Sports

The Harlem Globetrotters are in Dallas, preparing for a couple of their typically zany basketball exhibitions this weekend. The traveling hoops troop took advantage of some time at the Mavs practice facility Wednesday to show off their ball-handling with an assist from Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle and Dirk Nowitzki…

Seventeen years ago, the Dallas Cowboys and the New England Patriots finished the 2000 NFL season in the same spot, 5-11, well out of the playoff hunt. Both teams featured first-year coaches — Dave Campo for the Cowboys and Bill Belichick for the Patriots. Both teams, although they didn’t know…

Anybody but Philly. That’s the prayer, the mantra, the fondest hope for Cowboys fans as they struggle through another year of dashed hopes. As the Eagles take the field against Minnesota this weekend for the last stop before the Super Bowl, Dallas sports bars will be packed with a wave…

As far as counterfactuals go, it’s one to which Cowboys fans hadn’t given much thought before the 2017 season: What if the Cowboys hadn’t drafted Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth pick of the 2016 draft and had taken the player many experts thought they would, Florida State cornerback Jalen Ramsey?…

Dallas’ biggest sports story of 2018 isn’t going to be the Cowboys. Jerry Jones isn’t going to fire Jason Garrett, so his team won’t escape mediocrity. It’s not going to be the Mavs, who are still a couple of years away from competing in the NBA’s loaded Western Conference, or…

Like the 2008, 2010 and 2015 Cowboys, the 2017 Cowboys were supposed to be different. They’d learned the lessons of a largely successful yet bitterly disappointing 2016 and were ready to play in the Cowboys’ first NFC Championship Game since the 1995 season. They weren’t different. The 2017 Cowboys, doomed…

As Christmas approaches, the legacy of the 2017 Dallas Cowboys is still in flux. If the Cowboys win their two remaining regular-season games and get some help, they’ll qualify for the playoffs, completing the resurrection of a season that appeared dead on Thanksgiving. If they miss the playoffs, this year’s…

Something happened to the Cowboys for the first time during their 2017 season Sunday night in Oakland: They got lucky. Scrapping for their playoff lives against the Raiders, the Cowboys survived two Dak Prescott interceptions, an injury to All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith and a 55-yard pass interference penalty that…

The Rangers got bad news Friday afternoon: Japan’s two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani is not going to Arlington. Worse still for the Rangers and their fans is that Ohtani and his unique talents are headed to the Los Angeles Angels. For the next six years, the Rangers will have to deal…

A University of North Texas professor will head to Russia next week to attend a forum with one of the most controversial figures in international sports — Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, whom the Olympics recently banned from all future games for his alleged participation in Russia’s doping program. The Russian…

An eight-man delegation of Texas Rangers officials and personnel met with superstar Japanese pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani in Los Angeles on Tuesday, according to multiple reports from beat writers. The Rangers are one of seven teams remaining in the hunt for Ohtani, along with the Mariners, Angels, Padres,…

Despite the school’s massive size — enrollment approached 38,000 in 2016 — and location in the nation’s biggest recruiting hotbed, the University of North Texas has never made a name for itself on the football field. The Mean Green have never won 10 games in a season and have frequently…

Former Dallas Cowboys running back Darren McFadden announced Tuesday afternoon that he’s quitting the NFL instead of finding another team after the Cowboys dropped him Sunday afternoon. The former University of Arkansas star’s decision comes in the midst of his 10th NFL season and marks a stark disappointment for both…

Former Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Terry Glenn has died in a car accident Monday morning in Irving, according to the multiple local news outlets. He was 43. Glenn was the Cowboys’ leading receiver in 2005 and played a central role playoff runs in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Glenn enjoyed a 12-year…

It’s been a banner year for athletes who hail from Dallas. Given their contributions, it seems like a good time for an updated list of the greatest Dallas athletes of all time. A note about how this list was compiled: While athletes from Dallas’ immediate suburbs were fair game for the…

There’s no denying that Sunday night’s tilt between the Cowboys and Eagles is a big one. The Eagles are 8-1, but untested, with their best win coming over the Panthers on Oct. 12. Beating the Cowboys in front of what’s sure to be huge national TV audience in prime time…

When the U.S. House version of the GOP’s sweeping tax reform package makes it to the chamber’s floor — something that could come as early as today — legislators will take up a key provision that could end up costing the city of Arlington between $100 million and $200 million…

On Tuesday, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones addressed the growing crop of rumors that have sprung up in the midst of his fight against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, dismissing claims that his fellow owners are considering harsh punishments against Jones and the Cowboys. “I’ve had not one, not one, inkling…

The World Series is over. The Houston Astros are champions for the first time in their 55-year history. The Rangers, just as they haven’t been in any of their 45 seasons, are not. For many Rangers fans, Houston’s triumph picked the scab that remains festering from the Rangers’ 2011 World…

For the latest on U.S. District Judge Katherine Failla’s decision to reinstate Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension, check out the Observer’s Monday night update. Just before 3 a.m. July 22, 2016, Tiffany Thompson called Columbus, Ohio, police to report an assault. Officers met her at a short-term rental property at 29 W. Third…