Football star arrested for murder

The NFL is having an identity crisis as of late. Now days when the NFL is in the news, it resembles more like an episode of Cops. Here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, we have been hearing about the issues of Cowboys' nose tackle Josh Brent (who was arrested again yesterday (6-27-13) for violating his parole. He failed a drug test for the second time. He is awaiting trial for drunk driving that led to the death of teammate Jerry Brown). But we haven't seen anything like what the New England Patriots are dealing with. Tight End Aaron Hernandez, who is considered one of the top players in the game, was arrested and charged with first degree murder of 27-year-old friend and semi-pro player Odin Lloyd. Over the last several days, the details have been slowly coming out as to what exactly happened, but it's unclear exactly why. The following is the timeline of events of this case thanks to CBS News:

June 14, 2013: Lloyd & Hernandez get together and go to the Boston nightclub "Rumor." According to the Assistant District Attorney Bill McCauley Lloyd began talking to a group of guys with whom Hernandez had some problems with, which upset Hernandez.

June 16, 2013: Hernandez texted two unidentified friends asking them to hurry to Massachusetts from Connecticut. A few seconds later, around 9:05p, Hernandez sends a text to Lloyd to tell him that he wanted them to get together soon.

June 17, 2013:
      1:12am...three men leave Hernandez's home in his rent vehicle. Cell phone towers follow the three men to a gas station, where McCauley says Hernandez bought some blue bubblegum.
   
      2:32am...The three men arrive at Lloyd's home in Boston and text him that they are there. Lloyd's sister sees him get into Hernandez's car.
   
      3:23am...Surveillance cameras show Hernandez's car go down a gravel road near an industrial park near where Lloyd's body would later be discovered. Four minutes later, Hernandez's car is scene leaving the industrial park area. Nearby workers claim to hear several gun shots.
    
     3:29am...Surveillance cameras show Hernandez arrive home.
    
     5:30pm...Body of Odin Lloyd is found by a jogger near the industrial park.

June 18, 2013: Police search Hernandez's home and the area where the body was found.

June 19, 2013: Medical Examiner rules Lloyd's death a homicide. Same day, another man files a civil lawsuit against Hernandez, claiming Hernandez shot him in the face back in February down in Miami, FL.

June 21, 2013: Hernandez's family confirms that Hernandez and Lloyd were together the night Lloyd was killed.

June 26,2013: Hernandez is arrested and charged with first degree murder in Lloyd's death. He is held without bail. Within an hour of the arrest, the New England Patriots release a statement saying they have officially released Hernandez from the team.

June 27, 2013: In the bail hearing, a judge in Falls River, MA denies Hernandez bail. Prosecutors announce they are pursuing the max penalty of life without parole.

So during all this, TMZ reports that surveillance footage from Hernandez's home was destroyed, the murder weapon can't be found, and that apparently Hernandez hired a cleaning service to completely clean his home and vehicles. The Boston Globe also reported yesterday that Hernandez is now a suspect in a double murder from July of 2012 and it's speculated that maybe Lloyd had some kind of knowledge of it. So did he do it? Did Aaron Hernandez really kill, or set up to be killed, his friend? All evidence points that way. I know that everyone is due their day in court and Hernandez is "innocent until proven guilty" but when you look at his past, it's hard to say this guy is innocent. He has a prior criminal background from high school and college. He also didn't have very many friends on the Patriots. As more and more information about Hernandez begins to surface, we find out about his run ins with teammates. According to Larry Brown Sports, Hernandez got into an argument as a rookie with then teammate Wes Welker in 2010. According to Welker, he walked into the video room. Hernandez couldn't figure some of the video equipment out and asked Welker for help. Doing some rookie hazing (as always happens in every locker in the league) Welker told him to "figure it out rookie." Hernandez didn't take to kindly to it and threatened Welker. So much so that Welker left the Patriots complex afraid for his life. Highly respected offensive lineman Matt Light was quoted by ESPNBoston as saying "I never talk about other guys, but I will say I have never embraced - never believed in - anything Aaron Hernandez stood for." So it's obvious that Hernandez has had problems with his teammates since joining New England in 2010. Now with that being said, it doesn't mean that Hernandez is guilty, but when you look at the evidence along with his past one can only conclude that he is guilty.


I said all of this to give you more insight as to what was going on. Now I'm going to tell you what I honestly think of this situation. If he is guilty, and I believe with everything in my being that he is, then I hope he rots in a Massachusetts prison. I hope that justice is served and he never steps foot on a football field ever again. I hope he never sees the outside world ever again. These big time athletes think that they are above the law because they are millionaires. You can go all the way back to OJ Simpson, then fast forward to Ray Lewis. They didn't get what they should have got. If he is guilty, I hope Aaron Hernandez stays behind bars for the rest of his life. He is lucky he didn't commit the murder in Texas because he would be on a fast track to death row. If you watched any of the bail hearing yesterday you saw a guy with a smug look on his face who really thinks he is going to get off. I wanted to punch the crap out of him when I saw him on TV (but of course look at him and then look at me...I'd have gotten my butt kicked. But hey...I'd have made sure to get the first punch in.) I pray he doesn't. I pray that Lloyd's family gets some kind of relief in knowing his killer is behind bars. Aaron Hernandez is nothing more than a glorified scumbag who deserves to see nothing but a jail cell for the rest of his life. (I couldn't resist the following picture. It made me laugh. Enjoy)

The Dallas Mavericks have a wild draft night...take Miami guard Shane Larkin

The Dallas Mavericks had a very weird night in the NBA Draft. They had the number 13th pick. As David Stern announced the Mavericks pick, we heard that they had drafted Kelly Olynyk (center out of Gonzaga). Decent pick. But then within just a few seconds we find out that the Mavericks have traded the rights to Olynyk to the Boston Celtics for the 16th overall pick and two second round picks.

Then as the 16th pick drew near, we found out that they traded down again. This time they sent the pick, along with last year's first round pick Jared Cunninngham, to the Atlanta Hawks for the 18th pick. Then finally the Mavs took a player...Shane Larkin out of the University of Miami. It's difficult to figure out why Dallas did all this trading until you realize that they created over $1 million of cap space by doing all this wheeling and dealing.


Larkin is a decent point guard, averaging 14 points a game according to ESPNDallas. But Dallas' actions tonight all point to one thing and one thing only...Mark Cuban is serious about making a run at Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. I didn't think it was possible, but after seeing all the trades, it just might be possible. I just might be able to actually stomach watching a Mavericks game. But we'll see.

Dallas Maverics 2013 Draft Preview

The 2013 NBA Draft is tonight and, as we all know, the Dallas Mavericks haven't had the best of drafts in recent years. Let's face it...they haven't drafted anyone good since drafting Dirk Nowitzki in 1998. I know the Mavs drafted Josh Howard in 2003 and he was good for a while, but even he faded and was traded. So who are the Mavericks going to take in this year's draft...a draft considered by some to be very weak?

It's been rumored that the Mavericks are trying to free up cap room to make a run at Dwight Howard of the LA Lakers and Chris Paul of the LA Clippers. Personally...that is a dream that Mark Cuban can dream but a reality he won't see. So what are they going to do? The Bleacher Report is predicting that the Mavs will take Sergay Karasev, a 6'7 small forward from Russia. Now from all the scouting reports on Karasev I've read, he is a pretty good player that just needs to mature a little bit. He was the leading scorer in Russia's top league last year, but he hasn't faced competition like he will in the NBA. According to the Bleacher Report, the Mavs may draft Karasev and keep him overseas. There are thoughts too that they may trade the pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are said to want Karasev for their second round pick. My thoughts on this...if you are going to trade the pick away, why not trade up to get a player who can help you now? If you can't or won't do that, then draft Karasev and keep him overseas. The last thing you want to happen is trade the pick away for pretty much nothing and then watch him turn into an All-Star for another team.

With that all said, I'm still not sure what the Mavs are thinking by drafting yet another foreign player when there are players in this draft that would and could help this club right now. The two biggest needs on this team right now are guard and center. I understand if they get Howard and Paul, those needs are filled. But let's be serious. It won't happen (if it does, I'll be the first one to say I was wrong and Let's Go Mavs). So who in the draft could the Mavs get to help them. The top gaurd in the draft to me is Ben McLemore out of Kansas. I know it's a long shot for the Mavs to get this guy, but here's what I'm thinking. If Cleveland is already wanting Karasev and they have been rumored to wanting to trade for Shawn Marion, send a packaged deal that includes Marion and the 13th pick to Cleveland for their number 1 pick and use it to draft McLemore. I know it's out there and it won't ever happen, but that's what I'd like to at least hear that Mark Cuban tried to do. Another name out there in the draft that I think the Mavs could use is Steven Adams, 7'0 255 lbs. center from Pittsburg. This guy is big, strong, and scouts say his strengths are good jumper, good passer, and great rebounder. Sounds similar to Tyson Chandler. This guy might actually still be there at 13, even though some predictions have him going 11th or 12th. But if the Mavs can either trade up a couple spots to get him or if by a miracle he is still on the boards when they are on the clock, the Mavs need to get this kid to help down low in the paint.

Dirk isn't getting any younger and he needs help. I would love nothing more than to see Dwight Howard and Chris Paul in a Mavericks uniform next season, but if you look and see that the chances of that happening are not good, then the next best thing is to draft wise tonight. Don't go after another foriegn player that may or may not make it. Go for someone who is ready to play now...aka McLemore or Adams. If I hear David Stern announce one of those names when he announces Dallas' pick tonight, I'll be a happy man and I think Mavs fans will be happy too.

What Happened To My Dallas Cowboys?

I was born in the year of 1984. So by the time I was old enough to appreciate the Dallas Cowboys, guys like Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin were roaming the field of Texas Stadium. But I remember as a kid I loved reading about the Cowboys of old like Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Randy White, etc. I use to listen to my parents and other elderly members of my family talk about the good ole' days of the Dallas Cowboys when Coach Tom Landry roamed the sideline and ruled the team with that menacing stare of his. I'd watch on ESPN Classic old Cowboy games against the Pittsburgh Steelers when they would beat up on Terry Bradshaw. I couldn't get enough. Then come Sundays (and occasionally on Mondays) I'd sit and watch my team, America's Team, play football. It was a great time as a kid to be a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. I even would wear my Emmitt Smith #22 jersey to church. Man I loved those days. But now the question I can't help but ask...What happened to my Dallas Cowboys? What happened to a team everyone wanted to play for? Why is it that now the star on the side of the helmet doesn't portray honor and dignity? Because today's Dallas Cowboys are not my Dallas Cowboys and certainly not my parents' Dallas Cowboys.


The Cowboys have fallen mightly since the days of old. It wasn't an overnight destruction like the Titanic. It was a slow, agonizing fall from grace...like watching an old prize boxer who just doesn't know when it's time  to hang 'em up. My Cowboys...America's Team...is long gone and have been replaced with a bunch of no names who pretend to be a football team. There are two instances that you can say are the main causes of the Cowboys fall from the top of the mountaintop. The first can be even pinpointed to a very specific day...February 25, 1989. That was the day that Jerry Jones purchased the team for $140 million. Jerry Jones thinks he is God's gift to football...and in reality he is more like the court jester of the NFL. He thinks he knows football, but the team's water boy knows more about football than Jerry Jones does. Now I know you are going to say "But we've won three Super Bowls since he bought the team" and that's very true. We have. But that's something you can thank Jimmy Johnson for. Johnson is one of the best football minds that's ever been in the league. He led the Cowboys to those three Super Bowls. (Don't try and tell me that Barry Switzer had anything to do with the Cowboys winning Super Bowl 30. He inherited Johnson's team and just rode their coat tails. He is the coach version of Jerry Jones...a moron.) Johnson was the reason that the Cowboys were so good in the early and mid 1990s. Now this leads me to the second cause of the Cowboys' demise...Jerry Jones letting Jimmy Johnson go as head coach. It's been sited that the two agreed to a mutual separation because their inability to work together. Jones is a dictator who thinks everything has to be his way or the highway. Why do you think Jason Garrett is the head coach? He kisses Jones' butt more than anyone I've ever seen. And it shows. Look at Jones' draft record (and we all know it's Jones drafting these players because his coaches don't have a say in anything.) I admit that every now and then, a blind squirrel finds a nut. Same is true for Jerry Jones.

I know he drafted the likes of DeMarcus Ware, Sean Lee, Tyrone Smith, Jason Whitten. But other than that...Jones hasn't done much to improve this team when it comes to the NFL Draft. I can't speak for this year's draft because these kids deserve a shot. I'm not going to bad mouth the new kids because they haven't had a chance to prove themselves. But take a look at some of Jones' draft bust...Quincy Carter, Felix Jones, Martellus Bennett, Doug Free. Then look at the players that Jones has given big time contracts to that don't deserve it. Miles Austin...7 years $54.1 million; Doug Free...4 years $32 million (yes I know he has taken a pay cut but look at how he has played. He is lucky he is getting paid anything.); Tony Romo 6 years $108 million. None of those guys deserve what Jones has given them. By giving these guys the ridiculous contracts, he makes it hard to actually sign good players. Since Super Bowl 30, where Barry Switzer took credit for Jimmy Johnson's team winning the Super Bowl, the Cowboys haven't been back to the promised land. 17 straight seasons have gone by since the Cowboys were in the Super Bowl and in that time they've only won one playoff game...one stinkin' playoff game.

I know people are going to say Tony Romo is a really good quarterback who just hasn't had any good talent around him. But I beg to differ. Tony Romo is a really good quarterback...really good backup quarterback. He has no business being a starter. Look at the last two seasons. He has choked when his team needed him the most...the last game of the season when a win puts them in the playoffs. You won't win with a backup quarterback as your starter. The bottom line with the Cowboys is that over the last 17 years the Dallas Cowboys have become content with being the Dallas Cowboys. They are more concerned with selling merchandise and calling themselves "America's Team" than they are winning football games. Get a real general manager, get a real head coach, and get a real quarterback and then maybe...just maybe...the Cowboys will return to the glory days when losing wasn't an option.


If you want to truly see who the Cowboys should be instead of what they have become, watch the following video. "America's Team" doesn't reside in Dallas anymore. Those days are gone. This video will remind you of the days when the Cowboys were truly "America's Team."

Movie Watching Is A Sport

One of my favorite things in sports is none other than sports movies. Like Gavin Dawson and Chris Arnold from the G-Bag Nation on 105.3 The Fan always say..."Movie watching is a sport." Well I have compiled a list of the top five best sports movies of all time (or at least that I've actually seen. I know there are sports movies out there that I've never seen. Leave a comment with your favorite sports movies. If I haven't seen it, I want to.) So let's get this top five list started shall we.

5. RUDY: "Rudy is a 1993 American sports film directed by David Anspaugh. It is an account of the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles." This is one of my favorite movies. The ultimate underdog story at it's finest. My favorite scene in the whole movie has to be when all the players on the Fighting Irish come into Coach Dan Devine's office and lay their jerseys down on his desk in support of Rudy. That scene makes me want to stand up and yell "Take that sucker!!!" Great movie.

4. SECRETARIAT: "Secretariat is a 2010 biographical sports drama film produced and released by Walt Disney Pictures and directed by Randall Wallace. The film chronicles the life of thoroughbred race horse Secretariat, winner of the Triple Crown in 1973." I am a big fan of sports movies that are about real life events that happened when I wasn't alive. Growing up, I heard stories from my father about watching the Belmont and watching Secretariat win the final race that nobody thought he could. Very good movie.

3. FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: "Friday Night Lights is a 2004 sports drama film, directed by Peter Berg, which documents the coach and players of a high school football team and the Texas city of Odessa that supports and is obsessed with them." This movie was really one that I could relate to more than any other sports movie I've ever seen. I grew up in a small Texas town and played Texas High School football. I completely understood what the players of Odessa Permian went through. You see...my junior year of high school our team made it to the playoffs for the first time in several years. We won our first playoff game, which was the first win for our school in almost a decade. The next morning...all over town all we heard was how we were going to win state. We had won a very hard fought, one point game and now all of a sudden the entire town expected us to win state. We didn't. So this movie definitely hit home for me. Great film for sure.

2. MIRACLE: "Miracle is a 2004 American biographical sports film about the United States men's hockey team, led by head coach Herb Brooks, that won the gold medal in the 1980 Winter Olympics." This movie gave me more American Pride than any other movie I've ever seen. To watch what those college kids did to not only beat the hated Soviet Union, but to earn the respect of the entire world spoke volumes to anyone who saw this movie. I still swell up with American pride when I watch this movie.

1. FIELD OF DREAMS: "Field of Dreams is a 1989 American fantasy-drama film directed by Phil Alden Robinson, who also wrote the screenplay, adapting W. P. Kinsella's novel Shoeless Joe." This movie was where I learned a lot of my baseball history from, which is why this movie tops my list of the top sports films I've ever seen. I learned through this movie about the 1919 Black Sox scandal and various other old time baseball players. It's where I learned how much Ty Cobb was hated when he played and what baseball was like in the early 1900s. I can...and have...watch this movie over and over again.

So there you have it. My top five best sports films of all time...that I've seen. Let me know what you think of the list and what your favorite sports films are. Movie watching is a sport. (All movie synopsis are from the website www.imdb.com)

Chicago Blackhawks: 2013 Stanley Cup Champions

This blog will be shorter than most. I just wanted to say congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks on winning the 2013 Stanley Cup. My Dallas Stars were not in the playoffs, so I (like I always do in sports when my team isn't in the playoffs) picked a couple different teams in the playoff to root for in order to keep interested in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

I chose three teams to follow and cheer on for a few different reasons. The first team I cheered hard for was the Boston Bruins. Being a huge Dallas Stars fan, I became a big Jaromir Jagr fan really quickly this year. I was sad when I found out that the Stars traded him to Boston. So in the playoffs, I cheered for the Bruins because I wanted to see Jagr get another Stanley Cup championship. The second team I cheered for was the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Stars traded their captain, Brenden Morrow, to Pittsburgh during the season and I thought it'd be good for him to get a shot as well to win a Stanley Cup. The third team I chose to cheer on during the playoffs was the Chicago Blackhawks. I had no other reason to cheer Chicago on except that other than the Stars, there isn't many teams in the Western Conference I care for. I have a friend who is a die hard Hawks fan. So I went along with him during the playoffs...until the Finals. When it got down to the Hawks vs. Bruins, I had to go with Jagr and Boston. But tonight the team I wanted to win fell short, losing to the Hawks 3-2 to lose the series 4-2. Congrats to Chicago. One of the best Stanley Cup Finals I've seen in a long time.

As The Puck Turns

So I literally couldn't sleep last night. I was excited after writing my first blog. As of 12:45p on June 24th, I have 105 page views. Not too bad for a first timer. While laying in bed unable to sleep, today's blog began to swim around in my head. If you pay any attention at all to sports on a regular basis, you will see a lot more drama and weird story lines going on than any soap opera writer could ever dream up. Take my piece yesterday about Josh Hamilton. There is enough drama from his story that could fill a soap opera for a month. So then my thoughts began to turn to hockey. I thought about naming this piece "The Young And The Toothless" but didn't want anyone to mistake this for a piece written by Larry The Cable Guy.

This piece, properly named "As The Puck Turns", is about the hiring of Lindy Ruff as the new head coach of the Dallas Stars.

Let me set the scene for you so you will understand why this hiring is a little ironic to me...just in case you don't know the history here. The date is June 19, 1999. It's game six of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Dallas Stars and the Buffalo Sabres. It is the first Stanley Cup Finals appearance for the Stars since moving to Dallas from Minnesota in 1993. The Stars (then known as the North Stars) had been to the Finals twice in Minnesota, losing to the New York Islanders in 1981 and the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991. It's only the second Stanley Cup Finals appearance for the Sabres in franchise history. They lost their first appearance to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975. So it's apparent that whoever wins this series will be making history for each respected franchise. The Stars have a three games to two lead as regulation comes to an end of Game Six with the score tied 1-1. First overtime period...nothing. Second overtime period...again nothing. Third overtime period...Brett Hull (who will always live in Dallas Stars folk lore) scores the series ending goal at the 14:51 mark passed Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek to give the Dallas Stars their first Stanley Cup championship.

The Sabres are irate claiming that Hull's goal shouldn't count because his skate was in the goalie crease, which is the rules. It's been debated for the last 14 years on whether or not Hull's goal should have counted. It's been called the "No Goal" debate and up until June 22, 2013 the "No Goal" charge was led by one Lindy Ruff. But why would Ruff care about that goal you ask? Well...Ruff was the head coach of the Sabres during that '99 Finals. Now he is taking over the reigns of the team that beat him for the Stanley Cup...the Dallas Stars

Now me personally...being a Stars fan I was hoping that new General Manager Jim Nill would hire John Tortella, who was fired by the New York Rangers after the team was knocked out of the playoffs in the second round by the Boston Bruins. But it seems now that Tortella will be filling the coaching vacancy in Vancouver (click here for that story). When I heard the news of the Ruff hiring, I wasn't sure what to make of it. Now that it's been a few days since the news surfaced and I've had some time to think about this hiring for my favorite hockey team...I still don't really know what to make of this. (Just a side note...I wonder what will go through Ruff's mind every night when he sees the Championship banner hanging in the American Airlines Center rafters. Just a thought.) So to help me out in understanding Lindy Ruff as the new Dallas Stars coach, let's take a look at his NHL history and numbers as a coach.

Ruff was drafted by the Sabres in 1979. He played in 691 games as a defensemen/left wing for the Sabres and New York Rangers. He was hired as an assistant coach for the Florida Panthers and helped lead them to a Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 1996. He was hired by the Buffalo Sabres in 1997 as their head coach and was fired in February of 2013 after the team started 6-10-1 in this lockout shortened season. Here is Coach Ruff by the numbers (as a head coach 1997-2013)...

565 total wins - 9th during that span
8 playoff appearances - Tied for 13th during that span
1 Stanley Cup Finals appearance
57 playoff wins - 8th during that span

So when I see these numbers, I'm not overly impressed. But in order for this hiring to make sense for a team that hasn't been to the playoffs in five straight season, you need to take a look at the new General Manager Jim Nill. Nill comes over to the Stars after being the Assistant General Manager for the Detroit Red Wings for the last 15 years. During his tenure with Detroit, Nill has not only developed one of the best reputations around the NHL as a players' kind of guy, but his Red Wings were in the playoffs all 15 years of his tenure in Detroit, winning the Stanley Cup four times during that span. So it's obvious that Nill knows hockey pretty darn well.

Is Ruff the right man to lead the Dallas Stars back to the playoffs and, hopefully, win the Stanley Cup again? I'm honestly not sure. But with Jim Nill as the GM and an owner in Tom Gaglardi who isn't afraid to spend money...Ruff may just be what this young, talented Stars team needs to get back to the likes of the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, and Boston Bruins. We shall see. Either way, this proves that sports has better drama than any soap opera ever thought of having.

The launch of this blog and my opinions on former Texas Ranger and current Ranger fan nemesis...Josh Hamilton

Well now...I'm new to this whole blogging thing, but I'm very excited about this. I've wanted to do this for a very long time, but being that I'm not involved on a daily basis with sports other than being a fan I'm not anywhere near the sports industry. I've been in radio for a long time now, but it's always been in country music radio. But starting Sunday, June 30th I will be taking over the production department of a small station which is flipping their format to become an ESPN affiliate. I can't say what station just yet because the flip hasn't occurred, but I will say once the flip has happened (if you know me personally then you know the station I'm sure). I listen pretty much all day to 105.3 The Fan, even tho my favorite show "RAGE" was taken off the air. (Richie Whitt and Sybil Summers didn't deserve to be fired. Greggo got what he deserved. If you want to know what I'm talking about, go check out www.dfwsportatorium.com)  

I have tried for a while to get a job with The Fan, but the good Lord above had other plans. I'm very excited for the opportunity He has blessed me with at this ESPN affiliate. (Just an FYI to any and all readers of this blog...I have reached out to Richie Whitt about working for him on his website. If he ever says yes, this blog will be no longer. Just throwing that out there.) So with all that said, maybe if you read this blog you might take my opinions serious. I don't mind or care if you don't agree with me. That's what's great about this country. You can agree or disagree with me. I'm ok with that. But this blog will be my opinions. I know I titled my blog "The Line Drive Report" but I will cover all sports and all different kinds of topics that are sports related.

Driving home from work this evening, while listening to the Fan Jam on 105.3 The Fan, I was trying to think of the perfect thing to write about as my first blog entry. Then when I got home, it hit me...Josh Hamilton. That is the perfect topic to start my blog out with. Right? I mean I was the biggest Josh Hamilton supporter you'd ever want to meet. I was his biggest fan. I still am a fan of him, but not quite as big as before. When he was a Texas Ranger I stood up for him against friends, I defended him against people who talked down about him, and as a fan I stood up and wore his jersey proudly when people said he was a hypocrite and a liar. Well...I still am a fan of the man. I still think he is a good guy. I believe that everyone makes mistakes and only God can truly forgive us of our wrong doings. That night in 2008 in Arizona, was Hamilton wrong? Absolutely! That night before the 2012 season at Sherlock's Pub in Dallas, was Hamilton wrong? Without a doubt! But do I believe that he should be hung by a hangman's rope for screwing up? Not a chance. If making a mistake was just cause for hanging someone, there wouldn't be enough trees on this earth for all of us. Josh Hamilton is a good man just trying his best to live by his faith. He screws up just like I do, just like you do, just like all of us do. The only thing I think he needs to do is learn how to just shut up. He says so many things that are unnecessary. There maybe truth to them, but they need to be kept quiet. That's my only beef with him now.

The weekend of April 5-7, 2013 Hamilton made his return to the Ballpark In Arlington. He deserved the boos. For sure. I mean as a sports fan you hate to see a fan favorite sign with the rival team. So yes when the Los Angeles Angels came to town that weekend, Hamilton deserved to be booed. But the reception he got from Rangers fans was pathetic. He didn't deserve the hate chants, his wife and kids being cussed out, etc. That was too far. I was glad I wasn't at the ballpark for any of those three games. It wasn't right nor was it pretty. He is a human being for God's sake. People need to grow up and realize that baseball is a business. He didn't resign with the Rangers because the Rangers didn't make him a good enough offer. He went with what he thought would be best for him and his family. Think of it this way...if you worked for a company on contract and your contract was coming to an end. Would you stay with your company for less money or go with another company who was offering more money? If you felt going to the new company was better for your family, you'd go too. So even though I didn't like that he signed with the Angels, I didn't blame him.

I wish nothing but good will on Josh Hamilton personally. I think personally, he is a good man. Now with that being said, am I glad he is hitting .207 with 10 home runs and 25 RBIs as of June 23rd? Abso...freakin'...lutely I am. I want all the Angel players to hit that bad. But just because I'm glad he is playing poorly for the Angels doesn't mean I want bad things to happen to him like others have expressed on Facebook and Twitter. People call him a liar and a hypocrite because of what has been reported in the media. But let me ask this question for you to think about. Do you know the man personally? No you don't. Just like I don't know the man personally. For all I know, he might be exactly what the media portrays him to be and what his negative naysayers claim he is. But in the same breath, he might be exactly what I say he is...a good man just trying to live right who slips up and messes up like everyone else is. So when the Angels come to town again on July 29-31, leave the man be. He has suffered the boos his first time to town. Just go about your business of cheering the Rangers on instead of being soooooo worried about booing Josh Hamilton.