Game 6

One strike away.

4 days ago the Texas Rangers stood one strike away from a World Series title.  Twice.  It was a meltdown of epic proportions.

The emotional roller coaster the fans were riding was previously unthinkable.  You know why?  Because what we just witnessed is the single worst moment in Dallas sports history.

The previous generation will talk to you about Jackie Smith - the Cowboys tight end who dropped a pass in the end zone.  He was all alone - nobody there to make a defensive play - and the ball hit him right between the numbers...  in the Super Bowl.  They had to settle for a field goal and Dallas would end up losing Super Bowl XIII by those 4 points.  But that play wasn't as the clock ran out.  There were 28 points scored AFTER that happened.  No contest.

Cowboy fans also would be remiss if they didn't mention "The Catch."  In January of 1982, Joe Montana found Dwight Clark in the back of the end zone on a heart-wrenching TD play in the final minute of the NFC Championship game.  I'll say that again - the NFC Championship game.  This wasn't the Super Bowl and this was simply a good play by the other team, not a disaster.  Next?

The Mavericks had a meltdown of their own in 2006.  Their first trip to the NBA Finals and they were rolling over the Heat.  Dallas had won both games at home and was dominating in Game 3 in Miami when suddenly it all collapsed.  The Mavs blew a 13-point lead in the final six minutes.  They didn't win another game.  If that had been game 4, we'd be in the same stratosphere here, but the Mavericks had plenty of time to right this wrong.

No, the Metroplex has never seen this type of heartbreak and they never will again.

Because it's impossible.

Sports gives us incredible drama and wonderful moments.  But only baseball gives us this.  The game was over.  A fly ball off the bat of Ryan Freese was in the air and going to land in the field of play.  If Nelson Cruz gets over there and catches it, the Rangers are World Series champions.  He didn't... and they aren't.

This is a Hail Mary jump ball TD as time expires in the Super Bowl.  This is a full-court heave at the buzzer of NBA Finals game 7.  But this is worse, because there's no clock to force this action... only white-knuckle, nail-biting eternal moments that only the national pasttime can provide.

This is the reason true fans love baseball so much... and also the reason they hate it.

It is impossible to come any closer to winning than the Rangers did.

So take some solace here, Dallas sports fans - it will never be worse than this.  It literally can't be.

Home Field Disadvantage

The Texas Rangers will play game one of the World Series tonight, but they’ll play it in St. Louis.  Texas had a better record than the Cardinals…  six games better.  The Rangers are a divisional champion…  St. Louis is a wild card team.  So why do the Cardinals get home field advantage for the final series of the sports’ season?  Because the commissioner overreacted.

In 2002 the MLB All-Star Game was a wonderful mid-summer spectacle.  Barry Bonds, fresh off a record-setting season, had a home run stolen over the wall on a gem of a play by Torii Hunter.  Then he belted a 2-run bomb later in the game to get his revenge.  The National League went up 4-0.  Then the AL stormed back and led 6-5.  In the 7^th inning the lead changed hands twice and finally in the 8^th inning Omar Vizquel tripled in the tying run to make it 7 to 7.  This one was headed to extra innings. 

All-Star games are designed to get everybody in the game.  Folks in San Diego don’t have a lot to cheer for – they’d like to see Trevor Hoffman get in there and strike somebody out.  The American League used all 9 of their pitchers.  The National League had 10… all made it into the game.  But the score was still tied.  This IS an exhibition and nobody wants to see guys overused or get hurt, so Bud Selig made an executive decision:  after 11 innings, he called it off.  7-7… a tie… in a baseball game.  The fans in Milwaukee let him have it and Milwaukee is ground zero for Bud Selig.  This was HIS town.  Popular opinion started raining down – the All-Star game wasn’t what it used to be... it didn’t matter anymore...  it was SO inconsequential that the commissioner didn’t even care if it ended in a tie.

So the following year, Selig started a bold experiment.  Whichever league won the All-Star game would get home field advantage for the World Series.  It made no sense.  It was a desperate attempt by the commissioner to win the fans over – to loudly shout “I DO care about the All-Star game!”  So much so that he tied a VERY important piece of the World Series to an exhibition game often decided by a guy off the bench.  The fact that it happened once was laughable.  The fact that it was renewed twice and made a permanent part of the game is a disgrace.

 
Of COURSE the higher seeded team with the better record should have home field.  And this is no small thing.  This means an extra game where the pitchers have to hit (an area in which the Rangers are not well-versed)  Plus there was no American League team better at home this year than the Texas Rangers.  So far this postseason the Rangers are an .800 team in Arlington.  4-1.  That all-important extra home game has been taken away from Texas.  Why?  Because the commissioner put his own popularity ahead of the sport.  Ironic considering his popularity was never much to start with.  The steroid era took shape, blossomed and even flourished under his watch.  A few years ago Selig announced that he would retire after the 2009 season.  Then he didn’t.  Now he says he’ll retire after the 2012 season.  Let’s hope this time it sticks… and the new regime retires this home field travesty along with him.

Below Average

Last night was arguably the greatest regular season night in the storied history of Major League Baseball.  But not at Citi Field in New York.  And really, it could have been.  While playoff spots were being won and lost all over the country, a different race found its epicenter out in Queens: the National League batting crown was on the line. 

Entering the night Jose Reyes of the Mets was hitting .336.  The Brewers’ Ryan Braun was at .335.  These are the statistical battles that make baseball unique – a game that normally wouldn’t mean that much suddenly takes on new life as the drama unfolds and people watch the scoreboard and do frantic math. 

Reyes led off the game for New York with a bunt single.  His average went up to .337.  Reyes did some math of his own and knew that Braun would have to go 3-for-4 against the Pirates to top that, so Reyes took himself out of the game.  In Milwaukee, Braun played out his final game, but went 0 for 4.  Jose Reyes wins the league batting title. 

September 28^th was also the 70^th anniversary of an amazing baseball moment.  On this very same night in 1941, Ted Williams was on the brink of history.  It was the final day of the regular season and his Boston Red Sox had a doubleheader scheduled against the Philadelphia Athletics.  Williams had a batting average of .39955 heading into that day.  It would round up and go down as a rare .400 season.  Very few people in the modern era can claim that feat.  So manager Joe Cronin visited with his star player and told Ted that he didn’t have to play.  The Sox weren’t going to the playoffs.  This day wouldn’t change that.

Ted Williams refused to sit.  He said that if he didn’t hit .400 the ENTIRE season, then he didn’t deserve it.  Then he went out and tore it up.  8 at-bats.  6 hits.  By the end of the night Williams had NOT hit .400 after all.  He had hit .406.  You know how many people have hit .400 since then?  Try zero.  Not one.  That’s how big a deal this was.  But Ted Williams’ respect for the game wouldn’t let him sandbag it.  If I can’t do this all the way, then I don’t want to do it at all.

Mets fans booed their own player when he came out of the game last night.  Reyes’ answer?  “They have to understand, too, what's going on. They have to feel happy about it if I win the batting title.”  They don’t HAVE to, Jose.  Not when you do it that way.  Jose Reyes was a coward.  He saw an easy path and he took it... and in the process he disrespected the game and showed a complete lack of confidence in himself.  He already had a hit!  I want the guy on my team who says, "I'm gonna' win this batting title by a boatload!  I'm gonna' get three more hits today and run away with this thing!"  Instead the Mets have a guy looking for the path of least resistance.

Ryan Braun’s reaction was full of class.  “I'm not going to judge him. I respect whatever decision he decided to make.” 

Respect.

Ted Williams had it.  Even Ryan Braun had it.  Hard not to lose a little of it for Reyes today.

Tony Award

Tony Romo is a warrior. 

Let those five words soak in. 

It wasn’t too long ago that the Cowboys fan base didn’t agree.  In fact, it was two weeks ago.

In a world that measures your success against Aikman and Staubach, Tony Romo has had a rough go with the fans.  It started in January of 2007 when he bobbled a snap on a field goal that would have won the Cowboys a playoff game in Seattle.  Never mind that this guy had taken over mid-season for an anemic Drew Bledsoe.  Never mind that he had come out of nowhere to lead that team to the postseason.  He bobbled the snap.  He was the goat. 

The next year he threw for over 4200 yards, took the Cowboys to a 13-3 record, but they lost in their first playoff game to the Giants.  The story?  Tony Romo went to Cabo during the team’s bye week .   He took a two-hour flight somewhere to relax?  How COULD he?  Never mind that he didn’t miss a single day of practice.  Never mind that many of his teammates also left town.  He dared to go someplace tropical… and with Jessica Simpson!  Off with his head!

After that playoff loss, Tony didn’t do himself any favors with his postgame remarks.  “If something in sports is the worst thing that ever happens to you, you’ve lived a pretty good life.”  Gentlemen, start your engines.  Romo was now saddled with the reputation that he didn’t care enough - that he didn’t want to win badly enough.   Tony hadn’t yet learned a very important Dallas lesson: for many of his fans a Cowboys loss IS the worst thing that’s ever happened.

From there it snowballed.  Every single move Tony made was under the microscope.  The guy is a scratch golfer who kept those competitive juices flowing in the offseason by trying to qualify for the U.S. Open.  Nope.  That just means he’s not concentrating on football.  Strike 3.  He’s out.  When he got hurt last year and the season was in the toilet, they made a coaching change.  It just so happened that Jon Kitna was quarterbacking when this new breath of life came into the team.  People actually suggested that Kitna should replace Romo this season.

Then when Tony made a couple of bad mistakes in a tough opening loss to the Jets this year, the whispers started again.  Romo isn’t a winner… and more ridiculous – Romo’s not even a good quarterback – not in the top half of the league.  Tony took week one’s loss hard.  There were reports that he sat in the locker room with his head down for too long.  Apparently now he cares TOO much. 

Then last week with two broken ribs and a punctured lung, Tony Romo came back into the game and led his team to victory.  The national media made a darling of Tony and for good reason.  But I think last night may have been even more impressive.  Quarterbacks don’t win or lose games by themselves… but they certainly have the most impact.  Last night, Romo came as close as you can to winning by himself. 

Still hurting with his ribs, he took a team decimated by injury and inexperience and simply WILLED them down the field.  The Redskins blitzed mercilessly.  They threw everyone in Washington at him.  I swear I saw a tobacco lobbyist in the backfield at one point.  Tony was hit… he was harassed… and he had very little help.  He was breaking the huddle and explaining to his receivers where to line up.  Why?  Because they were clearly clueless.  It was as if Romo was the only one who had been issued a playbook.  He had a center who three different times snapped the ball to an unsuspecting Romo after being fooled by the defense.  Facing 3^rd and 21, Tony literally pointed and yelled DURING the play, telling Dez Bryant where to go and throwing it there to set up the winning field goal.  Tony Romo won that game because Tony Romo flat out refused to lose.

Romo says all the right things.  “Criticism comes with playing this position.”  Unfortunately for Tony, he plays in Dallas. 

Everyone loves him today after that performance.  So much so that it’s easy to forget the way they’ve treated him the past 5 years.  But one bad interception at the wrong time and the rumbling will start anew. 

He’s a great golfer, so he golfs in his free time.  You would, too.  He dates fabulously famous and beautiful women.  You would, too.  And at the end of the day, he’s easily one of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL and there is an argument that he’s top 5.  He wants to win as much or more than anyone on that field and to insinuate otherwise is pure folly.  Cowboys fans are lucky to have him.  Too bad that it will take a championship for this spoiled franchise to realize it.

Maybe later... but definitely NOT Sooner

The Big 12 appears to have life after all. 

The news this week is that the PAC-12 will not be expanding and so at least for now the “Big 4” of the Big 12 are staying put.  Oklahoma started this latest storyline, expected to take Oklahoma State and leave for the PAC-12 and essentially force Texas to split off or bow down, bringing Tech along for the ride.  OU - finally after all this time - flexing their muscle and saying, “We don’t follow Texas anymore.  Texas can follow us.”

But a funny thing happened.  Texas refused to tear up their $300 million Longhorn Network deal.  No, Texas decided that if that’s how it would have to be, then they would pass.  “Good luck, Oklahoma.  We’ll miss playing you, but we understand you have to go if you have to go.”

Then a downright HYSTERICAL thing happened.  The PAC-12 rejected OU.  As it turns out, the PAC-12 didn’t want the Oklahoma schools without Texas.  That’s gotta’ sting a little.

The reason I’m taking delight here isn’t that I want to prove Texas dominance over OU.  A 59-41-5 record against them does that.  It’s because they crowed about it.  If Oklahoma had quietly gone to the PAC-12 and inquired and it hadn’t worked out, I’d feel legitimately bad for them.  But that’s not how it went down.

Three weeks ago when OU President David Boren said “There is no school in the Big 12 more active than we are right now” and “I don’t think OU is going to be a wallflower when all is said and done” he was declaring independence from Texas.  He threw out veiled threats like “"I think we remain a very influential member of the conference. I'll just put it that way.”  When Bob Stoops then said that the Texas-OU game wasn’t necessary the gauntlet had been thrown.  He apparenlty wasn't going to be a wallflower, either.  The Sooners forgot one thing, though… they weren’t invited.

Texas hasn’t done this.  Texas has a concrete offer from the ACC to come be the flagship football program of their conference and keep the Longhorn Network as it is.  You don’t hear the Longhorns shouting it from the rooftops.  Texas has never publicly talked about leaving the Big 12 and for the most part have kept quiet while everyone else blames them and says they should share the LHN wealth.  Well, thanks to a failed Sooner power play, DeLoss Dodds can be clear.  "I don't think our network is in play," Texas' athletic director said Wednesday. "Our network is our network. Anybody can do one.”  You know WHY anyone can do one?  Because the Big 12 schools VOTED to let anyone do one.  Get over it and find a way to make it work for you.  There’s a lot of TV money out there, people.  Quit whining and start working.

So now it appears that Oklahoma’s chest-puffing days are behind them.  Maybe it’s temporary.  Maybe a time comes when the rivalries get torn apart and the teams go their separate ways.  OU overestimated their pull.  That’s forgivable.  Doing it in public isn’t.  Say what you will about the Horns, but Texas isn’t running up the score.

The Sooners were the so-so girl that the PAC-12 was talking to in order to get to the hot chick.  That invitation “back to their place” just didn’t hold up for OU when the prom queen wasn’t interested.

You know who that makes you at this dance, David Boren?  A wallflower.

9.11.11

I spent the bulk of the day yesterday in the car.

I traveled from Austin to Houston to visit my Mom and then from Houston back to Dallas later that night.  It had just gotten dark as I passed through Fairfield, Texas.  Right on the other side of that town, lights were flashing on the overpass.  It was one of those county roads you see constantly as you drive through Texas.  FM 833.  A throwback to the America that required special roads to get folks from Farm to Market.  There was a firetruck on the bridge above the highway - it's lights blazing.  Beside it, two police cars - also running their lights.  I started to make that tense "I hope everyone's ok" face when it became clear that something different was happening here.

There were a dozen or so people, some of them in uniform (be it firefighters or police officers or sheriff's deputies) emergency personnell standing alongside plain-clothesed citizens and children - there, above the highway, in the dark of night... there on a small Texas road in the middle of Interstate 45 - they were hooting and hollering and waving American flags.

It would have been a remarkable display on any day, but on September 11th it was jaw-dropping - not just that these people were waving flags and celebrating their country, but that they found a way to share it with strangers driving by.

It took a second to realize what was going on... and then, of course, the moment was gone.  I felt as if I should have honked my horn or waved out the window.  I was still thinking about it 6 or 7 miles down the road when I approached Ranch Road 246 in Streetman, Texas, and there they were again.  Another group with a fire truck, an ambulance, a police cruiser - officers and responders... husbands, wives and children.  This time I laid on the horn and saw arms shoot up in the air as I zoomed by.

In all, this scene played out in front of me 6 or 7 times in a half-hour span.  It never got old.

I'm sure the terrorists had quite a celebration on that day in 2001.  The breadth of the destruction they caused had to have wildly exceeded even their loftiest hopes.  But boy I'll bet our resilience was also vastly underrated.

I saw and heard all sorts of inspiring tributes yesterday.  September 11th will clearly never be forgotten.  But sometimes it's the simplest things that resonate the most.  Thanks to all the good folks along I-45 between Fairfield and Corsicana.  I was so busy yesterday that I really didn't get to soak it in and pay fair tribute... at least not until Exit 206.

Green With Envy

The plot thickens.

The Aggies want out.  Hell, the Aggies ARE out… mostly.  But now the A&M move to the SEC is being blocked by potential legal action.  The theory being that the Aggies departure is the first domino that leads to a mass exodus – and some of the lower-profile schools will be left out in the cold.  It’s not a bad theory at all.  Schools like Iowa State and Kansas State were counting on the Aggies to keep to their word and honor the agreement they made with the rest of the Big 12.  Millions of dollars and national relevance hang in the balance.

But the leader of this lawsuit crew… the school that is actually the fly in the ointment here… is Baylor.  And while I DO think that the argument is valid… and I DO think that the Aggies are setting off a series of events that will cripple some of these schools, I am forced to address the Baylor Bears for some of the most incredible hypocrisy I’ve ever witnessed.

If you go to Baylor’s website today, there is a propaganda festival happening – one worthy of a political campaign.  Baylor talks about how important football is to the fabric of the state of Texas.  They invoke the Dallas Cowboys into this argument and tug at our heartstrings with talk of the Friday Night Lights of the high school game.  Now, apparently, that Texas football tradition is being threatened.  Directly from their site:

• Will Texans stand by and watch hundred-year-old rivalries be cast aside as the state's largest universities align themselves with other states across the country?
• Will Texans sit and watch as Texas' flagship universities pledge their loyalties to other states?
• Will Texans stand by as our most promising student athletes are lured out of Texas by new rivals?
• Will Texans watch as our most precious resources—the great minds of the next generation—are exported to new conference institutions?

This is coming from Baylor?  Let me tell you a little story.

In 1994 the Southwest Conference was in trouble.  Arkansas had already left and there were only 8 teams remaining.  The Big 8 was interested in merging with some of the bigger-name schools and, just like now, there were several schools that looked like they’d be left holding the bag.  Baylor lobbied.   They fought, clawed, and schemed.  When the dust settled, the Bears had won.  They were going with Texas, Texas Tech and Texas A&M to a new conference.  So who got stuck with the short end of the stick?  TCU.  Houston.  SMU.  Rice.  4 TEXAS SCHOOLS! 

Look again at their 4 big points from the website:

1)      Baylor stood by and watched rivalries be cast aside.  Texas and TCU started playing in 1897 and have faced off 82 times.  Baylor didn’t care. 

2)      Baylor sat and watched as Texas’ flagship universities pledged their loyalties to other states.  The Longhorns and Aggies went from playing 7 conference games a year versus in-state teams to 3.  Waco wasn’t indignant.

3)      Baylor stood by as our most promising student athletes were lured out of Texas.  You think Blaine Gabbert goes to Missouri if they’re not affiliated with the Texas schools?  Baylor was just happy that they were going.

4)      You get the idea.  Baylor watched.  Baylor PARTICIPATED.

If Baylor cared about the fabric of our state, they wouldn’t have stabbed four Texas universities in the back 17 years ago.  Hey, Texas did it, too.  I’m not saying we were better.  I’m saying we aren’t using revisionist history here.

I understand.  I do.  Baylor is desperate.  The way this thing appears to be headed, a private school without a big media market is in a lot of trouble.  They signed a deal with the rest of the Big 12 just last year and the bait and switch the Aggies are pulling is really going to stick it to some of these lower-profile teams.  But my friends in green and gold have GOT to change their argument. 

Because the Aggies aren’t doing anything to Baylor that Baylor didn’t do to SMU… and Houston… and TCU… and Rice.