A bullet dodged

The Big Unit

The great MLB Trade Rumors had a post about the many struggles of free agent signees.

I got into a nice discussion before the season with a guy who swore up and down the Rangers should've gone after every free agent. He was especially adamant about Brad Penny, for some reason. I guess arms are arms and bats are bats and all are better than the arms and bats the Rangers had already purchased. A fair assessment, I think.

I honestly had no problem with signing Brad Penny. The Rangers didn't and now I get to enjoy the signs of Derek Holland stretching or Neftali Feliz going into Oklahoma City. Give me each of those guys for 10 Pennys.

The guys that go away, thankfully:

Milton Bradley
.097 - .317 OBP - .194 Slugging
I must say this: I loved Bradley, but there was no way I would pay him $10 million in a long-term deal. With that said, I don't think Bradley would be having as bad a year if he were in Texas. The Chicago media is tearing him up and injuries and ineffectiveness aren't helping. I'm glad the Rangers passed.

C.C. Sabathia
4.73 ERA - 1.39 WHIP - 14 BBs - 19 Ks

A.J. Burnett
5.47 ERA - 1.34 WHIP - 12 BBs - 20 Ks
I don't think the Yankees' new toys will this bad the entire season. It is fun seeing them struggle mightily in their new digs. I don't think the Rangers were huge contenders, but I bet they kicked the tires, at least.

Kerry Wood
6.75 ERA - 1.75 WHIP - .303 BAA

Brian Fuentes
5.63 ERA - 1.63 WHIP - .303 BAA - 1 Blown Save

Trevor Hoffman
2 games played
The Rangers, it seems, were in on Fuentes and Wood more than Hoffman. Either way, it was a closer-rich free agency and the Rangers didn't bite. They hung their hat on Frank Francisco and, so far, he's been nails. Wood, Fuentes and Hoffman have not been good. And they certainly haven't been as good as Francisco.

Randy Johnson
6.16 ERA - 1.53 WHIP
There was one rumor that had the Rangers going after the Big Unit. I didn't mind it, and I still wouldn't mind haven't Johnson. He's struggled, but I think he'll wind up with 12-14 wins and a 4.50 ERA.

Brad Penny
8.66 ERA - 1.98 WHIP - .320 BAA - 11 BBs - 6 Ks
Decent in two starts, but never good or anything. He's striking no one out and is clearly a shell of his former self. Super glad the Rangers went with Kris Benson instead.

Goose flies high

Everyone loves The Dallas Morning News' NFL writer Rick Gosselin.

So understated and soft spoken. So cocky. So full of himself.

Maybe that's because he knows what he's talking about. Hate the man, but don't hate the game.

The Huddle Report compiled the mock drafts of any NFL writer of note and scored them based on correct picks based on number and team.

Over the past three NFL Drafts, the No. 1 prognosticator is ... drumroll ... Rick Gosselin.

The Goose scored 43 points this year and has averaged 45.33 points (tied with Clark Judge from CBS) since 2007.

So, go Dallas.

Sports entities that should embrace their place in this world

Tim Tebow's embraced his role ... have you?

Last week, Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry graciously received the Sixth Man of the Year Award.

Terry, naturally, said all the right things.

"I like it. If that means my team is going to be up there competing for a championship every year, that's the role I'll assume. I look at Darrell Armstrong as one of the best to ever do it. That trophy should be of him, though I don't know about the muscles and all. But the way he came in the game and affected the game, he symbolized 'team.'"

Please folks, remember, that it wasn't that long ago (last year? year before?) that Terry bitched and bitched some more about coming off the bench. Further references to Jerry Stackhouse were made as a guy who embraced the sixth man role. Except he didn't. Stack, too, bitched and bitched about coming off the bench.

It's silly really. Terry gets as many minutes off the bench as he did as a starter and maybe, actually, he's embracing his role as a guy who makes a difference instead of a starter who doesn't.

Without further ado, here's my list of sports entities that should embrace their roles more:

The Nosey Owner
Guess what, you own a professional sports team! You're doing what every other sports enthusiast would love to do, but can't because they make $40K a year typing TPS reports and raising kids. Jerry Jones is probably a hell of a oil wildcatter. Probably can smell the stuff from a country mile. But can he run a football team? Can Dan Snyder? Just sit back and make money. Seize the moment!

The Second-Tier Sport
It is the dream of soccer, Nascar, hockey, tennis, golf and curling to one day be the No. 1 sport in the United States. It ain't happening. Ever, ever, ever. It may not always be the NFL, but it'll never be outside of the mighty triumvirate of them, the NBA or MLB. What those other sports should be focusing on is becoming the fourth popular sport in the United States. This role, I think, tennis and golf have embraced. Nascar had momentum but lost it. Soccer and hockey think they can come to the big-boy table and eat, but they are sorely mistaken. Just embrace the fact that you've got Canada, Europe and, in soccer's case, the rest of the freakin' world in your grip and be happy.

The Tall, White NBAer
You're tall. You're white. Chances are, you are not one of the top 25 players in the NBA. But so what? All Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony are doing is heaping more pressure on themselves. In actuality, you're playing the game right. You're playing basketball for a living. That's good. You're probably making a bunch of money. That's really good. And all you've got to do is come off the bench, run up and down the court 20 minutes every game and rebound and score put-backs? I've always said that if I were a 7-2 dude, I would become the most sure-fire NBA pro ever by just rebounding, making sure opponents don't go crazy around the basket and scoring easy baskets. This does take effort, but you can relax you're entire life with the two max-out contracts you'll get (see: Shawn Bradley, Keith Van Horn) during your career.

The Special Teams Specialist
The Dallas Cowboys just selected a kicker out of USC to be their kick-off specialist. NFL teams galore pay guys millions upon millions to snap the ball, place kick, tackle opponents on punt returns and all sorts of silly things. Actually, these special teams guys actually already do embrace their role. In fact, I think they'd just prefer to play kick coverage than actually have to enter the game as a safety or linebacker.

The Assistant Coach
This list initially came into fruition after reading about Pittsburgh Steeler defensive coordinator Dick LaBeau. He is considered to be one of the best defensive minds and assistant coaches in NFL history. If any coordinator or assistant was going into the Hall of Fame, it may be him. For more than 30 years he's made a name for himself. But for three years he got the itch. From 2000-02, he coached the lowly Cincinnati Bengals. Chances are, he lost a lot of games. He was fired and eventually went to Pittsburgh. Overall, he's a guy that's embraced the fact that he can be considered the best defensive coordinator in the history of the game, but maybe one of the worst head coaches in the history of the game. Others can learn from this like Wade Phillips, Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis, Dave Wannstedt, Norv Tuner, Dave Campo, Rod Marinelli, et al.

The College Coach
This applies to basketball and football. How many times have we seen the super-successful college coach try to make the jump to the professionals and fail? The easier question is how many actually succeed? Then most high-tail it back to the colleges like Steve Spurrier and Rick Pitino. In the United States, there ain't nothing wrong with being awesome on the college level. College sports are gigantic. They need good coaches. Roy Williams, Mike Krzyzewski, Bob Stoops, Urban Meyer and John Callipari know what Pete Carroll, Pitino, Spurrier, Dennis Erickson, Lou Holtz, Bobby Petrino and Nick Saban had to figure out on their own.

The Relief Pitcher
I think you'd be surprised how many current MLB relief pitchers would love to become a starter. That's kinda what they're brought up to do. It not only makes you a ton more money, but it's the marquee name. Relievers don't win Cy Young Awards, starters do. However, the game of professional baseball, like most sports, has changed a lot. A middle reliever eating innings between the fifth and eighth are as important to a MLB team as any other player. The quicker the pitcher realizes this the more successful (and richer) they'll get.

The Sixth Man
Like the relief pitcher in baseball and special teams specialist in football, the sixth man is vital for a basketball team. It's to the point that teams put their third or fourth best player on the bench for the sole purpose of being able to bring him in with five minutes left in the first quarter. No more will you find the five best players in the starting line-up. Soon, the starting line-up may be two good players and three relatively poor players with three or even four good players sitting on the bench. Sixth men need to realize that this isn't their father's NBA. It's a changed game and they must change with it to succeed.

The College Star
I am convinced that Tim Tebow, Florida Gators stud QB, will never amount to much in the NFL. That's OK. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a transcendent college player and letting that become what your name means for the rest of your life. College is good. For the last four or so years, Tebow's gotten to hang out in Florida, be the coolest guy on campus, probably gets whatever he wants and bangs every piece of ass. What's wrong with this? For the rest of his life, he'll have a college education (or at least part of one), a job from any booster and free meals in any Gainesville eatery.

Why I think the Mavs beat the Spurs

Just needed a little effort

The reason the Dallas Mavericks defeated the San Antonio Spurs in five games is because, simply, they're the better team.

More often than not, that's how it shakes down in the NBA. No matter the seeding, the better team typically triumphs. This is more important than, say, the higher-ranked teams winning. In the Western Conference Finals, we want the two best teams playing. Right now, that's the Lakers, Nuggets and Mavericks. There's an incredibly good chance that two of those three will make the west finals.

But here's why the Mavs beat the Spurs. I think.

The Spurs Didn't Make the Mavs Work on Defense
A lot was made out of inserting J.J. Barea into the line-up in order to make the woefully poor defender Tony Parker work on the defensive end as a means of whipping his ass and making him ineffective offensively. The Spurs didn't really do that only level. For Parker, the Mavs put Antoine Wright, Barea, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry on him. More than enough legs to keep up ... three of those pairs aren't considered big scoring options (Wright, Kidd, Barea) so their usage wasn't needed to make buckets.

The Spurs are a jump-shooting team of the highest order. Way more than the Mavericks. What's important here is that the Mavs really aren't a great defensive team and, individually, they have some really poor defenders. Ideally, you'd like to target these guys. The Spurs could'nt. Mike Finley, Bruce Bowen, Roger Mason, Matt Bonner, Ime Udoka and Kurt Thomas are all pretty easy defensive assignments. Tim Duncan, actually, isn't that rough. He's great and all, but he's clearly not 100 percent and never played as he has in the past. The Spurs simply couldn't pressure the Mavs into anything.

The Mavs Simply Whipped the Spurs on the Boards
The Mavs pounded the Spurs on the boards in four of the five games. Twice by at least double digits and the series total was 207-188. Appropriately, the Spurs were 19th in the league in rebounding and the Mavs were fifth (for the record, the Nuggets are 15th). The Spurs missed a lot of shots and the only way they would've won is by beating the Mavs on the boards. It was a battle of muscle and grit and the Mavs won.

Free Throws
In the NBA playoffs, every possession counts. In theory. If the Mavs win by 20, than one single possession doesn't make that big of a difference, but how did the Mavs win by 20? Chances are it started with one bad possession and snowballed into a dozen others. What did the Mavs do when the Spurs made a run or hit a basket? They attacked the basket and got to the free-throw line. Try 120 times in five games (22 attempts per) versus the Spurs measly 103 attempts (20 times per). The difference between 22 attempts in a game and 20 attempts in a game is how many you make. Dallas is the best free-throw shooting team in the league and showed it. The Spurs missed 31 free throws over five games. 31! In game 4 they missed 12. That's a ton of points being left on the floor.

The Spurs' "Defense" Wilted
The Spurs -- in terms of points per game allowed -- were the second best defensive team in the NBA this year. So why did it look so easy for the Mavs on offense? The Mavs shot 50+ percent in two games. Forty-seven percent in another. The Mavs averaged 96 points a game (three over the Spurs allowed average in the regular season) and this includes game 3's 88 points that could've easily been 120 had the Mavs kept their starters in that rout. The Mavs hit a lot of shots. Open shots. Very not open shots.

Furthermore, Spurs Coach Greg Popovich didn't have answers for all the Mavs' weapons. Bowen is their "marquee defender" (he ain't what he used to be, by far) and he put him on Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, Barea, Kidd and whoever. They double teamed almost every scorer the Mavs, but no matter what, they were burned by the open man.

A page out of 'Moneyball'

Throw good

The most interesting part about last night's 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics is how they did it.

No, there were no home runs. There weren't even any extra-base hits.

They did it by walking with the bases loaded. They did it by getting walks to stuff the bases. They did it with 2-out singles. They, in fact, did it with a lot of singles.

They also did it behind a monster pitching performance.

It wasn't perfect, but they did it.

Sounds familiar. Sounds like something A's general manager Billy Beane slobbers over when he's re-reading "Moneyball" for the billionth time.

I'm getting used to 5-4 wins. I'm also getting used to Kevin Millwood pitching his ass off.

He's gone at least seven innings and 110 pitches in every start. Opponents are hitting .210 off the guy and slugging a lousy .333 (five extra-base hits, I believe). Right now, the Rangers have one of the best pitchers in the Major Leagues. Yikes. When's the other shoe falling?

Notes:
1. Reason No. 114 why I think the Oakland A's will stink this season: I don't think their starters (pitching or hitting) are just outstanding. However, it doesn't get any better if those guys get hurt. The A's probably have a fine farm system. But typically guys from Double just don't pop up to the Majors and start winning divisions. The A's had, at least, three injuries last night, including the starter Brett Anderson, who looked damn good.

2. Frank Francisco looks like a real, honest-to-goodness closer. Haven't seen one those in Arlington for a long time.

3. How is it that we can move Mike Young to third, Chris Young to third, Hank Blalock to first and Andruw Jones to first, but we couldn't move Alfonso Soriano to the outfield?

4. Another two errors by Los Rangers, including Ian Kinsler's first in 95 chances and 177 innings and Nellie Cruz's third (but seems like his 20th).

5. Jarrod Saltalamacchia's 2-out single in the sixth was C-L-U-T-C-H, clutch.

This is still Dirk's team

Not the most flattering moment of Dirk's night

This has been a very interesting Dallas Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs playoff series. It's been unlike any other played before because it was pretty awful, but also because every game had it's own personality and names.

For the most part, Mavs' fans have been tickled pink to see guys like Ryan Hollins, J.J. Barea, Erick Dampier, Antoine Wright, Brandon Bass and others step into the spotlight and win games.

Last night, however, pounded home a stark realization: This is still Dirk Nowitzki's team.

It doesn't matter if he didn't lead the team in scoring in four of the five games. It doesn't matter how many big shots Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Bass, Wright or Barea make. It's cute when those does are pushing it and making buckets and defensive plays. But when the Giant Teuton comes rolling through Poland, you know that the shit is getting heavy.

A brilliant game by Nowitzki in a 106-93 series-clinching win that was never even in doubt at any moment in my brain as the Mavs lead from stem to stern.

A lot has been made about the "struggles" of Jason Terry and Nowitzki in this series. When really their "struggles" have been completely different. Nowitzki never "struggled."

Nowitzki shot 49 percent from the field. In game 3, he would've had 40 points had the Mavs not already run the Spurs out of the American Airlines Center. His 3-14 effort in game 2 was his only pitfall.

As for Terry, the big question was "How do you go about getting the JET going?" The real questions should've been: "How do we get JET to hit an open jumper?" It's not like Terry was being denied the ball all series or he was heaving up 50-foot fall-away jumpers from the stands. He was missing simple, wide-open jumpers that he hits at a 50 percent clip normally. It's like asking how do you get Dampier to rebound more? Just tell him to jump and grab the ball.

Good times, friends, good times.

Numbers:

1
The amount of times Tim Duncan's been ousted in the first round of the playoffs. Get used to it.

1
The number of good games by Duncan. A lot of attention -- as noted above -- was placed on the absence of Terry and Nowitzki from the Mavs. Well, how about talking about how Duncan was pretty much a non-factor for four games. He was fantastic last night, but it was way too little, too late.

2
Bricks to start the game for Matt Bonner. What a waste of a roster spot in the NBA. He is useless. The Mavs were like, "Hell, Matt Bonner, we'll let you shoot all day long!"

4
Three-pointers from Jason Kidd. I didn't think he was as effective last night as he was in games 3 and 4 in Dallas. But the dude knows how to hit the big three pointer. The one to close out the third quarter pretty much sealed the game (officially) in my brain.

1,000,000,000
Big plays made by Josh Howard all series. He's the series MVP in my book. Offensively he was really good in making the game come to him and never forcing anything. Other than the oddball turnover every once in a while, Howard was fantastic, particularly on the defensive end. How many steals did he grab or cause? How about the huge block (on Parker?) last night. I don't think defensive stats tell one's story, but he had seven steals and three blocks in the series. But he was much bigger than that.

3-7
Erick Dampier's free-throw line from last night. Two days after I bragged about him going 9-11 so far in the series.

11
Missed free throws by Duncan for the series. I always consider Shaq O'Neal a second-tier all-time center because of his considerable disregard for free throws (in this day and age, you can always get better). Same for Duncan. The guy is a threat 15 feet from the basket. Why can't he hit a free throw? It's also worth noting that if you take away his 18 attempts in game 4, he only had 10 in the entire series. That's little more than two a game.

14-33
The field goal line for all Spurs not named "Duncan" or "Parker" last night. The Spurs have a lot of decisions to make about their team. Other than the two top, they suck. They suck bad. They're old and they suck. And it's not like the Mavs were just playing hardcore defense. They played good defense, but the Spurs missed a ton of open shots. A ton. If the Spurs hit some shots this is a different series, obviously, but it shouldn't take away from the fact that the reserves and third-tier guys on the team just aren't very good. Maybe that's why they missed all those shots.

The unification of the the division

Mark Ellis island: This dude has a career .321 average against the Rangers

Tonight, the Texas Rangers finally play a division foe. Twenty freakin' games into the season and the Rangers hadn't run into the Athletics, Angels or Mariners.

Typically they get the Angels early in the season and get swept. Instead, they've run into the juggernauts of Kansas City, Detroit and Baltimore.

Needless to say, keeping your own in your division is very important. Last season, there wasn't a division winner in Major League Baseball that didn't have a winning division record. You don't need one to be successful, but you kinda do need one to be successful.

Division games are an excellent way to bury a division opponent ... or to be buried yourself. Check out the American League West last season:

California Angels -- 100-62 -- 36-21
Texas Rangers -- 79-83 -- 30-27
Oakland Athletics -- 75-86 -- 26-31
Seattle Mariners -- 61-101 -- 22-35

So far this season, Seattle is 7-2 in the division and four games up on the Oakland A's, who are in third place.

The Rangers play 57 division games this season. The goal: 30+ wins has to be the goal if this team plans to contend for the division. If, by some miracle, the Rangers are in the race in September, they'll have plenty of opportunity to win it on their own: 20 division games between September and October.

If there's any hope for optimism, it's that nobody really feels that the Rangers are any better or worse than the Mariners, A's or Angels. They can compete with these guys.

The bigger question: Can they?

Local yokels in the draft

Quan Cosby sweater

Yesterday, we discussed the Cowboys draft situation and the draft impact for their NFC East bunkmates.

Considering college football is so fun and exciting, let's take a look at some of the teams and players of local interest.

First off, the number of players taken from teams of local interest:

Missouri	6
TCU	5
Oklahoma	5
Texas Tech	4
The University of Texas	4
Nebraska	3
Texas A&M	2
Colorado	1
Kansas State	1
Oklahoma State	1
Baylor	1
SFA	1
SMU	1
Iowa State	0
Kansas	0

Of course, this little list does not include non-drafted players like Graham Harrell, Chase Daniel and others.

OK, let's look where players of note landed.

Jason Smith -- No. 2 -- St. Louis Rams
The best offensive lineman in the draft right out of lil' Waco. The RAms did pretty well taking another offensive lineman as the No. 1 pick more than decade ago: Orlando Pace. Also a Dallas product like Matt Stafford and a guy we'll get to next.

Michael Crabtree -- No. 10 -- San Francisco 49ers
The third Dallas product. Dropped mightily (according to some, due to a bad 40-yard time) and even behind Darrius Heyward-Bey. Who's throwing him the ball. Crabtree could be the next Terrell Owens in San Fran -- in more ways than one. He's a primetime player, but we've seen a lot of primetime players fail in the NFL.

Brian Orakpo -- No. 13 -- Washington Redskins
Cowboys fans will get a snoot full of this kid. Could be a terror if he wants to.

Brandon Pettigrew -- No. 20 -- Oklahoma State
OSU's only draft loss. He's considered the best tight end in the draft. Maybe I just don't know how to define a good college tight end, but I thought he was pretty ordinary. Granted, he was injured four games this year and he played at a run-happy school, but still.

Juaquin Iglesias -- No. 99 --Chicago BearsAs it was noted in the papers, the Bears have taken five Sooners the last six years. Iglesias always looked good, but it seemed he could've been better. A lot better considering the offense and quarterback. Can Jay Cutler find some rapport with him?

Stephen McGee -- No. 101 -- Dallas Cowboys
Could turn into a nice back-up. If he's anything like his high school self, he could be a starter in six years. He just needs to sit back and learn. Just realize that eight months ago nobody thought he'd be drafted, more or less the fifth best quarterback in the draft.

Mike Goodson -- No. 111 -- Carolina Panthers
Granted, he got drafted by a running team. Unfortunately, they've got two starters already. I'm a little more shocked Goodson got taken here at No. 111. He was pretty ordinary for a college program that tried nothing but running the ball.

Rhett Bomar -- No. 151 -- New York Giants
How much higher is he taken if he's in Sooner red rather than Sam Houston State orange and blue. Probably the fifth best quarterback in the draft (with McGee). He's got all the tools ... does he have the brains?

Thomas Morstead -- No. 164 -- New Orleans Saints
Picked the perfect program at SMU to be a punter.

Chris Ogbonnaya -- No. 211 -- St. Louis Rams
If he's going to do anything in the NFL (highly unlikely) he might have found the perfect place to do it in. If he works and is lucky he could get stuck behind Steven Jackson and go from there.

Graham Harrell -- Undrafted
Shocked here. I realize he's a Texas Tech quarterback (the ultimate system), but he's the best ever out of that system. What's the difference in taking a seventh-round flyer in the guy than taking a back-up to the back-up inside linebacker? He will go to camp with the Cleveland Browns.

Chase Daniel -- Undrafted
Not surprised. He will forever be remembered in Missouri and Southlake Carroll. That should be good enough. Did sign on with the Washington Redskins.

Quan Cosby -- Undrafted
Really surprised he didn't get taken. If I were the Cowboys, I would've either taken him late or signed him as an undrafted guy. I think he's a player. Yes, kinda old, short and slow, but still, he made plays his entire career as a Longhorn.

Battle tested

Blood out of a turnip

Boy, how many times do we hear the usual lip service from Dallas-Fort Worth sports teams only to be disappointed in the end?

Remember when the Dallas Mavericks were going to play defense?

Anyway, all off season we read and heard about Nolan Ryan cracking the whip with the Texas Rangers pitchers. They were going to be in shape and ready to pitch longer and harder.

The Rangers of the past would've pulled Matt Harrison last night in the middle of the second inning. By then, he'd allowed four runs, six hits and a stolen base. The poor Rangers were down 4-0.

The 2009 Rangers are maybe practicing what they're preaching.

Harrison was left in, he subsequently mowed down 16 straight hitters, allowed just one more hit and no runs and threw 112 pitches through seven innings.

The Rangers won 6-4.

Harrison needed this as bad as the Rangers needed this. Harrison was great and he battled and battled until those goofy singles became goofy groundballs (10 groundball outs). That, friends, is pitching.

The win gave the Rangers the four-game series win, but also gave them a nice 4-3 record on this seven-game trip. Had things gone like last year, it could've doomed them and Ron Washington. Last season, the Rangers took a nine-game trip in April. They went 2-7 (sweeps in Boston, Detroit) and it sunk them until June when they started winning some.

Notes:
1. The Rangers had two more outfield assists, including one from David Murphy (the other, Marlon Byrd). The Rangers have excellent arms in the outfield between them and Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz. At some point opponents are going to learn.

2. Mike Young's on a tear. Thirteen of his 23 hits are for extra bases and his slugging is up 200 points.

3. The Darren O'Day-C.J. Wilson tag team looks OK. It's odd. Wilson's not as scary when he needs one or two outs. But three ... just out of the question.

4. Frank Francisco looked like he was toying with the O's.

5. The Rangers scored four runs on singles. The sooner they realize that homers aren't always the answer, the better.

The Western Conference, a look back

Brandon Roy, disgusted

Before the 2008-09 NBA season, I made predictions for the Western Conference.

Here's another prediction: I will be thoroughly embarassed as I review my predictions and realize I should probably quit doing such things.

(My Prediction)
(Actual Record)

New Orleans Hornets -- 61-21-- 49-33
Why was this team so ordinary? Was it really just Tyson Chandler's injury? I can't explain it. There is no reason why this team should not have won 60 games considering the level of the other teams in the Western Conference. The success of the Hornets will puzzle me 'til my dying day.

Los Angeles Lakers -- 55-27 -- 65-17
Well, I wondered whether the Lakers had enough going for them to win 55 games. I was pretty right on some fronts. The bench is shallow and Andy Bynum couldn't stay healthy. But in an ordinary Western Conference -- along with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol -- the Lakers were head over heels better. It didn't hurt playing Golden State and the Clippers every fourth day either.

Phoenix Suns -- 52-30 -- 46-36
Losing Amare Stoudemire not only killed the Suns' season, but also my prediction.

Utah Jazz -- 48-34 -- 48-34
Bingo on the record. Why I thought 48 wins would get the fourth seed is a mystery. Nonetheless, I take my victories where I can.

San Antonio Spurs -- 48-34 --54-28
My heart was in the right place. They're a more vunerable team now than ever. They look so old even with Manu Ginobili healthy, which ain't too frequent.

Houston Rockets -- 46-36 -- 53-29
I still do hate the Rockets. Love their athletes however. It's only smart to bet against them if Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady are healthy. How is it your two best players turn you into a .500 team?

Portland Trailblazers -- 44-38 -- 54-28
Matured in a hurry. They'll be 50-win good for a while.

Dallas Mavericks -- 43-39 -- 50-32
Rick Carlisle probably should've deserved more than one third-place vote for Coach of the Year. He did a hell of a job to get 50 wins and the sixth seed with a clearly inferior team.

Denver Nuggets -- 39-43 --54-28
Never, ever will I doubt Chauncey Billups. Give me credit though, Billups didn't start the season in Denver.

Memphis Grizzlies -- 37-45 -- 24-58
Like the Hornets, I don't understand why they didn't win more, especially with the emergence of Marc Gasol.

Sacramento Kings -- 34-48 --17-65
I'll never understand how a team can lose that much. I mean, you're professionals. Is 25 wins just too much to ask for anymore?

Los Angeles Clippers -- 33-49 --19-63
As I can't underestimate Chauncey Billups no longer, overestimating Marcus Camby is now in my past. He does not make his teams better.

Golden State Warriors -- 30-52 --29-53
I'll take it.

Minnesota Timberwolves -- 29-53 -- 24-58
Al Jefferson was the only hope of this team getting 30 wins. His pain is my pain.

Oklahoma City Thunder -- 25-57 -- 23-59
If they can make some off-season moves, they can be good in a hurry.

As the Rangers go

David Murphy certainly made his first hit of the season count

I guess we're not all pissed off about another bullpen meltdown because at the end of the weekend, the Rangers did at least split the road series against Baltimore.

But, hell, when is this going to stop? Who do you trust if your Ron Washington and you're coaching for your job? It's ridiculous and impossible!

Before, it's been C.J. Wilson, Eddie Guardado, Warner Madrigal, Josh Rupe and Scott Feldman.

Yesterday, it was Jason Jennings that blew as he gave up four runs in 2.2 innings.

Again, we've got to think bigger picture. They can go for the series win tonight.

Notes:

1. Believe it or not, Chris Davis is in the middle of a 7-game hitting streak. He's hitting .213 now. Five of his 13 hits are home runs. I think the Rangers should think about shopping him this summer for hardcore, top-of-the-line pitching.

2. Speaking of, the Rangers can not trade Hank Blalock, Marlon Byrd or Andruw Jones fast enough.

3. Jarrod Saltalamacchia exploded for seven weekend hits. His average has jumped 100 points.

4. There was a note recently that said that the Rangers should demote David Murphy so he can get everyday at-bats. Bunk. Murphy is a big-league player. He's a good hitter and above average in the field. He's got a rifle arm as the Orioles will tell you.

The others

Hakeem Nicks: Cowboys can't like seeing this dude twice a year

While the Dallas Cowboys worked to improve their special teams over the weekend, the rest of the NFC East was looking to, you know, improve their team as a whole.

For some misguided teams in the NFL, winning games is the priority; whereas for the Cowboys, improving your kick coverage is more important. Who am I to judge?

Let's take a look at the rest of the NFC East's draft days.

New York Giants
Gave the middle finger to Braylon Edwards and Plaxico Burress by taking Hakeem Nicks and Ramses (never pass up a guy named "Ramses") Barden. Between them and Dominique Hicks, they should more than make up for what Burress brought before he shot himself in the leg. Plus, they have the dynamic marketing opportunities with Hicks and Nicks as your starting wide outs.
The Giants also took linebacker Clint Sintim (as if they needed any more good linebackers) and former South Grand Prairie/OU/Sam Houston State quarterback Rhett Bomar, arguably the fifth best one in the draft.

Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles may have had the best draft in the division. Got three primetime, good offensive weapons to go along with Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook. The Eagles stole LeSean McCoy in the second round after taking Missouri badass Jeremy Maclin in the first round. Combine them with tight end Cornelius Ingram and you've got a potentially very good turnaround in terms of scoring points. The Eagles also addressed their defensive backfield by trading for DeSoto-ex Ellis Hobbs (why weren't the Cowboys making this trade?) and drafting Victor Harris.

Washington Redskins
Thought the defense needed some youth. Took four defenders in their first four rounds including first-rounder Brian Orakpo out of Texas. Unfortunately, the Redskins have bigger issues than their defense including a complete lack of faith in their quarterback and a coach that could be fired for no reason at any second.

Welcome to mediocrity, Cowboys fans

McGee

Man, what a boring NFL Draft weekend. Well, at least for the Dallas Cowboys.

I realize that they got 12 picks and that's all super and everything, but they were 12 guys that were not good enough to be chosen in the first two rounds. And 9-7 teams typically need more first- and second-round type guys.

This signals, I think, the start of a bad stretch for the Dallas Cowboys. They've lost a lot of good players and maybe a couple of great ones. And some of the guys still on the team aren't getting any younger.

So what do the Cowboys do in the draft with their first five picks:

Linebacker, Tackle, Quarterback, Defensive End, Defensive Tackle.

And we would've ranked the Cowboys needs as such: Safety, Cornerback, Wide Receiver, Defensive Tackle, Linebacker and Quarterback.

Seems backwards, right? That's what direction I think the Cowboys are headed and in five years we may look back at the 2009 draft and label that as the day the music died.

Pick by pick:

69. Jason Williams -- LB -- Western Illinois
The Cowboys traded down from their second-round pick so Jason Williams heads it up. Note: This is not White Chocolate or the guy that shot his limo driver or the guy who was almost killed in a motorcycle wreck all from the NBA. He's a big (6-3, 235) linebacker ... but considering his skillset, it appears he's a better 4-3 linebacker and in the 3-4 he'll be an outside guy ... where Anthony Spencer, DeMarcus Ware and Greg Ellis are right now. How is this going to work? How does this fill a need?

75. Robert Brewster -- T -- Ball State
Whenever "a bit of a reach here" is noted in several stories, you know it's ... well ... a bit of a reach. And boom goes the dynamite.

101. Stephen McGee -- QB -- Texas A&M
Yipes. What an awful quarterback class. When Mark Sanchez is your No. 2 guy and McGee was No. 5, you know it's bad. McGee was a hell of a passer in high school and decided to go to a run-happy A&M. Clearly, he's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Again, how does this fill a need.

110. Victor Butler -- DE -- Oregon State
Another defensive end. That's two this draft not counting Spencer, Ware and Ellis.

120. Brandon Williams -- DL -- Texas Tech
He's a tall, skinny drink of water (6-5, 246). In some reports, some having him becoming a linebacker. Possibly outside. Surely the Cowboys aren't this stupid!

143. DeAngelo Smith -- DB -- Cincinnati
Finally. It took five rounds and six picks for the Cowboys to finally address a need.

166. Mike Hamlin -- S -- Clemson
How many times this season will we mix up Mike Hamlin with Ken Hamlin and Mike Jenkins?

172. David Buehler -- K -- USC
"Buehler?" "Buehler?" That's right ladies and gentlemen, your Dallas Cowboys picked a kickoff specialist in the fifth round of the NFL Draft!

197. Stephen Hodge -- S -- TCU
Local kid. Another safety. Can't go wrong. At least it wasn't a long snapper or water boy.

208. John Phillips -- TE -- Virginia
The Cowboys will never enter a NFL Draft without taking a tight end.

227. Mike Mickens -- CB -- Cincinnati
Yes, the Cowboys have taken a kickoff specialist, a tight end, three outside linebackers and two-fourths of the Cincinnati Bearcat secondary.

229. Manuel Johnson -- WR -- Oklahoma
And with their final pick, the Cowboys address an area of need.

Grades:
Uwe Blog -- F-
Yahoo! -- C+
CBS Sports -- D+
Peter King -- "Sounds like a special-teams jamboree in San Antonio this summer."

The better team

Good times

Four games into the San Antonio-Dallas NBA playoff series and one thing is clear: The Mavericks are the better team.

From top to bottom, the Mavs are better. A better bench. Better secondary scorers. Look at Ryan Hollins. He's the ninth, 10th or 11th guy off the bench and on any given day he can go out and reek havoc on a team's offense like he did Saturday in a 99-90 win.

Don't get me wrong, Tony Park and Tim Duncan are probably two of the best three players (Dirk Nowitzki, of course) in the series. They're great. But even those guys have their deficiencies like most.

The thing is, all Saturday as the Spurs and Mavs played a relatively close game for three-and-three-fourths quarters, I never doubted that the Mavs would win. They're just better.

The other game I recapped a game by going by my favorite numbers. It was fun.

9
Shot attempts from Dirk Nowitzki. Everyone's harping about Nowitzki and Jason Terry not scoring. Granted, Terry's lack of output is scary only because he's not hitting open shots. But Nowitzki's power outage is different. He's simply not shooting. In playoffs of yore, Nowitzki would shoot and shoot and shoot and if the Mavs lost, chances are he didn't shoot well. In this series, he's not forcing his game with the realization that there's enough around him to make up the points. Nowitzki's shooting a fine 22-50 for the series. That's 44 percent. Not bad.

12
Second-half points from Tony Parker. The guy is great but he has one major issue: He can't play defense. He's never played defense and probably never will play defense. It's one of those things. He's a small guy and he gets winded and beat up like many. It doesn't help that the Spurs rely on him so heavily. If you want to look at how the Spurs go, keep your barometer on Parker.

12-36
That was the Spurs' shooting line from the second half Saturday. Yes, Virginia, defense does win playoff games. That's a 30 percent shooting line over a half of a game (including 3-18 from three-point range). Granted, the Spurs missed a lot, but we'd be foolish not to, again, give the Mavs' defense a lot of credit.

19
The number of minutes Ryan Hollins played. Hollins is famine or feast: He either goes out and gives an all-world performance or completely stinks it up. No middle ground. And that's why he doesn't play a lot. However, I believe Hollins is a bullet you can fire once a series. Hollins basically went in to guard an already agitated Tim Duncan and basically just pissed the guy off.

By the way, speaking of Duncan, how is it not an offensive foul when Duncan dribbles across the lane for one of his patented baby hooks and digs his shoulder into his defender to give him an extra two feet?

81.8
Erick Dampier's free-throw percentage for the series. He's 9-11 and 6-6 Saturday. It's 20 points higher than his season average. And that's a microcosm of what he's brought to the table the last four games. He's been great. He clogs the lane, lays down righteous screens, rebounds like hell, goes toe to toe with Duncan and even decided to open his mouth to talk some shit. Who is this guy?

0
Back-up point guards for the Spurs. I'm surprised that Jacque Vaughn doesn't get more minutes. Seriously.

0
The amount of fear the Spurs back-ups put in him. Gotta be honest: Whenever Roger Mason, Drew Gooden, Kurt Thomas, Matt Bonner, Bruce Bowen and Co. are out there I realize that the Mavs will go on a run and that the Spurs will rush to get Parker and Duncan out there.

Case in point, here's the cumulative series stats for Spurs not named "Parker" and "Duncan":

59-189 FG -- 27-80 3PT -- 112 rebounds -- 19 assists -- 170 points

On average, the Spurs are getting 42 points, 28 rebounds and 4 assists from their non-stars. That will lose you a lot of playoff series.

Young at heart

Padilla flotilla

In early March, in the middle of Spring Training, I said that I could live with 5-3 wins all season. 

After losing nine of 12 real games, 5-4 will do. 

All thanks to a guy that has kinda gotten lost over the past two years: Mike Young. 

Young hit another game-winning home run to help the Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4. 

Young takes a lot of crap. When the team loses, it's his fault because he's the face of the franchise. When they win, it's never his doing. It's Ian Kinsler or Josh Hamilton or Milton Bradley last year. Now all the young prospects coming up get all the glory.

Quietly, Young's got five home runs (two game-winners ... he had 21 total homers the last two years), 11 RBI and is hitting .308. 

Years ago, Young played good teammate and moved from second to shortstop to appease Alfonso Soriano (who was later traded and forced to play outfield by Frank Robinson). This winter, he was asked to play third and he threw a bit of a temper tantrum, but eventually saw the light. Now, he's playing great D on the hot corner with only one error in 37 chances. 

He's a pro and should be appreciated accordingly. 

Notes: 

1. Rangers: 8 strikeouts, 0 walks. Blech. 

2. Will a 3-4 day jumpstart Jarrod Saltalamacchia. 

3. I'll be a happy camper whenever the Rangers see less of Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff. 

4. What bullpen was that and what did they do with the real Rangers relievers? Darren O'Day, C.J. Wilson and Frank Francisco combine for 2.1 scoreless innings. 

5. Francisco looks great as the closer. He's allowed four total baserunners in eight innings and opponents are hitting .125 against him. 

6. Like Kevin Millwood Thursday night, Vincente Padilla was far from perfect. But the Rangers need less perfect (although it's a welcome sight) and more tooth-and-nail starts where they keep opponents at bay for seven innings. 

When are the Texas Rangers gonna get some hitting?

Rudy's failed

I have long been of the opinion (oh, say, the last three years) that the Texas Rangers should fire Rudy Jaramillo.

Now, I'm totally convinced that Jaramillo should not be the team's hitting coach.

Hey, I realize that the guy has some skills and his work with individual players is unsurpassed.

But this team needs to rethink how it goes up to the plate much like the franchise rethought how it pitches.

As we all know, Nolan Ryan came in and inserted a boot into the asses of the team's pitchers. They had to come to camp in shape and ready to throw 115 pitches a start.

Now, Ryan needs to make his mark with the line-up. Last night, the Rangers lost 5-2 to the Toronto Blue Jays. The pitching wasn't perfect, but it didn't matter because the offense was missing. Rangers hitters struck out 13 times, walked twice and had two home runs, accounting for both runs. It was pathetic. Here are the Rangers' rankings in home runs, strikeouts and walks. By the way, the strikeout rankings are from worst to best.

	Home Runs	Strikeouts	Walks
2009	1	1	26
2008	6	8	6
2007	8	4	23
2006	13	15	16
2005	1	3	15
2004	4	9	20
2003	1	10	23
2002	1	14	14
2001	1	11	10
2000	21	27	19

Some interesting numbers. For one, it appears this team's plate performance is getting worse. They strikeout a whole lot more and their walks are way down (especially without Milton Bradley from last year.

Look at 2000: 27th in the league in strikeouts? That's fantastic. And it's only gotten worse. That same year, they had a decade-low in home runs. This coming off a year they won the division.

Screw pitching! When are the Rangers gonna get some hitting? Why try to fix the pitching staff when the line-up may be the most broken part of the entire team?

It's inefficient and ineffective. If the Rangers were winning pennants with this swing-first-and-ask-questions-later approach was working, then fine. But it's not. This team needs an enema.

It doesn't work. There's one way to automatically get better.

Bullpen, we hardly knew ye

I say we bring back The Horse

One of the major plots to the Texas Rangers season is the bullpen.

It's sucked. Relievers alone have accounted for three losses. They have the fifth worst ERA among Major League bullpens (6.75). They've only pitched 46 innings (17th most in the league), but have allowed 29 walks, 35 earned runs and a .295 BAA.

Accordingly, many changes have been made. Here's a look at my projected bullpen, the bullpen on Opening Day and the current crew:

Projected	Actual	Current
Frank Francisco	Frank Francisco	Frank Francisco
C.J. Wilson	C.J. Wilson	C.J. Wilson
Eddie Guardado	Eddie Guardado	Eddie Guardado
Warner Madrigal	Warner Madrigal	Derek Holland
Josh Rupe	Josh Rupe	Luis Mendoza
Kason Gabbard	Jason Jennings	Jason Jennings
Dustin Nippert	Scott Feldman

Staggering. The casualty list is alarming. Josh Rupe's been designated and his tenure with the Rangers is at risk. Dustin Nippert aggravated whatever injury he had and he's on the 60-day. Scooter Feldman's starting (for now). Warner Madrigal -- this being his first year breaking camp in the bigs -- is in Oklahoma City. And lest we forget Kason Gabbard was sold for 30 sheckles of silver to Boston.

The bullpen sucks and there's little thought as to how it could get better. Sure, Wilson could turn a corner. But that gives you only three guys (him, Francisco and Jennings) that can go more than one batter.

Here's some names that we might see sooner or later:

Pedro Strop
Picked off the Colorado Rockies' scrap heap last November. He's a 23-year-old shortstop-turned-relief pitcher. Has turned in some nice results in limited minor league play.

Beau Vaughn
Swapped Wes Littleton to the BoSox for him. A stellar 2009 so far: 11 IP - 3 hits - 0 runs -12 K - .083 BAA.

Neftali Feliz
There's a reason Feliz is in Oklahoma City and Derek Holland's in Arlington. Feliz is struggling with some control issues. The guy's been rushed as it is. I can't imagine him being brought up for a little while longer.

Brian Gordon
Came up in September last year and gave the Rangers some innings. Doing well in the early stages of 2009.

Doug Mathis
Came out of the bullpen mid-season for the Rangers last year before an injury setback. Has a solid 2.14 groundball/flyout ratio.

Tommy Hunter
A reliever in college. He's struggline mightily in Frisco, but his control (12 K-3 BB) is still there.

Kason Gabbard's week of infamy

Gabbard can eat all the clam chowder he wants now

The day after Kason Gabbard's name was etched into baseball lore when newly acquired reliever Darren O'Day was forced to wear his jersey, the 27-year-old lefty was dealt another blow.

He was traded to another team for ... dunh dunh dunh ... cash!

Needless to say, it's been a shitty week for Gabbard. I mean, he didn't make the big-league club. He's sucked in Oklahoma City (6 IP - 11 BB - 7 ER). The entire baseball world was notified that he clearly wasn't doing well with the jersey incident. And he was basically given away to his former team. It can only get worse if he gets traded to a Japanese team.

It should also be noted that Gabbard had never been the same pitcher after Richie Sexson charged the mound after not getting beaned and threw his helmet into Gabbard's kidneys.

I'm flummoxed. The Rangers are not a franchise, yet, that can go around giving youngish lefties with some modicum of talent and ability to induce massive amounts of groundballs away. Granted, they've done it before. Hell, they gave Armando Galaragga away.

So, what's up? There has to be something here under the surface. Rangers management can't be this dumb. Surely something will come out.

As if it was ever a game

Tim Duncan can't believe he didn't get every foul call last night

I've always felt that defense in basketball is 90 percent effort. If an NBA player really wanted to play great defense, they do not necessarily need acute defensive awareness, otherworldly speed and agility or even brains. All you need is a little effort.

"Effort," so far, has been the keyword for the Dallas-San Antone series so far. Basically, game 1 was the only real game played so far.

The Mavericks could never convince me otherwise that they went into game 2 with the same intensity, effort, drive and motivation than they did in game 1. Nor can you convince me that the Spurs went into game 3 with the same intensity, effort, drive and motivation than they did in game 2.

The Mavs were happy to give up game 2 if things didn't go well early. The Spurs did the same in game 3.

It's a sign of mediocre teams. Let's not fool ourselves here, these teams suck. They're just playing chicken from game to game trying to make some backwards maneuver to get the series into games 5, 6 and 7.

The Spurs lost last night 88-67 and, frankly, if you saw the game, you know it was not even that close. The Mavs obliterated the Spurs on the first possession of the game and never, ever looked back. I don't care about the Spurs' or Mavs' strategies in this series, but that has to be embarrassing.

I hate to say, however, that the Mavs won because the Spurs laid down. Actually, the Spurs were pushed down, pancaked, put in a choke hold and forced to pass out.

In a game like this, the numbers can be staggering. Here are my 10 favorite numbers from last night:

12
Points by Spurs point Tony Parker. The Mavs defense was exceptional. Probably the best it's ever played the entire season. It was all effort. Guys were flying in lanes. It felt the Mavs had 15 blocks and 10 steals (actually, eight and eight). Not once did a Spurs player get the ball comfortably with room to do whatever. Parker couldn't find an inch in the lane. Rotations were damn-near perfect. It was more fun watching them play defense than if they had scored 120 and Dirk Nowitzki had went for 55.

15
Minutes for Tim Duncan. I have to give a shout-out to Nowitzki. He always takes it in the chin for his defense and rightfully so. But let's face the facts: He saves himself for the offensive end. Last night, he got Duncan for his defensive assignment on several occasions and played him extremely tough. The Mavs outphysicaled the Spurs. For once. It was good to see that whining son-of-a-bitch Duncan on the bench the second half.

20
Points for Nowitzki. No, it's not 55, 35 or even 25. But it was 20 points, seven rebounds and active defense in only 25 minutes. He went 8-12 from the field. Once he received the ball, he acted. Whether it was a drive to the lane (he just abused Matt Bonner) or a jumper. He didn't wait. It made all the difference.

+37
Erick Dampier's plus-minus stat, the highest for the team. I think this is a pretty good barometer as to the effort Damp brought. In fact, he's played really well in games 1 and 3 and the Mavs have won. Man, he was so good in every aspect of what he can do: rebounding, setting picks, playing defense and not budging in the paint.

51-41
The Mavs rebound advantage. Again, effort. Second-chance points have killed the Mavs all series. I believe they can outrebound the Spurs any time they want. I love that all of the Mavs' starters, except J.J. Barea, had seven or more rebounds.

1-6
Jason Kidd's shooting line. I've said it a billion times: The less Jason Kidd shoots, the better. Kidd was fantastic last night. I believe the Mavs won because they decided to push the ball at every moment. No, it didn't always translate into easy baskets and break-away dunks, but it kept the Spurs running and in a pace that they can not succeed in. Kidd was a big difference maker last night.

2-17
The Spurs' three-pointers made and attempted. The Mavs have never in the last decade defended the perimeter well. The Spurs didn't have a lot of space last night. Many shots were rushed even if they weren't necessarily contested. What everyone must be reminded of is that the Spurs are a bigger jump-shooting team than the Mavs, if that's even possible. They have to get into a flow and rhythm for guys to start hitting and if they don't it's a long night.

16-14-12
The Spurs points by quarter. It took a 25-point "explosion" in the fourth to get even near a respectable 70 points. The Spurs shot 32 percent. Without the Mavs pressing the issue in the fourth, the Spurs shoot in the 20 percent range.

20:49
Minutes logged by Brandon Bass. Maybe the most efficient 20 minutes for the game. Scored 10 and had five rebounds. However, it was the strut and grit that defined this game. It was as if when he entered, you knew the Spurs were not going to make any kind of run. Made Drew Gooden look like a club-footed third grader. The Angry Dunker appears, also, to be an Angry Blocker.

76
Percentage of NBA teams that have won game 3 after a 1-1 series tie and gone on to win the series.

Memories of Holland

The Mendoza line has been drawn in the sand

Just in case you missed Derek Holland's pro debut last night, the genius of the Internet has all his outs here. Yum.

By the way, we're going to get our billionth look at Luis Mendoza.

Mock me if you will

One of the positions of note for the Dallas Cowboys heading into the NFL Draft is offensive line.

Two things are interesting: First, how awful the Cowboys have been at drafting O-linemen; second, how awesome they've been in grabbing guys off the trash heap and having them make an impact.

Here's the list of the offensive linemen the Cowboys have drafted this century:
James Marten
Doug Free
Pat McQuistan
Rob Petitti
Jacob Rogers
Stephen Peterman
Al Johnson
Andre Gurode
Tyson Walter
Matt Lehr
Char-ron Dorsey

In essence, the Cowboys have taken 11 offensive linemen in the draft and only two are with the team and one (McQuistan) is a career back-up. Gurode is the most successful and he's had a lot of downs in his career. And he was drafted in 2002.

As for the re-claim projects:

• Marc Columbo -- signed from the Bears injured list
• Andre Gurode -- almost cut 'til Bill Parcells turned him into a servicable center
• Leonard Davis -- cost a lot, but was a castaway from the Cardinals
• Kyle Kosier -- must be bad if the Lions and 49ers don't want you

Now, the Dallas Morning News is saying the Cowboys could try out former UT lineman Mike Williams. Considering, it might be better than drafting somebody.

****
Draft Tek
51. Louis Delmas
Never heard of him. Naturally, a free safety out of Western Michigan.

69. James Meredith

Offensive tackle out of South Carolina.

Total Pro Sports
51. Patrick Chung
Seems pretty much locked up for the Cowboys.

69. Ramses Barden
For one, we've never heard of him because he plays for Cal Poly. He's 6-6 and runs a 4.4 40-yard. Yipes.

The Huddle Report
51. William Moore
The safety out of Mizzou, again. He and Chung are the only guys being mentioned over and over with the Cowboys.

69. Andy Levitre
O-lineman out of Oregon State. Does anyone feel good about Juaquin Iglesias? Seemed to disappear too much, but seems interesting.

What do you do with C.J. Wilson?

Where is his mind?

The Texas Rangers have a lot of problems.

Some dudes ain't hitting. Matt Harrison's getting pounded. The inability of having a flippin' jersey ready for Darren O'Day was cartoonish, at best.

C.J. Wilson, however, worries me today.

He's 0-2 after last night's 8-7 extra-inning loss with a lofty 5.87 ERA. Opponents are hitting .300 off of him. Of course, the BAA is excaserbated by the fact that he has five walks and only eight strikeouts in 7.2 innings. He's had two clean appearances (no walks, no hits) twice this year, the last one coming April 11 in Detroit.

I don't know what's wrong with the guy. At times, when he's on, he's virtually unhittable. His stuff can be so dangerously wicked. That's why he was given the closer's role last year. That and his attitude, which, at its most congenial, is cocky.

I've read and heard that all of Wilson's issues are between his ears and not in his Tommy John'd arm. For one, he has too many pitches. A reliever needs one or two (three at most) pitches. Wilson has like five or six. It's almost like a pinball game when they give you all the extra balls and you end up losing all of them because it's an overload on your senses and reaction.

He might also have an attitude problem. Remember the scene last year of him screaming at his catcher (Gerald Laird if memory serves me right) and then tossing the ball to manager Ron Washington when he was being pulled from the game. He's said numerous times he wants to start and sitting in the bullpen every night might have his head going a billion different directions.

I don't know what you do with the guy. DL him and get him in a rehab stint in Oklahoma City? Swap his role for Eddie Guardado's as a situational lefty? 'Tis a mystery for sure.

However, I don't want to bring the house down. Amid Wilson's troubled evening was the Major League debut of one Derek Holland. Not bad.

2.1 IP - 3 hits - 0 R - 0 BB - 2 K

Well over 50 percent of his pitches were strikes. He looked composed. Like a Major Leaguer. We need more Derek Holland in our lives.

Nolan Ryan would rather be somewhere else

Fake smile

Does Texas Rangers President Nolan Ryan look impressed by watching some Japanese dude throw balls in an empty stadium?

Looks like he'd rather be hold Derek Holland's feet while he did sit-ups.

Minor Threat I

Andy Roddick does what he wants to this

Minor leagues are fun.

Oklahoma City RedHawks
The biggest issue with Thomas Diamond's game has been his control (47/37 K-BB ratio in 2008). So far, so good in Oklahoma City: 1.59 ERA, .111 BAA, 6 strikeouts, 1 walk.

I bet the Rangers wish they could find out what's going on in Luis Mendoza's head. He's killed Triple A hitting going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and allowing just four hits.

Beau Vaughn has wasted little time this year: 0.00 ERA, 10 K, 3 hits in 8 innings.

Julio Borbon's struggled a little in OKC. Does have his average up to .280.

Frisco RoughRiders
Kasey Kiker has got to take a big step forward this season. He's got a salty 2.65 ERA with 17 Ks in 17 IP.

Trade bait? Marcus Lemon -- a lefty shortstop -- is hitting .450 in his first Double A ball of his career and has a .500 OBP.

Justin Smoak is just treading water in Frisco: .250 average, .382 OBP, .364 slugging.

Chad Tracy -- despite 11 RBIs -- is finding a rough time in Frisco. Just hitting .208 with 14 Ks.

Bakersfield Blaze
Michael Kirkman has been the best pitcher for the Blaze. He's got a 1.50 ERA and 14 Ks in 12 IP.

Mike Main: 14.90 ERA. I guess it can only go down. Maybe.

Tanner Roark has 16 walks in 48 professional innings. Plus those 57 career strikeouts.

Matt Lawson hit an ordinary .251 in 2008 with six homers. So far, he's hit .415 with two homers.

Mitch Moreland's finding little trouble with California League pitching. Despite an increase in strikeouts early, he's hitting .304.

Tim Smith, too: .378 average.

Engel Beltre feels a millions miles away from the Majors: .189 average, 13 K, 0 walks. He had 15 walks in 566 appearances last year.

Hickory Crawdads
Combined, Richard Bleier, Wilfredo Boscan, Wilmer Font, Martin Perez, Fabio Castillo, Tyler Tufts, Carlos Pimental, Cliff Springston and Jacob Brigham have the following line:

5-3 - 82 IP - 14 ER - 28 BBs - 73 K

Beautiful.

Awards aren't everything

Keepin' it real ... off the bench

Rick Carlisle finished 15th in NBA Coach of the Year voting. He garnered a solitary third-place vote. I'm sure he's real attitudinal about it.

The Cleveland Cavaliers' Lebron James Mike Brown won the award. I love that either you roll your eyes at Brown won the award or you feel Brown has been finally vindicated for taking so much shit over the years.

OK, his team had a great year and he deserves some props. But, let's face it, he's fired if Lebron James is not on his team. That's James' team. It goes as he goes.

For the record, despite nine titles and all, Phil Jackson won Coach of the Year once.

****
Jason Terry finished exceedingly better in Sixth Man of the Year voting than Carlisle did in coach voting.

Mostly because Terry won.

If he wanted to, Terry could play for another 10 years. Whether he likes it or not, he's elongating his career and probably setting himself up to make a ton more money by coming off the bench and proving that he can be a team guy.

Bench or no, he's playing as many minutes and scoring more than when he was starting. Coming off the bench in the NBA is like being a back-up running back in the NFL.

Mocking in the free world

The NFL Draft is only a couple days away and all is quiet on the Cowboys front.

All we can do is speculate. Ah hell, we would've done that anyway.

NFL Draft Site
51. Herman Johnson
I believe this is the guy that holds the record for heaviest baby born in Louisiana. I can't even make that up.

69. Patrick Chung
I haven't seen a mock yet that has Chung slipping this far. If he does, the Cowboys will certainly take him.

The Sporting News
51. Eric Wood
I doubt very much the Cowboys spend their precious second-round pick on a center.

69. Sean Smith
A name that's come up with the Cowboys. A corner from Utah. I like tall defensive backs and Smith's 6-3.

New NFL Draft
51. Jarron Gilbert
Going with a defensive end/nose tackle ain't so crazy. The Cowboys lost Chris Canty and Tank Johnson. Unlikely unless there's a name there that they just can't pass up. Be sure to watch the video below.

69. Patrick Chung
Again, if he slips to the third round, the Cowboys will bite.

Twitter

He'll Tweet your children

I love Twitter for the sole fact that it bugs the crap out of older people -- 35+ -- up to the point that they join in.

In fact, bugging people from the ages of 35+ is why I support all new technology especially new media. It takes a little longer for them to jump on the bandwagon, but they always (always!) eventually do. They're so much like their parents that they would vomit if they actually knew.

I'm not a Twitterer, but I'm not one to denounce it. I may like it or I may eventually ignore it if I started. I simply don't have time. But I mysteriously do have to time to blog about 5-4 Rangers games on a work day. Hmm.

Anyway, found this wonderful resource of athletes who are on Twitter. I thought I'd roll through the professionals with Dallas ties and presuppose what they may Twitter about.

C.J. Wilson
"Bro, I can't buy an out these days."

Chris Bosh
"This dumb blogger keeps e-mailing me, begging me to come to Dallas."

Jose Canseco
"Jeff Fry was definitely 'roiding."

Mark Cuban
"You're probably wondering if my shirts can get any smaller. The answer: Yes. Spurs suck!"

Terrell Owens
"Cn anybody contain Lebron James besides me?" (Actually, this was a real Tweet.)

Better to be lucky than good

Remember when he was throwing chairs at A's fans?

I don't want to discount what Texas Rangers reliever Frank Francisco did last night.

I mean, he worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth inning and the tying runner on base in the ninth to nail the five-out save in a 5-4 win. And I loved the way he tossed pure cheese at Vernon Wells for the final out of the game. No fear.

But, damn, was he lucky.

If Mike Young is playing closer to the line or if Rod Barajas' liner is two feet closer to second base, it's a tie game and considering the Jays only had one out at the time, they could've scored more.

However, the baseball gods were with the Rangers. The liner went right to Young (who has looked really good at third base, BTW), who made the catch. Todd Snider flied out easily.

It's good enough. By the way, was Ron Washington coaching for his job last night? The way he was playing the match-ups and pulling relievers like it was game 7 of the World Series.

Notes:
1. Snider and Barajas stranded 10 runners between them.

2. Believe or not Brandon McCarthy is 2-0. Two of his three starts have been of the quality variety. He is by no means sparkling. But that's what you get out of a No. 3 guy.

3. Ian Kinsler's seventh inning home run received a fist pump from me sitting in my living room.

4. Kinsler, FYI, is in the middle of a eight-game hitting streak: 17-33 - 10 runs - 4 doubles - 1 triple - 4 home runs - 10 RBI - 6 stolen bases. Cripes.

5. The Rangers have faced three "aces" (Cliff Lee, Zack Grienke and Roy Halladay) and are 2-1.

6. Alarming: 11 Ks, 0 BBs for the Rangers.

7. Loved the way the Rangers are using the opposite field. Chris Davis did it with his RBI single as did Kinsler for his homer.

The Eastern Conference, a look back

Thumbs up

Before the NBA started, I made team-by-team predictions in terms of the tones of the teams' seasons and their records.

Boy, am I an idiot or what?

What I can't understand is that I'll feel one way about a team, but my predictions indicate otherwise. For example in the Eastern Conference, I did it twice: The Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers.

I thought Mo Williams would seriously give Lebron James a legit No. 2 guy and propel them to new heights. So why the hell did I pick them to win 43 games?

For the Pacers, I like their young team. I really do. When I talk with friends about how to rebuild a NBA team, I point to the Pacers. So why did I have them winning 20?

I'm just dumb. That's all there is to it.

Anyway, a review of my idiocy.

(My Prediction)
(Actual Record)

Boston Celtics -- 60-22 -- 62-20
I actually nailed this one pretty well.

Detroit Pistons -- 54-30 -- 39-43
This team sucks. For whatever reason, I've seen the Pistons play more than a lot of other teams and I'm shocked that they actually won 39 games.

Orlando Magic -- 50-32 -- 59-23
I severely underestimated the upper half of the conference. They're better than the top of the west by a mile. However, I still feel the Magic are missing something. Hedo Turkoglu

Philadelphia 76ers -- 48-34 -- 41-41
No team disappointed me more this year than the 76ers. I thought they were bound for a really solid year as kinda the underbelly of the east elite. That's what I get for trusting Elton Brand's body.

Chicago Bulls -- 45-37 -- 41-41
Relatively close. Not really. They had to win a buttload of games late to eke in at .500. A disaster of a season outside of Derrick Rose

Cleveland Cavaliers --43-39 -- 66-16
What was I thinking?

Atlanta Hawks -- 40-42 -- 47-35
This team's only going to get better.

Washington Wizards -- 38-44 -- 19-63
I couldn't believe how awful the 76ers were. Same for the Wiz. I thought Gilbert Arenas was coming back mid-season. I got hosed.

Toronto Raptors -- 36-46 -- 33-49
I was right. Jermaine O'Neal didn't make them better. Chris Bosh needs to step away from re-signing with them. Needs to test the market. In Dallas.

Miami Heat -- 30-52 -- 43-39
I just underestimated the east in general. Dwayne Wade played like an MVP for five months and that'll win a lot of games more often than not. Especially when he's getting a foul call every three seconds.

Milwaukee Bucks -- 28-54 -- 34-48
Are they a playoff team with Mo Williams? Are they a playoff team with a healthy Mike Redd? With both, they win 50 games.

Charlotte Bobcats -- 28-54 -- 35-47
I root for the Bobcats. I was happy to see them vie for the eighth seed in early March and I was glad to see them win a halfways respectable amount of games.

New Jersey Nets -- 25-57 -- 34-58
"A break-out year from Devin Harris." That's right, you heard it here first.

New York Knicks -- 23-59 -- 32-50
You know, I fully expected for me to take it in the groin over this pick. 23 wins? Surely Mike D'Antoni's good enough to squeeze 40 wins out of a semi-athletic basketball team. Guess not.

Indiana Pacers -- 20-62 -- 36-48
Like I said, I had way more respect for them. I don't know why I had them at 20 wins. They've got some players that are only going to get better as they keep playing together.

Is Ron Washington 20 runs away from being unemployed?

"Need to update my resume"

The Texas Rangers are 5-7. The lackluster record has relatively little to do with manager Ron Washington.

If C.J. Wilson shuts down the Tigers, they're 6-6. If Eddie Guardado doesn't choke against the Orioles, they're 7-5. If the Rangers turn a lead-off triple and double into runs, they could be 8-4.

Directly, execution on the field, at the moment, has little to do with Washington.

Of course, if the Ranger don't pile up 19 runs on the Orioles and if Mike Young doesn't single handedly steal the series closer against the Royals with a walk-off homer, Washington's probably looking for another job today.

Right when the losing becomes absolutely unbearable. Both those wins have helped stave off a sweep. Without them, the Rangers are staring a nine-game losing streak in the eye.

Washington, however, is not blameless. For one, you can't fire the team. The blame always lands at the feet of the manager. Washington knows that more than anyone.

Also, there was a certain promise when Washington was brought on, essentially made himself: This team would play good defense, play better fundamentally, manufacture runs and teach pitchers to hit to contact.

Actually, the defense is better so far this season. Last season, they were far and away the worst defensive team in the league. This year in errors and fielding percentage they're in the middle leaguewide.

Fundamentally, the Rangers aren't any better. Too many mistakes still. Although they're at the top of the league for steals, the Rangers do not manufacture runs. They wait for the homer. If the homer don't come, they don't score.

Case in point: The 2-0 loss in Kansas City. Twice to start the inning they had a man in scoring position. Neither time could a Rangers hitter hit a deep fly ball to plate the run. Embarrassing.

And the pitchers ... well, we all know how that is. However, that's Mike Maddux's problem now.

Either way, Washington needs to make sure the Rangers start winning some games. Badly. If not, he could be gone at the end of the upcoming seven-game road trip starting in Toronto.