Real Ranger fans are hard to find these days!!!

I never thought I'd ever say this, but I believe that the Texas Rangers going to back to back World Series might be a bad thing for the organization. Don't get me wrong I loved every minute of those years. Well maybe not the Nelson Cruz miss in Game 6 in 2011, but you get my drift. I mean it was bad for the team in the kind of fan base that those World Series trips brought in: bandwagon fans. The new Ranger fans that began coming to Rangers games. The new Ranger fans aren't real baseball fans and aren't real Ranger fans. They fell in love with those particular teams as in the players on those teams. They didn't fall in love with the team.

It's no secret that I'm a big Josh Hamilton fan. I am and I always will be. But just because he's on the Los Angeles Angels now doesn't mean I want him to continue to play well against us. Last night (6-24-14) Ian Kinsler made his  return to Globe Life Park as a member of the Detroit Tigers. In his first at bat, he hit a home run to left field. As he was running down to first base, he waved to the Rangers dugout and then commenced to not hide his emotions as he strutted around the bases. If you don't remember his comments, Kinsler blasted the Rangers after the trade saying he hopes the Rangers go 0-162. This guy is the biggest tool I've ever seen. Yet Ranger fans cheered him. Let me correct myself. The fake Ranger fans cheered him. They were cheering their favorite player from a past team. Not only is he the enemy now, but he trashed the team after he was out. Why cheer him for that? Nelson Cruz came back and the fans cheered him too. Why? Because those were the fake Ranger fans. They care more about individual players than they do the team itself. Cruz was very selfish in 2013 by choosing to accept his 50-game suspension instead of fighting it and keep playing. He chose himself over his team. Yet when he returned as a member of the Baltimore Orioles people cheered. It doesn't make any sense to me.
The Rangers need more real fans that will cheer this team no matter who is on the team. I can't stand Alex Rodriguez. I've never liked him. But when he was a Texas Ranger, you bet I cheered him on. These bandwagon fans need to stop cheering their favorite player and start cheering for the Rangers. Again do I like Josh Hamilton? Yes I do. I'm a big fan and will always be a big fan. But the Rangers come first. When he comes back with the Angels, then yes I want him to go 0-for-4 with 4 strike outs. The fake Ranger fans need to wake up and become real Ranger fans.

Just on a side note: Ian Kinsler better be thanking the good Lord above that Colby Lewis didn't put the next pitch Kinsler saw in his ear. The taunting of the Rangers deserved to have a fastball hit off his knee or back. He better be thankful Nolan Ryan wasn't pitching because Ryan would have drilled Kinsler.

Donald Sterling's punishment...IS WRONG!!!

I want to start this blog off by saying that I don't condone anything that Donald Sterling said. What he said was not only racist, but disgusting as well. I whole heartedly agree with that. But when you listen objectively to the entire recording that TMZ obtained, you'll see that what Sterling was more upset about was his girlfriend posting her entire life on social media. Yes his comments about black people was wrong. If you truly love minorities as Mr. Sterling claims then you can't love them privately and act like you don't care about them publicly. But the recording that was obtained, illegally by his girlfriend mind you, should not have gotten Mr. Sterling a life time ban from the NBA. Adam Silver was completely wrong for a few reasons for banning Mr. Sterling from the NBA for life and trying to force him to sell the Los Angeles Clippers.

First off, I watched the entire press conference that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver gave where he announced the punishment for Donald Sterling. I don't believe for one second that Mr. Silver's punishment was truly based on his "disgust" about what Mr. Sterling said. If you watched Mr. Silver's body language during the press conference that he made his decision based on what the players wanted him to do. Players like LeBron James were calling for Mr. Sterling's head. Why would Adam Silver give in to what the players wanted when the Donald Sterling situation had nothing to do with them? It's just like when someone is accused of a crime and their trial has to be taken out of state in order for the defendant to receive a fair trial because they wouldn't get a fair trial in the town or state they live in. Mr. Sterling was sentenced by the players of the league before evidence was presented to the judge, in this case Adam Silver. It's the old saying of "the prisoners are running the asylum." Adam Silver allowed the players to decide for him what Donald Sterling's punishment should be and that's wrong.

Lastly, tell me about a private company where the owner had his business taken from them by the government based on a private conversation and I'll completely apologize for this blog. As wrong as Mr. Sterling's comments were, they were comments made in the privacy of his own home and were recorded by his girlfriend illegally. Based solely on the fact that the recording was an illegal act, the Clippers should not be taken away from Mr. Sterling and he shouldn't be banned from the NBA for it. The woman will be very lucky is Mr. Sterling doesn't sue her sorry behind off.

Once again I'm not saying that Donald Sterling was right in what he said. I think his beliefs and opinions of minorities are despicable and disgusting. But the fact is...it's his opinion. That's all. He didn't say anything wrong at a Clippers facility, at a player, at a game, or in a public setting. He made the comments in the privacy of his home. A place where you should feel safe to be open and honest. We've all said things in our homes that we would never want to be made public. So just because we don't like what Donald Sterling said and think he is completely wrong in his thinking, it doesn't justify banning him from the NBA for life nor does it justify trying to force him to sell his business.

So what should have been done? I'm glad you asked. I have a couple solutions.

1. Don't allow any advertisers to advertise during the Los Angeles Clippers games.
2. Don't allow the Clippers to play on national television.
3. Allow all players the option to void the rest of their contracts and become free agents.
4. Force the team to play in an empty gym for the first 10 games of next season.

When you hit Mr. Sterling where it hurts...his wallet...then he might actually rethink his opinions and views. Banning a billionaire for life and fining him $2.5 million and forcing him to sell his team (that's worth a whole lot more than he paid for the team in 1981) ain't going to really be much of a punishment. At the end of the day, racist should be done away with ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ARGUMENT. Just as racist towards blacks and hispanics shouldn't exist, racist towards whites from blacks and hispanics shouldn't exist. It's a two way street. Adam Silver should have been objective when it comes to Donald Sterling, but instead he choose to make a ruling that would appease certain players...the same players who are reverse racists towards white folks. It's not right and I don't care what anyone says, Donald Sterling doesn't deserve to be banned for life from the NBA.

Dallas Stars Season Comes To An End

So it's been 3 days now since the Dallas Stars' season came to an end at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. It's been something that's been hard to stomach, but after a few days of processing exactly how they lost and allow my brain to process the fact that their season is over I'm finally able to write my thoughts on the season as a whole.

I'm very proud of the Stars. This season started with a lot of optimism but still a lot of uncertainty. First off, the team got a new General Manager in Jim Nill from the Detroit Red Wings. Nill was the Assistant GM with Detroit for 15 years. His first job as the new GM was to hire a coach and he brought in former Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. Ruff was known for being able to communicate with young players and that's exactly what the Stars needed considering the average age on the team is 28 years old and 12 of the 25 players are 26 years old or younger. This team had the talent, but needed a coach to guide that talent and to help them to mature as players. Coach Ruff was perfect for the job. He got the best of the best out of this team this year, helping to snap a 5 year playoff drought. This team all season never gave up. Several times this year we saw the Stars come back from multi-goal deficits to win or at least force overtime to get a point. Case in point...Game 4 against the Ducks. They trailed 2-0 after the 1st period, but fought their way back to win 4-2. The grit and "never say die" attitude by this squad this year was amazing and fun to watch.

Sunday night's game was such a heartbreaker. It looked like the Stars were going to force Game 7 as they had a 4-2 lead with 2:10 left in the game. But a goal by Nick Bonine cut the lead to 4-3. Then with :23 left in regulation Devante Smith-Pelly put the puck in the back of the net after a massive flurry thanks to a 6 on 5 advantage with the goalie pulled for his 2nd goal of the game. The crowd that had been so loud throughout the entire game was all of a sudden eerily quiet. Dallas still had a chance in overtime to win, but at 2:57 into overtime by Nick Bonine not only broke the hearts of all Dallas Stars fans and players alike, but it also ended the season for the Stars and sent the team into the offseason much sooner than they were hoping.

As hard as Sunday night's game was to swallow, we have some awesome positives we can take from this playoff series and from this season. In a post game interview, Stars play-by-play broadcaster Ralph Strangis said "As much as this hurts, it feels good to hurt again." And he's exactly right. The reason this hurts is because we saw just what this team is capable of. And over the next couple of years, this team is capable of being very VERY good. I predicted earlier this year that you'd see this team in the playoffs at the end of the season and I was right. Now I'm predicting that you'll see this team in the Stanley Cup Finals sometime over the next 3-4 years. For the first time in a long time the Stars are going into the offseason with a core group of guys that they are building around. Guys like Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Kari Lehtonen, Ryan Garbutt, Valeri Nichuskin, and Alex Chiasson. These are guys that will be around for a long time and that the team can build around. That's an awesome feeling.

You can also take pride in knowing that the Stars were the better team in their series against the Anaheim Ducks. There were 18 periods played in this series and the Stars dominated every aspect of 13 of those periods. They made some mistakes that young guys are going to make are what costs this team the series. However, they will mature and will get better. The next time the Stars are in the playoffs, I don't expect this team to make those same mistakes again.

We, as Dallas Stars fans, should be very proud of our guys. They came a long way from the beginning of the season. They made hockey relevant again in Dallas. They got people talking about Dallas Stars hockey again. It was a fun ride this season and I'm very excited to what the future holds for this club. So send out tweets to the players on the team. Let them know that we are proud of them and that we are here to support them for a very long time. Good job this season and for the last time until October...LET'S GO STARS!!!

The Dallas Stars Media Member Experience

The Dallas Stars played their first home playoff game since 2008 last night, a 3-0 shutout win over the Anaheim Ducks. While the Stars have dominated in almost every aspect of this series, they still trail the Ducks 2 games to 1. However, they definitely picked up the momentum last night with Kari Lehtonen's 37-save shutout. It was a big win for the goalie and a big win for the organization.

But today's blog isn't just about the Stars big win last night. It's also about my very first experience getting to be a member of the media covering a playoff hockey game. I got to tell you...it was absolutely awesome. After I got my media pass, I made my way to the elevator to go up to the press box only to realize that I'm riding up the elevator with the voice of the Dallas Stars, the legendary Ralph Strangis. That's when it really sank in that I was actually getting to cover a Dallas Stars playoff game from the press box. I get up to the press box and find my seat...which was on the front row of the press box. As you can see from the picture below that I had a great seat for the game.

I decided to go check out the media dining hall before the game got started. I mean...DUH...who wouldn't want to go find free food??? It was awesome. I did feel a little intimidated sitting there with other media guys who knew a lot more about hockey than I do. But then they began talking Big 12 College Football and I was right in the middle of the conversation for sure. It's almost time to drop the puck, so I made my way back to my seat. As a member of the media, you are not allowed to cheer for your team in the press box. It keeps arguments and fights from occurring. I get it. But when Jamie Benn scored at the 19:25 mark of the 1st period, my excitement got away from me for a minute and I raised my arm up celebrating. As my arm is halfway in the air, I caught myself and quickly grabbed my hat trying to make it look like I was just adjusting my hat. I'm pretty sure anyone that saw me didn't buy that I was just adjusting my hat. But after that I did very well. The next time that I had to really be very professional when I didn't want to was during the 2nd period. I got up from my seat to get a bottle water (yes it was free too). As I was walking to the mini fridge, I passed Dallas Stars' great Jere Lehtinen. As a fan, I nearly lost it. It was so cool to see him in the press box. But as a professional, I had to be cool, get my water, and go back to my seat. But it was cool to see a Stars legend like that in the press box.

After the game, I got to go into the locker room and interview some players about the game. It was just how I expected it to be. There was a crowd around Trevor Daley at his locker so...I joined the crowd. I noticed at his locker with only 1 or 2 other reporters was goalie Kari Lehtonen. I got to thinking "He just shut out the top team in the Western Conference for his first playoff win and playoff shutout. I should be talking to him." So I was able to interview the top star of the game for about 10 minutes. Then I was able to get an interview with defensemen and enforcer Antoine Roussel. All three guys were awesome and very nice to this first time reporter.

All in all, it was probably the best night I've ever had in my radio career. I've always wanted to cover a playoff game from the press box and interview players from the locker room. I got that chance last night. I will be doing it again this Wednesday night as the Dallas Stars will be looking to even the series at 2 games apiece. Follow me on Twitter @linedrivereport or find my Facebook page "The Line Drive Report." I will be live updating from the game.

Dallas Stars Are Back In The Playoffs

I told y'all. I told y'all. I told y'all. Early in the season, I kept saying that I believed that the Dallas Stars would be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year. And I was right. Yes I take great joy in knowing that I was right. The Dallas Stars have finished the regular season with a 40-31-11 record and 91 points. They will face off against the top seeded team in the Western Conference, the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks finished with a 54-20-8 record and 116 points. I'm excited because I've been approved to receive media credentials for Games 3 and 4 at the American Airlines Center and I will be there. So I'm very excited about it.

Now looking around, not many people are giving the Stars much of a chance to win this series. But I am here to predict that the Dallas Stars will win this series in 6 games. Yes you heard me right. The 8th seed Dallas Stars will beat the #1 seed Anaheim Ducks in 6 games to advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. How is this possible, you ask? Well I'm glad you did. Let's take a look at the 3 meetings between the 2 teams earlier in the year, in which the Stars took 2 of 3 games against the mighty Ducks.

Game 1 - October 20, 2013: Anaheim 6, Dallas 3
In this game, the Stars had Jack Campbell making his NHL debut in net. Thanks to goals by Brenden Dillon, Shawn Horcoff, and Ryan Garbutt, Dallas has a 3-1 lead after the first period. After that, it was down hill for Campbell. As a team, the Stars gave up 5 unanswered goals to lose 6-3. Campbell made 41 saves on 47 shots. You got to remember that when this game was played, both Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin had not really gotten going. They were struggling to start the season.

Game 2 - November 26, 2013: Dallas 6, Anaheim 3
In this game, Dan Ellis was in net for the Stars and this game was much closer than it looks. In the 2nd period, Antoine Roussel scored to tie the game 1-1. Dallas looked like they were going to go to the 3rd period in a tied game, but Ducks' Nick Bonine scored with :36 left in the period to take a 2-1 lead after 2. Then the Stars went off in the 3rd period. In a span of :53, Dallas went from down 2-1 to taking a 4-2 lead thanks to goals from Cody Eakin, Stephane Robidas, and Ryan Garbutt. In all the Stars scored 5 times in the 3rd period to win the game 6-3.

Game 3 - February 1, 2014: Dallas 2, Anaheim 0
In this game, Dan Ellis was in net yet again for Dallas and made 26 saves to shut out his former team. Anaheim's offense never really got in a rhythm while the Stars got goals from Trevor Daley and Jamie Benn. Dallas' defense was really good, only allowing 26 shots compared to 47 in the first meeting and 31 in the second meeting.

So we've looked at the three games between the two teams this season. Here are the reasons why I believe the Dallas Stars will win this series:

1. The Ducks never faced Kari Lehtonen this year.
2. The Stars are a younger team, therefore, will have more energy and stamina to last an entire series. Yes the Ducks were the best team in the Western Conference all season, but in a playoff series you are playing several games in a short time. The Stars are younger and can handle playing in a bunch of games in a short time while I don't believe the Ducks will be able to do that very well.
3. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn have found chemistry like no other teammates on any other team have.  They seem to know exactly where the other is going on the ice and what the other is going to do with the puck. The two of them this season has made the entire team extremely better. They will play a key role in this First Round playoff series against. Anaheim.

So there you have it. I am predicting the Dallas Stars will beat the Anaheim Ducks in 6 games to advance to the 2nd Round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With that being said...LET'S GO STARS!!!

2014 American League Central Division Preview

We are less than 2 weeks away from Opening Day. That is the greatest day all year. Everyone is equal and every team has a aspirations of a hopeful World Series championship. In the American League Central Division, however, only 1 team has actually contended for a World Series...the Detroit Tigers. This off-season the Central Division changed dramatically. With all these changes, will the Detroit Tigers win the AL Central for the 4th straight year? Here's my predictions team by team:



1. Detroit Tigers: Let's take a look first at the reigning division champs, the Detroit Tigers. They will not look like the Tigers of the past few years.For starters, Jim Leyland is no longer the manager. Former MLB catcher Brad Ausmus is at the helm this year. And he has more tools to work with than Leyland did. In the past few years, the Tigers were known for good starting pitching and power bats. They will still have both of those, but now Ausmus will have speed to mix in and a shut down bullpen. The Tigers started off the off-season by trading Prince Fielder to the Texas Rangers for second baseman Ian Kinsler. Now, besides my dislike for Kinsler after his recent comments about my beloved Rangers, the Tigers are getting an All-Star defender with speed. He is a veteran lead off hitter, which will allow the pressure to be taken off Austin Jackson. Comerica Park is good for Kinsler, who thrives at hitting balls to the gap. If Kinsler isn't worried about hitting home runs, he drives the ball better. They will still have the 2-time MVP Miguel Cabrera, but with the trade of Fielder he will be moving to first base. This will help Cabrera stay healthy and help his production to stay up. The starting pitching will be very good behind Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, but it will miss right hander Doug Fister. Fister blossomed in Detroit, but the team traded him to the Washington Nationals to make room for Drew Smyly in the rotation. The bullpen will be source of strength for the Tigers for the first time in a while as they signed veteran closer Joe Nathan in the off-season as well. But as Miguel Cabrera goes, so goes the Tigers. If he stays healthy and in the line up, Detroit will be looking to get back to the World Series this season.

2. Kansas City Royals: The Royals are a team that are finally back in the playoff contention for the first time in over 20 years. They have a good mix of speed, power, youth, and starting pitching. The Royals brought in Narichika Aoki from Milwuakee in the off-season, they also signed infielder Omar Infante, infielder Danny Valencia, and starting pitching Jason Vargas. They did lose Ervin Santana, who signed with the Atlanta Braves, but Vargas will make up Santana's production. He will be behind staff ace James Shield as the starting rotation will look to be one of the best in the big leagues. The line-up will be good behind Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas to go along with the veteran presence of Infante. The bullpen will be good again this year, but they will need closer Greg Holland to step up even more than he did last year. The Royals will be in a close race for the playoffs at season's end.

3. Cleveland Indians: The Indians will go backwards this year. The Indians made the playoffs last year for the first time in a few years, but I don't see them making the playoffs again this year. They added outfielder David Murphy and pitchers John Axford, Aaron Harang, and Shaun Marcum. The Indians got big years last season from guys who normally don't put up those kind of numbers. Carlos Santana is the only consistent player in the line-up. The Indians will have good power and decent speed, but they will struggle to hit for average. Their pitching staff will be rough after Justin Masterson. Masterson should have another good year, but losing Ubaldo Jimenz to the Baltimore Orioles will hurt because there isn't much experience after Masterson. Yes the Indians signed Marcum, but he's been injury-proned the last couple of years. The bullpen will be shaky for Cleveland as well. John Axford was brought in to be the closer, but he struggled so much in Milwaukee last season that they traded him to St. Louis. Then the Cardinals didn't make an attempt to sign him this off-season. The Indians will go backwards this season and not contend for a playoff spot.

4. Chicago White Sox: The White Sox are the MLB version of the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are a team who never gets better but never gets worse. They stay even-kill and find it hard to grow. The White Sox have found themselves in that same category. They brought in Adam Eaton via trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks and signed Cuban free agent Jose Abreu. They lost closer Addison Reed as part of that deal with the Diamondbacks. Abreu is a mystery to the club, but if he is the hitter the Sox hope he can be then the top of the line up will be decent with Abreu, Konerko, and De Aza. But the bottom of the line up will struggle all season. After Chris Sale, their starting pitching doesn't have any one with much experience. And their bullpen without Reed will suffer. It's going to be a long year on the south side of Chicago.

5. Minnesota Twins: The Twins are still in re-building mode. This team made big strides in the off-season, but don't look for it to help make them contenders this year. They added some big pieces to the starting rotation, one that was the worst rotation in baseball last season. The Twins added Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes, and Mike Pelfrey to the rotation. All 3 guys should be major upgrades from a year ago. The bullpen will be the question mark for this team, but if the bullpen can get a lead to the 9th inning Glen Perkins is a good closer that should get a lot of saves for Minnesota. The line up will look similar to last season except for the loss of Justin Morneau, who they traded to Pittsburgh last season and signed with the Colorado Rockies this season. The Twins got a veteran to run things on the field by signing catcher Kurt Suzuki. He should be able to lead an experienced pitching staff. The problem with this team will be the lack of production from the line up. Look for this team to lose many low scoring games.

My Standings Predictions:

1. Detroit Tigers             95-67     - GB
2. Kansas City Royals    90-72     5 GB
3. Cleveland Indians       81-81     14 GB
4. Chicago White Sox    75-87     20 GB
5. Minnesota Twins        67-95     28 GB

So this is my prediction for the 2014 American League Central Division. I do believe Detroit will win the division for a 4th straight year, however, I think it'll come down to the last 2 weeks between them and Kansas City. It's going to be fun to watch the young players for the Royals taking on the big bats of Detroit this season.

The Cowboys releasing DeMarcus Ware...IS A GOOD THING!!!

News broke yesterday that the Dallas Cowboys had officially released the team's all time sacks leader, DeMarcus Ware. News then broke today that he had signed a 3-year, $30 million contract with the Denver Broncos. I've seen on social media, heard it on the radio, and talked to friends in the sports industry about Ware being let go by the Cowboys and everyone says that it's a mistake and that the Cowboys will regret this decision. However...I'm here to tell you and explain why this is a good thing for the Dallas Cowboys.

First of all and the most obvious one, this helps the team financially. The salary cap is around $133 million for the 2014 season. Dallas was going to be over that by a bunch. Letting Ware walk saved the team $7.4 million towards the salary cap. That's a big chunk of change. This team needed to start getting rid of aging players who are being over paid and it started by letting DeMarcus Ware go. So it's a good thing.



Secondly, DeMarcus Ware has been showing signs of slowing down the last 2 seasons. This last season he missed his first 3 games due to injuries and he only recorded 6 sacks all season. It's not like other teams were double teaming him.Ware just flat out got his butt kicked at times last season. As a player begins to age in the sport, their bodies begin to break down. DeMarcus Ware began showing signs that his body is starting to break down. If you are going to do anything in the future to win, you can't keep guys who are starting to fall apart on your roster and paying them all that money just because they are a fan favorite. So releasing Ware was a good thing.



Lastly, everyone always says (and I'm included in "everyone") that they want Jerry Jones to either hire a real General Manager or start acting like a General Manager. But when the announcement was made that the Cowboys were cutting DeMarcus Ware, people were in an uproar. Folks...Jerry Jones (for the first time in a very long time) was acting like a real General Manager. It was time for Ware to go. I loved him as a player here. He will probably go down as the best defensive player in Cowboys history. But it was just his time to move on. I can applaud Jerry Jones for making this move. It needed to be made. It's like Jon Daniels trading Ian Kinsler for Prince Fielder. It was a necessary move. Fans were upset with Daniels for making the move, but after Kinsler popped off at the mouth, it became evident that Kinsler needed to go. Jerry Jones made a smart, football-business decision.



I get it. Your favorite player was let go by your favorite team. We all will miss DeMarcus Ware. I know I will. But it was time for him to move on. Good luck, DeMarcus, in Denver. I hope you find success there. But as for the Cowboys...I tip my hat to Jerry Jones. Good, smart, football-business move. Now if Jerry can only make more of those moves we might actually see the Cowboys back in the playoffs. One can only hope.