Spin cycle

Roddy, meet Westbrook

Got to give Mark Cuban and his Dallas Mavericks Media Spin Machine credit: I thought after losing at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder 95-86 that they would go with the "Lamar Odom and Brendan Haywood were out!" and "Dirk Nowitzki isn't right!" route in defending the loss.

(Actually, it's not a bad loss no matter what. The Thunder are a good team. It's OK.)

Instead, they went the "The officiating is terrible!" route.

Sad. So 2006. Leave it to the man with the 20-year-old dance moves and 40-year-old special ed haircut to use a six-year-old excuse in defense of a loss.

Cuban failed to mention a couple of points (unless they went unprinted). How about the Mavericks getting crushed on the boards by 11? The Mavs shooting 35 percent? Mavs going 4-19 from behind the three-point arc? The pathetic defense against Russell Westbrook, who not only ate their lunch, but made them go back into the kitchen, fix another lunch and ate that too. That the Mavs' starting five went 17-51 from the field. Dirk Nowitzki isn't right. That the only good Mavs were (and in this order) Jason Terry, Brandan Wright and Shawn Marion.

The Mavericks losing out on a couple of calls (which they might not actually have lost out on and doesn't account for any calls that the Thunder failed to get) was not the reason they lost the game.

A little effort on the boards, a little defense on Westbrook and someone hitting a shot and the Mavs win.

By the way, when writing a story about officiating, don't include the free-throw differential. The officials' jobs are not to make sure everyone gets the same amount of free throws. They're job is to make the right calls as much as possible and as consistently as possible.

As for Cuban, we shouldn't expect any less grace or class especially after his coach kicked a ball into the stands (whether it was intentional or not, why even do it?) and hit a kid.

Nice.

Why I hate The Ticket and the Dallas Cowboys

A day late, a dollar short.

Listening to The Hardline yesterday, The Ticket's afternoon drive-time talk show. Naturally, they are broadcasting from Indianapolis, where the Super Bowl is being hosted.

Just as naturally, they get NFL Network's Rich Eisen to come on the air and talk. I would bet that The Hardline gets a lot of criticism for not having more guests. But if you've actually listened to them conduct an interview -- outside of someone they wanted to talk to, which means there's a minimum of 15 minutes of ass kissing -- it's terrible. The disinterest is free flowing. Devin Harris had the right idea.

Anyway, Eisen comes on and the trio bring up what a good year Dallas-Fort Worth has had for sports: Dallas Mavericks championship and two World Series appearances. Eisen then quips that the only exception (sorry, Stars!) is the Dallas Cowboys. Eisen makes a pretty mundane, yet astute, point that there is something amiss with the Cowboys: Some unobvious entity that they lack that's holding them back just enough.

And then Corby Davidson, co-host of said Hardline, drops the C-bomb.

Not that C-bomb. This C-bomb:

CURSE.

He states that the Cowboys are "cursed" and this goes from an ice storm last Super Bowl week to the last several years of Cowboys football.

Fuck. That. Shit.

OK. Let's give Davidson the benefit of the doubt and he wasn't calling the on-the-field team "cursed." If he did mean that, he completely missed the point.

I sincerely think that Davidson thinks the Cowboys are "cursed." What a dimwitted tit.

The Cowboys, in 50 years, have been to eight Super Bowls, winning five, a ton of winning seasons, two iconic coaches, two iconic quarterbacks, an assload of Hall of Famers and basically a lifetime of awesome times.

And this loudmouth ass has the goddamned nerve to call them cursed. This is exactly why people hate Davidson, and this is exactly why people hate the Cowboys. Now I want them to have 15 years of losing seasons.

The Cowboys are the opposite of cursed. They are overly blessed. And this 50 years of success has diluted the fanbase so much that the assholes legitimately think there's some supernatural powers playing against them.

Yeah, because Quincy Carter was affected by a curse. Robert Brewster was being tortured via voodoo doll.

None of the Cowboys' struggles are due to a fucked up roster and the worst general manager in football. No. They're cursed.

(You might say, "Hey asshole, you don't like it, you don't have to listen." Trust me, the dial is getting switched more and more.)

One year ago

Appetite for destruction

It's fantastical to think that a year ago, Dallas-Fort Worth was on lockdown: Emotionally and actually.

It is quite remarkable reading articles and posts from a year ago when Dallas-Fort Worth hosted the Super Bowl and how much we fucked shit up. It was so bad -- some of the circumstances outside the power realm of organizers, naturally -- that it's impressive. It's like rehearsing a dance recital for two years and on opening night you fall flat on your face and the curtain closes.

There is no real word if the "curtain" has closed on Dallas-Fort Worth ever hosting another Super Bowl. A lot happening between now and then including this weekend, next year in New Orleans, the year after in New York and so on and so forth. By all accounts, Miami, San Diego, Los Angeles and Tempe is never out of the mix. Tempe, for one, appears to be a favorite not only because of the weather but because it's a nice stadium.

And, by all accounts, Indianapolis is knocking out of the park. The weather is good, the temperatures are mild and the city is a ideal for hosting the pomp and circumstance that surrounds the Super Bowl (media, teams, fans, events).

Yes, Dallas-Fort Worth royally screwed itself. And I really don't want to hear about acts of God and all that. Let's quit pretending that this area's never seen ice, sleet and snow. Also, let's quit fooling ourselves into thinking that the possibility of snow/sleet/ice was unbelievable. I mean, there'd already been some talk because extra precautions were taken. Which would be fine if the normal population of Dallas-Fort Worth were in town. Unfortunately, you had media, teams, NFL folks and fans attempting to slay the icy thoroughfares such as I-30.

Dallas-Fort Worth already goes into shock and paralysis when the least amount of ice or show hits. Add several thousand people that have to get around and inadequate preparation and it's a recipe for disaster. Quit blaming God, folks.

But there was more. Remember the rash of car thefts of NFL security people where "sensitive" materials were absconded with?

There was the falling ice hurting fans. There was the seat debacle (solely at the feet of Jerry Jones ... and to be honest with you no one's skated -- pardon the pun -- more on this subject), which was probably the biggest fiasco from last year's Super Bowl and if Dallas-Fort Worth never sees another Super Bowl, it's because of this.

Add in a pretty forgettable game (I don't remember a thing ... then again, I was wasted) and Christina Aguilera screwed up the national anthem and you have a full-fledged good ol' fashioned clusterfuck.

A year later folks are rationalizing it as poor luck. God screwed us weatherwise. "Can't help that. Look out nice it is now! Perfect weather."

Then there's money. "Of course the NFL will come back. They make too much money off having it in Dallas and selling all those tickets."

Tell me the last time a city that hosted a disastrous Super Bowl week ever got a game back. The NFL doesn't rake in money off tickets or hot dogs. It's all about sponsorships and ads. They can sell those just as easily in Phoenix or Los Angeles as they can in Dallas. And there's already a built-in trust with those cities: If shit hits the fan, they can clean it up.

I hope Dallas-Fort Worth gets another Super Bowl. I also hope those in charge have their shit together. I also hope the owner strives to create a good experience; not make headlines.

Gettin' paid: Ron Washington

Gotta pay for those sunflower seeds and Kools

Going to World Series buys you a little job security.

The Texas Rangers -- as expected -- was extended for another two years. His current deal expired after 2012. He's signed on through 2014.

Whether this is a comment on Washington or the Texas Rangers as an organization, the Rangers might be locking up their all-time greatest manager, statistically and realistically.

Averaging 77 wins a season through 2012 and 2013, Ron Washington will be the all-time winning Texas Rangers manager (he's 154 behind Bobby Valentine) and with 79 wins in 2012, he'll overtake Johnny Oates, who is considered the organization's greatest manager. For any manager that's coached more than 500 games, Wash has the best winning percentage of any Rangers skipper.

Realistically, Wash has already overtaken Oates or Valentine. Two division titles in five years, two 90-win seasons, three winning seasons and two pennants. Again, maybe it's a comment on the Rangers as a crummy organization or the talent, but Washington's the best the Rangers have had, even if he never managed another game.

For further reading, check out Michael Mooney's tremendous feature on Washington from last spring in D Magazine.

Roddy, unleashed

On the runway

The prolonged NBA lockout and subsequent 66-game season is maybe helping out the Dallas Mavericks more than we realize.

With the hectic schedule and bombardment of games, Rick Carlisle can no longer ignore the ass-end of his bench. Prolonged absences from Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd (out at least another week) and Delonte West is forcing Carlisle to go young ... a lot.

And its fun, win or lose, as far as I'm concerned. I enjoy seeing Brandan Wright, Dom Jones and Roddy Beaubois, who's been getting the starting nod and starting minutes.

It took nearly losing the season and then panicking into a shortened season for the Mavericks to finally take on a youth movement. I'm sure it's driving Carlisle crazy.

Beaubois -- Dallas' only real young, legit talent -- has started the last two games and is averaging about 18 per in 36 minutes. This doesn't take into account the shitload of blocks he gets, rebounds and assists. And there's nothing accounting for the pure energy he brings. He's an X-factor many teams can't handle.

What's better and more exciting is actually winning games. The Mavericks are leading the Southwest Division after yesterday's ridiculously confusing 101-100 win over San Antonio, which was piggy-backed off a win against Utah at home Friday.

Generally, the Mavericks have been ridiculous. At times, ridiculously good and balanced. Other times they win, but look terrible. Then they look terrible.

Frankly, the Mavs had zero reason to beat San Antone. They had the second-string Spurs mount a huge combat at the American Airlines Center and had that jumped come off Daniel Green's fingers a nanosecond earlier, the Mavs lose a tough one at home and -- no doubt -- there'd be questions with very little answers.

Honestly, it felt that Greg Popovich was chalking that game to the loss column. If they came back with the bench players, fine. If not, he wasn't going to push his aging starters in a seemingly lost game on the road. It's no different than sitting Nowitzki or Kidd. No one's winning 60 games this year and the Western Conference has a soft underbelly this season. Not nearly as strong as in previous years. The Spurs and Mavs can both cruise and still compete in the playoffs.

As for now, let's still the youth -- terrible and consistent as they are -- play.

Mark Cuban clears up this 'off-season' and 'conditioning' issue that none of us could possibly understand

Just tell us the truth

Hey, Mark Cuban's a billionaire. Surely he understands complicated issues like conditioning and the off-season more than the rest of the population.

A week or so ago, Rick Carlisle said that he was sitting Dirk Nowitzki so he could get in shape. Nowitzki was then asked and he said it was to rest his knee.

Whatever, really.

Cuban, who is so fucking awesome (just ask him), went on the Ben & Skin Show this morning and "clarified" the Nowitzki conditioning issue.

“His knee hurts because he didn’t have the time to prepare. When you don’t have the time to prepare, you’re not conditioned to play the way you’re accustomed to. So it’s not like he was a fat slob. It’s like anything else. The older you get, the more prepared you have [to be], particularly when you’re Dirk, when you have a very definitive process you go through every summer. When you can’t do that, you’re not going to be in position to play your best basketball.”

So. Nowitzki knee hurts so he took some time off. For some odd reason, Carlisle called it "conditioning."

Both Nowitzki and Cuban go public in stating that it wasn't because Nowitzki's out of shape (which is completely different from you and I being out of shape ... we mean basketball shape) but because of the knee, which isn't healthy ... because he's out of shape.

Bottomline: Nowitzki won a championship, had the weight of expectations and 30 years of relative failure lifted off his shoulders and he wanted to party a little.

We don't blame him in the least. Why the owner has to be such a condescending prick is the problem.

To me, all of this goes back to Cuban's assertion that he can control the media and that the media, actually, is not important. That he can make and break the news. Considering not a single negative thing has been printed about his basketball franchise over the past 12 months (deservedly or not) is proof that he's sort of right. Notice that Ben & Skin weren't exactly grilling Cuban on Nowitzki considering Cuban pays at least part of Skin's paycheck.

Mavericks fans were treated like shit in the way the team handled the Roddy Beaubois injury ordeal last season. This small blip is the same thing. Ownership doesn't think you are very smart and they sort of talk as if this were fact.

Terrell Owens is broke

Hitting Monster.com

Terrell Owens made about $120 million playing professional football.

According to the former Dallas Cowboy, a lot of that cash -- and whatever he made in endorsements -- is gone.

That's why Owens seems desperate to play in the NFL again. Or why he's playing in a semi-pro league in Allen. He needs money.

Lots of athletes blow through their cash. I think Antoine Walker was a pretty crazy case of hangers-on and family bleeding him dry.

Truth is, professional athletes are typically dumb. Meaning, they wouldn't know an IRA or stock if it bit them in the ass. Inflation and interest rates are rocket science. Consider most don't finish college and if they did they weren't getting accounting degrees. Many -- especially in hockey and baseball -- never even go to college. Their idea of money management is having cash and buying something and maybe -- just maybe -- putting some left over in a bank.

Many never had real jobs. It's not a surprise that many guys blow through their cash. Frankly, we could never imagine spending all of $120 million in a lifetime. Owens, honestly, probably never thought he'd run through that much cash either.

That's why he needed help. Owens is claiming that certain "trusted" firms and individuals made a series of catastrophic investment mistakes. These financial advisers were recommended by his agent, Drew Rosenhaus.

Frankly, this could happen to you or me. I have a guy that I trust with my investments and although I wouldn't consider my portfolio risky or high-yield or anything, there's still the chance that I could lose out.

Owens lost out. A lot. Former NBA star Vin Baker's in the same boat. He, too, claims that trusted financial advisers took care of his cash ... meaning, they lost it hand over foot.

I've always felt Owens got a pretty raw deal in Dallas. He was great for the Cowboys. As we might be learning -- although no one would ever admit it -- maybe Owens wasn't such a big problem as we might have thought he was. Remember, it was still Tony Romo throwing the ball, still Jason Garrett calling the plays and we ran the head coach out of town on a rail. And we know who the general manager is.

Fact is, Jeff Garcia and Donovan McNabb were never the same once he left.

Owens has Hall-of-Fame numbers and I think it'd be crazy if he weren't inducted -- despite his attitude issues -- when his year comes up. Still, you might think he doesn't deserve another shot to play. You might think he's an asshole. You might think he doesn't deserve a spot next to Lynn Swann, Jerry Rice and Raymond Berry. That is fine.

But I think it's incredibly wrong to think he deserves this, losing his money. He earned that money and it's a shame that he's going through this ordeal.

Yes, he had baby mamas. Four of them. However, I never felt Owens was a guy that went on the town, purchased bottle service, bought Ferraris or spent lavishly because he could. He actually seems like a pretty conservative guy, relatively speaking. No way, without a little help, should he have blown through that money.

Shut it down

Ring true

The agitator ... trade him!

Guessing game.

Who's taking more shit in the media this morning: Dirk Nowitzki or Lamar Odom?

The former's put his entire heart and soul into the Dallas Mavericks, which culminated in a title last season and that blowhard Randy Galloway decides to take aim and fire. No, there's no excuse for Nowitzki being out of shape. But the Mavericks have bigger issues than resting their star for four games.

How about getting your doors blown off at home when you receive your championship rings by the Minnesota Timberwolves 105-90?

Compared to how much Nowitzki's cared and given, Lamar Odom's just about walked to center court, dropped his shorts, taken a dump, flipped 20,000 fans off and felt up your sister.

But Dirk's the problem. Right.

Odom's bound-to-be-short tenure with the Mavericks culminated in the biggest of turds: 2-14 FGs - 2 free throw attempts - 4 rebounds - 5 of his shots blocked.

He's shooting 33 percent now and his rebound and point averages are sliced in half from a year ago.

I'm tired of his bullshit and the Mavericks should be too if Mark Cuban, Donnie Nelson and Rick Carlisle had a set of balls between them. Odom should simply be in street clothes are anchoring the end of the bench. You can't tell me that Brandan Wright, Yi Jianlian or Ian Mahinmi -- guys that WANT to be out there -- aren't better options. Shit, if we need to increase Brendan Haywood's minutes, so be it.

Of course, Odom's in a bad place. I mean, car accidents and relatives dying ... and your favorite team trading you off in a salary dump.

Boo. Fucking. Hoo.

This isn't about the accident or the relative passing away. This is all about getting his lil' feelings hurt by those nasty-wasty Wakers. Jesus Christ. Cry me a river.

He's worse than an ineffective player. He's a cancer. He brings everything down. The European stiffs that Nelson and Cuban would have used those draft picks to take would have been far more useful than Odom and his pity party.

The Dallas Stars, at break

Nystrom: Dealin'

The Dallas Stars ended the not-so first half of their season with a 1-0 win over division mate Anaheim last night.

There are must wins. Then there are must wins. Then there are MUST WINS. I feel, moving forward, that that was a MUST WIN. The Stars had lost five straight and are now 4-6-1 in January.

Eerily, this season is looking a lot like last season. The hot start. The gradual decline as injuries mounted and the depth of the cash-strapped organization was truly tested.

Except, things are a little different.

Depth
As the injured reserve got crowded a year ago, more pressure was put on young players and existing veterans to make plays that simply weren't there. Being a team unable to lure quality free agents and depending on trades and developing youngsters on the fly, the team was unable to keep things up. They simply wore down. GM Joe Nieuwendyk went into the off-season with the same problems and the same budget. Letting Brad Richards walk opened up a lot of existing cash. He picked up Mike Ryder, Vern Fiddler, Radek Dvorak and Sheldon Souray all in free agency and took a flyer on Eric Nystrom in an early-season trade.

Those fivesome have combined for 44 points and 58 assists, led by Ryder with 32 points alone. Watching them, I think all of them have paid deep dividends for the Stars. None of them are lighting things up. Fiddler and Dvorak are serviceable forwards. Souray's helped solidify a leaky blue line. Ryder's been a top-of-the-line scorer. Nystrom's simply gravy.

Cash
What killed the Stars a year ago was the inability to make a mid-season trade to add talent. As noted above, there wasn't enough depth in the pool to maintain their early season form ... and they probably weren't as good as their early season form to begin with. Most teams would simply go out and pick themselves up a guy. Unfortunately, the NHL was running things and adding payroll was not in the cards. This season, Tom Gaglardi's purchased the team and is promising a payroll increase. We shall see Nieuwendyk's ability to incubate a good trade.

Trends, however, are creepy between 2010-11 and 2011-12.

Month	2010-11	2011-12
October	6-4-1	8-3
November	8-4-1	6-6-1
December	8-5-3	7-6
January	8-2-1	4-6-1
	30-15-6	25-21-1

Creepy might not be the word. The seasons are different in a lot of ways, but that doesn't make me feel better about the rest of 2011-12.

For one, the 2010-11 Stars maintained a good pace all the way through January. They were first in the Pacific for much of the season and looked prime.

Then injuries and the wear and tear of the season happened. The Stars wound up going 3-8-1 after the All-Star break in February and 5-4-5 in March. All the while, the Western Conference were just getting better.

The Stars are not in the place they were a year ago. They're worse, as far as the standings go. As I stated above, the Stars are actually in a much more advantageous place. They have guys at the rudder steering this ship. There is money to infuse. And they're not completely out of things. A nice little win streak instead of a lousy woeful post-break losing streak would go a long way.

Gettin' Paid: Alex Goligoski

Gotta have cash to make it rain

Another chit has fallen in re-building the Dallas Stars.

Alex Goligoski -- the former Pittsburgh Penguin, who the Stars traded some useful pieces for last season -- was signed to a four-year, $18.4 million extension. It gives him a little security and a mild pay bump (from $2.75 million to $4.6 million).

Goligoski is 26 years old. This deal will take him to 30 years old and, hopefully, during that time he'll turn into one of the best puck-handling, offensive-minded defensemen in the league. He's already pretty good, but I think it's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Interestingly, the Stars are in a place of advantage. With Goligoski nailed down at a conservative four years, the Stars really just have two other guys under contract "long term": Loui Eriksson and Trevor Daley. Surely, Jamie Benn's payday is coming soon.

Bigger picture: The Stars don't have anyone on the payroll, just 14 guys currently under contract for next season and just six for 2013-14.

Combine that with new ownership, the Stars shouldn't be hurting for cash -- or quality free agents -- for much longer. The slate is almost clean.

Tuesday morning Rangers

Tiny E needs to get paid

Koji Uehara apparently doesn't want to be in Texas any longer. He's openly stated he'd like to return to the Baltimore Orioles. He must be desperate. Rumors early in the winter were that Boston and Baltimore. Now, the Rangers and Blue Jays are in talks for the reliever. Honestly, I'd like to see Uehara back. I think he's good and I don't know what happened late last season when he became ... bad. Also, I don't think it hurts having another face in the clubhouse to help Yu Darvish roll in.

****
Still, more talk about extending Josh Hamilton. It ain't going to happen until Prince Fielder finds a home. Even then, I think the Rangers are smart enough to be reasonable if they decide to keep Hamilton.

****
The Rangers haven't gone to arbitration with a player since Lee Stevens, if my memory serves me right. Arbitration hearings are now set for Elvis Andrus, Mike Napoli and Nelson Cruz. Things will get expensive.

****
On Prince, things are just kind of swireling. The Rangers are in the works and Jon Heyman calls them a non-favorite. He also adds that Fielder and the Rangers like each other. Question is: Does Fielder like winning a lot of games? If he does, he knows where to go. Not Washington, Baltimore or Florida.

Shawn Marion: The Mavericks' savior

Matrix-y

All of last season, I felt that Shawn Marion was the most underrated Dallas Maverick.

At this point in this abbreviated season, he's just rated. Meaning, now everyone's noticing just what Marion brings to the table. All at the age of 33. When everyone thought he was pretty washed up.

Last night was vintage Matrix scoring 29 beating the Phoenix Suns 93-87. With Lamar Odom pouting, Dirk Nowitzki trying to catch his breath, Jason Kidd crapping the sheets, Jason Terry remaining inconsistent and the team in general trying to find a rotation, Marion's been really good, or, at least, really consistent. He's not going to score 29 a night, but he buoys the ship when needed. It's nothing spectacular. It's just good.

Ironically, or not, Marion's shooting percentage is at its lowest in three seasons as a Maverick, still at a respectable 46 percent. The reason is probably he's shooting three times as many three pointers. It's not such a bad thing. He's hitting them at a 42 percent clip. At his peak with the Suns a decade ago, he was attempting 4.5 three-pointers a game. He's averaging 1.1 per game this season.

Marion will never go back to his full Matrix days. But as long as he maintains his current efficiency and effectiveness on both sides of the ball, mind you, the Mavericks will be relevant this season.

Notes:
1. Jason Kidd is shooting 26 percent. He's got 24 steals and 19 field goals. It's to the point that he needs to quit shooting. And the Mavericks will not be the same team if he's not a threat to shoot.

2. Typically, minutes for Ian Mahinmi would have raised eyebrows. Now you can't imagine him not on the floor. He's going from eight minutes a game to 20 (28 last night) and shooting 64 percent. Biggest boost are his ability to get to the free-throw line and make them.

3. The Mavs are 2-6 against winning teams. Are 9-1 against losing teams.

4. Why would the Mavericks label Dirk Nowitzki's hiatus as being out of shape when they would get all the credit in the world for just resting him four games?

5. Yes, Brendan Haywood had his career high with 10 points last night. Ten points.