Sports

In between turkey, dressing and indigestion, take a second today to be thankful for what you have. Then read my tale of Ray Johnston, and be thankful for what you don’t have…

Ray Johnston got out of the hospital in Dallas last weekend. Don’t bother with the cards or flowers or well wishes, because he’s gone. Just like that. By the time you read this, Johnston will be back on the road with his band, back planning his next series of motivational…

Two brief football notes of interest, the first involving SMU, where there’s been little interesting football of note in recent years. The Honolulu Advertiser is reporting today that David Matlin, the Hawaii Bowl’s exec director, will be at Gerald J. Ford Stadium this Saturday when the Mustangs play Tulane. Just…

The turkey. The dressing. The relatives and the heartburn, neither of which will leave. The red kettle. The grandiose halftime show, this year featuring Daughtry. The – usually anyway – Cowboys’ victory. Ah, Thanksgiving. The elements are similar, but tomorrow will be the first Thanksgiving Day game in Cowboys Stadium. Should…

Well, the former Dallas Cowboys head coach and current Fox NFL analyst didn’t say exactly that this morning with Newy Scruggs and me on 105.3 The Fan. But he did – once and for all, 12th verse – emphatically deny that he’d ever consider returning to the Cowboys. “No, I love…

Yesterday, after practice at the American Airlines Center, the Mavs hosted their 13th annual Turkey Dunk, attended by some 125 homeless and “at-risk” kids. We sent the great Hal Samples to the shindig, during which the team partnered with Rainbow Days and put on a clinic for the kiddos, which…

Like the BCS, style points count. So do geeky, black-and-white stats such as touchdowns and quarterback rating. 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…

Jason Garrett is clueless. Roy Williams is a bust. Martellus Bennett is a non-factor. Felix Jones has lost a step. Nick Folk has the yips. Marc Colombo is hurt. Ken Hamlin can’t tackle. Anthony Spencer doesn’t have a sack. Dave Campo and Terence Newman had to be seperated on the sidelines. And Bobby Carpenter gets…

The Washington Redskins suck. Furthermore, they were playing without running back Clinton Portis, tight end Chris Cooley, two starting offensive linemen and stud defensive playmaker Albert Haynesworth. That’s what makes yesterday’s 7-6 escape by the Dallas Cowboys so damn fugly. A couple missed field goals by Shaun Suisham. A vintageTony Romo escape-n-create…

10. Fine, I’ll say it: Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett is too quick to abandon the pass. I’ll say it, of course, with tongue firmly planted in cheek. After only 11 handoffs to running backs in Green Bay, Dallas was committed to the running game today. The good: 33 rushes for 153…

The Washington Post’s The League blog wonders this morning, “Why are the Cowboys So Hated? How does ‘America’s Team’ remain one of the most loathed franchises in sports?” To which the responses, including essays from Eagles and Giants bloggers, have been varied and nasty. (Something about Cowboys fans being “soulless”…

Late yesterday Tom Hicks made it clear: He intends to keep majority ownership of the Texas Rangers, despite all that danged debt. Three would-be buyers have already traipsed through Arlington to meet with Jon Daniels and Nolan Ryan, more parties may join the fray before the deadline, but Hicks ain’t…

The good news: Your Texas Rangers may be led next season and beyond by an ownership group that includes Nolan Ryan as a front man and Roger Staubach as an investor. The bad news …  …

Let’s face it, SMU picked a bad year to have a good year. Coming off consecutive 1-11 seasons and without a bowl game since flight attendants were stewardesses, Danny White quarterbacked the Dallas Cowboys and the NCAA handed out its one and only death penalty, the Mustangs quietly earned their…

Wade Phillips wants more balance. Jason Witten wants to get back to the “brand.” Felix Jones and Tahsard Choice want more touches. You, the Dallas Cowboys fan, just want to win. I think Tony Romo is an elite quarterback and in the NFL you control the clock on the ground…

I like the football played by Dallas Cowboys’ offensive linemen Leonard Davis and Marc Colombo. Even like their music, in the form of Free Reign. But will I like their food? Today – right about now as a matter of fact – a new Smashburger (owned by Davis and Colombo)…

Like the BCS, style points count. So do geeky, black-and-white stats such as touchdowns and quarterback rating. 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…

Spent yesterday afternoon out at Cowboys Stadium, where about 30 mayors – from Southlake to Sunnyvale – convened for an update as to the goings-on about Super Bowl XLV. By the way, 445 days and counting … I was there hounding Roger Staubach about an upcoming Dallas Observer cover story…

Talked with a guy I really respect this morning. Peter King has been watching and writing about NFL football for years and years. First met him out at Valley Ranch in the early 1990s and have read his stuff at Sports Illustrated ever since and now watch him on NBC’s…

Since April, city officials have been pushing — hard — to land the Federation Internationale de Football Association’s World Cup, either in 2018 or 2022. Matter of fact, they’re even asking locals to sign a petition demanding FIFA bring the soccer matches to Dallas; so far, looks like 6,556 have…

Sportatorium lifetime member Scott can be a dork. His “Roy Williams … this or that” rants are as legendary as they are ludicrous. But every once in a while he delivers. Like Sunday, when he was at Lambeau Field in Green Bay and snapped some pics of the Cowboys’ carnage…

Tyrone Ellis’s pro basketball career in the U.S. didn’t amount to much: 10 pre-season minutes played for the Minnesota Timberwolves in October 2006, during which he didn’t score a single point. Also on his resume: a single-season stint, in 2001-’02, in the NBA’s D-League, during which his Huntsville Flight went…