Doug Does Dallas

Reality Check

2010-12-01T09:34:00.003-07:00

Yesterday I wrote a piece for Gear Up For Sports about how I think that Cliff Lee taking his time to sign a contract is affecting the Rangers (probably other teams too) and not allowing them to progress during the off-season. I was very happy to find that two people had commented on my post. I was surprised at what they had written though, while both were true, they both missed the point of the post. One asked, 'how could he make a decision if he hasn't been made an offer yet?', alright I'll give him that. The other one was very sympathetic toward Cliff Lee, he said 'he's been waiting to be a free agent for 10 years, I think we can wait another week.'

First of all I want to say that any comment is a good comment, because that means that someone is reading my stuff. I can't say the same for this blog (my fault for not being consistent), but in less than 24 hours over 175 people have at least clicked into my posting on Gear Up For Sports. The fact that people are commenting on it tells me that they are taking a few minutes to actually read it. I'll be honest, I've taught people to fly airplanes, I once averted disaster when I lost an engine in a plane I was flying and figured out how to fire it back up, yet I'd take 175 people who I don't know reading something I wrote over those experiences any day. So I don't care what people write on my message boards, at least they're reading my stuff.

Next I want to say that under no circumstances does a person who is about to sign a contract worth over 20 million dollars a year to play baseball deserve any sympathy, especially not from the people who pay his salary, the fans. If you are more concerned with Cliff Lee taking his time to get the best deal than whether or not the Rangers can also still sign a good DH then you are a sucker. I'm not saying Lee or any other athlete doesn't deserve to get the market rate for his services. Having the talent to make money playing sports is rare and they should take full advantage of it. But in a million years I will never feel like a player should quibble over money that his great-grandchildren won't be able to spend while an entire fan base is relying on not just him but also 29 other players to be successful.

I work hard. I know I work harder than Cliff Lee. After an 11 hour shift I am finally sitting down to watch Sportscenter and write this. I work hard 50 weeks a year at work and the two weeks that I'm not working I'm having to stress out about travel plans or do chores around my house. Cliff Lee plays baseball eight months out of the year and during his months off has to work out and stay in shape. That's his job. I have five editors working under me that are dependant on the money they make at work, if they screw up I'm the one responsible for their fates, if Cliff Lee screws up he might lose a baseball game. Yet if I work for over 350 years I still won't make as much money as Lee will make in one year, and I'm lucky enough to say I do alright.

Again, I am fine with athletes making their money. I just want people to realize how much money these athletes make. There are CEOs of major corporations who don't make an annual salary as large as the MLB minimum salary is. Only the worst and the youngest of the best players make the league minimum. Players like Alex Rodriguez, who makes 27 million dollars a year, and CC Sabathia, who makes 23 million dollars a year, and what Cliff Lee is about to become are certainly the minority in a league with 900 players, but they are all well compensated and they all PLAY BASEBALL FOR A LIVING. Think about that.

Again, thanks for reading, it means a lot, and if you want to pay me 20 million dollars for this post, it's for sale.

Free Willie: Willie Nelson Arrested For Pot

2010-11-27T11:13:00.003-07:00

I know this isn't sports related but as a patriotic Texan I'm saddened to see a story like this. I'm not saying anyone should be above the law, but isn't Willie Nelson too easy of an arrest target? After a certain amount of fame for a particular reason and a strong following as a result, such as Nelson's marijuana use, the law should no longer pertain to him. Plus arresting someone like Willie Nelson for 6 ounces of pot should be an embarrassment to law enforcement. He probably has 6 ounces of pot in his breakfast. The fact is is that his brand marijuana, let him smoke it.

Missing the Boat on Soccer Again

2010-11-23T05:04:00.003-07:00

I watch the World Cup religiously every four years. Every four years I tell myself, and anyone willing to listen, that I'm going to start following soccer, both domestically and abroad. Then the World Cup ends, I get back into baseball, the NFL begins training camp and soccer is the furthest thing from my mind.

I just found out that the Dallas Major League Soccer team lost the championship this week. Wow! Where did that come from? Have they been on a steady incline for the past seasons? Was this a fluke? I have no idea, but I intend to find out. From this day forward I am a soccer fan.

There is a slight caveat, the MLS season ended this week. I imagine it will be a few months before the season begins again. I've done a little research and picked a few European teams that I'll be rooting for. If you read this blog, I suggest you root for the same teams. It's going to be quite a season (it's actually been going on since August).

All Dallas teams prepare to welcome a few sister teams from across the pond. Let's give three big cheers for Blackpool from the English Premier League, Malaga from the Spanish Premier League (La Liga) and Naples from the Italian League (Serie A).

If you're skeptical I understand, after all a few hours ago I hadn't heard of Blackpool, now I'm a die hard fan. I will do an expose on all three of these teams in the coming days. Try to control yourselves. Let the roller coaster begin.

Cowboys Win in a ‘Man’s League’

2010-11-22T18:27:00.001-07:00

Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Jon Kitna made it clear in an interview with ESPN after the Cowboy’s win over the hapless Detroit Lions yesterday, who have now lost 26 consecutive road games, that the NFL is a man’s league. The Cowboys did a great job yesterday of making the Lions offense look like men. The Cowboys’ secondary did more than that, they made the Lions’ backup quarterback, Shaun Hill, look like Joe Montana in his prime, he was 32 of 47 with 289 yards, two touchdowns and only one interception. Saints quarterback, Drew Brees who plays the Cowboys on Thursday, must be salivating right now.

Kitna played like a man during the first Cowboys’ drive. He stomped on the Lions’ defense all the way down the field. Amazing might not be the word to describe it, but astounding, surprising, astonishing, miraculous and fantastical all fit the Cowboys’ 98 yard scoring drive well. Maybe the drive was divine or maybe Kitna was showing up his former team, whatever it was didn’t last, the rest of the half the Cowboys netted fewer than zero yards offensively. They went to the locker room down 10 – 7 due to the aforementioned problems with the Cowboys’ passing defense. Their offense didn’t help matters; Felix Jones fumbled the ball at the Cowboys’ own 14 yard line with less than a minute to play in the first half, which led to the Lions’ halftime lead. Coincidentally it also led to me turning the TV off.

Luckily I had the foresight to DVR the second half (I actually DVR every game). I had the pleasure of fast-forwarding through Jon Kitna, in manly fashion, getting tackled in the end zone, giving the Lions a 12 – 7 lead. I was able to fast-forward all the way to Bryan McCann’s 97 yard punt return (which was made a lot easier since it was batted to him by the Lions). I was able to fast-forward to the Lions’ fumble on their own 19 yard line which resulted in a 21 – 12 Cowboys’ lead. I was able to fast-forward through all 10 Detroit penalties, which is the real reason the Lions can’t win.

By the end of the 4th quarter I had fast-forwarded to the end of a very manly 35 – 19 win by the Cowboys. After beginning the season 1 – 7 this two game winning streak is a great distraction, but it’s important to remember their opponents. The Lions came to Dallas sporting the same 2 – 7 record as the Cowboys. In a span of two minutes -- with a punt return that ended in the end zone, that was the Lions fault because they batted the ball out of the end zone to McCann, and a fumble recovery that resulted in a touchdown, -- the Cowboys took all the confidence from a team playing on the road, who hasn’t won a road game in years.

Thursday the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints and their future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees will be the Cowboys’ competition. Last year the Cowboys ruined the Saints undefeated season in December in New Orleans, I doubt the Saints have forgotten that. Thursday will be a real test for the Dallas Cowboys. If they beat the Saints they have turned the corner and have begun the road to redemption (which they can’t accomplish until they’ve won a Super Bowl).

The NFL is a man’s league. Yesterday they let a group of boys look like men for much of the game. We’ll find out soon how they stack up in front of an entire team of real men.

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma; A Glimpse Into the Future?

2010-11-13T09:55:00.006-07:00

Texas Tech finishes their Big 12 schedule today, like last year it's against the 16th ranked University of Oklahoma. I haven't posted about Texas Tech this year. They haven't done a whole lot to excite me. That's no excuse, they're my alma mater and if they go 0 - 12 I should still dedicate some time to them. What's discouraged me so much this season is how poorly their defense has played. They allowed 51 points to Iowa State. Their new head coach, Tommy Tuberville, was supposed to come in and revamp the defense. I didn't think that the patience that Tech fans have been required to exhibit would be necessary. I thought they had a great defensive core already. Last year's defensive coordinator, Ruffin McNeill, really did a great job with them. Tuberville thus far has struggled.

That changed last week in the second quarter against 14th ranked Missouri. The first quarter looked like another blowout, Tech's defense (and offense) looked awful once again. They were down quickly 14 - 0. Then something clicked. They only allowed three more points for the rest of the game and ended up winning 24 - 17. It was unexpected but maybe it shouldn't have been, maybe it just took two and a half months for Tuberville's system to click with the players. If that's the case Oklahoma has reason to worry today.

I have no reason to be so optimistic to think that Oklahoma is going to lose their first home game since 2005, but it's at least possible. Texas Tech gave us reason to hope again, both for a bowl this season (which they're virtually assured) and for a possible run at a BCS Bowl next season. I think we finally saw a glimpse of Tech's future.

My prediction for today: Oklahoma 32 - Texas Tech 24.

There's Always Next Year

2010-11-05T09:23:00.003-06:00

Now that the World Series is a full work week behind us, my depression is beginning to subside to the point so that I can write about the Rangers again. I said in a previous post that no matter what happened in the World Series that I was just glad the Rangers were there, I was just glad they beat the Yankees. What I meant was I would be happy no matter what happened as long as the Rangers won. Instead Edgar Renteria sent a high cut fastball, that didn't cut over the left field fence to seal the World Series for the Giants. And good for them, they deserved it.

I'm going to start with Renteria's home run. There were two inevitable home runs in this series and sadly that was one of them. The first was Mitch Moreland's three run home run on Friday night, which after battling nine pitches, including one foul ball that was hit as far as any foul ball I've ever seen, was destined to be game clinching home run. Renteria's, two nights later, with first base open and the number nine hitter on deck, was a matter of Cliff Lee playing with fire. I'll give him credit, he laid it all on the table, he strikes him out, pops him up, whatever, the Rangers eventually win one to nothing, (although the score was still 0 - 0 at that point in the seventh inning) while any base hit puts the Giants ahead for good with how great their pitching was. It was unquestionably going to be a home run though, I didn't even flinch when I saw him make contact because I knew what was going to happen as soon as they didn't intentionally walk him. Some things are foreshadowed, Renteria's series clinching hit in the 1997 World Series, his rookie season, foretold the conclusion of his career. Such as life, enjoy retirement Edgar, great way to finish.

I couldn't watch the Giant's celebrate, I turned the TV off and went to work. I had time to reflect on the season at large though, and thought about a line in "Moneyball" where Billy Beane discusses how the regular season proves the best teams, while a playoff series is a crapshoot between two teams where anything can happen. And while I think the better team won the World Series, Rangers' fans have a lot to be proud of right now and a lot to be excited about. Will the Rangers be back in the World Series next year? It's unlikely, but they'll at least give themselves a chance. Whether or not they sign Cliff Lee, the Rangers have money to spend and a good young nucleus, someone big will sign with them, one more big bat would make a difference as well. I actually like the idea of them acquiring Carl Crawford, or at least someone from the Tampa Bay Rays' everything must go sale, then trading for Zack Greinke mid-season. At any rate, the Rangers will most likely be the best team in the AL West next season. They have a chance, and that's what matters.

The great news about the Rangers playing into November is that winter will be very short. Just three and a half months before Spring Training begins then life begins anew.

One last time: GO RANGERS

Home for Good?

2010-10-29T15:37:00.002-06:00

For once I'm glad that my blog isn't widely read. Yesterday I contradicted myself about how game two of the World Series would go. I said it would be a pitcher's dual, I also said that CJ Wilson would be knocked out in the fifth inning and that Derek Holland would carry the team in the ladder part of the game. I also said the Rangers' offense would continue hitting. Then I predicted that the Rangers would win 7 - 5. The only thing I was right about is that it was a pitcher's dual. It was among the most lopsided and highest scoring pitchers' dual ever, but it would be callous to CJ Wilson to not call it a pitcher's dual. He pitched incredibly for most of the game. Had Ian Kinsler's shot gone another two inches the game would have turned out different, had Wilson kept the ball down against Edgar Renteria he would be hailed the hero instead of Matt Cain. Such is life in baseball though, some bad breaks and one of the most ineffective bullpens in World Series' history will cost you a win every time.

The great thing about baseball is that there is always another day. The Rangers have two more of those. They have them at home in front of what will be tremendous Texas crowds. Fans are going to be missing college football on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday, they're not doing that for the Rangers to lose. I also wrote yesterday that the Rangers have bounced back from adversity all season. Granted not much had been as adverse as the first two games in San Francisco, but that's the way the plot has run. Now for the climax.

Books will be written about this Rangers' season. Everyone knows the storyline(s), I'm not going to rehash it now. The Rangers are just making sure the book ends well. I'm not going to predict what happens next, I'm going to tell you that they take it back to San Francisco up 3 - 2.

World Series Game 2

2010-10-28T17:02:00.002-06:00

Yesterday didn't go very well for the Rangers. I'd like to meet the person who predicted an 11 - 7 Giants victory with Cliff Lee and TIm Lincecum on the mound. But, what's done is done. If I had to pick a good omen for the Rangers, it is that their offense kept them in the game, no matter how ridiculous the pitching and defense looked. Had the bullpen not allowed three runs in the bottom of the eight the Rangers would have only lost by one run.

The Rangers will bounce back tonight just as they have all season, but it won't be a pretty win. Their offense will pick up where it left off last night, we'll see Josh Hamilton send a ball into the bay. CJ Wilson will keep the game close for four innings and Derek Holland will shut them down for the next four innings, then Neftali Feliz will close out the Rangers first World Series win.

If I were the manager of the Texas Rangers Colby Lewis would be starting tonight. Before the playoffs started I was praying for a Texas - New York matchup, because the Yankees aren't designed to hit left handed pitching, the Rangers have some of the best left handed pitching in the game. The Giants are not the Yankees though, why not go lefty, righty, lefty, righty? Well, that's probably why I'm not the manager.

The Rangers will win tonight 7 - 5. GO RANGERS.

The Wait Is Over

2010-10-27T07:56:00.007-06:00

Today's like Christmas. Christmas times 21. It's been 21 years since that spring day in 1989 when I officially changed my allegiance from the Atlanta Braves to the Texas Rangers. From my last post you can tell how big of a Braves fan I was. Since becoming a Rangers fan though I've never wavered. (Without looking anything up, I'll tell you that the Rangers opened that season at home against Detroit. I missed the first game of the season because we didn't have cable, I made sure my parents solved that problem quickly (by the way, I just looked it up, they won 4 - 0 their first game that season)) Some of my fondest memories are actually from the old Arlington Stadium, where I almost saw Nolan Ryan pitch his eight no-hitter (thanks a lot Dave Winfield), I saw the Rangers bounce Roger Clemens out of the first inning one May day, I almost got a home run ball hit by Bo Jackson during a game that I bought tickets with my own money for my mom's birthday, I was 12. I've seen the Rangers win, I've seen them lose, countless times on both fronts. Their playoff run in 1996 was almost the end of me (they almost blew a seven game lead to Seattle), I was at The Ballpark in Arlington to watch them clinch though on a cold September (very early) morning. The next spring, rather than spend every minute of my precious last few days at Richardson High School I skipped out to go watch day games, the 20 I got in fifth period geography was my reward. My reward for all of the above (and more) though comes tonight. Game one of their first Word Series, actually as ridiculous as it might sound to some people, game one of OUR first World Series, is the culmination of a lifetime of hope, patience, persistence or whatever you want to call it (stupidity).

Tonight, in San Francisco, California, the Rangers and the Giants open up the World Series. The game is billed as underdog vs. underdog, yet pitching is Cliff Lee vs. Tim Lincecum, Cy Young winner vs. Cy Young winner. These two scrappy teams will duke it out in what will for sure be remembered as one of the best 100 World Series ever played. Of course for some of us that number will be a little higher. For those of us who have baked long after the sun has gone down in triple digit heat, for those of us who have rooted for a legend and many fake legends (Juan Gonzalez, Jose Canseco, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez and even Pudge Rodriguez) for those of us who have to drive an hour through traffic to the middle of the sprawling metroplex to bake, for those of us who have had to live our fandom down in anonymity for years and years, for us no matter what happens in the next week, this will be the best World Series ever played.

I'd take today over Christmas any year.

GO RANGERS.

There's No Crying in Baseball

2010-10-25T07:49:00.004-06:00

Twenty-three years ago today, October 25, 1987, was the first time I ever cried over a sporting event. I remember it well and think about it often. I don't know why I was a St. Louis Cardinals fan that year. I probably latched on after a good start, it's not like the locally televised Braves were worth rooting for then. That was the first year that the World Series meant anything to me, and honestly, while I've seen large portions of every World Series since, I've never been so emotionally invested in one. 1991 was close, I remember really wanting the Braves to win that year, but I certainly didn't cry over the Twins eventual victory that season. 1987 though, I'll never forget. When the Twins won game 7 that year it devastated me. My dad let me stay up that Sunday night to watch the game. My mom had made me a "homer hankie" but she drew the Cardinals logo on it so it couldn't be confused with the Twins' fans tool. When the Twins mobbed each other at the end of the game I hid my sadness by laughing at the ridiculousness of grown men jumping on top of each other. Soon afterward I lay in bed crying for the St. Louis Cardinals.

I would never cry over one of my beloved teams losing anymore. It probably has a lot to do with crying over my own teams' failures over the years. I don't have the emotional energy to weep over a team that I'm simply a fan of, but no real involvement in.

Don't get me wrong, there have been several occasions I've wanted to cry, most recently the eight inning of game one of this year's ALCS. As the Yankees were pummeling the Rangers' bullpen I sat dismayed in front of my television. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. And yes, I came close to breaking down into tears. I spent the night dreaming only about that inning. I thought the series was over. I'm not a professional athlete, probably because had that happened to me the series would have been over.

Twenty-three years later I have to admit that I did cry over a sporting event. I didn't cry because I was sad and I didn't go overboard, I didn't actually shed a tear, my voice just cracked. This is something that non-sports fans or even casual fans would have a hard time comprehending, but when the Rangers beat the Yankees in game 6 Saturday night to clinch the AL Pennant I was about as happy as I could be. I think back to all the summer nights I spent watching the Rangers play starting in 1989 (the year I could never really be a Cardinals fan or a Braves fan or fan of any other team that wasn't playing in Dallas anymore), the spring after my family moved to Dallas, and I no longer feel like they were wasted. It was because of my support through the years that they evolved into what they are now, which we'll find out soon is the best team in baseball.

So yes, I cried over a sport. But it was due to pride and sadly it's over. Nothing the Rangers will ever due will be paramount to last Friday night. Winning the World Series should be, but it won't be. Not to take anything away from the ultimate baseball reward, but the Rangers can't beat the Yankees in the World Series. Therefore they can't play on baseball's largest stage in the final round. As a result their championship has been won. I'm not even going to go into the utter annihilation the Rangers rained upon the Yankees, just simply that they won, they beat the defending champions. They did something that they have never done before and can't be done again, they won a championship for the first time.

Sports offer rare experiences that can't often be reproduced. Many teams seemingly never make it to their respective championship rounds. But only seemingly, very few teams in any sport have never made it. In Dallas we've been lucky over the last 20 years, there is usually at least one team that's competitive. Never again though will we experience a team going to the finals for the first time and for that we should all be a sad. I'd be interested to hear how many Boston fans regret that the Red Sox finally won the World Series. So to that I say "Go Giants," that way 20, 30 years down the line we'll still have something to look forward to.

Just kidding, the Rangers are going to win in four games. Saturday will be the second happiest day of my life as a sports fan. And probably the third time I cry over a sporting event.

On to a New Era

2010-09-18T07:42:00.002-06:00

I'm lucky. I'm lucky for lots of reasons, but one important one is that I am self-perceptive and know my flaws. One of my many flaws is that I get bored easily. I can't stick to one topic. There's too much going on out there to narrow my view. I am after all, much more than a sports fan who loves Dallas sports and Texas Tech. I also work as a business news editor at a wire service. I'm also a certified flight instructor. I'm a very solid snow skier, which is part of the reason I can endure New Mexico. And perhaps most importantly, come February, I'll be the father to a son, who I'm hoping I'll be able to persuade to keep his focus narrower than I can. I still enjoy Doug Does Dallas, and it will carry on, but you might find a post about something that has nothing to do with sports, it's the way this blog is going to continue, so skip the posts you're bored with.

I went to the Tech - New Mexico game last week. A week ago I posted that if I felt inspired I'd write the next day about it. It was such an uninspiring venue to watch college football in that I needed a week before I could write about it. It had the feel of a lopsided high school game. Our band didn't even make the trip, it was awkward to listen to our cheerleaders singing our fight song. Which they did a lot, because we scored a lot. The floodlights that covered the field left dark shadows in every direction, not giving it the professional ambiance that I've grown to appreciate in college football. What was cool though was that half the stadium was for Texas Tech. It felt like a home game, if they played in Jones Stadium 11 years ago before the construction on the stadium began. Of course I'll never scoff at a 52 - 17 win, although the Tech defense had an awful second quarter.

Of course there's a big game tonight. An underrated Texas Tech team is playing an overrated Texas team. I think tonight the AP writers will see the error in their ways and Tech will be a top 20 team come tomorrow afternoon.

How could I go this entire summer without once writing about my beloved Texas Rangers? I guess it's my ADD. A book should be written about this season. It would have more twists and intrigue than most novels, and it's not even finished yet. The story line is old now, how a team playing most of the season in bankruptcy which is eventually auctioned off is going to make their first playoff appearance in 11 years. The Rangers are going to be the underdogs going into the postseason, and rightfully so. They haven't won a game at New York, Tampa or Minnesota all season, those are the other AL teams who will make the playoffs. The Rangers haven't played very many games with their opening day lineup either. If Josh Hamilton returns for the playoffs, and their pitching continues to pitch like it has in the last week and a half, the Rangers will be a formidable opponent.

I'm not even going to mention the Cowboys, except to say Drew, that the Cowboys will win far more than four games this season. Their defense alone will carry them to eight wins, and their offense will come around.

For now that's it. I stayed pretty much on topic, who knows what tomorrow will bring. GO TECH.

Doug Does Dallas Is Back

2010-09-11T10:29:00.002-06:00

I apologize for the long hiatus. I made the same mistake I always do and got too overzealous and burned myself out. Now that it's football season again, inspiration has struck and I feel the need to restart Doug Does Dallas.

I am going to limit my postings to Tuesdays and Fridays so I don't burn myself out again. I might post tomorrow though. I'm going to the Texas Tech - UNM game tonight and if the atmosphere is right, which I find unlikely at a school that lost 74 - 0 last weekend, then I might describe the events of tonight, tomorrow.

I do plan on reliving a little of the past, with a boot flask full of rum and some drinking at a friends house just before the game. Until next time, enjoy the season.

WOW!!!

2010-01-13T09:36:00.003-07:00

I wouldn't even know where to begin. Watch Sportscenter. I'm heading to Colorado tomorrow so I'm going to post my my playoff picks for this weekend. I'll write about the college football coaching scene next week after all the jobs have been filled. All I'll say is, there might be two people moving to West Texas right now who regret their decisions.

Alright, I'm just going to start with the most important game of the weekend, Dallas is going to beat Minnesota. Minnesota has a great running game and a great passing game. The Dallas defense will stop Adrian Petersen, and Brett Favre will throw the ball to the wrong team enough that the Cowboys will come out on top. I'm more worried about what time I need to leave Colorado to get home by 11:00 MT to watch the game than I am about the Cowboys losing.

In a game that will feature no defense, I think that the Saints will end their losing streak and beat the Cardinals. I will be rooting for the Cardinals though. It would be great to see the NFC championship in Dallas next week.

I think that the Ravens are going to beat Indianapolis. And I think that there will be a revolt of epic proportions against the Colts by their fans. It's a sad situation that the second best team in the AFC, and the only one that could have gone undefeated, suddenly decided to quit playing football four weeks ago.

And the Chargers might be the best team in football. I don't think they have a chance to lose to the Jets, who are lucky to be where they are.

New Era at Texas Tech

2010-01-11T08:47:00.002-07:00

I wrote in November about what Mike Leach has done for Texas Tech. In the same post I commented that you never know when an era is going to change. Everyone, in and out of Redraider Nation was blindsided a couple of weeks ago when Mike Leach was fired by Tech.

On a personal level, I was so dismayed, that I'd have given my own job up for Leach to keep his. I will never believe that Leach deserved to be fired. In my thirty years though, I've learned that it's better to put the past behind and move on as quickly as possible. If every Tech fan is doing that now, then the Texas Tech football program can move on.

I don't want to hear about season ticket holders revolting, they're still adding to the stadium, and we need to fill it up. I haven't been to a game in Lubbock since I graduated. I promise to make the five hour drive east this fall at least once.

First of all, let's be realistic. As much as we love Mike Leach, he probably deserved to be fired. Not over the Adam James thing, but something else, God and the Tech administration only know of course. And don't feel too sorry for him. Remember, he did his interview with ESPN from his cabin in Crested Butte, Colorado. How many of you have a cabin in Colorado? Maybe we should start feeling sorry for ourselves. Leach is also an offensive genius and a great head coach. He's going to work again, probably as early as next season, maybe at a school as prestigious as USC, maybe as an offensive coordinator, maybe as a head coach at a school like New Mexico, who's president was Tech's president when Leach was hired in 2000. The point is, is that he's going to be alright.

The more important point is, is that Texas Tech football is going to be alright. The administration did a great thing yesterday when they hired Tommy Tuberville. They proved that firing Leach was not about paying Leach his money. Tuberville's a little cheaper, but he's discounted only because he was tired of analyzing for ESPN and truly wanted to come to Lubbock.

Something should be said for a proven coach who wants to be there. Because Mike Leach would have made no secrets that he was going for the USC job right now had he not been in fired. Where would Tech have been if he'd gotten the job? The same place, but a month in the future, after all their recruits headed elsewhere.

Here's what I really think happened. I think the administration got tired of trips to the Alamo Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Gator Bowl, the galleryfurniture.com bowl, etc. and was ready for the next level. Mike Leach didn't get them to the next level in 10 years. A winning record is great, but Tech needs the 17.5 million dollar payout that the BCS promises. How do you do that? Hire someone from the SEC.

Think back, Tech fans, to last season. Are you satisfied with it? Probably. 9 - 4 in a rebuilding year, not bad. What could have been different? Tech should have beat Houston. 10 -3. Tech should have beat A&M. 11 - 2. And by Leach's own admission he didn't prepare the players for that game. They could have beat both Texas, 12 - 1 and Oklahoma State, 13 - 0. But we're still satisfied with 9 - 4.

It's time for Tech to get on the same level as Texas and Oklahoma and where Texas A&M has been in the past. Leach proved that he was the coach to get us close, it's time for the rest of us to support Tuberville and this new era, and get us over that hill.

Captain Trips Wins Again, Heading to Playoffs

2009-12-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

Captain Trips (9 - 5) earned a trip to the playoffs in their inaugural season with a win over Da Bears (8 - 6). Whichever team won was playoff bound. Captain Trips was up for the challenge, Da Bears forgot their was a game. The final score, Captain Trips 130, Da Bears 74.

"We sweated all week about this," Percy Harvin said. "The stress gave me a severe migraine and I couldn't even play."

Other than Harvin's bye week, he has started every game since week two. Team owner Doug Eldridge was intently worried about him not playing.

Eldridge said, "Things worked out for us, but I'm very concerned about Percy's desire to be a part of Captain Trips. Basically he sat out with a headache, that just doesn't sit well with me. Thankfully Da Bears played so poorly, that I could have rested half my team and still won."

Eldridge flew the entire team to Albuquerque Monday night for a celebration. Champagne flowed and there was dancing all night, everything from line dancing to jigs were performed by the athletes.

"It was so much fun," Colts tight end Dallas Clark said. "To get together with everyone on the team, during a celebration, rather than a closed door meeting, really means a lot to us. I'm going to play that much harder this week just because of this. Doug is one great owner."

Chad Ochocinco, who is sadly mourning the loss of a Bengals teammate, was unavailable for comment, but did post on his iPhone App that he will be playing extra hard this week.

Brett Favre, the team leader who sometimes takes things too far, such as the time he went to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell asking to wear a self designed Captain Trips helmet during actual games, was very humble about making the playoffs.

"We worked hard this year," Favre commented. "I knew we were a good enough team to make the playoffs, but most other teams in the league were too. I feel very fortunate to be representing Captain Trips in the playoffs, and promise not to let anyone down."

If Captain Trips is going to get to the championship game they are going to have to beat a very formidable The Van Buren Boys. The Van Buren Boys put up almost 200 points against General Bonkers last weekend to not only secure a playoff spot, but also leapfrog Captain Trips for the number two seed.

"It was unfortunate that they were able to get on top of us like that," kicker Rob Bironas said. "But really, who cares, the two seed plays the three seed, the 16 points separating us from the The Van Buren Boys is meaningless.

"I've been reading comments about how their owner is looking ahead to the championship game, that just makes me laugh. We're just getting started, and they wasted all their ammunition last week."

Captain Trips beat The Van Buren Boys 140 - 96 in their last meeting.

Whatever the outcome it is, like the rest of Captain Trips season, it will surly be a fantastic game.

Captain Trips Avoids Trap Set By MYTEAMSUX

2009-12-10T11:17:00.002-07:00

Captain Trips (8 - 5) narrowly escaped MYTEAMSUX (3 - 10) by a score of 111.85 - 110.45, it was the closest margin of victory Captain Trips has had all season.

"The media was calling this game a trap, but we escaped it," Captain Trips owner Doug Eldridge said. "I thought the game was lost early in the day on Sunday, Green Bay's defense really saved us, I owe them a debt of gratitude."

MYTEAMSUX carried an 11.4 lead into Monday night, but Green Bay's defense came through with two interceptions and a sack in the final five minutes against the Baltimore Ravens to earn 13 points and the win for Captain Trips.

"I called the defense together and really chewed them out," Packer's cornerback and team leader Charles Woodson said. "I knew what the stakes were and I made it clear to the rest of the team what needed to be done."

The stakes were a possible spot in the playoffs with a win, and a loss would be a guaranteed spot in the second bracket, a playoff spot for the toilet bowl.

In a game that featured two lifeless running backs, Felix Jones and Marion Barber, two tightends that played like amateurs, Brent Celek and Dallas Clark, and a quarterback, Brett Favre, that was intercepted twice, they were lucky to get away with a win.

All five players were under a strict gag order implemented by Eldridge.

The two surprises of the week were two benched players, quarterback Vince Young and wide receiver Kenny Britt. Britt earned more points than both Clark and Celek, who he could have replaced and Young had more points than Favre.

"I understand that you have to go with your proven starters," Young said. "But I'm going to be throwing to Kenny like Brett's been throwing to Percy for the next few weeks. I hope Doug's listening, because I'm serious. We're playing the Rams this week, the Vikings [Favre's and Harvin's team] are playing a dangerous Bengals' defense. If he has any sense at all he'll start me and Kenny."

Eldridge did not comment on who will start next week against Da Bears (8 - 5), but if history is any indication he will go with Favre and Harvin, who regularly net most of Captain Trips points.

The win against MYTEAMSUX did move Captain Trips into second place, but a loss to Da Bears could easily put set them back into the second bracket.

"This week is the most important week of the season," Eldridge finished. "Win and we're in the playoffs, lose and we're not. It's been the same for the last four weeks, and we've pulled them all off. Now's not the time to sit on our laurels."

Da Bears features both Aaron Rodgers and Randy Moss, despite they're loss last week to the Van Buren Boys (8 - 5), they figure to be a monumental challenge to end the regular season for Captain Trips.

Brett Favre Pleads to Commissioner, "Let us Where Captain Trips Helmets During Games"

2009-12-04T10:11:00.003-07:00

Brett Favre met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell this morning to request that he and the other members of Doug Eldridge's fantasy team, Captain Trips, be allowed to where a special helmet that Favre designed for the team.

Favre and Vikings teammate Percy Harvin have been practicing in the helmets all week, which are teal with a giant caricature of Favre in the middle surrounded by tiny caricatures of the rest of the team. The team name, Captain Trips, which surrounds the players faces, is written in a calligraphy style so fancy that it is barely discernible.

"I spent our entire bye week designing a logo for us. I'm pretty proud of my work, I mean with no formal education in graphic design, I think it came out pretty good," Favre said after unveiling the helmet earlier this week.

Harvin said, in regards to Favre's meeting with Goodell, "I think it's great that Brett is so excited about Captain Trips. He worked so hard on that helmet design that I would feel bad for him if he [Goodell] says no."

Other Captain Trips teammates are not as excited about the possibility of wearing the helmets during a game.

"The design is good," Cowboys running back Marion Barber said. "But I threw some ideas around with Doug a couple of weeks ago, that I wanted to create. Then these helmets show up on our doorsteps unexpectedly. It's just like Brett to up and make these without asking anyones' opinions."

The likelihood of Captain Trips players being allowed to wear their helmets during games is slim according to Goodell. "I'm a little perplexed about what Favre is asking. I think he's developing dementia in his old age. I can't think of a single circumstance, outside of Doug Eldridge actually buying an NFL team and renaming them Captain Trips, where I would allow these helmets to be worn during a game."

When asked to comment on Goodell's remark, Favre said, "It's important to everyone on Captain Trips that he at least hear my pitch, who knows, anything can happen."

Thursday Evening in the Think Tank

2009-12-03T18:24:00.003-07:00

I'm not doing a lot of thinking tonight. I'm watching Texas Tech's basketball team try to upset Washington, Tech's looking pretty good, they're actually playing some defense. I just have a couple of quick comments. I'm disappointed that Kansas chose to part with Mangino. He won coach of the year only two years ago then had one bad season. As awful a season as it was, they finished the season losing seven straight games, coaches have recovered from worse. Obviously Kansas chose to pay him off rather than let him continue coaching because of the accusations of his verbal abuse toward players. When did things change so much that coaches can't verbally abuse their players? I'm sure that whatever Mangino said could be included in the latest Disney movie compared to things legendary college basketball coach Bob Knight would say. Yet it took him choking a player to get him fired. Hopefully Mangino will have the same fate that Knight had and quickly get a job at a good school.

The NY Jets are playing the Buffalo Bills in Toronto tonight. I hate these Thursday night games, it makes me have to think about football way too early in the week. If my fantasy team loses it'll be because I forget that one of my players are playing on Thursday. I predicted both of these teams to lose last week, and they both won. If I predict that both of them lose tonight, which believe me I'm inclined to do, I'll only get one wrong. Buffalo has played better offense lately, despite having an interim head coach and offensive coordinator. NY Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has had some trouble in his rookie year, but had a good game last week against the Panthers. This game is considered a home game for the Bills, but it is in Toronto, last year when they had their home game there most of the crowd was for the visiting Dolphins. Wasting a home game in another city could be draining on a team that has no playoff hopes as it is. So I'll go with the Jets tonight.

By the way, Tech is tied with Washington 76 - 76 with three minutes to play, I'm going to sit down and watch the rest of it.

Captain Trips Plows Over General Bonkers, Moves Into Fourth Place

2009-12-02T18:41:00.007-07:00

Captain Trips (7 - 5) won their fifth game in six weeks by defeating General Bonkers (6 - 6). Both teams went into the weekend needing a victory to stay in the hunt for the playoffs. Thanks to the Captain Trips machine, Brett Favre and Percy Harvin, General Bonkers was TKOed, 128 - 93.

"What can I say," Vikings receiver Harvin said. "We just wanted it more. Me and Brett spent the week practicing together, we got special practice helmets made that have a Captain Trips logo on it to remind us of what we're working for."

The logos are a caricature of Favre surrounded by smaller caricatures of everyone else on the team in front of a teal background. Written in calligraphy style in a circle around the players drawings, with dark red lettering is the team name Captain Trips. The label on the front of the helmet, which usually bears the name of the helmet manufacturer, says Team Eldridge, in honor of Captain Trips owner Doug Eldridge.

"I spent our entire bye week designing a logo for us," commented Favre. "I'm pretty proud of my work, I mean with no formal education in graphic design, I think it came out pretty good. The really good news is that I left Matt Ryan's face out of the design all together, just because I didn't like him on our team. It works out well that Doug finally cut him this week. Who didn't see that coming?"

Favre and Harvin combined for almost half of Captain Trips 128 points this week. Only one other player, Dallas Clark, scored at least 20 points, the other performances were very lacking considering the talent level on this championship caliber team.

The lone exception was the Green Bay defense, which earned 24 points. Unfortunately Eldridge started the Baltimore defense which earned only four points.

Packers cornerback Charles Woodson was unhappy with the decision Eldridge made to bench his defense. "We were playing the $*%!ing Lions. What was he thinking? We shut them out earlier in the year, and here the Ravens are playing a formidable Steelers team. I understand Doug's apprehension after we lost that game to Tampa, but we're spending every waking hour trying to make up for that."

"I did make a mistake," Eldridge said. "We're lucky that we won this game despite the extra 20 points we lost. The really sad thing is, the team could really use the points to help solidify a playoff spot.

"I made some changes this week which should help us down the stretch run. I fired Matt Ryan after a toe injury, honestly with Vince Young as our backup I didn't need him anyways. We all wish him the best in his future endeavors. I picked up Titans wide receiver Kenny Britt so that Vince would have a teammate that he's close to."

Britt, who scored 23 points last week, had this to say, "I'm super excited to be a part of Captain Trips, I wish I could have played last week. I would have loved to have been a part of such a great victory against Tom Brady, I hate that guy.

"He thinks he's leading Mister Bonkers, and I guess he is, leading them right into the ground. I can't call that team General Bonkers, I don't want to insult a real general, with the way they played last week I think Miss Bonkers is more like it."

Welcome to Captain Trips Kenny Britt.

Next week Captain Trips tries to win their fourth game in a row against MYTEAMSUX. Last time these two teams clashed was during some key Captain Trips players bye weeks.

"I've got my sights set on destruction this week," said Marion Barber, one of the players who was forced to sit out against them last time.

Monday Morning Mutterings

2009-11-30T10:06:00.003-07:00

Another Monday morning, wow, and at that it is the last day of November. I used to look forward to December 1st, only 25 days 'till Christmas. Now it kills me, not only is it only 25 days until Christmas (which just isn't the same when you have to buy presents) but also the end of college football season.

Up front, I'll say that I'm not happy with Texas Tech; a seven point win over Baylor? They say it was a great defensive effort that kept Tech on top. I say that's a lie. Baylor was using their third string quarterback. Two Tech fans should have been able to come out of the stands to play cornerback and have more success than the Red Raiders' secondary had. Baylor had control of the game in the first half with almost 20 minutes of possession, it was actually a pitiful defensive effort, considering the opponent. But enough about that, a win's a win, especially in a rebuilding year. 8 - 4 is a decent record, and that it should have (could have) been better bodes well for next season. So I won't complain.

What I will complain about though is the current bowl system. I don't mean the BCS, I'm the person who doesn't mind that. I like the controversy, I like arguing about who's the best, who could beat who and so forth. What I don't like is that there are 34 bowls out there. THIRTY FOUR. There's a Little Ceasers Bowl. That's exactly what we need, a Little Caesers Bowl, it puts the Rose Bowl to shame, if for no other reason than because there's a chance they might be spoken in the same breath. A Little Caesers bowl, do you comprehend how stupid that is? I'll admit it's not the galleryfurniture.com bowl (now the respectable Houston Bowl), but there has to be a line, was CiCi's not available? Or better yet, Pancho's Bowl, watch football and get diarrhea, two for one special.

Right now the criteria to earn a bowl bid is to win six games. Let's use Kansas as an example. Nothing against Mark Mangino, despite his troubles, I like the guy and hope he doesn't get fired, but look at Kansas' route to a bowl. They were 5 - 0 to start the season. The teams they beat were: Northern Colorado, UTEP, Duke (I'm sorry ACC fans, any respectable Big 12 team should beat Duke), Southern Mississippi, then they began conference play and the number 16 ranked Jayhawks squeaked by Iowa State 41 - 36. After that they went on a six game losing streak. They lost every conference game, even the ones that number 16 ranked teams should beat. There they were 5 - 6, at the end of a dismal season, the kind of season that costs future draft picks (Todd Reesing) millions of dollars, and yet they had a one point lead with seconds to play against archrival Missouri. If they stop Missouri, despite their six previous losses, not all to quality teams, they're in a bowl at 6 - 6. I shouldn't have to go on. That's just not right, a team that beats five sub-par teams, and beats one barely above average team does not belong in a bowl. No matter what it's called. Luckily Missouri made the field goal and kept Kansas out of bowl contention.

There are other teams that are 6 - 6 though that are bowl eligible, Notre Dame and UCLA just to name two. The only way to solve this is to make seven wins the magic number. For some schools that would be a spectacular year, like SMU, who managed that this year for the first time since 1984 (when they were still paying players). Baylor, who that might be out of reach for. Army, who you know wants to prove themselves worthy before playing in a bowl.

Also it would cut down on the number of bowl games, which would make each game just a bit more meaningful. Right now there are 130 FBS teams. 68 of them go to bowls. I'm not very good at math, but it seems to me that a team has a better chance of going to a bowl than not. That needs to change.

I'll get to the Cowboys this evening, I owe it to you that, but I'm getting too tired and I still owe you an explanation for why I think Bob Stoops might go to Notre Dame.

First of all, as much as this might surprise some of you, I'm not an insider. Everything I know comes from the same mediums that y'all get your news from, TV, internet, newspapers (internet), magazines (internet), etc. (internet), so I'm sure that it's news to no one that Stoops is being talked about as a candidate at Notre Dame.

Why would he leave Oklahoma? It is after all the one and only second most prestigious program in the Big 12. The Sooners are a program that he did build, won a National Championship at and became a regular in BCS Bowls. But he's coming off a 7 - 5 season and yet another year that he did not win a BCS game (a common theme during his tenure). Sooner fans must be getting restless. Also, Landry Jones, Oklahoma's freshman quarterback who started after legendary Heisman winner Sam Bradford suffered a season ending injury, proved that he is no Sam Bradford. On top of that, the Big 12 South is only getting better from the bottom, Baylor's Robert Griffin will return, Texas A&M looks to have a formidable offense next year, Texas Tech just went 8 - 4 in a rebuilding year, and despite Oklahoma's rout of Oklahoma State, State remain a formidable opponent. Not to mention Texas, whose going to take the Sooners' place in the National Title game this year.

Notre Dame is the only college job besides Texas, that would be a step up for Stoops. Notre Dame is still Notre Dame. It is perhaps the most legendary program of all time. Short of going pro, which doesn't seem to work out for a lot of college coaches (Saban, Spurrier), Notre Dame is the only logical step in career progression for Stoops.

Notre Dame needs a defensive minded coach, desperately. Charlie Weis, Notre Dame's soon to be fired coach, isn't as bad as he seems. He was able to recruit. The problem that Charlie Weis created is that he recruited an offense but no defense. Only the opposite can win games. Stoops can come in and begin recruiting and coaching up a defense (let's pretend that most of the offense won't go to the NFL), and against weaker Big 10 and Pac 10 competition than he's used to, begin winning at Notre Dame quickly.

Bowl selection Sunday is next week, way too soon, but at least we'll make some headway toward closure from this zany season.

NFL Sunday

2009-11-28T23:15:00.004-07:00

I set my standards pretty high last weekend. I'd love to give as much commentary now, but time is not on my side. I've spent the last three days watching football and trying to polish off a turkey and several cases of beer, just turning the computer on is shirking my responsibilities. So, following are my picks for tomorrow, with no rhyme or reason beside them, you can trust me though.

Tampa at Atlanta: Atlanta
Carolina at NY Jets: Carolina
Miami at Buffalo: Miami
Cleveland at Cincinnati: Cincinnati
Seattle at St. Louis: Seattle
Washington at Philadelphia: Philadelphia
Indianapolis at Houston: Indianapolis
Kansas City at San Diego: San Diego
Jacksonville at San Francisco: Jacksonville
Arizona at Tennessee: Arizona
Chicago at Minnesota: Minnesota
Pittsburgh at Baltimore: Baltimore
New England at New Orleans: New England

*I wasted my upset pick already this week by predicting the Lions over the Packers, that didn't work out so well. New England over New Orleans might seem like an upset pick, but New Orleans is due for a loss.

College Football Saturday Predictions

2009-11-28T10:53:00.005-07:00

I know I'm late, I also neglected the Nebraska game yesterday, and I'm cheating because I'm watching the Oklahoma State - Oklahoma game as I write this (it's 0 - 0 with 10 minutes left in the first quarter, and if this announcer doesn't stop using stupid analogies I'm going to turn it off. He just said he was worried that Zac Robinson wouldn't be able to pitch a complete game). But I owe you something, even if two and a quarter games in the Big 12 are over*.

I'll start with the game I'm watching. Both teams have started slow. OU has managed to slow Oklahoma State's running game so far, which is the opposite of what they were able to do in Lubbock last week. Oklahoma State hasn't really been tested defensively yet. This game is tough to call, Oklahoma is trying to salvage a wasted season by their standards, and Oklahoma State is trying to earn an at large BCS bid for the first time. Doing so is going to require them to win in Norman for the first time since 2001. Oklahoma's quarterback Landry Jones has thrown 13 interceptions this season, but has played better in Norman than on the road. Oklahoma State's quarterback, Robinson, has been playing injured since taking a hit against Texas Tech two weeks ago. Since the game is in Norman, and this might be Bob Stoops last game in Norman (I'll discuss in a later post how I think that Stoops will be interested in the Notre Dame job), I like Oklahoma to ruin Oklahoma State's season. See you in Dallas, Jan. 2 OK State. (even though I just watched OK State recover a fumble for their second time today, I'm not changing my mind)

Missouri at Kansas. No team has had a more disappointing season than Kansas. They haven't won a conference game since beating Iowa State Oct. 10 which was also the start of conference play. They have rattled off six consecutive losses since, and with a 5 - 6 record have to win today to earn bowl eligibility. In my opinion they don't deserve to go to a bowl, even if they do win today (I'll write Monday about bowl eligibility requirements needing to change). A lot of teams win on Senior Day because they are pumped up. A lot of teams with seasons like Kansas' lose on Senior Day with their coaches job on the line (Notre Dame, Louisville). Missouri hasn't been great this year either, but has somewhat salvaged their season by winning three of their last four after losing their first three conference games. If they win today, which they will, they'll be 8 - 4 and have a respectable season.

Texas Tech vs. Baylor. Baylor almost upset Texas Tech in Lubbock last year. Texas Tech was coming off a dismal loss at Oklahoma and just weren't themselves. This week they are playing their first game at Cowboys Stadium and playing a Baylor team that just isn't having a good season. The difference between this season and most seasons for Baylor is that they expected to do well this year. Their dreams of a bowl were ruined when standout quarterback Robert Griffin was injured Sept. 26 against Northwest State. Texas Tech hasn't had the season they dreamed of either, but this season was more of a rebuilding season, while awaiting the inevitable quarterback purge at Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The game against Baylor this evening and their bowl game will propel Tech toward what should be a BCS caliber season next year. Their quarterback, Taylor Potts, is finally starting to look comfortable in his position, and their running game, led by Baron Batch, was incredible last week. Texas Tech will start off where they ended last week, and blow Baylor out like Tech teams of the past have done in against inferior competition.

TCU is playing a New Mexico team who is among the worst teams in college football. They should not have any trouble capping off their perfect season. For their sake I will be rooting for Florida State today.

SMU ends their regular season at home against Tulane today. With a win against Tulane and a Houston loss against Rice, SMU will play in the Conference USA Championship game next week. Count on the former happening but not the latter. Still a seven win season for SMU is great, capped by a chance to win their eighth game in a bowl and coach June Jones' two year contract extension SMU fans should be very happy with their season.

*see Thanksgiving preview for my thoughts on the Texas - Texas A&M game

Put Down the Turkey, Grab a Beer and Watch Football (Thanksgiving Day Preview)

2009-11-26T08:47:00.004-07:00

It's no wonder the United States is the mortal enemy of so many nations, we have an entire holiday based on eating and watching football. The world's financial systems, politics, anything that seemed important yesterday involving the US, has to take a backseat so that we can eat turkey and watch the Cowboys. The holiday has no religious bearing, the historical foundation is a lie about some Indians (or Native Americans), and one of the recent traditions is that the Lions take center stage in their annual bungle.

Speaking of the Lions, they play the Packers today in what might be a good game. My biggest regret last week was not watching the Lions and Browns offensive displays. Or was that a 'what not to do on defense' display? The Packers have won their last two games since losing to the Buccaneers, but they haven't done it in remarkable fashion. They let the Cowboys beat themselves and when it looked like they had the 49ers wrapped up, they let them come back to within a touchdown. I don't put too much credence in the Packers' defense. I do like Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford and their running back Kevin Smith. This is a division game, anything can happen in a divisional contest, and I think that Detroit wins this today. No doubt it will be a high scoring game. I'm putting my money where my mouth is too, I benched Green Bays' defense on my fantasy team and am starting the Ravens' defense, despite their opponent, Pittsburgh.

Next on the lineup is the Raiders at the Cowboys. The Cowboys offense has really been struggling the past couple of weeks. They have two touchdowns, a total of 14 points, in the last two weeks. There's no reason for it though. The Cowboys' offense is ranked fifth in the NFL and are due to start emerging from their funk today. Dallas' quarterback Tony Romo is coming in with an injured back and tight end Jason Witten has a sprained foot and might not play. Against the 3 - 7 Oakland Raiders, whose defense is led by an aging Greg Ellis (who the Cowboys decided was not worth his paycheck and cut him after last season), a couple of injuries shouldn't be an issue. More importantly the Cowboys' defense is just too stout for the Raiders' offense, now being led by Bruce Gradkowski, who started his first game last week since December of last year. The Cowboys defense has only allowed one touchdown in the last two games (if you don't count the one where the Packers were given the ball on the Cowboys four yard line). I don't expect the Cowboys to blowout the Raiders, but I think the Cowboys will be dominant. I think that 20 - 7 Cowboys would be a reasonable guess.

The late game this evening, that those of you without DirecTV won't be watching, is the clash of the has-beens. Both the NY Giants and the Denver Broncos started the season hot. Both teams looked to be a lock to win their divisions early, then both teams went on losing streaks. The Giants lost a quarter of their season in a row, before narrowly escaping with a win against Atlanta last week. If the Broncos lose tonight they too will go on a four game losing streak. Both teams have been surpassed in their divisions, the Broncos by the Chargers, the Giants by both the Eagles and the Cowboys. This is a desperation game for both teams. Despite the game being in Denver, which was meaningless against San Diego last week, I'm going with the Giants. The Giants defense is not good, but their offense can still score, and that's more than can be said for Denver.

There is one college game today, Texas A&M hosts the University of Texas. Texas is a three touchdown favorite against the Aggies, but don't expect the score to be that lopsided. A&M is starting to emerge out of embarrassment and yearns for the recognition that will come from a win over Texas. Kyle Field traditionally is a hard place for a visiting team to win, and A&M has won two of the last three meetings with Texas. I think A&M is going to make it a game. Texas will win it in a shootout (not Texas Tech style) 42 - 35. The score will not reflect Texas' ability to win the National Championship game, but it will be another fun game between two of the nations oldest rivals.

What's fun about today is that every game is meaningful. Green Bay, Dallas, the NY Giants, and Denver all need to win today to either stay in the playoff hunt, or to position themselves so that they can lose a game or two December and still make the playoffs. Then the college game has National Championship implications if Texas were to lose to a very topsy-turvy Texas A&M.

So enjoy your God-given right to be an American, and more importantly to spend 12 hours watching football during a holiday that your expected to do so.

Happy Thanksgiving

Captain Trips Gets By Awful dastinkipinki

2009-11-25T07:25:00.003-07:00

Last weekends game was billed as a must win for Captain Trips (6 - 5) and they delivered in a huge way by blowing out dastinkipinki (4 - 7) 113.85 - 75.

Captain Trips owner Doug Eldridge was pleased with the win, but worried about the rest of the season. "Brett Favre was tremendous again, he always is, he was born to play for Captain Trips. What I'm worried about is the rest of the team. Neither of my tight ends [Dallas Clark and Brent Celek] scored over eight points last weekend, both defenses were awful again, Percy's [Harvin] scoring, but only because Brett's spoon feeding him the ball.

"What concerns me is that our point total was only good enough to beat a third of the league. We're lucky that we played against one of the bottom four teams," Eldridge continued. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the win. I just wonder if I made some bad coaching decisions that is leading us toward mediocrity."

When asked about those decisions Eldridge wouldn't elaborate. He did pick up two players on waivers over the past week, Tashard Choice rejoined Captain Trips after 10 weeks of jumping from team to team, and controversial quarterback Vince Young is now a member of Captain Trips.

"It's not about me, it's not about Vince Young," Young said. "I just want to continue to lead my team and win the respect of my teammates as well as my coaches."

When asked what he meant by 'continuing' to lead his team, since he has not been on a team for the better part of the season, he simply moped away with his hands in his face.

"I think that Vince is going to be a good pickup. I hired him to scared Matt [Ryan] into doing a better job, and so far that's worked. The only downside is the team psychiatrist, whose had his hands full all season, is going to have to move in with him," Eldridge commented.

Choice proved why he was released from Captain Trips after week two, scoring only .1 points last weekend. "I just have to get back on the same page with Felix [Jones] and Marion [Barber], we've been enemies most of the season. It's going to be awhile before they're ready to give me the ball. I know that Doug is having a sit down with [Cowboys' offensive coordinator] Jason [Garrett] this week, so I think I'll improve. Thank God the days of my family being ransomed and my house and cars being egged are over."

Overhearing, Barber said under his breath, "If you keep scoring .1 points those days aren't over."

dastinkipinki was led by Donovan McNabb who scored 18.7 fantasy points. The team really struggled with three players not even accumulating over 4.5 points. Lee Evans', Jonathan Stewart's and Benjamin Watson's combined point total was only 6.8. "What can I say," Evans said, who also plays wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills. "We don't have an offensive coordinator, we no longer have a head coach, I'm not sure I'm the person to be starting on a fantasy team."

Next week is another must win for Captain Trips. They are playing the venerable General Bonkers (6 - 5). With the likes of Tom Brady and Jason Witten they promise to be more of a challenge than dastinkipinki.

"Bring 'em on," Favre said. "This game is going to define Captain Trips. This message is for you General Bonkers: Y'all are lucky that y'all are taking separate planes to separate cities, because I'd like to go Arab on you."

When asked what that meant he just stuck both of his middle fingers and the air and walked away pumping his fists and screaming, "Yeaaaaaaaaaah, Captain Trips."

Monday Morning Mutterings (Late Edition)

2009-11-23T17:07:00.002-07:00

If you rely on this blog for all your sports information (quit laughing, somebody might), I really appreciate it. But you're probably wondering how the Mavericks and Stars are doing. To be honest, so am I. Both teams are integral parts of the Dallas sports market, and I've ignored them for the last two weeks. I've got bad news, I'm going to continue to ignore them until after Bowl Selection Sunday. I just don't have the time to thoroughly examine and write about them at this time, and still give you quality college and NFL football coverage. I like to think that y'all have certain expectations of me, and I'm not going to sacrifice quality for quantity. I'm one person, I'm always going to do the best I can, for everyone of you. But if I'm not writing about what you want to know, I suggest you find another news source.

If I quit my job and concentrate full time on my blog I could write about Pakastani cricket if any of you desired, so if there is anyone willing to bank roll me let me know, we'll work something out. It'd be more financially prudent for you to sign up for Dallasnews.com, or go to ESPNDallas.com. I've crunched the numbers, and if I quit my job I just don't know if I'll be able to afford beer anymore, and none of y'all are worth a case of Dale's Pale Ale.

I want to congratulate Drew. If any of you missed his most optimistic comment about Texas Tech, please scroll down to the bottom of my recent College Football Saturday Predictions post. What was the final score of that game? 41 - 13 Tech, wow.

It was the second worse loss for Oklahoma under coach Bob Stoops. I know Oklahoma's missing their offensive line, their injured Heisman winning quarterback and injured tight end Jermaine Gresham, which accounts for their total lack of offense. At the same time though, Texas Tech is also down two of their most fabled offensive players of all time, Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree, yet they put up over twice the number of points Oklahoma allowed them last year.

Give Baron Batch credit, he looked like Dexter McCluster looked against Tech in the Cotton Bowl last year. I guess the Oklahoma defense didn't expect Tech to run. With Taylor Potts as the quarterback, or as he's now known, "Nick", I think that running is a pretty good option for the Tech offense. I'm sure Potts will find a way, but so far no quarterback has been picked off handing a ball to a running back.

Tech fans should be happy right now. This really was a bad season for them, but they're likely going to end up in the Holiday Bowl, if Nebraska manages to lose this weekend the Cotton Bowl isn't completely out of the picture. Who knows, if in a bad season they can manage nine wins, which they probably will, I don't think a BCS bid is out of the question next year. Next year will be a rare year that most schools in the Big 12 South will be rebuilding. Oklahoma had to start the process early, and they've lost five games. I doubt Texas will lose five next year, but they'll be lacking Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley, there's a reason they feel so much pressure to win the National Title this year. Oklahoma State will be lacking Zac Robinson and Kendall Hunter, they already miss Dez Bryant. All these schools are BCS caliber, or were recently, and Tech's worst loss was to Texas in Austin by 10 points. They could have won against Oklahoma State, had the Tech offense not had the miscues and penalties they had, and more experience with the two minute drill. They really missed Harrell and Crabtree that night.

Onward and upward, toward the NFL. I've mentioned this before, I am not a braggert. If you feel so inclined though, read through my predictions. I'm not perfect, I got three wrong, and Houston stands a good chance of winning tonight, I picked Tennessee to win. You might notice that two of the three games I got wrong were in overtime and the other was decided by a last second field goal. None of my missed picks were by more than three points. Again I'm not bragging, I just want you to feel confident when you walk up to your bookie after reading my blog.

I have to give Drew credit, he did know that the Cowboys would not beat the Redskins by more than 11 points. (By the way, all of y'all could be mentioned in my postings if you'd comment. Randy be prepared, we've got a serious fantasy game coming up, something tells me that Brett Farve is pretty charged up for it) The Cowboys only won by one point, thanks to a desperation drive in the last five minutes, and some awful place kicking by the Redskins' Shaun Suisham.

I have a lot of admiration for Cowboys' offensive coordinator Jason Garrett after that game. He let the media call their game plan, and showed them, how much better he is at play calling than Tim Cowlishaw and Jean-Jacques Taylor. I think the moral of the story is that a combination of a running game and a throwing game is the answer. That probably was the plan, but Tony Romo was playing in a lot of pain, and his throws were very inaccurate all day long. Receivers weren't really getting open, but he couldn't hit them anyways.

I'll take a 7 - 6 win over the alternative any day. The Cowboys are a 7 - 3 team, leading their division. It's hard to fathom a scenario where they don't make the playoffs this year, and as the Giants proved two years ago, once you're in anything can happen.

An Insignificantly Significant Game

2009-11-21T08:01:00.005-07:00

Ten years ago yesterday I basked in the sun of a beautiful Lubbock fall day. I was one of the few students who woke up for the 11:00 am kickoff between Texas Tech and Oklahoma, therefore I was able to sprawl out and put my feet up on the bleacher in front of me. I sat in the lower third of the bleachers that make up the student section at Jones Stadium. Back then AT&T did not go after Jones, there was no corporate sponsor for the Red Raiders' stadium. Texas Tech was 5 - 5 going into that game, needing a win to solidify another winning season. If they did win, the announcer announced, the senior class of 1999 will have never endured a losing season. They would have to beat a 7 - 3 Oklahoma Sooner team that day who was closing their first season under coach Bob Stoops.

I'll spare you the suspense, Tech won 38 - 28. As great as it was to have a winning season, to be bowl eligible, the significance of that game was overlooked as soon as the clocked ticked to 0:00.

Texas Tech coach Spike Dykes chose not to go to a bowl that year. Which made the last regular season game, November 20, 1999, his last game as a head coach. He was, at the time, retiring as the winningest head coach in Texas Tech history, 82 wins, 67 losses and one tie. He had led Tech to seven straight winning seasons, seven straight seasons of bowl eligibility, he is still the only coach at Tech to beat Texas six times.

It was clear midway through the 1999 season though, that 6 - 5 records and a trip to the Independence Bowl were no longer good enough. Dykes' old style, run first offense, with heavier emphasis on defense, much like storied coaches of the past at more successful Texas schools, Bear Bryant and Darrell Royal, was no longer getting the job done. Teams were still successful at it, Nebraska came close to the National Championship game that same year with roughly the same style of play. Texas Tech was never going to recruit the personnel needed to move to the next level under Dykes. Therefore a coaching change needed to take place.

Working on the Oklahoma sideline that day was one of the most creative offensive coordinators in college football. Despite the losing effort that day, it was ultimately his offense that would help propel Oklahoma to the National Title the next year. A year later though, Oklahoma's offensive coordinator, Mike Leach, was standing on the Tech sideline in Norman, Oklahoma, as the head coach of the Red Raiders, he was watching his team get thrashed 58 - 3.

That sunny day in the fall of 1999 was also the first start for quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, who became the first "system" quarterback under Leach. Kingsbury backed up Rob Peters, who was injured the week before in Tech's 58 - 7 loss at Texas. Little did we know how symbolic his start would be, it was a true "out with the old, in with the new" moment.

After the game a few of us jumped on the field, not to rush the goal post, but to mingle with the players as they walked toward the locker room. I walked up to Kingsbury, and was about to congratulate him on the win, before someone with a microphone and a television camera pulled him away. That was the beginning of a collegiate career for him that would end with over 10,000 passing yards. Gaudy numbers are still being put up by Tech quarterbacks under Leach today. Kingsbury was also the first in a string of Tech quarterbacks whose numbers would be overlooked due to the magical spread offense that coach Leach runs.

Texas Tech is a different school than it was 10 years ago. It has emerged from obscurity. Jones Stadium is now Jones AT&T Stadium. The stadium has been remodeled with luxury suites and many more bleachers. New, state-of-the-art, academic building have sprung up around campus. The ghetto not far from campus was torn down, for new hotels and chain restaurants.

Their success on the field has not always been substantial, they've kept their streak of winning seasons and bowl eligibility alive. But have little success against the powerhouses, Texas and Oklahoma. Mike Leach's record at Tech is 82 - 43, but he hasn't brought them to the pinnacle of college football yet, a BCS game.

It's the style of play and the energy that Leach brought to Lubbock that gave Tech such an aura. Not only was a football program beginning a major overhaul that day, but also a school and a city. Yet what we saw on that sun drenched field that day was Tech's sixth win of the season, nothing more, nothing less.

There are rumors that the University of Louisville are interested in Leach. He has no buyout clause and the Big East would be easier to win in than the always tough Big 12 South. Louisville would be able to compensate him on the same level that Tech has been able to, he makes almost 2 million dollars a year.

Today Oklahoma visits Texas Tech to play a game with about the same significance as the game 10 years ago. Both teams have had disappointing season's and are looking ahead to next season. If we've learned anything though, it's sometimes the least significant games though, that end up making the largest impacts.

College Football Saturday Predictions

2009-11-20T11:20:00.003-07:00

As much as I hate to admit it, I was a little blindsided last night when I saw Colorado playing Oklahoma State. I was so focused on the NFL and so concerned with DeAngelo Williams playing status, he's on my fantasy team, that I overlooked the college game last night. I was even more blindsided when I saw that Colorado was attempting a major upset in Stillwater. I would have posted today that I never would have picked Colorado to beat Oklahoma State, and give myself a missed pick. Oklahoma State ended up winning though, so for the sake of fairness, I will give myself a wash, and leave it out of my running total, which I might add, I've been doing well with recently.

Like last week, the only important game in the Big 12 is the Texas game. This week they play Kansas, whose coach Mark Mangino is being investigated for yelling at a player and poking him in the chest. God forbid a coach disciplines his players. When a team loses five games in a row frustrated people go to great lengths to place blame. The truth is is that Kansas just isn't that good this season. This week they are going to lose their sixth straight game. This is just another real-life practice for the Longhorns on their way to Pasadena.

Every week I write about how Nebraska is going to lose. I always write that they don't have an offense, and the their overworked defense can only do so much. And every week I am wrong. This week I will not make that mistake. Nebraska plays Kansas State this week, and by beating Kansas State will earn a trip to the Big 12 Championship game.

Missouri at Iowa State is a tough one to call. Both teams records are almost identical, Missouri 6 - 4, Iowa State 6 - 5. The biggest difference is that Iowa State has reason to be proud of their record, they were not expected to be this good. Missouri had high hoped for their season, and now they're just trying not to finish last in the Big 12 North. In games like this, toward the end of the season, I think the team who has proven more has the upper hand. Iowa State will beat Missouri tomorrow.

Texas A&M is coming off a week where they gave up 640 yards in a 65 - 10 loss to Oklahoma. Luckily for them they play Baylor tomorrow. Baylor's disappointing season all but ended before conference play began when their stand out quarterback Robert Griffith suffered a season ending injury. A&M has had two Big 12 wins this year. Their offense at times has been prolific, but more times than not, their defense has given up way too many points. I think that they're going to pile on the points against Baylor, and be able to stop the weakest offense they'll play this year.

Oklahoma is playing at Texas Tech. Last year in Norman this game determined who was going to the National Championship. I drove all the way from Albuquerque to watch that game. And as a devout Texas Tech fan, had to leave at halftime. I would have been able to stay longer in a veal slaughterhouse than I could at that game. I'm sure that the Tech players feel the same. This year features a very different Oklahoma team. Their quarterback Sam Bradford was injured in game one, and returned only briefly before being knocked out for the season against Texas. Oklahoma's offensive line is not nearly as strong as they were last season. Jones Stadium in Lubbock is one of the hardest venues for a visiting team to win in in college football. On top of that, both of these teams really have nothing to play for other than maybe a better bowl, this might be the difference between the Sun Bowl and the Alamo Bowl, really who cares. Texas Tech has one thing to play for though, and that is revenge from last season. And they will deliver tomorrow. Texas Tech will blow Oklahoma out similarly to the way they blew Tech out last year.

TCU plays Wyoming, they have one choice tomorrow, which is to be relentless. For them to have any hope of playing in the National Championship game, they will need a lot of luck, and a lot of points against two awful teams. The first of those is Wyoming tomorrow, then New Mexico next week. Look for TCU to put up at least 50 points in both games.

SMU is going to have to win their next two games to get to the Conference USA Championship. They're playing at Marshall tomorrow. Marshall is 5 - 5, SMU is 6 - 4, SMU has been hotter of late though, going 5 - 1 over their last six games, Marshall has been 3 - 3 over the same span. I'm going to pick SMU because I want SMU to win. I think it'd be great for them and the City of Dallas if they could put something together on the national level, like the University of Houston did this year. With coach June Jones, I think that is possible, I also think they can beat Marshall tomorrow.

A Look Into a Crystal Ball

2009-11-19T10:40:00.005-07:00

I've heard rumors that my loyal readers are skeptical of my ability to predict NFL games. I'll admit, I see why there are skeptics out there. I have kept a narrow scope when it comes to NFL. I haven't ventured outside the NFC East, after all, this is Doug Does Dallas, not Doug Pretends to Know Everything About the NFL Like Everyone Else in America. I will accept the challenge though. So for those of you lucky enough to be in Nevada (I'll tell you who's going to win, I'm not giving you scores. I don't want to completely break the casinos.), here's what's going to happen around the NFL this weekend.

Miami Dolphins at Carolina Panthers: This is the third meeting between the two teams. Miami has never lost to Carolina. Carolina boasts the third best running game in the league, averaging 156.6 yards per game. Miami has the seventh best rush defense in the NFL, allowing just 97.6 yards per game. The Dolphins wildcatter, Ronnie Brown is out for the season with a hurt right foot. The Dolphins will have to rely on Ricky Williams, but since this year seems to be the year of ex-Longhorn resurgence (we're still waiting for you Roy Williams) that might not be a bad thing. The Panthers will have to rely on DeAngelo Williams, who is questionable tonight with a knee injury. Panthers offensive tackle Jordan Gross is out with a broken leg. Gross' injury will affect both the Panthers running game and passing game. Quarterback Jake Delhomme hasn't thrown an interception in three games. Without Gross blocking in front of him it's likely that there will be Dolphins in his face all night long. The Panthers have been hot, going 4 - 2 in their past six games, but they're going to fall short tonight.

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys are coming off a miserable loss in Green Bay. They are not going to let the worst team in the NFC East come into Dallas and beat them. Dallas is going to have to rely more on their running game this week, and every week for that matter. The Cowboys have a well rounded receiving corp as well as running corp, but offensive coordinator Jason Garrett has been relying more and more on the passing game as the season progresses. The Cowboys passing game was exposed against the Packers, but they didn't revert back to the run, they stayed the course. This week, they will go back to the run, and they will win easily as a result.

Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions: There is one thing I can guarantee about this game. It will pull in the lowest ratings of the week, maybe the year. If you draw a circle encompassing both cities you will have just done something more interesting than watching this game. Inside that circle, which if you draw it correctly will mostly surround Lake Erie, is the only place that this game will be watched with interest. I'll give the edge to the Lions, they played the Vikings tough last week, they're at home, and I like they're rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford.

San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers: The Packers are coming off a huge win against the Cowboys, that put them back in the Wild Card race. The Packers won largely because of bad officiating and questionable offensive decisions by the Cowboys coaching staff. The 49ers have had a long week off since they beat Chicago last Thursday night. It was an ugly win 10 - 6 win, where they had five interceptions and still couldn't put the game away until the last minute. If this game were in San Francisco I'd probably pick the 49ers, but it's not. The Packers will take this one.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Kansas City Chiefs: Pittsburgh is lucky to have Kansas City scheduled to play this week after the Cincinnati Bengals took the season series from in Pittsburgh last week. The Steelers should have no problem beating the Chiefs, who have had both on and off the field trouble in recent weeks. Cut running back Larry Johnson is now a Bengal, and wide receiver Dwayne Bowe was just handed a four game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs. The Steelers are just a game out of first place, but have had injury problems themselves this season. Their loss of safety Troy Polamalu, to a left knee injury, should not affect the Steelers chances to win.

Seattle Seahawks at Minnesota Vikings: Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is playing with broken ribs and their two starting cornerbacks are out with concussions. Backup corners playing against the Vikings Brett Favre and his favorite receiver Percy Harvin, is a combination that will lead to a big Viking win.

Atlanta Falcons at New York Giants: The Giants are coming off what has become a very valuable week in the NFC East this season, the bye week. The Giants, while sitting at home, gained on the Cowboys and the Eagles who both lost. During the Cowboys bye week in week 6 all three of the other NFC East teams lost. Unfortunately for the Giants that will be all they gain on the Cowboys and the Eagles this year. Their defense is just not good enough to end their four game slide against the now desperate Atlanta Falcons. Giants quarterback Eli Manning seems to play better in no pressure situations, which is not the case this week. I hate to think what the NY Post is saying about the Giants heading into this game. I really hate to think what they'll be saying after they lose to the Falcons on Sunday.

New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Buccaneers have been playing better football lately. They have been competitive in three of their last four games. They are still 1 - 8 though. Every week, every team has a chance to win. It would be pretty surreal though if the Saints lost to Tampa this week.

Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars: The Bills fired their offensive coordinator before the season started, then fired their head coach this week. The Bills are averaging only 12.9 points per game. They're playing an above average Jacksonville team, with a running game led by Maurice Jones-Drew. The Jaguars shouldn't have any trouble against Buffalo.

Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens: Last week the Ravens went home to Cleveland. This week the Colts are going home to Baltimore. This game boasts one of the best offenses against one of the best defenses. Normally I'd take a good defense over a good offense. But most offenses aren't led by Peyton Manning. The Ravens defense is playing without linebacker Terrell Suggs who was injured in Cleveland last week. It surprised me to see that Baltimore is favored by one point, yet the over/under is 44. I don't know where the oddsmakers are thinking those points are going to come from if the Colts don't win. The Ravens only chance of winning is to keep the Colts from scoring, and I don't think that's possible right now. The Colts will win this one easily.

Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams: The Cardinals are returning home this week too. The difference is, there is no question that they will win. The Cardinals play better on the road than they do at home, and they're playing an awful, 1 - 8 Rams.

San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos: Denver started out so great this season. Last week I commented that they would be the only 6 - 2 team to not make the playoffs. With the surging Chargers coming to town I still believe that. The Chargers are getting hot, and Phillip Rivers will lead them over the Broncos.

Cincinnati Bengals at Oakland Raiders: There is no chance that the Bengals, who replaced injured Cedric Benson with, a now very desperate to prove himself, Larry Johnson does not win here. Plus the Bengals are too good this year to win a season defining game against the Steelers last week, only to blow it against the Raiders.

New York Jets at New England Patriots: The Patriots will want to redeem themselves after last weeks questionable coaching call against the Colts. They will beat the faltering Jets.

Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears: Philadelphia is having a season of highs and lows. After beating the Giants and moving into first place it looked like they couldn't be stopped. Two consecutive losses later though, to the Cowboys and Chargers, they don't look like the same team. But they are playing Jay Cutler and the Bears. Cutler threw five interceptions last week against the 49ers. They still lost by only four points. The Eagles will win by many more points if they get five interceptions. It's not just Cutler for the Bears that are making mistakes, his offensive line isn't giving him the time he needs, and his receivers are not always in position. So with no offense I don't see the Bears beating the Eagles.

Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans: Also the Titans are returning home. Like the other three teams who have or are returning to a city in which they used to play, I think the Titans will win. Vince Young isn't going to come down from his high just yet.

Ravens Defense Leads Captain Trips to Victory; Keeps Playoff Hopes Alive

2009-11-17T18:51:00.004-07:00

Captain Trips owner Doug Eldridge has had trouble with his two defenses this season. There was clear animosity between the Green Bay Packers squad and the Baltimore Ravens squad a week and a half ago during Captain Trips emergency meeting. Just a week ago the Green Bay defense blew an opportunity for a key win, by earning just two fantasy points at home against the underwhelming Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This week both defenses came out to play. The Packers' group scored 17 points and the starting Ravens scored a whopping 26 points, which led Captain Trips this week in their 121 - 110 victory over the Rebellious Cocks!!!.

"When the UFL expands I suspect they'll be contacting the Browns," Ravens defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said. "I'll tell you what, I see why Art Modell moved the real Browns to where we are. I know it's been said countless times, but this place is a hell hole. The NFL is too classy to have an organization in a place like this, not that they have much of one."

While the Ravens' defense wasn't stacked up against competition, other players on Captain Trips found Sunday to be rather frustrating. "I don't feel like a man," benched running back Felix Jones said. Jones earned only .6 fantasy points against the Green Bay Packers defense this week.

"We were in a tough situation," Packers cornerback Charles Woodson said. "We knew the Ravens were going to outscore us. That was unquestionable. I mean we had Dallas they had Cleveland. They played a high school JV team, while we played a Pro Bowl team. The question was, do we step up against Tony Romo, the Rebellious Cocks!!! QB? We decided to take him out. Had Dallas chosen to run more, I promise you we'd of opened some holes up for Marion [Barber] and Felix. I mean, we're all on the same team out there."

Reggie Wayne of the New England Patriots, who was unavailable for comment, gave Captain Trips fits Sunday night. Wayne scored 34.6 fantasy points.

"Unfortunately I don't own any players on the Patriots to 'persuade' him to ease up," Eldridge said. "Plus he was playing against, our best tight end, Dallas Clark. He showed up with one purpose, to destroy Captain Trips. Luckily the rest of the Rebellious Cocks!!! didn't feel the same way."

At 5 - 5 Captain Trips is seventh in the league. Winning out might be the only way they stand a chance to make the playoffs.

Placekicker Rob Bironas was not optimistic about their chances. "We're a .500 team with four games left. That's who we are. We're your average, run of the mill fantasy team. Everyone is looking at us to win week in and week out. We show up and we do our jobs, and half the time we don't win. That's who we are."

Next week Captain Trips will face dastinkipinki, who they beat 162 - 139 in week two.

"In week two everyone put up some monster numbers, something tells me, we have it in us to do it again," Eldridge said.

Monday Morning Mutterings

2009-11-16T10:30:00.002-07:00

At least the Mavericks won yesterday.

I hadn't planned on writing about the Mavericks until after their game tonight in Milwaukee. After the Cowboys and the Red Raiders disappointed me maybe the 7 - 3 Mavs are all who's worthy to be written about.

Oh well, it's Monday morning, and there are only so many more weeks of football. Win or lose, it's still a lot of fun to watch.

I'll start with the winners; Texas, Missouri, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, TCU and SMU, and of course me. I would never let myself be a braggart, but the only game I predicted wrong was the Nebraska game (my feeling that Tech would beat Oklahoma State doesn't count, my actual prediction was Oklahoma State by less than a touchdown. They won by seven.) So I guess you can take my advice and use my blog in Las Vegas. (I personally won't be.)

While I'm on the subject, I never did a posting on my NFC East predictions. Just as well though. The only game I guessed correctly is the Chargers over the Eagles. I don't know where the Redskins came from, I did tell a friend on Saturday though, and I know Kenny would verify it, that I thought that if a 6 - 2 team would not make the playoffs that it would be the Broncos, which is who the Redskins beat. I'll get to the Cowboys later.

Great job SMU, you are going to a bowl for the first time since 1984, when you beat Notre Dame in the Aloha Bowl. If you draw Notre Dame again, my guess is that you'd win, or at least put up a pretty good fight. It's just as great that y'all are still alive for the Conference USA Championship. For those of you who think life in the Big 10 is bad, and that Iowa was overrated, imagine being a University of Houston fan and watching SMU win the division.

TCU, what can I say, a couple of weeks ago I said I think you should play Texas in the National Championship game. I was praying that South Carolina would beat Florida, then Florida beat Alabama in the SEC Championship game to make a TCU - Texas game a reality. I'll go ahead and predict right now, that either Florida will lose to Florida State or Alabama will lose to Auburn. At least that would make an all Texas National Championship game possible.

As far as the Big 12 is concerned this year, they are really obsolete. They'll win some bowl games. Maybe their third best will beat the Pac 10's second best in the Holiday Bowl. They'll probably win the Insight Bowl and the Alamo Bowl, which are against Big 10 teams. The Cotton Bowl though, the one important non-BCS bowl the Big 12 participates in, which is against the SEC, they don't have a chance. So I'm not even going to discuss the rest of the Big 12. For all the reasons I said, and I'm getting tired.

Texas is the lone stand out. Texas thoroughly beat Baylor, only a week after trouncing of UCF. As spectacular as that sounds, it's all fine tuning anyways. Right now in the Big 12, whether they play Baylor or Nebraska, they're going to win, every game is a scrimmage, the only actual game they have left this year is in Pasadena.

The Cowboys. I can't blame the entire loss on offensive tackle Mark Colombo's injury, but if he hadn't endured a high ankle sprain in the first quarter I doubt the Packers would have sacked Tony Romo five times.

I also blame Romo though, and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. Romo should have been able to read the defense better than he did. Garrett should have realized that Romo wasn't going to read the defense better and change the plays. Some pitches to any of their three running backs, maybe a screen, anything would have been better than watching the offense scrape Romo off the field time and again. The grounds crew at Lambeau Field is going to have to buy sod in the shape of the number 9 in bulk this week.

I'll give the Cowboys' defense credit. It was a bad call by an official which led to the Packers' last seven points. (I don't blame the officials for missing the call, I didn't see it on my 52 inch high definition television until I saw it in slow motion) Cowboy Felix Jones recovered a fumble that the officials gave to the Packers inside the 10 yard line. Had that play gone the way it was supposed to the Cowboys might have pulled off the win. A 10 point deficit with 10 minutes to play is significantly less challenging than a 17 point deficit.

As it stands the Cowboys, thanks to the Eagles' loss, are still in sole possession of first place in the NFC East, and are still in control of their destiny. They will be 8 - 3 after Thanksgiving, let's just hope that December is kinder to them than it has been as of late. Let's also give thanks, that they still get to play the Redskins twice (sorry Drew).

College Football Saturday Predictions

2009-11-13T17:39:00.003-07:00

Another weekend already. Autumn is flying by, that's the problem with fantasy football and trying to keep up with a blog about sports. It turns out that a week is just not long enough, and that football season is just way too short.

I'm going to start outside the region for once, only because there's a game of note starting in 20 minutes. I think that Cincinnati is going to drop out of the picture tonight against West Virginia. It's for the same reason both Houston and Mississippi dropped out over a month ago, they are over hyped, over publicized, and not built to withstand the pressure. I really like Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly, he's going to be very successful at a major program, but he's also talking about platooning quarterbacks tonight. I like the idea at a school like Nebraska, who has trouble offensively and needs something different to try to throw off a defense, but Cincinnati has one of the best offenses in the country. If Zach Collaros isn't good enough to win his fifth straight on his own, then coach Kelly needs to trust his proven starter Tony Pike to do it, even coming off an injury. For the benefit of the team it should be one or the other, not both. I've never been a receiver trying to time when a ball is coming from a quarterback, or an offensive lineman trying to time a count down to a millisecond, but I can imagine a change of quarterback can throw them off easily.

On to what I've actually been fairly successful at predicting the last couple of weeks. The Big 12, SMU and TCU. If you're in Las Vegas reading this, feel confident enough in my predictions to head straight to the nearest sports book.

I'll start with Texas Tech at Oklahoma State since that is the game that interests me the most. Both Taylor Potts and Steven Sheffield are listed as co-No. 1 quarterbacks, I assume that if Sheffield is healthy that he will get the start. If that's the case then I can see Tech winning in a shootout. But I don't see it clear enough to choose the Red Raiders as the clear favorites. I've not been overly impressed with Oklahoma State this year, even against Georgia, I felt like they were forced to play another brand of football than they are designed to play. They won the game with great defense, or else Georgia's lack of offense. Judging by what happened the next week against Houston, I would guess the latter. With Tech coming off a bye, Oklahoma State coming off a big win on the road against Iowa State, and the game in Stillwater, I'm going to predict that Oklahoma State wins by less than a touchdown. Although, sometimes I have feelings, I did before the A&M game and I ignored it because all reason told me that Tech should win, but I felt they probably wouldn't. I feel that Tech will make up for that loss to the Aggies tomorrow and beat Oklahoma State. So be weary if you're headed to the sports book.

Missouri at Kansas State; first place in the Big 12 North against last place in the Big 12 North. Surprisingly it's Missouri in last place. Kansas State has been playing above their skill set, and they are playing a Missouri team that just lost to Baylor. Missouri hasn't been good since conference play began, but they're going to be dangerous coming off a loss to the traditionally worst team in the conference. I think that Missouri will beat K-State.

I'll be honest, I'm tired of schools like Kansas State and Nebraska doing so well after losing to Texas Tech. SI.com is predicting that both of these two schools will fair better on Bowl Selection Day than Tech, despite both having lost to them. Nebraska plays Kansas tomorrow, a team that can have a dangerous offense, when Todd Reesing doesn't give the ball up. Nebraska is on a high after beating Oklahoma, but their offense still didn't prove anything, so the Nebraska defense is going to have to step up again. I have no doubt that they will, but it won't take that many Kansas scores to get too far ahead for the Nebraska offense to catch up. I think Kansas will win this one fairly easily.

Iowa State playing at home against Colorado will win. The A&M at Oklahoma game could prove to be pretty interesting, I actually would like to give A&M a chance in this game, but Sam Bradford or no Sam Bradford, Norman, OK is a hard place to play football, so I'll give the edge to the Sooners. The last game doesn't need any analysis, Texas will crush Baylor tomorrow.

UTEP comes to Dallas to take on SMU tomorrow. SMU can clinch a bowl game with a win, UTEP can clinch elimination from bowl consideration with a loss. I think that SMU will win.

Across the Metroplex, in one of the biggest games of the day, and where ESPN College Gameday will be broadcasting from, No. 16 Utah will be trying to hand No. 4 TCU their first loss of the season. It won't happen though, TCU is too well rounded to lose to the Utes. The TCU defense allows only 11 points a game, they're playing in Fort Worth, TCU will stay in the National Championship discussions.

Stars Win Shootout over Sharks; Mavs Play in Minnesota Tonight

2009-11-13T12:20:00.002-07:00

The Stars (8 - 4 - 6) won their first shootout last night against the first place San Jose Sharks (13 - 4 - 3).

The Stars climbed out of a 2 - 0 deficit after two periods to send the game into overtime. From there Stephane Robidas, a defenseman that coach Marc Crawford called off the bench in desperation, scored the only goal of the shootout, giving the Stars a 3 - 2 win.

"When you look at all the forwards we have, and all the skills, it was pretty surprising," Robidas said. "I scored in a preseason game last year and once in junior hockey but I wasn't comfortable making a move so I just shot it."

It was a great win for a team who has gone 1 - 2 - 2 in their previous five games. "To grind out a win is absolutely huge," Stars goalie Marty Turco said. "We threw a lot of things at them and there are a lot of things to be content about."

The Mavericks (5 - 3) head to Minnesota tonight to take on the Timberwolves (1 - 8). The Mavericks have a 12 game winning streak against the Timberwolves who might be the perfect team for them to play after a loss to the Spurs that lacked motivation.

"Our biggest hurdle is when we have an opportunity to seize the moment, we don't be the aggressor," Jason Terry said. "We kind of wait for things to happen. Once we get over that hurdle, then we're going to be a championship team."

The Mavericks have started games out slow so far this year. They have led after the first quarter only twice so far.

The Mavericks play three games in the next four nights and did not make it to Minneapolis until 3:30 am CT this morning. Despite their rigorous schedule, the Mavericks need to set the tempo from the first minute tonight.

*all quotes attained from ESPN.com

Thursday Evening In The Think Tank

2009-11-12T22:31:00.003-07:00

I've been watching the documentary by Ken Burns "Baseball". It covers baseball from its beginning to 1994, when the documentary came out. As interesting as it is to see the players, footage of people like Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and above all else, Babe Ruth, what I find the most intriguing is the fans. And not just that they wore suits to the games. Every time any team that I love loses I worry that they will lose fans, that the teams will slowly become irrelevant. And why shouldn't they? The Rangers have never been relevant outside of Dallas. The Stars and Mavericks compete every few years. Then the Cowboys haven't won a Super Bowl since 1995. They've let the Steelers surpass them in Super Bowl wins.

What I've learned from "Baseball" though, is that fans don't give up on their teams. I watched as the Brooklyn Dodgers lost World Series after World Series to the Yankees, yet every year Brooklyn supported them. The Cubs last World Series win was in 1908, they're still one of the most popular clubs in baseball.

I guess my question is why? Why do we love teams that don't win? We always believe our teams can win, I can't remember a season ever starting without at least hope that my team would win. Sports writers don't know what they're talking about half the time anyways. Realistically I knew that the 1995 Mavericks weren't going to the playoffs, but for whatever reason, I believed they could.

The answer is, is that sports are like church on a larger scale. No church can bring a community as big as Dallas, or any large city, together like a sports team. And much like church, sports are driven by faith. And the truth is we can't stop believing in our teams, no matter how much faith you need to put in your team for them to win.

Watch the documentary, and try to put yourself in the shoes of those Dodger fans. They're the reason even teams that don't win will go on forever.

Captain Trips Loses Heartbreaker to The Middle Fingers

2009-11-11T18:32:00.003-07:00

Locker rooms around the nation were somber Sunday evening, as participants of Captain Trips sat in disbelief after Miles Austin's 49 yard reception, which ended in the end zone. The 11.9 fantasy points Austin earned on his one reception was enough to give the Middle Fingers a 119.45 - 117.65 win over Captain Trips.

"I tried to get into Miles' head," Captain Trips backup receiver Patrick Crayton said. "I spent the week telling him how awful he is, how lucky the past few games have been, how he doesn't even deserve to be in the NFL. I know that Felix [Jones] and Marion [Barber] got in on it too. It worked the first three quarters. We did what we could."

Austin was held without a catch for the first three quarters of the game, before Romo, with no other options, was finally forced to throw to him.

Dallas Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said that disciplinary action would normally be taken for the disruption that Crayton, Barber and Jones created at Valley Ranch last week, but that he understands the competitive nature of fantasy football, and appreciates some competitive injustices.

"You've got one player on one team, and three on another, yet they're all still on the same team," Phillips described. "Are you a Cowboy, are you a Captain Trips, are you a Middle Finger? The fact is, all of these players are two of the above, there's going to be some name calling. I wish that Felix hadn't slashed Miles' tires and spray painted Captain Trips slogans all over his locker, but I understand the nature of competition."

Just as awkward as the Cowboys locker room, was the Cincinnati Bengals. Captain Trips star receiver Chad Ochocinco who also plays for the Bengals, was outscored by the Bengals defense by almost five points. "It was a sobering experience for me. There was no joy in Mudville, for mighty Chad has struck out," is all that was on Ochocinco's Twitter page.

Captain Trips owner Doug Eldridge, albeit disappointed, was optimistic. "We play the Rebellious Cocks!!! next week. If we beat them, we're going to be right back in the hunt. They have some tough players, they're starting quarterback is Tony Romo. Don't be surprised if a pass to Crayton slips through his hands and into the defenders.

"I don't know the owner the Rebellious Cocks!!!, but the owner of the Van Buren Boys, Melissa Heiman, told me that this guy is really mean and that we really need to win. I've spoken to every player individually about that extra incentive."

"If you think it was bad against Miles this week, you haven't seen nothing," Crayton said.

"We're a team now," Eldridge said. "Maybe not a team of cub scouts, but a team nonetheless. It's what I've been working for. Hopefully we won't have any more heartbreaking losses like we had this week. And we can make that playoff run that everyone expects a team of our caliber to make."

Monday Morning Mutterings

2009-11-10T10:14:00.002-07:00

This blog is about Dallas sports, so it's only right to begin with the emergence of the Dallas Cowboys atop the NFC East. But I'm not going to. Instead I'm going to reminisce for a minute about a time when a first place Cowboys team was nothing to speak of. Back when the Super Bowl was just another game on the Cowboys schedule. Of course, like everything, those days had to come to an end. It's back then, the glorious early to mid-1990s, that the Cowboys need to revert back to. Now we're excited that the Cowboys are in first place with eight games to play, it's sad really. Someone needs to get a petition together to make the Cowboys superior again, if anyone in Dallas is reading this, that's your assignment.

I said it before the Falcons game and I said it before the Eagles game; that the way the Cowboys play would define them. I think the Cowboys have now been defined. They are a 6 - 2 football team, they are first place in a division with one other playoff caliber team, and they're still evolving into the team that they set the ground work for two seasons ago. You'll remember two years ago, the Cowboys went 14 - 2, then lost to the NY Giants in the first round of the playoffs. After an abysmal season last year, with experiments such as Tank Johnson and Pacman Jones, they have regained their footing and are at least moving forward again, just not as briskly as 2007.

I like Tony Romo, I don't want to sit here and say that the Cowboys can't be successful with him, but I don't think they will be. Romo reminds me too much of someone I know quite well, he's perfectly capable, but he lacks the commitment, the drive, whatever you want to call it, to finish the job. It's not that he doesn't want it, he just wants it in September, when things don't go the Cowboys way once or twice the hole they've dug seems insurmountable to him.

The good news is, that the Cowboys second half doesn't look too bad. The Packers, who they play next week, just lost to a winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Raiders would be an inexcusable loss to any team, they get the Redskins twice (they're really bad). The Giants just lost a quarter of their season in a row, I don't think they're going to bounce back from that, so the Cowboys should be able to pencil a win in against them, that leaves the Chargers, the Saints and the Eagles as possible losses. All they have to do is win one of those games, and they finish 12 - 4 and probably get a first round bye.

On to college. Texas wins again. Of course they did. They played Central Florida. Jordan Shipley, who I plan on drafting in an early round for my fantasy team next year, set a Texas receiving record in the game. Pretty impressive considering that Texas has had it's share of star players since the turn of the 20th century.

I went 6 - 2 with my predictions this week. I got the Baylor game wrong. I'm still fairly surprised that they were able to beat Missouri in Columbia. Without Robert Griffin, their star (but injured) quarterback, I didn't think they could beat anyone in the Big 12. I would actually write a diatribe on how bad the Big 12 North is, but I can't. I was also wrong about the Oklahoma - Nebraska game. I predicted that the Sooners would win "40 - 10, or maybe by more than that." I did guess the number of points Nebraska would score, I was 37 off for Oklahoma though. I am shocked at how good the Nebraska defense is. They've managed to stop every offense this year except Texas Tech's. The game I am the most proud of my prediction is the Colorado - A&M game, the final score was 35 - 34 Colorado. By all means go back a couple postings to see how perfectly I called this game.

And on that note I'm going to bed, but stay tuned for another exciting installment about Captain Trips.

Monday Morning Mutterings - Delayed Until Tuesday

2009-11-09T10:42:00.003-07:00

I know a lot happened this weekend, the Cowboys won, the Mavericks won, the Stars lost. There was a meatball eating championship, so much to write about. I just worked 13 hours and need to relax, so I'll just leave you with this YouTube clip of a New Mexico Women's Soccer team player going crazy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNmPybFK2_o

I have a connection to her and tried to get an interview, I thought that'd be the coolest thing I could do for y'all, but sadly the University of New Mexico is coming out with an official statement and she's not allowed to speak with me.

Mike Leach Appears on Friday Night Lights

2009-11-07T00:02:00.004-07:00

Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach made a cameo on 'Friday Night Lights' last Wednesday night. Leach was asking directions back to Lubbock, when he realized that the person that he asked was the coach of the East Dillon Lions, Eric Taylor. He reminds Taylor about his "inner pirate" and that he needs to swing his sword higher. The YouTube link follows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNQ6AvVpWcg

Friday Night Lights; thanks to DVR I've managed to watch every episode in the week it first aired. I wasn't convinced that it was more than just a teenage drama until tonight. My wife gave me the first season for Valentine's Day almost two years ago, for whatever reason, tonight, I decided to watch the first couple of episodes. A gift I got almost two years ago, I actually had to take it out of the plastic. But I was glad i did. I saw things alluded to in the second episode that didn't come out until the third season. The writers certainly know how to embarrass someone who doesn't know how the third paragraph is going to start. It is really is amazing.

Watch it for yourself if your curious, watch it more than once if you want to get everything out of it. It's more than the 'Twilight' series. This portrays not only small town Texas, but life anywhere you're lucky enough to be living it. And if you're lucky enough to have spent any time in high school athletics, whether it be football, golf, or even just watching an event, you will relate to this program.

Mike Leach discussed finding your inner pirate, (I subconsciously wrote inner pilot, if you know me, which I suspect you do, you'll know why) and why don't we all live like pirates. They lived to plunder what they wanted, shouldn't we do the same? Not physically, but metaphorically. Why am I not a pilot, why am I not at every sporting event I write about? Only because I haven't found my inner pirate, I haven't plundered what I've wanted.

'Friday Night Lights' is a great show, if you haven't seen it, buy the first three seasons, it won't cost you more than 90 dollars, the fourth season will begin on NBC in January (unless you have DirecTV, then you've missed the first two episodes).

Thursday Evening in the Think Tank (Friday Morning Edition)

2009-11-06T12:00:00.003-07:00

Due to an internet outage at my home yesterday, my Thursday postings are Friday postings.

The World Series came to an end Wednesday with another Yankee championship. I know I predicted the Yankees would win in six games, but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it. The Phillies put up a decent fight, they could have played better though. Pedro Martinez pitched well in game two, but the only Philly pitcher to warrant any praise is Cliff Lee, who was unbelievable in his two starts with a 2.81 ERA. The Phillies' World Series pitching woes consisted of starter Cole Hamels telling reporters that he wished the season were over after his loss in game three, closer Brad Lidge allowing three runs in the top of the ninth in game four, which gave the Yankees a 7 - 4 win, and Pedro Martinez just not having good stuff in game six, the Yankees had the game and series won in the fifth inning. The Phillies at least kept it interesting, but just as I and everyone else said, they just didn't have a good enough bullpen to keep up with the Yankees.

The Yankees won their 27th World Series. Their first was in 1923, which means that in the past 86 years they've won 27 championships, they've lost the World Series 11 times in that stretch, that means they've been in the World Series 44 percent of the time since 1923. And there is no reason to think that there domination will ever end, they went through a stretch from 1977 to 1996 without winning a World Series, if that streak didn't dampen their dominance then it's unlikely that anything will in the foreseeable future. Maybe the Cardinals will win 17 World Series in a row, or the Athletics 18 and catch up, then maybe everyone will forget about the Yankees, that's fairly unlikely to happen though. Both the Cardinals and Athletics have been around since baseball's infancy, as well as a handful of other teams, including the Phillies, if no team is closer than 17 series out from the Yankees record, then no team is likely to catch up in the next couple of centuries.

That's really the great thing about baseball though. Teams become lovable for losing. Would baseball ever be the same if the Cubs, who haven't won a World Series since 1908, won one? It just doesn't matter, in baseball, more than in any other sport, it's okay to not win. Over the course of a 162 game season, even the worst teams are going to have their moments. There's nothing more fun to do on a summer night than go to a baseball game, whether your team wins or not. And if your team goes long enough without a World Series they get a curse named after them. It's probably about time to start thinking one up for the Rangers who have the distinction of being the only team to never even win a playoff series.

This will be a big weekend for the Cowboys. I know I said it before the Falcons game, but this weekend really will define the kind of team the Cowboys are this season. Listening to all the radio shows it sounds like people are pretty much 50/50 on who they think will win. The Cowboys are on a hot streak, I don't think it's going to end yet. My opinion has not changed since Monday, if Tony Romo throws the ball to his receivers and not the Eagles' defense, the Cowboys will win. I think that Miles Austin won't be as big of a factor as he has been recently, the Eagles will snuff him out along with the big play potential. Jason Witten, Marion Barber and Patrick Crayton will have big games though. Romo will throw short or hand off to them to prevent the Eagles defenders from picking him off.

The Eagle fans, who are notoriously evil, should be pretty ravenous after their baseball team lost the World Series. Luckily for the Cowboys snow is not in the forecast, eliminating the possibility of fans hiding shrapnel in snowballs.

Since Texas Tech is off this weekend, I'll go ahead and throw in my college predictions here.

Texas' practice squad would easily beat Central Florida, and I suspect that will happen in the second half of that game. It will be a nice second bye week for Texas' starters. Texas A&M has had a nice run, but will falter against an on again and off again Colorado team. Colorado won't dominate the game, but are likely to be ahead at the end of the game. Oklahoma State will take out their aggression against Iowa State. Of course Baylor doesn't have a chance against Missouri. The hardest game to predict is the Kansas and Kansas State game. Normally I would give it to Kansas, but with how poorly they played last week in Lubbock, and with Kansas State playing better since their trip to Lubbock, I'm going to predict that Kansas State win this rivalry game. I want the Oklahoma - Nebraska game to be what ABC wants it to be, which is a defensive struggle reminiscent to the Big 8 days, but that won't happen. Oklahoma will blow them out, maybe 40 - 10, maybe more. Nebraska just doesn't have the offense to compete with Oklahoma. They do have a decent defense, but they are just too overworked to compete with Oklahoma's offense.

TCU will have a field day with San Diego State and SMU will easily beat Rice, just as everyone else has this year.

And that's about all I've got for now. Everyone have fun watching the games this weekend.

Stars and Mavericks Both Lose in OT

2009-11-06T11:22:00.004-07:00

The Stars and Mavericks both lost in overtime Wednesday night in games where both teams gave up leads in the final minute.

After the Mavericks missed four free throws with 13 seconds left in regulation New Orleans Hornets, Peja Stojakovic tied the game with a three pointer, and it was all over from there. In overtime the Hornets won 114 - 107. The Mavericks once again exhibited a poor shooting performance, with only 45.9 percent from the floor. That is their best performance of the season however, and hopefully something they can build on.

The Mavericks are 3 - 2, their first loss came at home to a Washington Wizards team that they should have beat. Their second loss was on the road in New Orleans, a game that by no means was an automatic win, but by the end of the game it was the Mavs' to lose, and they did. Take it for what you will, just be glad it's still early November. If the Mavericks are 3 - 2 after a pitiful five game shooting performance, it may bode well for the rest of the season, if their shots start falling, which they will.

Here is the link to the article in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/110509dnspomavslede.285f05aa3.html

The Stars are full strength again. Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen were back on the ice Wednesday against the Calgary Flames. The Stars dominated the Flames fierce defense most of the game. They outshot them 40 - 23 but let their 2 - 1 lead dissipate with only 49 seconds left in the third period. They lost the game only 1:25 into the overtime period.

Despite the loss the Stars were pleased with their performance. "We're disappointed with the loss, but there are a lot of things to be positive about," coach Marc Crawford said. "I thought this was one of our best home outings, for sure. We did what we wanted to against Calgary: We got the puck behind the defense. I thought they were on their heels the better part of the night. We generated a number of power-play opportunities. I thought we were the better club in terms of chances generated by a long shot."

Here is the link to the article in the Dallas Morning News:
Stars: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/110509dnspostarslede.285ab8e5e.html

*quote attained from ESPN.com

Mavericks Comeback and Beat Jazz 96 - 85

2009-11-04T09:49:00.002-07:00

Dirk Nowitzki scored a team record 29 points in the fourth quarter against the Jazz last night, as the Mavericks battled back from a 16 point deficit. The Mavericks looked like they were going to let another home game slip by them. They shot only 39.5 percent despite their 44 point fourth quarter.

Other than the Mavs' 34 shots made on 86 attempts, almost identical to the Jazz (34 - 82) the stat sheet looks okay. They had 50 rebounds 12 blocked shots, but also 17 turnovers. Had the Mavericks played all game with the desperation they showed in the fourth quarter, they could have put up 200 points against an inferior Jazz team. Here's the link to the article in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/110409dnspomavslede.2808d3ec4.html

Captain Trips Humiliates Van Buren Boys, Goes on First Winning Streak

2009-11-02T19:40:00.004-07:00

Captain Trips (4 - 4), led by a deadly Brett Favre to Percy Harvin combination, beat the hapless Van Buren Boys (4 - 4) 140 - 96 yesterday.

Favre earned 28.2 fantasy points yesterday with four touchdown passes and 244 passing yards. He converted five passes to Captain Trips teammate Percy Harvin for one touchdown and 84 yards, good for 19.6 fantasy points. "We had a lot to play for today," Harvin said. "Brett's return to Green Bay, Captain Trips desperate need for a win, and that team meeting Doug had with us last week. He made Coach Meyer's speech after the Ole Miss game last year sound like he was Mother Teresa."

Team owner Doug Eldridge had to call an emergency meeting to address problems Captain Trips were experiencing with a lack of camaraderie among teammates. Comments made by Captain Trips players toward teammates have caused writers to dub the team 'The Captain Trips Miscreants'. The latest incident was the entire Green Bay Packer defense chanting "pat him down, pat him down" to Ray Lewis as the Baltimore Ravens defense walked into the team meeting on Thursday, apparently alluding to Lewis' murder charges in 2000.

Eldridge was the only person allowed to comment about the meeting. "I'm not going to divulge what was said in the meeting, but everyone had a chance to air everything out, and I know things will change. I will say this, we now have a zero tolerance policy." When asked what the zero tolerance policy regards Eldridge curtly answered, "everything."

If Captain Trips were the Miscreants then the Van Buren Boys were the Misfits, and they played like it yesterday. Aging running back LaDainian Tomlinson led the Van Buren Boys with 17.6 fantasy points, but no one else was able to crack 15 points. "We are a great team," Tomlinson said. "We're poorly managed though, I mean, why wasn't Kevin Smith going yesterday? Why not leverage Ryan Grant in a trade and let me and Kevin take it the rest of the way?" Grant, the Van Buren Boys starting running back who also plays for the Packers, only gained 30 rushing yards this week.

Van Buren Boys owner Melissa Heiman was not optimistic after their defeat. "I don't know what to do about my team," Heiman said exasperated. "Every time I want to get rid of a player I'm afraid he's going to play well."

Next week offers no reprieve for Captain Trips as they take on the 5 - 3 The Middle Fingers. "The Middle Fingers are good, no doubt," Eldridge said. "But their star running back Adrian Peterson is on his bye week, it looks like he's starting Captain Trips throwaway Mike Bell*, and I'll take Matt Ryan over Philip Rivers any day."

Eldridge did not mention that his star quarterback, Favre and his favorite target, Harvin, will also be enjoying their bye weeks next week.

"We'll worry about next week when it comes," Eldridge said. "But as far as this week goes, veni, vidi, vici."

*Mike Bell was a member of Captain Trips for less than 48 hours, and did not see any playing time

Monday Morning Mutterings

2009-11-02T10:27:00.002-07:00

First of all I want to thank my technical team, which consist of Drew, for not only revamping my blog with the great search engine, but also designing it to begin with. Coincidentally, Drew is also my most loyal reader, and the only person to ever comment, thanks Drew.

Secondly, I am behind by one posting about the Stars and two (big games) for the Mavericks, I will not get caught up, at this point it makes more sense to start posting after the next game, but in case you don't know, the Stars lost to the Nashville Predators. The Mavs played successive games in LA, first game, Friday night against the Lakers they won, second game, Saturday night against the Clippers, they also won. It's still very early in both team's seasons. The Stars are going through serious growing pains, but will work out some kinks along the way. The Mavs, by allowing only 80 points to the Lakers and 84 to the Clippers, are playing better than who they are, that will also correct itself throughout the year. Losing to the Wizards at home in their opener put some extra fight in them, and the Lakers just caught the Mavs at the wrong time. The Mavericks are better than the Clippers and should have won that game anyways. It's a long season though, it'll be fun to watch. This weekend did nothing to change my mind, I still think they are a bottom four playoff team.

I am changing my mind about the Cowboys though. They really looked good yesterday. The defense could have held the Seahawks to a few fewer yards, they allowed 308, but they kept them from scoring. The 17 points the Seahawks scored is an inflated number, the Seahawks offense took over on their last scoring drive inside the Dallas 10 due to a Tony Romo fumble. You can't blame the defense for that touchdown. The Dallas offense looked incredible. As long as Romo doesn't give up interceptions the Cowboys offense is good enough to beat any team. They will prove that this week against the Eagles. Despite playing in Philadelphia, I'll give the Cowboys the edge. The Eagles played a great game yesterday, beating the Giants 40 - 17. But I mentioned two weeks ago how suspect the Giants' defense is, and now they've lost three games in a row. The Giants aren't a playoff team this year, and aren't indicative of what will happen to the Cowboys next week. DeMarcus Ware and the rest of the Cowboys' defense will put too much pressure on the Eagles' quarterback Donovan McNabb for them to put up 40 points. And if they do put up 40, the Cowboys offense will be right there with them. As long as Romo doesn't throw to the Eagles, the Cowboys will win on Sunday.

The Colts stayed undefeated yesterday with a win over the 49ers, but despite that, good job Michael Crabtree. Former Texas Tech receiver, and long time contract holdout led the 49ers in receiving with six receptions for 81 yards. Last week against the Texans he had five receptions, it looks like he might surpass Wes Welker as the best Tech player in the NFL, considering that Crabtree only has three weeks of practice under him. Of course Graham Harrell's Saskatchewan Roughriders are playoff bound.

I have no idea what to think about this current Texas Tech squad. It's impossible to tell how good their competition is. They destroyed Kansas 42 - 21 last week, with a 28 point fourth quarter. I picked Tech to win the game, but I was being overly optimistic. I knew Tech was starting a redshirt freshman quarterback, I knew they had a chance at home, but I honestly thought Kansas would win. What that proved to me is that Kansas is awful, and they are representative of the Big 12 North. Tech could potentially lose every game to Big 12 South teams, except Baylor, but didn't even struggle against their Norther brethren. The only team in the Big 12 worth paying attention to is Texas (unless your Alma mater is another Big 12 team). Texas is just warming up. They are number two in the BCS, but who cares, with an easy run the rest of the season, they have their tickets punched for Pasadena.

If anyone pays attention, I went 7 - 1 in my predictions on Saturday. I guessed wrong about SMU, they might really be on their way.

Also congratulations to North Texas for beginning construction on a new stadium. Now they'll have fancy dwellings to be the laughing stock of the Sun Belt Conference in.

I have to mention that this is a rare opportunity that we have right now, to enjoy all four major sports simultaneously. I think that today will be the last day we can enjoy this though, the Yankees will beat Cliff Lee and the Phillies tonight.

Cowboys Beat Seahawks 38 - 17

2009-11-02T09:40:00.002-07:00

The Cowboys extended their winning streak to three games with a 38 - 17 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Dallas' quarterback Tony Romo also extended his streak of throwing no interceptions to three games, the longest such streak of his career. The 5 - 2 Cowboys are tied for first place in the NFC East with the Philadelphia Eagles, just three weeks after narrowly escaping a loss against the lowly Kansas City Chiefs.

The Cowboys offense enjoyed another stellar day due to their passing game. Romo was 21 for 36 with 256 yards and threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers. The Cowboys strong running corp consisting of Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice ran for a total of only 103 yards, with Barber scoring one touchdown. Receiver Miles Austin, whose pristine play over the last three weeks with five touchdowns and over 400 yards receiving, scored another touchdown yesterday. Sam Hurd and Roy Williams caught touchdown passes from Romo as well.

The Cowboys' offense is seemingly unstoppable right now. Romo is throwing to all sides of the field, their three running backs are a great equalizer to the pass, keeping opposing defenses guessing. Most importantly though, Romo hasn't thrown to the other team since the Cowboys played the Denver Broncos in week four. The Seahawks recovered a fumble by Romo late in the game and capitalized on it, by scoring a touchdown. Despite the Cowboys' defense three sacks and two fumble recoveries, they did allow the Seahawks 308 total yards. It wouldn't have taken too many turnovers for Seattle to keep the game interesting.

The Cowboys' real test is going to come next week in Philadelphia. The Eagles crushed the defending NFC East Champions NY Giants 40 - 17 yesterday. Both teams are 5 - 2, the winner will be first place in the NFC East at the season's midpoint.

Mavericks Beat Lakers, Stars Loses in OT to Panthers

2009-10-31T16:42:00.002-06:00

Due to my unusual time constraints this weekend I'm going to combine these games today. I wasn't able to watch either of the games, and barely did any reading about them, so my opinions are unmerited anyways.

The Mavericks made up for their loss to Washington the other night, beating the NBA Champions with plenty of defense, 94 - 80. Here is the link to the article in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/103109dnspomavs.26c32d761.html

The Stars lost a home game against a below average team in OT, 6 - 5 last night. I don't need to watch the game to know that that is unacceptable. The Stars need to be better at home. Here is the article in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/103109dnspostarslede.26bad27a1.html

College Football Saturday Predictions

2009-10-31T09:59:00.002-06:00

I'm running behind this weekend, I like to have this posted Friday night. Also the Stars and the Mavericks played last night, I'll post about those games later. I'm going to have to be quick this morning, here's what I think:

Nebraska over Baylor
A&M over Iowa State
Mizzou over Colorado
Tech over Kansas
Oklahoma over K State
and most importantly
Texas will beat Ok. State to keep their title hopes alive.

Outside of the big 12

TCU will easily beat UNLV
SMU will lose to Tulsa.

Sorry for the lack of analysis, I'll have more time next week.

Yankees Win Game 2

2009-10-30T10:15:00.003-06:00

The Yankees won a well pitched game 3 - 1 over the Phillies to even the World Series at 1 game apiece. The Phillies scored first in the second inning, but that would be all the offense they could muster against starter AJ Burnett and closer Mariano Rivera. Solo home runs by Mark Texeira and Hideki Matsui would be all the offense NY would need.

"Our club has been resilient all year, and the one thing we've been able to do, is we've went through some tough losses and we seem to bounce back. It was just business as usual for us today," Yankee manager Joe Girardi commented after the game.

Business as usual, but this was bigger than a usual win. "You don't want to go 0 - 2 into Philadelphia, with my time with the Braves I know how tough they are at home. Especially in the World Series their fans are going to be all over us. It's going to be a great couple of games out there, but if we'd of went in there 0 - 2, it'd have been a tough road for us," said Texeira.

"I did everything I could to beat those guys, you have to give them a lot of credit," Phillies starting pitcher, Pedro Martinez said. "You have to give Burnett a lot of credit for the kind of game he was able to pitch."

This is the third series in a row that the Phillies have dropped game two. In both the divisional series and the NLCS game two was the Phillies' only loss.

Game three will be in Philadelphia Saturday night.

Thursday Evening in the Think Tank

2009-10-29T18:16:00.002-06:00

After watching the first inning in game two of the World Series, I now think I'm wrong about Pedro getting knocked out early. He looked incredible in the first inning. If the Yankees lose this game they're in some serious trouble. The Phillies are too good to crawl out of too big a hole. The good news for the Yankees is that AJ Burnett is looking better than Sabathia did last night. This has the making of a good pitchers duel.

Pedro Martinez pitching takes me back to my first years in NY, when the Yankees and the Red Sox had no equals (except for the Marlins who beat the Yankees in the World Series in 2003). Those two teams were seemingly all that mattered in professional baseball. Just being in NY during the post seasons of 2003 and 2004 was amazing. Every TV in every bar and restaurant had the games on, people crowded the sidewalks, watching the TVs through windows. In a city with eight million people, all that mattered was baseball. That's probably why the Yankees lost the World Series in '03, because the World Series was a let down after the Red Sox. The next year, when the Red Sox came back from an 0 - 3 deficit to beat the Yankees in seven, I had to take a friend of mine, who was devastated, outside to remind him that NY is still standing.

I was pretty distraught about the Mavericks' loss to the Wizards the other night, but it makes me feel better watching Cleveland lose their first two games. I am pretty skeptical about the Mavs' chances this year at a run toward the finals. I think they'll be in the playoffs, but probably a six or seven seed. Every time I look at Jason Kidd I wish he were Devon Harris, I know it's much too late to complain, but for all the good moves the Mavericks have made this decade, trading Harris erased a few. The Mavs will have some incredible games, they should be a lot of fun to watch. Dirk Nowitzki scored 34 points in the opener, newly acquired Shawn Marion scored half of that in support. That leads to another serious problem, the Mavericks will have no problem scoring, but as an aging, veteran squad, they are going to have a hard time keeping other teams from scoring. The Mavs have 81 games to go, I'll try to reserve too much judgement for after Christmas.

The Stars on the other hand, as I post earlier today, are playing better than I imagined they would.

I don't like the scoring system in the NHL. I don't like the way that a team automatically gets at least one point from a game if they take it to overtime, even with a loss. I guess in the long run though, that it affects all teams equally, and really only changes the loss column, since a loss in overtime is recorded as a tie. Well, I didn't watch hockey for 10 years, I missed my chance to be angry.

I mentioned my thoughts on the Cowboys earlier in the week. I haven't changed my mind, I think they'll have a great run up until December.

I'll post my college and NFL predictions tomorrow.

Phillies Win Game One of World Series

2009-10-29T16:18:00.002-06:00

The Phillies won game one of the World Series in New York 6 - 1 over the Yankees. Cliff Lee pitched a complete game, keeping the Phillies bullpen out of the game. Chase Utley hit a solo home run in the third inning, then had another in the sixth inning, which is all the offense Lee and the Phillies would need to win game one.

The Phillies match up well with the Yankees in just about every facet of the game, the only noticeable weakness Philadelphia has is their bullpen. I know that it's redundant to say that if the Phillies' bullpen stays out of the game then the Phillies can win, since a starter is obviously not only winning, but pitching well to stay in the game.

Taking game one is obviously tantamount in importance, great job by the Phillies. Lee was a great pickup before the trade deadline. I still say Yankees in six.

My prediction for tonight: The Yankees will knock Pedro Martinez out of the game by the third inning and win by a lopsided score.

Starts Go On Winning Streak With OT Win Over Maple Leafs

2009-10-29T15:56:00.003-06:00

The Stars came back from a well deserved four days off with a 4 - 3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs came in to Dallas fresh off their first win of the season, a 6 - 3 win at Anaheim. The Stars win wasn't the most impressive, but any win is a good win, and a 6 - 2 - 4 start is a solid foundation for the rest of the season. Here is the article in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/102909dnspostarslede.2616d57fb.html

The more I read about this team the more I like them. I think they are the best franchise who call American Airlines Center home this year. All indications show that I picked a good season to get back into Dallas Stars hockey.

Obviously there is some concern in Dallas about the solidity of the Stars ownership. Owner Tom Hicks put the Rangers up for sell a few months ago, and his sports group is having financial problems. Here's a column by Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, whose writing on the Stars is almost exclusively where I get my information, on Tom Hicks: http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/nwsltr/sports/stars/stories/102909dnspostarsnewsletter.3198f2a.html

My World Series Prediction

2009-10-28T19:14:00.003-06:00

It's been a while, but we finally have a World Series featuring the best two teams in baseball. Both teams are so great offensively, the starting pitching, and the defense on both teams are incredible as well. This should be a fun series to watch.

Looking at regular season records to predict a winner of a best of seven series is futile. But the Yankees 103 wins compared to the Phillies 93 is telling. The Yankees 103 wins came in a more competitive league and they dominated the AL East standings all season. The Phillies didn't wrap things up in the NL East until well into September.

While both teams are equal in many areas, the Yankees bullpen is superior. The Phillies closer Brad Lidge, as good as he can be, is still unreliable. I know I'm biased toward hatred of Chan Ho Park, who took the Rangers for millions of dollars, but he's just not as reliable as the likes of Joba Chamberlain. The Yankees will feel less stress with a one to nothing lead late in the game than the Phillies. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera will undoubtedly get his job done.

There are a few other intangibles that could affect the outcome, such as the Yankees ridiculous amount of media coverage that they endure year round. The Phillies, very likely, will feel more pressure from the scrutiny of the media, while the Yankees won't notice a huge difference. I know that the Phillies won the World Series last year, but it was a World Series that no one watched, they were a vastly superior team, and they were playing an inexperienced post-season team, they really missed out on the post-season experience that they'll need the further this series goes.

So my prediction for the World Series is the Yankees in six. My prediction for tonight is that the Yankees is that the Yankees will win, but not getting on the scoreboard until the later innings, when the Phillies have to go to their bullpen.

Gilbert Arenas, Wizards Beat Mavericks In Season Opener

2009-10-28T10:54:00.002-06:00

The Mavericks lost to the Washington Wizards as Gilbert Arenas scored 29 points. Arenas playing after virtually missing last season due to a knee injury led Washington to a 102 - 91 victory.

For the Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki scored 34 points, on what should have been a banner debut for Shawn Marion and Drew Gooden. Instead the Mavericks reminded us that their aging team is going to have trouble defensively all season.

Here is the link to the article in the Dallas Morning News:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/102809dnspomavslede.25c5bce3d.html

Captain Trips Beats Da Bears For Big Win

2009-10-27T18:35:00.006-06:00

Captain Trips owner Douglas Eldridge used the mantra "no excuses" to inspire his team last weekend, and they took it to heart. After a devastating loss to MYTEAMSUX, Captain Trips rebounded with perhaps their biggest win of the year. "The difference between 2 - 5 and 3 - 4 is huge, especially in a division where only a game or two separates the best and the worst teams," said Eldridge.

The biggest concern coming into the week was the team's unwillingness to play like a team. "Yeah, we've had some problems," explained Marion Barber, starting this week for the first time in three weeks after a bye week and an injury. "We all want to be the best. There's not a player on Captain Trips who wants to sit on the bench, and that leads to a lot of jealousy. Felix [Jones] and I haven't spoken since Doug drafted us."

When asked to comment Eldridge simply said, "That's not what Captain Trips is about, we're having a big meeting on Thursday of this week to iron some stuff out. Right now I just want to enjoy this victory."

Captain Trips 125 - 114 victory over first place Da Bears would not have happened if controversial wide receiver, Chad Ochocinco, hadn't played a career game. He scored 33 fantasy points with 10 receptions for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Ochocinco was unavailable for comment after the game, but tweeted that he thought this is what could be expected of him for the rest of the year.

The quarterback controversy was solved for at least one week. Both Brett Favre and Matt Ryan had almost identical games. Favre, who started, ended up with 12.6 points compared to Ryan's 12.5. "I pulled out all the stops today," Favre said. "Despite my point total I know I proved myself to Captain Trips today. We had a first and goal on the half yard line with the best running back in the game behind me. We ended up with a field goal because I refused to hand it to someone when I knew we needed the fantasy points.

"Doug talked to me before the game. He reminded me that the Vikings are 6 - 0 and can afford to lose, but Captain Trips cannot. I agreed, it's unfortunate that I couldn't produce better, but I'm glad we won," Favre said.

Ryan was noticeably disappointed about not starting, "I had a meeting with Doug before the game and he told me about his decision. He told me that it had nothing to do with last week, or Brett's vicious comments. It had everything to do with the Cowboys' defense being too strong for me. I agreed, but I'm still disappointed."

"We have things to improve on," Eldridge said. "DeAngelo [Williams] played great again, but Marion only had five points. I'm actually going to talk to [Cowboys' offensive coordinator] Jason Garrett this week, and ask him to run more. My tight ends, Brent Celek and Dallas Clark, were average at best."

Looking ahead to next week against the formidable Van Buren Boys (4 - 3), everyone should be available with the lone notable exception of Ochocinco. "I won't lie that worries me," Eldridge said.

Owner of YouShouldPlay4Second, Kenneth Scott commented, "I can't believe that Ochocinco is having the type of year that you would worry about his bye week."

To that Ochocinco tweeted that Scott needs to take a long hard look at his life and think about what he says before he says it. He also tweeted that he had spoken to Bengals' management about a possible trade this week to a team without a bye week so that he can continue being productive for Captain Trips. No word yet on the outcome.

"Another week, another game," Eldridge said. "I wish I could be inspirational right now. Let me just get through next week."

Monday Morning Mutterings

2009-10-26T09:55:00.003-06:00

What a difference a couple of weeks make. After beating an atrocious Kansas City team in overtime police forces around the Metroplex were beginning to stock up on riot gear if Wade Phillips kept his job. Phillips didn't lose his job, but thanks to the mediocrity of the Cowboys division rivals, they are now tied with the Giants and Eagles with two losses apiece. Now at least, when people call for Phillips' head they do it with a smile.

I think it's great news that the Cowboys can start a season so abysmally and still be only a half game out of first place after week seven. They'll continue to excite us through Thanksgiving, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high, the Cowboys' cycle is such that they start they're period in December, and that's all the detail I should have to give.

The Angels beat themselves last night and allowed the Yankees back into the World Series for the first time in six years. I was actually going for the Yankees, only because I like to watch the Fall Classic played in the autumn, and not Southern California's version of it. I hated to see the Angels self destruct like they did though. Joe Saunders should have been able to out pitch Andy Pettitte last night, the Angels shouldn't have had two errors. Great job by ex-Ranger Darren Oliver though, he kept the Angels in the game. It's nice to see that Ranger pitching can pitch, too bad it has to be after leaving Texas.

The Big 12 has no respect this year, and rightfully so. But the national champions are going to be the Longhorns. Watching Texas thrash Missouri so thoroughly on Saturday while Florida and Alabama let their non-ranked opponents stick around, changed my perspective. I was not a believer in Texas, but now I think they played the first half of the season like they played the first half of most of their games, disinterested. Texas will win every game the rest of the season by double figures, including Iowa, that's right, Iowa, in the National Championship game.

People should start getting used to the idea of Iowa playing in the National Championship. They're probably not as good as TCU, but they play in the Big 10. They've already beat Penn State, all they have to do is coast through November, then when every other first place team is dueling for conference supremacy the first week of December, Iowa players can sit home and eat corn and drink beer and wonder what the bright lights of Southern California are going to look like.

People are asking what happened to the Big 12. They should ask the same thing about the SEC, Florida and Alabama are still undefeated only by luck and perhaps some bad officiating.

By the way, about officiating, I like to see good calls, and cringe at bad calls, especially when one gives a team a real advantage. I've also always believed that over the course of a season enough calls go both ways that everything evens out. Does baseball need instant replay, yeah, but there's no convenient way, that wouldn't disrupt a century and a half of tradition, to penalize a team if they challenge a call and lose. In the NFL you take a time out away. What are you going to do in baseball? Take away the only coaching visit to the mound in an inning? Add a strike to the batter? There's nothing, the game would just drag on. The only way possible is for the umpire himself to question his own call, which goes against human nature.

Atlanta's No Huddle Offense is Unstoppable! Not

2009-10-25T16:58:00.004-06:00

The Dallas Cowboys used a headline in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that proclaimed that the Falcons' no huddle offense is unstoppable as motivation for today's game. They should start trolling the Seattle papers now, their motivation seemed to work. They beat the Falcons 37 - 21.

Atlanta got off to a quick start with a touchdown on their first drive for the first time this season. After that it was all Cowboys. They scored 17 unanswered points before the first half, taking a 17 - 7 lead into halftime. The Cowboys sacked Matt Ryan four times this afternoon, which is how many games it's been since the Falcons have allowed a sack.

On the offensive front Tony Romo passed for almost 300 yards with no interceptions. Miles Austin had another big day, after his career day against Kansas City two weeks ago. Austin caught six passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. The Cowboys primary weapon today was the pass, their leading rusher was Marion Barber for only 45 yards.

The Falcons had been stellar all year while the Cowboys have looked very shaky. Today was a major role reversal. The Cowboys defense stood tall against a team who has not given up sacks and does not throw interceptions. The Cowboys picked off two throws by Ryan.

I posted this morning that the Cowboys would prove who they were today. A win showed that they are competitive in the NFC, the score showed that they are legitimate playoff contenders. They are only a game out of first place.

My (Morbid) Thoughts On Yesterday

2009-10-25T14:52:00.002-06:00

Texas Tech lost 52 - 30 to an "inferior" Texas A&M team. The game wasn't televised so I don't know what happened. But I do know that Tech allowed 321 rushing yards. What I would love to do, is blame backup Tech quarterback Taylor Potts, who started due to starting quarterback Steven Sheffield's foot injury. I think that he was a large part of the loss by throwing to A&M twice, once in the end zone. But A&M also recovered 3 fumbles, one by Potts. Alright, so Tech's 5- 3, 2 -2 Big 12 record is largely Taylor Potts' fault. But not completely. No offense can win when the defense allows 559 total yards. Of course no defense can win if the offense turns the ball over five times rather than allowing their defense to rest. A&M allowed Tech to gain 520 yards of total offense, but only turned the ball over one time.

The crowd chanted "no more Potts," after he threw an interception in the end zone just before halftime. "I don't think Potts ever got in a rhythm," Leach said.

"If you have a ridiculously weak opponent, you might play bad and overpower them, but you can't do that against a tradition and a program like Texas A&M," Leach said. "If it was easy anybody could do it. If it was easy, I'd be coaching the Swedish bikini team and I'd have them coming out here to do all this."

Let's hope it was just a bad game for Tech, and not typical to what will happen against stiffer competition. Tech has only one "easy" game left, when they play Baylor the final game of the season. It is possible for Tech to lose to Kansas, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. If that happens Tech will keep there streak of non-losing seasons alive, but not their bowl eligibility streak. Texas Tech is the only team in the Big 12 to have a winning record and bowl eligibility since 1996, every year since the conference was established.

As far as my predictions went yesterday I went 4 - 4 for the second week in a row. I predicted a Dallas Cowboys win today, which could put me over .500 since I started my blog last week. The only prediction that I made that was just ignorant of me was predicting TCU would lose to BYU. I haven't watched a TCU game but did see BYU beat Oklahoma. I picked BYU because they were in Provo. I'll have to watch TCU next week, they look good, and I think that they will be in a BCS game.

Texas looked great, even in the first half, against Missouri. The Longhorns should be feeling good going into Stillwater next week.

Nebraska just doesn't have an offense, I thought they would beat Iowa State, and if they played again I'd still pick Nebraska.

Oklahoma looked great against Kansas, but it's hard to tell what to take from that. Kansas is a team that seems to be slipping. Could Kansas State win the Big 12 North? With another win over Colorado last night, they're still in first place.

And if anyone predicted Baylor over Oklahoma State, then they just woke up with amnesia from an extraordinarily long coma. So no surprises there as OK State won 34 - 7.

Houston continued their strong season with a win over SMU.

*I attained all quotes from the AP.

Stars Defeat Blues 4 - 1

2009-10-25T12:46:00.003-06:00

The Stars wrapped up a tough stretch of seven games in 11 days last night with a 4 - 1 win over the St. Louis Blues. Here is the article in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/102509dnspostarslede.24c99df69.html

NFL Sunday

2009-10-25T12:21:00.002-06:00

I'm having serious time constraints this weekend due to a party I had to host last night, and a resulting hangover. My plan was to give my NFC East predictions, and what would probably amount to some pointless banter about each game. Seeing as how it's 12:30 MT and I'm just getting started, that will have to wait until next week.

I do have time to give my Cowboys prediction though, and a few pre game thoughts. All indications are that I should be pessimistic about this game. The Cowboys barely beat the Chiefs in their last game, and they lost to the Broncos the week before. But I don't think I'm giving the 3 - 2 Cowboys the benefit of the doubt. Their two losses have come against two teams who have combined for one loss. Since the Cowboys are at home I'm going to give the edge to them today.

The Falcons have a good offense, but so do the Cowboys. The Cowboys have the second rated offense in the NFL and the third rated pass rush. This will be a great test against a Falcons who have not allowed a sack since week one and allows only 91.5 rushing yards per game.

The Cowboys have a lot to prove today, and in front of a crowd of more than 80,000 people, either win or lose today, they will prove what kind of team they are.

College Football Saturday Predictions

2009-10-23T17:25:00.002-06:00

Alright, another Friday in autumn, which means another weekend of football and playoff baseball. I'll start with a quick baseball prediction, I think the Yankees will win in seven games. I like Saunders over Pettite, even in NY. But NY can put Sabathia back on the mound Sunday and wrap it up then.

On to Big 12 football. The national spotlight won't be on Texas like it was last week against Oklahoma, but I think this week will present it's challenges. Missouri's Sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert has thrown for 1,620 and 12 touchdowns with a completion rate of 57.8%, compared to Texas' quarterback Colt McCoy who has thrown for 1,537 and 11 touchdowns, but with the edge in completion percentage with 70%.

Missouri got off to a great start with a 37 - 9 win over Illinois, then three more convincing wins. Big 12 play has not been kind to them, they lost a tough game to Nebraska at home then the following week lost to Oklahoma St. 33 - 17. Missouri has been the Big 12 North winner the last two years and I believe still pose a threat, although they aren't going to play in the Big 12 championship game this year. They have not had a three game losing streak since the 2006 season.

Texas is coming off two games where they have not performed well in the first half, and took almost all 60 minutes last week to put a Sam Bradfordless Oklahoma away. This is Texas' first true road game this season, they haven't even traveled outside of the state of Texas since Sept. 12 in a game against Wyoming, not exactly a trip to The Swamp, and only had a 13 - 10 halftime lead before pulling away to a 41 - 10 win in the second half.

Texas has the edge in this game. Their defense is going to be too much for Missouri and their sophomore quarterback. Texas does need to impress the voters this week though, and that won't happen with another underwhelming first half. They also need to prep for next week's game at Oklahoma State, which ominously enough is being played exactly 365 days since the Longhorns' season was ruined in Lubbock last season.

Texas A&M comes into Lubbock trying to recover from an embarrassing 62 - 14 loss to Kansas State in Manhattan last week which coach Mike Sherman said he "didn't see coming." He probably does see an embarrassing loss in his future this weekend, despite Texas Tech losing Steven Sheffield, their starting quarterback. Tech coach Mike Leach is enjoying having two potential starting quarterbacks this season, Sheffields backup, Taylor Potts, was the starter for the first five games of the season, and leads the nation in passing with 1,817 yards.

Both Texas A&M and Texas Tech are amidst rebuilding years, the difference is that Tech has maintained consistency and has a coach who is in his 10th season as their head coach. Sherman, A&M's coach is only in his second season. Tech is light years ahead of A&M in their rebuilding and might be prepping for a potential national championship run in 2010 after a tremendous class of quarterbacks at other schools will be leaving for the NFL.

On top of everything else, A&M has not won in Lubbock since 1993, and have not beat Tech at all since 2004. I've seen enough sporting events to know that there's no such thing as a lock, but no matter how much fight A&M has in them, I don't see them breaking their losing streak against Tech this year.

For the rest of the Big 12 I think that Nebraska will top Iowa State, Oklahoma State will easily beat Baylor, then the last two games will be a little more interesting. Both Colorado and Kansas State have had Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type seasons, Colorado beat Kansas and had a first half lead against Texas, but also lost to Toledo. Kansas State was blown out by Texas Tech then blew out A&M the following week, I'll give the edge to the home team, Kansas State. And last, Oklahoma at Kansas, Kansas has plans to win the Big 12 North after Missouri's demise, but a loss at Colorado last week didn't help their cause. I think that Kansas will win though. The game is in Kansas, they have the better quarterback, and more to gain.

Outside of the Big 12 but involve metroplex universities, I'll give Houston a huge edge over SMU. But the TCU - BYU has TCU's national title hopes on the line. The game is in Provo. TCU is undefeated, and BYU has lost once, in Provo to an odd Florida State team. I think that TCU is going to be coming home disappointed.

Since the Cowboys are playing this week I'll throw in some NFL predictions tomorrow, as well as my fantasy team.

Stars Lose Overtime Thriller to Kings 5 - 4

2009-10-23T09:06:00.002-06:00

Here's the link to the Dallas Morning News article: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/102309dnspostarslede.2430a11c9.html

I actually got frustrated with the game after the Kings took a 4 - 1 lead halfway through the second period. I watched as the Stars went scoreless after a flurry of activity in front of the Kings net at about the 11 minute mark of the second period before giving up hope and going to bed. My post was going to simply say: I thought they were scrappy, they tried to battle back despite being down by three goals, but the sloppy play and the penalties they gave up just dug their hole too deep.

Instead I'm going to say that these Stars are a legitimate threat to any team in the NHL. If they can battle back from a three goal deficit on the road, more than halfway through a game, then they have the ability to win anytime, any place. There is no NHL team that can overlook the Stars on their calendar this season, and probably for seasons to come.

Thursday Evening in the Think Tank

2009-10-22T18:37:00.009-06:00

I'm finally able to watch the Stars game tonight, they are playing the LA Kings. I've got a free trial for NHL Center Ice on DirecTV, Now that the Yankees - Angels game is over (what a great game) the Stars have my undivided attention.

Despite my love of Dallas sports, I've unfortunately been caste to the desert. Living in a town with no major professional sports team is interesting. Albuquerque has a smorgasbord of allegiances to professional sports. Our sports radio station 101.7 The Team, made an announcement this afternoon that they will be airing Nugget games this year, to go along with the Dodgers and the Cowboys. It's funny to hear players do promos for the station, "Hi, this is Manny Ramirez, and your listening to 101.7 The Team, your home for Dallas Cowboys football, Denver Nuggets basketball and Dodgers baseball." That must make them feel special.

A lot of the talk out here is about Mike Locksley, the University of New Mexico head football coach, who is currently serving a 10 day suspension for punching an assistant coach. I can't believe that he didn't get fired, at the same time he was dealing with an harassment suit that claimed that he was guilty of ageism. On top of that the Lobos are 0 - 6, apparently Coach Locksley has earned tenureship.

I read that the Rangers ex-hitting coach, Rudy Jaramillo (I winced the other night listening to the Dodgers pre game report on my way to work, and I heard the commentator pronounce his name phonetically) is now the Cubs hitting coach. That's great for him and the Cubs.

I hope that the Rangers hire someone who preaches patience at the plate. With Manager Ron Washington's experience in Oakland he should have an idea of what to look for in a hitting coach. The Oakland A's were an excellent hitting team at the beginning of this decade.

I can't wait until baseball season, I don't think I've ever been so excited about the Rangers. I hope they can pick up another veteran pitcher and that Kevin Millwood refinds himself.

The Kings just took a 4 - 1 lead in the second period. It sounds like Ralph Strangis is still broadcasting for the Stars. He too came from Minneapolis.

Off the subject of sports, sort of, at work last night I was having to make a time zone conversion from London time to New York time for next week. Standard time takes effect a week earlier in Europe than in the United States, making the conversion a little more difficult. I mentioned how that is the one thing that George Bush did that makes me mad, he wanted to stay in Daylight Savings Time longer to conserve energy. When I made that comment everyone looked at me as if to say "that's all that made you mad." That really surprised me, after three quarters of the new administration I thought that people would have a new respect for Bush. At the very least when he made a decision he stood by his convictions. I personally think that is a desirable trait in a leader, we have ourselves, congress and the senate to keep him honest.

And that brings me back to scope, my favorite thing that Bush did was to help bring Nolan Ryan to the Rangers. As a result Ryan is now President and involved with a group of people trying to buy the Rangers. He is directly responsible for the success of the current Rangers, so despite what anyone thinks of Bush's administration, we should be thankful for him.

That's about all I've got, I'll post my weekend predictions in the morning.

Stars Beat Mighty Ducks 4 - 2 (and corrections about previous Stars post)

2009-10-22T12:41:00.003-06:00

Once again here's the link from the Dallas Morning News about the Stars game last night: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/102209dnspostars.23dc69d55.html

I don't know that it's possible to get this team figured out. A week of following the Stars has been like a week on a roller coaster. In the course of an 84 game season though I think things will level out and we'll get a clear picture of where the Stars stand. They play the Kings in Los Angeles tonight, this is an important early season game, to see how they rebound after their loss to the Kings Monday night.

A few corrections about yesterday's posting: Mike Modano is 39 years old, he is the only player on the Stars who played for the North Stars. The Stars moved to Dallas in 1993, the North Stars were in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1991, but did not win. Last, the Mighty Ducks came out October 2, 1992.

Mark Cuban Comments on Steroids

2009-10-22T12:02:00.004-06:00

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban commented, before a pre-season game in Pittsburgh, that he believes that steroids, used under proper supervision could be helpful in sports to the recovery process of injured players.

Of course because Mark Cuban said this there is a major uproar. Cuban has been fined a million and a half dollars collectively by the NBA for comments he has made, mostly about poor officiating.

While his comments about steroids might have been made for publicity in his native Pittsburgh, they are valid comments.

The problem that professional sports would have with using steroids in a medicinal role is the same that governments are having with the use of marijuana as medicine. How can they police it? There are too many doctors who would be more than willing to "prescribe" steroids to players.

It's one thing for someone who's not really sick to smoke a joint, he's not hurting anyone but himself. A professional athlete, taking advantage of medicinal steroids, would uneven the playing field. If such a rule were implemented, to be competitive in professional sports, especially late in ones career, a chemical advantage would be almost mandatory.

We all saw what kind of advantage it gave to Barry Bonds, for the integrity of professional sports, steroids need to stay out.

Stars Fall to Kings 4 - 1

2009-10-21T09:57:00.004-06:00

Again, I'm still catching up with the Stars, and the NHL as well, here's the link from the article in the Dallas Morning News about this game: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/102009dnspostars.3c6e9c7.html

I'm learning some things about the Dallas Stars. I know that they are a young team, building for the future, I know that they have a new coach, Marc Crawford and a new GM, Joe Nieuwendyk.

I made a mistake Saturday morning when I didn't look at the Stars roster as soon as I started researching them. I thought, "what would a list of names I've never heard of do for me. I can just learn their names as I read articles and catch games on TV."

I was taken a little off guard when I looked at their injury report and I saw Mike Modano on that list. What's his injury? It's a wonder that it's not hip replacement surgery. My mom had her hip replaced at about 48 years old, that's got to be about Modano's age.

Don't get me wrong, I like Mike Modano. After watching him make a cameo on "The Mighty Ducks" I prayed that someday the North Stars would move to Dallas. Then, years later, they did. And now that I'm 30, probably 10 years older than Modano was when "The Mighty Ducks" was filmed, Modano is still playing. Off the top of my head, I know that he was drafted out of high school, I know that he was with the North Stars when they won the Stanley Cup in 1991. If I remember correctly they moved to Dallas two years later, 1993. The youngest he could be is 38.

While he's out injured the Stars should call up Paul Coffey, he probably already has a new hip, one less thing to worry about.

Captain Trips Suffers Humiliating Defeat

2009-10-20T17:49:00.003-06:00

In a game that Captain Trips had marked on their calendar as a sure win things took a despairing turn for the worse. The 2 - 3 Captain Trips were playing to get back to .500 after a tough defeat the week before to Kibbles no Vick, and to stay within striking distance of the playoffs, in a surprisingly weak fantasy division. Instead they suffered an embarrassing loss to MYTEAMSUX, who enjoyed a 40 point game from Maurice Jones-Drew.

"It was my fault," Captain Trips owner Douglas Eldridge said. "If I'd have started the Green Bay defense, which I had planned to do, we would have squeaked by them." The Green Bay Packers defense dealt the Detroit Lions a shutout defeat and earned 23 fantasy points on Sunday. The Baltimore Ravens defense who Eldridge opted to use managed only two points after allowing 33 points, and not forcing a turnover all day.

Vikings quarterback Brett Favre was especially hard on his owner after the game. "It's ridiculous that his ineptness cost us this game. All he had to do was wake up in time and change the defense, instead he uses some *$*# excuse as to why he didn't get out of bed in time. I've just about had it. And what really pisses me off about the situation is that he didn't start me at quarterback again. Come on, Doug, I'm Brett Favre. What the hell is that guy thinking? "

Eldridge opted to start Matt Ryan after Ryan racked up 30 points the week before and Favre, who started last week in the loss to Kibbles no Vick, scored only 15 points. "I had to go with the hotter hand, I regret it as much as everyone else. Who knew that Matt and Brett would just flip-flop scores like that," Eldridge said.

What is the most concerning to Eldridge is the team's inability to get along. "Look we have some good players, but the internal indifferences are starting to take a toll on us," Eldridge said. "My quarterbacks are going to have to take a look inside themselves and realize that they need to be consistent. DeAngelo finally had good game, but I know that Marion and Felix were sitting at home jealous of him. They're going to have to realize that we're all on the same team here, and honestly, I don't think we're going to get on that page."

DeAngelo Williams, the Carolina Panthers running back who Eldridge picked second in the draft had been having a sub par season, averaging just under 10 points a week, before he ran to a 30 point day on Sunday. "Finally, I've been trying all year. I did this for you Doug. I won't ride the bench, just remember that," Williams said.

This week won't be any easier for the 2 - 4 Captain Trips, they are playing the 4 - 2 Da Bears who lead their division.

"I'm just going to put what I think will be my best team out there and hope they can put it together," Eldridge finished. "I've got the entire team to choose from, no bye weeks, no injuries, no excuses."

Monday Morning Mutterings

2009-10-19T10:51:00.004-06:00

The Cowboys finally did something right this season; they took their bye week. Yesterday was brutal for the NFC East. Granted the Giants lost to a great team, they didn't do it in a fashion that proved that they were great too. The Giants weak point looks to be there defense. Without going into statistics other than scores: they've managed to contain four pitiful teams, the Redskins, Buccaneers, Chiefs and Raiders defensively. The two that they have played with any playoff aspirations, the Cowboys and the Saints, they either got slaughtered or barely won. As the season wears on I guarantee that the Giants' defense will continue to show their true colors. On the plus side for them, their offense is good, the 27 points they scored yesterday would beat most NFL teams.

Then what happened to the Eagles? The greatest part of that game was watching that pigeon line up with the kicking line. I rewound that three times when I saw it on Sportscenter. How does a good team lose to a team that admittedly has given up? I didn't watch the game, I know that the 1993 Cowboys lost to a very bad LA Rams team. But the Eagles loss yesterday just seems inexcusable. Especially since the Eagles play in perhaps the toughest division in professional sports.

And the Redskins; well, who cares anyways. KC almost beat Dallas last week, they were due for a win, and the Redskins were going to lose regardless of who they played.

The Patriots looked like a Big 12 team yesterday, 59 - 0 over the Titans. I didn't know there was enough time on the clock to score 59 points in the NFL. Were the Titans calling timeouts trying to figure out how to give the ball back to the Patriots?

Brett Favre, he's on my fantasy team, when I play him he gives me 12 points, when I don't he scores 25. The same goes with Matt Ryan. I think it's a conspiracy.

Both ESPN and SI had stories about how well teams who play in domes are doing this year. I think domes should be outlawed, even retractable roofs I'm not a fan of. I like the elements, I also think that the homefield advantage that an outdoor stadium gives is worth not having a Super Bowl every 10 years.

On to college football. I love college football. More specifically, I love Big 12 football. I actually despise everything about the SEC and the Big 10. And more specifically still, I love my Alma mater, Texas Tech.

I've written enough about Tech this weekend though.

I didn't think that Colorado stood a chance against Kansas this week. That shows what I know, I watched them take a lead into the half in Austin last week, maybe they are making real strides. The Buffaloes proved a point, that as a coach, it's a bad decision to use your son as quarterback. If it didn't work for Homer Simpson, it won't work for Dan Hawkins.

I do think that Texas is very vulnerable this weekend. Missouri, in Columbus, after losing at home to Nebraska, then losing the following week at Oklahoma State, is going to want to make a statement, and it's possible that they will. Everyone is waiting for the OK St. game Oct. 31 for Texas to lose, but watch out.

Of course my foreboding is good for Texas. I only predicted half the games correct last week. Out of eight guesses that's really bad.

Texas Tech Ranked Number 21 in the AP Poll

2009-10-18T12:43:00.005-06:00

Texas Tech did gain much deserved respect after beating Nebraska 31 - 10 yesterday in Lincoln. The Associated Press ranked them number 21 and the Coaches ranked them number 24. It is the first time this season that Tech (5-2, 2-1 Big 12) has cracked the top 25 this season.

Texas remained number 3 in the AP poll and fell to number 3 in the Coaches poll after a lackluster offensive performance against Oklahoma yesterday. Oklahoma managed to remain in the AP national rankings at number 25 despite a 3 - 3 record. Kansas also remained in the rankings at number 24 after losing to the lowly Colorado Buffaloes. Rounding out the Top 25 for the Big 12 is Oklahoma State at number 14.

Locally, TCU was shown little respect, ranked number 10 with a 6 - 0 start.

Stars Beat Blackhawks 4 - 3

2009-10-18T12:35:00.004-06:00

I've been able to brush up on the Stars a little bit. They are a young, reorganized team. Brenden Morrow is the team captain, and they are off to a good start. They are 3 - 1 - 3 and have earned nine points. They beat a formidable Blackhawks team last night who came into the game 5 - 1 - 1. If I write much more it would be blatant plagiarism, so here is the link to the article in the Dallas Morning News: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/101809dnspostarslede.2285ad5e3.html

Did Texas Tech Finally Earn Respect?

2009-10-17T16:56:00.005-06:00

Texas Tech went into Lincoln today, in front of the second largest crowd in Nebraska history, and proved that they are the most underrated team in the nation. Coach Mike Leach opted to start Steven Sheffield and Sheffield responded with a solid day. He completed 23 passes on 33 attempts for 235 yards and most importantly no interceptions.

Tech's ability to control the ball on offense and one of the best defensive games in memory propelled them to a 2 - 1 Big 12 record, and kept them in contention for at least another Cotton Bowl bid.

As much as Tech's defense was good, Nebraska's offense was bad. A touchdown in the last quarter is all that separated them with there first touchdown-less home game since 1968. Nebraska coach Bo Pellini, seemingly could not decide which quarterback was worse, and kept flip-flopping between Zac Lee and Freshman Cody Green. As a result the offense could not find their rhythm.

As surprised as the fans were, the commentators were stupefied, proving the point that Tech is severely underrated they could not grasp why Nebraska was falling so far behind.

I imagine that with so many ranked teams losing today that Tech will still not be ranked in the Top 25, but should earn some more votes than the whopping one they received after beating Kansas State last week 66 - 14.

The Longhorns kept their National Title hopes alive today, in what turned out to be a defensive struggle. The odds makers knew what they were talking about when they made Texas a three point favorite. What probably helped their cause more than anything was knocking Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford out of the game on only the Sooners' second drive.

A point that I was surprised was not brought up, is that Bradford was obviously not healed from the injury he sustained during the Brigham Young game. The hit that Bradford took was nothing that he shouldn't expect every game.

The Longhorns once again played awful in the first half then played well enough in the second half to keep their hopes alive. The pollsters can only penalize a team that finds a way so long. But it will be interesting when they have to play a quality opponent in a true road game.

Stars Lose 3 - 0 to Bruins

2009-10-17T09:26:00.004-06:00

I honestly have not followed hockey since I was in college. When the Stars moved from Minneapolis I was one of the few hockey players in the North Texas Ice Hockey Association. Then a few years later I was one of the many players in a much more organized league that the Stars helped support financially. We would play often at Reunion Arena, right before actual Stars games. They would give us tickets so we could stay and watch that evening. In retrospect, to be that close to a professional league was an amazing experience, and one that I should tribute the team with at least a passing glance in the sports page.

It's going to take me a few weeks before I can write intelligently about the NHL, for now here is the Dallas Morning News article on the Stars loss this morning...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/101709dnspostarslede.22349a266.html

College Football Saturday Predictions

2009-10-16T16:36:00.006-06:00

This is by far the best time of year. The Phillies' relievers are blowing another game (Chan Ho Park?), the weather in NY, a continent away from the 93 degree game in LA, will prove to be what October baseball is all about, and to top it off the LCS just started, guaranteeing baseball to be played well into November (thank you World Baseball Classic).

This is also the week in college football where every game becomes must win. Mid-October is every bit as important to every college football team who is still in contention, as it is to the remaining four baseball teams. In the center of the college football world tomorrow sits Dallas, TX. Tomorrow is a rare time where a 3 and 2 team playing an undefeated team has a legitimate chance to win. And for Oklahoma, winning will be the difference between an outside chance of being in the national championship, an inside chance of winning the Big Twelve, and being knocked out of the Top 25.

Last year I truly believed that despite Texas' 10 point win against Oklahoma, that the Sooners deserved to represent the Big 12 South in the Big 12 Championship game. All year they've had to hear about how they were undeserving, losing to Florida certainly didn't help there cause either. I think that the Sooners, after 10 months of listening to how Texas was the better team, will knock Texas off there pedestal. I'm a Texas fan more than on Oklahoma fan, but tomorrow will belong to the Sooners, 34 - 28.

One Big 12 North team begins tomorrow undefeated, and Todd Reesing and the Kansas offensive line will easily remain undefeated against Colorado.

Equally important in the Big 12 North is the Nebraska game. Nebraska hasn't beaten Texas Tech since 2001, that could change tomorrow. That will depend on the decision that Mike Leach makes on tomorrow's quarterback. If he starts Taylor Potts, Nebraska will win tomorrow, if he starts Stephen Sheffield, Tech will win. Sheffield was built to play in Mike Leach's system, Taylor Potts was built to take sacks. Against a Nebraska defense who will deliver sacks, you've got to go with a scrambling quarterback, Brandon Carter can only do so much on the offensive line. If Sheffield starts, Tech will win 45 - 35, if Potts starts, Sheffield will be in by the third quarter anyways and Nebraska will still win 35 - 28.

As far as the rest of the Big 12 goes tomorrow, A&M will continue their resurgence with an easy win against Kansas State, Missouri will go on a rare losing streak with a loss at Oklahoma State, and Baylor minus Robert Griffin might struggle on the road, but will still pull off the victory against Iowa State.

SMU is offering a great deal, 10 dollar tickets if you have a fair pass or a ticket stub from the Texas-OU game, to watch them lose to Navy.

TCU will beat a surprisingly scrappy Colorado State as well tomorrow.

Note: The Phillies did manage to blow their lead as I wrote this.

Phillips won't be fired, Jones says

2009-10-16T12:51:00.001-06:00

Wade Phillips' job as coach of the Dallas Cowboys is safe for the remainder of the season, owner Jerry Jones said Thursday.

Jones was confronted with questions about Phillips' job status for the second consecutive week. Last week, he said his coach would finish out the season "without equivocation."

"We've got a chance to get a lot of things done," Jones said Thursday during his weekly radio interview on KRLD-FM. "And we've got a lot of football left to play, and we've got some good people that not only can play it but coach it."

Jones' endorsement of Phillips for the rest of this season comes during Dallas' bye week and follows what could have been one of the Cowboys' worst losses ever -- had they not defeated the winless Kansas City Chiefs in overtime on Sunday.

Since buying the Cowboys in 1989, Jones has never made a coaching change during the season.

Phillips is in the final year of a three-year contract and the Cowboys have an option to bring him back in 2010.

"Two years ago the Giants were seemingly not in disarray, but they were in trouble," Jones said. "It was also absolutely expected that something was going to happen with the coach, [Tom] Coughlin. ... Well, that same year they won the Super Bowl. You've got to be mindful that this is a long, long journey. ... A lot can happen from the beginning to the end."