Welcome to the National Finesse League

At the risk of sounding 103 years old, I need to ask a question: What has happened to football? On 105.3 The Fan I co-host the weekly radio shows of Dallas Cowboys’ defensive players Jay Ratliff (Mondays 6 p.m.) and DeMarcus Ware (Wednesdays 2:15). Each week they bemoan not being…

NFL Quarterback Rankings: Week 15

Like the BCS, style points count. So do geeky, black-and-white stats such as touchdowns and quarterback ratings. Wins and losses? Definitely. Leadership? Uh-huh. When it comes to my weekly NFL Quarterback Rankings — if I had one of those little encircled R’s to signify a trademarked idea, it’d go here — the…

Keith Brooking Isn’t Ready to Retire

In a related story, Dallas Cowboys fans respectfully disagree. Well, don’t we? Brooking says he has something left in the tank, but we all saw him blocked out of the play – hell, out of the picture – on the Eagles’ clock-killing, game-winning drive last Sunday. I’ve seen – and…

Cliff Notes: Rangers Should Be in Seventh Heaven

Let me just say this one last thing about Cliff Lee and then we’ll move on. Maybe. Sorta. OK, probably not. Check that, definitely uh-uh. Don’t tell me the Texas Rangers tried hard. Don’t tell me we should be proud of sitting at the big boys table. Don’t tell me…

And to Top It All Off, the Mavericks Lose … To the Bucks

Cowboys lose to Eagles? Check. Rangers lose Cliff Lee? Check. Mavericks lose to the medicore Milwaukee Bucks? No way in hell. Check?! I was hoping the Mavericks, who had their 12-game winning streak snapped in a head-scratching 103-99 loss, could push it to 15 entering Monday’s game against the Heat…

Dallas Cowboys: The Defense Rests

A proud franchise that once upon a time won Super Bowls behind a Doomsday Defense is these days shackled to the most disappointing season in team history by a defense that is simply doomed. Back in training camp down in The Alamodome in San Antonio, head coach Wade Phillips trumpeted a promising…

Cliff Lee Shuns Rangers, Shocks Yankees and Signs With Phillies

The good news: Your Texas Rangers didn’t lose Cliff Lee to the New York Yankees. The bad/horrible/devastating news: Your Texas Rangers lost Cliff Lee. To the Philadelphia Phillies?! We heard persistent whispers all throughout the very exhaustive free-agency recruitment of Lee about a third “mystery team” but, honestly, didn’t pay…

Hey, the Dallas Mavericks are Finally Winners!

Where were you on October  11, 1980? I was inside Reunion Arena, watching the Dallas Mavericks and guys like Winford Boynes and Tom LaGarde somehow beat George Gervin and the San Antonio Spurs, 103-92, in their inaugural game as an NBA franchise. At 1-0 – at least for a night…

Jerry Jones: 60 Minutes of Sympathy

I know he takes a lot of shit and he deserves most of it. But the one thing you can’t deny is the passion of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. It was on full display again during Sunday night’s 60 Minutes story on CBS. At one point Jones’ eyes were…

Eagles 30, Cowboys 27: My Top 10 Observer-ations

10. DeSean Jackson is fun to watch, and so easy to hate. After his 91-yard catch-and-run touchdown he stopped at the 1 and slowly fell backward into the end zone. Where’s George Teague when you need him? 9. At 4-9 the Cowboys are officially losers (for the first time since ’04)…

Jerry Jones and the “Season From Hell”

In case you missed it, here’s the entirety of last night’s 60 Minutes segment about the Dallas Cowboys’ owner and general manager. The takeaway: Jerry Jones thinks he’s “smarter” now as GM than he was when he bought the team. Oh, really? Really. On the other side, a bonus “overtime”…

Cliff Lee is Going, Going, Going … Gone?

This doesn’t look good. The New York Yankees make free-agent pitcher Cliff Lee an offer of six years between $140-$150 million. (UPDATE: How about a seventh year?!) Lee’s agent, Darek Brauneker, puts the offer in his briefcase, leaves baseball’s winter meetings early and flies to Arkansas to present the deal to…

Avery Johnson Returns: To Boo or Not to Boo?

He led the Dallas Mavericks to their 30-year apex. He Instilled defense and discipline into a franchise that had forever languished with an offensive philosophy. He orchestrated the best regular-season in team history. He was the NBA’s Coach of the Year. And he took them within 2 1/4 games of an NBA championship. On the…