It's Time To Just Let It Go!!!

Ok soooo it's been right at 2 weeks since my last blog. I know I haven't written much but when you are the full time production manager for a sports radio station as well as a producer, host and creator of a nationally syndicated 1-hour show, and the program director of a new country music on line station (check it out. We are called Wild Country) you get a little busy. But it doesn't mean I haven't  been keeping up with sports. I have and still have my opinions. This piece today isn't about the Cowboys...whom I honestly think will be fine this year despite losing to the San Diego Chargers yesterday. It's not about the Dallas Stars...although I am very excited they start the regular season on Thursday. It's not about the Dallas Mavericks...because no one cares about the Dallas Mavericks. It's not even directly about the Texas Rangers...who I'm excited to watch in the tiebreaker game tonight. It's about Ranger fans and their treatment of Josh Hamilton...again.

In my very first blog on this site, I said how I thought it was tasteless and classless how the Ranger fans treated Josh Hamilton when he returned as a member of the Los Angeles Angels. I get it that people booed him and that's understandable. But to cuss his family out and throw things at them was pathetic. I said in that article it was time for people to concentrate more on cheering the Rangers on than booing Josh Hamilton. Well this weekend...the final series of the regular season...brought Josh Hamilton and his Angels back to Rangers Ballpark In Arlington. People booed him as usual. They even started chanting "Baseball Town" which I honestly thought was great. You can chant like that and not get out of hand. What I find distasteful is how Hamilton was treated after trying to acknowledge to the fans that he was wrong. In the top of the 9th, Hamilton flied out for his final at bat of the season. Upon his return to the Angels dugout, the fans were as loud as ever chanting "Baseball Town." When he got to the top of the dugout, he tipped his helmet to the fans.


Honestly...I thought it was a great gesture. It was Josh showing the Ranger fans that he knows he was wrong and is glad Ranger fans proved him wrong that this wasn't a baseball town. But ever since this gesture, people have ridiculed him for it saying he was being classless and arrogant. I don't believe that for one second. Come on people. The man was admitting that Ranger fans were right and he was wrong. Can he not do that without receiving so much crap from people? Apparently not. I'm a Ranger fan...bigger than most. I didn't like Hamilton's comments about Ranger fans any more than the next person. But when he admits to being wrong, even if he doesn't actually use the words, then do the right thing and forgive him and let's move on. Josh Hamilton is still one of my favorite players of all time and will continue to be one of my favorite players of all time. So if by some awesome chance Josh Hamilton ever reads this blog I just got one thing to say to him. Josh...thank you for the gesture on Sunday (9-29-13). I hope that all Ranger fans sees the gesture the way I saw it. Good luck with the rest of your  baseball career and I can only hope and pray that one day we will see you back in a Ranger uniform.

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One of the longest weekends in DFW sports

Wow!!! This was probably one of the longest weekends in DFW sports that I can remember in a very long time. It was depressing all weekend long to see the different teams. Wasn't because they lost...it was because of how they lost. Let's take a look at the different games/series that hopefully after this article, I will be able to forget about quickly.

*The Texas Rangers almost certainly made sure they won't win the American League West division as they folded under the pressure this weekend in the most crucial series of the season as the Oakland A's came into Rangers Ballpark In Arlington and swept the Rangers right out of the division championship race. They attempted a comeback on Friday night, but thanks to a horrible call by third base umpire Andy Fletcher (who was out of position and therefore couldn't clearly see that Alex Rios was safe at third) the comeback ended and Texas lost 9-8. Then on Saturday Yu Darvish pitched his butt off only to see his offense disappear and he lost his 4th 1-0 game of the season (2nd in as many starts). Then on Sunday was over from the beginning. Martin Perez gave up a 2-run home run and that started the A's on a 5-1 win to drop their magic number to clinch the division down to 8. Put the Rangers lineup on a milk cartoon because they have gone missing and they need to be found soon before it's too late and even the Wild Card isn't an option. They can take a step in the right direction tonight when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays, who also have been struggling as of late. But the Rangers on are on the playoff Titanic and we are waiting to see if they are going to get on a lifeboat or go down.

*The Dallas Cowboys didn't look too bad yesterday against the more improved Kansas City Chiefs...but they definitely have some work to do. Offensively they were rolling in the first half. The only problem is that Chiefs coach Andy Reid made adjustments at halftime and the Cowboys did not. Defensively, they made some good stops, but they have to step it up or they will lose a lot of close games this year. I'm not too worried about the Cowboys at this point. They are 1-1 and tied for the NFC East lead. It's early so no need to panic just yet.




*The Texas Longhorns are...absolutely pathetic. They hosted the number 25 ranked team in the country, the Running Rebels of Ole Miss on Saturday night and it looked really good early on. The Horns had a 23-14 lead and Ole Miss couldn't figure out how to move the ball at all on offense. Then the 2nd half started and all that went out the window. Ole Miss scored 30 unanswered points and just destroyed Texas 44-23. It's time for Mack Brown to be fired at Texas. It's time for a new coach and a whole new coaching staff to lead the Horns because Mack Brown isn't getting it done anymore. Remember how toward the end of Tom Landry's career as the Dallas Cowboys head coach? He was still doing what he has always done and the league had figured out how to stop him. He wouldn't change for anything in the world and it cost him his job. Well Mack Brown is the Texas Longhorns version of Tom Landry. He is still doing his thing and all other college football teams have figured out how to stop him, yet he doesn't change anything. As long as Mack Brown is the head coach for the Longhorns, rest assured Texas will never see another Big 12 championship or even a large bowl game.


Now there were a few bright spots this weekend for me:



*The Texas A&M/Alabama game definitely lived up to the hype. Back and forth all game long only to see Alabama squeak past the Aggies 49-42. The great thing about this...Johnny Moron lost. Yes he put up big numbers against the Tide (over 500 yards of offense), but he still lost. The Alabama defense was giving him the money hand sign that Manziel gave during the Rice and Sam Houston State games. It was great. To see Johnny Moron hanging his head after a loss made my weekend.



*Hockey is finally back and although the Stars lost their preseason opener to the St. Louis Blues 6-5 in a shootout, the fact that hockey is back brings a smile to my face. First-round draft pick Valeri Nichushkin scored twice and newly acquired Tyler Seguin scored once. Just to have the Dallas Stars back on the ice was a great sight to behold.




So even though this was the sports weekend from ... there were some bright spots. Just gotta look forward to this week's action and hope that our beloved DFW teams can turn it around.

Things I Observe In The World Of DFW Sports

I tell you what...it's hard to stay up with this blog and do my daily routine at work. It's always good to be busy and working, but it makes it hard to write blogs very often. So I am thinking I will write periodically instead of daily or weekly. I will write as much as I can. Thanks to all of y'all for reading it. I appreciate it.

First of all...Week 1 of the NFL is in the books. I have a message for all you people who the Cowboys seemed to personally affect by beating the Giants 36-31 on Sunday night. Here is my message to all of you...IT'S ONLY ONE GAME!!! That's right y'all. I get it that the Cowboys are 1-0 and that there were things about the win that were ugly, but it's only one game. And this message is for all sides. If you are a Cowboys fan, don't go around saying "ohh look we are going to be better than last year. We are going to the playoffs and even may have a shot at the Super Bowl." You don't know what this team will look like because they beat the New York Giants in week one. Remember they beat the Giants in New York last year and we all know how they finished. So you don't know from one game how good they will be this year. Now on the flip side...all you Cowboy haters need to also chill out. It's been documented well here that I'm not a big Tony Romo fan. But with that said, he had a good game on Sunday night. He made plays he needed too. Yes their offensive line needs work, but they played better than I thought they would. The defensive needs to step it up in stopping points from being put on the board, but give them some credit for the 6 turnovers. I know you can't stand the Cowboys and that's fine. But stop with all the "Romo still sucks" and "it's just the first of only eight wins this year" crap. Like I said...I'm not a Romo fan either, but the man can play football. The same goes for you Cowboy haters as does for the Cowboy fans...IT'S ONLY ONE GAME!!! You don't know if the Cowboys are going to go 8-8 this year. They could go 15-1 or 1-15. After one game...no one knows for sure. So stop with all the crap. It's old and boring.

Secondly...the Rangers are starting to make me think they are done. They have sucked it up since their 20-7 August. They are only 2-7 in the month of September at the time of this article. They can't hit and can't field. Pitching has been good, but when you have to be perfect in order to get a win you won't win many ballgames. If the offense doesn't get things going and get them going soon, they will be doing what all of us will be doing when the playoffs start...watching the playoffs from our couch.





Thirdly...hockey is back this week. WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!! The Dallas Stars will open their 2013 Training Camp on Thursday, the 12th, from the Ft. Worth Convention Center. Their first preseason game is this Sunday, the 15th, against the St. Louis Blues from American Airlines Center. I think the Stars are poised to return to the postseason. New GM Jim Nill made some big moves in the offseason by hiring Lindy Ruff as the new head coach and acquiring Tyler Seguin from the Boston Bruins and Sergei Gonchar from the Ottawa Senators. On the Sports Sandbox on Sports Talk 1460 ESPN, President Jim Lites talked about how this team is ready to get back on the ice and ready to make a serious run at a playoff birth this year. Last year, the team was fun to watch with all the youth. Now with a young superstar like Seguin and veteran leadership like Gonchar, I'm excited to see just how this  team will do this season. It's going to be tough as the NHL has realigned the divisions. The Stars will no longer see the Detroit Red Wings nearly as much as they did in years past, but will have to face the Chicago Blackhawks (winners of Lord Stanley's Cup 2 of the last 5 years) more than in previous years. So it will be tough, but it will be fun for sure.

Fourthly...Johnny Manziel needs to just go away. Coach Sumlin, if he was a true man of integrity, would bench Manziel and keep that idiot off the field. He is disrespectful to his coach, his team, and his school. He is a disgrace to the game of football and to the entire human race. He needs to just shut up and go home and never be seen or heard from in the media ever again.



Lastly...No one cares about the Dallas Mavericks. They have done nothing to really improve themselves and I fear that this season will a mirror of next year. That's all I've got to say about the Dallas Mavericks.

So there you have it. My observations about the sports world in DFW. As other things crop up, I'll write about them. But this helps get my sports feelings out of my system for now. Have a good day.

Rangers and September...they meet again!!!

So we are finally in the final month of baseball's regular season and it's a very familiar sight if you are a Texas Rangers fan. It's September 4th and the Rangers have a 1 game lead over the Oakland A's for first place in the AL West. At this time last season, the Rangers sat 4 games up on Oakland for the division and we all know how that turned out.

So what do the Texas Rangers need to do in order to avoid a horrific collapse like last season? Well their pitching needs to keep going the way it has been. The combo of Yu Darvish (despite his recent struggles...if you can call them struggles), Matt Garza, Derek Holland, and rookie Martin Perez have been outstanding. These guys are going late into the game, keeping the bullpen rested, and doing what they need to do in order to help this ball club win. The bullpen needs to also keep doing what they are doing. Guys like Tanner Scheppars, Robbie Ross, Neal Cotts, Jason Frasor, even Ross Wolf are getting the job done when called upon. Then you got Joe Nathan who has been and I believe will continue to be lights out to close out ball games.

What worries me some is the offense. They are very capable of getting the job done, as last night's 5-1 win over All-Star and known Ranger killer Bartolo Colon proved. But they gotta do it on a more consistent basis. Adrian Beltre can't do it alone. He needs guys like Ian Kinsler, Alex Rios, A.J Peirzynski, and Mitch Moreland to help shoulder some of the offensive burden. If this line up can step up, not worry so much about hitting home runs (which they have done a very good job of so far this year), and just get on base then this team will not only win the AL West, but will go far in the playoffs.

I don't believe the Rangers will fold like last season. Last season's team seemed to be very cocky going into September and it blew up in their faces. This year's squad seems determined to not let history repeat itself. They look focused and ready to knock off the A's for the division crown and go back to the World Series. So let's do this. It's playoff time in Texas. Let's go after that World Series ring and get the job done this year. LET'S GO RANGERS (clap, clap, clap clap clap). LET'S GO RANGERS (clap, clap, clap clap clap)

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