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AROUND THE AREA
July 13- Juuly 29 2012
Volume 10, Issue 46
sportspagedfw.com
established 2002
Stars sign legendary scorer Jagr
Cover photo:
diehardsport.com
4
AROUND THE AREA
5
FISH
7
TOM WARD
8
DUSTIN DIETZ
9
DIC HUMPHREY
By Richard S. Pollock
[email protected]
STARS SIGN JAGR......
Q&A WITH DONNIE NELSON....
GRAHAM NOLAN.....
SCATTERSHOOTING...
TIME FOR MARKET.....
10
SCOTT ROZSA
12
13
17
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19
AIRHOGS
WHATS UP WITH THE MAVS?
HOME IS GOOD....
ROUGHRIDERS
JUSTIM GRIMM....
AROUND TOWN
WITH RICHARD POLLOCK
RESTAURANT REVIEW
2.5LB HOT DOG!
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Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk completed his off-season acquisitions with the
signing of legendary scorer, Jaromir Jagr.
So far, the Dallas Stars have just added to
their "not making the playoffs again" lineup...... but then again? Trading their top
playmaker in Mike Riebero and hard-nosed
fan favorite grinder Steve Ott makes it look
like all they've done this season are bandaids. Last year's NHL “comeback player of
the year”, Sheldon Souray ( who couldn't
get anyone in the NHL to pick him up
from the minors for $500,000 2 seasons
ago), leaves and suddenly gets 3 years and
$11 Million Dollars from Anaheim,
according to Mike Stern of Inside Hockey.
To replace Souray, the Stars signed
defenseman, Aaron Rome to a three-year,
$4.5 million contact ($1.5 million per season). Rome, 28, has played the last three
seasons for the Vancouver Canucks. The 6foot-1, 225-pound blue-liner appeared in
43 games for Vancouver last season, collecting four goals and six assists for 10
points, all NHL career highs.
To replace Adam Burish who signed with
rival San Jose for 4 years and $7.4 Million
Dollars, the Stars signed forward Ray
Whitney to a two-year, $9 million contract
through the 2013-14 season ($4.5 million
per season). Whitney, 40, collected 77
points (24 goals, 53 assists) in 82 games
for Phoenix last season, good for 12th in
the league in points, and earned secondteam All-NHL honors. Among league
leaders, he was sixth in assists and ninth in
plus/minus (+26), and he led the Coyotes
Hockey braintrust are hoping that
Whitney can do what RW Michael Ryder
did for the Stars last season. The Stars
now have 19 players signed 2012-2013 at
$50.1 Million leaving them the NHL
minimum of $4.3 Million to a league
maximum of $11.2 Million to pay 4 players,this season and upgrade the Press
Box food.
But let's talk about the 40 year old Jagr
and what he means to a rebuilding Dallas
franchise. According to Dallas Stars Beat
Reporter for the Dallas Morning News,
Mike Heika, “they have poured a huge
amount of glitter onto a stale franchise." I
am not so sure.I remember a simular
move by then Stars GM and now Hockey
operations Consultant ,Bob Gainey ,when
he brought another former Philly Flyer
legend, Eric Lindros, to Dallas for just
one season. I had the perfect scenario
suggesting that Lindros spread 30 games
on the first line and the balance of the
season schedule in front of the net on
4 July 13 - July 19, 2012 | The Sports Page Weekly | sportspagedfw.com
Stars number 1 pick Radek Faska
in points, assists and plus/minus. The Stars
.power plays but they never listened to me
and Lindros eventually went to the NHL
Players Association Offices in Toronto
where he's doing a grand job.
Meanwhile Nieuwendyk's office has a
chart of his projected lines and Jagr is earmarked to be the number #1 RW along
with Center Jamie Benn and LW Loui
Ericksson. Do we expect to see posters of
Jamie Benn with Jaromir Jagr wearing a
Dallas Stars Jersey super emposed over
one of his old photos from 1996 when he
scored 149 NHL points? Just Adding two
40 year olds also makes me want to turn
off my Cell phone and go to the beach! At
the Dallas Stars Development Camp in
Frisco so far the highlights have been
Brendan Dillion, Dallas local Austin Smith
and number #1 pick Radek Faksa.
42nd Bright Realty Texas State Open
Second Chance Qualifying Entry Deadline
in Two Weeks
The deadline to register for the 42nd
Bright Realty Texas State Open Second
Chance Qualifying Tournament is
Thursday, July 26 at 5:00 p.m. CDT. All
entries must be received by the Northern
Texas PGA via mail, online, facsimile,
overnight carrier, or in person by this time.
This is the final opportunity to qualify for
the Championship, and a minimum of
eight (8) spots will be available.
The Second Chance Qualifying is scheduled for Monday, July 30 at Lantana Golf
Club in Lantana, Texas, with the overflow
site slated for Bridlewood Golf Club in
Flower Mound, Texas.
WEEKLY CALENDAR
JULY
JULY
JULY
15
13
14
FRI
SAT
SUN
Rangers
at
Mariners
9:10 PM
TXA 21
Rangers
at
Mariners
8:10 PM
FSSW
Rangers
at
Mariners
3:10 PM
FSSW
Frisco
at
Corpus Christi
7:05 PM
KKGM 1630
Frisco
at
Corpus Christi
7:05 PM
KKGM 1630
Frisco
at
Corpus Christi
6:05 PM
KKGM 1630
JULY
JULY
JULY
JULY
16
17
18
19
MON
TUE
WED
THUR
Rangers
at
Athletics
9:05 PM
FSSW
Rangers
at
Athletics
2:35 PM
FSSW
San Antonio
vs
Frisco
7:00 PM
KKGM 1630
San Antonio
vs
Frisco
7:00 PM
KKGM 1630
San Antonio
vs
Frisco
7:00 PM
KKGM 1630
Fc Dallas
at
San Jose
8:00 PM
NBC Sports
Fc Dallas
at
Colorado
8:00 PM
TXA 21
Airhogs
at
Redhawks
7:02 PM
Airhogs
at
Redhawks
6:00 PM
Airhogs
at
Redhawks
1:00 PM
Saints
vs
Airhogs
7:05 PM
Saints
vs
Airhogs
7:05 PM
Saints
vs
Airhogs
1:05 PM
San Antonio
vs
Frisco
7:00 PM
KKGM 1630
THE FISH
SPORTS TALK WITH MIKE FISHER
Q&A with Mavs GM on “the week that wasn’t”
By Mike Fisher
FISH
[email protected]
In Dallas Mavericks GM Donnie
Nelson's first and so-far only full-length
interview after “The Week That Wasn't,”
he answers our questions about Deron
Quest, Kidd's flipflop, Nash-to-LA,
Dallas' “inactivity”, 'The Plan(s), “Shark
Tank” and most important, the future of
Dirk Nowitzki. “He's a Mav For Life,’’
Donnie says.
The DallasBasketball.com/FOXSports
Donnie Q&A … on the Mavs’ Top 10
Issues of the Moment:
1: On the subject of seeming "inactivity''
Donnie: "We’re sluggin’ it out in the
bowels of the AAC. There are lots of
things on the board. We hope (there are
helpful transactions to be made). We’ll
have to see how it plays out.''
Our Reaction: The Dallas Mavericks
did indeed hunker down in the AAC
basement all day Friday and will pretty
much do the same thing for the rest of
the month. We'd be disappointed at anything less than 100 percent ... though that
"Shark Tank'' controversy does beg for
further explanation. Which we get below
Now, Donnie said the words "bowels'' so
who among us won't follow up with
snickering "Beavis & Butthead''-like
wordplay?
2: On the subject of the failed
DeronQuest ...
Donnie: "It was tough. We thought we
had a good chance. ... It was a tough
decision (for him) and a close call. I can’t
tell you at the end of the day what the
main reason was. Maybe it was the
excitement of a new city or arena.
"Sometimes you win, sometimes you
lose. Listen, that happens in sports, in
business, in life. You've got to pick yourself back up and get back at it. Which we
immediately started doing.''
Our Reaction: Among the things
Dallas was selling that Deron Williams
didn't buy: The supposedly negative
aspects of the Nets' Joe Johnson signing.
We can argue that that Deron "got drunk''
on the fun of fresh signings of Joe and
Gerald Wallace. The Mavs can argue that
those signings were not CBA-wise.
Dallas' failure to make Deron see things
their way constitutes a Mavs failure. It's
impossible to discount $77.35 million vs.
$98.77 million, though, too. But yes, that
happens in sports, in business, in life.
Now comes "The Next.'' (For exclusive
details on that, check out DB.com's oneon-one visit with Mark Cuban - "The
Seven Deadly Sinners'' -- here.) But first,
one more puzzler ...
3: On the subject of Cuban's
absence at The Pitch while he was
instead in LA filming "Shark Talk ...
Donnie: "(Cuban) couldn’t control the
scheduling and he'd made a commit. But
more than that, Deron requested a basketball conversation. Mark signs the checks
and was all-in on this deal. It was unfortunate that it didn't work out but it
(Cuban's absence) didn’t make a difference. It was mostly an Xs-and-Os meeting that Rick and I handled because those
are the things that Rick and I handle for
the Mavericks.''
Our Reaction: The Xs-and-O's portion of that explanation makes complete
sense, and we were told about that angle
early in the week. The commitment to
"Shark Tank'' is so difficult to swallow
that we damn sure hope it turns out that
Cuban was also in LA doing other "big
fish'' basketball business. Yes, the Nets
owner wasn't in the country for their
Deron pitch and the Heat owner wasn't in
the country for their Ray Allen agreement
and billionaires have many irons in the
fire. But for many observers, this "Shark
Tank'' perception doesn't sit right and this
reality doesn't sit quite right, either.
4: On the subject of trading Dirk ...
Donnie: "No. It’s not in the cards.
He’s got a no-trade clause and we would
love for him to retire a Maverick. ... He's
a Mav for life.''
Our Reaction: This is the biggie. We
would like this to kill all such discussion.
Dirk is MFFL. There is a hole in the
boat. Women and children are getting off.
Dirk is a man. He's grabbing an oar.
Nowitzki does not need our pity (he is
just 12 months removed from hugging
Larry, you know). He is not a sympathy
case. He's a man. He's a champion. And
all parties involved fully intend on Dirk
Nowitzki being a Mav For Life. We really should celebrate and embrace that.
5: On losing out on the Plan B of
Steve Nash ...
Donnie: "When you make these decisions, a lot goes into it and everyone is
different. With Stevie we had a nice presentation but he wanted to be close to his
family while making a run for the roses.
Three years was something that was
important to him and at his age it was a
heck of a deal for him.''
Our Reaction: The Mavs never "lost''
Steve Nash; he wasn't theirs to lose.
(Well, unless you count eight years ago).
Fact is, Nash's choice of LA over Dallas
was driven by a number of factors,
including his desire to be close to his
children (with his ex-wife now based in
Phoenix. But note Donnie's mention of
the "importance of three years.'' That suggests that the Mavs offered two years.
That's CBA discipline. Might turn out to
be a winner in Year 3 of that contract
when the Lakers are stuck. But it constitutes a loser right now, for Year 1,
because in Year 1 of Steve Nash's LA
contract, LA looks capable of absolutely
crushing Dallas on the court.
6: On more moves ...
Donnie: "We've got a lot of lines in
the water.''
Our Reaction: This, Dallas
Basketball.com can confirm. Dwight
Howard talks with Orlando occured as
recently as Monday, DB.com has reported. The Odom $8.9-milion TE is a valued
asset, we and the Mavs believe. Kidd and
Jet could be sign-and-traded away for little pieces. And there are other clever
ways beyond "Today's FA List'' to be
considered. (Though the Sessions, the
Cambys and the Randolphs are still in
play.) Winning the sealed bid on
amnesty'd Sixers big man Elton Brand is
among those.
7: On MFFLs "staying onboard'' ...
Donnie: "It’s never comfortable when
you have guys like Kidd and Jet leaving
the team, but it’s the reality. We’ve been
criticized the last few years for being too
old, so maybe it’s time for an injection of
youth.''
Our Reaction: We don't want "youth''
if the "youth'' doesn't have "talent.'' Even
if this is deemed to be a "throw-away
year'' with a roster full of LIBB's, we've
already got a D-League team in town. We
don't need two of 'em. Unless, that is,
you're planning a full-out Spurs-forDuncan tank season. Among the problems there: What if "Sammy Superstar'' is
made available to you in training camp?
Or at the trade deadline in February?
8: On the media suggestion that
Dirk "advised'' Kidd to book for the
Knicks ...
Donnie: “Dirk has nothing to do with
it. It’s Jason’s decision. The reason we
overextended on Kidd (with a three-year
offer) was so he’d have the opportunity to
end his career where it started. He's been
a special player for us ... To have a true
point guard is important to any franchise
and important to a player like Dirk. We’re
appreciative of Jason and what he did,
but we’ve got to move on.''
Our Reaction: Simply put, Dirk did not
"advise'' Kidd to believe. He accepted
Kidd's decision to go elsewhere. He gave
Kidd "his blessing'' AFTER Kidd's decision was made, not before. One more
time: Dirk's not a ship-jumper. He's an
oar-grabber.
9: On the subject of being surprised
by Kidd's flip ...
Donnie: "It’s a really personal thing.
He went back and forth on this thing. It
was really a gutbuster for him. Family
certainly has a place. There are a lot of
reasons. I don’t feel slighted in any way.
We gotta take our hats off, shake his
hand, and wish him nothing but the best.
Our Reaction: The Mavs were
stunned by Kidd's agreement to sign with
Dallas followed by his phone call to
inform them that he would instead head
to the Knicks. It is a "betrayal''? Nah. It's
a business, as Donnie says. But it truly
might be a referendum on Dallas overrating it's "culture.'' We'll examine that further in the coming days.
DONUT 10: On the idea of "Just Do
SOMETHING!'' ...
Donnie: "The worst thing we could do
is sign players to ruin our flexibility in
the future. Doing that would be the real
disservice to Dirk. … We’ll be down here
(in the AAC basement) for some more
hours and days, maybe months, but we’re
not gonna rest until we get this thing
right.''
Our Reaction: Donnie's point is that
signing Michael Beasley for $8 million
or signing Brandon Roy for $5 million
aren't moves that help Dirk win another
title ... so instead, they actually clog
Dirk's path to one. It can easily be
argued that this last week is about as
painful as anything Mavs fans have
endured in The Cuban Era. The 2007 collapse against Golden State? The 2006
NBA Finals against the Heat? This week
ranks. But Donnie and the Mavs don't
have time to mope. There is only time to
get this thing right.
sportspagedfw.com | The Sports Page Weekly | July 13 - July 19, 2012
5
6 July 13 - July 19, 2012 | The Sports Page Weekly | sportspagedfw.com
GOLF
WITH TOM WARD
Graham Nolan: Artist & co-creator of Batman villan
by Tom Ward
Special Contributor
Senior Golf Writer
[email protected]
So far this is the Summer of Superheroes
on the Silver Screen. First, It was Marvel
who stepped up to the plate and served up
two big hits with ‘The Avengers’ and the
newest release ‘The Amazing Spiderman.’
Next up in the batter’s box is DC with their
big hitter ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and this
Batman I predict is going to knock it out of
the park. Director Christopher Nolan is
back at the helm for his third and final
installment in this series which looks like it
could be a real blockbuster. With an all-star
cast featuring Christian Bale donning the
cape and cowl for one more go round to
battle the likes of Catwoman, played by
actress Anne Hathaway, and what could be
the best villain to come down the road in
years called ‘Bane’ portrayed by versatile
actor Tom Hardy. Die hard comic book
fans know who Bane is, but the average fan
might not know much about this mysterious masked terrorist. Director Christopher
Nolan says and Bale adds, “This is the first
time Batman has come across anybody
who is superior physically. But Bane
(played by Tom Hardy) is not just a mindless brute. He’s very cunning and resourceful.”
One of the men who’s responsible for
bringing ‘Bane’ to life is artist Graham
Nolan. No, he’s not related to the director
Christopher Nolan, but ironically Graham’s
brother is named Christopher. Along with
his longtime friend, writer Chuck Dixon,
this dynamic duo first breathed life into
this terrifying Batman nemesis back in the
early 1990’s. Batman ‘Vengeance of Bane’
first appearance in DC comics came out in
January of 1993. Beautifully drawn by
Graham and written by Chuck, it was a big
hit with fans immediately. Graham told
me,” The character ‘Bane’ was created
specifically for the comic book
‘Knightfall’. He was going to be the catalyst because they needed a villain that
could compete and beat Batman on all levels. It was Chuck’s idea to create an evil
Doc Savage. A guy who was super strong
and super smart. That was the gestation of
Bane. We knew he was going to be
pumped up by venom so we put these
cords rammed though the back of his head
to pump the venom into his body. That
aspect was decided upon early on and other
than that he was going to be this big strap-
ping bruiser and I had free reign on his
look. I based things upon the fact this kid
Bane was growing up in a South American
prison so what kind of costume would he
make for himself. I figured the only
masked images he would know would be
the Lucha Libre wrestlers. That would be
his influence. The pants I designed were
like a wrestling singlet.
This isn’t the first appearance of Bane in a
major motion picture. He was woefully
cast in an insignificant role in the awful
George Clooney film called ‘Batman &
Robin’ back in 1997. He was played by a
WCW wrestler named Jeep Swenson.
Graham told me he never saw the movie
and said,” It’s like they shoe horned him in
for the film because he had become a popular comic book villain. They didn’t put
him in the movie as his character, it was
just as a visual muscle man.” If you’ve
seen the trailers( who hasn’t) it appears this
ruthless Bane is going to really shake
things up in Gotham City. Graham told
me,” I just saw the ‘Batman’ TV spot trailer on MTV and they showed a lot of Bane
and I thought it looked really cool. He
looks really scary, mean and powerful and
has a lot of presence which is what Bane is
all about.” I asked Graham if he and Chuck
had any input into the film because it was
their original character. Graham said,” No,
we aren’t involved in the film, but we do
have a participation piece of the character
which is something DC does that Marvel
does not. We have a participation part of
him outside of comic books. If Bane
appears in a comic book I don’t get anything, but if he appears on a Tee shirt,
Underoos, a toy or whatever Chuck and I
get a piece of that. This film will expose
Bane to a worldwide audience which is
exciting.”
These days Graham and Chuck have reunited and are working on a new project
together called “Joe Frankenstein”. Go to
their website to check it out at
www.JoeFrankenstein.com. Graham told
me that it has been almost 25 years since
he and Chuck first hooked up and personally I am happy that their beloved character
Bane is getting a second shot at redemption
on the big screen. Finally, I asked Graham
if he has high hopes that this time the
filmmaker, with his same last name, will
For the first time Batman will face a villain that is
superior phsically in Bane
get his character right and capture the
essence of Bane? Graham laughed and
said, “I won’t know for sure until July
20th, but from what I’ve seen and read,
Bane’s in good hands!”
Hopefully sometime in the near future
Graham will get back to Texas for one of
the big comic con shows here. He told me
the last time he was in Texas was a few
years ago for a friend’s wedding in Waco.
This native New Yorker did mention to me
that his favorite football team growing up
was the Cowboys and Roger Staubach was
his favorite player. To learn more about
Graham Nolan go to his website www.sunshinestatecomics.com
Tom Ward can be reached at www.teetimewithtom.com
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sportspagedfw.com | The Sports Page Weekly | July 13 - July 19, 2012
7
LOCAL SPORTS
TALKIN DALLAS SPORTS
Random thoughts on random subjects
By Dustin Dietz
Special Contributor
[email protected]
More Random Thoughts.......
In my article last week, I wrote a piece
based on many random things I was pondering at the time of my writing. And since
I am a believer in continuing to do what is
successful, I will try the same thing this
week. Due to the fact I lack any sort of
creativity and wit, I have been unable to
think of a clever name for the article. It
seems every name I come up with is
already taken. So, if any of you have suggestions, or would like to discuss sports
related issues, please email me at [email protected]. If one is lucky
enough to come up with a proper name for
an article, I promise to purchase the creative genius a slurpee at 7-11. Anyways,
let’s move on to something of importance.
The Rangers reach the All-Star Break
The Rangers ended the first half of the regular season on a bit of a high after an exhilarating 4-3 extra inning win over the
Minnesota Twins Sunday night at The
Ballpark. The win helped the Rangers
maintain a four game lead over the second
place Los Angeles Angels going into the
break. Texas experienced a mini slump last
week as the club lost a season high five
consecutive games, including a three game
sweep by the first place team in the AL
Central White Sox in Chicago. In the first
game of the series against the Twins last
Friday night, the Rangers continued a trend
of offensive inefficiency as the club left 11
men on base and was only able to muster
one run against Twins pitcher Francisco
Liriano. Coming into the game, Liriano
had an ERA close to 6.00, and the Rangers
offense still could not produce much.
Liriano walked 6 men, and the Rangers
were unable to bring one of the walks
home. The loss Friday night was a prime
example of why the Rangers have struggled recently. The offense has just not been
producing what the offense is capable of.
During the five game losing skid, the
Rangers scored 9 runs with four of the runs
coming in one game. Heading into the
game on Saturday night against the Twins,
no team in MLB had scored fewer runs
than Texas.
Fortunately, Texas was able to salvage the
final two games of the series against the
Twinkies, but the club needed extra innings
in both games to do it. The offense continued to look lost as the Rangers had difficulty scoring against two borderline MLB
pitchers in Samuel Deduno and Cole De
Vries.
If the Rangers offense does not begin to
generate more runs, they will have a difficult time holding off the hard charging second place Angels. The club may have
begun taking a step in the right direction as
manager Ron Washington placed Nelson
Cruz into the fifth spot in the batting order
behind Adrian Beltre, and moved the struggling Michael Young down into the 6th
spot. The switch paid immediate dividends
as Cruz won the game with an extra inning
walk off hit Saturday, and Young had four
hits Sunday night, including a game tying
two run single in the bottom of the ninth.
Mike Napoli’s 86 strikeouts in the first 86 games is one more than he had all of last season.
What is up with Mike Napoli?
In 2011, Napoli had an incredibly magical
second half and post season at the plate.
Had the Rangers won the World Series,
Napoli would have been named World
Series MVP. His performance in 2011 was
deemed ‘The Year of the Napoli.’ There
were high hopes for Napoli coming into
the season as he and the club were reportedly working on a long term extension.
What has transpired is a disappointing first
half at the plate for Napoli, and the Napoli
chants at the ballpark have become far less
frequent and boisterous. Napoli is hitting a
putrid .228, while slugging a career low
.419. Napoli’s 86 strikeouts in the first 86
games is one more than he had all of last
season. I’m not a huge proponent of baseball sabremetrics, but Nap Nap’s 0.2 WAR
is alarming considering Craig Gentry WAR
is 2.0. Take out the one week in April in
which Napoli slugged 7 home runs, and he
has basically been an automatic out. If
Napoli does not turn things around quickly,
not only is he diminishing his chances of a
long term deal, but he is also hurting his
team’s chances of another extended post
season run in 2012.
NL wins All-Star Game again.
When I realized a few months ago the
MLB All-Star Game was on the night of
my second wedding anniversary, I was
somewhat disappointed in the fact I would
probably be unable to watch the now
meaningful game for Rangers fans. Of
course as one is probably aware, the winning league in the All-Star Game is automatically granted home field advantage in
the World Series in October no matter what
the two team’s records are in the series.
The ruling has been in place for 10 seasons
now due to a tie in the All-Star Game in
2002. I used to be indifferent towards the
8 July 13 - July 19, 2012 | The Sports Page Weekly | sportspagedfw.com
rule. Now, since the Rangers have become
primo contenders for a World Series title, I
absolutely loathe the rule. I guess awarding
home field to the team in the World Series
with the best record does not make any
sense. Something has to be done about this
idiotic ruling. An exhibition game featuring
many players who will not even be in the
World Series should not determine home
field advantage in the World Series. One
can argue the Rangers have lost the last
two World Series due to this asinine rule.
While I was eating dinner Tuesday night
with my wife, I checked the score in the
game around 7:45, and I noticed the NL
had already scored 5 runs in the 1st inning
off Detroit starter Justin Verlander. At that
point, I realized if the Rangers were fortunate enough to return to the World Series
in 2012, they would again not have home
field advantage in the Fall Classic. The NL
would tack on three more runs and win the
game 8-0. So defeating.
The Mavs continue their meh off season.
At the time of my last writing, the Mavs
had missed out on several free agents.
Well, not much has changed in the past few
days. As of this writing, the club has still
not signed one free agent. Dallas has
reportedly spoken to free agents Ramon
Sessions and Elton Brand, and has reportedly offered a contract to Brazilian center
Rafael Hettsheimeir. Professionally in
Spain, the 6’10” big man averaged 13
points, 6 boards and 0.4 blocks per game. 6
rebounds and less than a block per game in
Spain does not bode well for success in the
NBA. There is no way to deny this, and
Mavs officials can spin it however they
want, but beginning with last off season
when the club decided not to resign Tyson
Chandler, the team has been utterly mis
managed. The last 7 months have been a
colossal disaster. Prepare for the lottery in
2013 Mavs fans.
Welcome to Dallas Jaromir Jagr
I was excited to learn the Dallas Stars
signed free agent Jaromir Jagr last week to
a one year deal. The geriatric Jagr was one
of my favorite players on NHL 95 when I
was a kid. I kid of course, but I am serious
in that the signing is pretty cool and should
help the Stars as Jagr scored 19 goals and
had 35 assists last season. Jagr is a hockey
legend, and seeing him skate in a Stars
sweater next season should be pretty neat.
Dez Bryant
Anyone realize Dez Bryant has only had
one 100 yard receiving game in his NFL
career? That needs to change this season.
Ted
I saw the new movie Ted last night with
my wife on our second wedding anniversary. As one can tell, I am a hopeless
romantic. I enjoyed the film and there were
times where I laughed out loud. However,
if one does not like Family Guy, I would
suggest not going to see the film as the
movie is like an extended episode of that
show. Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane
supplies the voice for the bear named Ted
in the film. The one thing I had difficulty
with in the movie was Peter Griffin’s voice
coming out of the bear’s body. The movie
is worth seeing though. I give it an A
minus. No, actually a B plus.
Well, that’s all I have for now. I hope one
is preparing for next month’s fantasy football draft because I certainly am.
Follow Dustin Dietz on Twitter
@DustinDietz18.
BASEBALL
DIC HUMPHREY
Now it’s off to market and shore up the roster
The Rangers Report
By Dic Humphrey
[email protected]
The National League once again triumphed
in the All-Star game and will have home
field advantage in this year's World Series
for the third year in a row. Since the format was changed to home field advantage
going to the league representative from the
All-Star game winner, fans and media have
decried the unfairness of allowing essentially an exhibition game count for such a
decision. However, it is questionable how
valuable the home field advantage is. It
didn't make any difference two years ago,
when the Rangers lost to the Giants in five
games; and as well as Chris Carpenter
pitched game seven last year, the venue
probably didn't matter. Historically, a
seven game World Series occurs about a
third of the time. In the first 12 years of
the 21st century there have been three, and
there have been 25 since 1950. The fairness of the rule can be debated, but there is
no question that players have taken the AllStar game more seriously and played harder since the rule was instituted.
The full off the field focus for contending
teams now shifts to shoring up their roster
for the pennant race, as the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline is less than three
weeks away. There is still much conjecture
as to how much activity will take place
with the changes that took effect this year.
First there is the question of how many
sellers there will be. Last year, St. Louis
was 10.5 games out of a playoff spot in
late August, yet won the World Series,
making general managers reluctant to
pulling the plug on the season too early.
Secondly, there are now two Wild Card
entries into the playoffs. Based on the
standings at the break, the American
League Division would be division leaders
New York, Chicago and Texas, with Los
Angeles and Baltimore as the Wild Cards.
However, Tampa Bay (1/2), Cleveland (1),
Detroit (1-1/2), Boston (2-1/2), Toronto (21/2) and Oakland (2-1/2) are less than three
games out of a wild card spot. That leaves
just three American League teams clearly
out of the playoff picture - Kansas City (71/2), Minnesota (9) and Seattle (10). In the
16 team National League, there are perhaps
as many as six teams that are out of the
running. In any event, a winning streak of
six or more games could change the outlook for almost any team.
The other change that should affect the
price of pennant race assistance relates to
the draft choice compensation for high profile free agents. Two years ago the
Rangers traded for Cliff Lee and then saw
him sign with Philadelphia in free agency.
Texas received two first round draft picks
in the First Year Player's Draft as compensation. This year, a free agent must have
been with his former team for the entire
season in order to receive draft choice
compensation. Cole Hamels in the final
year of his contract will bring draft choice
compensation to the Phillies, but won't to
the team that trades for him if the Phillies
choose to do so. Theoretically, a player
such as Hamels will be worth less on the
market because there will be no draft
choice compensation. As for the Rangers,
the question is what does this team need?
Teams traditionally seek pitching help, but
the Rangers have five pitchers from the
opening day roster on the disabled list, four
of whom are expected back this month.
Colby Lewis is the announced starter for
the fifth game after the All-Star break.
Alexi Ogando, Neftali Feliz and Koji
Uehara are throwing bullpen sessions and
will shortly have minor league re-hab
appearances scheduled. That leaves Mark
Lowe with an undetermined projected
return. That is a significant injection of
The NL once again will have home field advantage in this year's World Series for the third year in a row
pitching talent. On the other hand, Hamels
and Zack Greinke are upper end pitchers
that could help any team in a pennant race,
and they are rumored to be available,
though there is no assurance that either will
be moved. Texas is rumored to be interested, at least to the point of scouting their
recent starts.
Nolan Ryan was on 103.3 FM ESPN radio
earlier this week and commented, “I think
Jon Daniels and his staff will be exploring
any and every opportunity out there and
seeing how we might better the ballclub for
the second half. Do I anticipate a blockbuster deal? I don't anticipate that, but you
never know what someone's going to propose to you through those conversations.”
Offensively, the Rangers have a hole at
catcher. Mike Napoli is hitting .228; Yorvit
Torrealba .216. It is disappointing to have
such miserable production with more than
$12 million in salary tied up in this pair.
This lineup is so good that it should be
able to carry one hole in the batting order,
but with Napoli often playing first base
when Torrealba catches; there are more
often than not two holes. Certainly, Napoli
had a monster second half last year. The
Rangers hope there is another one this season, because with the importance of
defense behind the plate, it isn't practical to
replace these two. They are good defen
sive catchers that know the staff and call a
good game. Seemingly every year, this
team needs another right handed bat for the
bench. That was pointed up for this year's
team when four opposing starting pitchers
during last week's five-game losing streak
were left-handed. Two years ago, Texas
obtained Jeff Francoeur and Jorge Cantu in
trades. Francoeur helped. Last year, they
didn't find such a bat, and Ranger fans saw
Esteban German pinch hit in a critical late
inning situation in the World Series. Yuck!
Hopefully, Jon Daniels will be more successful this year in shoring up the bench.
A selling team with pennant race help
wants Texas to be interested. The Rangers
farm system is one of the tops in the game.
There are a plethora of prospects of interest. On the top of the list are Martin Perez,
who was 1-1 in two Major League starts
before the All-Star break, and Frisco
Rough Riders Jurickson Profar and Mike
Olt. Profar and Olt participated in last
Sunday's Futures Game in Kansas City. If
any of these names are included in a trade,
the Rangers need to be receiving a big time
player!
Of the pennant races in baseball, the two
team race in the A. L. West may be the
most entertaining, as the Rangers and
Angels are clearly two of the top five or six
teams in baseball. The moves Jon Daniels
make this month when he goes off to the
trade market may make the difference.
sportspagedfw.com | The Sports Page Weekly | July 13 - July 19, 2012
9
COVER STORY
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Is it time for the Mavs to do the unthinkable?
By Scott Rozsa
Senior Editor
[email protected]
Thirteen months. Barely over a year. Yet it
seems like an eternity ago. In June of 2011
we watched our long-suffering Dallas
Mavericks hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy
and parade through the sunny streets of
downtown Dallas. NBA champions, named
Team of the Year at the ESPY's and featuring a player who had basically gone Full
Neo in the playoffs.
Now, Dirk stands alone atop a smoldering
pile of attempted front office maneuvers
that blew up in their face. The locker room
stall next to him where long-time running
mate Jason Terry sat is empty. The stall
across the room where Hall of Famer Jason
Kidd dressed is vacant as well. There's no
Deron Williams name plate above any of
the stalls, nor Steve Nash or even Goran
Dragic. In the next day or two, there may
be an Aaron Brooks or a C.J. Miles, or
even a Chris Kaman. From champions to
signing NBA flotsam just to fill roster
spots in just over a year; I can't remember
any sports team falling from grace as precipitously as the Mavericks seem to be this
summer. The Lakers trade for Nash, the
Nets retain Williams and trade for Joe
Johnson and are in the mix for Dwight
Howard, the Heat add Ray Allen, the
Celtics sign Terry away from Dallas, and
Mark Cuban, Donnie Nelson and the rest
of the Mavs brass are left staring at their
white boards outlining their salary cap
flexibility and their ever-lengthening list of
crossed-off free agents.
I've spent the better part of a year explaining away the team's decision to let the best
center in Mavs history, Tyson Chandler,
walk in free agency to befuddled Mavs
fans as a prudent move based on sound
business logic in reaction to the new NBA
collective bargaining agreement. Going forward, it would have been a debilitating
move in terms of luring younger talent to
this team. There wouldn't have been salary
cap room to improve the squad or enable
them to have the ability to make trades for
more talent. It was all supposed to come to
fruition this summer, but all the cap space
in the world isn't worth a damn if nobody
wants to sign here.
The choices to allow Chandler, J.J. Barea,
DeShawn Stephenson and Caron Butler to
leave before last season began were all difficult decisions that were controlled by
Cuban and Nelson. The recent defections
of Terry, Kidd and Ian Mahinmi, as well as
the spurning from Williams were not. The
Mavericks are obviously not viewed as
much of a destination franchise as Mavs
fans would like to believe. In fact, as of
press time last Wednesday morning, not a
single free agent had actually committed to
join forces with Nowitzki.
Going in to the beginning of the free
agency feeding frenzy, the following players were available and were potential targets, either as Plan A, B, C or D for the
Mavs: Deron Williams, Steve Nash, Roy
Hibbert, Eric Gordon, Nic Batum, Jeremy
Lin, Goran Dragic, Omar Asik, Ersan
Ilyasova, Ryan Anderson, Ray Allen,
Brandon Boy, Marcus Camby, Chauncey
Billups, J.R. Smith, Andre Miller, George
Hill, Jameer Nelson, Jeff Green, Brandon
Bass, Michael Beasley, Spencer Hawes,
Jamal Crawford, Kirk Heinrich, Boris
Diaw, Nick Young, Landry Fields,
Marreese Speights, Darrell Arthur,
Hasheem Thabeet, Jason Thompson, Steve
Novak, Danny Green, Aaron Gray, Jeremy
Evans, Reggie Evans and Lavoy Allen.
The Mavs were included in rumors with
10 July 13 - July 19, 2012 | The Sports Page Weekly | sportspagedfw.com
Signing Chris Kamen wil be a good move for the Mavericks
many, if not most, of these players over the
past week because, frankly, they need help
EVERYWHERE. Just about every name on
that list would actually be an upgrade at
their position over what the Mavericks currently have on their roster. In less than a
calendar year - just eight months actually the Mavericks have just five players
remaining from the roster that won the title
in Miami: Nowitzki, Shawn Marion,
Brendan Haywood, Dominique Jones and
Rodrigue Beaubois. Roddy B and Jones
were in suits during that playoff run, and
Haywood was a small contributor. I can
only wonder if head coach Rick Carlisle is
looking for the opt-out clause in his recently inked new deal; I'm fairly sure he didn't
think his talents would need to expand to
include magical powers as that what he's
going to need to get the 2012-13 Mavericks
in to the playoffs.
Cumulatively, the losses of Terry, Kidd,
Lamar Odom - yes, he was a complete disaster while he was here, but I'll include his
numbers anyway - Mahinmi and Delonte
West (still a UFA as of press time), are
devastating for a team that already ranked
19th in the NBA last season in scoring at
95.8 points per game. Terry (15.1), West
(9.6), Odom (6.6), Kidd (6.2) and Mahinmi
(5.8) contributed an average of 43.3 points
per game, or 45.2% of the scoring. Almost
HALF! All gone and nothing of note has
come in to replace these holes. Kidd (5.5),
Terry (3.6) and West (3.2) were also the
top three in assists last season and their
12.3 assists per game was almost 60% of
the Mavs' average per game (20.9). On
their way to a seventh seed in the Western
Conference last year and a first round banishment, Dallas only had a +1.0 scoring
differential. They were already on a razor's
edge, and now they look like they'll be significantly worse. In the famous words of
Michael Ray Richardson, “this ship be
sinking.”
But hey, we have cap room, right? Surely
there must be SOMEONE who will take
our money and be able to help? You be the
judge. Here is a list of the top 10 names
still out there, according to ESPN.com's
Chad Ford. Many of these players are
restricted free agents and would likely be
retained by their current club even if Dallas
offered a contract:
1. Brook Lopez - more than likely will be
either used in a sign-and-trade in any
potential Dwight Howard to the Nets trade.
2. JaVale McGee - rumored to be extending with his current team, theNuggets.
3. Lou Williams - Philly decided to let
their leading scorer walk, and he was
rumored to be close to a deal with Atlanta
as of press time.
4. Carl Landry - I've always appreciated
his game, but he's nothing more than a
short-term back up power forward.
5. Kris Humphries - He's a rebounding
machine who once had a cup of coffee with
the Mavs, but he, like Lopez, will likely
end up in some version of the Howard
trade, or will demand money and terms that
the Mavs would not be open to.
6. Antawn Jamison - Another former Mav
and my nominee for The Player Who Puts
Up the Empiest Numbers in the NBA. But
hey, maybe he reunites with his former Tar
Heel teammate Vince Carter with Dallas.
7. Robin Lopez - The Sideshow Bob of
the Lopez family does little more than
bang and get the odd “look what I found”
put backs on the offensive end.
8. Chris Kaman - Long rumored to be a
potential Maverick, Nowitzki's running
mate on the German national team would
be an upgrade over Haywood at starting
center.
9. O.J. Mayo - Terry's departure leaves a
gaping hole at sixth man for Dallas, and
Mayo wouls actually be a nice fit there.
10. Courtney Lee - A good defender and
spotty three-point shooter, Lee could be a
rotation guy.
None of those names move the needle for
me and I don't see a single one who does
much to improve the Mavs chances of
returning to the playoffs. After those ten,
the list of available players quickly
descends in to a morass of journey men
and names that no longer carry the weight
they once did: Josh Howard, Marquis
Daniels - hey, throw in DaSagana Diop and
we can get the 2006 band back together! Baron Davis, Tracy McGrady, Gilbert
Arenas, and the like.
Donnie may be forced to simply fill empty
roster spots with one-year stop-gap players
in order to even field a team. They'll tell us
that they are retaining cap room and flexibility with an eye towards improving the
team in the summer of 2013 - sound
familiar? - and really, that's all they can do
now. Looking ahead, the list of top potential unrestricted free agents next summer
includes Chris Paul, Monta Ellis, Andre
Iguodala, Manu Ginobili, Josh Smith,
David West, Paul Millsap, Al Jefferson and
many other lesser names. In all honesty,
why would any of those players look to
join a roster that includes an aging Dirk
and nothing else? Which brings us to the
option that no Mavs fan would ever have
fathomed even ten days ago: trading Dirk
Nowitzki.
If we are honest with ourselves, I think
there's little argument against the fact that
the 2011 championship team caught lightning in a bottle. It peaked as a unit at the
exact right time, caught teams that were
either too content (Lakers), too young
(Thunder) or undercooked (Heat), and had
their superstar assemble all the lessons and
frustrations of previous losses in to one
supernova playoff explosion, on its way to
getting the franchise's lone ring. I don't
think it was repeatable, and obviously, neither did Cuban. They elected to swing for
the fences in an open pursuit of Deron
Williams and Dwight Howard, and missed.
I don't blame them for trying, but now that
that's over, and another year of sinking in
the Western Conference is clearly on the
horizon, it's time to turn the page completely before Dirk's age and declining production damage his trade value.
Now that the franchise has failed in its
efforts to add additional All-Star talent, it's
not fair to Nowitzki to make him suffer
through the remaining prime years of his
career while the team rebuilds. Since he
became a starter in 1999, the Mavericks
have averaged 55 wins (not including last
season's abbreviated schedule). They won
50+ games for eleven straight years, the
third longest such streak in NBA history.
He's an eleven-time All-Star, a league and
NBA Finals MVP and has been All-NBA
twelve times. He's a first-ballot Hall of
Famer and the greatest player this franchise
has ever known. There will be a statue of
him in front of the AAC after he retires to
remind fans in future decades how important he was to this team and city. He has
done everything he possibly could to resurrect the Mavericks from the embarrassing
decade of the 1990's and lift the franchise
to elite status, but it would be a tragedy to
see him wind up his career on a lottery
team, which is the direction Dallas is headed the way things stand today.
If you thought last season was the equivalent of treading water while waiting for a
bountiful tanker to come along and save
you, then wait until this season. Cuban and
Dirk needs some help which seems to be tough to find these days
sportspagedfw.com | The Sports Page Weekly | July 13 - July 19, 2012
11
BASEBALL
GRAND PRAIRIE AIR HOGS
Airhogs home winning streak continues
By David Hatchett
[email protected]
The Grand Prairie AirHogs have been on
an incredible run at QuikTrip Park. They
haven't lost since May 26. The AirHogs
have won an American Association record
17 games in a row at home. It's a streak
that's due to great pitching and timely hitting. During the streak the AirHogs defeated Laredo six times, Newark three times,
Amarillo four times and Wichita four
times. The Wichita Wingnuts came into
their four-game series with the AirHogs
with the best record in the league before
Grand Prairie swept them July 3-6. “The
team has found different ways to win
throughout this run,” said AirHogs president Scott Berry. “Sometimes we've shut
teams down, while other times we've had
to out slug them. We've had to come from
behind in a number of those games during
the winning streak. They are a very confident club right now, especially at home.
“The series against Wichita was really
impressive because they had been playing
so well coming into Grand Prairie. The
Wingnuts were a playoff team last year and
will probably be in the post-season again
this year. They have an outstanding team.
Our fans were pumped up about that series
and were really into all those games. The
fans really have been the difference during
the winning streak.”
The AirHogs pitching staff has the lowest
earned run average in the American
Association with a 3.62 ERA. All the
other teams in the league have an ERA of
over four runs a game. Pitcher Lance Day
was so impressive, that the Houston Astros
purchased his contract recently. Day, who
went 2-0 with a 3.75 ERA in four starts
with Grand Prairie, will report to the
Astros' short season A affiliate in the New
York-Penn League, the Tri-City Valley Cats
in Troy, New York. Day's fourth and final
appearance saw him beat Amarillo 8-1 on
July 2, going seven innings, allowing one
run on six hits with no walks and four
strikeouts. The 22-year-old pitched the last
two seasons of his collegiate career at UTArlington, going 12-3 with a 2.98 ERA in
his senior season before joining the
AirHogs in June. Day is the first AirHogs
player signed by a major league organization in 2012.
Three starting pitchers who have made a
huge difference this season for the AirHogs
have been Nick DeBarr, John Brownell and
Jason Strawn. DeBarr is 8-2 with a 2.92
ERA and has been lights out since the
beginning of the season. He was drafted in
12
Pitcher Lance Day was so impressive, that the Houston Astros purchased his contract recently.
the 14th round of the 2002 Amateur Draft
by Tampa Bay and made it as high as
Triple-A with the Durham Bulls. In 2009,
he pitched for the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque.
Brownell has also been impressive this season going 7-1 with a 2.96 ERA. He had an
11-5 record with the AirHogs last season
and was 2-0 in the post-season for the
American Association champs. Brownell
was drafted in the 27th round of the 2006
Amateur Draft by Philadelphia out of the
University of Oklahoma.Strawn has also
been sharp this season, posting a 6-0 record
with a 3.25 ERA. He pitched for
Shreveport-Bossier last year going 3-4 with
an ERA of 3.95. Strawn attended Southern
Polytechnic State in Georgia.
The AirHogs next homestand begins on
Friday, July 20 against the only team that's
beaten them at home this season, the
Kansas City T-Bones. It's a seven-game
homestand featuring four games against
Kansas City and three games against El
Paso. Tickets to AirHogs games range
from $8-$15 and parking is free. For tickets, fans can call 972-504-9383 or visit
airhogsbaseball.com.
July 13 - July 19, 2012 | The Sports Page Weekly | sportspagedfw.com
BASEBALL
FRISCO ROUGHRIDERS
Grimm’s journey from Frisco to the MLB
By Jarah Wright
thing like that,’” Grimm said.
Special Contributor
Last night Justin Grimm started for the
RoughRiders for the first time since his
major league debut. He was promoted to
the Texas Rangers from Frisco on June 13.
He said he was excited to get the call,
especially with his family in town.“They
(my family) did not believe me at first.
There were just like are you kidding
because I was joking with them the night
before,” Grimm said. “They were like oh
my gosh. He’s calling his agent. He’s serious.” The news of his call-up came so
quickly that not all of his family was able
to make the game. “My brother couldn’t
make it because he was the best man in one
of his friend’s weddings,” Grimm said.
“We didn’t have time to round up my
grandparents and aunts and uncles up to
come but the debut was so last minute I
told them not to worry about it because
there will be other games.”
After RoughRiders’ manager Steve
Buechele told Grimm he was being promoted, Grimm made the 36-mile drive to
Arlington. “I went to Arlington after cleaning out my locker here,” Grimm said. “I
threw a bullpen as soon as I got there
because I was supposed to pitch Saturday
so I was going to have an extra two days in
between starts.” For two days Grimm sat in
the Rangers’ dugout mentally preparing for
his big night. “I kind of pictured myself
doing good things out there for those two
days,” Grimm said. “I was telling myself
that I could do it.”
On June 16, Grimm made his major league
debut pitching against the Houston Astros.
He said the reality of pitching in the big
leagues sank in while he was warming up.
“I got goose bumps warming up because as
I was walking out to stretch you could hear
claps and fans saying things like ‘Let’s go
Grimm’ and ‘You got this,’” Grimm said.
“Just hearing them hollering your name
while I was throwing gave me goose
bumps.” Despite the nerves on the inside,
Grimm said the biggest challenge for him
in his debut was keeping control of his
emotions during the game. “You know the
biggest thing was emotionally keeping it in
and not getting too over amped,” Grimm
said. “That’s the thing with baseball. You
have to stay even keeled. Things are never
as good as they seem and they are never as
bad as they seem.” He credits catcher Mike
Napoli for helping him stay composed on
the mound. “Napoli kept me in that game.
If I made a bad pitch or something he
would let me know when we got back to
the dugout like ‘hey get that over just a little bit if they were to swing at it, some-
The Rangers outlasted the Astros that
games giving Grimm his first career major
league win. To top it off, his mom, dad,
and sister were there to witness it. After the
game, Grimm went out to dinner with his
family, his agent, Robbie Ross and his wife
before heading home for the night. He said
the reality of that night didn’t hit him until
he got home. “I got in the hotel room after
the game against Houston like wow I just
got a win in the big leagues. It was unbelievable,” Grimm said. “People ask me how
it was and if it’s everything I thought it
would be and I have the same answer. It’s
more. It’s a dream come true.”
During Grimm’s debut, Frisco players were
rooting for him from Dr Pepper Ballpark.
“They told me that they were sitting here in
the clubhouse because we had an early
game or something,” Grimm said. “They
were watching it like through the third
inning like yeah, let’s go, that’s five in a
row because I think I had struck out like
five in a row or something and they said
they were all getting pretty pumped so that
was pretty cool.”
Grimm earned his first career major league win against the Astros on June 16
Grimm started last night against the
Arkansas Travelers and is expected to join
Triple-A Round Rock at the end of the
week. When asked how it felt making his
last start in Frisco, Grimm said it was awesome.“I just went out there to work on
some new pitches that I had learned,”
Grimm said. “One from Jeff that I haactually started throwing at the big league level
that I saw was really successful with some
of those guys and I started throwing a slider a little bit. That’s just a work-inprogress. It’s not really good right now but
it’s coming along good and I think it’s
going to be a good pitch for the future.
Looking to go up to Triple-A and just turn
it around, get some hitters out.” Through
continued hard work and practice, Grimm
hopes to make it back up to the big league
level soon.“I would like to get there realistically in September when they expand rosters,” Grimm said. “I want to get up there
for the playoffs, maybe come out of the
bullpen, whatever they need me to do.”
Grimm is tentatively scheduled to pitch for
Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday.
sportspagedfw.com | The Sports Page Weekly | July 13 - July 19, 2012
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14 March 5 - 11, 2010 | The Sports Page Weekly | sportspagedallas.com
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July 13 - July 19, 2012 | The Sports Page Weekly | sportspagedfw.com
AROUND TOWN WITH RICHARD POLLOCK
Dallas Arboretum Glass Exhibit is fantastic!
By Richard Pollock
Special Contributor
[email protected]
Season 52 New Summer Menu
Dallas Arboretum
Guys this is a no brainer to take your entire
family on a beautiful Sunday Afternoon to
the Dallas Arboretum to enjoy the Chihuly
Outdoor Glass exhibit through NOV. 5TH.
Summer's not a bummer when you can go
to Seasons 52 and enjoy their New
Summer Menu that features all menu
items for under 475 Calories. Imagine an
11 ounce Piedmonte All-Natural Bone-In
Strip Steak with roasted Asparagus,
Cremini Mushrooms and Fingerling
Potatoes for under 475 calories! YUM!
Seasons 52 has the best appetizer creations
in North Texas. There flatbread's are a go
to and this summer, we're talking bbq
chicken with onion, scallions and parmesan.
Pinkberry can make your tongue chill
with it’s tart and sweet taste
Boys, Pinkberry, the world’s leading yogurt
retailer has a manly sweet yet Tart taste
.They have revamped its signature toppings
bar to include only items that are 100 percent free of Trans fats, hydrogenated oils
and high fructose corn syrup. It is also certified kosher, all-natural and/or gluten-free.
NEW FOR SUMMER:• Strawberry Classic
(fresh strawberries and balsamic glaze),
• Strawberry Truffle (fresh strawberries,
milk chocolate crunch and a waffle cookie)
• Strawberry Squeeze (fresh strawberries,
fresh watermelon and watermelon puree).
So Guys thrill when you can Chill so
healthy 365 days out of the year!
Crazy Fish
Lockhart BBQ
The Food Truck craze has finally hit
Dallas. While it is still illegal to park a
Food Truck on a Dallas City Street. There
are now over 162 in operation with Crazy
Fish Sushi, our favorite. Tinielle Powers is
the beautiful creator of Crazy Fish Food
Truck. They are serving high quality sushi,
for an in expensive price. While the menu
is organic, their fish is wild and the meats
are free range.Cali ,Tuna and a special
Texas Rancher Breaded Chicken Roll.the
Bucking ! With six different specialty
sauces to choose from you can be the master dipper and they have a full cooked
selection. Men will crave the "Bull Roll"
with Marinated Beef.
Owner Jeff Bergus brought the taste of the
“home of bbq” Lockhart, texas to Dallas.
Then he delivered it to my front door. Only
on Thursdays, can u enjoy their World
Famous Burnt Ends. My buddy Jeff was
kind enough to deliver them to my home in
N. Dallas from his Oak Cliff Restaurant. In
an airtight freezer packed so all you have
to do is put them in boiling water for 20
minutes. 20 MINUTES? I couldn't wait!
They were still perfectly warm when I
opened the 2 lbs package. I just missed
being able to ask Jeff to go back to his
Restaurant for more as he drove off!
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sportspagedfw.com | The Sports Page Weekly | July 13 - July 19, 2012
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FOOD
RESTAURANT REVIEW
Real men don’t eat Sushi, they eat 2.5 lb Hot Dogs
by RICHARD POLLAK,
The Traveling Gourmet
SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]
"Real Men Don't Eat Sushi" was an awarding winning article I wrote about what a guy
is suppose to do when he goes out on a date,
.......who orders RAW FISH? After the article, I began to eat Sushi and became a real
fan so when I heard that the Texas Rangers
were making their Press Box Dining Room
accommodating to the large continent of
Japanese writers following new pitching
phenom Yu Darvish's ever bow by offering
them Sushi, I had to investigate. I thought I
could do a few rolls of Crab, Shrimp and
Tuna Sushi during the pre-game warmups
then head on over to the Texas Rangers.
NEW two-foot-long, one-pound gourmet
hot dog that feeds three or four fans and
costs $26.
After successfully securing an all-access
Press Pass from the DFW's Senior PR Guru,
John Blake, I contacted DNC Sportsservice
and Rangers ballpark Operations Director
Casey Rapp, who invited me to dine in their
exclusive Diamond Club. I discovered that
the Sushi infact was now only being served
in the Club and not to the hoarding number
of Japanese Press as first reported.
Unfortunately, after deliciously chomping
down on 2 large 16 ounce end cuts of perfectly roast medium rare slaps of Prime Rib
and 2 dozen Crab Rolls of Sushi in the
Diamond Club, I could barely bit into the
BIG DOG.
When you add all the toppings, it’s about
2.5 pounds, which includes shredded
Cheese,Chili, sauteed Onions, Jalapenos,
Mustard and Relish.” According to the BIG
DOG Architect, Casey Rapp, all 24 inches
of the "Champion Dog" can be found night-
ly at concession stands outside Sections 16
and 42 in the outfield near the newly built
Budweiser Bowtie at Vandergriff Plaza. It's
not just a selection of basic concessions,
plus kids' meals and candy, anymore. The
picnic friendly plaza now features four new
restaurants: Taqueria (street tacos),
Smokehouse 557 (barbecue and turkey
legs), Ryan's Express 34 (as in Nolan Ryan
beef burgers) and American Dog. It's interesting because the BIG DOG is not made by
Rangers President Nolan Ryan Beef
Company but by Drayton McLane's Classic
Foods company , the official Hot Dog maker
of the Rangers and former owner of the
Houston Astros.
NOLAN RYAN SIGNS WITH KENNY'S
BURGER JOINT
Surprisingly, we found Nolan Ryan's BIG
DOG in far North Frisco off of 121 at
Kenny's Burger Joint. They are now serving
the 24 inch Hot Dog that weighs at least 1
lb. These all-natural, all-beef monsters are
made by Nolan Ryan's Beef which is allBeef and all-natural on a 20” bun that
comes locally from La Spiga Bakery. You
can custom order your own dog, get it with
mustard, relish, and onions for $16.99, or
add mountain loads of chili for $19.99.
The menu already boasts one of the biggest
and best Dogs in all of DFW in the
McNeely's Big Dog Black Angus Hot Dog
with white cheddar, sauteed onions, mustard, relish, $9.99. If you check the Kenny's
El Jeffe Grand Hamburger Eating Wall of
Fame, you will find my winning photo and
written article from their first ever 7.5 Lbs
eating contest that I won but didn't finish! I
am still hoping to re-try my eating skill on a
future episode of
MAN VS FOOD
NATION. You can see my photo on the TV
Show intro if you look very closing at the
The 24 inch Hot Dog weighs 2.5 lbs when fully loaded
18 July 13 - July 19, 2012 | The Sports Page Weekly | sportspagedfw.com
The “Broomstick” is a giant sausage covered in sourkraut
map of the US in the Southwest when Adam
Richman says," competitors from all over
wanted to take a challenge."
Back at the ballpark the Texas Rangers concession crew was not satisfied with just the
one Champion Dog so they created a giant
Sausage that they call the "Boomstick." (It'll
cost the same.) Boomstick is perfect, not
only because it will make your intestines go
"boom" but because it's a nickname for
Rangers slugger Nelson Cruz — or at least
for his bats. When he hits a home run, you
see, Cruz has lowered the Boomstick., it’s
the Boomstick (a nod to outfielder Nelson
Cruz)
TICKET WINDOW
Norm with Oregon State Coach Robinson
the Mavs, he's going to have quite an
opportunity to make a name for himself
right away. He's very athletic. He's got a
decent outside shot. He played the off
guard for us, but he was also the backup
point guard, so I don't see him having a
problem being a point guard at the NBA
level. More importantly, he is an absolute
terrific defender. I think he can guard at
the NBA level right now.
Norm with head coach of the Oregon
State Beavers Men's Basketball Team
Craig Robinson. Robinson coached the
Mavericks 1st round pick Jared
Cunningham, and is the step-brother of
President Barack Obama.
Norm: Tell us about Jared
Cunningham.
Robinson: Well, as you know I'm
biased, so i'll start with that qualifying
statement. You guys will be pleasantly
surprised with Jared. He's a wonderful,
hard working kid and he can play some
basketball. Given what's going on with
Norm: Have you seen some improvement in his outside shot? To play guard
in the league, you've got to be able to nail
3's.
Robinson: Yeah, let me give you a
little bit of background on Jared. He's
not your typical kid, predetermined by
someone else to be a pro when you're in
high school, like most pros are today.
Jared was not a pro when he came to us.
When I got the job here at Oregon State, I
had known Jared from my previous job
and recruited him to come play for me.
Jared has systematically worked on his
game from dribbling, to shooting, to passing, to playing two different positions.
You guys will be really surprised at how
good of an outside shooter he is. He's an
absolute gym rat, and he couldn't have
developed into a first round draft pick
without being a gym rat. Not only will
he be able to knock down that outside
shot, but with the coaching staff you guys
have there, he'll continue to get better.
Norm: The Mavericks have hinted
that they want to try and make him a
point guard. Does he have enough ball
skills to make that transition to being a
point guard?
Robinson: If you want to look at
comparables, which is what I like to do
when i'm looking at our league versus the
NBA, you can compare him to a guy like
Russell Westbrook, who came into the
league and is extremely athletic and has
developed into a pretty good point guard.
I think Jared is of that same kind of
developmental track. He's going to wow
everyone with his athletic ability and he's
going to wow everybody with his
defense, and then you will realize that the
kid can handle the ball and play the pick
and roll game. He's going to be able to
make the transition.
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