Two words I never expected to hear organically and joyfully chanted at American Airlines Center: Sweep L.A.! Shocking as it was to hear, it was almost unfathomable to see. If you honestly thought the notoriously soft, choke-charred Mavericks would beat the two-time defending NBA champion Lakers, 4-0, in their Western…
You know me, the biggest Dirk Nowitzki homer in town. But Rick Carlisle even made me cringe earlier this week by tabbing the Mavs’ star as a top 10 NBA player “of all time.”Carlisle has been great in these NBA Playoffs. Keeping his Mavericks mentally together after the Game 4…
The song “Dirk41,” by German musicmaker Flula Borg, was originally released in December 2009. It’s available for purchase on iTunes, or you can listen to it on Borg’s MySpace page, where it’s received but a scant 6,709 plays in more than a year and a half. But, trust me, you’ll…
Rangers’ manager Ron Washington loves status quo. Likes the same ol’ routine of it all. When something extraordinary happens in the game he delivers his pet philosophical phrase: “That’s the way baseball go.” But in the midst of watching his team lose seven of nine games and seven of eight…
Hello, win column! third place.The Rangers started 9-1. But since Josh Hamilton broke his arm on that daring/dumb dash for home plate in Detroit on April 12, they’re 9-17.That equals 18-18. That equals — for the first time since April 30, 2010 — third place in the AL West behind…
When the Lakers’ Empire imploded on Mother’s Day in Dallas, it did it in surreal style — under a barrage of 20 Mavericks’ 3-pointers, and punctuated by cheap-shot thuggery from Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum. Was thinking about Bynum’s chicken-shit elbow to an exposed J.J. Barea. Other than the time Jason…
While the Mavs were sleeping last night, they might have won another playoff game. How’s that? Because over in Memphis the Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder played only the sixth triple-overtime game in NBA playoff history. On the heels of Saturday’s overtime win by Memphis, OKC survived last night’s marathon thriller,…
Never been happier to be wrong. And I don’t care that I wasn’t alone — I admit I was wrong. I’m stunned by the Mavs sweeping the Lakers, punctuated by Sunday’s 122-86 epic shellacking. Matter of fact, I’m more surprised by this outcome than the Navy SEALs sweeping Osama. I…
10. Funny. 9. Funny? 8. Sad. 7. Wrong. 6. Jet!…
Willie Mays turns 80 years old today. I didn’t need ESPN to tell me either. When I was a boy, Mays’s birthday was a High Holy Day. He was, and still is, my dad’s favorite ball player. He still wears his New York Giants cap; still pines for the Polo…
C.J. Wilson was superb in last night’s much-needed win over Seattle. Pedro Strop is gone. Mark Lowe is back (uh-oh). Tommy Hunter and Nefali Feliz are getting close. And dazzling Cuban defector Leonys Martin is fast-tracking our way.In the middle of a very transitory Rangers season I was asked by a…
10. For the Mavs, a shocking 2-0 lead. For the Lakers, a Stinko de Mayo. L.A. missed its first 15 3-pointers and was booed off the court in Staples Center. As they head for Dallas and Friday night’s Game 3, the Lakers are muttering things like “dispirited” and “trust issues.” Surreal…
And with the ninth overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys select… Pat McQuistan? Hardly. But upon the arrival at Valley Ranch of their new first-round pick, the Cowboys showered Tyron Smith not with a red-carpet welcome fit for Kate Middleton, but rather an old No. 77…
Your Texas Rangers play the New York Yankees on Friday night, first pitch at 7:05 p.m. Got tickets? It’d be a lot cooler if you did.Because, see, the Rangers just sent word that Matthew McConaughey will toss out the ceremonial first pitch, right before he heads to Houston to pick…
Usually about this time of the year, the Cowboys will bring in their new draft class and rookie free agents for a minicamp at Valley Ranch. Workouts for veterans at Valley Ranch would have started back in mid-March. UPDATE: Now we know why Dez says he was absent Tuesday. Instead…
Watched Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler totally half-ass and boot a grounder Sunday afternoon in Oakland. On Monday Elvis Andrus made his seventh error of the season. Thought to myself, This team is getting lazy. Suddenly the laziness is compounded by the losing. Last night the beleaguered bullpen — this…
Not a secret in media circles that Tony Romo has long planned on marrying fiancee Candice Crawford at historic Arlington Hall in Dallas on May 28. Today TMZ is making a huge deal out of it. Guess it’s a good time to peek at the actual wedding announcement. We know…
I asked Mavericks backup point guard J.J. Barea what he was thinking as the ball left Kobe Bryant’s hand on the potential game-winning 3-pointer in Monday’s Game 1 at Staples Center. “I wasn’t thinking,” Barea said. “I was praying.” Despite playing 44 minutes of superb basketball — the four minutes of…
Neftali Feliz will pitch Wednesday night in Frisco. But if it’s up to him, he’ll never pitch in the Rangers’ starting rotation. While Texas continues to blow games — yesterday it was Darren Oliver allowing Hideki Matsui’s 10th-inning homer in a 5-4 loss — and erase the warm-n-fuzzies from the…
10. Don’t lie, you thought it was over. When the Lakers started the second half on a 7-0 run — thanks to some bone-headed play by DeShawn Stevenson — and pushed the lead to 16 you went to bed, didn’t you? Dallas’ comeback last night might have been even more improbable that…
Some of us have waited 23 years to “Beat L.A.!” Sorry, I don’t see it happening in 2011 either. When the Lakers and Mavs begin their best-of-seven Western Conference Semifinal series tonight at 9:30 in Staples Center, there is an undeniable fact that overrides any and all X’s and O’s: The…
10. The pick of Southern Cal offensive lineman Tyron Smith isn’t sexy, but it’s savvy. Thumbs up. And he says he doesn’t like jewelry. Two thumbs up. 9. Fifth-rounder and former Cedar Hill star Josh Thomas is physical and a good tackler in the secondary, but you wonder about a four-year…
