Sports Edition

Dateline Arlignton: Well last week the auction of the Rangers finally came off, and in the end I didn't care who ended up owning them as long as Tom Hicks didn't any more. In the end the Ryan/Greenberg group won the auction after like 15 hours from Mark Cuban and his team. Remember the important part: no more Tom Hicks. After losing his shirt in so many other ventures I am just glad to see him go. I got tired of hearing how good the concession sales were at the end of the year, but merchandising was down at the end of the season address. The fans don't care; we want to know what you are going to do to make the team better. This new group has already talked about it. The day after the auction Greenberg was on the radio talking about how they are going to really go after Cliff Lee (oh thank you). Resigning Josh Hamilton, etc. With Hicks as owner, for the past several seasons, the payroll was always going to be the same as the year before or lower. The Rangers are a top 5 market team with a bottom 5 market salary. All you need to know about Tom Hicks as an owner of a sports franchise is this: Hicks also owns the Dallas Stars, and he said the worst thing that happened to them was they won the Stanley Cup. What a penny-pinching jerk.

One thing that did bother me about the auction was afterwards Mark Cuban said he did what he came there to do. Didn't he go there to win the franchise? He didn't, and if he did what he planned to do what was that? To drive up the price of the franchise? For what purpose? Some accuse him of driving up the price since he actually own some of the Rangers' debt. Yet, he owns such a small portion he spent more on his lawyers on this than what he will make from the owning the debt. I just wonder what it was.

A final thing about the sale that worries me is GM John Daniels. There is a clause in his contract that allows him to leave if the Rangers change ownership. A bunch of people think he might bolt to the Mets the team of his childhood. Hell for the Mark Teixeira trade alone he should get like 10 years of immunity.

Quick bonus: Congratulations to the great Norm Hitzges, who today is celebrating his 35th year of doing sports radio in Dallas. He has hosted numerous shows, worked for ESPN, and has worked for just about every pro team in the are outside of the Dallas Stars. That is a good long while, a true icon around here.

Minister Singh

Mallrats: The other day I was at the Dallas mall, Northpark Mall for the first time in about 5 years or so (I was killing time waiting for my comic book shop to open). You can't walk into the place without feeling like money is just being sucked right out of your wallet. It doesn't have security guards inside, they have Dallas police officers there. I did like the idea of getting my car washed while doing some shopping if I so desired, I didn't desire. Sometimes they have a piano player there. It isn't the biggest mall around, but it has to have the highest ratio of jewelery stores of the Metroplex. I counted 13 myself.

The shop that actually got me to go inside? The toy store that had both a Batman and Superman plastic statue. It was a neat place that even had some of the old original Star Wars in a glass case along the back wall.

I also saw an Original Soup Man stand there. This sign made me chuckle: "The Soup ThatMmade Seinfeld Famous" Sure thing buddy.

Father's Day: This year I think I finally got a winning present for my dad. It was a scanner that has a special tray to scan slides and film from a 35mm camera. My dad was pretty excited to get, even if he has "about 1000 slides" to scan now. I set it up for him, and scanned in the first two batches, and it looked really good. I figure it is a project he can work on and avoid the 100 degree heat.

A Movie: Monday I was flipping around and found a movie called The Night of the White Pants. I first turned it on to see Selma Blair, who is the quintessential girl next door type. I was watching it and my ears perked up when I heard one character say his band was playing at a club called the Double Wide. I thought, "Does this take place in Dallas?" Once they showed the place I knew it was. We get a decent amount of films and television filmed here, but unless it is a JFK movie very little actually has taken place in Dallas since the old TV show. It was a neat little movie, and I really like movies that take place over the course of about a 24 hour period. IE Dazed and Confused, American Graffiti, and Suburbia.

Sports: A local sports radio guy has decided to give soccer a full seasons chance to capture his attention. He is a better than than me. He blog post is here.

Can I Keep My Jersey?

I recently finished reading Paul Shirley’s Can I Keep My Jersey? It details 4 years in his life as a “basketball vagabond”. I enjoyed quite a bit for the most part. His writing has a very appealing quality. At points you really feel sorry for Paul. The endless travels in lesser leagues made me feel weary after reading about it. The horrible hotel rooms he stayed in doing an EA Sports basketball tour, and the room he had when he played in Russia with a bed that consisted of a mattress on the floor. It really is an emotional roller coaster.

One of my problems with the book though, is that a lot of the time he isn’t a sympathetic person. He recognizes that fact, but it doesn’t endear you to him either. It got tiresome reading about him trying not to laugh at his teammates who were religious. You may not have the same beliefs as them, but to constantly ridicule them behind their back was pretty uncool.

My biggest problem with him though, was his constant grousing of people not speaking English whenever he was playing in Europe. Apparently he did make some attempts to learn the language, but since there were a lot of obstacles in communication, it seems like he could have tried harder. When he was playing in Spain, he complained about how the Spaniards put canned tuna on everything. Well I sure as hell would have learned how to say “no tuna” in Catalan, but apparently he never did. By his third time in Europe when was playing in Russia and was still bellyaching about no English, I wanted to pull my hair out. Speaking of Russia, he also complained about how cold it was in the city he played in, Kazan. No crap dude, its Russia.

Not to totally rail on the guy. There were also plenty of times I felt bad for him. How he is literally unable to have a normal relationship with a woman. When he leads such a transient lifestyle were he is taking buses to play games in Mexico, and then he might get a 10 day contract in Chicago, followed by a couple of months in Europe it makes it impossible to start a stable relationship. You feel his pain when he laments meeting a girl that he is certain he could have had some sort of long term deal with.

I was excited for him when he went to the Bulls and they agree to a contract until the end of the season. I was also crushed when he got a season ending injury there before signing that contract. That was one more thing that was bothersome. He seemed to get injured a lot. Its hard to get a professional career on track if you are constantly sitting on the bench injured. He just never seemed to be injury free at any place of the decent places he played except for his time with the Suns. Of course he barely got to play with them at all, as he was at the very end of the bench.

Further, I liked how matter of fact he was about the people he played with (he didn’t like most of them), his coaches, the trainers, and I really liked his relationship with his agent. His agent, Keith Glass, was brutally honest with him, telling Paul from the beginning he may never get to the NBA. That was refreshingly honest.

It was certainly educational as well. Seeing how the tryouts worked in the NBA, and it was a lesson in how hard it was to make a team. The rules they have in the European basketball leagues. Like no more than 2

Americans per team, and they way the teams get around it. Fascinating reading. I do wonder if his openness about the NBA shut the door on his future there. It is possible, or maybe teams just weren’t that impressed with his brand of ball playing. He hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2005 season with the Phoenix Suns. Maybe they tired of his arrogance. I know I did. It was wearing me out about him talking about all of the “white trash” and such. I wanted to yell at him, “You are from Merdian, Kansas! You aren’t from some cultural mecca!”

The book is a stellar read. I highly recommend it for any sports fan. It has been often compared to Jim Bouton’s Ball Four.

Homeowners with

Well, first things first. I'd like to ask everyone for their thoughts, prayers, or whatever for my cousin Rich. I just learned over the weekend that he has been diagnosed with lymphoma at the age of 41. The doctors are very hopeful that they are getting to it early enough.

My aunt was in town and I enjoyed listening to her and my dad talk as I always learn something new about my dad. Like, he belonged to 4-H when he was younger and actually had a cow that won the grand champion ribbon three years in a row until they were forced to sell her. I also learned that at one point in time Texas Industries had airplanes (little prop planes) that their employees with a pilot's license could rent.

I've mentioned it before and I will mention it again Marlo's House in Garland, TX is awesome. I absolutely love their food.

Finally ex-major leaguer and current Dallas radio personality, Mike Bacsik is an idiot. Although how long he remains in Dallas radio is to be determined

UPDATE: Mike Bacsik fired by Cumulus Media

And Boom Goes the Dynamite!

Well Sunday was the implosion on Texas Stadium, the old home of the Dallas Cowboys. I am not one to get sentimental when it comes to most old buildings (well depends on how old they are). When they tore, are they still tearing down?, Reunion Arena it didn't really bother me that much, and I spent a lot more time there than I ever did Texas Stadium. Heck, I've only been to Texas Stadium 6 times ever, and 5 of those times was within the last 7-8 years. I think it bothers me more just because historically it is more significant.

You know 5 Super Bowl champions is one thing. I loved when Brent Musburger on the old NFL Today show would say, "You're looking live at Irving, TX and Texas Stadium" It was featured on the opening of the old Dallas TV show. I liked how Tex Schramm said the hole in the roof was so that God could watch the Dallas Cowboys. And I will admit it, I liked the fact that kind of talked pissed some people off.

My favorite memory from Texas Stadium? Showing up at 7:30AM for a noon kickoff game and tailgating (IE drinking) until 11:45. Sometime during the game we lost my friend's brother for quite some time. Oh and the Cowboys won against the Lions in one of the most boring games of all-time.

Finally, the answer is:
Ronny Gant, Cinco De Mayo, and George Strait.

The question:
What are Jerry Jone's best memories of Texas Stadium.

This deserves a WTF?

Ticket Stock

Last weekend my favorite radio station hosted their annual Ticket Stock, sometimes Ticketstock. I wasn't able to go, but what I love about it is that it is free to the fans. No admission price to get in, and no cost to get autographs from any of the celebrities that show up. They are mostly local sports stars. Like the Cowboys Tashard Choice, the Rangers David Murphy, etc. They also bring in some pretty big time guests as well. Like this year they brought Barry Sanders. He was so committed to getting here when his flight got canceled out of the city he was in (I believe Detroit). He drove himself to another city to catch a flight to Dallas, what a guy!. Now Barry Sanders' autograph was free as well, but there were a limited number of tickets that you did have to wait in line for.

The other fun part of this event is that almost all of the show hosts do a little concert together. They are collectively called the Time Wasters, and you get a nice mix of original songs, song parodies, and straight covers. Really cool, and can be really wheels off. Their backing band is one of the hosts' own band who learns all of the songs they are doing fairly quickly.

I did get to hear parts of it live on the radio. I enjoyed them trying to get Barry Sanders to admit he was better than Emmitt Smith. He refused, especially since he was in Dallas. Tashard Choice has everyone convinced for a few seconds he had just been traded to St. Louis. Good times. I hope to go next year.

Wasting Time

Just a few notes. I hope everyone enjoyed to Super Bowl. I know I did. I watched the game at a friends house. Won 25 bucks, drank too much (didn't drive), and ate too little (just a kid sized bowl of chili). I wanted the Colts to win, but it wasn't like I was pissed of the the Saints won. I do get tired of trying to be guilted into rooting for them because of Katrina. You watch enough sports and you learn everyone has a sad story. That is half of the Olympics and a third of College Game Day.

A bit of sad news. For everyone planning to come to Dallas for the NBA All-Star game, it grieves me to report that there are no more Lamborghinis available to rent.

A story that really made my blood boil

Sporty Sports

A little sports post today. First the Texas Rangers basically let Marlon Byrd go when he declined their arbitration offer. Through a trade with the Red Sox they have replaced his bat (not his position) with Mike Lowell. Fine, whatever I just let it go. My ears do perk up though when one of the hosts on the radio is going on and on about how Mike Lowell can't possibly replace the production that Marlon Byrd gave Texas. I just had to look it up.

Avg.
Byrd: .283
Lowell: .290

HR
Byrd: 20
Lowell: 17

RBI:
Byrd: 89
Lowel: 75

OBP:
Byrd: .329
Lowell: .337

OPS+
Byrd: 106 (!)
Lowell 106 (!)

SO:
Byrd: 98
Lowell: 61

I mean they are almost exactly the same player and Lowell did that in 27 less games. The only major factor in the trade is Mike Lowell is 4 years older.


Another thing I want to give a hearty congratulations to the SMU Mustangs who have finally reached a bowl game for the first time in 25 years. Head coach June Jones did what no other coach has been able to do, and he did it in his second season.

I always felt that SMU was wrongly given the death penalty way back when, not so much as they didn't deserve it per se, but all of the other school who have been proven to have committed worse infractions didn't. It is greatly believed that the NCAA won't ever impose it again, after seeing how crippling it is to a school. If you remember they got a one year penalty, but had to cancel the next year as well as they couldn't get enough players to the school to field a competitive team.

Who has been worse?

After the debacle on Sunday all of the rage around Dallas is who to put the blame on. Tony Romo or the Dallas defense? I spread it over both of them pretty evenly myself. What worries me more though is the defense. Not just this early in the season, but how they ended last season.

24-33 loss to Baltimore and surrendering 265 yards rushing. Two rushing TDs of 77 and 82 yards.
6-44 loss to Philly. Even taking out the two fumbles returned for touchdowns the defense gave up 30 points
34-21 win on Tampa Bay. They still gave up 450 yards of total offense with no sacks and no turnovers.
31-33 loss to the Giants. Another 427 yards of offense including 330 passing from Eli Manning. With another game of no sacks and no turnovers. If the defense had made one stop the Cowboys would have overcome Romo's 3 interceptions.

This is with Wade Phillips taking over the defense. If the defense doesn't get good fast the Cowboys are just going to be in a shootout each game.

slow down wireless

It is just going to be a bunch of random stuff this time.

Lots of sadness: In the past week or so, the dog I left with my parents when I first moved out (no pets in the apartment), Samson passed away. He was diagnosed with Cushing's Disease last November.

My great-aunt Julia passed away on Labor Day, but I didn't find out about the funeral until the night before. Really wished I could have made it. One of my favorite relatives to visit with at family reunions.

Also, my current roommate's father passed away last week, and I was honored to be his pallbearer on Monday.

Auction news: Does anyone want to bid on Jack Ruby's leg shackles? One of the weirdest and creepiest items I have ever seen offered up. I still love Heritage though. If you are ever in Dallas, I would highly recommend trying to get in there and look around. They have some very cool stuff there.

The Rangers: I think the season is pretty much over. They are 6 games back of the Angels for the division and 6 1/2 from Boston for the wild card. They had perhaps their worst series ever at home by only scoring one run in three games against Oakland. Wow, just wow.

I was also pissed about the local media wondering why people weren't going to the games this week. Well, it was after the weekend, it has been raining all week (today is the first time it hasn't rained since last Friday), school has started, uncertainty about ownership and direction, and the Rangers made absolutely no moves to help their team when every other team they are in the race against did. Plus everyone hates the Ranger owner Tom Hicks. Personally for me, I enjoy going to the games, but that drive back is a beating. I hate driving back.

Tigers 2 Rangers 5

Well, last night I went to my first Texas Rangers game in years. Last night was a reminder of why I should go more often. The Ballpark in Arlington, even with that horrible name, is a really great looking park. The weather was absolutely fantastic, it was in the upper 70s by the time of the first pitch because it had been raining all day. Welcome relief from the usual 100 degree weather we have been having. The weather cooperated for the game as well. It started raining a bit in the 8th inning, but held off enough to finish the game (around 2 1/2 hours).

The seats we had were on the home run porch in the all you can eat section. I won't break down what I ate, but they damn near rolled me home. Not surprisingly the crowd was sparse at the game. Weeknight, rainy (could have been rained out), playing the Tigers. Not a recipe to bring them in.

My observation watching the Ranger pitcher, Tommy Hunter, during the first three innings: They either hit the ball to the wall, or it doesn't leave the infield. The game got off to a rough start when Curtis Granderson hit a home run on the second pitch of the game. The Rangers tied it up in the 5th, and put the game away in the 6th. The game was also a reminder of how Michael Young is the most under appreciated athlete in the Dallas area. He went 3-4 last night with an RBI to raise his average to .322. He is just Steady Eddy though. Every year he averages .300 with 200 hits. Always a good, but not flashy fielder. He has moved from second the short, and now short to third effortlessly.

All in all I really enjoyed myself even if I did eat a bit too much.

A little less hyperbole, please.

Last week, the Rangers and their fans got to see pitcher Derek Holland enter the game against the Toronto Blue Jays. The next day I was listening to the local sports radio station. Holy cow, they damn near put him in the hall of fame.

What one show host said, "I have not felt this good about a Ranger pitcher in years. " Holland's line for the night:

IP: 2 1/3 H: 3 R: 0 ER: 0 BB: 0 SO: 2 ERA: 0.00

A nice outing I reckon. Another host said of Holland,"He should be inserted in the starting rotation immediately!" Wow, seems to be jumping the gun a but there. Well let's check out Derek Holland's stats for the season:

IP: 2 1/3 H: 3 R: 0 ER: 0 BB: 0 SO: 2 ERA: 0.00

Hmmm, well, okay. I don't think I want to stick someone in the starting rotation who has only pitched once this season. Lets get him some more outings. Finally, another host said this, "Derek Holland will be the number 2 pitcher in the rotation by the end of season." Incredible, well maybe he has done a lot in his major league career. I wonder what his major league stats are:

IP: 2 1/3 H: 3 R: 0 ER: 0 BB: 0 SO: 2 ERA: 0.00

Okay, stop just stop. It was his first ever major league appearance. Come on, please. Give him a few more outings.

Another fun thing that happened at that game was the new Ranger pitcher Darren O'Day made into the game. The Rangers had just signed him off of waivers from the Mets. He was entering his cab from the airport when the Rangers tied the game up in the 9th. He entered the game, but they didn't have a jersey for him, so he had to wear Kason Gabbard's old uni. How bush league!

Friday, 2B Ian Kinsler was on the radio and they were asking him about O'Day's coming into the game. He said Vernon Wells looked into the bullpen and aksed him who the sidearm pitcher was, and he replied he didn't have any idea. When he did enter the game, the team came out to the mound and shook his hand. The catcher had to ask him what kind of pitches he threw. Pretty funny I thought.

Thunderheist

A couple of thoughts while watching the NCAA tournament:

1. Who does Dick Enberg think he is fooling? He was completely grey in the '80s, and now he has brownish color hair.
2. Something I heard on the radio before the Michigan State-Louisville game, "You guys are in for a treat today, because you won't see more animated coaches on the sidelines than Tom Izzo and Rick Pitino." The day I watch any sporting event to see the coaches on the sideline is the day I give you permission to put me out of my misery.
3. Am I the only person who roots for Xavier, because it reminds me of the X-Men?
4. I did absolutely no research on my brackets this year, picked only the higher seeds, and I am currently in third.
   

In other "sporting" news: I qualified for the PGA tour in Tiger Woods Golf. Wait, what?

The car: I am still having problems with my car, and I am getting so frustrated. I won't go into the long boring details, but it is really killing me. I am happy that Goodyear hasn't charged me a dime for the last three times I have taken it in.

In My Crosshairs

I've never read Rick Reilly's writing in the back of Sports Illustrated, or his articles on ESPN.com, or any of his other writings. I have seen him a few times on Pardon the Interruption though, and if his appearances on there is any indication of his writing, then I ain't interested.

People love lists, so here are the things he did in Tuesday's show that irritated me:

1. Early in the show he demanded that the Cleveland Brown's need to start Brady Quinn. Wilbon then informed him they are starting Quinn. "Well then they need to keep starting him!" I don't think that was really a question.
2. He makes the really weird analogies. Like: "It was like he had eyebrows superglued on. He couldn't take his eyes off of them." I don't even know what the hell that means. Anyone?
3. He tries to hard to shoe horn in pop culture references. Like when he was trying to compare the Spurs and the Hawks: "It is like the difference between Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Alba" Which produced a very quizzical expression from Michael Wilbon. Then he changed it to Scarlett Johansson and Raquel Welch.
4. No one finds Rick Reilly as funny as Rick Reilly does. Sometimes he is giggling so hard at the line he is about to issue that he barely gets it out. Horrible.

That is it that's the list! 4 items for less than a half an hour of material...horrible

Space Tadpoles Signal Black Hole Mergers

Do I know how to antagonize people? Friday I wore my Wake Forest cap to work (no, I didn't go there) trying to get a reaction from my boss. Wake Forest had beat Clemson the night before in football, and my boss did go to Clemson. As I told the people at work, "Don't let the fact that I haven't worn this hat in 12 years is any reason why I am wearing it today." I can't help myself sometimes, I have to needle to people.

Thank you, sir. May I have another? It was so delicious to watch the Texas-OU game Saturday morning, and watching the Sooner lose. Definitely, the best game I have seen all year. It was great to have a game live up to all of the hype (I'm looking at you Florida-LSU). One versus Five. Big 12 championship on the line. Potentially a National Championship on the line.

It is amazing to see the difference in OU's offense from when they got into rhythm after a first down, and when they didn't. When they got into rhythm they simply looked, and usually were unstoppable. When they didn't they looked so very average. I've never seen an offense look so different in a game.

Does anyone wanna win this? On the other side of the spectrum is the Cowboy game from yesterday. Both teams looked horrible. Neither the Cowboys nor the Cardinals seemed like they wanted to win this game. A ton of mistakes from both side, with the Cowboys making the final one. They lose in overtime on a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown. If the guy who blocked it had somehow missed, there was another dude about a foot behind him who would have gotten to the ball. Some of the worst special teams I have seen in a long time was played by the Cowboys yesterday:

1. Opening kickoff returned for a touchdown.
2. Missed field goal at the end of the first half
3. Blocked field goal that they fortunately got to kick again, because the Cardinals called a time out.
4. A block in the back on a punt return.
5. A kickoff out of bounds
6. And of course the blocked punt to end the game.

Pathetic!

Finally, a video as to why I love the Sports station I listen to:

Now Listening to "Sing" by Glen Campbell

In a way a kind of feel ripped off. We were told we are going to get this great storm over the weekend, and by the time it reached us late Saturday afternoon. It was kind of windy and it rained for about an hour or so. It was weaker than a normal spring thunderstorm. After all the effort the gas stations made by raising their prices by 30 cents in about a 5 hour period to gouge the consumer. It wasn’t even bad enough to lose satellite reception. We had a much worse rainstorm about a month ago. Of course that didn’t stop the weatherman from coming on during EVERY commercial break during the OSU-USC game to tell us about it. I was prepared though with my bottled water just in case. Of course you would know it more commonly as a twelve pack of beer.

Speaking of the Ohio State-USC game it was so delicious seeing Ohio State get creamed. My roommate is a huge fan of the Buckeyes. As I told him at half time, ”This isn’t even a national championship game.” What the heck were the Buckeyes doing with their quarterbacks? Sometimes alternating plays, and getting no continuity. Must be hard for the lineman to have to adjust from a pocket passer and then a pure running QB between plays.

In local radio news: I’ve been hearing commercials on the station I listen to for a company called Ashley Madison. The first couple of times I heard the commercial I thought it was joke by the station, but I kept hearing the ad. Apparently it is an on-line dating service for people looking to have affairs. That is right a website that directly endorses infidelity.

That went horribly

Well the Rangers did not complete the sweep of the Yankees last night. In fact they got shelled. I, and I think everyone else in the free world, saw it coming when the relief pitcher Warner Madrigal came into the game. I don't think a one run game versus the Yankees in Yankee stadium was the right time to make your major league debut. I left the game before Madrigal did.

Two interesting stats I heard:
Derek Jeter post-season at bats: 495
Texas Rangers Franchise: 300
In the 36 years that the Rangers have been in Texas the number of sweeps of the Yankees in New York: 1 in 2003

That was during Showalter's first season as manager. You would think in all of that time they would have lucked into a sweep with some of the Yankee teams on the 1980s to early '90s

NBA Prediction Round-Up

Around the start of the NBA season I looked at SI.com’s predictions of the upcoming season. Now that the season is finally over lets see how they did:

1. Who will win the NBA title? No one had the Lakers and Celts. Also no one had the Lakers in the finals, and the 2 people who picked Boston had them losing. Paul Forrester really blew it with a Mavericks-Bulls final. The Bulls were horrible this year and the Mavs got bounced easily in the first round.

2. Who will be the regular season MVP? Not one person picked Kobe

3. What team will be the biggest surprise? Jack McCallum picked the Bulls, and if he picked them for their total collapse this season and finished 16 games below .500. Oops. Forrester was the closest by picking the Hawks, who at least made the playoffs this year, but were still 8 games below .500. Clearly the biggest surprise this season were the New Orleans Hornets who no one picked, of course.

4. Who will be the biggest disappointment? Some guys really nailed this one. Marty Burns and Chris Mannix both picked the Heat, and they were absolutely right. The Heat really tanked and Riley decided it was time to retire from coaching again. Steve Aschburner selected the Mavericks, which I have no argument against. Unfortunately, Ian Thomsen picked the Lakers and claimed they wouldn’t even make the playoffs.

5. What player will break out and become a star? This could be painful:

Ian Thomsen picked Andrea Bargnan from Toronto, he of the awesome 10.2 PPG and shooting 38% from the field.

Marty Burns took Rudy Gay who did have a decent year for the truly awful Grizzlies at 20 PPG

Bostjan Nachbar of the Nets was Chris Mannix’s pick. The guy shot a sparkling 9.8 PPG at about a 40% clip.

McCallum and Aschburner both took Luol Deng, and he put up 17 PPG. As high as he was taken, and this being his fourth season in the league I would like that number to be closer to 20. This is particularly true when you consider his PPG, shooting percentage and rebounds per game all dipped from the previous year.

Finally Forrester chose LaMarcus Aldridge of the Trailblazers. He did almost double his scoring from his rookie season to 17.8 per game.

I don’t see any stars here…

6. Which coach opens the season on the hot seat? Meh. That is more for the beginning of the year lets move on.

7. Who will be the best rookie? In the end, whoever didn’t pick Kevin Durant was a fool, and that would be Thomsen and Burns who both picked Luis Scola. Durant averaged 20.3 PPG breaking the rookie record for the Sonics

8. What will be the leagues biggest controversy? A couple of guys picked Donaghy, which is the story that still has legs. Forrester said a star would test positive for a PED, and that didn’t happen.

9. Will Kobe Bryant be traded? Only Mannix and Forrester said yes, and we know how that went

10. If you think Kobe is staying, then who will be the biggest name traded during the season? Everyone else said Jermaine O’Neal. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Good job guys, see ya next season!!!!

You're Having I'm Arby's

Just some quick notes, kind of a free form post:

1. How sad is it that I was really excited that I saw an Arby's going being built close to me in the great city of Frisco? I was so happy I almost peed myself (well not quite). In my defense I haven't been in over 2 years. As much crap is around me the closest Arby's is 25-30 min away.
   
2. Sunday I had 2 dreams I remembered. The first one I was a lacrosse goalie. I thought I did pretty well considering I've never played the sport before. I didn't stop everything, but I made a good showing of myself. The second was more surreal. I was protecting a girl I went to grade school with from a stalker, and was hiding her at my uncle's house in west Texas. Plus, a cousin on the other side of my family was helping me out.
3. The funniest/most disturbing thing I've heard at the comic shop in a while, the owner to a customer, "No, comics about cannibalism isn't a big genre right now, but you never know." Different strokes I guess.
4. My dad is getting re-married in May, more on this later.
5. Pat Summerall is on the radio right now, man I do miss him announcing NFL games.
   

Super Bowl Post Script

One last thing I've been wanting to say about the Super Bowl. Here in Dallas for the past nearly two weeks now sports writers and talk show hosts have been commenting how bad the fan must feel about how close the Cowboys were, and they could have been the ones to take out the Patriots. Maybe, maybe. Honestly though, if you ask me, if the Boys has made it to the Super Bowl, I don't think they could have beaten them. I don't think they could have gotten near the pressure on Brady the Giants did. The Giants' secondary may be a little suspect, but the Cowboys, even more so.