourth quarter, but a flurry of buckets ended that brief glimmer of drama.

Perhaps the best bit of news for the Mavericks was Dirk Nowitzki seemed to snap out of what had been a three-game slump. He hit six of 10 shots, and while he only scored 14 points, it was significant that he beat Milwaukee's constant double-teams with a couple of nice moves in the fourth quarter.

The 15th anniversary of MJ at Spring training …



The Baseball Free Agency market, 2010 …

An under-the-radar ace on a talented, deep team, John Lackey somehow has avoided attention throughout a remarkable big-league career. That may be about to change in 2009.

Lackey, 30, quietly has been one of the most dominant pitchers in the American League the last four years. He also has been a bargain for the Los Angeles Angels. That almost certainly will change.

In an era when pitching is king—when isn't it?—Lackey has gone 58-30 with a 3.42 earned-run average the last four seasons. He has earned $17.5 million for that contribution, and checks in at $9 million this season.

This is the last year on a $26 million deal the Angels were wise enough to offer him at the start of the 2006 season. It gave him financial security in exchange for two years of arbitration and one of free agency.

Now, like wide receiver Rod Tidwell in "Jerry Maguire," Lackey is telling the Angels, "Show me the money!" The Angels would love to keep him, but it remains to be seen if they will offer him market value to keep him from free agency next winter.

Assuming Lackey has a solid 2009, it's hard to see him taking less than A.J. Burnett, who received $82.5 million over five years from the Yankees this winter.

The Angels face a similar crossroads with Vladimir Guerrero, who has anchored their lineup since 2004. He is also eligible for free agency after this season.

It's always good to know whose contract is up as those guys are likely to be especially motivated to produce big years and to be traded at midseason if their teams are not competitive.

3B Chipper Jones, Braves

It's hard to see this guy leaving the team that took him with the first overall pick in the 1990 draft, but stranger things happen. He turns 37 in April, which makes age an issue in the length of a new contract, but he's still among the game's most productive third basemen.

OF Matt Holliday, Athletics

Like newly minted gazillionaire Mark Teixeira, Holliday is an absolute RBI machine. The recent trade from Colorado to Oakland gives him a chance to show his gaudy totals come from more than Denver's thin air. The A's could put him on the market in midseason, creating a feeding frenzy.

1B Carlos Delgado, Mets

Another serial run-producer, the 36-year-old Delgado is getting to the point in his career when he could make more sense for an American League team than for one in the National League.

RHP Rich Harden, Cubs

His injury history precludes an abundance of long-term offers. But his talent could get him a big short-term package if he avoids the DL.

3B Adrian Beltre, Mariners

He's coming off one big contract and looking for another one, a good feat at 29. He's a strong candidate for a trade if he isn't extended.

SS Miguel Tejada, Astros

He has been tainted by the steroid scandal and knocked as a one-dimensional player, but he turned in an excellent 2008 season in Houston.

LF Jason Bay, Red Sox

He did a solid job filling Manny Ramirez's oversized shoes and could be in for a big contract with Boston. The development of prospect Josh Reddick could influence the decision-making process.

A dozen others: CF Rick Ankiel, Cardinals; OF Reed Johnson, Cubs; RHP Jose Valverde, Astros; SS Khalil Greene, Cardinals; INF Mark DeRosa, Indians; RF-DH Gary Sheffield, Tigers; C Brian Schneider, Mets; RHP Justin Duchscherer, Athletics; RHP Brett Myers, Phillies; LHP Mike Gonzalez, Braves; RHP Kevin Gregg, Cubs; and RHP Jose Contreras, White Sox.

Eisen’s Run – now on Youtube!



How Bizarre – the soccer breakaway

What Was That???

Wow. That was really sad. Not good at all. My curiosity of what to actually make of this team continues.

They pound someone, I begin to get optimistic.

They get pounded by a team without their two best players, I lose all optimisim.

They are neither fish nor fowl. They are neither good nor bad. They are a stereotypical 7 or 8 seed.

Last night was yuck …

The Spurs didn’t have two of their top three players.

And the Mavericks still didn’t have a chance.

San Antonio’s 93-76 win Tuesday at the AT&T Center was either a tribute to the star-challenged Spurs or an indictment of the Mavericks. It depends on your perspective.
Rick Carlisle’s perspective was blistering.

"We threw about six, tough minutes at them in the second quarter. The rest of the time, they dominated the game with their disposition and how they played.

Nothing about this effort leads you to believe the Mavericks are serious about their desire to move up in the standings. A team that hasn’t beaten a Western Conference playoff contender on the road since Christmas night couldn’t beat a Spurs team that took the court without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.

What appeared to be a golden opportunity for the Mavericks turned into a bitter disappointment. Tony Parker picked up the offensive slack, torching the Mavericks for 37 points. The Spurs didn’t let the Mavericks get out and run — a team that averaged 17.9 fast-break points in the previous 11 games had only seven — and turned it into a bump-and-grind affair.

"It’s a gift that Duncan didn’t play, and we didn’t take it," forward Dirk Nowitzki said. "It’s a frustrating, disappointing loss.

"It was just an embarrassing effort."

Something else became clear: Nowitzki is in a slump.

The Mavericks star finished with just 14 points as the Spurs fronted him in the low post, ran an extra defender or two at him every time he put the ball on the court and dared the Mavericks to beat them with their weak-side shooting in Jason Terry’s absence.

But it’s not just the Spurs. Nowitzki has averaged 11.7 points and gone 15-of-46 from the field (32.6 percent) in the last three games.

The absence of Duncan and Ginobili did more to throw the Mavericks out of sync than the Spurs. San Antonio scrambled the game and the Mavericks lost their offensive identity in the process. The Spurs took the lead 3:07 deep into the first quarter and never gave it up.

"From the start to the end, we weren’t us today," guard J.J. Barea said. "They played harder. They did everything better. They outplayed us in every aspect of the game."

I spent last night thinking about the goofy presence of Matt Bonner . I honestly didn’t know much about the guy, so I visited his wiki page and found this:

Matt Bonner's first prominent moment as a Raptor occurred on December 2004 during an exciting game at the Air Canada Centre. Extending for a rebound, he knocked all-star Kevin Garnett from behind, sending him sprawling to the ground prompting the two players to get into a heated exchange. The crowd chanted "Bonner, Bonner" as he was ejected from the game. This immediately established Matt as a fan favorite with Raptors fans rallying behind Bonner.

Here is the incident – thanks to Youtube:



And then watching that, I found this:

Rookie Baron Davis Dunks on Garnett



Tiger is back …

Now it’s back to work. Woods’s significance to the PGA Tour cannot be overstated. His gallery of several hundred Tuesday was larger than players drew at many tournaments in his absence. Phil Mickelson, fresh off a victory at the Northern Trust Open on Sunday, arrived a few minutes before Woods and said, “I’ve never seen so many cameras and photographers and so forth, especially that early in the morning waiting for Tiger to get there.” He added, “It’s pretty evident to see what he has done for the game of golf.”

The shot of adrenaline that Woods gives golf is reciprocated. Asked what he missed most, Woods said, “I miss that rush of playing and competing, I really do, getting on that first tee and feeling it.”

Between the No. 7 green and No. 8 tee, Woods’s path was lined with well-wishers. One shouted, “Welcome back, Tiger!” Without slowing his gait or averting his gaze from the yardage book in his hands, Woods replied, “Thank you.” His first match was 24 hours away and he was already feeling the rush.

Comedy Alert: Rich Eisen runs the 40 against the NFL Studs …Do yourself a favor and watch this.

Rumors suggest the Redskins are going after Albert Haynesworth HARD …

The Stomping of Gurode



The Star Telegram blog Had a funny bit : 6 degrees of Omar…

Rangers backup shortstop Omar Vizquel made his major league debut on April 3, 1989. Rangers starting shortstop Elvis Andrus was seven months old at the time. Needless to say, Vizquel, an 11-time Gold Glove winner, has been around a while. And over the years he’s had his number of teammates. A look at some interesting names Vizquel can be linked to through teammates:

Babe Ruth, teammate of Lefty Gomez, 1930-34 (NYY)
Lefty Gomez, teammate of Phil Rizzuto, ’41-42 (NYY)
Phil Rizzuto, teammate of Don Larsen, ’55-56 (NYY)
Don Larsen, teammate of Jim Palmer, ’65 (BAL)
Jim Palmer, teammate of Eddie Murray, ’77-84 (BAL)
Eddie Murray, teammate of Omar Vizquel, ’94-95 (CLE)

Hank Aaron, teammate of Robin Yount, 1974-76 (MIL)
Robin Yount, teammate of Paul Molitor, ’78-92 (MIL)
Paul Molitor, teammate of Roberto Alomar, ’93-95 (TOR)
Roberto Alomar, teammate of Omar Vizquel, ’99-01 (CLE)

Ty Cobb, teammate of Jimmie Foxx, 1927-28 (PHA)
Jimmie Foxx, teammate of Ted Williams, ’39-42 (BOS)
Ted Williams, teammate of Pete Runnels, ’58-60 (BOS)
Pete Runnels, teammate of Joe Morgan, ’63-64 (HOU)
Joe Morgan, teammate of Jeffrey Leonard, ’81-82 (SF)
Jeffrey Leonard, teammate of Omar Vizquel, ’89-90 (SEA)

Tony Romo, teammate of Terrell Owens, ’06-08 (DAL)
Terrell Owens, teammate of Jerry Rice, ’96-00 (SF)
Jerry Rice, teammate of Deion Sanders, ’94 (SF)
Deion Sanders, teammate of Barry Bonds, ’95 (SF)
Barry Bonds, teammate of Omar Vizquel, 2005-07 (SF)

Dirk Nowitzki, teammate of Dennis Rodman, ’00 (DAL)
Dennis Rodman, teammate of Steve Kerr, ’95-98 (CHI)
Steve Kerr, teammate of Kenny Lofton, ’88, (University of AZ)
Kenny Lofton, teammate of Omar Vizquel, ’94-96, ’98-01 (CLE)

*Jim O’Rourke, teammate of Red Ames, ’04 (NYG)
Red Ames, teammate of Charlie Grimm, ’18 (STL)
Charlie Grimm, teammate of Phil Cavarretta, ’34-36 (CHC)
Phil Cavarretta, teammate of Minnie Minoso, ’54-55 (CWS)
Minnie Minoso, teammate of Harold Baines, ’80 (CWS)
Harold Baines, teammate of Omar Vizquel, ’99 (CLE)

*O’Rourke is credited with the first hit in the first National League game on April 22, 1876. In 1904, at the age of 54, he appeared in one game for the New York Giants.

And even more: …

Here are some more famous people Omar Vizquel can be linked to:

Jackie Robinson, teammate of Don Drysdale (56 Dodgers)
Don Drysdale, teammate of Steve Garvey (69 Dodgers)
Steve Garvey, teammate of Joey Cora (87 Padres)
Joey Cora, teammate of Omar Vizquel (98 Indians)

Brett Favre, teammate of Brian Jordan (91 Falcons)
Brian Jordan, teammate of Michael Young (04 Rangers)
Michael Young, teammate of Omar Vizquel (09 Rangers)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a voice in Disney's Cars with Bob Costas
Bob Costas in BASEketball with Tim McCarver
Tim McCarver, teammate of Larry Bowa (80 Phillies)
Larry Bowa, manager of Marlon Byrd (04 Phillies)
Marlon Byrd, teammate of Omar Vizquel (09 Rangers)

Kevin Bacon in Planes, Trains and Automobiles with John Candy
John Candy in Rookie of the Year with Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds, teammate of Omar Vizquel (2007 Giants)

Chuck Norris was in an episode of Walker Texas Ranger with Macho Man Randy Savage (1999)
Macho Man Randy Savage, teammate of Ed Sprague (1973 Orangeburg Cardinals)
Ed Sprague's son Ed Sprague Jr. was a teammate of Edgar Martinez (2001 Mariners)
Edgar Martinez, teammate of Omar Vizquel (89 Mariners)

On to ice hockey….

There are times in a writer’s life that he is clear as mud. Such must have been the case yesterday when I hand-crafted this paragraph in yesterday’s blog:

This gets me thinking about how badly the Brad Richards injury is hurting the whole scheme of things, and with Mike Modano out last night, this looked a lot like a team talent-wise that might have to work hard to win the AHL title.

This got me some emails from angry Stars fans who feel I have insulted our hockey team. Although I disagree, before I mount my defense, allow me to let you read the emails:

"...this looked a lot like a team talent-wise that might have to work hard to win the AHL title." You've got to be kidding. To say that it's only the four biggest names that give the Stars NHL-quality talent is ludicrous. Do you think that Ribeiro, Lehtinen, Ott, Robidas, Daley and Sydor belong in the minor leagues? Can we hope that, say, Eriksson, Neal and Grossman might somehow, some day, become good enough that the Stars don't have to just shut down when Modano, Zubov and Morrow retire? Or is that what your column was about -- wherever are they going to get enough talent to keep the team going, despite the minor-league quality players they've got now?

Ralph and Razor got it right last night when they said, repeatedly, that the Stars were outplaying the Sharks in every aspect of the game. It's true that the Sharks, not the Stars, got that one perfect shot that got through (and 'perfect' is what it took to score), but the Stars -- the whole team -- kept the number one team in the league shut down for two-and-a-half periods.

I'm not suggesting that it's not important who wins. But the fact is that in every sport, any team can beat any other team in a single game, and sometimes the final score doesn't mean anything more than that. You can't be saying that the Stars aren't NHL caliber just because they lost a game. So what, then? The rest of the team, besides the injured four, doesn't have what it takes?
Cindy
===

Bob,

I read your comments about Monday night's game. Yes, they outplayed the Sharks. Yes, they didn't score a goal. Yes, they lost. But saying they look like a team that would have to fight to win an AHL title? That's a little over-dramatic, even for you Bob.

The Stars deserved a better fate last night, but getting shutout 1-0 by the best team in the entire league with one of the best goalies isn't exactly something to cry about. Plenty of teams do it with a healthy roster. In most people's eyes, we were supposed to lose that game. Given the fact that we were really skate-to-skate with them all night says something considering the people out of our lineup. They had a tink that went in (I heard it on Setagucchi's goal), our tink didn't go in. That was the difference in the game.

Now, if the Stars play like this against the Blues and Ducks, and STILL lose, I'll start to worry. Until then, I applaud the way the Stars played against the Sharks, even if the result wasn't favorable.

Keep on rockin the casbah,

Sharon - Little Elm

Cindy and Sharon (and maybe you) took offense to my phrase that suggested the Stars roster on Monday night might not win the AHL title. Ok. Let’s discuss.

First, I think the AHL is the highest level of hockey in the world short of the NHL (perhaps that will inspire another debate!). There are dozens of AHL players right now who are NHL-Caliber. They just need the same chance that many that are in the big leagues have been given.

So, when I say the Monday Night Stars team might not be able to win the 16 games or 4 best-of-seven series to win the Calder Cup should not be considered the biggest insult ever levied. This is not independent league hockey or some beer league. This is the AHL – where many future NHL stars are currently playing.

Second, I think it goes without saying that most of the Stars roster from Monday night have been in the AHL in the last 24 months or have been on the very edge of the NHL as healthy scratches this very season. On the blueline, Grossman, Niskanen, Fistric, and Sydor are all players who are either new to the league, or in Sydor’s case was a healthy scratch in 8 of the first 20 games for the Penguins before the trade. Up front, Sawada, Barch, Peterson, Neal, Sutherby (scratched often in Washington and Anaheim), Parrish, Lundqvist, Brunnstrom and Eriksson are all either relative newcomers or fringe NHL players over the last few seasons. That leaves Ott, Riberio, Lehtinen, Daley and Robidas as skaters who have neither been out of the league or out of the lineup due to being healthy scratched in the last few years.

When only 1 defense pairing and 1 forward line are considered “NHL Locks” with regard to being both proven and accomplished, that is why I threw out the AHL comment. It is not to say that Eriksson or Grossman or Neal are not NHL caliber, because they surely are, it is just to say that the reason NHL teams are better than AHL teams is not the worker bees on the 3rd and 4th lines. It is the top end talent that makes the difference.

And without Richards, Morrow, Modano, and Zubov in the lineup, a majority of your top end talent is gone. I think this is a fairly easy point to make not just about the Stars, but about any pro team in any sport.

Think the Mavs would win a European league if Dirk, Howard, Terry, and Kidd were all out of the lineup at the same time?

How about the Rangers winning the AAA title without Young, Kinsler, Hamilton, or Millwood?

It is not an insult to the rest of the team that they need their best players to be their best players. That is reality. If it wasn’t, then everybody would be paid the same money. Players get larger salaries for larger abilities, so we should also recognize their absence will result in logical declines in the team’s overall ability.

Tippett can’t admit it, and neither can the team. But, when you are depleted of your stars, you must play perfect with what you have to get results.
The Stars ALMOST did on Monday. We should be proud of their effort. But, we should not be surprised when the Sharks still had enough to beat them on a night where the Sharks were outplayed. The Stars played their guts out, but could they do that night in and night out over 2 months to win the Calder Cup or more importantly to make the NHL playoffs down the stretch here? Let’s just say Marty Turco will be busy and will need to be locked on.

So, I hope that was clearer as to what I meant. I think they should be able to beat St Louis with this team, because St Louis is not San Jose. But for this team to make the playoffs, they are going to need either their talent back – Modano should play Thursday – or some much needed reinforcements.

Does that make more sense?

Nate Robinson and his Bromance with Will Ferrall



Aggies finally have a voice!

Bango!

This likely is not the lead story, but in my mind, anytime Bango blows his ACL by falling through the rim , I pledge to give him the pub he requires:

Bango, the Milwaukee Bucks' popular mascot, hurt his right knee during last weekend All-Star Weekend in Phoenix, and will need surgery in March.

The Bucks announced this afternoon that Bango will still be seen around the Bradley Center, but fans will miss his "gazelle-like dunks and agile maneuvers."

"He will miss few - if any - home games and the Energee! Dance team, Hoop Troop, Rim Rockers, Air Bango, Super Force and newly formed Bucks Wild! percussion drumline will continue to fill the court in support of Bango," the team announced.

The news that Bango had hurt himself represents the latest in a string of injuries affecting the Bucks. Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd are out for the season, and Luke Ridnour was out for several games.

OK. Now, on to the obligatory Jerry Speaks story:

In an interview that lasted more than a hour, Jones covered subjects ranging from the perks and experience of the new stadium to the draft, to Adam "Pacman" Jones to the '09 season to, yes, T.O.

Here are the highlights:

Why should fans be optimistic about the '09 season?

We'll get better quarterbacking. Tony (Romo) is early in his career. I'm not going to say that we're gonna have him for 16 games and through the playoffs. We all know the injury factor isn't something you can plan on. We need to do a better job when we don't have him at quarterback. Last year was a good experience for us.
Defensively, I think we've got a chance with some things that Wade is doing. We've got some things that will make us a better defense. Special teams, we did make a change there. We didn't go status quo. I think we'll be improved. It will be real nice to get our punter back. Everybody had injuries; we had some material injuries last year. I think it's not wise to say we're not going to have some injuries next year but maybe we won't have them impact us in some of the ways they did.

Do you need to find another quarterback, veteran or rookie?

It's a real priority for us to get where we'd like to be with our backup situation at quarterback. A real priority.

A veteran?

Not necessarily. A veteran may be too much of a veteran. You say, 'Well, you roll the dice a little bit and get by on two or three games.' You can make a case that you don't (win) a game you should have and it might have meant the Super Bowl. It could have meant that much to us to have won one of those games that we didn't win when we didn't have Tony. We were lucky to have won the one we did without Tony, frankly. We have to have improvement there.

Why don't you think the locker room issues are an issue?

I just don't. It's principally because I've experienced locker rooms that look
dysfunctional on the face of it and won world championships. In a pecking order of important things about your team, that is very low on the list. But our locker room issues did not impact in any way our 9-7 record and what we're doing. In any way. That's why I don't get uptight about it.

What is the high priority?

I think being as Romo-friendly as our team can be. Romo friendly means let's utilize his skills to the fullest and make sure everything we do maximizes his abilities
You hinted last week that you plan to keep Terrell Owens. Do you?
You got my drift. And that's all I want to say about that.

Romo echoed some things that Owens had said about the scheme and the offense last
season; are you concerned about that as it relates to Jason Garrett?

I know first-hand where (Romo) is with Jason, pointedly. I know where they are on a working relationship basis. OK? I know you don't have one sitting over here throwing one under the bus. That's just not happening. That's why I'm not concerned about it.

Does Wade need to be 'harder' or more disciplined?

Wade's style, and I'm talking about both directly with players but just his style as a coach, I've seen that win championships. What we need Wade to be is him. But I've seen him bite and bite good. It's a mistake for anybody that he won't and doesn't disagree with me. He can be none abrasive, but he can be very firm on his points.

Do players need to fear if they are late for a meeting or something there will be a penalty?

Yes. But do they need to feel that? Yes. Do they need to feel it more than they have in the past? I'm not agreeing to that. But is that an important aspect of being considerate to everyone else as far as meeting attendance or rules relative to how you monitor injury. I believe that very strongly. I think you have to have fines.
Because I know that most of our fans know that in order to manage a lot of people and certainly manage a team that discipline needs to be a part of it. I would hope that we can correct that perception. I don't believe that is the case or is going to be the case.

How do you correct that perception?

I'm not so sure about that. I don't want to go as far as announcing every fine we give. That violates some other things I'm not for.

Is the Cowboys' relationship with Pacman Jones done?

I'm not going to go far. That's pretty sweeping; it covers a lot. He's better off; we're better off him not being on our roster. We're better off.

You have free agents such as Kevin Burnett, Chris Canty, Zach Thomas and Keith
Davis. What are their chances of coming back?

I think every one of those you just mentioned I would like to think have a chance to be with the Cowboys. Rolling the clock forward, I would like to think the circumstances would be that we could figure out a way for them to be with the Cowboys.

You want them but, but the numbers might not allow it?

That's it.

Are your draft priorities safety, linebacker, defensive line and backup offensive line?

Those could be special teams guys as well so I would certainly say those are positions that we would look to that could help us this year as well as be potential players for the future at those positions.

The Stars played their tails off last night, but the only thing that matters is if you can get that piece of vulcanized rubber over that goal line.

Were this boxing, the Stars would have won a split decision. But, it wasn’t boxing, so only the goals scored matter. And the Stars could score none of them.

This gets me thinking about how badly the Brad Richards injury is hurting the whole scheme of things, and with Mike Modano out last night, this looked a lot like a team talent-wise that might have to work hard to win the AHL title.

Regardless, with the deadline only 10 days away, is it time to discuss the Stars willingness to pull the trigger and get another piece to help push the team over the finish line?

There may be very few deals to be made, frankly, as all 15 seeds can still feel like they have a chance in the West, and why, then, would they make a trade with another team in the West?

But, let’s set that issue aside and just ask the question of whether ownership (Tom Hicks) has put a hard ceiling on the budget this year, or if desperate times call for desperate measures?

My rationale is this: In this rough economic climate, you can certainly understand Hicks’ reluctance to spend more after all he has poured into this team (taking on the Richards contract, the entire Avery debacle, etc.). But, the reality here is this: If you make the right deal, you insure the revenues of playoff hockey on a per game basis, and also on the premise that a playoff team reaps off-season credibility from its consumers in the form of season ticket renewals and other similar cash infusions.

If you don’t make a deal, you might miss the playoffs altogether. Of course, there are no promises either way, but if a team looked like a team that needed a little help from its owner, it might be the Stars right now, who face a stretch run that is awfully rough – without 3 of its best players being anywhere close to returning to the team.

Who is available is an issue – and so are what the costs would be from a player/draft pick standpoint, but the real question here is would this team be willing to pay the cash to bring in much-needed reinforcements right now.
It could surely help.

Speaking of, TSN offers 10 names that could move in the next 10 days …

Playoff races aside, there will be trades on Mar. 4 and based on the discussions taking place now we've compiled a list of the Top 10 most interesting trade possibilities.

No. 10 - Alex Kovalev. NHL executives are curious about his future in Montreal. If Bob Gainey wants to cut ties, there are teams willing to consider the risk.

No. 9 - The Oilers are believed to be one team interested in Kovalev and sources say Edmonton forward Erik Cole could be worked into a package as the Oilers search for a top line forward.

No. 8 - Chris Pronger. How the Anaheim Ducks play over the next two weeks will determine whether Pronger is truly in the mix. The most likely scenario is that the Ducks hold on to Pronger for their playoff push and reconsider trading him at the draft.

No. 7 - Ryan Whitney. With the return of Sergei Gonchar, the Penguins have a stockpile of blueliners and league sources say Whitney could fetch the quality forward Ray Shero is seeking.

No. 6 - Olli Jokinen. The Phoenix centre is available but NHL GMs wonder about a 10-year player who has never once been in the playoffs.

No. 5 - Jay Bouwmeester. The Panthers have talked to a number of teams and has a variety of trade scenarios to consider, but it's possible Bouwmeester has a change of heart and stays.

No. 4 - Nik Antropov may headline the parade of players out of Toronto. Brian Burke has established the asking price for Antropov - a first round draft pick.

No. 3 - Philadelphia prospect James van Riemsdyk. The University of New Hampshire forward, picked second in 2007, has been linked to Atlanta in a deal that would see a goalie going to the Flyers.

No. 2 - Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen is of interest to the Flyers. If Atlanta GM
Don Waddell continues to rebuild, swapping Lehtonen for a prospect such as Van Riemsdyk would have to be seriously considered.

No. 1 - Ryan Smyth. Colorada needs to cut payroll and Francois Giguere is talking to teams about Smyth. The Avs won't ask Smyth to waive his no-trade unless there's a decent deal tabled. Teams are working on their offers now.

These are big names that may require big deals for teams to pull the trigger. However, this list of 10 present some powerful possibilities.

BTW, Smyth is signed until 2012 – 3 years left for $16 million

Jokinen has one year left at 5.5 million

CBC’s Trade Deadline primer ….

NY Times Magazine story written by Michael Lewis on Shane Battier and NBA Statistics …
The best shooting season ever …

You could be witnessing the best free-throw shooting season in NBA history.
Seriously.

Take a look at the team free-throw rankings. Six teams are shooting better than .800 percent. That's never happened. The best ever is four teams in the 1990-91 season. "You told me something I didn't know," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

Not only that, no team is shooting worse than .710 on free throws this season. That hasn't happened since 1992-93. The worst free-throw shooting team this season, Orlando, is making close to 72 percent of its free throws (.718).

The league leader, Toronto's Jose Calderon, is shooting .981. If he finishes the season anywhere near there, he'd smash the NBA's all-time best single-season mark of .958 by Houston's Calvin Murphy in 1980-81.

And get this: To break into the top 10 in free-throw percentage this season you have to be shooting at least .894. If it finishes this way, it'd be the highest minimum percentage ever to finish in the top 10. Currently it's .891 in the 1990-91 season. There's no athletic explanation for the improvements, although some have tried.

The Musers discussed this today; Where have the White American Hoopers gone? …

One of baseball's great concerns is the decline of African-American ballplayers, particularly in the inner cities. From a golden era in the 1960s when blacks formed the National League's core of stardom -- Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Bob Gibson, Willie McCovey, Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, many more -- the percentage of African-Americans had dropped to just 9 percent over both leagues last season.
What nobody talks about -- probably because it just doesn't seem relevant -- is the decline of American-born white players in the NBA. Please understand that this isn't an issue, nor am I trying to make it one. The NBA hasn't been this interesting, with so many compelling story lines, since the days of Michael Jordan. It's just fact:
There isn't a single star, let alone a super-talent, among the NBA's 45-odd white players who were raised in America (as opposed to Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Manu Ginobili and others from foreign countries).

The only player even remotely close to the league's elite is Minnesota's Mike Miller, who had some big years in Memphis but is now averaging around 9 points per game and on the trading block. Otherwise, you're talking about Brad Miller, Kirk Hinrich, Jason Kapono, Kelvin Korver, Brent Barry, David Lee, Mike Dunleavy, that sort of thing, with some promise held for T-Wolves rookie Kevin Love.

What the hell happened? It's not like American kids stopped playing basketball. You want an investigation, go somewhere else; the league is doing just fine. It's a pretty staggering development, though, when you tap the memory bank. Going back 45 years, which steers clear of the George Mikan era but includes the days of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, here's a list of white American players who made the first, second or third all-NBA teams:

CENTERS
Bill Walton
Dave Cowens

FORWARDS
Larry Bird
Rick Barry
Dave DeBusschere
Billy Cunningham
John Havlicek
Kevin McHale
Jerry Lucas
Bob Pettit
Chris Mullin
Tommy Heinsohn
Tom Chambers
Bailey Howell

GUARDS
Jerry West
Bob Cousy
John Stockton
Pete Maravich
Gail Goodrich
Paul Westphal
Mark Price

That reflects a 10-year drought -- or since Stockton made the third team in 1998-99. And it doesn't include the likes of Bill Bradley, Bobby Jones, Doug Collins, Jack Marin, Kiki Vandeweghe, Jeff Hornacek, Jack Sikma, Bill Laimbeer, Dan Issel, Brian Winters, Ernie DiGregorio, Rudy Tomjanovich, the Van Arsdale twins and Jeff Mullins, all of whom were far more influential than anyone playing today. Hell, you could almost throw Don Nelson in there.

Champions League Goodness ….

Sir Alex vs Jose!

If you love top-quality European soccer, then this is one of those weeks you dream about.

The UEFA Champions League returns to action on Tuesday as 16 teams do battle in home-and-home series to move on to the quarterfinals. In case you forgot (and it has been two months so don't feel bad) the draw for the Round of 16 set up a parade of tough match-ups featuring some contests worthy of being semifinals and finals.

Manchester United travels to Milan to face Inter in the best match-up of the round as Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson renew acquaintances. Tuesday's dance card is filled with great match-ups, including Barcelona-Lyon and AS Roma-Arsenal.

Wednesday doesn't disappoint either, as Chelsea faces former manager Claudio Ranieri and Juventus while Liverpool and Real Madrid square off in a battle of second-place teams holding on to faint domestic title hopes.

Here is a rundown of all of the matches on Tuesday and Wednesday, along with the TV listings for each match:

(All times Eastern)

TUESDAY

Manchester United at Inter Milan (2:30pm, ESPN2)
Barcelona at Lyon (2:30pm, ESPN Deportes, 5pm, ESPN Classic)
AS Roma at Arsenal (2pm, Setanta USA)
FC Porto at Atletico Madrid (11pm, Setanta USA)

WEDNESDAY

Juventus at Chelsea (2:30pm, ESPN2)
Liverpool at Real Madrid (2:30pm, Setanta USA and ESPN Deportes, 5pm, ESPN Classic)
Bayern Munich at Sporting Lisbon (9pm, ESPN Deportes, 11pm, Setanta USA)
Panathinaikos at Villarreal (5:45pm, Setanta USA)

See me on Channel 4 …

Guerin – Great American



Napoleon Dynamite

If It Don't Make Dollars, It Don't Make Sense

This Crabtree story is the most interesting thing I saw this weekend from the Combine:

Crabtree will run through fracture to post a time …

All-America wide receiver Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech addressed the stress fracture in his left foot at the NFL scouting combine Sunday, saying he would give the league a 40-yard dash and then have surgery to repair the injury.

A routine combine physical last week turned up the stress fracture, which Crabtree said was an old injury. He said he has lived with the injury for a year and that it did not cause him any pain last season when he caught 97 passes for 1,165 yards and 19 touchdowns in winning his second Biletnikoff Award.

NFL sources said Crabtree, a former Carter star, would need surgery to have a pin placed in his foot and that he would be sidelined for 10 weeks. But if he underwent the surgery now, Crabtree would be unable to give the NFL a 40-yard dash time until May. The draft is April 25.

Crabtree's private workout is scheduled for March 26 in Dallas. He'll run the 40 then.

Crabtree returned to the media room at the combine Sunday for a second time to deliver a five-sentence, 21-second statement on his injury. He closed with, "I'm looking forward to going to the next level."

Crabtree decided to skip his final two seasons of eligibility to turn pro. He left the Red Raiders as the school's all-time leading receiver with 231 catches and ranks eighth in NCAA history with 41 career touchdown receptions despite playing only 26 games.

Since he is a junior, he has no official time on record. This is crucial. He is so talented, but the NFL does not believe game film, generally; They want their 40 time. Does Crabtree have the long speed at their level?

Here is what is at stake: millions, and millions, and millions.

In the mocks prior to this news, Crabtree has been in the top 5, most notably in Seattle at #4. Without a 40 time, he could slide. How far? Ask Aaron Rodgers, Randy Moss, or Warren Sapp what that could mean.

I don’t think he would slide that far if he had surgery today, but the reason he is not getting surgery is that he will post a time, show his determination to run through a fracture, and preserve his top 5 status.

Check this out:

Darren McFadden was drafted at #4 last year. His deal? $60 million with $26 guaranteed over 6 years …

The Oakland Raiders signed running back Darren McFadden to a $60 million, six-year contract, making sure their first-round draft pick will be in training camp after JaMarcus Russell’s protracted holdout last year.

“I’m very happy to have it out of the way,” McFadden said at a news conference. “Because like coach said, I want to be in training camp. I want to be out there practicing and learning plays. Missing a day of training camp is like missing a week of college practices. It would be a major setback for me.”

McFadden, who finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in each of the last two seasons, will be guaranteed $26 million as the fourth pick in the draft, said his agent, Ian Greengross.

At 22, The Cowboys grabbed Felix Jones and paid him $10 million for 5 years, with $7 guaranteed….

Jones was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round, 22nd overall, of the 2008 NFL Draft. He signed a professional contract on July 26 for $10.53 million, with $7.67 million guaranteed, including a $3.57 million signing bonus

How about that for showing why you don’t want to slide 17 spots because of a pre-draft injury?

King on Lewis and Haynesworth …

I think Ray Lewis will seriously consider leaving the Ravens.

Will he go? Don't know. But my guess -- and it's an educated guess, nothing more -- is Lewis, who turns 34 in May, will not get a deal done with the Ravens before Friday, and he'll take a couple of visits on the first weekend of free-agency.
Where? Dallas and the Jets are the teams that seem the most logical; I never thought under the salary cap they'd be able to clear enough room to go after a big player like Lewis. But the Jets, after some Chris Baker-type housecleaning last week, stand about $18 million under the cap this morning; I believe if coach Rex Ryan and GM Mike Tannenbaum wanted to, they could certainly afford both Lewis and fellow Ravens free-agent linebacker Bart Scott. The Cowboys are $12.3 million under.

Wouldn't that be amazing: Ray Lewis with the star on his helmet. Or Ray Lewis coming to the Jets. Or Ray Lewis and Bart Scott to Jersey.

Again, I'm saying this is an educated guess. But either one makes a lot of sense to me. Jones always loves a new star, particularly with a tarnished team readying for a move into the new Cowboys stadium. Tannenbaum and owner Woody Johnson proved last year with the Brett Favre gambit that they're not afraid to take a chance on a big-name veteran.

The Ravens without Lewis would be as different as the Colts without Manning, or the Yanks without Jeter. And had Baltimore known Lewis would have played as great as he did in year 13 last fall, they'd certainly have gotten this deal done last spring or summer. But now there are two teams in major need of defensive intensity and team leadership out there. Rex Ryan would love to have him in New Jersey, and I think Jerry Jones would view Lewis as the solution to all the me-first stuff plaguing his team. This could be a case where the Ravens -- with $19.4 million to spend under the 2009 cap -- might be forced to match a financial package that would simply be too much for the new Ryan-less regime to stomach. It'll be an interesting week in Baltimore.

There's no long line waiting to pry Albert Haynesworth from the Titans.
In fact, Washington might be the logical landing spot. Hmmmm. I wonder why Redskins owner Dan Snyder was having dinner with the agent for Haynesworth, Chad Speck, at Morton's here Saturday night. I'm sure they were just talking about how it was colder here than at the Arctic Circle. But I kept asking all weekend: "Who wants Haynesworth -- or, more appropriately, who's going to pony up for him?'' And I got the old "it only takes one'' answer a few times. But one coach told me the smartest thing, and this was a coach who has some interest in getting Haynesworth at the right price, which is about half of what Haynesworth is hoping to get. "Everybody I've asked this weekend says, 'We're out of that,' or 'I don't think you'll see us involved in Haynesworth.' ''

Sad, really, because he's a great football player, an impactful player who can change a game from the interior defensive line spot. The downer stuff about Haynesworth:

• He's never played a full season. He's started three, 11, 10, 14, 10, 12 and 14 in his seven seasons.

• He's never played more than 65 percent of the Titans' defensive snaps in a season. You might say a Nnamdi Asomugha is tremendously overpaid at $15-million a year (much more on him later in the column), but Asomugha or a quarterback is going to play 95 percent of his unit's plays in the course of a year, barring injury. Even if healthy, Haynesworth's going to come off the field a third of the time, minimum. So do you want to pay quarterback money to a player who never touches the ball and plays two-thirds of the snaps a franchise quarterback plays? It makes no sense.

• He's got a reputation for coasting on some plays.

• He'll be 28 on opening day. You want to pay a 335-pound guy who's never started more than 14 games and is entering his eighth year $13 million or $15 million a year? Good luck.

Hamilton looks to stop dipping …

For Dallas Stars.com blog:

One of the keys to making it to the finish line this season is that the Stars are going to need to get results against the San Jose Sharks. With 24 games to play, the Stars still must play the Sharks 3 more times. Tonight, they play the final home game against the mighty Sharks, and then they must go to Northern California twice more. So far, they have pulled exactly 0 points from the Sharks. I think you could make a case that if the Stars get 0 out of the final 3 games, they will not make the playoffs.

Let’s review the 3 games to this point:

November 8: Stars lose 2-1 in San Jose, in a game where Marty Turco was phenomenal…until the final minute. In the final minute, he made what might not be remembered as his greatest moment of the season when he gifts Patrick Marleau with a beautiful pass, and Marleau dunks the puck over the goal line for a 2-1 win.



November 28: The day after Thanksgiving, and to me, the lowest point of the season. I have seen probably 1,000 Dallas Stars games since moving to town in 1998, and this has to be in the Top 5 most humbling games I have ever seen this team endure. No matter how you slice this one, the Stars were embarrassed on home ice, 6-2. And the score might not have shown how one sided the game appeared to the naked eye.

December 29: The Stars play a very solid game during a very solid streak of hockey. However, the Sharks are still 1 better (and then they add an empty netter to finish 2 better) in a 3-1 game. I remember actually being satisfied with the Stars effort, and pretty much saying after the game that if the Stars play that well, they will win most nights. After the game, the Sharks have a 25 point advantage over the Stars. Since then, the Stars feel they have played pretty well, right? They are 24 points behind the Sharks this morning, February 23rd.

It is very important that the Stars figure out a way to get something tonight. This will take a colossal effort, because on paper, the Stars do not measure out. They have not lost regulation games back to back since that horrible roadtrip to Chicago and Boston back over Halloween weekend, and they need to avoid that here.

Must.Get.Points. By any means necessary.

The last time the Stars beat the Sharks? Game 6. 1:24 am. Cinco de Mayo. Morrow. Enjoy.



No sooner do I congratulate Mikka Kiprusoff for save of the year, Marty Turco makes a bid! Turco has been sharp as a knife lately, and this Toews save is beyond crazy.
Turco with Larceny!



OV is my hero – as he bullies Crosby

I Was There

I am working on a project right now that has nothing to do with the radio show at all. And honestly, nothing to do with the blog, either. For once, this project is just something that I have been wanting to do for a long, long time as part of a personal quest – And I am finally, doing it.

Basically, it is this: For as long as I can remember, I have kept ticket stubs for the various sporting events I have attended in my life. Sadly, I don’t think I started doing this with any consistency until I was in 8th or 9th grade, but since then, if I go to a game – especially a game in an odd place (no offense Dallas Stars, but I have been to about 400 home games in the last 10 years – so I don’t count those) I keep either the ticket stub or the press pass.

Well now, with the miracle of the internet, you can actually research most all of those ticket-stubs by finding articles and box-scores about those days and games that you attended throughout your life.

So, I am doing it. My memory can tell you some of the better games and performances I have seen, but with each passing year the games all run together in my memory, and I realize if I don’t do something with my two shoeboxes full of ticket stubs, then I will never have a concise record of when I did see Carl Yastrzemski in person , or the first Green Bay Packers game I ever attended .

Is it necessary? Of course, it is not. But, I am a bit obsessive about things like this, and slowly but surely I am going to work through these ticket stubs to figure out when and where all of these half-memories in my head occurred. It is a interesting study in how I became a sports nerd. All of these experiences combined together to get me where I am today. Where is that, exactly? A guy who is 36 years old, and still cannot wait to go see another game as soon as possible.

The earliest ticket stub I found was from June 23, 1982 . This was my 10th birthday present, going to see the New York Yankees play my Milwaukee Brewers 3 days before my magical birthday. It did not quite turn out like I had hoped, as Goose Gossage broke my little heart by mowing down the Brewers rally attempts late with an 8-out save, and getting the Yanks a 3-2 win in Milwaukee. Roy Smalley and Ben Oglivie hit home runs in the game, according to the boxscore. I know I had attended a few games prior to that, but that is the first time I decided to keep the ticket stub.

Anyway, right now I am quite a ways into this project, and I have decided that most of the games I have seen had nothing special about them. A few were a bit more remarkable, and aside from seeing some pretty cool playoff games, I suppose the most significant game I attended was seeing Nolan Ryan’s 300th win in Milwaukee which may be my claim to fame.

Seeing Michael Jordan score 50 in 1987 at the Mecca in Milwaukee ranks atop my NBA list. I saw MJ only twice in person with the Chicago Bulls, that night, and then the night my buddies and I decided to drive to Chicago Stadium on spring break of 1993 to see the Bulls play at home against the Washington Bullets . That game was remarkable for another reason – the fact that Louisville’s LaBradford Smith lit up Jordan for 37 points, and Jordan had a miserable 9 for 27 shooting night on the offensive end, too. Jordan looked awful. The bad news for the Bullets was that the next night, the two teams went back to Washington to play again, and that night Jordan went back to being Jordan (47 points) and LaBradford went back to being LaBradford (15 points).

Anyway, as most human males in the USA, I was absolutely obsessed with Michael Jordan. From 1986-1998, there were other athletes and other sports that I loved (surely the Packers and Favre come to mind), but Michael Jordan was not fit to be ranked amongst humans. He was above that. He was Air Jordan.

Which brings me to the ticket stub that may have to be ranked as “the most unique sports moment I ever attended”. I have seen 2 Stanley Cups won in person, 1 NBA Championship won in person, and countless other moments, but I think that since championships are won every year, this one is better.

It happened on March 14, 1994. It was in Sarasota, Florida. My future wife and I were joined by 6,408 other humans to witness something that had never been done before: Michael Jordan’s first professional hit. Yes, it was in a spring training exhibition. Yes, it was an infield single down the 3rd base line. But, of all of the sports moments I had ever seen, to see the great Jordan get his first hit is my ticket stub of greatest pride.

The fact that I was even there might best explain who I am. Spring Break for me was always a chance to go home to Wisconsin for a week. Never once did I join the thousands who went to Florida or beyond for the big trip to the beach and debauchery. I just didn’t roll that way, and I really never have. But in 1994, there were a few things to consider. First, I had planned for months, since Michael had retired from basketball, that if he was going to try to play for the Chicago White Sox that we (Sally, my wife– who evidently didn’t mind since she agreed to go) should go “visit the Grandparents” who happened to live 15 minutes from where the White Sox train and witness it. Catch up with the grandparents, and not need a hotel? This all must be too good to be true.

But, then a good wrench was tossed into my plan. The Liberty Flames, who were my life at the time, had just shocked the Big South and won the conference tournament, and now were going to the NCAA Tournament as a #16 seed and would play during spring break somewhere in the United States on either the Thursday or Friday of the week. It would turn out to me Landover, MD, to take on the #1-seed North Carolina Tar Heels. Since I helped out with the radio broadcast of the team, I was going to be there, but that sabotaged my “see Jordan play baseball” master plan.

Still, undaunted and a little nuts, I decided that a shorter trip to the Grapefruit league was better than no trip at all. Sally and I left on Friday after class, drove the 725 miles straight through, and would have to compact a week’s worth of baseball into 3 days, because Tuesday, we had to drive the 725 all the way back. This was living.

Well, on Monday, we did the day night doubleheader. The Texas Rangers trained in Port Charlotte, which was even closer to the Grandparents house, and we saw them take on the St Louis Cardinals during the day. Then, at night, it was off to Sarasota to see the Twins visit the Chicago White Sox.

The problem with researching the details of this game, is that I cannot find any site on the web that has spring training boxscores from 1994. So, last night, I paid the Chicago Sun Times my $3 to buy the archived game story from the March 15, 1994 newspaper. Here is a small portion of it:

Michael Jordan is no longer 0-for-baseball.

After a month of frustrating at-bats, scathing editorials and two blown calls, Jordan finally got his first hit of spring training and also stole a base in the White Sox' 9-5 victory Monday over the Minnesota Twins at Ed Smith Stadium.

Leading off the top of the eighth against right-handed pitcher Jeff Innis, Jordan hit a hard shot down the third-base line that Jeff Carter barely got a glove on.

There was no throw to first base, and as Jordan walked back to the bag, a crowd of 6,410 roared approval.

"I knew I was going to get a hit today," Jordan said. "I woke up, I played golf, I felt relaxed. And now I'm going to keep hitting the ball. I feel it."

Using his own bat, Jordan connected on a 1-! 1 sinker from Innis, a sidearm pitcher who was 2-3 with a 4.11 ERA with the New York Mets last season.

Finally, the burden has been lifted. Jordan is 1-for-15 (.067) in Grapefruit League games.

"The drought is over and done with," Jordan said. "This is a great feeling. No more (zeros).

"I promised myself I would step toward the ball, not toward third base (against Innis). I made good, solid contact. It wasn't a little lolligag hit."

This game was played on the exact same day that the famous cover story hit newstands - Sports Illustrated just hammering his Airness for daring to play baseball. I don’t recall what my whole thought process was at the time, other then thinking Jordan can do no wrong, and these stodgy old media dorks need to stop giving MJ such a hard time.

Anyway, I will never forget my one and only trip to Spring Training. Which was also, Jordan’s one and only trip. His baseball career only lasted that one year, and he was soon sent down to the minor league camp where he would be assigned to AA Birmingham. With the Barons he would hit .202, and I seem to recall that after that year he tried to play for Scottsdale in the Arizona Fall League.

Regardless, one year later, on March 18, 1995, he faxed the NBA his press release that said “I’m back” and 11 days after that was scoring 55 at Madison Square Garden. It didn’t take him long to go back to being who he was- the greatest basketball player ever.

But, March 14, 1994? That was the Monday night in Sarasota that only a few of us witnessed his first hit in baseball. My Ticket Stub of greatest pride.

Many Directions, One Post

I got this email, and I figured most people would agree and understand with this P1’s sentiments:

BaD radio,

I throw myself at the mercy of sports talk.

Please no more T.O,
Please no more T.O,
Please no more T.O,
Please no more T.O,

With all that is holy in this land please spare me my sanity, the Cowboy season has been so over for so long now and all that can be debated has been repeatedly. I am a year one P1 I have the luxury of being able to wear headphones at work so I catch the Ticket for most of the day. The second I hear that name come up I look for what I can reach for faster the button on my walkman or my nail gun so I can shoot it repeatedly into my skull. I`m on my knees beaten and bloody begging of you please oh please.

Please no more T.O,
Please no more T.O,
Please no more T.O,
Please no more T.O,

If nothing else thank you for letting me vent. The show rocks thanks for the ten years of mediocrity.

I wish we could, but if we did a political talk show, we could not "stop talking about the war" because people are tired of it.

The Cowboys are our country, and Owens is our War. Hopefully it will all end soon, and our boys can come home safely.

Someday, if there is no war and no Owens, I will be quite happy.
===

Today is NBA Trade deadline day. The Tyson Chandler deal is no more. And now, we are quite concerned with whether or not anything is going to happen. Especially, with the Mavericks, as many are saying nothing will go down.

But, let’s remember how many times Mark Cuban has fooled us on this day. Juwan Howard? Nick Van Exel? Just never say never.

Sefko says to not get your hopes up ..

"I don't know that there's a whole lot more that's going to be done," owner Mark Cuban said. "Everybody's looking to do the same thing, save money and to save cap room [for the future]. It's hard to do both."

If the Mavericks pull off anything today before the 2 p.m. trade deadline, it is not expected to be anything earth-shaking. What their inactivity means – and what a general lack of movement throughout the league indicates – is that next summer is going to be outrageous in terms of teams trying to shed even more payroll.

As Cuban said, when teams start realizing that season-ticket renewals aren't pouring in like they usually do, purse strings will get even tighter. Cuban tries to play the role of the owner who can pull the trigger when he thinks it's the right thing to do. But when the deals simply aren't out there, it makes doing nothing the only sensible course.

In Stars news Steve Ott’s visit with us can be heard here …most reviews have that as one of the best interviews in a long time…

TIVO ALERT: Tonight on the NHL Network, Brenden Morrow is featured …

7:00 p.m. -- Captains Driven by Bridgestone

Dallas Stars captain Brenden Morrow talks about his style of leadership, and the players and coaches who had the most impact on his career.

A few minutes with Brenden Morrow make you really focus on that choir-boy look. But he's clearly a warrior, a throwback to when hockey players would play for the fun of it. He creates a presence on the ice. Impact follows him around.

The "C" on his sweater can easily be taken for the character, compassion, competitive nature, creativity and the courage he displays every time he's on the ice. He's clearly a catalyst for the Dallas Stars.

The tributes from those around him are far-reaching -- even if Morrow is currently sidelined with a knee injury:

"He's the heartbeat of this team," Stars goaltender Marty Turco told me. "He's got the ability to dominate shifts, dominate games.

"He's our captain, he's our leader. He's the sparkplug every team dreams of. He'll stand up to anybody, hit anybody. To say he's a warrior is kind of an understatement, with the attention he gets from opposing teams, the physical nature he plays with and the pure intensity that oozes from every pore of his body."

"He initiates all over the ice. He infuriates the opponents with the impact he plays with," Mike Modano said. "He's an inspiration to us."

Wow. Ovechkin is good.



Best. Save. Ever.



4 random links that will waste your time:

Pat Kirwan’s 10 players who could rise at the combine …

Hear the Michael Lombardi interview on BaD Radio …

Rangers rank #27 on this power Poll …behind the Nationals????

I have no idea what this is, but it is true …

The insanity of TNT without Barkley (until tonight)



This is my favorite video of 2009 – hands down

Trust in Jerry at Your Own Risk

So, here we go again with another exciting game of “What did Jerry Just Say?”.
It sure sounded like he was hinting that he is bringing that lunatic back. And if you don’t know who the lunatic is, just stop reading right now.

However, those of us who are convinced that he must be done with the lunatic can only assume this is a last-ditch effort to secure some level of trade value before the March 3/June 3 deadline hits and a decision must be made.

If you tell everyone he is not going to be with you, and then pick up the phone to work out a trade, the guy on the other end of the line will be fighting back laughter. Now, if you speak courageously, you might still hear giggling, but Jerry is trying to sell another used car.

Right? I am right, here, right? I mean, the alternative is that Jerry is just as lost without a compass as he has ever been.

Here is Mickey to clear it all up …

Now "chemistry" seemed to strike a raw nerve with Jones, and when asked if he was worried about the reported "chemistry" problem on the team, Jones said, adamantly I might add, "Not at all. Not at all. Not-at-all. I'm just not. They are a figment of the result - you didn't hear about those kinds of things when we were winning. You hear about those kinds of things when you're losing. So I'm just not. And if you all knew more about some of the things you're writing about, you wouldn't be as concerned."

And when told his fans are not happy, and they don't seem to have anything to be optimistic about, not as optimistic as he seemed, well, Jones had an answer for that one, too.

"I make comparisons," Jones said. "I look at other sports, I look at other teams, I look at the fact there was one team (in the NFL) that's satisfied today, one, in my mind, and that's the Pittsburgh Steelers. The other one that ought to be the next most satisfied won nine games and lost seven and played well in the playoffs. (The Cardinals) had a tough time in their last five games and yet they were almost world champions.

"So I would say to the fans that are (frustrated), I'm as disappointed, and resolved as you could ever imagine to do the best job of putting a team on the field. Winning will make people happy . . . winning will make 'em happy. I don't know that there's a player right now who could take the disappointment away from the equation. The only thing that's going to take the disappointment away is to win ball games. That's what we're going to try to do."

But I know, just like us guys, you guys want to know about Terrell Owens. Is he staying or is he going?

Again, Jones isn't saying, although before the press conference was over, he did kind of cryptically answer the question, leaving himself open for interpretation, which he has been dearly trying to avoid on this subject.

So for starters Jones, when asked about if it's one of the tougher decisions he's had, deciding what to do with Owens, said, "I don't know that it's any tougher than decisions we've made, that I've made over the years . . . no tougher. There are several decisions on our roster that you look at, that you have to. This is the time of year you do that, and I'm not trying to be trite, but as you all know we're evaluating players in college, we're evaluating (free agents) and we're evaluating our own roster. This is an ongoing thing. Not any different than this time last year. Not one bit different."

Ah, but it was pointed out last year he signed Owens to an extension, adding three years to the final year of his contract and handing him $13 million in guaranteed funds.

"That's what I'm saying, this is not one bit different . . . not one bit different," Jones said.

Ah-ha, and this is why it's wise for Jones not to address this subject, leaving himself open for interpretation because the next question was, so you are acknowledging you do have a decision to make?

"No I'm not, no I'm not at all," Jones said. "I'm just saying we're not, I'm not talking about what we're doing with our roster, and you guys got the roster and know the people on the roster and so I don't have to go into that. Our roster is our roster, and changes to that are pure speculation and have been."

And then came maybe his first salty response, Jones bringing this up on his very own, knowing there have been reports out there about how he's invited players to his house to discuss the viability of keeping Owens.

"And by the way," Jones said without provocation, "I would like to have seen anybody who has come over to my house to visit about our roster - another player. That hasn't happened - haven't been near my house to visit about another player on the roster. I heard that speculated, that I've had people come over - players come over and talk about it. That just hasn't happened."

Well now.

But the sparring didn't end there, and by the way, Jones did say he has not spoken with Owens' agent Drew Rosenhaus about anything this off-season pertaining to his client's continued employment out here. But before the session was completed, Jones alluded one more time to Owens, without even mentioning his name, maybe adopting the Bill Parcells philosophy of not using his name when referencing the wide receiver.
"So that's what we're trying to do here, kind of manage that," Jones said when talking about how frustrated and mad everyone seems to be with what happened last year. "It has nothing to do with the information. You'll get every bit of the information that you should have. You and I both know that the one you are asking about all the time, if I have an answer for . . . if I gave you the answer you want to hear, then you would already have had it, so the fact you don't have it ought to tell you something. Or it should."

With the NFL Combine tomorrow, here are some pre-combine rankings:
National Football Post Positional Rankings …

And the National Football Post latest Mock Draft …

The excitement in Lubbock rages on ….

Texas Tech's 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday given to football coach Mike Leach to sign its latest contract extension offer came and went with still no resolution.

"Coach Leach has declined our $12.7 million contract," Tech athletic director Gerald
Myers said in a statement Tuesday. "We will enter the decision-making process and should have some announcements by next week. Our decisions will be based on the best interest of Texas Tech and all of its supporters."

The Texas Tech Board of Regents, however, announced Tuesday a "special called teleconference meeting" from 2 to 3 p.m. Friday, when in executive session, they will have a "discussion and consideration of matters ... including but not limited to the position of the football head coach."

In a phone interview Tuesday evening, Leach was asked if he was worried about being fired.

"Not really," Leach said. "We have an agreement both parties signed. We agreed to do two more years, and I don't see how that could be unsatisfactory to anybody. Why anybody would have a problem with two years left on my contract, I don't know."
He admitted disappointment with the events that have led to this point.

"Yeah, me and a lot of people are," Leach said.

About 40 people showed up at a rally on Leach's behalf just before noon Tuesday at the school's football offices in Lubbock to show their support. Leach, who returned to Lubbock late Monday after attending a rugby match in Wales on Saturday and the Daytona 500 on Sunday, briefly addressed the crowd, many of whom were students holding signs.

Really? Leach went to a Rugby match in Wales on Saturday, and the Daytona 500 on Sunday? That is a tough-to-predict sports weekend with the fellas.

And now, with the NBA Trade-deadline just 1 day away, it is time for another episode of “This trade makes no sense!” …starring the Hornets!

The next 24 hours are going to be interesting, but let’s now understand something quite clear: These trades are not about anything but cash. New Orleans wasn’t happy with Tyson’s season, but you don’t give up a promising 26 year old big less than 1 year after your playoff run unless you are hemorrhaging money.

It was very noble of them to stay in New Orleans, but isn’t it far to ask if the economic model of an NBA Franchise can work there in these trying times?

Mark Cuban – be a vulture if there are sales like this to be had. There is no guarantee these sales will last forever.

As franchises go, the Hornets have the most streamlined front office in the NBA. Beyond the practice gym, there are modest connecting offices with thin walls between Bower and his assistant GM, Brian Hagen. There’s the front office, just a GM and his assistant. The Hornets have two full-time scouts on the road. And that’s it. Most teams have three and four times the personnel, but not the New Orleans Hornets.
They’re the barest-bones operation in the NBA and yet under Bower they’ve shown themselves to be a model of resourcefulness and resolve.

George Shinn is the one NBA owner without another industry where he makes his money. The Hornets are his business, and Shinn runs this organization like the corner Mom and Pop. The Hornets hire cheap, and hire cheaper when those talented people move up and out to the rest of the NBA.

Against all odds, bouncing between Oklahoma City and New Orleans, Bower made the Hornets one of the most thrilling young teams in the NBA and a contender in the Western Conference. Maybe the greatest validation of his work was the that Paul passed on a chance to become a free agent, a chance to leave perhaps for the cash-flushed Portland Trail Blazers and signed a contract extension with the Hornets.
So, yes, it felt odd to click to the Hornets’ team website on Tuesday night, and next to the modest administrative masthead, there were links to several non-sanctioned New Orleans’ blogs. In the middle of it all, there was a photo of Bower with the word “MORON” stamped on his forehead. Yes, this abuse is part of a GM’s job, but the shortsightedness from die-hard Hornets fans had to leave even fair-minded folks exasperated and thinking: Come on, you think Bower desperately wanted to trade Tyson Chandler to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Joe Smith and Chris Wilcox?
“Teams like us have to be able to get value for our players,” Bower said by phone Tuesday.

Yes, the Hornets payroll would’ve been over $76 million next season with the 7-foot Chandler on it. Still, New Orleans is 30th in the NBA in rebounding, and Chandler, who blossomed into a terrific pro as a Hornet, had lost productivity and an ability to stay healthy. As much as people wanted to portray this trade as a pure salary dump – and yes, that had a lot to do with it – Bower was still banking that he had gotten the most out of Chandler and it was time to reshuffle his frontcourt.

“We needed change,” Bower insisted. “We needed to show improvement over our first 50 games.”

Across the NBA, the landscape is dramatically changing. The excess of old is going fast, and those unable to get fit in the short and long run promise to pay a steep price. The luxury-tax threshold will drop lower next year. Season tickets, corporate sponsorships and arena suite renewals could be off 50 percent. Owners are desperately trying to dump salary, and the haves are determined to fleece the have-nots on talent that richer teams can afford.

SportsBusiness Journal reported the NBA just secured an additional $175 million league-wide line of credit – on top of the $1.7 billion it had – to assist the 15 teams that told the commissioner’s office they’d like to tap into the fresh borrowing. Three NBA front office executives told Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday that it’s believed as many as seven NBA teams could need that money to cover operating and payroll costs by the summer.

Do I have some of the kindest fans in the world?

Subject: Don't look at the Orlando-Charlotte boxscore
Date: 2/17/2009 8:40:57 P.M. Central Standard Time
From: michaelandfaith@_______
To: sturm1310@aol.com


It'll only make you feel stupid. Howard is DESTROYING Okafor.

For the record, I have already admitted how poorly I got my 2004 NBA Draft thoughts over and over again.

Not only did I get that one wrong, I got it waaaaaaaaaaaay wrong.

But, I don’t share my email account with my wife. Bro, you might need to change that address.

Anyway, here is the boxscore from that Magic-Bobcats thriller …

Okafor 14 and 9. Pretty good, right? Well, Howard had a fair night, too. 45 points, 19 rebounds, and 8 blocked shots. Good Gracious.

Brad Richards is not used to being hurt …

This is new territory for Brad Richards. In the 629 regular-season games his NHL teams have played, Richards has dressed for 619 of them.

So being out for six to eight weeks with a distal radius fracture in his right wrist is a bit depressing.

But Richards, who injured the wrist Monday when it was pushed awkwardly into the boards in a 3-2 win over Columbus, said Tuesday he is trying to be optimistic about his recovery.

"I'm going to prepare myself for the best," said the 28-year-old center, who ranks second on the Stars in scoring with 48 points. "I've never been through anything like this before, so I know it's going to be tough. But I watch someone like Brenden [Morrow], and I see how hard he's working, and I'm going to take the same approach."

Morrow is out for the regular season after reconstructive surgery on his knee but is with the team every day and is pushing to return in late April.

Richards will not require surgery but will wear a cast for four weeks and then have the wrist re-evaluated. If he is able to return in six weeks, he could play in seven games before the end of the regular season. If it's eight weeks, the Stars would have to make the playoffs for his return.

"I would like to play as many as I can," he said. "I know there's a lot of the unknown out there, and I know that we'll know a lot more when the cast comes off, but I would love to be able to play for two weeks."

The Stars, meanwhile, dealt with the injury by recalling Chris Conner from Peoria. They also expect to get Landon Wilson back from a rib injury soon and will move forward without significant changes.

Stars Wars comedy #1 …

Star Wars comedy #2 …

Don’t know John Salmons? Here is his Mixtape



Liberty’s best player since me. Seth Curry

Not Again!

Playoff hockey in February? What a pleasure! But, what a price a tough win costs.

Absolutely riveting hockey transpired in Columbus last night, in one of those games that the Stars looked like a lonely band of brothers in enemy territory, playing another team that is equally desperate and equally clinging to a slight grasp on a playoff berth with a few dozen games to play.

Marty Turco was absolute money at times last night. He got plenty done in a 2nd period where the rest of the team seemed content to cheer him on – but maybe not help him too much. You knew this team would respond with a lot of grit and fight against the Blue Jackets after a pretty disappointing night in Chicago Saturday night, and if nothing else, they fought their tails off with determination in that final period and overtime.

Obvious bad news appears to be the strong possibility that Brad Richards is gone for a while. TSN claims he has a broken wrist, but the Stars have not announced anything from their medical staff yet. If that is the case, I am quite concerned. Richards does so much on this team, and this would be a lengthy and significant loss to add to the Morrow and Zubov subtractions. You could make the case that in September if you asked me to list the 4 most indispensible skaters on the Stars, I would list 91, 10, and 56 as 3 of the top 4 (Ribs).

Razor said it last night, this team has played well in the last 10 weeks, and part of that is great hockey they have played and earned, but part of it is that the team has remained healthy. Now, with Richards hurt and Steve Ott leaving the game in Chicago, we are starting to feel the effects of the war of attrition yet again.
With Richards out for several weeks, I assume, I am not too excited about what that does to the lineup. I guess they would have to consider the 3rd and 4th centers as Toby Peterson and Brian Sutherby. I think Steve Ott is a fine option, but I think he needs to remain on the line with Ribeiro and Lehtinen where he has been very effective.

Otherwise, that was a huge 2 points last night. I know the injury to Richards is something that bums us out, but if you didn’t pump your fist last night during the shootout when Neal when high-blocker and Turco shut the door all 3 times, then you fell asleep. That was plenty of fun.

Two other items:

This Quote told me we shouldn’t expect much at the deadline :

Stars co-general manager Les Jackson said before the game that the team is studying trade options before the league's March 4 deadline, but a tight internal budget will be restrictive.

Like it or not, the Stars have a “tight internal budget” and any idea that they would use the cap relief from the Zubov and Morrow’s injuries to go buy reinforcements is fantasy land in the current economical climate. Liverpool made no purchases (in fact they sold Robbie Keane) in the Winter transfer window. The Texas Rangers spent $0 this winter , so the idea that the Stars have Tom Hicks blessing to go buy some help seems far fetched.

And finally, another item that made me happy last night was seeing young and talented Mark Fistric going to battle with Rick Nash. When we discuss the blue-line and the need for help, I have been suggesting that the first thing they should do is see how ready Fistric is for prime-time. By all accounts all he lacks is experience and confidence.

Check out the TSN Scouting Report from earlier this winter:

Mark Fistric - Defense, 22 (1st round, 28th overall, 2004)

The one player who will be most pleased when Fistric hits the NHL ice full time will be Marty Turco since the Stars have not had a defenseman like him since Matvichuk and Hatcher. The 6-foot-2, 232 pound blueliner is one of the meanest and toughest defensemen not in the NHL. He has adjusted quickly to the pro game over the past year and a half in the AHL and has looked solid in his 37 game NHL call up last season. Fistric has jumped between the NHL and AHL this season and like all young defensemen, it takes time to develop their craft. But he looks ready to handle regular minutes at the major league level. He has the hockey sense to handle the speed and tempo of the NHL but he does not have the puck skills and passing ability to produce much offense. To his credit he keeps things simple and moves the puck quickly while remaining poised and relaxed. He can blast the puck from the point so he can keep forwards honest when they apply pressure. A good skater overall, his quickness and agility have improved since his junior days. Plays a tough physical style and enjoys laying big body checks and intimidating his opponents. Imagine the cartoon character Shrek on skates and you get the idea. Is as solid as they come without the puck and handles gap control and the angles well against the rush, while keeping his head on a swivel. Once in position he locks down that area and uses his body to block out forwards, keeps his stick in lanes and if you linger he will hurt you because he finds it fun. He has the capability to be a top defensive defenseman that shuts down opponents and is a natural leader with character and intangibles.

Tell me that isn’t the perfect addition to the group. It is tough to remember all the way back to when Hatcher and Matvichuk were young and inexperienced, but they were once. And then, they slowly learned how to play at the big level and were rocks and foundation pieces for a solid decade.

Anyone thinking that Nik Grossman and Mark Fistric paired together last night could be the start of something brilliant? It crossed my mind.

Anyway, I am told that Ott should be back for Edmonton on Thursday, but Richards is feared to be pretty bad.

Those who can, March On.

Monday, Monday

Various links of moderate importance on a Monday morning after a Daytona 380 and an NBA All-Star weekend. I really missed my NFL this weekend. But, I am falling back in love with everything about All-Star weekend but the game.

By the way, if Nascar is interested in my consumer dollars, then you must punish Junior like you would punish Carl Edwards or Either of the Busch brothers when you start a 10 car pile-up based on your short fuse. That was sad that Jr was a punk, and even more sad that Nascar still treats him like a diety.

Josh Hamilton with a refreshing quote …

Rangers All-Star Josh Hamilton isn't too concerned about where he plays in the outfield this season.

"I've had a lot of people ask me if I'm in right or I'm center," Hamilton said. "I could care less. I want to help the team any way possible. If I have to DH from time to time, that's fine, too. As long as it's the best lineup out there, I'm all for that."

There's a possibility Hamilton, who started in center the majority of 2008, could be moved to right field to lessen the wear and tear on his body. The Rangers have former All-Star center fielder Andruw Jones in camp as a non-roster invitee.

Here is how the blogging world is. First, DB.com wrote about Mavs chances. Then I responded. Then they responded to my response. Now, I am responding to his response of my response.

Fish’s volley …

Three very bright Mavs observers, Dirk Nowitzki and Bob Sturm and Eddie Sefko, have crafted three viable reasons for Dallas to avoid making this deal or that.

The UberMan on whether the Mavs should keep the nucleus intact: "I think so.We've had a good last two or three weeks. Guys have played hard and I'm looking forward to our last 30 games of the season. … If we can get healthy soon and keep working, keep doing what we're doing, I think we're on a good track.''

The Sturminator likes our exhaustive studies of the options but shoots down the notion that Dallas will take on a fat contract. “Allow me to be clear here: There is no way that the Mavericks would pay $40mm to have Shaq for next season. No way.’’

Sefko, who undoubtedly has his finger on a Mavs pulse, is writing and saying things that shut down the notion of a major deal. From the Dallas Morning News in print to a roundtable discussion on ESPN Radio the other night featuring Eddie and yours truly, Sekfo clearly believes the following:

“The Mavericks absolutely should not make any major trade before next week’s deadline. Why? Because they finally have some semblance of a groove and, after their splashy trade of a year ago, it’s taken this long for players to find a comfort zone with each other. Make another big deal, and that process starts all over again and you probably waste another year.”

To which I respond:

*Re Nowitzki: Dirk is saying the right thing to say. No surprise there.
But his front office wants MORE, and intimates, “We’re in go-for-it mode.’’

*Re Bob: Sturm’s take on dollars and sense is understandable. But somebody IS going to pay Shaq $40 million. The list of prospective owners is a short one. Wouldn’t Robert Sarver figure to want off that list? How badly does he want off it? Wouldn’t Mark Cuban figure to be on that list? How cheaply can he get on it?

This front office intimates, “Almost everybody else in looking to cut back, but this owner is willing to spend if that right deal comes along.’’

*Re Eddie: A "splash'' as a negative? Conceivably. But if they DON’T make another “splashy’’ trade, they remain sub-Lakers, they remain second-tier contenders and they remain in the wide gray territory between fifth and eighth place in the West.

You've got an owner willing to spend for "the right deal.'' You've got a league full of possible partners. You've got the precedent of a Lakers team that was in this same spot. ...

So you go for it.

You know what is funny? Since I wrote that, I am catching myself wondering if you could get them to take Dampier. If you can, then the Suns save almost $20mm and then, Shaq doesn’t cost Cuban $40mm, he costs $20mm.

Am I saying there is a way? I hate to be so wishy-washy…

Fistric is back, Stars need a win tonight …

Fistric was assigned to the Manitoba Moose on Nov. 2 after playing just 11 games with the Stars. It was a huge setback for the 22-year-old blueliner who was an important part of the Stars' trip to the Western Conference finals last season.

But it was also a lesson in patience and calm – attributes Fistric will need if he wants to impress the coaching staff and ensure a call-up that began Saturday will last the rest of the season.

Fistric said he had to deal with a roller coaster of demotion emotions when he was sent to the Moose.

Fistric, the 28th overall pick in 2004, said he felt he pushed into the NHL as a full-timer last season when he played 37 regular season games and nine in the playoffs.

But when the Stars acquired veterans Doug Janik and Andrew Hutchinson at the start of this season, it became clear he hadn't done enough. And when he was criticized publicly by coach Dave Tippett for mistakes he made early in the season, he said that made things mentally challenging.

"You lose confidence a little, you get a little mad, it's not an easy thing to deal with," Fistric said. "I'll be honest, it was really hard the first couple off weeks down there."

But Fistric slowly learned that anger could only take him so far. He said a positive vibe from a winning Manitoba team forced him to start pushing ahead.

"It's a big deal up there, and you feel like you're doing something important, so that helped," Fistric said.

It also helped him understand that playing harder isn't always the right answer. At 6-2, 232, Fistric needs to be physically engaged in games. He also has to be smart with the puck and make confident plays.

"If you're in the NHL, there's an expectation that you have to be able to make that first pass out of the zone" Tippett said. "Bring a physical presence, play from a strong positional base, but also add the elements of moving the puck, of helping the team move smoothly."

New Stars blog I support: Defending Big D.com ….

Cowboys may not have a stadium name …

When the Dallas Cowboys play their first game here later this year, team owner Jerry Jones might have a temporary name for his stadium and a lot less cash than he expected.

A naming rights deal to add hundreds of millions of dollars to his bottom line hasn't materialized, and sports business professionals said Jones might not find a sponsor this year unless he's willing to offer a deep discount. Even optimistic naming rights consultants are saying that a blockbuster deal is probably off the table in this year of economic turmoil.

"Chances are, there are offers, but they are coming in well below what the Cowboys want," said naming rights consultant Terry Burton, who is not involved with the negotiations.

He said the Cowboys would be best served by waiting for the economic downturn to "play out." Burton, owner of Vancouver, Canada-based Dig In Research 2007 Inc., which evaluates sponsorship and philanthropic naming rights deals, said he believes the market could bounce back to previous levels in time for Super Bowl XLV in Arlington in 2011.

However, such a delay means that a sponsor would miss all the publicity surrounding the opening – such as concerts, large-scale tours and other high-profile events – as well as national attention when the Cowboys play their first regular-season game in Arlington.

Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels declined to comment about naming rights negotiations for the $1.1 billion stadium, which is projected to open June 1. Team officials, including Jones, also have declined to discuss specifics in the past.

Could Parcells really want Barbie? …

Bill Parcells likes some players because they have, "the makeup." No, we're not talking eyeliner or lipstick here -- although some of your responses suggest some of you guys would like that. The makeup is about a player's disposition, work ethic, desire, ability, intelligence and other things that make him successful.

Of course, Parcells misses on some of these guys, but sometimes the guys Parcells identifies as having, "the makeup," don't succeed only because they're not given the right opportunity, or perhaps they are sidtracked by injuries. As Curley of the Three Stooges would say, they're victims of circumstances.

Bobby Carpenter might be one such player. When he was in Dallas, Parcells picked Carpenter with the 18th overall pick in the first round of the 2006 draft. Carpenter, 6-2 and 250 pounds, didn't blossom in the one year Parcells was there and has fallen behind on the depth chart the past couple of seasons.

Last year the Cowboys wanted inside linebacker help and they signed Zach Thomas. This year, they're talking of trying to sign Ray Lewis. Carpenter is seemingly never in the conversation.

And that might make Carpenter, bordering on becoming a bust in Dallas, a possible Parcells target in the coming weeks as the Dolphins search for inside linebacker help. Understand that the Dolphins showed mild interest in trading for Carpenter last season but the Cowboys rebuffed the overtures.

Roy 11 with Steve 11



The Beckham story reaches its obvious crossroads …

David Beckham admitted it would be "difficult" if he has to return to LA Galaxy after his loan spell at Milan comes to an end. Milan have officially loaned the 33-year-old until the end of the season but his parent club have demanded that he return on 9 March for the beginning of the MLS season. Milan remain confident they will sign Beckham on a permanent deal, however, and the player has remained unequivocal in his desire to stay.

"It would be difficult to go back after everything that has happened," said the former England captain after yesterday's Milan derby. "I have said that I want to stay but I will stay professional and do what I have to do."

Asked if his future would be decided in the next 48 hours, Beckham replied: "I don't know. Talks have been going on and on and everyone seems to be talking about it but it's out of my hands. We'll know more in the next week."

Beckham also confirmed that his performance here was hampered by a calf injury. "I had a kick against Spain on Wednesday and it didn't really clear up and I had another kick on the same place — my calf — tonight."

Beckham was only briefly effective before being replaced early in the second half, as Internazionale extended their lead at the top of Serie A to 10 points, and moved 11 clear of their city rivals. "We are quite far behind Inter now, we were quite far behind before the game started and we needed to win it," reflected Beckham. "But you never know, this league is up and down. There's a chance but it is a slim chance."

Tom says join the Eagles Nest …

Turco is Locked In

Friday night at the American Airlines center may have been Marty’s finest effort yet. He was under siege from Vancouver from the opening faceoff, and it looked like only a matter of time before the Sedin’s and company begin lighting the lamp.

But, like Marty has recently, he decided against a Vancouver scoring show. He was flat-out awesome. Big saves and controlling the puck are the best of Marty when he is at his best. It surely has not been an uneventful season, but if this is the #35 that we can expect to see most nights, the Stars sky is the limit.

2008-09 has been quite a roller coaster ride for Marty and Stars fans alike. If he was great in February, it should be noted he was awful in October. And the steady climb has been a real testament to his ability to believe in himself and persevere to get it done.

For kicks, I wanted to run Marty’s numbers by month. If these numbers don’t shock and amaze you, then you might need to keep studying.

Month	Starts	GAA	Save %
Oct	9	4.26	84.2%
Nov	12	3.15	88.5%
Dec	12	2.52	90.6%
Jan	12	2.42	91.0%
Feb	6	1.51	94.2%
Totals	51	2.81	89.6%

Table Tutorial

I would imagine it would be impossible to continue to improve in Save Percentage and GAA each month for the entire season, but so far he is 5 for 5. Hard to imagine improving on 1.51 and 94%, though; That is pretty lofty territory.

In looking at the numbers since the all star break, it is clear Marty is playing his best hockey right now. He is #1 in the NHL in GAA since the break, and #3 in the NHL in save percentage (Vokoun and Chris Mason). Also, his 7 wins since the break is tops in the entire league.

Last night, we were talking about the work load issue with Turco, and Fox’s John Rhadigan called in to indicate that the modern record for consecutive starts is Martin Brodeur’s 44 in a row back in 1995-96. Turco started his 25th straight last night. I honestly don’t know what to make of this, because I have always kind of felt that goalies don’t work long streaks because we don’t ask them to. Is it impossible, or like the modern day pitch counts, do pitchers only throw 200 innings now instead of 300 because “that is the way we do it now”. Further, unlike a baseball pitcher, there is no sore shoulder that will not allow a goalie to do his job. Aside from avoiding injury, it would seem the biggest foe is your mental capacity to stay locked in.

I will say this, though, with his streak going this long, we can now predict the media’s explanation of any goal he allows – he is tired. It is odd how we compartmentalize everything into simple explanations, but from now on, any time Marty makes a mistake in this streak, it will have to do with the perceived fatigue issue. It kind of drives me nuts, but I have already seen it on the NHL Network last week. When he plays well, apparently we forget about that fatigue. But, if the Stars lose a game, it is because Marty is about to pass out.

I still think the Stars need to address their goalie situation by the deadline, and like many of you, I do wonder if they should grab Curtis Sanford or Manny Legace when they pass through waivers, but they are staying the course with Marty, and so far, so great. You wonder what if any effect this is having on the goalie we will see in the playoffs (assuming there is a playoff in Dallas), but you have to get there first.

Now, every night (including tonight) just continue to hope that Marty stays healthy. I can think of nothing more catastrophic to this season - that now has a positive vibe about it - than a Turco injury issue that would keep him out for a few weeks. That would be very, very bad.

Chicago tonight will have Marty under siege again. I look forward to seeing him pass another test.

Good Lost To Great

Nice try. But, not nearly good enough against the World Champion Boston Celtics.
Without Jason Terry, this team has no clue in the half-court offense in the 4th Quarter. Heck, with Jason Terry they barely have a clue in the half-court offense in the 4th Quarter. Without him there is no chance.

Josh might as well take the night off at halftime. Dumb fouls. Poor decisions. And nobody wants the ball less in the 4th than Josh.

How frustrating was it to watch the Mavs attempt to defend the high pick and roll? Do you have to switch 100% of the time and put Barea on Pierce? Has that worked?
Only in the final minutes did they stop switching. Too late. Pierce was in his zone by then.

I do like Rajon Rondo’s game. Very key to those Celtics.

They huffed and puffed, but could not blow the house down …

The Mavericks did all they could Thursday night to beat the defending NBA champions. They got a forceful effort from plenty of players.

But one thing was missing, and it probably cost them a 99-92 loss to the Boston Celtics at American Airlines Center. What was lacking?

According to their coach, it was coaching.

"I told the players they fought their hearts out and really deserved to win," coach Rick Carlisle said. "I'm going to take the blame for this. When you sit in this chair, there are times you have to be man enough to say you blew it."

Carlisle was unhappy with his decision to continue playing Boston's Paul Pierce one-on-one during a fourth quarter when Pierce outscored the Mavericks, 18-17, and the Celtics overcame what had been a 15-point deficit earlier.

When Pierce got rolling, Carlisle said he should have adjusted.

"We played Pierce a few different ways and had some of our best guys guarding him, but we should have double-teamed him. My heart is with our guys and their effort. This one's on me. We could have made more shots, but I'm going to take all the blame for this one."

The Mavericks finished the pre-All-Star portion of the season 31-21. They missed a chance to perhaps rise as high as fourth in the Western Conference standings. But their play during a 6-2 run after the loss in Boston last month has raised optimism throughout the team.

Thursday night brought everything down a notch or three.

Pierce outdueled Dirk Nowitzki down the stretch. With the score tied, it was Pierce who scored six consecutive Boston points, the last two on a tough jump shot over Devean George with 38.5 seconds left for a 95-91 lead.

The Celtics made their free throws the rest of the way to secure the win.

Pierce finished with 31 points, including 14 trips to the free-throw line, which did not go unnoticed by owner Mark Cuban.

Cuban has held his tongue in regard to officiating for the last several seasons. But he could not stay quiet after the officiating crew of Dick Bavetta, Scott Wall and Derek Richardson sent the Celtics to the line 15 times in the fourth quarter to only four trips for the Mavericks.

"If Dirk got the officiating that Paul Pierce gets, he'd go to the line 10 more times a game," Cuban said. "I don't know if it's because they are the champions or what, but it's amazing that Dirk takes such a pounding and doesn't get the same respect from the officials.

"And it's the same with Josh Howard. He'd be a perennial all-star if he got the same calls that Paul Pierce gets."

Howard, by the way, played despite getting a cortisone shot in his left wrist before the game. "It flared up again and I had to get a shot," Howard said. "It's tough. I can't go left. No dribbling at all. But just as long as I don't break it, I'm going to be out there."

Today’s Trade Rumor that would bother me greatly if the Mavs were crazy enough to do it …Carter is old and getting older. And he wasn’t very interested in competing hard every night when he was 25…

The New Jersey Nets and Dallas Mavericks have discussed a trade that would reunite Vince Carter and Jason Kidd, with Carter joining the Mavericks, a league source familiar with the discussions said Thursday night.

The proposed deal, which isn’t imminent, would send Carter, Keyon Dooling and Eduardo Najera to the Mavericks for Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse.

Nets executives are still reluctant to trade Carter, but are determined to let teams make their best offers all the way to next Thursday’s trade deadline.

The Mavericks have lost guard Jason Terry to a broken hand and desperately need perimeter scoring to stay a contender in the Western Conference. The Nets’ and Mavericks’ front offices engineered the Jason Kidd-Devin Harris blockbuster at the trade deadline a year ago. Nets GM Kiki Vandeweghe and Mavs GM Donnie Nelson have been active trading proposals, league sources say.

Carter, 31, has inspired significant interest throughout the league. The San Antonio Spurs are pursuing him and have discussed a proposal that would include Roger Mason, Bruce Bowen and Fabricio Oberto. While the Spurs also have interest in Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace, a Pistons source says the teams have not had any conversations.

Player	08-09	09-10	10-11	11-12	12-13
V Carter	15.2m	16.3m	17.3m	18m*	Off
Dooling	3.3m	3.6m	3.8m	Off	Off
Najera	3.4m	3.1m	2.8m	2.6m	Off

Table Tutorial

“*” = team option for Carter in 2011-12

Yesterday, one of my favorite Bill Simmons columns was released, the NBA Trade Value column where he ranks the top 40 players in the league. Here is Dirk’s neighborhood:

15. Pau Gasol
14. Paul Pierce
13. Dirk Nowitzki
12. Deron Williams
11. Kevin Garnett

And then, his brilliant description of Lebron:

1. LeBron James

Last February, I wrote that he didn't have a ceiling. This year? I figured out his ceiling. At least for right now. At age 24, he's a cross between ABA Dr. J (unstoppable in the open court, breathtaking in traffic, has the rare ability to galvanize teammates and crowds with one "Wow" play, even handles himself as well off the court) and 1992 Scottie Pippen (the freaky athletic ability on both ends, especially when he's cutting pass lines or flying in from the weak side for a block), with a little MJ (his overcompetitiveness and sense of The Moment), Magic (the unselfishness, which isn't where I thought it would be back in 2003, but at least it's in there a little) and Bo Jackson (how he can occasionally just overpower the other team in a way that doesn't seem human) mixed in ... only if all of that Molotov Superstar Cocktail was mixed together in Karl Malone's body. This is crazy. This is insane. This is unlike anything we've ever seen. And to think, LeBron doesn't even have a reliable 20-footer or a post-up game yet. See, this is only going to get better. And it's already historic.

Let’s play a little game of What Issue Does Bob have with this story? …

Whether Terrell Owens will be with the Cowboys or not, he's reaching out to free agent linebacker and Baltimore Raven icon Ray Lewis.

In the past, Owens told me he's been contact with Lewis, who expressed an interest in playing for the Cowboys. This off-season, Owens reached out to Jerry Jones to make a sales pitch if you will for Lewis to join Dallas.

And Deion Sanders, a close friend of Lewis and Owens, has also spoken to Jones about the linebacker.

Now, we're not sure if Lewis will sign with the Cowboys. The Ravens don't want to lose their icon, so we'll have to see how this plays out once free agency starts Feb. 27 is uncertain.

Let’s see. Terrell Owens and Deion Sanders are telling Jerry Jones who he needs to sign?

YES!

Well, last time we listened to Deion, we got Pac Man. Actually, last time we listened to Deion, he was talking to Terrell after a Cowboys win in Washington about everything wrong with the Cowboys.

CUT HIM OFF, JERRY!

And Terrell? Just Cut him.

Enough of the Sanders pipeline. The Circus must leave town.

Speaking of the circus, Drew Rosenhaus is part of it, too …

Rosenhaus said he hasn't been told the team has a problem with Owens and expects him to return in 2009.

"I've stated my opinion, which is all that it is because the Cowboys publicly have made it clear they're not going not comment on this situation," Rosenhaus said. "Terrell has a contract and the bottom line is I believe he will be back with the Dallas Cowboys this season. Terrell wants to be a Dallas Cowboy. He wants to finish his career with the Cowboys. He has a contract the team signed him to a new deal before the [2008] season. He has, in my opinion, made it very clear that he wants to be a great player in 2009 and a great teammate in 2009 and he really loves playing for the Cowboys. He's got a great relationship with Tony Romo and with the other players on the team. So, he's very fond of his coaches on the team so I don't see any reason why Terrell wouldn't be back."

Rosenhaus talked about any potential problems with the Cowboys.

"Terrell doesn't have a problem with the Cowboys," Rosenhaus said. "Now if the Cowboys organization, if they have a problem, that hasn't been communicated to me or to Terrell and the bottom line is that ultimately every team has the ability to choose which players they want on their club and I think Terrell is going to back. If they decide to make a move, Terrell is one of the more gifted players in the National Football League and I think he will be a very coveted player."

As of a few days ago, Profootballtalk offers a look at caproom …

Current Cap is about $124mm
Cardinals 84 million.
Lions 85 million.
Buccaneers 86 million.
Chiefs 86 million.
Eagles 93 million.
Titans 93 million.
Bengals 95 million.
Packers 95 million.
Bills 98 million.
Dolphins 101 million.
Falcons 101 million.
Texans 101 million.
Seahawks 103 million.
Bears 104 million.
Ravens 104 million.
Steelers 105 million.
Vikings 105 million.
Broncos 107 million.
Chargers 107 million.
Panthers 108 million.
Rams 109 million.
Jaguars 110 million.
49ers 111 million.
Giants 112 million.
Browns 113 million.
Raiders 116 million.
Patriots 119 million.
Cowboys 121 million.
---------------------------------------
Jets 125 million.
Colts 128 million.
Saints 130 million.
Redskins 131 million.

Then, since we are rolling with lists today, Page 2 listed worst MLB contracts ever, and Tom Hicks got a whole section …

The Tom Hicks Memorial Division

Tom Hicks purchased the Rangers in 1998 and won division titles his first two seasons. Maybe he was lucky. Or maybe he got a lot dumber. They've had just one winning season since.

The only thing crueler than Clark's parents naming him Mark is what he did to Rangers fans.

Mark Clark, 1999: 2 years, $9.3 million. Remember when $9.3 million was a big contract for a back-of-the-rotation starter? The Rangers gave Clark the then-sizable deal despite his going 9-14 with a 4.84 ERA for the Cubs in 1998. Clark battled injuries with Texas and went 6-12 with an 8.37 ERA over two seasons. No, that ERA is not a typo.

Alex Rodriguez, 2001: 10 years, $252 million. A-Rod, of course, was magnificent with the Rangers, crushing 156 home runs and knocking in 395 runs in his three seasons. The Rangers also lost 89, 90 and 91 games those three years, in part because Rodriguez's monster contract hamstrung the team's payroll. But at least the Rangers eventually turned Rodriguez into Soriano and turned Soriano into Brad Wilkerson, Armando Galarraga (who was traded to the Tigers) and Terrmel Sledge … which means, uh, the Rangers have nothing showing on their current roster for Rodriguez.

Ken Caminiti, 2001: 2 years, $9.5 million. Caminiti played just 54 games with the Rangers. So no, that Rodriguez-Caminiti 1-2 punch didn't exactly pan out.
Chan Ho Park, 2002: 5 years, $65 million. Park won 22 games with the Rangers. Over three-plus seasons. Park was one of the 10 highest-paid players in the league from '02 through '05. Park, like Rodriguez, was a Scott Boras client. Which only proves that Scott Boras was a much smarter negotiator than Tom Hicks.

Juan Gonzalez, 2002: 2 years, $24 million. Gonzalez had hit .325 with 140 RBIs for Cleveland in 2001, but it would be his last productive season. He spent much of his two seasons on the DL and hit just 32 home runs. In a TV interview in 2007, Hicks said he suspected Gonzalez had used steroids and that "we just gave that money away."
Mike Modano, 2005: 5 years, $17 million. Oops, wrong sport.

Kevin Millwood, 2006: 5 years, $60 million. "The Rangers finally got the legitimate No. 1 starter they have been seeking," heralded the AP story when Millwood signed. (He had won 18 games combined the previous two seasons, so perhaps it was bit of an exaggeration by the writer.) Millwood's ERAs with Texas: 4.52, 5.16, 5.07. His innings: 215, 172 2/3, 168 2/3.

Michael Young, 2007: 5-year contract extension, $80 million. Young is a very nice player, a five-time All-Star. But there is a trend with his slugging percentage that Captain Edward John Smith could relate to: .513, .459, .418, .402. And the Gold Glove Award that he won in 2008 was so well received by management that he's moving to third base in 2009 (and the Rangers thought they'd never have to pay out that $25,000 Gold Glove bonus!). So now you have a declining offensive player without much power moving to a power position and signed for $16 million a year through 2013.

What might the 2010 USA Olympic team look like on the ice in Vancouver? …

Goaltender

No. 1: Tim Thomas

Although Ryan Miller is the probable No. 1, the unorthodox Thomas does nothing well except stop the puck and win. Every Thomas save is like a snowflake, different from every other, but notice how rarely the red light goes on. Vancouver could be the workingman's goalie's moment.

No. 2: Ryan Miller

Recovering from a broken thumb sustained late in 2005, Miller, a potential difference-maker in Turin, was foolishly left off the 2006 squad. (Waddell should have taken a flyer on him instead of John Grahame or Robert Esche.) Miller will be an integral part of this team, assuming he gets the starting job.

No. 3: Jonathan Quick

If the NHL ultimately does send players to Sochi 2014, the Los Angeles Kings rookie would benefit from the Olympic experience.

Defensemen

First pair: Ryan Suter (left) and Brian Rafalski (right)

This will be a first-rate, puck-moving pair, capable of dealing with high-tempo Olympic hockey. Suter is starting to blossom while Rafalski, a power-play catalyst, is having one of his best NHL seasons with Detroit.

Second pair: Ryan Whitney (left) and Mike Komisarek (right)

Komisarek is the physical shutdown defenseman, playing the customary Derian Hatcher role for Team USA. Whitney has been slowed by his foot injury that required surgery last summer, but that will be in the rearview mirror next February.

Third pair: Paul Martin (left) and Jack Johnson (right)

There is a paucity of right-side American defenseman, but if the oft-injured Johnson
is healthy and has a solid start next fall, he can play regular minutes and provide some oomph. If not, John-Michael Liles adds a puck-mover to the pair.

Taxi squad: Johnson/Liles and Matt Niskanen.

Forwards

First line (left to right): Zach Parise, Paul Statsny, Phil Kessel
Kessel has all-world speed, but needs a center to get him the puck. Scott Gomez, the other prospective center of this line, carries it too much, which would not take the proper advantage of his two superb wingers. Parise, who has a chance for 50 goals this season, could dazzle.

Second line: Dustin Brown, Scott Gomez, Patrick Kane
Brown is the ideal banging/scoring winger for two skaters who should be able to work give-and-go's. Despite his current sub-par performance with the Rangers, few are as passionate about playing for Team USA as Gomez.

Third line: David Booth, Chris Drury, Brian Gionta
Team USA would have a third scoring line with the emerging Booth and Drury, who often plays well in pressure situations. The problematic element is the undersized Gionta, whose production has slipped every year since Turin. Jason Pominville might fit in that spot.

Fourth line: Jason Blake/Pominville, Ryan Kesler, Jamie Langenbrunner
As much as we like Paul Gaustad, Kesler figures to best fit the role of checking center. If Pominville can't play the off wing -- he's a right-handed shot -- Blake, who can play either wing and has been a bright spot in Toronto this season, will likely be willing to return to his crash-bang, fourth-line roots and do whatever he must in a last hurrah for Team USA.

Vernon Wells is in studio Friday at 1:30. Here are a few youtubes from the Arlington kid:

Vernon Wells Commercial



Sweet Vernon Wells

US(A) against Them

There are different levels of success in sports, of course. We all want to be “World Champions”, but there is only one on top of the hill. Success then is dropped to division and conference titles and other things to feel good about. Maybe the best of lower-level success is having your way with your biggest rival.

For instance, The United States vs. Mexico in soccer. Rivalry? Yes. Very much so. And in this decade, the United States has stood up again and again to their big rival.

With last night’s win in Columbus, Ohio, the US is now unbeaten on US soil this entire decade. Of course, we won’t talk about being winless on their soil. Baby steps.

I remember when the Bears hired Lovie Smith. He did not talk about the Super Bowl or anything like that. He said that their first goal was to beat the Green Bay Packers. And he did. And then, they went to the Super Bowl.

I would place the United States chances of winning the World Cup very similar to this blog beating ESPN.com in traffic next month, but to appear as a dominant force in its region is a heck of a stride from when we were kids. Heck, when we beat Mexico a decade ago, it was a huge deal. Now, it is something we do routinely.
So, are we that much better? Or is Mexico in a funk? Good question, and I think a bit of both. It seems every time we beat them they fire their manager, so Sven better not rest easy.

Anyway, last night was another indication in a World Cup Qualifier that the balance of power has changed.

Coach’s Kid grabs the headlines …

Michael Bradley scored twice to lead the United States to a 2-0 victory over Mexico in a World Cup qualifier Wednesday night, preserving the Americans’ domination in the series over the last nine years.

On a wet and windy night at Crew Stadium — under the threat of a tornado watch — the Americans ran their record to 9-0-2 on U.S. soil against Mexico since 2000. Tickets had sold out in 90 minutes, with many of the 23,776 fans showing up hours before to stand in the rain while waving flags and wearing their national colors.

After both teams played cautiously at the outset, the Americans finally broke through.

DaMarcus Beasley’s corner kick found Landon Donovan at the far side of the 6-yard box, with Donovan heading it back into the scrum. Oguchi Onyewu’s header was stopped by diving Mexico goaltender Oswaldo Sanchez, but the rebound came right into the path of Bradley, who kicked it in from 6 yards.
“It was a great corner from Beas, and Landon did a great job heading it back,” Bradley said. “It was not so hard for me to put it in.”

That touched off a wild celebration just a few feet from the red-clad Sam’s Army, which danced in the aisles and threw confetti up into the jet stream winds.

Then, in second-half stoppage time, Bradley took a pass from Donovan and his shot from 28 yards dipped under Sanchez’s arms. It secured the third straight 2-0 win for the Americans over Mexico at Crew Stadium in World Cup qualifying.

Mexico captain Rafael Marquez was ejected in the 65th minute when he went high to spike goalkeeper Tim Howard as they went for a loose ball. Howard, who angrily threw the ball down while he flexed his leg, also picked up a yellow card for delay of game on the ensuing free kick.

The loss could mean more trouble for Mexico coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. His team, with just one win in its last seven outings, barely made it into the final round of qualifying. A former manager of England, he had been brought on to stop what many Tricolores fans consider an almost unforgivable sin: losing to the United States. Mexico easily controlled the series for decades, but the U.S. team has now gone 13-7-8 since 1990 to narrow Mexico’s advantage to 29-15-11.

“We did a real nice job of getting after them and not letting them breathe,” Bradley said.

The match was the first of 10 in the final round of qualifying for each team. The United States next plays at El Salvador on March 28 before taking on Trinidad and Tobago on April 1 in Nashville, Tenn. Mexico entertains Costa Rica on March 28.
===
The United States has not lost a home match to a continental rival since 2001, going 37-0 with 10 draws. Included in that domination is a sterling record at Crew Stadium, home of the 2008 Major League Soccer champions. The Americans are unbeaten in eight international games (5-0-3) in Crew Stadium and are 4-0-2 in World Cup qualifiers.

On Feb. 28, 2001, the Americans won 2-0 in 28-degree weather, with ice fringing the field — a match now called Guerra Fria, or the Cold War. They won by the same score in much warmer weather in September 2005 to help secure a spot in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Tonight, Another shot at the Celtics …

Scouting the Celtics

This will be the second of a six-game trip that bridges the All-Star break. ... They had a 12-game winning streak snapped last week by the Los Angeles Lakers and had lost two of three going into Wednesday's game at New Orleans. ... They are an impressive 30-4 against the East but are just 12-7 against the West and only 4-3 on the road against the West. ... Much is made of the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, but it was Eddie House who threw in 23 points Jan. 25 when the Mavericks were trounced in Boston. ... Rajon Rondo had 14 assists in that game.

Scouting the Mavericks

They have won six of their last seven and have won nine of their last 10 at AAC. ... A big issue going forward will be the bench, since Jason Terry's 20 points per game will be missing. The Mavericks have outscored opposing reserves by more than nine points per game. Keeping that advantage will not be easy. ... Jason Kidd has had eight or more assists in eight of the last nine games. ... This is the beginning of what the Mavericks hope is a redemption stretch. They lost by 24 points in both Boston and New Jersey earlier this season. The Nets will follow the Celtics into AAC in the first game after the All-Star break.

David Lord with a nice piece on the trade options ….I think you should read the whole thing, but here is a bit that I take issue with:

My earliest ideas theorized that Phoenix badly needed to make a change, and Shaq and Matt Barnes for Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse would be a deal that would make Amare, Nash, and Suns’ fans ecstatic over a return to their up-tempo style, while putting an extra $30M or more (from lower payroll, lower tax, and additional NBA welfare) into the pocket of frugal Suns’ owner Sarver over the next 1+ seasons. (Let me say that again, so its impact in this economy isn’t lost: $$ Thirty Million Dollars Extra $$) At the time, it seemed like a logical idea, with Dallas getting Shaq, and Phoenix gaining not only J-Ho but also landing two huge upgrades by reaping re-energized versions of Amare and Nash for what they have now.
Unfortunately, the ensuing talk out of Phoenix was that the Suns’ brass preferred the Shaq style attack.

But the times they are a-changin’.

Only weeks later, the whole NBA is competing for any cash-increasing deals they can land, the Suns are now in all-out seller mode, and reports say they now would love to keep the younger Amare and unload Shaq if only they could find a taker.

But if I’m sitting at that negotiating table now – with only nine days to go until the Feb. 19 deadline – I’m driving a hard bargain. How much do the Suns want to move money? Top off the trade with the aging-but-still-very-effective Grant Hill who would fit hand-in-glove into the Mavs in place of J-Ho, and send back two young energy guys in his place (Green and Singleton) to supplement their restored running game after Shaq leaves. Oh and by the way, we don’t need any cash like others will demand if they eat such a lopsided deal financially, so instead you can drop us one of those No. 1 picks you’re always giving to others.

Your Bucket O’ Cash is awaiting, Mr Sarver, you might wanna sign here before we find a better offer.

Do I want Amare? Of course. Sure there’s the knee and the immaturity and the lack of defense and the unfortunate background, as well as the contract that ends in 2010. But if the Suns really would rather trade Amare, and want a cousin of the above proposal (J-Ho and Stack) in exchange, sign me up. He's big, young, and talented.

The bigger issue would be, do I have enough young talent, expiring contracts and (gulp) draft picks to be involved? It depends on the Suns’ priorities. If they primarily want young talent and picks – and that’s the word -- they’ll probably shop elsewhere. (Like, um. … Portland? I hate to say I told you so, but. …) But if the Suns are mostly shopping for Money For Sarver, they might like to shop here: they can include Leandro Barbosa, who is a bit overpaid and whose contract stretches beyond 2010, along with Matt Barnes and reap that $30M+ windfall that begins by shaving their current payroll by over $5 million and immediately putting them under the tax threshold for 2008-09. How would those pieces fit in Dallas? Who cares! We'll make 'em work, just do the dang deal.

I like the idea, but allow me to be clear here: There is no way that the Mavericks would pay $40mm to have Shaq for next season. No way.

Now, let’s figure out his Tyson Chandler idea! Feb 19th approaches:

Tim Macmahon on the Kaman – Baron stuff …

It'd be worth sacrificing financial flexibility to make a trade that would transform the Mavs into a serious contender. But it's unlikely that adding Davis and Kaman and subtracting Kidd would make the Mavs better at all.

You can't count on Kaman making a contribution this season. He's only played 15 games for the Clippers because of a foot injury. When a 7-footer has a serious foot injury, that's a banner-sized red flag. (The Mavs might think for a second before saying no if Marcus Camby was part of the proposal instead of Kaman. Camby has a contract that is up at the end of next season and averaging 11.6 ppg, 12.7 rpg and 2.37 bpg. They still wouldn't pull the trigger, but they wouldn't snicker after hanging up the phone.)

Davis also has serious durability issues. He's played more than 67 games once in the last six seasons, and that just happened to be his contract year.

And Davis been awful when he has played this season, shooting 35 percent from the floor. He's a big-bodied point guard with a game based on explosiveness who turns 30 in April. Wonder why the Clippers are trying to get rid of him and his fresh five-year, $65 million deal?

This deal wouldn't improve the Mavs' (slim) title chances this season, and it'd do significant damage to their future plans.

This link doesn’t say it , but all signs indicate that McGrady is done for the year again….

Hockey Time

Blame Brian Burke. I do. Ilya should be in Atlanta or Washington.

There is no reason Ilya Nikolayevich Bryzgalov should be playing the Stars 6 times a year if Brian Burke doesn't allow Ilya to stay in the division. But, thanks to Burkie, he now owns the Stars, it would seem.

Last night's shutout or the last one, always have me pointed back to the curious decision of the Ducks GM back in 2007 to not find a trade he liked - and thus allowed the Coyotes to find their best goalie in years by simply plucking him off waivers from Anaheim.

How do you let the kid of that talent stay in your same division? I never understood it. And perhaps you are saying that he had no trade to make? A 7th rounder. Future considerations. A bag of pucks. Just make sure you send him out east. When you move a goalie, always get him out of your division. Mike Smith? Sure, I wish the Stars had him behind Marty right now, but if he isn't here, you don't want to face him for the rest of his career right?

But, for reasons I don't understand, Burkie let him stay in the Pacific, and now when the Ducks face him, they risk him sticking it to them as reward. Well, he doesn't own the Ducks, but his grasp on the Stars continue.

Last night, he stopped every puck at him, and the Stars worked hard to beat him. Now, in 5 starts against the Stars this season, he is 3-1-1, with a GAA of 1.56, and a save percentage of almost 95%.

The Stars have to figure out how to play more intense for all 60 minutes, but it would appear they have Ilya in their heads. The good news is that a Coyotes-Stars pairing in the playoffs seems a bit unlikely.

And it is all thanks to Burkie.

Stars lose to Phoenix …

The bar has been raised for the Dallas Stars. On Thursday, they didn't clear it.
While they played hard, created a ton of scoring chances and got great goaltending, a 1-0 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes left them wanting more.

"This is a good dose of reality for us," coach Dave Tippett said. "We thought that maybe we deserved a better fate and didn't get it. So you've got to get back to work tomorrow. Every day is going to be a grind from here on out, and you better show up with even more desperation to get the next one."

The Stars (26-20-7, 59 points) came into the game on a 7-1-0 run. The Coyotes (25-25-5, 55 points) had lost six straight. Today, the teams wake up four points apart in the standings.

Yes, the Stars have played two fewer games, but the message was clear that the standings in the West aren't very forgiving. One week you can be in fifth, the next in 13th.

Number 1 picks are no sure thing in any sport – baseball ….

The San Diego Padres drafted shortstop Matt Bush with the No. 1 overall pick in 2004. He was a local kid out of Mission Bay High School in San Diego. He was suspended before even taking the field for fighting outside a nightclub. After hitting only .221 in his first three seasons, the Padres gave up on Bush as a position player and moved him to pitcher in 2007. He tore an elbow ligament and missed the 2008 season. The Padres finally had seen enough, trading Bush to the Toronto Blue Jays for future considerations Tuesday, after he was accused of a drunken assault involving players of a high school lacrosse team. A witness told The San Diego Union-Tribune that Bush was drunk, threw a golf club, picked up and threw a freshman lacrosse player and hit another one. Bush also yelled "I’m Matt [expletive] Bush" before driving over a curb in his Mercedes when leaving the campus. He just might be the worst top pick in baseball history. Here are the other contenders:

Steve Chilcott, New York Mets (1966): The Mets drafted Chilcott, a high school catcher from California, one pick ahead of Reggie Jackson. Chilcott never made the majors. Jackson hit 563 home runs and made the Hall of Fame. Ouch.

David Clyde, Texas Rangers (1973): Clyde was rushed to the majors straight out of high school at age 18. He went 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA in his first three starts, including a complete-game victory against the Kansas City Royals, but his career quickly fizzled. He retired in 1979 with an 18-33 record.

Danny Goodwin, California Angels (1975): Scouts thought so highly of Goodwin that he was drafted No. 1 overall twice. It was a mistake both times. The Chicago White Sox drafted the catcher out of high school in 1971 but he attended Southern University instead. Four years later the Angels drafted him. He spent seven years in the majors but finished with only 13 career home runs and a .236 lifetime batting average.

Al Chambers, Seattle Mariners (1979): Chambers, an outfielder who was drafted out of high school, looked to be fulfilling his promise when he batted .331 with 12 home runs and 20 stolen bases as a 22-year-old at Triple A in 1983, but that proved to be his ceiling. He had a career .208 batting average with two home runs during three brief trips to the majors.

Shawn Abner, New York Mets (1984): His biggest impact on baseball came when the Mets traded him along with future All-Star Kevin Mitchell to the Padres for Kevin McReynolds. In six major-league seasons, Abner batted .227 with 11 home runs.

Brien Taylor, New York Yankees (1991): The hard-throwing left-hander was given what at the time was the largest signing bonus ever for an amateur at $1.55 million. Baseball America named him the game’s top prospect after he dominated Double A batters with a high 90s fastball in his second season, but he injured his shoulder in a fight and his fastball was never the same after surgery. He became the second player taken No. 1 overall to never reach the majors.

Matt Anderson, Detroit Tigers (1997): Anderson was an All-American at Rice on the strength of a 100 mph fastball. He amazingly lasted seven seasons in the majors despite a career ERA of 5.19 out of the bullpen. He tore a muscle in his armpit in 2002 that cost him his dynamic fastball. Compounding the story is that — depending on whom you believe — it may have happened during an octopus-throwing contest for a cross promotion with the Detroit Red Wings. Anderson says he was injured warming up afterward. Anderson is trying to make a comeback. He pitched last season in the Chicago White Sox organization, posting a 5.60 ERA in 15 appearances at Triple A.

Bryan Bullington, Pittsburgh Pirates (2002): It’s still a little early to rule Bullington out, but the jury is getting pretty close to rendering a verdict. He’s pitched only 33 innings at the major league level and he hasn’t exactly torn his way through the minor leagues either. At 28 years old, he’s running out of time to prove himself.

And, there is no reason for this link, But here it is …The Rangers winter spending plan…And before you ask, “Well, Bob, who did you want them to sign????”, here is my answer: Nobody. They are perfect. Not a dollar – save for the non-roster signees.

USA!

From: DFW American Outlaws
Date: Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 6:55 PM
Subject: DFW AO: WP for USMNT v Mexico - Wed Feb 11

It's 2-0 time again! The USMNT will play Mexico on Wednesday, 2/11. They'll look to dismantle Sven's squad at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, OH.

DFW American Outlaws and FC Dallas will be hosting a WP at Trinity Hall.

********************************************

WHO: DFW American Outlaws and FC Dallas

WHAT: USMNT v Mexico WP

WHEN: Wednesday, February 11. Match kicks off at 6:00 PM and we'll be set up by 5:30pm

WHERE: Trinity Hall http://www.trinityhall.tv/

MORE INFO: www.myspace.com/dfwamericanoutlaws

FUN STUFF:
* FCD will be raffling off some prize for all in attendance at the WP.

* Instant membership benefits! Just bring $15 cash or check and you can join AO immediately and receive immediate benefits, which include a t-shirt, bandana, and sticker!

* T-Hall will have beer specials thru the entire match.

* This watching party is open to all ages as T-Hall doesn't check ids until after the kitchen closes at a 10:30pm.

So come on out and cheer on our boys as they do battle with our fiercest rival!

To Trade, or Not To Trade

ESPN Coast to Coast last night had a report that the Mavericks turned down a deal yesterday that initially sounds worth-while. They were offered Baron Davis and Chris Kaman for Jason Kidd.

They said no.

I think they made the right call.

Davis, will be 30 in April, is a fabulous player, but has and will always be in a battle with his knees. He is signed for 4 more seasons, and although he might be the Alpha-Male this team so desires – if he isn’t healthy, then he is an anchor on your spreadsheet.

Meanwhile, Kaman is a nice piece, and he is soon to be 27. But, again, is he the difference maker? Is he going to carry you with Dirk to the promised land? I don’t see it.

I like Baron a lot. I think Kaman is useful. And, I think the Kidd era has been failed, but I think you want to keep your powder dry. I think in these trying economic times, there will be a lot of offers like this, and you have to wait for that one that will put you over the top. I just can’t believe in Baron’s health. So, like the Mavericks, I pass.

It is a good deal, but it isn’t good enough for me to take myself out of all other deals AND the summer of 2010. If you take yourself out of 2010, then you better get a franchise making deal. This is not it.

Player	08-09	09-10	10-11	11-12	12-13
B Davis	11.25m	12.15m	13.05m	13.95m	14.85m
C Kaman	9.5m	10.4m	11.3m	12.2m	Off
J Kidd	21.3m	Off	Off	Off	Off

Table Tutorial

The latest from Mark Cuban in player evaluation …

To the Cowboys, and I am ready to give in. Everybody on the national scene is saying it. And now Michael Lombardi is, too …

Now, for the real news out of Dallas regarding Terrell Owens. Peter King wrote this yesterday in his Monday Morning QB, and I believe he is dead-on accurate. When, not if, is the real question everyone is asking about T.O. He will not be back, but the team is still deciding when to make the announcement of his termination or trade.
Maybe Jones can work a trade out to send Owens to the Raiders since they have a huge need at wideout and have never been afraid to take on a big challenge. This will be interesting to follow as it develops.

From a Raiders Chat …

I read today that several national journalists feel that T.O. will be out of Dallas and Oakland would be a good spot, perhaps only costing a 3rd round pick. Do you see this as a possibility?

Steve Corkran: Of course it's a possibility. Terrell Owens has Raider written all over him, and Al Davis is the kind of owner who would allow Owens to be the person he is as long as he produces in games.

We shall see, but there is too much smoke here for there to be no fire. Owens is gone. I think.

===

I am right in the middle of a life-long project that I occasionally admit to on the air. It is basically living in my past and researching and preserving the icons of my youth that made me the sports nerd that I am today.

This involves a number of things, including trying to convert many of my favorite video tapes from my teenage years (when I first had a VCR) to DVD. The idea is that this will preserve them for another few decades, and then I will convert them again to the next technology.

But, part of this process is soaking in sports as it was in the mid to late 1980’s. Back then, I was obsessed with basketball and the Packers. Basketball, because I was pretty sure at the age of 15, that I would be on my way to a life of playing professional basketball. I think if you watch this, you will agree .

Anyway, last night I was converting Game 4 of the 1987 NBA Finals to DVD.

What a game. Lakers vs. Celtics in the Boston Garden. Celtics with a huge lead (up 16 in the 3rd; up 8 with 2:30 to play) and the Lakers come all the way back to win with a Magic hook shot with :02 left.

A true classic …

Game 4, NBA Finals, Boston Garden, June 9, 1987. The Lakers and Celtics are wrapped up in one of their epic encounters. Boston Garden is a madhouse, a deafening roar rolling down from the rafters as Larry Bird drills a heart-stopping three-point shot from the left corner with 12 seconds left, giving the Celtics a 106-104 edge, and moving the series closer to a 2-2 deadlock.

The seconds tick away as the Lakers, who have rallied from eight points down in the last 3½ minutes, move the ball inside to Abdul-Jabbar, who's fouled. He makes his first free throw, cutting the deficit to 106-105, but misses the second. Boston forward Kevin McHale seizes the rebound as the crowd goes berserk, sensing that the game is over. But somehow, McHale fumbles the ball out of bounds, enabling Los Angeles to retain possession with seven seconds left.

The Garden crowd is stunned. McHale later claims he was pushed by the Lakers' Mychal Thompson, prompting him to lose control of the ball. No matter. The Lakers' Michael Cooper looks to inbound the ball, the Celtics up by a point.

Johnson sets a pick for James Worthy and quickly pops out of the corner. Cooper passes in to Johnson, who turns and expects to see the eyeballs of Celtics guard Dennis Johnson. Instead, Magic is face to face with the long-armed, 6-foot-11 McHale, who was caught in a switch when Magic set the pick.

The clock is down to three seconds as Magic dribbles toward the middle of the lane, about 12 feet from the basket. The moment is his. He is not looking for Abdul-Jabber or Worthy or Cooper. "I wanted the ball in my hands," he would say later. "Guys like me and Larry Bird want the ball in our hands for the last shot. That's what we thrive on."

Johnson is about to take a jumper, then, as the eyes of the world glare in at him, he goes to the middle. Then, to the amazement of everyone in the Garden, including his own teammates, Johnson steals a page from Abdul-Jabbar's book and takes a graceful, sweeping, arching sky hook, a shot he would later refer to, laughingly, as "my junior, junior sky hook," the little brother of Abdul-Jabbar's famous sky hook, that unblockable shot that defined his career.

The ball passes over McHale's outstretched fingernails, by the distance of strand of hair, and floats toward the basket. With two seconds on the clock, the ball swishes through the net. There is total disbelief in the arena. "I started to take the jumper and when a big guy comes out at you, like Kevin did, I knew my best chance was to drive on him," Magic would say later. "I needed one step to get the shot off, and that's what I got."

Magic had gone to Kareem during the season to ask for pointers on shooting a hook shot. He always wanted to learn something new to keep his opponents off-balance. To keep them guessing. He asked Abdul-Jabbar about the mechanics of the shot. He didn't understand how to turn his body correctly on the shot. But he practiced it continuously, often by himself.

Magic's hook gives L.A. a 107-106 lead with two ticks left on the clock. Boston calls timeout to set up a final shot. Dennis Johnson inbounds the ball to Bird, who beats Worthy on the dribble and launches a three-point shot from the left corner. It bounces long off the opposite rim, and a hush descends upon New England. Final score: Lakers 107, Celtics 106. Los Angeles leads the series, 3-1.

"You expect to lose on a skyhook," Bird would say later, managing a slight grin. "You just don't expect it to be Magic."

Then I did a full Sports Illustrated search for some bed time reading, and found this very interesting David Halberstam piece about the role of race in the 1987 NBA Finals …

Because the styles and the racial composition of each team were so strikingly different, race was very much at issue during the series (and indeed was covertly at issue even when it was not overtly so). It was always there, as race is always there in American life, even when it seemingly is not.

One enters the subject of race and basketball as one enters a minefield: American blacks are clearly faster than American whites; in addition, they are now generally perceived as better natural athletes; and Los Angeles is a significantly blacker team than Boston. The first seven Los Angeles players are black; Boston, which was the first integrated team and the first team to start five blacks, has been for almost a decade one of the whitest teams in the league, and it starts three whites and often plays four at a time.

Even before the finals started, Dennis Rodman and Isiah Thomas of the Pistons had raised the question of race, both suggesting that Larry Bird was overrated and had become a superstar not so much because of the excellence of his game as because he was white and because white fans and media seized on and magnified his value. At the same time, The Boston Globe ran a story quoting some local black youths at a playground saying they favored the Lakers because the Celtics were so white. That story reverberated throughout the paper for the next few days.

Racism is about stereotypes on both sides, and like most stereotypes, racial ones can be both true and untrue. One can imagine, for example, the young and still healthy Walton as an ideal center for the current Laker team. Comparably, one can easily imagine the mid-career Abdul-Jabbar playing for the Celtics and fitting in perfectly well with their style. Yet, as the current Laker offense springs from Magic, so the current Celtic team is an extension of Bird. The Boston offense is built around a forward with great vision and great hands who moves well without the ball and who will, against an exceptional defense, come off a series of picks, ready to shoot or pass. It is critical on this team that everyone be able to shoot well from within a specified range. This is, for better or worse, defined as white basketball. That Bird would be an equally wonderful forward on the current Laker team does not change the stereotype (in part because Johnson would have difficulty on the Celtics as currently constituted; he would probably be too fast for them, and it is possible that an adjustment in his game might cost him what is best in his game).

Anyway, that is how I spent part of my Tuesday night. Yes, I party.

And then there is this disturbing story about Robbie Alomar’s post baseball career …

Baseball great Roberto Alomar has full-blown AIDS but insisted on having unprotected sex, his ex-girlfriend charged Tuesday in a bombshell lawsuit.

The shocking claim was leveled by Ilya Dall, 31, who said she lived with the ex-Met for three years and watched in horror as his health worsened.

In papers filed in state and federal court, Dall said Alomar finally got tested in January 2006 while suffering from a cough, fatigue and shingles.

"The test results of him being HIV-positive was given to him and the plaintiff on or about Feb.6, 2006," the $15 million negligence suit says.

Nine days later, the couple went to see a disease specialist who discovered a mass in the retired second baseman's chest, the court papers say.

Alomar's skin had turned purple, he was foaming at the mouth and a spinal tap "showed he had full-blown AIDS," the suit says.

Alomar, 41, who quit baseball over health issues in 2005, could not be reached for comment.

His lawyer, Charles Bach, would not say whether Alomar is HIV-positive. "We believe this is a totally frivolous lawsuit. These allegations are baseless," Bach said. "He's healthy and would like to keep his health status private. We'll do our talking in court."

Alomar's father, Mets bench coach Sandy Alomar, said the claims were news to him. "That's the first time we ever heard of that," he said from Puerto Rico.

Baron Davis Mix Tape



Sports make me smile

Tuesday Stuff

I bet you thought I would lead with A-Rod, right? Sorry. I think the whole world has that covered.

As for Sean Avery?

Bob McKenzie is on the case this morning …

The first thing you should know is the Dallas Stars don't absolutely have to do anything with Sean Avery right now.

They could continue to pay him to not play on their team this season and just wait until the summer buyout period to be rid of him. If the Stars were to do that, you could argue they immediately benefit in terms of the salary cap. as long as Avery is in the minors, he doesn't count against the cap.

If Dallas buys out Avery in the off-season, it will cost them $8 million to do so with a cap hit of $1.2 million for each of the next three years and $1.3 million per year for another three years after that.

If, however, they put Avery on re-entry waivers and he's claimed by the New York Rangers or anyone else, the Stars would immediately have to add half of Avery's remaining salary this year to their cap hit. On top of that, they would have a higher cap hit of $1.9 million for each of the next three seasons, although they would save $2 million in cash. But even in this economy that isn't going to make or break Dallas owner Tom Hicks.

But if the Rangers want to allow Avery to play with their farm team in Hartford of the AHL for a trial run before deciding if they want to pick him up - and Stars' GM Les Jackson and Ranger counterpart Glen Sather are arranging for that to happen on Tuesday - the Stars may play the re-entry card later on just to put this whole thing behind them.

In the meantime, though, Dallas is covering its bases. Stars' team doctors gave Avery a thorough physical on Monday in Dallas because they don't need him showing up in the minors and suddenly discovering he's "injured." Injured players get paid to not play, just like Avery right now, but injured players don't often get picked up on re-entry waivers and injured players cannot be bought out of their contracts.
The bottom line is that Dallas is under no real pressure, financial or otherwise, to make a move unless it suits them.

I agree with everything except his assertion that a savings of $2-3 million isn’t an incentive to get this deal done. I think that is the price of a defenseman, so if they get this done, they may be far more willing to add some money by the March 4 trade deadline…

Just in case you weren’t aware, the Dallas Cowboys rank and file have been doing some interviews (all thanks to DC Fanatic):

Greg Ellis on Doocy …

Roy Williams on Newy …

Romo on with Babe …

I guess Hansen must have had himself on…

Speaking of Roy, Blogging the Boys has this …

Never has the importance of impact safeties been more evident than it was on Championship Sunday two weeks ago. Only four teams remained in the hunt for the coveted Lombardi trophy, and each of the four had a safety who was a starter in the Pro Bowl. The Eagles’ Brian Dawkins, the Cardinals’ Adrian Wilson, the Steelers' Troy Polamalu, and the Ravens’ Ed Reed all have a catalytic effect on their respective defensive units. They direct traffic. They make tackles in the backfield. They separate backs and receivers from the football. They pick off passes, and they take them to the house. It was not that long ago that the Dallas Cowboys had a guy like that. The troubling thing is that they still have that guy. The name and the smile are the same, but Roy Williams is no longer the game-changing fire starter he once was.

It is worth reading the whole essay at the link about Roy.

Meanwhile, Peter King bets you a coffee! …

I think everyone doing free-agent lists should add one name in pencil: Terrell Owens. I'll bet you a month's worth of lattes he'll be free in six weeks.

===
The kid from Miami of Ohio sucked it up pretty good. The Super Bowl win standings of the Quarterback Class of 2004: Roethlisberger 2, Eli Manning 1, Philip Rivers, J.P. Losman, Matt Schaub 0. Look at the three draft picks in the first round before Roethlisberger in 2004 -- cornerback DeAngelo Hall, wideout Reggie Williams, cornerback Dunta Robinson. Think Atlanta, Jacksonville and Houston regret those picks?

Mavs continue on without the Jet …I agree with the premise that Josh needs to carry the load….

The broken bone in Jason Terry's hand will keep him out several weeks, although no official timetable has been released. One of the weeks Terry will miss coincides with the All-Star break, when no games are played.

Terry said Sunday that he suffered the injury early in the second quarter Saturday against the Chicago Bulls.

"I got a loose ball and ran into [J.J.] Barea and felt a sharp pain," Terry said.

It was clear the injury was significant later in the half, when a pass hit Terry in the hands and he winced in pain. Terry said he did not know if surgery would be required.

The Mavericks were waiting for Terry to visit a hand specialist to determine what's next.

Regardless, it won't be easy to compensate for Terry's absence.

"We're going to have to piece this thing together without him for a while," coach
Rick Carlisle said. "We've got a lot of good players and enough to win games. We'll figure it out. I've been down this road before."

The Mavericks have to figure out how to make up 20 points per game. But they're losing more than a scorer. Terry is a fan favorite, a spiritual leader and a player who can provide a quick spark off the bench.

Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki know what has to happen over the next few weeks. The Mavericks have two home games left before the All-Star break: Tuesday against Sacramento and Thursday against Boston.

Players such as Barea, Josh Howard, Antoine Wright, Brandon Bass, Erick Dampier and James Singleton have to perk up offensively.

OK – On to A-Rod.

Sandomir looks at the actual interview …

Rodriguez’s people did not reach out to ESPN reporters like T. J. Quinn or Mark Fainaru-Wada, veterans of the steroids beat, or its legal reporter, Lester Munson.
And they certainly weren’t going to reward Sports Illustrated by agreeing to an exclusive with the magazine, even if one of its Web site’s baseball reporters, Jon Heyman, has reported extensively on Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras.

Rodriguez has known Gammons for much of his career and felt comfortable with him in a way he would not with reporters who have specialties in steroids and the law. A year ago, Roger Clemens sought out Mike Wallace of CBS’s “60 Minutes,” because of a comfort level derived from previous interviews, to discuss accusations of steroid use.

A candid Rodriguez gave Gammons plenty — the admission to using steroids and the often-repeated self-flagellation that he was stupid and naïve. But Gammons, ESPN’s Hall of Fame baseball writer, did not ask a crucial question: “Alex, how often did you take Primobolan or any other banned substances?”

It is a rare journalist who walks away from a big interview satisfied that every possible question had been asked in such a set period of time. But this was a big omission.

The answer would have given viewers a greater sense of how much Rodriguez felt he needed to experiment in that “loosey-goosey” era of drug use he described, a period that included his three years as a Texas Ranger. What was the frequency, Alex?
Rodriguez was a willing but careful interviewee, although at the start, he searched through elaborate mouth movements to best express himself.

Hiding a secret for six years can be torture, but it would have stayed hidden if not for the Sports Illustrated article that appeared on the magazine’s Web site Saturday morning.

But when asked where he got any of his drugs, Gammons let him take cover behind the answer that “you have nutritionists, you have doctors, you have trainers.” Well, who? (All we know from him is that he got nothing through José Canseco.)

He also let Rodriguez use the camouflage of baseball’s pretesting-program drug culture — a “gray area” where “a lot of people were doing a lot of things” — when asked who introduced him to steroids?

•

Gammons’s politeness seemed to have prevented him from being overly skeptical or a bit rude to Rodriguez, who invited him to Miami. Maybe he wanted to give Rodriguez lots of rope to perform self-therapy. But even in confessing, Rodriguez was evasive. How often do you interject or correct?

But Gammons needed to ask, “How could you not know what you were putting in your body?” Or, “Why can’t you recall who first gave you an illegal substance?”

Asked by Gammons if Primobolan, an anabolic steroid whose chemical name is methenolone, were accessible even if doctors would not prescribe it, Rodriguez diverted to asking to see the test because he insisted he did not know what he tested positive for. Alex, meet Primobolan.

It may sound picky, but when Rodriguez said it was “pretty accurate” that he had used the banned drugs from 2001 to 2003, I wondered, how close to 100 percent accuracy is “pretty”? Did he sneak a little juice in 2000, too?

To his credit, Gammons got Rodriguez to admit to plenty of regrets and numerous rationales about how his career should be judged and how he will be assessed by Hall of Fame voters for having, he said, played drug-free for all but three seasons.
All that, and the admission that Sports Illustrated was right in reporting that he tested positive, are valuable additions to baseball’s steroids archive that includes Clemens’s fiery denials, Mark McGwire’s sad evasions, Rafael Palmeiro’s finger-pointing, Jason Giambi’s sort-of-admission and Andy Pettitte’s full-fledged confession.

The original story from SI.com …

The disturbing list of Rangers who have been caught in the web of PED according to Sherrington …

CF Gary Matthews Jr. Mitchell Report
C Pudge Rodriguez Teammate allegation
SS Alex Rodriguez Media report
RF Juan Gonzalez Teammate allegation
1B Rafael Palmeiro Tested positive
3B Ken Caminiti Acknowledged
DH David Segui Acknowledged
2B Randy Velarde Mitchell Report
LF Chad Allen Mitchell Report

I put Jose Canseco in LF, I think, over Chad Allen…

Andruw Jones wants whatever Rudy is serving …

Impressed by a Jan. 26 workout with hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, the Texas Rangers have agreed to terms with free-agent center fielder Andruw Jones on a minor league deal.

An announcement is expected to be made soon, general manager Jon Daniels said. Jones will make $500,000 if he makes the big-league roster and can earn another $1 million in performance bonuses.

Jones is another low-risk, high-reward signing by the Rangers. An overweight Jones hit only .158 with three home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, and he had knee surgery in May.

But Jones has lost weight, perhaps as much as 25 pounds, and the Rangers hope that Jaramillo can help him find the powerful stroke that produced at least 25 homers for 10 consecutive seasons from 1998-2007.

"Rudy liked what he saw in his swing and thinks he can help him be consistent," manager Ron Washington said Sunday. "He could be an impact. He was an impact for 12 years in Atlanta."

Jones, a five-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner, can opt out of his contract March 20. But he could give the Rangers another big right-handed bat to throw into a lefty-heavy lineup.

He swatted 51 homers for the Braves in 2005 and followed with 41 more in 2006. Jones dipped to only 26 the next season, with a .222 average, but was able to land a two-year, $36 million contract with the Dodgers.

His 2008 season was so poor that fans quickly turned against Jones, who weighed more than 240 pounds throughout the season. He played only 75 games, and the Dodgers agreed to release him last month.

It’s the Rangers’ turn to see if Jones, a 13-year veteran who turns 32 in April, still has enough All-Star ability to work his way into a crowded group of outfielders.

"I’m excited to have him," Washington said. "I think it’s a big challenge for him. We’re looking forward to seeing what he may still have and how he can help us."

Tomorrow we get another crack at the Mexicans …

Wednesday night has been marked on the calendars of soccer fans for quite some time. It is a game that appeals to the general sports fan also. It is a tale of neighboring countries that share borders, problems, cultural issues and a growing connection between their soccer cultures.

When the United States takes on Mexico in Columbus, Ohio, much more than just qualifying for World Cup 2010 will be on the minds of players and fans alike.
Nationalistic pride will be at stake and, in the case of Mexico, the confidence of a whole country can gain a boost.

As much as the soccer culture continues to grow closer between the two, the popularity of the sport is on distinctively different levels.

In Mexico, soccer is the No. 1 sport in the minds of its people and that is why when the United States defeats their national team it is painful. Here in the U.S., the soccer culture continues to grow and, despite what many think, soccer or fú tbol is clearly an American game.

Still, the pressure seems firmly on Mexico heading into Wednesday night as it has not beaten the United States on U.S. soil in 10 games. Questions revolve around its coach Sven Goran Eriksson and if the Swede is the right man for the job. Missing due to an injury will be Andres Guardado, arguably Mexico’s top attacking talent. Fans will wonder if their top player Rafa Marquez of Barcelona can live up to being a leader against the U.S. team.

Despite these pertinent questions, one must always remember that when the U.S. and Mexico come together, expect the unexpected.

The last meaningful match in which the U.S. and Mexico squared off was at the Gold Cup Final in Chicago in the summer of 2007 in front of 60,000 fans at Soldier Field.
The match was memorable for a number of reasons, but also had a deep Houston connection.

Not only did the win give the U.S. the right to call itself “King of CONCACAF” but it also was the first time that the United States had come from behind to beat its rivals to the south.

Chelsea sacks big Phil …

Well, the most obvious – OK, the most amusing – assumption to make in the light of Luiz Felipe's out-of-the-Blues departure from Stamford Bridge is that Chelsea wanted
to beat Portsmouth to Avram Grant.

Funnily enough, the reasons for Scolari's demise are not entirely dissimilar to the ones that did for Tony Adams. Both took over teams that were on the slide and suffering from the apparent disenchantment of their Russian owners. And both palpably failed to convince some of their biggest players that they could arrest the decline.

In Chelsea's case, of course, the demise has been slower but much sharper. They have fallen from a mighty height – from back-to-back Premier League winners to a position where their ability to reach next season's Champions League seems to depend to a large extent on injuries at Arsenal and even Everton. Scolari's greatest
achievement – winning the 2002 World Cup – was made possible by monumental balls-ups by the main rivals, but relying on such serendipity is a risk Chelsea have clearly decided not to take.

Chelsea's problems pre-date Scolari, of course. It was Jose Mourinho's railing at the initial signs of stagnation that precipitated his departure two years ago and Grant deserves a degree of credit for ensuring morale and performances did not completely unravel last season. Recent events, however, suggest much of the praise for last season's run to the Champions League final and second place in the Premier League should be given to the club's erstwhile assistant, Steve Clarke.

EMAIL FROM TY!

Hey Bob,

You or some P1 may have already done this, but I started looking at the stats of the Cowboys and Raiders since the last time Dallas won a playoff game following the 96 season. I picked Oakland because they are a once-great franchise that has taken a huge slide, mainly because Al Davis continues to meddle in the football operations

In the 12 seasons since, here are the cumulative records:

Dal: 95 & 97 (avg record 8-8)
Oak: 77 & 115 (avg record 6-10)

Advantage Cowboys...but also add in, during that same stretch, that Oakland has the same number of double-digit win seasons as Dallas (3), they've won 4 playoff games and been to a Super Bowl.

I'm not saying that the Cowboys have sunk to the depths that the Raiders have of late. But I really am starting to worry that Jerry is headed down the same path as Crazy Al Davis.

I'm sure Sports Sturm already came up with all of this, but I was bored...

Later...
Ty Walker

Hey Ya – Donovan and Me



Hard foul?

Nunca Caminaras Solo

After a day at Ticketstock, I came home to watch Liverpool take on Portsmouth. I love Fernando Torres. He is my soccer hero.


Torres Song



Torres Song – Nike

Ask Sports Sturm: NFL Rankings, Version 8.0

Here it is, the 8th annual edition of the Historical Rankings of the 32 NFL Franchises in the Super Bowl Era. The object of this game is to find a way to quantify the accomplishments of each team in a way that is a bit more advanced than saying “The Jets have one Super Bowl win, the Vikings have none…therefore the Jets have a better history of quality than the Vikings”. Obviously, if you follow the two franchises, you know that it really isn’t close – the Vikings have shown consistently great results – just never have won the big one.

To recap, a few years ago, a good strong listener asked me to rank the franchises from #32 to #1 based on their accomplishments from Super Bowl I to present.

So I did. I wanted it to be objective, not subjective. I wanted it to be a formula and you would just enter the numbers and it would spit out the rankings with no favoritism or prejudice. We have been doing this since 2001. Since then, it has been imitated a time or two , but I don’t mind. It is pretty obvious idea for any sports nerd to come up with.

Here is how it works. Each Franchise gets 1 point for each season it makes the playoffs. Then, if it reaches the Conference Championship Game it gets a total of 3 points. If it makes the Super Bowl it gets 5, and if it wins the Super Bowl it wins the maximum total of points in a given year of 11. It used to be 10 for the Super Bowl, but I have adjusted it this year because I didn’t like the idea that 2 Super Bowl losses equaled a Super Bowl win. So, Now 11 points for a win and 5 for a loss in the Super Bowl.

I have been asked why no points are given for wins in the Wildcard round, but I decided that would not make sense with the idea that the playoffs have grown over the years and there is no way to equalize a smaller field to a larger one. Also, a Wildcard win is not that big a deal anymore with 6 teams in the playoffs, so unless you reach the Conference Title game, no additional points beyond the 1 for making the post-season.

I also have been asked how come I don’t go by average points per season (since many teams have joined the league since Super Bowl 1. My answer is simple: I don’t want to penalize teams who have been in the league all of the years. If you go by average points per year rather than total points, it is possible that the Baltimore Ravens would have been #1 if they had won the Super Bowl this year. No chance I would believe that premise, given that they didn’t exist prior to 1996. But, if a team has been established since the season of Super Bowl 1 (1966), it is notated.
Just add up the points for all the years, and that is the entire formula.

Otherwise, I break ties based on the team with more Super Bowl wins, then Super Bowl losses, then Championship Game wins, etc. There are no ties. I will settle it somehow.



#1 - The Dallas Cowboys (Same as Last Year, #1)

Total Points: 107
Total Playoff Years: 66C, 67C, 68, 69, 70SL, 71S, 72C, 73C, 75SL, 76, 77S, 78SL, 79, 80C, 81C, 82C, 83, 85, 91, 92S, 93S, 94C, 95S, 96, 98, 99, 03, 06, 07

P: 29
4: 8
2: 3
1: 5

The Cowboys remain the undisputed Champ since Super Bowl I. But, when we started doing this, they had what appeared to be an absolutely insurmountable lead. It has nearly been all lost. The Steelers are now within a handful of points, or one Super Bowl appearance of undoing the entire lead.



#2 - The Pittburgh Steelers (Same)

Total Points: 102
Total Playoff Years: 72C, 73, 74S, 75S, 76C, 77, 78S, 79S, 82, 83, 84C, 89, 92, 93, 94C, 95SL, 96, 97C, 01C, 02, 04C, 05S, 07, 08S

P: 24
4: 7
2: 1
1: 6

In the last 14 years, the Steelers have won 2 Super Bowls, lost another, and lost 4 more Championship games. As everyone lauds New England, they should take a long look at the amazing quality of the “next generation” Pittsburgh Steelers.



#3 - The San Francisco 49ers (Same)

Total Points: 85
Total Playoff Years: 70C, 71C, 72, 81S, 83C, 84S, 85, 86, 87, 88S, 89S, 90C, 92C, 93C, 94S, 95, 96, 97C, 98, 01, 02

Hasn’t made the playoffs in six years. Ouch.

P: 21
4: 7
2: 0
1: 5



#4 - The Oakland Raiders (Same)

Total Points: 77
Total Playoff Years: 67SL, 68C, 69C, 70C, 72, 73C, 74C, 75C, 76S, 77C, 80S, 82, 83S, 84, 85, 90C, 91, 93, 00C, 01, 02SL

The joke of the NFL now days, but still entrenched in the top 5 all-time.

P: 21
4: 9
2: 2
1: 3



#5 - The New England Patriots (Same)

Total Points: 59
Total Playoff Years: 76, 78, 82, 85SL, 86, 94, 96SL, 97, 98, 01S, 03S, 04S, 05, 06C, 07SL

They missed the playoffs in 2008, but their record speaks for itself in the last decade as they are all the way up into the Top 5.

P: 15
4: 1
2: 3
1: 3



#6 - The Miami Dolphins (Up 1, from #7)

Total Points: 58
Total Playoff Years: 70, 71SL, 72S, 73S, 74, 78, 79, 81, 82SL, 83, 84SL, 85C, 90, 92C, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99, 00, 01, 08

The unlikely playoff berth shot them back in front of Denver to #6.

P: 22
4: 2
2: 3
1: 2



# 7 The Denver Broncos (6)

Total Points: 57
Total Playoff Years: 77SL, 78, 79, 83, 84, 86SL, 87SL, 89SL, 91C, 93, 96, 97S, 98S, 00, 03, 04, 05C

Missed the playoffs again, and fell back a spot behind Miami.

P: 17
4: 2
2: 4
1: 2



#8 - The Washington Redskins (Same)

Total Points: 56
Total Playoff Years: 71, 72SL, 73, 74, 76, 82S, 83SL, 84, 86C, 87S, 90, 91S, 92, 99, 05, 07

Another team without much in the last 15 years, but quite a resume.

P: 16
4: 1
2: 2
1: 3



#9 - The Green Bay Packers (Same)

Total Points: 53
Total Playoff Years: 66S, 67S, 72, 82, 93, 94, 95C, 96S, 97SL, 98, 01, 02, 03, 04, 07C

13-3 to out of the playoffs…sound familiar?

P: 15
4: 2
2: 1
1: 3



#10 - The St Louis/Los Angeles Rams (Same)

Total Points: 51
Total Playoff Years: 67, 69, 73, 74C, 75C, 76C, 77, 78C, 79SL, 80, 83, 84, 85C, 86, 88, 89C, 99S, 00, 01SL, 03, 04

They appear to be a ways away from gaining more points. But, top 10 still.

P: 21
4: 6
2: 2
1: 1



#11 - The Minnesota Vikings (Same)

Total Points: 49
Total Playoff Years: 68, 69SL, 70, 71, 73SL, 74SL, 75, 76SL, 77C, 78, 80, 82, 87C, 88, 89, 92, 93, 94, 96, 97, 98C, 99, 00C, 04, 08

Made the playoffs, but still #11.

P: 25
4: 4
2: 4
1: 0



#12 - The New York Giants (Same)

Total Points: 48
Total Playoff Years: 81, 84, 85, 86S, 89, 90S, 93, 97, 00SL, 02, 05, 06, 07S, 08

Last year, nobody thought they could win…and they did. This year, everybody thought they would win…and they disappointed. Thanks, Plaxico.

P: 14
4: 0
2: 1
1: 3



#13 - Indianapolis/Baltimore Colts (Same)

Total Points: 48
Total Playoff Years: 68SL, 70S, 71C, 75, 76, 77, 87, 95C, 96, 99, 00, 02, 03C, 04, 05, 06S, 07, 08

They lose the tiebreaker with the Giants on Lombardi Trophies.

P: 18
4: 3
2: 1
1: 2




#14 - The Buffalo Bills (Same)

Total Points: 34
Total Playoff Years: 66C, 74, 80, 81, 88C, 89, 90SL, 91SL, 92SL, 93SL, 95, 96, 98, 99

A huge gap to #13, and the Bills have not had a playoff berth this millennium. In fact, nothing since Music City Miracle.

P: 14
4: 2
2: 4
1: 0



#15 - The Philadelphia Eagles (Up 2, from #17)

Total Points: 33
Total Playoff Years: 78, 79, 80SL, 81, 88, 89, 90, 92, 95, 96, 00, 01C, 02C, 03C, 04SL, 06, 08C

The Eagles spot in the final 4 shot them up past the Bears and Chiefs into the 15th spot.

P: 17
4: 4
2: 2
1: 0



#16 - The Chicago Bears (Down 1, from #15)

Total Points: 31
Total Playoff Years: 77, 79, 84C, 85S, 86, 87, 88C, 90, 91, 94, 01, 05, 06SL

Down a spot after another mediocre year.

P: 13
4: 2
2: 1
1: 1



#17 - The Kansas City Chiefs (Down 1, from 16)

Total Points: 30
Total Playoff Years: 66SL, 68, 69S, 71, 86, 90, 91, 92, 93C, 94, 95, 97, 03, 06

Not even close to the playoffs in the last 2 seasons caused the house-cleaning. They hold the tie breaker with the Titans by virtue of Super Bowl.

P: 14
4: 1
2: 1
1: 1



#18 - The Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers (Same)

Total Points: 30
Total Playoff Years: 67C, 69, 78C, 79C, 80, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 99SL, 00, 02C, 03, 07, 08

Added point by making the playoffs, but they absolutely had bigger plans for 2008.

P: 18
4: 4
2: 1
1: 0



#19 - The New York Jets (Same)

Total Points: 26
Total Playoff Years: 68S, 69, 81, 82C, 85, 86, 91, 98C, 01, 02, 04, 06

Favre did not get them back in the playoffs, so they stay at #19

P: 12
4: 2
2: 0
1: 1



#20 The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Same)

Established 1976

Total Points: 24
Total Playoff Years: 79C, 81, 82, 97, 99C, 00, 01, 02S, 05, 07

They lost to the Raiders at home to miss the playoffs, and sit at #20 – winning the tiebreaker with the Browns because they won Super Bowl 37.

P: 10
4: 2
2: 0
1: 1



#21 - The Cleveland Browns (same)

Total Points: 24
Total Playoff Years: 67, 68C, 69C, 71, 72, 80, 82, 85, 86C, 87C, 88, 89C, 94, 02

A very weak 15 years from Cleveland…

P: 14
4: 5
2: 0
1: 0



#22 The San Diego Chargers (Same)

Total Points: 21
Total Playoff Years: 79, 80C, 81C, 82, 92, 94SL, 95, 04, 06, 07C, 08

A consistent playoff performer in the last 5 years, but no big prizes to accumulate points.

P: 11
4: 3
2: 1
1: 0



#23 – The Baltimore Ravens (Up 2 spots, from #25)

Established 1996

Total Points: 17
Total Playoff Years: 00S, 01, 03, 06, 08C

With their spot in the Final 4, they leapfrogged the Bengals and the Seahawks, and broke their tie with the Falcons.

P: 5
4: 1
2: 0
1: 1



#24 - The Cincinnati Bengals (Down 1, from #23)

Established 1968

Total Points: 16
Total Playoff Years: 70, 73, 75, 81SL, 82, 88SL, 90, 05

1 playoff spot in 19 seasons? Horrid pro football in Ohio.

P: 8
4: 0
2: 2
1: 0



#25 - The Seattle Seahawks (Down 1, from #24)

Established 1976

Total Points: 16
Total Playoff Years: 83C, 84, 87, 88, 99, 03, 04, 05SL, 06, 07

First time since 2002 they have missed the playoffs.

P: 10
4: 1
2: 1
1: 0



#26 – The Atlanta Falcons (Same)

Total Points: 15
Total Playoff Years: 78, 80, 82, 91, 95, 98SL, 02, 04C, 08

Grabbed a point with their berth, and Matt Ryan adds optimism for the future.

P: 9
4: 1
2: 1
1: 0



#27 - Carolina Panthers (Same)

Established 1995

Total Points: 12
Total Playoff Years: 96C, 03SL, 05C, 08

Left a tie with Detroit, and bumped up a spot with their playoff appearance. Shocked many of us by not being in the Championship game.

P: 4
4: 2
2: 1
1: 0



#28 - Detroit Lions (Same)

Total Points: 11

Total Playoff Years: 70, 82, 83, 91C, 93, 94, 95, 97, 99

No playoff spots this millennium, and no end in sight.

P: 9
4: 1
2: 0
1: 0



#29 – The Jacksonville Jaguars (Same)

Established 1995

Total Points: 10
Total Playoff Years: 96C, 97, 98, 99C, 05, 07

Missed the playoffs, so they remain a chaser of their expansion brother, Carolina.

P: 6
4: 2
2: 0
1: 0



#30 – The Arizona/St Louis Cardinals (Up 1, from #31)

Total Points: 9
Total Playoff Years: 74, 75, 82, 98, 08SL

Made a Super Bowl? And still only gained enough points to jump the Saints. The Cardinals have been really bad for a really long time.

P: 5
4: 0
2: 1
1: 0




#31 – The New Orleans Saints (Down 1, from #30)

Established 1967

Total Points: 8
Total Playoff Years: 87, 90, 91, 92, 00, 06C

Passed by the Cardinals? Oh, the humanity.

P: 6
4: 1
2: 0
1: 0



#32 – The Houston Texans (32)

Established 2002

Total Points: 0
Total Playoff Years: None

Eventually, they will make the playoffs, you would have to imagine.

P: 0
4: 0
2: 0
1: 0

Explanation of Years:
Just the year means they made the playoffs (1 point). Year followed by “C” means they lost in the Conference Championship Game (3 points), Year followed by “SL” means they lost the Super Bowl (5 points), and Year followed by “S” means they won the Super Bowl (11 points).

Version 7.0 …

Version 6.0 …

Super Bowl X

I really love Super Bowl weekend. Not so much for what the long wait of Sunday brings, as I can think of nothing more boring than waiting for kickoff on Super Bowl Sunday. But, the weekend itself has established a bit of a tradition in my world.
It involves 3 things that I really get into. The game itself, the Hall of Fame announcements, and a personal past-time: Going to my DVD collection, and grabbing an old Super Bowl broadcast on DVD and popping it in. I watch the original broadcast, grab a notebook, and watch it as if it is happening today. I analyze and take notes as if it is a Cowboys game being played today, and wanted to give it a true “Bob’s Blog” treatment.

This year’s project was Super Bowl X, the first meeting between the Pittsburgh Steelers and your Dallas Cowboys, played on January 18th, 1976.

The 1975 Cowboys season was not the best they ever had. The St Louis Cardinals actually won the division, and the Cowboys finished 2nd, and were relegated to a road game in the playoffs at Minnesota. One Hail Mary play later, the Cowboys went to Los Angeles and drilled the Rams 37-7 in the NFC Championship game. As unlikely as it seemed, the Cowboys were back in the Super Bowl for the first time since the Super Bowl VI win after the 1971 season.

Here are some of the notes taken in my viewing of the historic game from the Orange Bowl in Miami, a game known best for the show put on by Lynn Swann.

1st Quarter:

• Plenty of talk from the CBS crew (Pat Summerall and Tom Brookshier) about the banged up Steelers. Terry Bradshaw was hurting, Lynn Swann was trying to recover from a concussion from the Raiders game, and Joe Greene is not himself. They all give it a go, but it is clear early that “Mean Joe” will not be a factor.

• The Cowboys have a trick play on the opening kickoff. Preston Pearson takes the return, but hands off to rookie LB Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson on a reverse to the left sideline. Hollywood is shot out of a cannon, and reveals his absurd speed for a Linebacker. Roy Gerela, the kicker who will play a huge role in this game, forces him out at the Pittsburgh 44, but the Cowboys look ready to roll.

• The Steelers first possession ended on a punt meltdown. The snap is fumbled by Bobby Walden, the Steelers punter, and Billy Joe Dupree is on it. One play later, Drew Pearson drags across the middle of the field, Roger Staubach hits him in stride, and Pearson races to the end-zone for a one play drive and the Cowboys have a 7-0 lead. We are informed by Summerall that the team that scores the first touchdown has won the first 9 Super Bowls. Good omen, right?

• Harvey Martin is flying all over the place. What a beast.

• Late in the first Quarter, Lynn Swann’s famous catch along the right sideline occurs. Mark Washington is best known in most places for being the CB who was abused by Swann that day, but looking at the 3 most remarkable catches, I am not sure what Washington could have done different. This play it really does seem that Swann is levitating. How he stays in bounds is remarkable and seemingly impossible. This broadcast doesn’t have hardly any replay angles (I may be spoiled by modern times), but knowing what NFL Films will show us, I am willing to consider this 4 catch performance from Swann the best big-game performance of all-time. The drive ends 3 plays later when Bradshaw finds TE Randy Grossman in the endzone wide open. 7-7, tie.

• One of the obvious rule changes that have benefited the offense since this game is the outlaw of the head-slap, but in this game, it is still quite handy. Dwight White basically punches Ralph Neely in the side of the head on one pass rush, and you can see what a tremendous technique that would be if it were still legal.

2nd Quarter:

• The announcers discuss the two teams’ approaches to play-calling. Terry Bradshaw calls all of his own plays, but Tom Landry sends in Pearson and Doug Dennison with his orders before each huddle. On the Cowboys FG drive early in the Quarter, they have 11 plays run; 9 running plays and just 2 passes – both to the TE Jean Fugett. 10-7, Dallas.

• Brookshier discusses Bradshaw and actually references the idea that he has a low IQ. It would seem in the modern day NFL, this is a bit of a taboo topic.

• On the first Steelers drive of the quarter, they are certainly on the move inside Cowboys territory. But, on 4th and 2, the Steelers go for it with a pass to Franco Harris – which Cliff Harris breaks up. Harris is all over the field, and has many collisions with Franco Harris all day long. Harris really can cover some ground.

• The Cowboys special teams are coached by Mike Ditka, who is wearing a nice light blue V-neck sweater with the sleeves pushed up. The entire Cowboys sideline is a wardrobe discussion, but Ditka and his mustache are pretty distracting. Dan Reeves and Gene Stallings are also notables on Tom Landry’s staff that I can spot through the CBS cameras.

• Both defensive lines seem to be way too much for the opposition. The simplest of stunts cause complete chaos for the pass protection. Too Tall Jones, Martin, and Jethro Pugh are impacting the game for the Cowboys, while LC Greenwood and Dwight White are certainly messing up things for the Steelers defense.



• After the Steelers are pinned deep by a Mitch Hoopes punt, they faced a 3rd and 6 from their own 10 yard line. Rather than play it safe, they go play action, and send it deep to Swann for his other historic grab – the play where he juggles the ball in the air to himself as the Cowboys flail in disbelief. This acrobatic catch again makes you want to be angry at Mark Washington, but really, it is just an amazing play that gains 53 yards. Had Mel Renfro not been on the scene, Swann might have gone 90 for the Touchdown. The Steelers actually get nothing out of the drive, as Roy Gerela misses a 36 yard FG right before the half, and large discussions blaming the wind result.

Halftime:

• Up with People perform. I kid you not. The default punch-line was born in truth.

• The halftime is Brent Musburger, Irv Cross, and Phylliss George sitting at a table in the 3rd row of the stadium at mid-field. It sure seems like Brent and Irv have very little use for the former Miss America sitting at the table with them. When Brent asks Irv what Chuck Noll should do, Cross goes on for 30 seconds. Then George asks Irv, “what about the Cowboys?”, and he quickly dismisses her with “Ask Tom Landry”.

• Brent doesn’t have any sort of Southern accent. Interesting.

3rd Quarter:

• At the risk of committing Cowboys blasphemy, I think now is a fair place to question the performance of the great Roger Staubach in this game. Not very good. He fumbled the ball twice in the first half (but Dallas recovered each) and also threw a pass that should have been picked but was dropped. But here, early in the 3rd quarter, he threw a very poor pass into coverage that was intended for Golden Richards, but intercepted by JT Thomas. Time makes us forget the bad times of a historic icon like Staubach, but in Super Bowl X, Roger was not very good at all. This pick was returned to the Dallas 25 yard line, and in these games, turnovers get you beat. Tom Landry will be criticized for being too conservative with his play calling, but if you watch this entire game, aside from the pass to Drew Pearson back in the 1st Quarter, Staubach doesn’t look like the legend, and you can understand Landry’s desire to try to get the running game going.

• Pittsburgh cannot do much with the field position, and must settle for another attempted Field Goal. Gerela from 33 goes wide yet again, and as the play is over, Cliff Harris taunts Gerela verbally, and maybe even slaps him on the helmet (no good replays). Regardless, this sends young Jack Lambert into a rage, and he sends Harris to the turf. What effect that particular play had on Super Bowl X is certainly a point that has been discussed about a million times, but it is clearly evident on the ensuing Cowboys drive that Lambert is a man possessed, destroying everything in his path.

• For reasons that escape us all, the table at midfield now has Walter Cronkite sitting with the halftime talent. He looks old in 1976, so you can imagine my shock to find he is still alive today. He will turn 93 in November of 2009.

• The Dallas special teams are all over the place, with Cliff Harris looking like he is going to block another punt. But, he misses it, and the Steelers still trail by just 10-7 after 45 minutes. The Steelers have outgained the Cowboys 225-165, but Gerela’s inability to make field goals from 36 and 33 yards are the difference.

4th Quarter:

• The 1st offensive play of the 4th quarter looked like it was going to be a 83 yard touchdown pass from Bradshaw to Franco. But, the Steelers will have to settle for a 26 yard gain as Harris stepped out at the 40. The drive will be stopped when rookie Randy White sacks Bradshaw for a 14 yard loss. Steelers punt yet again.

• The Cowboys 1st drive in the final quarter included an attempted flea-flicker that Staubach wisely did not throw as the Steelers were sitting on Drew Pearson, and the end of Golden Richards day. Richards and Mel Blount, who won the 1975 Defensive Player of the Year in the NFL, had been battling all day after the whistle. On this occasion, Blount appeared to be kneeling on top of Richards back, and Golden stayed down with what turned into fractured ribs. Rookie Percy Howard would replace Richards.

• The Cowboys drive would end with a punt from Hoopes from inside his 5. The Steelers had an all out block on, and the Cowboys had no chance. Hoopes had the punt blocked, and fortunately, the ball went out of the back of the end zone for just the safety. Reggie Harrison would block the punt, but if he didn’t, it appeared another Steeler would have. 10-9, with a free kick to follow. This kick was returned to the Dallas 45, and momentum had clearly switched to the Steelers sideline. A few plays later, and Gerela actually made a Field Goal, and it was the Steelers first lead of the Super Bowl, 12-10, with 8:41 to go in the game.

• Then, with work to do, Preston Pearson set the Cowboys up in poor position on the kickoff return at their own 15. And on the 1st play from scrimmage, Roger again made a very poor decision and throw. Looking for Drew Pearson on the same play and route as the Touchdown pass in the 1st, the Steelers baited Roger into throwing into triple coverage. Safety Mike Wagner jumped the throw to Drew, and picked it off, returning it all the way to the Cowboys 6 yard line. The game was slipping away. Staubach’s 62.5 Qb Rating to this point of the contest was not helping the cause.

• The Cowboys defense again held in the red-zone, which they had done all day, and the Steelers tacked on another Gerela FG from 18 yards for a 15-10 lead with 6:37 to go. After another Cowboys punt, the Steelers had the ball facing a 3rd and 4 from their own 36 yard line with 3:10 to go in the game. In today’s NFL, most teams would run the ball and use the clock. But, on that day, Bradshaw decided it was time to go for the kill shot. The Cowboys called a full fledged safety blitz, and the game would be decided on this one play. At the snap, it looked doomed for the Steelers as DD Lewis ran around left tackle without being touched and was in position on Bradshaw’s blindside for an easy sack. But, somehow, Bradshaw leaned forward and Lewis’ arm was not enough to impact the play. Cliff Harris blitzing up the middle was picked up for a split second, and eventually got to Bradshaw’s jaw – but only after the ball was gone. Lynn Swann, who had been quiet in the 2nd half, was lined up on the right side 1-on-1 with Mark Washington again. Due to the blitz by Harris, there would be no help for Washington, and with a perfect throw, there would be no stopping Lynn Swann – who caught the ball and ran into football immortality and a Super Bowl MVP. 21-10, Pittsburgh. 3:02 to play.

• Bradshaw on the throw was knocked silly by Harris, and stumbled to the sideline for further examination. He was then taken to the locker-room, and Terry Hanratty would finish the game – his last game with the Steelers before he would back up Steve Spurrier as a QB on the 1976 expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

• Brookshier is gone to the locker-room, so Hank Stram joins Summerall. This is very odd, as they have not mentioned this as a possibility the entire broadcast. Was Stram just walking around and they grabbed him? When a new broadcaster joins a Super Bowl with 3 minutes to play, it had the feel of a closer entering a baseball game. It kind of threw off the equal librium of the whole thing.

• Down 21-10, the Cowboys started going vertical. Drew Pearson for 30 yards, and then Percy Howard made his only career reception in the NFL, a 34 yard Touchdown pass after Mel Blount fell down, and the Cowboys were down only 21-17, with 1:48 to play, and the Cowboys had all 3 timeouts.

• The onside kick was unsuccessful, and the Steelers would take over at the Dallas 42. 3 plays and 3 timeouts later, the Steelers faced 4th and 9 at the 41 with 1:28 to play. Apparently, the Steelers feared the Cowboys punt block team so much that they went for it, with a back-up QB, and a hand-off to Rocky Bleier gained 2 yards. The Cowboys would have a real chance to come from behind one more time. If they lost, Chuck Noll would have some explaining to do for that odd decision.

• This would only prove more aggravating for Dallas fans, because despite 1:22 to go, and 61 yards to cover, the offense proved to be less-than-satisfactory. Staubach kept the ball for 11 yards, but it would take 34 seconds to get the next snap off because he didn’t get out of bounds. That play gained 12 yards to Preston Pearson, but that play would erase another 28 seconds. Three desperation throws into the end-zone from the 38 yard line were not really close, and the final throw was intercepted. The Steelers win 21-17, and are the 3rd team to win consecutive Super Bowls.

Postgame:

• In the chaotic locker-room, Brookshier asks both Jack Lambert and Franco Harris about being single. On both occasions, it seemed like the players were startled by going from football talk to a love-life discussion. He might be drunk.

• Lambert does detail that Cliff Harris’ taunt on Gerela changed the game and fired him up.

• Brent tells Phyllis that he “didn’t think he would like working with a woman” but it was fun. Awkward.

• Walter Cronkite admits he enjoyed the game, but looks forward to “the political Super Bowl” this summer – the 1976 political conventions.

• Lynn Swann the clear MVP. I can’t even think who would be 2nd. Maybe, Franco or Bradshaw, but Terry went 9-19, so that might have been a tough sell.

Great stuff. We need to have a movie theater show the game sometime, but since the Cowboys lost, that might send some of you back into 1975 depression. I really enjoyed seeing this many Hall of Famers doing their thing at the same time. You wonder how history would be different if the Cowboys could execute a punt.



Links:

The Play by Play

The Morning News Game Story

The Game Stats from the Morning News

The Sports Illustrated Story – Dan Jenkins

Bob's Blog Post 1,300

Let’s face it: The Cowboys appear to be a joke right now. That is a reputation that they have themselves to thank, and right now, they are either going to have to enjoy being compared with Al Davis’ Raiders, or change their ways.
Which side of that bet do you want to be on?

Depending on who you ask, Dan Reeves either lasted 48 hours, or he was never hired in the first place …I have many thoughts on this nonsense, but it will have to wait until the show…

Veteran NFL coach Dan Reeves told ESPN on Wednesday that he believed he had successfully negotiated a multiyear contract with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones that would have created a senior management position in Dallas. But the partnership dissolved when Reeves became uncomfortable with changes Jones insisted upon after Reeves rejected a job title that would have included him as a member of Wade Phillips' coaching staff. Reeves preferred an executive title with broader authority.

Reeves credited Phillips, his defensive coordinator with the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons, with initiating the attempts to return Reeves to the organization with which he began his career. Although in attempting to hire Reeves it might seems the Cowboys acknowledged that Phillips might not be capable of doing the job alone, Reeves cautioned against that perception, saying, "Don't count Wade out."

Reeves, 65, also declined to specifically identify the contractual issue that caused the deal to fall apart. He was working since Monday in the Cowboys facility,
primarily meeting with the offensive coaching staff, learning the system and its terminology and breaking down videotape of personnel. But he exited the building at midday and arrived back in Atlanta late Wednesday night. Jones could not be reached for comment.

"I thought the thing was done, and we finally agreed on what the title was going to be," Reeves said. "I didn't want to have a coaching title and not have authority coaching-wise. I wanted to work with him [Jones] and Wade and help in any way that I possibly could. We finally agreed the coaching thing wouldn't be in there, but then the contract changed and there were some things in there I couldn't see being in there, and they were important to him. He made a lot of concessions, but this was something that was important to him, and I just didn't feel like I could live with it. So it didn't make sense for us to go forward."

Reeves indicated he would have been involved in some critical personnel decisions yet to be made, including the future of wide receiver Terrell Owens. Reeves had recently criticized Owens and his negative impact on team chemistry.

"Honestly, I do feel strongly about team chemistry even though I played on a Cowboys team that won a Super Bowl with Duane Thomas," he said. "But there were so many other strong team leaders in that locker room. I'm not sure that's the case here. I was asked about [Owens] but when I previously spoke about, it was as an outsider. So I wanted more time as an insider before I could make an honest assessment."

Asked if Jones had made a decision on Owens' future, Reeves said, "No, I really don't think one has been made yet. They have a lot of decisions to make and that's one of them because they understand they have to become a unified team. It's one of the things that needs to be addressed."

Reeves, who spent his first 16 NFL seasons with the Cowboys as a player and an assistant coach under Tom Landry, did not conceal his disappointment.

"My heart starts beating when I see that star on the helmet and the pictures of the players I started with in the game," Reeves said. "I just can't get those first 16 years of my career out of my system."


With Phillips serving as his own defensive coordinator with the offseason firing of
Brian Stewart, Reeves could have unburdened Phillips and offered the perspective of an experienced play-caller and game-planner while overseeing the offensive coaching staff headed by offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. The Cowboys' offensive numbers turned downward in Garrett's second season as an NFL play-caller.


Reeves seemed impressed with Garrett, whose performance was often criticized by Owens last season and also by quarterback Tony Romo following the team's 44-6 loss to Philadelphia that eliminated Dallas from making the playoffs the final week of the regular season.

"Jason is someone I have a tremendous amount of respect for," Reeves said. "I was looking forward to working with him, but I'm still really excited about who he is, what he does and how he handles himself."

In addition to helping Phillips and his coaching staff, Reeves also mentioned that Jones -- the Cowboys GM as well as owner -- is stretched to the limit as he attempts to make crucial personnel decisions, purge toxic elements from his underachieving team's locker room and simultaneously promote ticket sales and sell naming rights to the new $1.3 billion Arlington stadium that debuts next season.

"I think Jerry has an awful lot on his plate with the stadium and the football team right now," Reeves said.

The Cowboys issued a statement on Wednesday regarding the deal falling through.
"We had two very good days of dialogue with Dan Reeves, and both the Cowboys and Dan had an interest in working together," Cowboys public relations director Rich Dalrymple said. "By Wednesday afternoon, we were unable to reach an agreement on all of the details of a contract, and both parties were comfortable with the fact that Dan would not be joining the organization."

Dan Reeves featured in 1967 Sports Illustrated …

Pat Kirwan asks what NFL teams learned from the Super Bowl …

Every year, the Super Bowl provides a few wrinkles that set the stage for the next season. They trigger reminders to the men running a team's draft and the coaches building offenses and defenses. Here are a couple of things that Super Bowl XLIII taught me -- things I expect to see during the 2009 regular season.

Pass out of the shotgun

Traditional West Coast-offense coaches don't like the shotgun, but it's becoming more and more apparent that the formation is here to stay and its use is growing.
The Cardinals and Steelers had a combined 48 shotgun snaps in the Super Bowl. Arizona tried one run and 32 passes from the shotgun; Pittsburgh didn't bother to run the ball once on its 15 shotgun plays. Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger combined to complete 31 of the 47 passes thrown out of the shotgun for 398 yards. Imagine if they had a strong run game from the shotgun to balance the attack.

More no-huddle, less run

Both teams incorporated the no-huddle into their offensive philosophy, and they need to do more of it next season. The no-huddle puts a lot of stress on the defense.
All 14 plays from the no-huddle in the Super Bowl were passes, so here's another dimension that needs to develop a legitimate run game as a complement. Warner and Roethlisberger, who now have five Super Bowl appearances between them, completed 10 of 14 passes from the no-huddle for 167 yards. That's 16.7 yards per completion, even though the defense knows you're not running the ball. That's a fine accomplishment.

There were 38 running plays, compared to 77 passes, called in the Super Bowl. That means the Cardinals and Steelers ran the ball just 33 percent of the time, and I don't see that trend going away. In fact, when you consider that neither team could even average 3 yards per carry, it might be time to acknowledge what really got your team to the Super Bowl. The longest run in the game was 15 yards, but eight pass completions were longer than that.

Throw the ball inside the 10

Offensive approaches inside the 10-yard line are really changing, and this Super Bowl was a prime example. There were 20 plays called from inside the opponent's 10 during the game -- seven runs for a total of zero yards and one touchdown; 13 passes for 26 yards and three touchdowns. Still, the 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by Steelers linebacker James Harrison was a great reminder of how difficult it can be to execute a pass play in a confined space.

The Cardinals came into the game with seven touchdown passes from the 1-yard line. They stayed true to form in the Super Bowl with three passing attempts from the 1, resulting in two touchdowns and Harrison's interception return for a score. Neither team really had the big running back who would pile-drive the defense. Maybe they need to think about a player like the Ravens' Le'Ron McClain.

Forget about a 'caretaker QB'

In today's NFL, there's a perception that a team with a great defense just needs a quarterback who won't turn over the ball. It's naive to think a "caretaker QB" can win a Super Bowl. The Steelers had the No. 1 defense in the NFL this season, but they still needed Roethlisberger's late-game heroics to win the Super Bowl. Roethlisberger was 5-for-7 passing for 84 yards and the game-winning touchdown in that final drive.

This is a quarterback-driven league, and the Super Bowl was a great reminder of that. Warner was my MVP had the Cardinals won the game.

Spread out a pressure defense

Both offenses realized that spreading out a pressure defense with a wide-open pass attack is a smart idea. By eliminating a lot of the traditional two-back sets (tight end, two wide receivers) and substituting three- and four-receiver sets, the offense takes away a defense's ability to bring the pressure it likes to apply. We'll see a lot more spread offenses next season, for sure.

Better have interchangeable parts

What came first, the chicken or the egg? I'm not sure about that one, but the Super Bowl convinced me once and for all that modern defenses need 11 athletes who are interchangeable. Defensive backs must be able to pressure the quarterback, linemen have to cover pass routes and linebackers can't be liabilities against spread sets that put them in space.

I saw the Cardinals line up with two men with a hand on the ground, and the Steelers had some looks where just one player had a hand on the ground. The Super Bowl taught us that it's critical to never let the quarterback or the center get a real picture of what's coming. A field full of "jokers" or "wild cards" is what's needed to play against these modern pass attacks. In Super Bowl XLIII, the Cardinals and Steelers did it as well as any team in the league.

Speaking of my football leader, Pat Kirwan, Here is his interview with BaD Radio from last week …thanks to DCFanatic’s page…

Michael Lombardi sizes up the available QBs in free agency…

1. Matt Cassel, New England, 26; 6-4, 222 pounds; 5.05; 2005; 7th round (230th overall); David Dunn — Will be the top prize of any team seeking a young, up-and-coming quarterback. Will restore the credibility of a franchise. Any team signing him might have to consider trading down out of the top five. It will be very expensive to sign Cassel and may also cost a high draft choice. Once the tag comes on him, all bets are off. His value is a first round pick above 15 along with a second rounder.

2. Kurt Warner, Arizona, 37; 6-2, 200; 4.99; 1994; undrafted free agent; Mark Bartelstein — Warner will take time to make his decision, and I’m confident he will give the Cardinals every chance to re-sign him. I doubt he will play anywhere else.

3. Kerry Collins, Tennessee, 35; 6-5, 248; 4.98; 1995; 1st round (5th overall); Mark Humenik — The Titans have cap room and will have to make a huge financial commitment to Collins. But doing so ensures that Vince Young will never be back in a game for them. Tennessee has the right system for Collins to achieve and play well.

4. Chris Simms, Tennessee, 28; 6-4, 220; 4.89; 2003; 3rd round (97th overall); Thomas Condon — Finally healthy and ready to be a leader in the locker room. He will not cost a fortune, but he might be the right guy to bridge a team as it drafts a young player, and he can still be competitive. Simms is willing to make all the sacrifices needed to be good again. One of the league’s new coaches will get a boost by bringing in a veteran like Simms, who will assist the coach in laying down the right foundation and attitude in the locker room.

5. Byron Leftwich, Pittsburgh, 28; 6-5, 245; 5.03; 2003; 1st round (7th overall); Thomas Condon — He wants to go to Washington and compete for a starting position with his hometown Redskins. Not sure that will happen since the ‘Skins have indicated they will not be active in the free-agent market. Leftwich has a dominating presence in the locker room and might be a perfect fit for the new offense Scott Linehan is designing in Detroit. Leftwich has some Dante Culpepper-like qualities in his play, and when his weight was down, he was more athletic and had better foot movement.

That will have to be enough football for the day.

To Mavs: They beat up a nice Portland team …but all the papers can talk about is the furious rally late. I grant you it is an issue, but it seems like the good of the first 47 minutes is note-worthy, too…

It was another wild and crazy night for the Trail Blazers on Wednesday, when they nearly pulled out another late-game shocker on this three-game trip that has turned into an adventure.

But while talk of another dramatic rally will dominate talk radio and ESPN highlights, there was a more pressing issue being uttered in the Blazers' locker room following their frustrating 104-99 loss to the Dallas Mavericks before a sellout crowd of 19,767 at American Airlines Center:

Yet again, the Blazers sputtered early.

"Fortunately we were able to get away with it in New Orleans, but the majority of nights when you start off bad, you're going to lose," veteran center Joel Przybilla said. "That was a problem tonight. We dug ourselves a hole."

While it might seem as if they failed to make enough plays down the stretch against Dallas, the Blazers lost because of a shaky start and horrendous second quarter. The Blazers missed six of their first eight shots and trailed by as many as eight points in the first quarter on the way to their 11th consecutive loss in Dallas.

After rallying to take the lead, they threw it away with a second quarter in which Dallas shot 68.4percent from the field and outscored the Blazers 30-16. Sixth man Jason Terry torched the Blazers with 11 second-quarter points.

It resulted in a 57-45 Dallas halftime advantage. And, more significantly, it was the eighth time in their last 13 games that the Blazers started poorly, which all too often has necessitated second-quarter or second-half comebacks. In six of those games, they've trailed after the first quarter and in five of them, including their last two, the Blazers have trailed at halftime.

The poor starts have been masked by comebacks -- the Blazers had won five in a row and 10 of 13 entering Wednesday night's game. But it couldn't be masked against the Mavericks (29-19), who won their fourth in a row.

One on One with Josh Howard ….

BDL: Are you really going to retire at age 33?
JH: I'm 28 now, yeah I think so.
BDL: Five more years and that's it?
JH: Yeah.
BDL: Seriously?
JH: You see me? Look [pointing at his serious face] ... unless somebody gives me a big ass contract, other than that, no.

What is the latest on Sean Avery? …

This stuff about Sean Avery has been bouncing around all week. He’s close to being done with his treatment program, which means the Stars are going to have to make a decisions about him. Some Les Jackson comments are below, but here’s TSN’s Darren Dreger on the Avery situation. :

Exiled Dallas Stars’ forward Sean Avery is expected to be cleared from the NHL and NHLPA’s Behavioral Modification program later this week or sometime early next.
Avery is scheduled to begin skating on Monday in anticipation of returning to hockey; however, to do that, Avery knows he will have to regain NHL teams’ trust which will very likely require time in the American Hockey League.

Avery remains Dallas property, so the Stars will have to find an AHL team willing to take Avery on board. The Stars will then place Avery on waivers and providing he clears he will be reassigned.

Avery’s best chance of returning to the NHL will be via re-entry waivers.
Stars co-GM Les Jackson was on the Calgary Flames radio broadcast Monday night and was asked about Avery.

“The problem that will arise is where does he go,” Jackson said. “He’s not coming back to Dallas, we know that for sure. We’ll hopefully find him another place and he can convince a team that he’s going to come back and play, and play to the level that he is capable, respect the game and the respect the people around him.”
Jackson also said what’s left on Avery’s contract is an issue when it comes to moving him to another NHL team.

“That’s a challenge,” Jackson said.

Clubbing Baby Seals



Crombeen takes a beating

Fun with the Standings

After another solid effort against Calgary on Tuesday night, I am very pleased to browse the standings with the cup of morning coffee. Funny how winning breeds a desire to look, and when the Stars are playing horrible, I avoid the Standings.

So, I did a little project with the numbers. Here, are the standings from the opening of the season thru November 30th:

Pos	Team	Points
1.	San Jose	41
2.	Detroit	34
3.	Anaheim	31
4.	Vancouver	30
5.	Minnesota	29
6.	Calgary	29
7.	Chicago	26
8.	Nashville	24
9.	Los Angeles	23
10.	Columbus	23
11.	St Louis	22
12.	Colorado	22
13.	Phoenix	22
14.	Edmonton	22
15.	Dallas	20

Table Tutorial

And here, are the standings from December 1, through last night (Feb 3):

Pos	Team	Points
1.	Chicago	38
2.	Detroit	37
3.	San Jose	36
T4.	Dallas	35
T4.	Calgary	35
T6.	Edmonton	31
T6.	Phoenix	31
8.	Columbus	30
9.	Colorado	27
T10.	Anaheim	26
T10.	Los Angeles	26
12.	Nashville	25
T12.	St Louis	25
T14.	Vancouver	24
T14.	Minnesota	24

Table Tutorial

Much better, eh? But, wow, Detroit, San Jose, and especially Chicago are the real deal. I think we all respect the Blackhawks now, but are curious how they hold up to the playoff tension that lies ahead. San Jose is awesome, but there is nothing they can do to quiet their demons until they quiet them in late April/early May. Detroit is Detroit.

The bottom line is that the Stars are in a good spot, but by no means have they arrived. They have to keep digging hard to get where they want to go. But, the prospect of the playoffs certainly can no longer be labeled a long shot.

Lots O Stuff

Various items for a Tuesday Morning:

Dan Reeves is on campus …

The Dallas Cowboys have yet to make an official announcement about Dan Reeves joining the team as a consultant/overseer for head coach Wade Phillips.

But the former Cowboys player, who was a longtime head coach for the Broncos, Giants and Falcons, was at the team's facility on Monday, two sources said.

Those within the building say Reeves even has an office. He is supposedly occupying defensive line coach Todd Grantham's old digs. Grantham, meanwhile, has apparently moved into former defensive coordinator Brian Stewart's old office. Connect the dots if you want.

The Cowboys are still officially saying nothing. PR director Rich Dalrymple did not
confirm anything and said he doesn't know when or if any announcement will be made.
Stewart, meanwhile, is still criss-crossing the country looking for a new job.
He could sit out and collect Jerry Jones' money for another year since his contract went through 2009. But he would rather have a gig.

I am very interested in this hire, but also have no idea as to the real focus or impact. I respect Reeves greatly, and in the big scheme of things, his resume is right up there with anyone who would be considered a “big-time” hire by the Cowboys. He is also someone who is quite familiar with the history of the organization and the kind of team that Tom Landry believed in.

But, here is the rub: Is he in charge of anything? Is he in a position to have authority? And if so, what does that mean for Wade’s future? Or Terrell’s?
I am impressed and confused all at the same time. I hope we can uncover the extent of this hire in the next few days…

JJT on the rest of the Cowboys trying to crack Canton …

Now that the selection committee has finally seen fit to give Bob Hayes his rightful place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it's safe to assume he's the last of the old-school Cowboys to gain football immortality.

There are only two players from the Tom Landry era who should be in the Hall of Fame: Drew Pearson and Chuck Howley, but I don't hold out much hope for either of them. And I won't argue with those who believe Harvey Martin should be in the Hall of Fame.

We all remember Pearson's clutch performances, but he was also a member of the All-Decade team of the '70s.

You can't really do much better than that.

Howley was widely recognized as one of the best all-around linebackers of his era. He also remains the only player from a losing team to be named Super Bowl MVP.
Unfortunately, I don't think either will ever make.

As for the Cowboys from the Jerry Jones Era, Emmitt Smith should get into the HOF next summer, and Deion Sanders should join him the year after. A few years down the road, Larry Allen should make it.

That's it.

Darren Woodson is deserving because he played a role in redefining the safety position. He was among of the first safeties good enough and agile enough to cover slot receivers. That allowed the Cowboys to keep their regular personnel on the field in some nickel situations, making them strong against the run even when teams used formations with three receivers.

What you have to remember is the Hall of Fame should be reserved for truly great players. Those who transcended the game with their ability.

It's not supposed to be for really, really good players. It's supposed to be for the best of the best.

Taylor has nothing to say about Cliff Harris? If Making the All-Decade team is a key, then you better recognize Cliff Harris is on that list, too. 3 Cowboys were on the all-70’s team and not in Canton: Drew Pearson, Harvey Martin, and Cliff Harris. I honestly think it is tough to rank them 1-3.

Mavs rumor O’ The Day …

Udrih may be on his way out as well, as Dallas is believed to have inquired about him as a possible backup for Jason Kidd with the pieces coming to Sacramento likely including Jerry Stackhouse (this season and next for a combined $14.3 million).
Udrih may draw interest from New Orleans or Orlando as well. Both teams just saw their top-tier points guards (Chris Paul and Jameer Nelson, respectively) go down with serious injuries and could shop for a stop-gap solution.

Then there's Brad Miller. While the value of the Kings center seemingly has declined with his inability to replicate the strong season he had in 2007-08, he could find himself wearing a new jersey soon.

League sources said Miller remains in the mix for a possible deal with Miami involving Shawn Marion (expiring contract worth $17.1 million) and Kings forward Kenny Thomas, as the Kings are believed to be among three teams considered as trade partners by the Heat. Miller also could be sent to Chicago if the Bulls are unable to land a higher-profile big man.

The list goes on from there and includes veteran forward Mikki Moore, who told The Bee recently that his old Nets bosses informed him of their desire to bring him back. The Nets also offered a deal for third-year guard Maurice Ager in exchange for third-year Kings guard Quincy Douby earlier this season.

Stars beat Calgary, and continue to play GREAT hockey. I am quite pleased with their progress.

Pierre Lebrun on the turn around for the Stars …

On the morning of Dec. 2, moments before Sean Avery had parents scrambling for earmuffs for their kids, the Dallas Stars were staring up at 14 other teams in the Western Conference standings.

They were dead last.

Since that fateful morning, they have gone 15-7-3 and have made the long journey back into a playoff spot.

"Things are a little better now," Stars coach Dave Tippett told ESPN.com. "We've got our heads above water. Now we've got to push forward. We're back in the thick of things, but I still think we've got room to grow as a team."

In a parity-filled league that often hands out three points a game, gaining traction in the standings is no small feat, especially in the tougher Western Conference. But riding a season-high four-game winning streak heading into Tuesday night's home date with the mighty Calgary Flames, the Stars were sixth in the West. And they've done all this while missing captain Brenden Morrow and top defenseman Sergei Zubov.

OK, so they're tied in points with the four teams beneath them, but still, it's been a long and impressive road back.

"Even though we're sitting in sixth in that pile of teams, we're not happy or content by any stretch," Stars goalie Marty Turco told ESPN.com. "We're going to continue on with that full-speed-ahead attitude that we've had. We're not going to win all the rest of the games, but we're planning on playing like winners, and that's going to give us an edge that we were looking for."

Avery's departure from the team is a factor, but far from the only reason the Stars have righted the ship. It would be too simplistic to lay it all in the troubled winger's lap. Yes, the Stars are happy he's gone, but they had other issues, with or without him.

"It hasn't been just one thing in particular, but overall, it's just generally been our way of playing," Turco said. "We're playing as a team. Right down to a man, guys are playing better. Our defensive-mindedness has been tremendously better."

They have indeed tightened their game, allowing almost one fewer goal per game (2.84) in the past 26 games, compared to 3.77 per game in the ugly opening 22 games. There are other factors, as well. Getting wingers Jere Lehtinen and Steve Ott back was important. Having rookie forwards James Neal and Fabian Brunnstrom, in particular, learn on the job and improve was another; they replaced veterans such as Niklas Hagman and Antti Miettinen, and those were big skates to fill. And seeing young defensemen Matt Niskanen and Niklas Grossman settle down and grow in confidence was also key.

"Bringing in Darryl Sydor was a good thing," Tippett said. "He's really helped with Niskanen."

And finally, Tippett said, as he read off a checklist of reasons for his team's turnaround, there's the guy in goal.

"And the be-all and end-all, the goaltender has played better," Tippett said with a chuckle. "Part of that is the team in front of him has played better, but the goaltender himself has played much better."

The thing we admire most about Turco is his honesty. He was outspoken during the Avery debacle, not hiding his feelings, but backed it up big-time with his play. He wasn't happy with his own play, or the play of his teammates, and also let it be known at the time.

"A big reason the push has occurred is that guys got downright mad and sick of it and [have] taken it personally. I know I have," Turco said.

Credit Tippett for helping right this ship, as well. His voice did not get stale. He
found a way to get his message across, and the players have listened.

Having said all that, we can't forget the Avery factor. He never fit in with his teammates, and once he left, the room settled.

"The change in chemistry with Sean leaving had an impact on our dressing room," Tippett said.

What comes next for the Stars will be fascinating to watch. Will they remain a bubble team, or push even higher and get back to being the contending team they were last season? The Anaheim Ducks are vulnerable in fifth place of the conference. Fourth-place Chicago might be too much to track down.

All the signs indicate that the Beckham era is closing in MLS …

AC Milan general manager Adriano Galliani has revealed David Beckham's lawyers have started negotiations with Los Angeles Galaxy regarding a permanent move to the San Siro.

The on-loan midfielder has been a huge success in Italy, where he has scored two goals and provided three assists in his first five games to help Milan move into second place in Serie A.

On Monday, Beckham was included in Milan's updated UEFA Cup player list - fuelling speculation that they would try to keep him beyond his March 9 loan expiration date - and now Galliani has said he is ready to do a deal if Galaxy are ready to talk.

"Beckham's lawyers are talking to the Los Angeles Galaxy who are the rightful owners of his registration," said the Milan chief. "If they show themselves to be ready to look at a deal, we would be really happy to do so."

Galliani, speaking at Milan's Malpensa airport as his team prepared to fly out for a friendly match against Rangers, said: "At the moment there's neither optimism nor pessimism."

"The player belongs to Galaxy. We wish they decide to release him, but if they don't change their minds the player is theirs.

"We are looking to get him either on loan until the end of the season or on a permanent basis. Otherwise, with the greatest regret from everyone - starting with me - Beckham will have to go."

Galliani added: "Players can make their choices but their clubs can refuse their wishes. Moreover, the Los Angeles Galaxy have always been very nice to us and have behaved in a very gentlemanly manner.

Nik Hagman bids for Goal of the Year



Winning the Super Bowl looks like fun!

Taking Down Super Man

February 19 approaches.

If you are the Mavs, what are you going to do?

At the deadline, what direction do you take? And does this last week of excellent basketball affect your decision? And if so, is this great win in Orlando a bad development to the “big picture”?

Mavs impress in Orlando …

Is this the same team that was blown out twice on its last road trip?
Does this resemble the group that was victimized by a lack of passion and precision
for most of January?

If there is an "on" button to this edition of Mavericks, it's been pushed. The Mavericks made their strongest statement yet that they can hang with the league's elite, dominating the Orlando Magic on its home floor for a large portion of Monday night.

The 105-95 win at Amway Arena came just two days after a victory in Miami and marks the first time in the last two-and-a-half months that the team has won back-to-back games on the same road trip. The Mavericks have won three games by a total of 49 points in the last six days.

"Right now our guys are finding ways to help each other," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "They're finding reasons to play harder, even when the shots aren't going in. That's a winning formula.

"I'm proud of them, the last three games. The burning question is, 'Can we handle prosperity and can we stay hungry?' "

The Magic, like the Heat before them, had a game the night before on the road. The Mavericks had the advantage of rest.

But this is an Orlando team that entered the evening with an 18-4 record and 11-game winning streak against the Western Conference. It's a team that allowed its previous 23 opponents to average 92.6 points and shoot 42 percent from the field.

The Mavericks didn't beat this team because they got hot from the outside. They beat Orlando because they attacked the basket

Watching that game last night brought back memories of poor sports opinions in my past. I really enjoy this blog as a bit of a confessional for mistakes gone by.

Well, one of my all-time classics was the 2004 NBA Draft. This was the year that the Mavericks took Devin Harris at #5, which looks like the proper pick for sure.

However, my mistake was at the top. Having just attended the 2004 Final Four in San Antonio, I was so impressed with UConn’s Emeka Okafor’s game and everything about him. Just a good man and a big man who could anchor you in the middle for years, right?

Meanwhile, this high school kid, Dwight Howard was the hot name at the top of the draft. I could not fathom a high school kid made more sense than Okafor who had dominated in College Basketball.

Wow. I really had that wrong. In fairness to me, I certainly did not have the benefit of seeing him play (I just couldn’t wrap my arms around him being better than Okafor). But, wrong is wrong.

Dwight Howard’s first 4.5 seasons in pro basketball:

Year	Age	Games	Points PG	Rebs PG
04-05	19	82	12.0	10.0
05-06	20	82	15.8	12.5
06-07	21	82	17.6	12.3
07-08	22	82	20.7	14.2
08-09	23	45	20.6	13.9

Table Tutorial

Stats for 4 years most closely resemble: Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Yao Ming

Emeka Okafor’s first 4.5 seasons in pro basketball:

Year	Age	Games	Points PG	Rebs PG
04-05	22	73	15.1	10.9
05-06	23	26	13.2	10.0
06-07	24	67	14.4	11.3
07-08	25	82	13.8	10.7
08-09	26	48	14.0	10.5

Table Tutorial

Stats for 4 years most closely resemble: Al Jefferson, Chris Kaman, David West

And Howard is just 23. And he is going to keep getting better. Yikes. Meanwhile, Okafor is what he is.

Rumors on the Bosh front shot down …

Chris Bosh couldn't have been more emphatic in shooting down an ESPN report that said he'd already told Raptors president and general manager that he wouldn't re-sign in Toronto when he contract expires in 2010.

"No. No. No, I haven't told him that," Bosh said today after practice.
And just to add another layer of denial, he was asked whether his agent could have made the statement.

"No," he said.

The apparently non-issue arose Sunday when ESPN entertainer Stephen A. Smith boldly stated that the 24-year-old Bosh had told team officials he was leaving in a season and a half, not even citing anonymous sources.

It brought a quick denial today from both Bosh and Colangelo.

"It was a surprise to me and I can't be responsible for what other people say so ...," said Bosh, his voice trailing off in disgust. "I understand people are entitled to an opinion but making stuff up? We can't do that.

"Let's all be fair."

Colangelo also shot down another part of the report that suggested the Raptors might be amenable to trading the four-time all-star.

"There's no truth to the rumour or the speculation that he said anything to us in the organization, that he's going to be leaving," said the general manager. "There's no truth to the fact that he's on the trading block or being shopped in any regard.
"This is just another example of information that's out there that's not true ... There just doesn't seem to a lot of accountability with respect to the topic sometimes and that's why we're here today talking about it."

Bosh is one of a group of highly coveted 2010 free agents, a group that includes LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Speculation has been rife for months about his future, and will continue without doubt.

"It doesn't make me angry, it's like, 'come on, man,'" said Bosh. "I think it's unfair just to be able to say something and we have to be politically correct. It's tough, it's not the first time it's happened and it won't be the lat and I'm not the first person this has happened to. That's the business that we're in."

The great Michael Lombardi on the Cowboys …

I just do not get this team. The past month, the Cowboys have talked about commitment and about becoming dedicated, and then we hear that T.O. will have a reality show, with the owner making a guest appearance. Does anyone have a clue? How can this keep happening? I know football is part of the entertainment business, but when you lose sight of the essence of the business, you lose your business. The Cowboys are paid to entertain on the field, not off the field. They have lost their focus on what matters most. It’s one thing to have a player who acts bizarrely and craves attention, but to have others follow him down the road — and encourage him — is wrong.

Football requires attention to detail, and it requires everyone to put away his personal goals for the team. The Cowboys have become poster children for what not to do when building a team. I just do not get it, and I have no hope for them turning this around.

And some numbers to absorb …

YOU HAVE TO WONDER…HOW ABOUT THESE STATS…

Most Passing Yards, single game, Super Bowl history:
Super Bowl Yards
STL/ Kurt Warner XXXIV 414
ARI/Kurt Warner XLIII 377
STL/ Kurt Warner XXXVI 365
SF/ Joe Montana XXIII 357
PHI/ Donovan McNabb XXXIX 357

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And there’s a debate whether Warner is Hall of Fame-worthy? This should put an end to it.

1. Larry Fitzgerald: 30 receptions, 546 yards, 7 TDs in 2008 playoffs (all NFL postseason records).

2. Cardinals: 11 penalties (third most in Super Bowl history, one shy of the record).

3. LaMarr Woodley: two sacks in four career playoff games; only player in NFL history with at least two sacks in four consecutive playoff games.

4. Both teams combined for 38 rush attempts for 91 rush yards (both fewest in Super Bowl history).

5. Kurt Warner: 377 pass yards (second most in Super Bowl history; he now has the three highest passing-yard totals in Super Bowl history).

6. Warner’s 112.3 passer rating is the second highest by a Super Bowl-losing QB (minimum 10 pass attempts; Jake Delhomme has the highest, 113.6).

7. Ben Roethlisberger: 8-2 career record as playoff starter (eight playoff wins are second most by a QB in first five seasons, trailing only Tom Brady’s nine); joins Tom Brady (three) and Troy Aikman (two) as only QBs to win two-plus Super Bowls in first five seasons.
===

Odds to win Super Bowl XLIV, courtesy of Bodoglife.com

New England Patriots 8/1
Dallas Cowboys 9/1
New York Giants 10/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10/1
Indianapolis Colts 12/1
San Diego Chargers 12/1
Baltimore Ravens 14/1
Tennessee Titans 16/1
Carolina Panthers 18/1
Philadelphia Eagles 18/1
New Orleans Saints 20/1
Atlanta Falcons 25/1
Denver Broncos 25/1
Green Bay Packers 25/1
Jacksonville Jaguars 25/1
Minnesota Vikings 25/1
New York Jets 25/1
Arizona Cardinals 30/1

Follow the Bob Hayes sister story …


Dallasbasketball.com’s expose on the whole thing …

Hockey tonight: Calgary, fresh off a Monday night loss in Denver, is here. The Flames are having a great year, and the Stars need to get 2 points to keep the roll going…

Check out what I wrote on the Dallas Stars Blog Sunday Morning. I don’t get everything wrong, eh?

But, this wasn't easy, was it? The Stars were up 2-0 in the first when we had a unique hockey moment. I say unique because most sports don't have the end to end moments like around 10:00 mark of the 1st period, where the game was won, in my estimation. Kristian Huselius skated in from Turco's left and found old Dallas guy Manny Malhotra with an open net. Luckily for the Stars, Malhotra had such an open net that he hit the pipe in a bang-bang moment...seconds later, Brian Sutherby scored his first goal in a Dallas Stars sweater, and instead of a 2-1 margin, it was 3-0.

The only sports moment that I could compare from outside of hockey is the QB who is at his opponents 2 yard line and throws the 100 yard interception for a touchdown. The proverbial 14 point swing in football is the 2 goal swing we had in seconds on Saturday night.

How do you like these sweaters the Canadians wore Sunday?



Stat of the day from James Mirtle:

Since the lockout, Alex Ovechkin has recorded 405 more shots than any other player in the NHL. He has averaged 5.40 shots per game over that span, significantly more than second place Olli Jokinen (4.04 per game).

Ovechkin is 344th in all-time shots on goal, and at his current pace will reach Ray Bourque in the No. 1 spot after 1,149 games played. If he doesn't miss a game, he can do it 10 seasons from now, at age 33.

At his current pace, he will enter the top 10 in another 6.5 seasons.

Jack Edwards is still a homer



Finger Skilz

Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers 27, Cardinals 23

If you are new to the planet, I should inform you that once upon a time, these Super Bowls were not very good. I know in the last 10 years, you could certainly make the case that 6 of the 10 have been very good games, but it wasn’t always like that.

But, last night, I am tempted to say, was awesome. Yes, I may be guilty of giving a movie a great review based on the last 30 minutes, but, the drama and intrigue of the 4th Quarter was flat-out spectacular even if the game was on a Sunday afternoon in October. But for it to be with the world-wide audience of a Super Bowl? Bravo, football world, bravo.

The Pittsburgh Steelers closed the deal on their record-sixth Super Bowl, and thus have the claim in some circles as the dominant team in the Super Bowl era. The idea that they have won 2 Super Bowls in 4 years also puts them dangerously close to qualifying for a dynasty if they can win one more in the next 2 years. It is hard to conceive that this Steelers team is a dominant force, because parts of their team don’t seem very dominating (the offensive line seems about as average as it gets), but let us give great credit where credit is due: They win. They win a lot. And they win in many different ways.

The Arizona Cardinals, on the other hand, must do what the Dallas Mavericks did a few years ago. That is, in defeat, wonder if that was “their chance”. Wonder if leading a Super Bowl with 40 seconds to go was the closest they would ever come to winning it all, and now have to wander the earth feeling like they blew it. You feel badly, because they fought their tails off, but only one team gets the trophy.

It was 4 hours of football immortality… it was worth the hype…It was the Super Bowl. Notes from a big night in Tampa:

• Why can’t the officials, who go to such painstaking lengths to review every piece of minutia, just look again at the Cardinals last-gasp effort that was ruled a fumble? Why am I left to hear Al Michaels assure me that “they looked at it and ruled it properly” when it was clear they did not have time to do this? It seemed very much like the Brett Hull goal in Buffalo; it may have been the right result, but would it kill anyone to take 60 seconds and make sure the right team is being crowned? Before you can consider the replay, the Steelers have taken a knee and the game is over.

• Santonio Holmes has broken out this season in a huge way. For the last 2 months, when the Steelers needed something clutch to happen, Holmes has been there nearly every time. And, for all of the catches and punt returns before Sunday, the former Buckeye’s domination in that game – especially late – was the stuff of absolute legend. He is the sixth WR to win the MVP trophy, with 3 being Steelers (Swann, Ward) and 3 being the rest of the league (Biletnikoff, Rice, Branch). Holmes was so great on the final drive, and to make the story book even better, the play before the play was in the opposite corner and went through his out-stretched hands. He got another chance in the other corner, and what a catch he made.

• Meanwhile, Larry Fitzgerald would certainly win the Conn Smythe award if football gave a “playoff mvp” instead of a Super Bowl MVP. The last month has taken the discussion out of the “who is the best WR in football” debate. There is no debate. #11 in red is at a different level, and he is not very old, either. Tell me, Steelers, what were you thinking on his 64 yard catch? What were the safeties thinking? Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu both bit on the sideline patterns from Breaston and Boldin, leaving the middle of the field completely bare. Unless this was a genius tactic to get the ball back, the Steelers really lost the plot there. If there is one guy who cannot be allowed to beat you down the middle of the field, it is Fitz. In the postgame, Holmes said “that we knew the defense would get us the ball back”. Yes, Santonio, technically allowing a 2 play drive that took only 16 seconds is getting the ball back, but that isn’t what they had in mind.

• The James Harrison interception return is likely the difference in the game. A 14 point swing in one snap is surely as gutting as it gets to the Cardinals efforts. This broke the record of the Desmond Howard kickoff return in Super Bowl XXXI. Harrison is such a great story and if it wasn’t for his absurd personal foul late in the game, he would be another guy who could have claimed a share of the MVP. Harrison is a stud. But, last night, you would have to argue whether his personal foul or Adrian Wilson’s personal foul qualifies as the worst play by an excellent player.

• Ben Roethlisberger played a fine game, in my estimation. He certainly came out sharp, and to lead his team on that final drive solidified his effort. You do wonder why the Cardinals called off the pass rush on the final drive, but regardless, the Steelers marched down the field in a situation where one mistake and they finish 2nd. Big Ben reminds me so much of Donovan McNabb, with those plays of sheer chaos that turn into something big. With 2 rings, he has already “made it”, and now we will see if he can achieve even more ahead. Keep in mind, he was the 3rd QB in the Eli Manning, Phil Rivers conversation in the 2004 draft.

• A few readers have raised good points. DRice suggested that the play at the end of the half may not have been quite as controversial if you consider that the half could not end on a defensive foul. Therefore, if it is called as it would seem to be written, the Steelers would have had another shot at things from the 3 inch line. I think that may be possible, but because no one has raised the point, I am wondering if the penalty was applicable. Then, there were several readers that wondered why Santonio was not penalized for his Lebron/hand powder celebration that used the football as a prop. The penalty would surely have caused the Steelers to kick from their 15 yard line, and really given the Cardinals a short field.

• I love the concept of the inverted cover 2. If you suggest that a safety is stronger than a corner, and a corner is faster than a safety, would it not stand to reason that the safety should be at the line for the jam, and the corner over the top for the footrace? Why hasn’t anyone thought of it until now? It only makes sense on a trouble double-cover, but if you have decided that you are dedicating 2 defenders to Fitzgerald on a given play, wouldn’t it make sense to jam him with Polamalu?

• When Dan Patrick handed the Lombardi trophy to Dan Rooney, he said “You are now the winningest franchise in NFL History”. Not to be a stickler, but I think you mean “Super Bowl history”. Because, with 6 NFL Titles, The Steelers rank 5th behind Green Bay (12), Chicago (9), Cleveland (8 – although 4 were in the AAFC), and the New York Giants (7). I know most people think that football began when we changed the name from NFL Championship game to the Super Bowl, but it did exist before that, too. Sorry about me.

• Famous celebrities for Arizona (complete list): Cuba Gooding, Jr. In fact, he may not actually like them, but since Rod Tidwell was the best player in franchise history before this season, I guess…

• Ken Whisenhunt’s use of the challenge system was brilliant. I am not sure I have ever seen a coach get the 3rd challenge. Nicely done.

• Maybe the best grab of Santonio’s night was the catch he made on 3rd and 10 from the Steelers 1 yard line late in the 4th Quarter. I thought it was crazy that the Steelers thought shotgun from their own endzone was a good plan. Holmes caught the ball with tremendous concentration, but it didn’t count because of the hold in the endzone. The safety cut the lead to 20-16, and then with the punt from the 20 instead of from the back of the endzone, I thought the Steelers actually may have benefited from the holding call. Alas, 2 plays later Fitzgerald was pulling away from the Steelers secondary like they had cement shoes.

• Guys who I should write about because of things they did on defense that positively impacted the game: Darnell Dockett, LaMarr Woodley, Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie, Ike Taylor.

• I really think Heath Miller is a fine Tight End. I bet the Steelers are just scratching the surface of what he can do. If they want to see his numbers really improve, get better tackles on the OL that can allow him to stop pass-protecting half the time.

• I feel badly for the great Kurt Warner fairy tale. The guy is absolute class and this would have been a neat way to retire, if he chose to do so. Best Kurt Warner stat? In 3 Super Bowls, this is the only one that has not been decided on the last play!

• Bottom line from Super Bowl XLIII: The better team won. Not easily, but the NFL doesn’t need consecutive years of 9-7 champions. The league benefits when good teams survive the playoff gauntlet, and although I thought the Patriots, Colts, and maybe even Chargers would be a better team in 2008 than the Steelers, I think they are a worthy champion. I am quite pleased with another season of NFL Football.

• Now, with only the combine, free agency, and the draft to amuse us, those of us who love the NFL more than anything else must go into our hibernation for 7 long months of “other stuff”. Sniff.