Dropping the Ball

When is no news conference news? When the No. 16-ranked high-school basketball prospect in the country decides he isn’t quite ready to tell folks where he’s going to school. (Same thing happened to me; I get it.) That’s what happened today when power forward Darrell Arthur of South Oak Cliff…

Bush is a Liar (Aw, Quiet Down)

Now George Dubya done gone and pissed off a whole new constituency: soccer players (and, of course, their moms). Today’s Los Angeles Times takes issue with something the president told Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper for its Sunday editions. “As a boy, I never even saw a soccer ball,” the…

Slapshot in the Face

In case you missed it–and I know you did–the Dallas Stars’ first-round flop is looking more embarrassing by the day. With Mavs-Spurs and the EDS Byron Nelson Classic in our faces this week it’s difficult to think about the Stars. But what’s happening to the team that beat them–the Colorado…

Cotton Comes to Dallas (Well, Stays, Actually)

On April 25, the Austin American-Statesman’s Kurt Bohls insisted the annual University of Texas-University of Oklahoma game at the Cotton Bowl was a goner come 2008. (OK, so he reported that someone close to UT and the Cotton Bowl said it was “80-20 that Texas will leave” the Red River…

Tip o’ the Derby to Lone Star Parker

This Saturday Lone Star Park’s all-time top trainer Steve Asmussen will run two horses in the Kentucky Derby—Private Vow and Storm Treasure—and hope to erase a pretty dreadful record in classic competition. Asmussen, who’s based in Texas, topped the U.S. trainer standings last year in wins and is ranked No…

The Texas Strangers

It’s an annual rite of spring. On April 15–at precisely 11:59 p.m., if you’re like me–we do our taxes and write off the Texas Rangers. This year seemed no different. Before the season even started, prized pitcher Adam Eaton injured his finger. New leadoff man Brad Wilkerson started striking out…

What About Bill?

Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells came out of his and Dick Cheney’s spider hole yesterday to attend the Texas Rangers-Baltimore Orioles game at The Ameriquest Ballpark at Arlington Stadium–but, of course, InvisiBill wasn’t much interested in talking football or the draft…or much of anything. He says that’ll change Friday and…

Silent Stupidity

So this old couple buys a house. Not just any couple, mind you. They’re not directly related, but you treat them like family. Check on them almost every day. Make every effort to buy what they’re selling, injecting income and enthusiasm to make their ends meet happily ever after. Not…

Like Father, Like Son

If pedigree is any indication, the Frisco RoughRiders baseball franchise is headed in the right direction. The Texas Rangers Double-A affiliate has promoted Scott Sonju to the prestigious role of president/general manager. If that name rings a wind chime in your vast noggin, it should. Scott’s dad is Norm Sonju,…

New Cowboys Voice

You heard it here first: Charlie Waters just accepted the job to be the analyst on Dallas Cowboys radio broadcasts for next season. Waters, an All-Pro safety with the team in the 1970s, will be Brad Sham’s partner on KTCK 1310 AM The Ticket beginning with this summer’s pre-season schedule…

Getting Defensive

That chirping Valley Ranch birdie tells me today that Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Ellis is unhappy and skipping off-season workouts in an attempt to force his way out of town. Ellis, the team’s first-round pick in the 1998 draft, doesn’t fit the mold of coach Bill Parcells’ 3-4 defensive…

L.A. Makes Pass in Dallas

The mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, is in town today, along with some other elected L.A. officials, to meet with 11 NFL team owners who’ve come to Dallas to see just where Cowboys owner Jerry Jones buried coach Bill Parcells. (What? You say he’s still alive? Then just where…

On the Mark

I loves me some Mark Cuban. Those of us who endured the Dallas Mavericks’ failed “Three J’s” era and countless snoozefests at Reunion Arena appreciate the extreme makeover he’s performed on the franchise, on and off the court. The Mavs are on their way to a second-round showdown with the…

Mocking the Draft

Lowndes Shingler. John M. Longmeyer. Lou Cioci. Stop me when you’ve heard of one…Bill Van Burkleo. Sonny Utz. Drawing a blank? Of course you are. Join the clueless crowd. Because despite what geeks like Mel Kiper and Gil Brandt and Norm Hitzges and some eighth-grader with a Web site in…

Marty Needs a Good Yanking

The old hockey adage is that in the Stanley Cup playoffs, teams need their goalies to play extraordinarily well–to “stand on their heads.” At this point, the Dallas Stars just need Marty Turco to save face. Already down 0-2 to the Colorado Avalanche in their best-of-seven playoff series, the Stars’…

Hog…Wild?

Writing in the Austin American-Statesman today, sports columnist Kirk Bohls says the annual University of Texas-University of Oklahoma game at the Cotton Bowl is damned near a done-gone deal: “‘I think it’s 80-20 that Texas will leave,’ said someone with connections to both Texas and the Cotton Bowl…Barring a change…

The Giant General

It was Don Nelson who set the table and prepared the food for your Dallas Mavericks. But it’s been Avery Johnson who’s taught them how to eat. Johnson, known as the Little General for his short stature and stern disposition, will receive the NBA’s Coach of the Year award before…

Street Cred or Straight Creep?

News that SMU will hire Matt Doherty to be its next basketball coach comes with a mixed message. Bravo: Doherty is a Dean Smith starter kit who jump-started flatlining programs at Notre Dame and Florida Atlantic. Bullshit: Doherty is a spoiled brat with anger management issues who resigned at North…

Sixty Down, 16 to Go

The Dallas Mavericks started the season with a broken-down Doug Christie, flirted late with signing has-been Shawn Kemp and gave extended minutes all the way through to isn’t-yet Rawle Marshall. Key guard Devin Harris only played seven games after the All-Star break. Keith Van Horn was injured more often than…

No Stars Gazing

If you drive near the American Airlines Center you can’t miss the giant banners featuring the Dallas Stars’ Stanley Cup quest and star Mike Modano. But if you subscribe to Dish Network, you will miss the NHL’s Western Conference Finals, likely a showdown between your Stars and the rival Detroit…

American Idols

It’s a hot, wind-warped day at the Dallas Cup Youth Soccer Tournament in Frisco, and a team of 13-year-old boys has just administered a 6-0 ass-kicking. As they jubilantly leave Pizza Hut Park, the group of players and their supporters happens upon a gaggle of barely legal girls. Fit, flirty…

Billy and the Jets

Coming soon to the Dallas Cowboys’ roster…Joe Namath? Granted, with the way ol’ Broadway Joe is struh-guh-liiiing these days, it’s a bit far-fetched. But considering coach Bill Parcells’ fascination with has-beens who once played in New York, all a player needs to wear a star on his helmet is some…