The Other Chip

I took the family to Sunday's Rangers-Blue Jays game, and as usual, we had a great time.  Rangers were kind enough to hit 3 homers (love those fireworks) and get some good pitching too, for an exciting 3-2 win to earn a sweep.  And to top that off, my son took home his first bona fide major league foul ball.  Love it.

But look at this picture.

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This is Section 18, first level along the third-base line.  Perhaps the third inning of Sunday's game.  With the execption of about 20 people in the first two rows, the rest of our section was empty.  Folks, these are good seats, and while most are owned to season ticket holders (like my company), it's a shame they're empty on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

My boss and friend Bruce is a huge Rangers fan just like me.  We're the resident Rangers historians here at FOX 4.  He says the Rangers can't just stay in the hunt this season.  Even if they're competitive in what looks like a weak division, they won't win back any fans.  Bruce says the Rangers need to run off a 30-5 streak to get fan excitement back.  I agree.

Rangers, I love you still.  But you gotta start winning.  How about a sweep of the Yankees this week, and then another of the Angels this weekend.

OK, enough of the preaching.  Now, more pictures:

Here's my son with his first foul ball!  (It helps to be sitting in an empty section.)

Here's the fireworks after Michael Young's 8th-inning home run that proved to be the game-winner.

As much as I've enjoyed seeing the Rangers win 4 of the past 5, I also enjoyed watching the Sunday night game they lost.  Despite the fact we came up on the short side, Sunday's game was pretty darn entertaining. 

One of the highlights was the pitcher's duel between Curt Schilling and Vicente Padilla.  Padilla allowed only two mistakes, the two HRs by David Ortiz that cost him the game.  Schilling was shaky early on, but then pitched masterfully through the middle innings. 

Schilling has started a new blog called 38pitches.com .   And the morning after the game, he blogged a batter-by-batter account of the game from his perch on the mound.  It's good reading.

 

The schedule is out.  Gotta tell you, it doesn't look that daunting.  But who knows, it's April and no one has played a down.   The AFC was middling at best last season, and except for the Bears, same goes for the NFC North.  Between those two divisions, that's half the schedule.  Throw in six divisional games, and two more tilts with St. Louis and Carolina, and that's your 16.  

A decent Cowboys team could go 11-5 or better with this lineup.  What do you think?

Sept. 9, NY Giants (NBC), 7:15 p.m. (Home Game)
Sept. 16, at Miami (FOX), 3:05 p.m.
Sept. 23, at Chicago (NBC), 7:15 p.m.
Sept. 30, St Louis (FOX), Noon (Home Game)
Oct. 8, at Buffalo (ESPN), 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 14, New England (CBS), 3:15 p.m.  (Home Game)
Oct. 21, Minnesota (FOX), Noon  (Home Game)
Oct. 28, BYE
Nov. 4, at Philadelphia (NBC), 7:15 p.m.
Nov. 11, at NY Giants (FOX), 3:15 p.m.
Nov. 18, Washington (FOX), Noon  (Home Game)
Nov. 22, NY Jets (CBS) 3:15 pm (Home Game)
Nov. 29, Green Bay (NFLN) 7:15 p.m. (Home Game)
Dec. 9, at Detroit, (FOX) Noon
Dec. 16, Philadelphia, (FOX) 3:15 p.m.  (Home Game)
Dec. 22, at Carolina, (NFLN) 7:15 p.m.
Dec. 30, at Washington, (FOX), Noon

 

You'll probably read more of this in the week ahead, but Sunday February 25th is the 20th anniversary of SMU's football program getting the Death Penalty.

I graduated SMU in 1986, nine months before the NCAA forced us to cancel the 1987 football season.  (SMU canceled the 1988 season, and resumed football in 1989.)

Any questions that there was significant corruption in the program were laid to rest a few weeks later when Governor Bill Clements (newly inaugurated in his second term) held a historic news conference that said he was involved in the scandal in the four years between his first and second terms as governor.

In many ways, I owe the early successes in my career to the fact SMU had great football teams in the early 80s.  For most of my four years at SMU, I worked in the Athletic Department's Sports Information Department.  I helped arrange media coverage for the football and track teams, both of which were national powers.  Because we were so good, we had all kinds of media attention -- national TV appearances, national magazines, bowl representatives.  There were always bigtime people paying us a visit.  I got to work with those people, and it helped me get ahead after graduation. 

It's a shame that the events of February 1987 came to pass, but in retrospect, it's the best thing that could have happened to the school.  SMU is now totally committed to running a clean program.  Academic standards for athletes are very tough.  We haven't won much in the past 20 years, but I know Coach Bennett has the program on the right track. 

And I'll always be thankful that SMU gave me an opportunity to succeed.

OK, so I didn't fare well with my Super Bowl pick (31-28 Bears), so I'll try my hand at predicting this week's biggest event, the likely announcement of a new Dallas Cowboys head coach.

After weighing all the available evidence, I'm going with the favorite this time... Norv Turner.

Here's why:

Norv will love to have Jason Garrett as his offensive coordinator, or at least he won't mind the fact that Jerry has already hired Jason.

Norv and Jason may be the best chance that Tony Romo has to develop into a superstar QB.

Norv is a safe candidate. He's well-liked and he has experience. But he also has a 59-83-1 all-time head coaching record. Oakland is a mess, I won't fault him for that. Washington - more potential there, so maybe he should have done more. But still, Norv has many positives.

YOUR TURN NOW! Post your own prediction blog, or you can simply write a comment below this post.

I'm a Cowboy fan, but I like watching both of these teams too. I've got to stick with the NFC, and while I admire Tony Dungy (Colts coach), I'm going to root more for Lovie Smith (Bear coach, from East Texas) and "da Bearsss".

Bears 31, Colts 28

What's your pick?

Michael Irvin will learn later today whether he's elected to the Hall of Fame. To me, he's a sure thing, and he should have gone in last year.

When the Cowboys were at their best in the mid-90's, Irvin was the emotional leader of the team. Compared to the combustible Terrell Owens, Irvin put his team first. I think I heard Troy Aikman say once that no one worked harder in practice, and in the games, than Michael.

#88 wasn't the fastest receiver ever to play the game, but he used his physical strength and size to beat defenders and catch key passes.

Michael's failings in life were very public, but he's rebuilt for himself a new life in television, and he's got a lot to be proud of.

Good luck Michael! You deserve a great phone call today.

Can all y'all help out my son really quick? He's in fifth grade, and he's doing a survey project where he has to ask one question and get 100 responses. Then he can tabulate the results. Problem is, he was out sick yesterday when all the kids got to ask each other their questions. So if you're reading this blog tonight (Wednesday January 10), could you post a reply to my kid's question?

Here's the question my son is asking for his survey:

Of these NFL teams, which is your favorite?

Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles
New England Patriots
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New York Giants
Indianapolis Colts


Just write a comment below with your answer. On behalf of my 5th-grader, thanks!

From the sports wires this morning...

Toronto Blue Jays star centerfielder Vernon Wells is expected to sign a contract extension that will pay him $126 million over the next 7 years. Folks, that's $18 million a year.

Pretty good for the most famous graduate to come out of Arlington Bowie High School. By the way, I'm #926 on the most-famous Arlington Bowie graduates list.

Good job Vernon! Play hard, live well.

Dallas is a poorer place this morning, with Lamar Hunt no longer walking among us. Reading his obituary on our site, I realize I had forgotten so much of what he did. Here's a quick reminder:

Started the Dallas Texans football team in 1960, one of the original 8 AFL teams that later merged into the NFL. The Texans competed against the young Cowboys franchise, but then Hunt moved the team to Kansas City. The Chiefs played in Super Bowl I (lost to Green Bay), then won Super Bowl IV (beating the Vikings). Hunt was beloved in Kansas City.
Started the Dallas Tornado of the old North American Soccer League, in 1968.
Started the old World Championship Tennis circuit that brought pro tennis to Dallas every year.
At his death, he and his family were still involved in pro soccer, with FCDallas and two other franchises in Major League Soccer.


But here are some things I didn't recall about Lamar Hunt:
He was a third-stringer on the SMU football team.
He owned the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs minor league baseball team in the 1960s, and he tried but failed to bring a major league baseball team here then.
He was one of the founding partners of the Chicago Bulls basketball team.


There will be many great quotes about Lamar Hunt, but so far I like this one the most, and it's excerpted from a story I just read in the Associated Press:

Hunt remained interested in the day-to-day operations of the Chiefs but was never known as a meddlesome owner.
"On Sunday nights after a game, he would always call," Chiefs coach Herm Edwards said. "It would be about 9:30 or 10 o'clock and the phone would ring and I knew it was Lamar. He always said, 'Am I bothering you?'
"Is he bothering me? What a great man, as humble a man as you will ever meet."

SMU and Rice play each other this weekend. By my calculations, it's the first time these two teams have met, with something on the line for both teams, since 1940. There's been a lot of losing years between these two teams, so this game has often passed as only a footnote to the bigger teams and games out there.

But this year is different. SMU is 6-5. Rice is 6-5. The team that wins Saturday in Houston will be 7-5 and will play in a bowl game. The team that loses will finish 6-6 and will almost certainly NOT play in a bowl.

How big would this be for either school? SMU hasn't been to a bowl since 1984. Rice hasn't bowled since 1961.

Both teams have brighter futures ahead. The SMU quarterback Justin Willis is a star-in-the-making. I've seen 5 SMU games this season, and he is definitely something special.

Here's another angle to look at these teams. Which would you rather have this year? The old Big 8 teams? Or the old Southwest Conference teams? With SMU, Rice, TCU, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Houston, Texas Tech, and Texas all finishing above .500, that's a pretty strong league.

Dallas Texas October 1984.

While a heavy rain was pouring down over the Cotton Bowl, Texas and Oklahoma were playing an amazing game that ended in controversy and a 15-15 tie. Texas was ranked #1, Oklahoma #3.

Why was it a great game for me? You have to understand that while I like both schools and while I have many friends who went to Texas and Oklahoma, I don't root for either team. And that particular day in 1984, it was fun to see them both fuming over a game that either team coulda/shoulda won.

Meantime, at the same hour, in another drenched stadium 90 miles south in Waco, my SMU Mustangs (also in the top-10 that week) were minutes away from facing a stunning upset to Baylor. We were down 20-10 with three minutes to play, but we scored two touchdowns in those last three minutes **in the rain** to win the game 24-20 and preserve our undefeated mark. So while we were celebrating our thrilling victory on our drive north up I-35 back to Dallas, we were gloating over the frustrated Longhorn and Sooner fans driving back to their homes.

I realize that's kind of a twisted approach on this day we're focusing on Texas and OU, but that's the way I see it. Don't like what I write? Post a comment, or better, start your own blog!

Oh yeah, a prediction. This is tough, but in a series that has seen a lot of streaks, I'll stick with the team that's won the last game. And with overtime in college football now, there's no chance of a tie. So here goes, Texas 24, Oklahoma 23. A late turnover seals the deal for Texas.

What to make of the 2006 Rangers? One day I want to start camping out for playoff tickets, the next I just want to move on to football season.

There are so many good player stories this year -- Mark deRosa and Gary Matthews Jr. chief among them. Aki, Padilla, all those doubles, decent starting pitching.

So why are our Rangers only 3 games over .500, and 5-1/2 back of the A's? This team should be a lot better.

Some people say it's the heat, but that's a cheap excuse since both teams play in the same park at the same time.

Others are saying it's the manager's fault, and there's a new website, www.firebuck.com, started to let them vent over what they say is a lousy job by Buck. I don't necessarily agree with their views, and I think Buck has done a good job keeping this team competitive this year. But we had higher expectations, didn't we?

You keep looking for a spark. Last night's nice work by Aki to shut down the heart of the Tigers batting order, protecting a 1-run lead on the road, after giving up a leadoff triple, was pretty sweet. Now can they finally put something together to give the A's a chase?

What do you think?

When was the last time you saw a game in which all the runs were scored on sac flies? The Rangers had 2 last night; the Orioles had one. Sac flies make for lousy highlights. The play begins with (usually) a routine out, and rarely is there a close play at the plate.

Not complaining though. It's good anytime to see the Rangers win when they don't him a home run. Nice job by Millwood, Bauer, Coco and Aki on the mound.

I guess there's not much going on in Baltimore this year, but to win two straight after the break is a good sign. The Rangers really need a sweep before moving on to face Toronto to Chicago, much tougher foes.

The day after the All-Star Game is usually the slowest day of the sports calendar. No baseball, unless you count the Triple-A All-Star game (I don't). No football (yet). No hockey or hoops, unless you count the WNBA. No racing. No fun!

I guess I'll just have to talk to my family tonight!