A county job

The final embrace: Both power forwards claimed they were fouled on this play

I'm not here to talk comeback. I'm here to talk mismanagement. And a fourth quarter.

As much as the comeback made the hair on my neck stand on end, it doesn't mean anything.

What does mean something is the fourth quarter when everything -- the game, the season, careers -- was on the line.

Who was the last line of defense? What warriors would be put in the position to fight for this team's chance to play another day this season?

Jason Kidd. Jason Terry. Shawn Marion. Dirk Nowitzki. Brendan Haywood.

Who worked their ass off, attacked, scraped, fought, grabbed, leapt and wrangled to get back in the game before half and in the third quarter?

Jason Kidd. Roddy Beaubois. Caron Butler. Dirk Nowitzki. Erick Dampier.

I understand resting players. Fortunately for Butler, Beaubois and Dampier, they have a solid five months or so to rest. Hopefully, they'll be ready to play in October after the Dallas Mavericks were bounced from the NBA Playoffs 97-87 by the San Antonio Spurs.

Yes. Rick Carlisle is smarter than all of this. Why else would Mark Cuban pay him to make important decisions and not me and you? Carlisle knows best. Sure.

I'd like to believe that. I don't any more. Over the past six games, Carlisle failed to find a rotation, had zero gameplan, no adjustments, no strategy.

I'd like to say he reacted. I'd love to say he knee jerked and made rash decisions.

I wish. Instead, Carlisle looked smug and clueless on the sideline as 55 wins, a franchise-changing trade and another year of Kidd and Nowitzki were flushed down the toilet.

Why Beaubois wasn't on the floor in the fourth quarter until very late is probably the biggest question for us all.

It's preposterous. He wasn't resting him. Beaubois' young. He's played like 50-odd games and no heavy minutes.

Beaubois did everything. He was phenomenal. He was unleashed about two games too late.

Only down 3-2 in the series and down 22 points did Carlisle react and put Beaubois in the game. He was a game changer. He, with ease, went to the basket. Made shots. Played with poise and confidence.

On defense, he was still a rookie at times. Still gets lost on the pick and rolls. Still loses his assignment at times. But his ability to keep up with George Hill and Tony Parker was everything the Mavericks were lacking the first five games.

Most notably, his ability to close on shooters was something they needed desperately and, tonight, right when the Spurs were making their final run in the fourth, making big three point shots, letting Hill do what he wants, where was Beaubois?

Sitting on the goddamn bench.

Carlisle's mismanagement throughtout is fireable in my book. I might be overreacting. It's easy to get really mad right now and blame the wrong person. I mean, it was Beaubois missing free throws and losing the ball late.

It was an awful start that went on for about 18 game minutes before Carlisle really tried to do anything. By then, Nowitzki, Kidd and Haywood were in foul trouble, Butler had a tech and things had gotten out of hand.

Carlisle will probably keep his job because I'm not the boss and there's no one better out there.

But this one hurts badly because at the end, it was the team's best chance sitting on the goddamn bench.

****
During this period when the effective Dampier and Beaubois were warming the pine, something happened that reminded me of my father.

He was a rancher and farmer. Often when there was a group of guys working a situation would happen where one guy would be doing all the work while four guys watched.

It would be called "a county job" because often you'd see county road workers filling potholes -- one guy working and the other four watching.

From the beginning of the fourth quarter until the final four minutes, the Dallas Mavericks were the epitome of a county job.

It was Dirk Nowitzki doing all the work. Four guys watching.

Now, again, I'm no professional basketball coach, but what in the last five games would have made Carlisle think that this was going to work? It's probably one of the top one or two reasons why the Mavs were on the brink of elimination.

The Mavs were stuck in the rut of the half-court game, giving Nowitzki the ball 20 feet from the basket and working whatever match-up he got. Smaller guys, he'd shoot over them. Bigger guys, he'd drive.

This is the reason the Dallas Mavericks will not play another game until the fall. The Mavs got stuck in this rut. Stationed Terry and Butler on the wings. The center on the left block, out of rebound position and Nowitzki doing his thing. Eventually, the shots started losing arc. Falling short.

Four guys standing there. Watching.

Spurs get the rebound, an outlet pass and they have the Mavs out of position. Easy jump shot.

Repeat. Turn. Repeat.

It's simple. Without Beaubois, this team fell into the rut and tried to play the Spurs' game and they lost. Without the ball in Butler's hands, the Spurs settled for fall-away jumpers. Without Damp throwing those monster picks, they weren't putting pressure on a Spurs team that can be pressured on the defensive end.

It was maddenly. I sat with my arms crossed, fuming. My favorite team letting it slip through their fingers.

Ten things:

10. J.J. Barea is the worst basketball player I've ever seen. There have probably been worst, but those guys weren't getting meaty minutes in the playoffs. His "confidence" thinking he can do what a guy who's 6-7 can do makes him an obvious detrement to the team. He's a disaster. He needs to leave the team as soon as possible.

9. Losers: Jason Kidd and Jason Terry, for the series, shot 40-111 and 21-58 from the three-point line. Yikes. Any time two of your alleged top four players do that, you will lose the series.

8. Why isn't more being made out of Tim Duncan forgetting out to shoot free throws. For his career, he's a 68-percent guy. This season, he hit 70 percent of his charity stripe shots. Why, suddenly, does he look like an angry Special Olympian hitting a mere 57 percent of his free throws including 1-7 tonight?

7. As good as many Spurs were, Antonio McDyess continually hit huge shots over and over. I wondered how many times he was going to be left open until the Mavs did something about it.


6. In order to win in San Antonio, I thought the Mavs would need a decided advantage on the boards. They were beaten. In order to win, they needed to outrebounds the Spurs by double digits. It wasn't close. They were often beaten on defensive rebounds as the Spurs put out smaller line-ups with regularity. The Spurs had 11 offensive rebounds and a distinct advantage in second-chance points. Nowitzki, Marion and Butler combined for 12 rebounds.

5. There wasn't an emptier 21 minutes than Brendan Haywood's. There wasn't a more productive than Erick Dampier's. The numbers bear this out: Haywood, -13; Dampier, +12.

4. Mavericks should be faulted for, again, letting the Spurs and the officiating get into their heads. Silly fouls in the first half led directly to San Antonio points and added time on the bench for Nowitzki and Haywood. Neither did much good on the bench.

3. The Spurs shot 31 free throws. The Mavs 15.

2. Final game for Erick Dampier and Brendan Haywood? Hopefully.

1. Another off-season as Cuban and Co. try to figure this out. For my money, placing a stick of dynamite underneath everyone's chair and blowing it up is a really good idea. Too many questions and not nearly enough answers. At least for fans. Hopefully it's the same for management.

Un-undrafted

Jerry Hughes

The other day, we looked at the notable players from the Big XII that were drafted by an NFL team last weekend.

We'd be remiss to not mention some of the other favorites and notables from other schools, of local interest or just fun people to make fun of because it's fun.

The others:

Jerry Hughes
No. 31 - Indianapolis Colts
Loved seeing the TCU great get a nod from the Super Bowl-contending Colts with the opportunity play opposite Dwight Freeney. A great place to land.

Darryl Washington
No. 47 - Arizona Cardinals
TCU's second-best defender drops to the second round to the very athletic, opportunistic Cardinals, a team that's had some luck with linebackers in the draft in the past.

Emmanuel Sanders
No. 82 - Pittsburgh Steelers
Many have the SMU Mustang as a sleeper in the draft. The question is who will be throwing balls to him next season. Or if he'll be raped by the current quarterback.

Marshall Newhouse
No. 169 - Green Bay Packers
Cousin to former Dallas Cowboys great Robert Newhouse. Taken as a possible replacement for their aging offensive line.

Riley Cooper
No. 159 - Philadelphia Eagles
Only notable because he was projected for a target for the Cowboys and he was drafted by the Texas Rangers last season.

Jordan Pugh
No. 202 - Carolina Panthers
How are two NFL-caliber Pughs not related? Somewhere a Roger Aikman wishes Troy was his father.

C.J. Wilson
No. 230 - Green Bay Packers
If the starting gig doesn't pan out, he'll always have Green Bay.

The Undrafted
Jevan Snead - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The former UT quarterback left for Ole Miss after some guy named McCoy got the starting job.

Ryan Perrilloux - Minnesota Vikings
Perrilloux has to be considered one of the biggest disappointments in recent football history. Toyed with the Longhorns before going to LSU and burning out. Ended his college career in the vaunted Jacksonville State program.

Chris Brown - Denver Broncos
Follows in the footsteps of former OU back Quentin Griffin to Denver. But Griffin was drafted. Brown joined the Sooners right when they found the best quarterback in the land and starting throwing every down.

Shawnbrey McNeal - San Diego Chargers
SMU back gets some love from Josh Lewin and the Chargers.

DeMarcus Granger - Seattle Seahawks
I would imagine that if you knew Granger would wind up undrafted two years ago, you could've won some money on a well-placed bet with an OU fan.

Kevin Matthews - Tennessee Titans
Son of Bruce and Aggie great. Titans throw former franchise great a bone?

A shallow view on Dez Bryant

Anticipation

How can you not like a guy who looks that worried waiting for a phone call from a team on draft day?

Secondly, how can you not like a guy who calls everyone "sir" including the media?

There are a minority of professional athletes that are absolute headaches. There's probably another 20 percent that are obnoxious and we, as fans, don't even know it.

How many of those type of players looked like that on draft day? How many called some newspaper writer "sir"?

Probably none. I hate the Dallas Cowboys. But I love the Dez Bryant era in Dallas sports.

Between a rock and a Harden place

Peaved

Let's pretend you are a general manager of a professional baseball team. You have two choices:

1. You will have a normal pitching staff. Starters might pitch 200 innings or 100. You have your highs and lows with the starters and bullpen.

2. Or, your starters will never allow a run, but they only pitch five innings. That's it. No more. No less. No matter who starts, they go for five innings and don't allow a run. That means your bullpen for 162 games will need to pitch four innings every night and they are prone to runs and the usual ups and downs from each individual reliever.

Which would you choose?

I'd go with No. 2. The problem with starters, many times, isn't that they don't give you eight innings every night, but that they're inconsistent. With option No. 2, you know that your starter will not give up a run. It'll give you an ensured five innings to build a lead. With luck, your bullpen holds together. I'd definitely keep an extra reliever in the bullpen.

I thought of that watching Rich Harden fart through five scoreless innings before giving up a three-run homer in the sixth, his last inning. Harden got the win along with the rest of the team over the Chicago White Sox, 6-5.

Harden did his damndest to lose this one, but it didn't take. By far, it was still his best start of the season.

He allowed five walks, hit two other batters and allowed four hits. How do you get out of that mess?

Induce three double plays and catch Juan Pierre stealing. He constantly threw first-pitch balls and allowed guys on with no outs. Still, he worked out of innings and actually had a decent pitch count throughout.

Umm, we'll take it.

Notes:
1. Nine walks for the Rangers. Seven come from hitters 4-7.

2. What I love about Elvis Andrus? Ninth inning. 6-3 game. Two out. Andrus up. He works an eight-pitch at-bat into a walk for their sluggers. Steals a base. He didn't score. But still.
6.
3. A set of ballsy clutch hits from David Murphy in the last week. The Rangers need to do something with him. He's not a guy that can come in once a week and spell someone in the outfield. He needs consistent at-bats to be effective.

4. If you'd told me in March that Chris Ray's numbers would be significantly better than Neftali Feliz', I would have assumed we'd be in trouble. Ray scares the pants off of me despite his numbers.

5. I would expect the White Sox expected more from Jake Peavy when they made that trade.

Living to fight another day

Where concentration happens

You play the games on the schedule.

Fortunately for the Dallas Mavericks, on the brink of elimination on their home court, they encountered a San Antonio Spurs team content with going to a game 6.

The Spurs had it largely on cruise control in a 103-81 loss. They were at 65 percent and if they wound up close in the third quarter, they might have played things different.

Instead, they packed it in and the Mavs ran away with it. The good news is that the Mavs aren't in a place where they can discriminate. They need three straight. One down.

Ten things:

10. Got a bad feeling as the Spurs had their eighth string on the floor, their starters relaxing while Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood are logging minutes up 24 in the third and fourth quarters. All the while Greg Popovich is watching Butler attack the basket and Eddie Najera and DeShawn Stevenson attemping three pointers. Maybe you try to build on for the next game. Maybe the Spurs don't care. Either way, bad basketball karma.

9. In the playoffs, there is such a thing as "better late than never." In fact, the adage pertaining to the post-season is "too little too late." It took three straight San Antonio wins for Rick Carlisle to think outside the box by starting Brendan Haywood (energized with the start), going largely big and getting his guys to perpetually attack the basket.

8. Sitting Erick Dampier was imperative. Why Carlisle was married to the guy for games 2-4 is a complete mystery. Game 1, he showed some energy. Games 2-4, he looked like there were hospitals he'd rather be in than playing professional basketball. He's one guy going into free agency that is not building his stock in the playoffs. Hasn't Jerome James taught us nothing?

7. How many MVPs does Dirk Nowitzki need to earn to get a fucking foul call? Christ.

6. Have you seen a guy miss more shots within five feet than Shawn Marion? I mean, Dampier's a block-handed goof with no coordination. Marion's an athlete. He's sleek. He has tough. Yet, it's a 50-50 proposition if he's not dunking the ball.

5. It'd do the Mavericks good to take their effort on the boards into game 6. This game was won on the boards (52-41) as they grabbed 14 offensive to keep the ball out of the Spurs' hands. I don't know why the Mavericks are poor rebounders. I think it's effort. But how do you get Dirk Nowitzki to put forth 10 percent more effort to get 20 percent more rebounds? How does this intuitively make sense?

4. Am I alone in thinking DeShawn Stevenson could do something against Manu Ginobili defensively? Would it hurt to try? As the season wore down, I kept convincing myself that Stevenson could be a guy the Mavs turn to to take on the Manus, Kobes and Jason Richardsons of the world. Instead, he's waving a towel.

3. I'm glad the Mavericks won. I'm especially happy for Mike Bacsik. It's a sliver of a silver lining on a big, black cloud. Happy Tweets.

2. I'd like to give credit to Jason Kidd. Instead of sitting on the perimeter waiting for those wide-open three pointers, he drove some and let his offense come about in the flow of the game, in the paint. Kidd's hit some big shots, but his effectiveness is found in grabbing rebounds, running the transition game and putting his guys in a spot to make easy baskets. 10-7-7 is 100 times better than 22-5-5.

1. At the end of the day, Carlisle needs to put his best players on the court. This is Jason Kidd, Butler, Marion (at the three), Nowitzki and Haywood. Bring Najera and Terry in as the Nos. six and seven men. I guess Barea is your No. 8. Those guys should be told to go out and run like hell. Run, run, run. Crash the boards and get in the passing lanes. Quit trying to match-up and play the mind games with Popovich. Force his hand. If you lose, you lose.

Ways to get fired from The Ticket

When Tweeting goes wrong

Greg Williams was addicted to coke.

Rocco Pendola apparently alienated listeners and co-workers.

Mike Bacsik signed up for Twitter.

After or while the Dallas Mavericks were getting their asses beat in San Antonio, the former Major-League pitcher and producer on The Ticket Mike Bacsik was at a bar, drunk and Tweeting. Not good.

His thoughts:

"Congrats to all the dirty Mexicans in San Antonio."

"If I get cancer and I'm going to die I wil blow NBA offices."

"I'm done with this F'n league and I might be done with the ticket."

Indeed. The Ticket suspended then fired Bacsik. What an idiot.

I have mixed feelings about Bacsik as a radio personality. When he and Norm Hitzges talk baseball, it's fascinating listening to the guy, especially when it comes to the behind-the-scenes of the clubhouse and the subtleties of pitching. No doubt he added something.

Otherwise, he came off as kind of a goofball. He's a lifetime jock who has known nothing but baseball his entire life and he's thrown in with a bunch of guys that are into girls, rock bands and cracking jokes.

Bacsik's not a bad guy, just a jackass, who should not combine social media and alcohol. Hope he lands on his feet.

Sock it to me

Buehrle

I did not mention Monday's 8-6 loss to the Detroit Tigers because the only real thought I had was about the bullpen.

I'd love for all those guys to end hte season with a 0.00 ERA and to never blow a save, but that'll never happen. All you can hope for is that their slip ups come when the Rangers are up by 10 or all at the same time.

Right now, the bullpen breakdowns are coming intermittedly and all at different times. The result is a series of losses that should've been wins. It's disheartening.

But are you really going to cut Neftali Feliz, Frank Francisco, Darren Oliver or Dustin Nippert? No. Because for the most part this season, they've all had their good nights. All but Francisco have been overwhelmingly good.

That's the issue: No one's overly bad. Except Francisco and he was replaced with Feliz. In the line-up, they've identified the bad nuts and done something about them. There are no bad nuts in the bullpen so there's nothing to do but wait.

The Rangers did bounce back tonight with a nice 4-2 win over the Chicago White Sox. A game in which the bullpen (Nippert, Francisco) went three scoreless, one-hit innings for the hold and save. See. Things can work out.

Notes:
1. Rangers got to Mark Buehrle just enough. He was 10-3 with a 2.93 ERA against the Rangers (including a no-hitter) and 4-1 with a 3.93 ERA at the Ballpark before tonight.

2. C.J. Wilson sat down seven straight to start the game and looked extremely efficient to start then he started losing his control. He walked batters. Got the ball up in the zone. Had five groundball outs in the first three innings and just three in the final three. If he keeps the ball down, Wilson is fantastic and by far the most consistent starter for the Rangers.

3. Before the game, the Rangers optioned Taylor Teagarden and Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Oklahoma City awarding the starting catcher's job to ... Matt Treanor. The last guy we thought we'd see enough of this season. Responded with two huge RBI hits, including a homer. Ride that horse until he gives out.

4. I love everything about Vlad Guerrero.

5. Are we all still certain that Josh Hamilton is done? Another two hits including his seventh double. We might give him some more time.

6. In Monday's loss to Detroit, the Rangers had runners on second and third and Taylor Teagarden and Andres Blanco could not lift a ball in the air to get a sac fly. Tonight, rookie Justin Smoak gets in a needed run a week into his Major League career. Off the bats of babes.

7. A swift 10-pitch save for Frank Francisco.

Is anyone really going to do anything about the very obvious officiating problem in the NBA?

Corruption is smacking us in the face. And we're seemingly not reacting.

Pale Hose

Nellie Cruz is on the DL with a bum hammy.

Brandon McCarthy -- pitching effectively in Oklahoma City -- has collected another stress fracture.

Nonetheless, the games play on.

Players of a glocal flavor

Who wouldn't love that face?

My wife's second cousin (effectively an "uncle") is a huge fan of The University of Texas.

Before the 2010 NFL Draft, I asked him about Colt McCoy's pro prospects and he didn't feel that he had the arm to make it.

We kept talking and I asked him if he rooted for Baylor in the NCAA basketball tournament and he said, "No!" I asked if he didn't root for other Big XII schools when UT was not involved.

He said, "No!" again. And noted that the other schools could "eat shit and die."

Fun story. Anyway, the NFL Draft happened. McCoy was taken. As were 29 others, the first four picks, five of the first six and nine of the top 24.

But they can all eat shit and die.

Here's their courgeous stories:

Sam Bradford
No. 1 - St. Louis Rams
Rams ownership want to sell a franchise to a disillusioned fanbase. Also, they want to rationalize keeping Steven Jackson. Bradford will sell tickets. He might also get his shoulder blasted into dust by Julius Peppers.

Ndamukong Suh
No. 2 - Detroit Lions
Fantastic pick for the Lions. What I don't get about bad NFL teams is that they always try for the grand slam (running back, quarterback, wide receiver) instead of the double (offensive line, defensive line). Suh will go a much longer way for the Lions than Jahvid Best (who they drafted later.)

Gerald McCoy
No. 3 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Trent Smith
No. 4 - Washington Redskins
In a 20-minute span, the Oklahoma Sooners lost their two best up front on both sides. Yikes.

Earl Thomas
No. 14 - Seattle Seahawks
I think Thomas is a great, great player and will pay dividends early for the Seahawks. That dude's a player. UT will miss him.

Jermaine Gresham
No. 21 - Cincinnati Bengals
Two of the top 21 picks were guys that barely saw the field in 2009. Both from Oklahoma: Bradford and Gresham. Imagine the Sooners with both guys healthy last year. Now imagine them without both guys this year plus no McCoy and Smith.

Dez Bryant
No. 24 - Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys were eaten up with the draft. Russell Okung and Bryant are gone.

Sergio Kindle
No. 43 - Baltimore Ravens
Lamarr Houston
No. 44 - Oakland Raiders
And just like that (along with Thomas), the Longhorns lost their three best defenders and two of their front four.

Jordan Shipley
No. 84 - Cincinnati Bengals
Colt McCoy
No. 85 - Cleveland Browns
Fitting that the two buddies -- whose dad's were buddies, rival high school football coaches -- would go to the same school, room together, cause havoc on the field, would be taken back to back and both to teams from Ohio. If McCoy can get traded to the Browns, he'll get to throw to Shipley and Quan Cosby.

Kerry Meier
No. 165 - Atlanta Falcons
I like Meier, but I'm no scout and I have no clue as to how his game will translate to the NFL. Here's why I think he will: A former quarterback, he's not only a dual threat should the Falcons need some trickery, but his almost seamless transition to receiver is testament to his crazy white-boy athleticism; he's big (6-3, 220), smart and has good hands; is going to a team who needs pass catchers and Meier can quickly become a big, possession-type target for Matt Ryan.

Dez Briscoe
No. 191 - Cincinnati Bengals
Not the elite receiver like Bryant, Briscoe was really good at Kansas. Like Meier, I don't know how that translates to the NFL. He's got nice hands, leaping ability and size. Not near as polished as Meier and not very fast (4.6 40-yard dash). I wonder if Briscoe and Meier were punished for A) playing in a strict spread in college and/or B) playing on a team that lost seven straight to end the season.

Zac Robinson
No. 250 - New England Patriots
I never really considered Robinson an NFL prospect mainly because I don't think he has an arm and is entirely too inconsistent. Plus, he relied heavily on his athleticism and running ability in college, something he can't get away with in the pros. Still, Bill Belichick does not take his late-round picks lightly.

Checking in on our good buddy, Matt Purke

About 10 months ago, the Texas Rangers made Matt Purke their first-round selection in the 2009 amateur draft.

Purke did not sign. Instead, he decided to forego his professional career for the time being and attend TCU.

Rumor has it, that the down-and-out Rangers weren't willing to pay him what he wanted to not go to TCU to party and to mess around with a lot of hot Fort Worth girls.

That's fine. College is really fun and probably even more fun when you're a highly successfuly, good looking athlete. Purke had many opportunities. College was one of them.

It's either Fort Worth or, probably, spending the year in Hickory. Yeah. I would've taken Fort Worth too.

Purke is pitching for the TCU Horned Frogs and having one hell of a season. The stats:

10 starts - 56.1 IP - 3.83 ERA - 51 hits - 24 ER - 13 BB - 69 strikeouts - 6-0

Maybe TCU wasn't such a bad choice. I'd like to think he'd be doing the same in Hickory or Bakersfield. Needless to say, he would've been a grand addition to this team's stable of young arms.

How smart is your local NFL expert?

The ninth Bradford

The greatest 15 minutes in local radio is the weekly visit between The Dallas Morning News NFL columnist Rick Gosselin and veteran radio personality Norm Hitzges on The Ticket.

When I can, I listen because Gosselin sounds as if he couldn't be more bored and Hitzges sounds as if he couldn't be more excited. It's like one molds his personality based on the other's personality.

It's entertaining.

Gosselin has made a career out of forgetting more about football and the NFL than the rest of us will ever know. As much as he's a must-listen, he's also a must-read. He's great.

Each year, Gosselin tackles the NFL Draft much like every other major market NFL writing and he performs a number of mock drafts trying to give readers an indication as to how the wind is blowing on teams and college players hoping to get picked.

For giggles, I thought we'd roll through his last mock of the first round of the NFL Draft and see how good Gosselin truly is.

1. St. Louis Rams
Pick: Sam Bradford
Gosselin's Pick: Sam Bradford
Notes: Obvious.

2. Detroit Lions
Pick: Ndamukong Suh
Gosselin's Pick: Gerald McCoy

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Pick: Gerald McCoy
Gosselin's Pick: Ndamukong Suh
Notes: Unless Gosselin had inside info, No. 2 and 3 were a coin flip.

4. Washington Redskins
Pick: Trent Williams
Gosselin's Pick: Jimmy Clausen
Notes: Only missed this one by two rounds. Gosselin thought Donovan McNabb is short term. Without a left tackle, he would be.

5. Kansas City Chiefs
Pick: Eric Berry
Gosselin's Pick: Russell Okung
Notes: Berry's a talent, but it's hard to pass up on the offensive line especially that's where the Chiefs struggled a lot.

6. Seattle Seahawks
Pick: Russell Okung
Gosselin's Pick: Trent Williams
Notes: At this point, with all the misses, there will be even more. Should be given credit because he thought the Seahawks would go with offensive tackle and they did.

7. Cleveland Browns
Pick: Joe Haden
Gosselin's Pick: Eric Berry
Notes: Another miss, but accurately predicted defensive back help. Surely the Browns go with Berry had the Chiefs not taken him.

8. Oakland Raiders
Pick: Rolando McClain
Gosselin's Pick: Kyle Wilson
Notes: Many are stating that the Raiders reached to get McClain so early. Gosselin had him going No. 15 so if the Raiders wanted him, they had to take him here.

9. Buffalo Bills
Pick: C.J. Spiller
Gosselin's Pick: Dan Williams
Notes: Considering their glut of running backs, Spiller going to Buffalo seems like a stretch. Great player, though.

10. Jacksonville Jaguars
Pick: Tyson Alualu
Gosselin's Pick: Derrick Morgan
Note: No Tim Tebow. Gosselin had them taking a defensive end, and they did.

11. San Francisco 49ers (traded)
Pick: Anthony Davis
Gosselin's Pick: Jason Pierre-Paul

12. San Diego Chargers (traded)
Pick: Ryan Mathews
Gosselin's Pick: Ryan Mathews
Notes: Two different teams, two coasts, same pick. I can see the Chargers taking a back, but the Dolphins (the team Gosselin picked). Either way, a win. I guess.

13. Philadelphia Eagles (traded)

Pick: Brandon Graham
Gosselin's Pick: Anthony Davis
Notes: Technically, the Goose got it right. The 49ers originally had this pick, traded up to No. 11 and got Davis, who Gosselin thought they'd pick.

14. Seattle Seahawks
Pick: Earl Thomas
Gosselin's Pick: C.J. Spiller
Notes: I would've been shocked to see Thomas slip past No. 15. As much as it was seeing Buffalo take Spiller.

15. New York Giants
Pick: Jason Pierre-Paul
Gosselin's Pick: Rolando McClain
Notes: Some are saying the Giants reached a little.

16. Tennessee Titans
Pick: Derrick Morgan
Gosselin's Pick: Brandon Graham
Note: Both are defensive ends.

17. San Francisco 49ers
Pick: Mike Iupati
Gosselin's Pick: Joe Haden
Notes: Either someone stretched for Haden (taken after Berry was chosen) or Iupati slipped.

18. Pittsburgh Steelers
Pick: Maurkice Pouncey
Gosselin's Pick: Jared Odrick
Notes: Odrick slipped to No. 28.

19. Atlanta Falcons
Pick: Sean Weatherspoon
Gosselin's Pick: Brian Bulaga
Notes: Gosselin went offensive line. Falcons went linebacker with Bulaga on the board.

20. Houston Texans
Pick: Kareem Jackson
Gosselin's Pick: Earl Thomas
Ain't no way Thomas was going to last that long (and he didn't). A clear miss on Gosselin's part even though the Texans went with a secondary pick.

21. Cincinnati Bengals
Pick: Jermaine Gresham
Gosselin's Pick: Maurkice Pouncey
Notes: To Gosselin's credit, Pouncy went much earlier than he projected.

22. Denver Broncos (trade)
Pick: Demaryius Thomas
Gosselin's Pick: Jermaine Gresham
Notes: The Pats did get the second-best tight end (see below). Gosselin had the Broncos focusing on the defense, yet, the Broncos took a receiver and quarterback.

23. Green Bay Packers
Pick: Brian Bulaga
Gosselin's Pick: Sergio Kindle
Notes: Worries over narcolepsy led to Kindler slipping into the second round. He had Bulaga, obviously, going earlier.

24. Dallas Cowboys (traded)
Pick: Dez Bryant
Gosselin's Pick: Jerry Hughes
Notes: Hughes would go six picks later. He did have the Cowboys taking Bryant except at pick 27. Clearly, the Cowboys didn't think he'd last.

25. Denver Broncos (traded)
Pick: Tim Tebow
Gosselin's Pick: Rob Gronkowski
Notes: The Ravens traded this pick to the Broncos. The Ravens would not have taken Tebow, obviously. Gronkowski wasn't even taken until the second round (Patriots), a pick before the Ravens (who took Sergio Kindle). However, if the Ravens really wanted Gronkowski, they would've made sure he'd be there in the second round.

Final Tally

4 of 25
Exact right matches with right pick, somehow.

3 of 25
Exact right matches with right team (Bryant, Bradford, Davis).

19 of 25
Gosselin's top 25 that were indeed in the top 25.

6 of 25
Gosselin's top 10 that were indeed in top 10.

The others

Skinny dipping in a sea of Sean Lee

Believe it or not, the Dallas Cowboys had another two days of drafting following the huge splash of nabbing Dez Bryant in the first round.

What stinks about their draft is not having that second-round pick. This was a very deep draft with a bunch of names projected in the first round dipping all the way to the end of the second to the third. By the time the Cowboys third rounder came up on the board, a lot of good talent was gone and yet a lot was left over.

The haul:

Sean Lee
Inside Linebacker - Penn State
Said to be the second-best inside linebacker in the draft with first-round talent. All I see is a dumb-faced white guy from a Big X school. Didn't we learn our lesson when Bill Parcells took Bobby Carpenter?

Anyway, I tend to think the Cowboys liked him (or Wade Phillips did ... seems like a Keith Brooking starter kit) and merely took the best guy on the board because inside linebacker isn't a big place of need.

Akwasi Owusu-Ansah
Cornerback - Indiana University (PA)
Three picks in and the Cowboys had addressed one area of desperate need. And that was wide receiver. Owusu-Ansah may be great. But the Cowboys didn't nearly need a cornerback as much as a safety and I can't imagine him as anything over than a dime corner and special teamer. He seems like a good ballhawk and a talented corner. Plus, he's fast. Great for kick coverage.

Sam Young
Tackle - Notre Dame
Gigantic pick. Literally. Young is 6-8 and 330 pounds. Shit. A four-year starter out of a big school. I like it.

Jamar Wall
Cornerback -- Texas Tech
Interesting pick. Another cornerback who will need to really fight to make the team. But I like that he was productive on a team that was facing some of the best passing attacks (and two of the best quarterbacks) every week. By not taking a safety, I would think the Cowboys think they can make Mike Hamlin their starting free safety.

Sean Lissemore
Defensive Tackle -- William & Mary
I would doubt he'd make the team with the depth they have on the defensive line. Maybe you just can't have enough of these guys. I think you can have too many "Seans" however.

Eye of the Tigers

The Texas Rangers messed around and took a game from the visiting Detroit Tigers today in a 8-4 win that had a lot of good things come from it.

Most notably, I think, is Michael Young's bat.

Not everyone jumps out of the gate hitting .400, so with Young hovering in and around the .200 mark for most of the first three weeks of the season was nothing to sneeze at. More inconvenient and slightly disappointing than anything.

No, what killed the Rangers (and us, the fans) the most was his total inability to do anything with runners on scoring position. Hit .200 all you like, but we need hits (or sac flies) with runners in scoring position.

Today, Young got two cracks with the bases loaded and responded with a double and a single. Five RBI in the game and three hits to raise his average to .278.

Young isn't alone. Several guys are getting on track with the bat including Julio Borbon, Andres Blanco and David Murphy. All you need is for some guys to hit a little better and some things just turn around in no time.

Notes:
1. Loved Colby Lewis' grit. Could've pressed and folded. Instead, he sat down 15 straight Tigers to guide the Rangers through the heart of the game and help save a semi-gassed bullpen by going at least six innings.

2. If Ron Washington gets fired any time soon (or any time), it shouldn't be necessarily for snorting coke last summer. It should be for mismanaging his line-up and bullpen. That's what's funny about the whole cocaine issue: He's a good manager, but when it comes to handling the players on the field, he's stinks. He's always stunk. But you win enough games and you don't feel the heat. Snort some coke? Then you're a pariah. Not when you do your job poorly. Bottomline: Neftali Feliz should not have been out there in a four-run game.

3. Elvis Andrus with another two walks. OBP is up to .423. Phenomenal baseball player.

4. Geesh! That Justin Smoak guy sucks! No hits!? Let's trade him for some real talent! (All of this has been said about Nelson Cruz, Chris Davis, Josh Hamilton, C.J. Wilson, Matt Harrison and every other young guy that doesn't hit 1.000 with 81 home runs or a 0.00 ERA with 300 strikeouts. I need to live in a baseball town.)

5. Justin Smoak saw his first Major League pitch. Taylor Teagarden got his first hit. Julio Borbon drew his first walk. A weekend of firsts!

6. Rangers weekend: 28 hits - 17 walks - 24 strikeouts. Oh, and Clint Hurdle was out due to the Colorado Rockies' owner's funeral. Coincidence?

Officials 1, Fans 0

By a nose

Let's just get this out there: The fans are getting totally fucked by the NBA and its officials.

The atrocity that was the third quarter in game 4 of the Dallas Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs tilt take the Tim Donaghy incident (I would say controversy, but nobody seems to care) and just keeps adding weight to the apparent fact that there are other interests at play when NBA referees call a game.

Maybe it's the NBA wanting that fat San Antonio market share in the second round. Maybe it's the referees' owing money or wanting to make more money. Maybe they're just dicks.

Either way, the NBA is severely flawed and the only time anyone cares is when its their team taking it up the ass on shitty calls.

The referees fucked over the Mavericks tonight in the 92-89 loss with that third quarter from hell when Dirk Nowitzki was manhandled for 12 minutes and didn't get a call and the Spurs' 12th man got a dirty look from a Maverick fan and it was called a flagrant 2.

More so, the refs (and in turn the NBA) are fucking over the fans. I don't care who you root for (even if it's the Spurs) that third quarter was embarrassing. Hell, there were probably three or four calls when the Spurs were screwed on crappy calls.

By the time Eddie Najera put a choke slam on Manu Ginobili, everything was out of control and it was all on the referees. Period. If Ginobili ends up getting really hurt on that play, the refs should have been held equally as responsible as Najera. They let those guys go for too long, let tempers flare and the next thing anyone knows, there might have been a broken neck.

So many, many thoughts:

10. It physically ails me to watch J.J. Barea handle the ball. I realize the spark he provided in game 3 (one in which they lost and one in which Barea's presence provided open lanes for the Spurs), and that was great. However, I'd rather watch Shawn Bradley for 15 minutes a game. I realize that Barea gets more out of his 4-5 frame than Bradley did his 7-6 frame, but that doesn't matter. In the NBA Playoffs, every possession counts. In every minutes Barea is on the court, he does something (errant pass, awful shot) to waste multiple possessions.

9. Although watching Ginobili get tossed to the floor like a rag doll by Najera was momentarily awesome, it was such a poor, poor decision. Not only did you get Najera tossed (in a game where it seemed he could useful), it gave the Spurs the free throws and possession. A huge point swing. Also, it kept the crowd into the game after the third-quarter break. Really poor decision.

8. With about 11 minutes in the fourth quarter, Mavericks TV play-by-play guy Mark Followill (who is great) noted that head coach Rick Carlisle probably wants to get Dirk Nowitzki some rest, but probably won't be able to. Know what? Nowitzki can rest his Teutonic ass when the playoffs are over. Christ almighty! This isn't game No. 76 against Memphis! It's the playoffs in a must-win game in order to stave off an elimination game in Dallas! Nowitzki can sleep when he's dead.

7. Did the Mavericks ever imagine holding Ginobili and Tim Duncan to 5-25 shooting and still losing?

6. What is it going to take for Carlisle to realize that the players he's currently giving minutes isn't going to cut it? Maybe after the Spurs win by 12 at the American Airlines Center Tuesday. Maybe in June. Hell. Might be next November. Why Barea, Dampier and Jason Terry are getting significant minutes but Roddy Beaubois and Najera are barely getting off the bench and Shawn Marion hasn't broken 30 minutes in ages is beyond my comprehension.

5. There are certain times that I knew the outcome of the game long before the final buzzer. Game 1: Hack-a-Damp. Game 2: Watching the Mavericks play for five minutes. Game 3: Barea hitting that reverse lay-up and totally reacting that it was the luckiest shot in the world and high-fiving fans ... in San Antonio. Game 4: Rick Carlisle Face (if I may borrow Bill Simmons' bread and butter). About a quarter through the third, Spurs making a run although it's still the Mavericks' game. Camera pans to Carlisle and he has the wide-eyed "I don't know what the fuck to do!" look. I knew, right then, that the Mavericks were going to lose.

4. Despite all the bad officiating, the Mavs missed a ton of open shots. One of the culprits was Caron Butler who literally disappeared for a large chunk of this run through the start of the fourth quarter. The hottest guy on the game, getting singled due to them doubling Dirk, he'd been hitting most of his shots, missed a couple and Carlisle panics and pulls him. Butler didn't make a dent for the rest of the night.

3. A big reason the Mavs are down 3-1 in the series: Jason Kidd's shooting. From the three-point arc (where he hangs nowadays ... wasn't he supposed to be able to post up smaller guards and shit?), he shooting an atrocious 30 percent. And ... 28.5 percent from the field overall. Yikes.

2. I don't want to beat a dead horse here, but it'd be real nice to have a guy like Devin Harris right now. A good-to-great perimeter defender to put against Ginobili, Parker or Hill. A guy that would make all three of those guys work hard on the defensive end. A guy, for when the game is swirling down the toilet, who can put the ball on the court and get to the basket whenever he wants. It'd be nice. I wonder where we can get a point guard like that.

1. As bad as the Mavericks are on defense (is there a guy in their top eight that'd you'd pick to stop someone one on one? Marion, maybe?), they're even worse on offense. For all intents and purposes, the Mavs should be able to merely outscore the Spurs at will even if the Spurs shoot 54 percent from the field. The TV guys mention not being able to "run" (when have the Mavs really run all season?) due to all the Spurs makes. Well, this is professional basketball. How about you guy some guys cutting to the basket, showing some energy, running crisp pick and rolls, moving around, working harder earlier in the shot clock ... anything. For most of the night, it was perpetually a one- or two-man game while everyone just stands around. I'd bench the whole lot of them and let Matt Carroll shoot 30 times. Just for shits and giggles.

A case of energy

Manu's schnozz: Highlight of the series

A quarter into last night's Spurs-Mavericks game, I was thoroughly convinced that the Spurs were going to win.

It turned out I was right -- to the tune of 94-90, for the Spurs to take a 2-1 lead in the series -- despite a sea change in the Mavericks level of energy, interest and, in turn, effectiveness.

I don't think a professional sports team or individual is effective and then they exert a high level of energy once they realize it's working for them that night.

I think most of us probably realized it could be a really long night for the Mavericks from the opening tip through the second quarter.

If not for a ridiculous 19-2 run in the third quarter, this thing isn't even close, and, late, it really wasn't despite the four-point differential.

The main energy offenders: Dirk Nowitzki, Erick Dampier, Brendan Haywood and Shawn Marion.

Just look at their body language and effort. Nowitzki, some time in the first quarter, gave one of those patented hand waves as Tony Parker drove by for an uncontested basket.

I mean, these guys do realize this is the NBA Playoffs, right?

Nowitzki and Damp are the worst.

J.J. Barea has it, Jason Kidd has it, Caron Butler has it (he just made entirely too many mistakes in about a five-minute span.

I don't know how Rick Carlisle coaches them up to give a shit. I mean, they're supposed to be competitive by nature. Plus, they're paid millions to care. Even if they could give a flip about the regular season, once the playoff start, they should be engaged.

They're not. And it's scary.

Ten:

10. I can't imagine any professional sportsman or woman being as thoroughly disinterested or unimpressed with their chosen profession as Erick Dampier the last two nights. This after game 1, in which Damp looked like he'd have a good series. He was grabbing rebounds, going toe to toe with Tim Duncan and moving around. The last two games he looks like the kid in right field picking flowers.

Last two: 48 minutes - 11 rebounds - 0 assists - 0 steals - 4 blocks - 8 fouls - 0 points.

9. Caron Butler and Shawn Marion played a combined 30 minutes last night. Marion probably couldn't be rendered more ineffective. His shooting all series has been awful despite continually finding himself within five feet of the basket. Butler hasn't been the same animal since game 1. His avenue on the baseline which is typically always open suddenly closed.

8. Brendan Haywood is probably going to get paid some serious bucks in the off season considering his regular season. However, anyone watching these playoffs are probably seeing the real guy. He's beyond a non-factor. He's doing nothing. Almost like he'd rather be at home.

7. Maverick starters not named "Dirk" went 5-19 last night. Jason Kidd especially has been awful (coincidentally, I guess the local TV broadcast scrapped the "Jason Kidd's a good three-point shooter!" graphic until further notice). He's 2-10 from behind the arc the last two games and just 2-13 from the field total. Needless to say, he needs to score and he's not able to/willing to drive the lane and get to the free-throw line (despite the fact that he can post up any Spur guard).

6. I don't blame officials often for a Mavericks loss (typically the Mavs settle for 20 footers and that's not how you get to the line) . The only time was the 2006 Finals. But the last two games, I'm wondering how big of a superstar Nowitzki needs to become to get a motherfucking call?

5. If the Mavs want to win, they might try with cutting out the dumb turnovers. There turnovers that always happen in the flow of a game -- blocks, steals ... you know, effort put forth by the defense. Then there's the "unforced errors" that have plagued the Mavs all series. Silly passes to the opponent, off-target passes that almost go out of bounds (most of them panicked ... and by J.J. Barea), out-of-control moments, getting sure rebounds ripped away and ... certain ridiculous, third-grade traveling calls.

4. No one is a bigger critic of J.J. Barea than I. However, I'll be the first to note his effectiveness last night. He injected the team with energy and it spread. He was one of the only two or three reasons the Mavericks were competitive. However, his inability to guard anyone and his traveling call in the fourth quarter when the Mavs absolutely needed a basket (the one where he passed to himself ... I mean, he had to know that was going to be called) was atrocious. Play him if you want, but late he shouldn't be shooting unless it's a wide-open three pointer. And if he can avoid the willy-nilly drives that make everyone so nervous, that'd be super.

3. Let's call a spade a spade: Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan are completely into this series from the very start and it hasn't waned. They've been great.

2. Dallas Morning News beat reporter Eddie Sefko noted yesterday afternoon that game 3 wasn't a "must win" for the Mavericks. Not something I agree with. That's a dangerous attitude. I think all playoff games are must wins. Considering the basis for momentum and confidence that ebbs and flows in a sports series, I can't imagine a game in the post-season being really not a "must win." Because if you lose, the next game is a "must win."

1. Tale of the game: The Spurs starters all got 30+ minutes along with sixth man Parker, 14 minutes for their seventh man (Matt Bonner) and marginal minutes for others. A tight rotation. The Mavericks on the other hand: Eight guys got double-digit minutes. Three starters (Butler, Marion, Damp) didn't get above 30 minutes. Clearly, Carlisle has no clue what five guys from night to night are going to compete.

Smoak out

Making it Harden for all of us

Justin Smoak didn't score the winning run in his first Major League game tonight.

But he might as well have.

Smoak drew his second walk of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning as the go-ahead run after the Detroit Tigers got to Neftali Feliz for two runs to tie it at 4-4.

Smoak walks and is pinch run for Joaquin Arias. Ryan Garko's walked. Nelson Cruz draws a third walk to load them for Elvis Andrus, who squirts a single into center for the 5-4 win.

But it was Smoak's patience at the plate that started it all and it was discipline from everyone else to get that run in. It's like real baseball.

Notes:
1. Detroit starter Max Scherzer had 10 strikeouts in three starts and 17 innings. He struck out David Murphy three time in three at-bats. He would up with seven strikeouts. Almost matching his season total.

2. Rangers squeezed out five runs on: Six hits, one balk, one wild pitch, seven walks, two sacrifices and despite two caught stealing.

3. The Rangers have 12 home runs total after Vlad Guerrero's two-run dinger. That's bottom 10 in the league.

4. The Rangers have grounded into just 10 double plays this season. That's good for 19th in the league (as of this moment).

5. Rich Harden went for 4.1 innings allowing two runs and striking out five. He was averaging about 20 pitches an inning and wound up with 99. He allowed at least one baserunner per inning, even after getting the first two outs a couple of times. He's got to change.

6. Dustin Nippert, Frank Francisco and Chris Ray combined for 3.2 quiet innings allowing just one hit.

7. Ray -- not unlike most relievers -- has had his hiccups, but he's been pretty good many nights as well. That Kevin Millwood trade is looking OK. Not great.

8. Lil' Andres Blanco, the night after his big squeeze, gets on base twice.

A splash

Dez

I would imagine some time between picks Nos. 18-20 in last night's opening round of the NFL Draft, Dallas Cowboys GM and president Jerry Jones leaned over to his son Stephen or someone of that ilk and said something the effect of, "We need to get Dez."

"Dez" being much-maligned and critiqued Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant, who was drafted by the Cowboys as the 24th pick of the first round.

Actually, I would bet that Jones and Co. have had a series of high-level meetings over the past two months were they looked at their draft board and had an asterisk behind Bryant's name, meaning that if the receiver slipped beyond pick No. 19, they would do their damndest to get him (considering the Cowboys had the 27th pick).

For the record, the Cowboys swapped first-round picks with the New England Patriots to get to No. 24 and they also swapped their third-round pick (No. 90) for the Pats' fourth rounder (No. 119).

As for the player, Bryant is listed at 6-1 or 6-2 (probably the former) and 195 pounds. Somehow, I would not have guessed he was that "short" meaning that he almost plays like he's 6-4 or 6-5 probably due to his large arms and ultra-large hands. Speaking of, those claws are as soft as marshamallows. Watching him in college, it's as if the balls sunk into his hands.

He's strong, agile, quick and fast. Trust me, there was nothing about his game that made him drop to No. 24 in the NFL Draft.

It's well documented Bryant's headcase situations. Forgetting shoes, apparently having to be lined up next to the OSU sideline to receive instruction because he didn't know the plays, being a a knucklehead, having attitude problems. Blah, blah, blah.

The question for those other 23 teams that didn't pick Bryant were whether those issues outweighed their ability to A) control him and work with him and B) his production on the field.

A team like the Oakland Raiders would have been wont to take a chance on Bryant because the guy would have been placed in a bad situation with no accountability, instruction, patience and on a bad team were he might have started goofing off or gotten completely frustrated.

The Dallas Cowboys were the ideal situation.

Bryant walks in as the No. 2 receiver with an awesome coaching staff, quarterback, stable of veteran receivers, a broad board of leaders. Yet, it's a team that will contend. It's close to Bryant's adopted home in DeSoto and not far from his real home of Lufkin. Plus, he noted he wanted to play for the Cowboys.

Jones, on the other hand, loves local talent. Look at all the regional guys he's taken in the draft over the years from Felix Jones to Roy Williams to Martellus Bennett, Dat Nguyen and even the other Roy Williams (via trade). They're marketable. And at times talented.

But as it was pointed out a trillion times over the past three weeks, one of Jones' top five regrets over the past 20 years, is not selected Randy Moss all those years ago. Jones wasn't alone. He was the leader and face of a franchise wrought with legal (or, illegal) issues off the field. The last thing he wanted was a ticking time bomb.

A decade later he signs Terrell Owens.

Judging from everything that's been written about Bryant, he probably fits more of the Owens mode. Not a legal troublemaker, but kind of a nut. Nuts are OK, however. You can win with nuts. Frankly, for every non-nut receiver in the league, there's a dozen nut receivers. And that sounds dirty.

More than anything, I think Bryant is a fragile, emotional being (like Owens) that probably needs a pat on the back every once in a while. A hug at times. And probably constant reassurance.

If anyone is going to cry over Tony Romo is a post-game press conference again, it's probably going to be Bryant.

Coincidentally, Bryant was chosen one pick before the Denver Broncos surprisingly chose Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, who, if Bryant has been the most critiqued player in this year's draft, Tebow is a close No. 2.

Unlike Bryant, Tebow is not questioned regarding his work ethic, attitude or football IQ. Tebow's knock is his actual ability to throw the ball in the NFL. If there's a polar opposite for Bryant, it's Tebow and vice versa.

Tebow's the Bible-thumping Christian, who does mission work and commercials about not getting abortions. Tebow shows up with his shoes. Nobody questions Tebow's dedication. But they do question his arm.

Forever, Tebow and Bryant may be compared. Although Dallas would've never taken Tebow and considering they just dumped Brandon Marshall, the Broncos maybe avoid Bryant.

Either way, this pick makes the Cowboys the most intriguing team in the NFL. That's what Jerry Jones wants most of all.

Smoak in

When Smoak gets in your eyes

The Texas Rangers have called up first-base prospect Justin Smoak. He is your new first baseman as Chris Davis was optioned to Oklahoma City.

News came down directly after Davis went 0-3 with a walk. He's hitting .188 with no homers and one RBI. His strikeout rate rose the last several games as he started to press a bit more.

The first-round pick in the 2008 draft, Smoak was bound for Arlington sooner or later. As long as he was called up after April 19, the Rangers avoided him becoming a free agent by a full year.

Smoak is hitting .300 in OKC with 10 runs, 16 walks, two homers, six doubles and five RBI.

Needless to say, tomorrow night's opener against Detroit will be a nice ticket to have.

Pitching and defense

Pitching and defense can go a long way in a long season. Or, at least, that's what we're hoping with the Texas Rangers.

C.J. Wilson, Darren O'Day and Darren Oliver combined for a six-hit shutout to avoid the sweep in Boston, 3-0.

It's been a rough three days. I mean, at least in New York, the Rangers simply got their asses beat. However, all three games in Boston were undeniably winnable and they ended up with just one W.

When this team is dying for wins later in the season -- hopefully in some kind of division or wildcard race -- they'll look at the games that got away in April and May and pine to take them back.

Notes:
1. I'd like to give the offense a little credit. Clay Buchholz had their number with 10 strikeouts in six innings. But they worked him over. He ended up throwing 114 pitches before they got three off of him.

2. Three clutch hits from Josh Hamilton, Nellie Cruz and David Murphy.

3. Andres Blanco got off the schneid for the season with a gutsy, gutsy, gutsy suicide squeeze to score Murphy for the third run. Huge. Huge. Huge.

4. Something happened in this series: Ron Washington saw a limping, depressed team. So he put the pedal to the metal. 14 stolen bases in the series and that suicide squeeze from the guy batting .000.

5. In 64.1 innings over the last two seasons, O'Day's allowed just 37 hits and 12 runs.

6. Key for Wilson: 13 groundball outs. Keep the ball down and you survive.

7. Rangers have committed just 10 errors (13th in league) but hold just a .980 fielding percentage (second-worst in league).

Nut kick 4.0

No one slides like Borbon

Two straight days, two straight walk-off losses for the Texas Rangers.

It's beyond frustrating. It's borderline funny. Kinda makes you want to take drugs. It's no wonder Ron Washington was snorting coke a year ago. I would've been found in the desert with a syringe hanging out of my arm.

Last night, it was a Kevin Youkilis double in the 12th inning that kicked the Rangers square in the nuts for a 7-6 loss last night. Six straight losses. Still, three games out of the division.

Although we'd love for Matt Harrison to toss a complete game shutout, this team can't score any runs. It comes back to the offense no matter how many games the bullpen blows.

Last night it was Josh Hamilton, Elvis Andrus and Julio Borbon providing all of the offense. Unfortunately, that was not enough. Mike Young, Nelson Cruz, Matt Treanor and Joaquin Arias went a combined 0-18 in a series of inning-killing at-bats.

I don't know how to fix it. I don't know if it gets better.

I'm going to cook up now.

Notes:
1. I thought it was odd that everyone assumed that outside of Borbon, the Rangers didn't have a lead-off hitter. I always thought Andrus had the skills. He's a guy that'll do anything. His OBP is up to .434 .

2. Borbon is going to hit. Eventually. Last night's 3-5 is a good start.

3. I don't know why everyone is freaking out about Josh Hamilton. He's struck out just 10 times and walked 10 ... compared to 24 walks last season ... total. No strikeouts in four straight games.

4. Chris Ray - Darren O'Day - Neftali Feliz: 4 IP - 0 hits - 5 K.

5. Ray always seems shakey. However, he's allowed just a .182 BAA and a 1.17 WHIP so far.

6. Mike Young has hits in the last six games. He has zero big hits in that same time period. Nine of his 14 hits have come with the bases empty. He's hitting .111 with runners in scoring position and two outs.

Zero-hour mocks

The NFL Draft starts tonight. Primetime! Only on ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports!

Here's another draft idea:

Why not start with the seventh round and end with the "first" -- or "last" -- pick of the draft. That would be awesome. It would provide another three days for trading up ... or down, depending on how you look at it.

The first guy to come up on the stage (I guess they don't do that for the seventh round) is some special teams guy from Eastern Illinois. It'd be fun.

Just an idea.

Final mocks until the real thing:

Rick Gosselin
27. Dez Bryant - WR - Oklahoma State
The Goose has the Cowboys trading up should Bryant slip to the teens.

The Boston Herald
27. Taylor Mays - S - USC
This mocker at least has many of the other Cowboys targets already off the board.

The San Francisco Chronicle
27. Taylor Mays
Can't say it any better: "The next Roy Williams, for better or worse."

Detroit Sports Examiner
27. Anthony Davis - T - Rutgers
A name we've seen the last couple of weeks. Many have him going earlier.

Michigan Daily
27. Kareem Jackson - CB - Alabama
I've seen the Cowboys loosely connected to taking a cornerback despite having Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins starting. Considering their glaring needs, it seems odd, but at what point do you just take the best player on the board? For example, let's say Sam Bradford unexplicably falls to No. 27, do you take him? Seems stupid to, but it seems equally dumb to not take him.

Oregon Live
27. Rodger Saffold - T - Indiana
Another name like Davis' that has been in the periphery over the past several weeks.

HeraldNet
27. Rodger Saffold

New Orleans dot com
27. Bruce Campbell
Bad sign: "If Phillips can coach the laziness out of Campbell ..." Yikes.

A word on the Dallas Mavericks TV broadcast

I had some thoughts about the local Dallas Maverick telecast that I wanted to share.

For the record, I like Mark Followill, Bob Ortegal and the addition of Jeff "Skin" Wade. If I have the choice, I watch them over TNT or ESPN/ABC.

1. So, does anyone know about Dirk Nowitzki's free-throw streak? I've heard about it, but I was wondering if anyone had any details? Oh, just wait five minutes and Followill will tell us all about it. Nowitzki has hit like 40-odd free throws in a row and is approaching the league record. Of course, the playoffs don't count so Nowitzki's streak will continue next season. How do I know this? Because the TXA 21 crew has beat us over the head with it for two straight games and with the same graphic and everything. Basically, to tell us that the playoffs don't matter in regards to this record. Apparently, someone texted them a question about the stupid free-throw record. Did this person not watch game 1? Or was it a producer?

2. Forget Nowitzki and his free throws. I've heard a lot of ugly rumors that Jason Kidd can't shoot three pointers. Is this true? And is there any data to prove this wrong? Like the Nowitzki sub-plot, the TXA 21 crew also wants everyone to know that Kidd is establishing himself as a good shooter 20 years into his career. Yes. Two straight games. Same graphic. All the while, Kidd's shooting 1-7 and bricking everything. What is odd isn't that Kidd has reinvented himself, it's that the Dallas Morning News actually had a story about Kidd working with this shooting coach (only took him 20 years) to learn how to shoot. Why not talk about this? Or mention the fact that for years he was indeed a bad shooter. Or just roll with the same graphic.

3. As part of the playoff run, the crew asked fans to e-mail or text silly photos that exhibit Maverick pride. This first happened in game 1. It continued in game 2. Most are dumb. Some included children. All include taking a giant dump on the Spurs. I think it's OK to do this when the Mavericks are winning. But should you still run these out when the Mavs are getting killed by 14 in the third quarter? Bad karma.

4. Couldn't Skin talk to someone other than the film projectionist to get insight into the feeling at halftime? Maybe a trainer? Assistant coach? Peanut vendor? Girl with large breasts?

5. TXA 21 camera guys just need to cut the shit and focus on every hot, busty girl in the arena. They try to mix it up with old people, guys with painted faces on cell phones and children. Well, all of that is boring. We need tits. Don't water down the talent.

Toro! Toro!

Ole!

If you drove by or entered the American Airlines Center last night, the light breeze you felt was the result of that signature bullfighting defense of the Dallas Mavericks.

Of course, I refer to the very underutilized and overly ineffective tactic of waving one's hand or flailing one's arms at an opposing player as they speedily dash by you with little to no resistance and execute an uncontested lay-up.

That was the story, for me, from last night's ass whipping, 102-88, at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs to tie up their playoff series, 1-1.

If 14 points were not enough, it was never close even though it got close. The Mavericks, basically, could do nothing right and even when they made runs they never had enough to get over the hill. Or the George Hill.

To me, it started with the defense. For most of the game, the Spurs shot upwards of 55 percent, sometimes higher. They wound up at 48 percent but only after they took the Mavs behind the woodshed.

The big guns (Rich Jefferson, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili) shot 33-60 from the field. There were a ton of uncontested lay-ups. The Mavs acted as if they'd never seen a pick and roll before. Spurs flew by Mav defenders.

For me, as a non-basketball player, it's about effort. The Mavs put forth little effort last night. It was obvious. The main offender: Dirk Nowitzki. Countless times he would wave his hand at a passing Spur and allow him to run by. Now, the big German was in foul trouble, but the same thing happened in game 1 and had the Mavs lost, that would've been a bigger deal. Nowitzki needs to nut up.

Bottomline: I think the Spurs win -- based solely on execution and feel -- is 200 times better than the Mavs win in game 1.

Ten things:

10. The Spurs did a number of things differently. For one, they went to Tim Duncan over and over in the third and fourth quarters when the Mavs inched closer. He delivered with a "noisey" 25 points and 17 rebounds.

9. Silver lining for Mavs: How many dinky shots didn't go down for the Mavs that typically do on lay-ups or the slew of "and 1s" they usually get? Shawn Marion had about three. Dirk had five or so, a number after getting fouled. That's probably a 10-point swing.

8. A key to the Mavericks winning is keeping Matt Bonner on the floor as much as possible. That guy is awful.

7. Had the game been closer -- a bit more even -- I think Carlisle might have brought in Roddy Beaubois considering how free and easy Manu and Parker were rolling and how eaten up J.J. Barea was on those pick and rolls.

6. The refs certainly swallowed their whistles for the Mavs. They were getting no calls. The pure fact that this is a total reaction to the Mavs having such a large advantage the other night drives me bananas.

5. I realize that getting Jason Terry "going" is somehow important, but him leading the team in scoring has typically not been very good. In fact, it typically spells doom. I realize the point is to score more than the opponent and if Terry's shot is going, what's wrong with that? I don't know how to qualify this feeling. I guess the best example is last night. The Mavs got down big on three different occassions and fought back on two of those occassions. Terry's shooting was a big reason they got back into the thick of things both times. But that's Terry. He's the guy that scores 27 when no one else is shooting well and his team is down by 14. He's almost like a guy who hits 50 solo home runs a season all in 12-2 losses. If that makes sense.

4. One big difference in guarding Dirk was putting Antonio McDyess on him, getting in his jock and poking away at the ball. That's what works. I thought they would've done it more in game 1. Plus, Greg Popovich probably figured that Dirk wasn't going to shoot 80 percent for the series.

3. I don't think I've seen the Mavs' rotations any worse this season. At least in a semi-big game. They were awful. Slow and indecisive. Blech. Spurs went 7-15 from behind the arc and all seven seemed huge.

2. Did the Mavs get the yips in the third and fourth quarters? Dirk, Jason Kidd, Caron Butler, Shawn Marion and even Jason Terry (he went 9-19 ... not great) were shooting like shit all night. It seemed each (especially Butler, Kidd and Dirk) passed up shots a lot. Seemed scared to shoot it. That's discomforting.

1. Why does Tim Duncan miss free throws as badly as he does? I get Shaquille O'Neal missing badly because he has no finesse or touch. Duncan has incredible touch. The way he can lay a 12 footer softly off the glass into the basket is one of the sweetest shots in NBA history. But when he shoots a free throw, it looks like he's attempting to angrily dunk it standing flat footed 10 feet from the basket. Makes no sense.

Mid-week adjustments

With two days to let the 95-90 loss to the Dallas Mavericks seeth and stew for Greg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs.

I had strong words for Popovich's "Hack-a-Damp" strategy from Sunday. More than disgusted, I was hurt. I hold Popovich in high regard and to see him execute such a petty strategy that was bound to fail (because it always fails) was totally unlike Pops typically mentality and direction.

I do expect Pop and the Spurs to make adjustments for tonight. And I suspect the "Hack-a-Damp" to be thrown in the trashcan.

Double Down
Dirk Nowitzki ate the Spurs' lunch on Sunday. The Spurs have no one they can put on Nowitzki one on one. On Sunday, they were really unwilling to put any double or triple teams to get the ball out of his hands except for the fourth quarter and here and there throughout. But mostly it was Nowitzki versus Matt Bonner playing a two feet off. The Spurs have to do something. Double teaming is dangerous because the Mavs are so deep with quite a number of shooters. I would try to run longer, more athletic guys at Nowitzki on a double team right when he gets the ball. If you leave Erick Dampier, Shawn Marion or Jason Kidd open, then so be it. Make Kidd jump shoot you to death.

Richard Jefferson
Popovich called certain players out as playing like "dogs" Sunday. The big dog was Jefferson. The guy doesn't scare me, but he has the potential and now he has a fire lit underneath his ass.

Challenge Kidd
Jason Kidd is a sparse defender nowadays. He's simply not quick enough to stay on the smaller guards. I don't know how healthy Tony Parker is, but if he can run I tell him to run right at Kidd. Get to the rim. Get fouled. Put the Mav big men in foul trouble. Offset Kidd's offensive production. At the very least, wear Kidd out.

Feed Duncan Late
I never felt the game was as close as it wound up the other night. The Mavs couldn't won by 10. Still, it was a manageable deficit for the Spurs. Duncan had a "quiet" 27 points meaning that when he hit a basket it didn't really matter, nor did they really come in bunches. If it's close or the Spurs have a lead, they need to feed Duncan late. Let him take over.

Mocking your pay

I hope everyone notices that the NFL moved its draft to Thursday night, primetime and making it like a four-day celebration.

Only the NFL.

Then again, it's not like the NFL forced its draft into the lives of every red-blooded American. Americans, instead, made the NFL Draft important. Thus, the NFL, realizing what a goldmine it could have (along with the World Wide Leader) moved it to primetime on the big ratings day (Thursday) and is making a whole weekend out of it.

Brilliant. Schedule release and then the draft. They -- plus Ben Roethlisberger raping girls -- is keeping the NFL in the headlines and at the top of everyone's mind.

Mocks:

Bill Simmons
27. Taylor Mays - S - USC
The Sports Guy may be coming to laugh when he covers the draft. Through a series of multiple trades and fake trades, he has Mays falling to the Cowboys. As much as this may not fit, it's a very real possibility that they take the safety who apparently can't run backwards.

Rick Gosselin
27. Dez Bryant - WR - Oklahoma State
It keeps coming up, but I can't imagine 26 teams (many of which suck) skipping Bryant, who isn't a bad person, just, maybe, a dumb person. At times, we can overrate sports IQ. Sometimes it just has to be about ability. If he falls to the Cowboys, we will know why some teams just continue to suck over a number of years.

Philly Burbs
27. Taylor Mays
Has the Cowboys skipping OT Charles Brown and DE Jared Odrick to take Mays. I find it hard to believe they'd pass on both of those guys for Mays.

KDKA
27. Taylor Mays
Also, this TV station has the Cowboys pass Odrick and Brown. Say it ain't so.

What are we going to do about this?

Opportunity lost

I'm utterly speechless about my Texas Rangers.

They lost against to the Boston Red Sox, 7-6, after Frank Francisco allowed the walk-off single. The Rangers bullpen melted down again. Chris Ray. Darren Oliver. Francisco.

Colby Lewis, of course, did them no favors throwing 105 pitches in his five innings of competent pitching.

Then again, Josh Hamilton's two-out, two-run error in the sixth didn't do Ray any good.

On a night when the Rangers offense worked nine walks (against five strikeouts) had knuckler Tim Wakefield on "one of those nights" that knucklers have. They worked a franchise-record nine stolen bases.

It was the Rangers of 2009. Putting pressure on the opponent.

It was also Chris Davis stranding five runners (despite not striking out once ... I mean, he's getting wood on the ball) and Vlad Guerrero stranding four including a bases loaded situation in the eighth.

Want to point fingers? Point all around? Point at Ron Washington for coaching scared by pulling Joaquin Arias for Andres Blanco or yanking the bullpen around -- getting one more inning out of Lewis or O'Day? How about pulling Francisco when it was obvious he didn't have it for Neftali Feliz?

This clusterfuck was a team effort.

The letdown

Pierced

Those wanting heated first-round match-ups in the NBA Playoffs are in for a very rude awakening.

There's two series (Utah-Denver and Portland-Phoenix) that's tied at 1-1 as every other fav is taking care of business. Most of the time, the games aren't even close. The exception being last night's Lakers-Thunder tilt.

Do you think there should be more team mascots based on meteorlogical phenomena? Like the Blizzards? Mudslides? We've got the Hurricanes and Thunder. I'm sure the WNBA has a couple.

Is there nothing more scary than the Icy Roads? How about the Black Ice and would that be racist?

Games:

Atlanta Hawks 96, Milwaukee Bucks 86
Bucks got no shot without Andy Bogut. Josh Smith almost turned in a triple-double. Outside of John Salmons, the Bucks starters scored 25 total points. Somehow, seven-footer Kurt Thomas -- in 26 minutes -- scored no points and grabbed four rebounds. How is that humanly possible? J.J. Barea at 5-4 can get at least six rebounds in 26 minutes.

Boston Celtics 106, Miami Heat 77
If you wonder why star players want their franchises to work to improve the supporting cast, just consider the Miami Heat. I wasn't the only doofus thinking the Heat could take the Celtics. Not until you fully realize who's getting starter minutes in Miami. Will this embarassment in any way affect Wade's decision to sign back on with Miami? Say what you will about the Knicks, but I'd rather be playing with Al Harrington, David Lee, Mike D'Antoni, that Gallinari kid and Eddy Curry's bloated corpse.

Phoenix Suns 119, Portland Trailblazers 90
Two things: Blazers got their win on the road and were fine with going home with that in their pocket. Secondly, no way the Suns could go to Portland down 2-0. The Suns ended up shooting 52 percent but it was up around 56 or 58 percent during the crux of the game. Jason Richardson almost didn't miss as did Grant Hill. It's a close series, but these games have sucked.

Los Angeles Lakers 95, Oklahoma City Thunder 92
Kevin Durant is going to learn a lot from this series. It's is first swim through the post-season. Hopefully he's learning that those other four guys on the team can play too. Particularly Russell Westbrook (Jeff Green too much in love with the three), who I think can out-quick the Lakers, but he shot just 10 times compared to Durant's 26 (to get 32 points). Westbrook also went to the line eight times against Durant's six. Yes, Durant will learn to make other's better, take care of the ball (how huge were those eight Durant turnovers?) and realize that he's a star and can go to the basket whenever he likes.