I haven't watched as much baseball as in years past, but I happened to be watching when Texas Rangers "closer" C.J. Wilson made two Busch League moves.  The latest came Tuesday night when Wilson showed blatant disrespect for Rangers manager Ron Washington in the team's 8-6 win over the New York Yankees. But let's go back to Sunday July 13, in a game between the Rangers and the Chicago White Sox.  Wilson entered that game in a non-save situation with the Rangers leading 12-8.  Jim Thome smacked one of Wilson's so called meatball pitch over the fence making the score 12-11 and causing White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to start taunting Wilson from the dugout.  Wilson then "closed" the game and threw his arms up in a "how you like me now?" fashion. As a fan I was upset that a guy who almost blew a 4 run lead would show that type of emotion after a performance like that.  Wipe your brow, point to God, anything, but don't act like you retired the side in order. Now fast forward to Tuesday night, when Wilson started warming in the 7th inning with the score 5-2.  A three-run triple by Chris Davis gave the ...

Go back with me to the beginning of the baseball season. Now what would you have guessed the Rangers record to be after 90 games with these names on the roster: Catching - Max Ramierez (Started season at Frisco) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (OK City) Third Base - German Duran(OK City) and Ramon Vasquez (Bench Player) First Base - Chris Davis (Frisco) Outfield - Brandon Boggs (OK City) Pitchers - Scott Feldman (Frisco), Luis Mendoza (Frisco), Eric Hurley (OK City), Frank Francisco (OK City), Warner Madrigal (Frisco) I would have guessed 35-40 wins at best, landing them solidly in last place. I don't know of one - not one- expert prognosticator, sports predictor or pundit who expected the Texas Rangers to have a record of 46-43 as the team prepares to play their 90th game tonight. Especially after a horrific 7-16 start that included an embarrassing 19-6 loss in Detroit to the Tigers. Many around town, in the papers, on the radio, and in the stands, were calling for the firing of Rangers' manager Ron Washington. I have to admit after the Tigers debacle I was ready to add my voice to the chorus. It wasn't just the team's record, ...

Did Tiger have another red golf shirt in his suitcase for today's playoff or did he have to drive his Buick over Foot Locker and pick one up?

Usually the posts I spend the most time on are not the best received.  This one is a great example of that.  I did lots of research for why I think the Rangers attendance has been so poor this year.   Unfortunately this posted right before they went on a road trip. At Sunday's game the attendance was announced at 17,000 but it looked like far less people were there.  Check out the #5 post from year two of Dallas South. Myth - The Texas Rangers are a Big Market Team A couple of months ago I wanted to write a post touting the virtues of bringing another baseball team into the market. I thought that downtown Dallas would make a fine home for the Florida Marlins. But that’s not what this post is about. This post stems from the attendance at the Rangers’ second home game. The double header against the Baltimore Orioles saw a dismal 15,560 paid attendance. Talk radio (i.e. the Ticket) lamented the fact that a team playing in the 4th (or 5th) largest media market should never draw those types of numbers - even if the team sucks. Yet as I thought about that opinion, I asked myself a question: ...

Since Brett Shipp launched another muckraker sweeps week attack on South Oak Cliff, I've had some questions. I guess I could have scheduled some time with him since I have his email address, but I thought I'd put my questions out in the airwaves like he did with Coach Mays. So here goes. 1. Mr. Shipp, why do you keep reporting that South Oak Cliff had to give back their 2006 championship? For your information, here is a list of the 2006 basketball champions according to the UIL website. 2006 Champions 5A State Champion: Plano 4A State Champion: Dallas South Oak Cliff 3A State Champion: Dallas Roosevelt 2A State Champion: Arp 1A State Champion Div I: Bogata Rivercrest 1A State Champion Div II: Nazareth 2. Do you think that the reason why your sources were reassigned or terminated by DISD is important to your tabloid stories? 3. Why didn't you sign in at the South Oak Cliff office as a visitor the day you launched your ambush on Coach James Mays with cameras rolling? 4. Did you know that by law, a student's grades are private? That's right Mr. Shipp, here's a little background on that law: The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ...

Thursday night I was participating in my weekly ritual, watching Lost with my wife. We record the show each week so we always catch the first 3 minutes of Channel 8 news after the credits. I must say I was surprised to see Brett Shipp launching another attack against South Oak Cliff and Coach James Mays II. This time, Shipp included Kansas forward and former Golden Bear standout Darrell Arther in his ambush. First, you must know that the UIL has not stripped South Oak Cliff of their 2006 State Title. DISD volunteered to give up the title in hopes of avoiding more negative publicity ahead of their billion dollar bond vote. To date, there has been no real investigation and no one has been implicated of wrong doing.  As a matter of fact the small investigation that has taken place cleared SOC and the administration of wrongdoing. Here I must give props to ESPN Radio's Michael Irvin. Sports Talk Radio is fertile ground for media assaults on black men. But Mike has used his show to bring some balance to that lopsided perspective. Irvin sought out Coach Mays on Friday and allowed him to come on ...

JEFF MOSIER and STEVE BROWN of the Dallas Morning News report that Arlington will have to wait for Glorypark Development near stadiums. Too that I ask, is anyone surprised? This kind of has a familiar ring to it. The Lame Duck in Washington didn't even act like he was going to develop the ballpark. After selling his share of the Rangers for a 25 fold profit (read this story to see how little Bush did to kick off his political career as a Rangers principal) he got the heck out of dodge. The Rangers have promised development around The Ballpark for nearly 20 years since voters approved the stadium in 1990. In 2001, an April article by Kelly Patterson in The Dallas Morning News seemed like progress was on the way. Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks will kick off a multimillion-dollar development at The Ballpark in Arlington this year with three buildings that will combine office, retail and residential space, Southwest Sports Group officials said Thursday. The buildings will be constructed on what are now parking lots along Randol Mill Road and Ballpark Way. In March of 2002 it was...you guessed it, terrorist attacks. ...

My son and I won a "Sportscaster For a Day" prize in a silent auction held at Frederick Douglass Academy earlier this month. As such, we got to spend some time on the air with Roger B. Brown of KKDA after work today. Big shout out to Bishop, Ms. E., Flipp (A PHI), Tachia Williams, Skip Murphy, and the entire KKDA Family who really made us feel welcome today. Roger B. actually invited me back to participate on Sunday Night's show which will air on Soul 73 (730 AM) at 6 p.m.. Make sure to tune in on Sunday and let me know what you think. And give a shout to Roger B on the web at RogerBBrown.com or on his My Space Page.

  1.  Things changed when Josh went down. When Josh Howard rolled his ankle by steping on Peja Stojakovic's foot, the fortune of the Mavericks immediately changed.  I was surprised that the announcers on the national broadcast didn't make a bigger deal out of it. Not from an excuse standpoint, but more so on the defensive end Josh could hardly stick with anyone.  He kept throwing up bricks off that bad wheel and the Hornets slowly crept back in the game. 2.  Why did Avery take Dirk out? I have to say I was frustrated with Coach Johnson when he took Nowitzki out  just under two minutes into the fourth.  The Hornets already had momentum on their side, and it would have been nice to see what Dirk might have done to try to curb the tide. By the time Avery called a timeout to get Dirk back in the game, it was too late.  This is do or die time, I just felt like the Mavs should have pulled out all the stops to try to get this win on the road. 3.  This team won't win with jump shots. Yeah we've said it over and over, but the evidence was on display so clearly in the ...

A couple of months ago I wanted to write a post touting the virtues of bringing another baseball team into the market. I thought that downtown Dallas would make a fine home for the Florida Marlins. But that's not what this post is about. This post stems from the attendance at the Rangers' second home game. The double header against the Baltimore Orioles saw a dismal 15,560 paid attendance. Talk radio (i.e. the Ticket) lamented the fact that a team playing in the 4th (or 5th) largest media market should never draw those types of numbers - even if the team sucks. Yet as I thought about that opinion, I asked myself a question: What does media market have to do with attendance? Of course one would throw out the fact that you can translate media market stats into population, and I'd go to the MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) for that. That nets us nearly 5,000,000 potential Ranger fans/game attendees for any given home game - right? WRONG!!! In 2004, the Rangers had their last winning season and I lived in Grand Prairie, exactly 7 miles from the Ballpark. I, along with my family, attended ...