Interesting story last week in The Dallas Morning News on the struggles F.C. Dallas has had in attracting Mexican fans. In the story, G.M. Michael Hitchcock said he wasn’t interested in taking advantage of the new designated player rule (which allowed the L.A. Galaxy to sign David Beckham) to sign…
So, I’m up here in Chicago — yeah, yeah, doing this again, despite the cries of protest. And, funny thing, whenever anyone finds out I’m from Dallas, the very first thing they say is something along the lines of, “Man, we’d love it if Mark Cuban got the Cubs.” It’s…
In news that prompts an initial reaction of “Why, oh, why couldn’t it be Tom Hicks?”, Mark Cuban’s interest in buying the Chicago Cubs has escalated from superficial to serious. Cuban has filed the official paperwork with Major League Baseball, joining a prestigious pile of prospective buyers for the fabled…
Texas Rangers director of communications Gregg Elkin, an all-around fine American, today e-mailed Unfair Park a pic of the new sign installed this week over the Home Plate entrance at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Says Rangers president Jeff Cogen, “This signage replacement at the home plate entrance represents the…
Meet Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy Saturday. Bask in his Quiet Strength. Sickened by yet another Texas Ranger complaining, when he just should shut up and start homering? Bummed that OU’s 2005 football team, in hindsight, actually went 0-4? Depressed that, despite repeated first-round playoff flame-outs, the Dallas Stars are…
Rub it in, dude, rub it in. In today’s Chicago Tribune, columnist Phil Rogers — a former Dallas Times Herald man, I might add — offers up his mid-season baseball honors, and as far as he and the stats are concerned, there’s no better pitcher in the National League than…
Exerting minimal effort, you can come up with two reasons to patron Twin Peaks. No, not that one. Or those guys. I’m talking about this place. After a laughably hollow petition drive designed to cock-block the joint generated a whopping five signatures, the Plano sports bar/tease-atorium opened two months ago…
This week’s Sports Illustrated has a story about “The King of Texas” — who is, like you didn’t already know, Dallas Cowboys “wildcat” owner Jerry Jones. Actually, it’s about his billion-dollar bid for football immortality in Arlington, because writer Richard Hoffer sure does seem to be in love with a…
He’s no Kevin Garnett, but Chris Webber would be a fascinating off-season move for the Mavs, to say the very least. ESPN.com’s Marc Stein sends word today that Chris Webber may not be on the verge of retiring after all. Webber, who’s already playedworn out his welcome with the Golden…
Last week in the paper version of Unfair Park, we wrote about Steve Asmussen, who is either the greatest horse trainer in America or one of the sport’s biggest cheaters. Personally, I found Lone Star Park’s prodigal son to be a pretty likable dude; others say he’s a jerk. What…
FC Dallas opens play in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup tonight at 7 at Pizza Hut Park way the hell up in Frisco. The news is that the Hoops will play their starters rather than their reserves, as is the tradition for most MLS clubs that compete in the…
Best record in the league. Home cookin’. Mediocre opponent, orchestrated by a familiar face. Shocking upset. Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Except Saturday night it wasn’t your Dallas Mavericks choking away a red-carpet post-season, but instead the Dallas Desperados. Led by the greatest quarterback in the history of…
“Here, Mrs. Bush, would you like to hold my ball?” The Dallas Mavericks may not be better next season. But it won’t be because they’re not tougher. Dallas checked off No. 1 on their off-season to-do list, agreeing to a three-year deal with free agent Jerry Stackhouse. The deal won’t…
Faster. Quicker. Meaner. Stronger. Whiter? Exposed, humiliated and dismissed by the athletically superior Golden State Warriors two months ago, the Dallas Mavericks entered last week’s NBA Draft with attitudes to tweak, limitations to minimize and physicality to enhance. So to complement Dirk Nowitzki, they choose a shorter, skinnier, softer Caucasian?…
Yesterday: Body Worlds. Tomorrow: Batter up. On the heels of the highly successful exhibition delving into the human body, the Dallas Museum of Nature & Science’s next endeavor will be a historic examination of baseball. In conjunction with the State Fair of Texas, starting Sept. 28 and running through Jan…
Former Mavs coach Don Nelson says Mark Cuban owes him millions in back pay — $6.6 million, to be precise, in a legal battle that just got a little uglier. Reports the San Francisco Chronicle today, Cuban’s firing back at his former head coach by claiming in a countersuit that…
Two words you rarely associate with a billionaire who owns three professional sports teams and a $35 million home: Plastic. Cutlery. Tom Hicks may be unfathomably rich, but today the poor guy’s got a lot on his paper plate. Sure, his 29,000-square-foot spread is the most expansive and expensive in…
You know Tom Hicks owns the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Stars, the biggest house in town and yet only a smidgen of sports savvy. What you didn’t know is that he initially intended to short sell the Stars for profit, was one of Mark Cuban’s original Internet investors and thinks…
You might not know this, but Donn Nelson was a pretty good college ball player too. Last week, Tom Hicks re-signed wonderboy Jon Daniels to run the Ranger’s sinking (though surprisingly more buoyant of late) ship through 2009, even though the team has one of the worst records in baseball…
For a Cowboys franchise that’s always played under a hole in its roof, Wednesday marks the beginning of the end. At 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, the team’s new Arlington stadium will commence installation of the first piece of the monumental arch truss structure. In numbers that I can’t come close to…
Pardon me if I’ve somehow missed this, but after scouring the Interwebs and Lexis-Nexis I’ve found no local mention of this national story with legally binding local ties. On Saturday, The Los Angeles Times reported that sprinter Marion Jones — the darling of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, a breaker…
Hmmm, whatever happened to ol’ whatzizname? Um, ya know, Ben Grieve? Seems the former Arlington Martin High School stud and 1998 American League Rookie of the Year is still swatting homers, but settling for winning the home run derby at charity events like this one on Saturday in Frisco. Hmmm,…
