Top 5 Texas Stadium Moments

So the Cowboys lost again. Before I rant about the team, I had to cover my top 5 Texas Stadium moments. Mine are much more personal and do not have a whole lot to do with football.

5. 12/25/2006-MNF Iggles 23- Cowboys 7. Bad result, but pretty cool to do MNF on Christmas Day with my father in law. Nice moment.

4. 10/23/2006- MNF Giants 36- Cowboys 22. The Tony Romo Era begins. I was never happier to see Drew Bledsoe get benched. The night started in the nose bleeds, moved to the 30 yard line 10 rows up . Snuck into the Stadium Club. Met Tony Castillas and hugged him...A LOT. On a related note, saw him at a party the next year and wore his Super Bowl Ring. Pretty cool. Don't you wish you had a BFF like that.

3. 09/15/2002- Titans 13- Cowboys-21. Not an overly memorable game, except for the fact that after the victory, my lovely wife (then fiancee) was drenched with beer from an over zealous fan on the luxury suites. I then had to put her on a plane home with no change of clothes. She was not happy.

2. 12/14/08 Giants 8-Cowboys 20. 10 yard line 5 rows up!!! Enough said. I learned what football was really like. I was like a kid watching for the first time.

1. 10/15/2001-MNF Redskins 7-Cowboys 9. Not a barn burner until the final whistle. All hell broke loose and I feared for my life. Before I could get down from my seat I saw a man get thrown down about 23 rows by a man in his 70's, a man yell at an 8 year kid in a RED (no Redskins) shirt, and said kid's father absolutely blindsiding the yeller and knocking him out.

We were in a war zone. I was never going back. I guess you never forget your first!!

As for my thoughts on the Cowboys. Follow this link. http://www.theticket.com/podcast.asp It sums it up nicely. Look under the Ticket Top 10 and Select Norm's rant. That says it all.

Good Lord!!

The Cowboys are a mess!!   I was reading this article this morning and am just as confused as to who is mad at what, when, and where.  I do know the why though.  As much as I hate it, T.O. is becoming who he normally is.  People just don't change.  He is insecure and borderline unstable. Given that force on top of the Pillsbury Dough-Moron not having any control and  your entire team  and folded in the 4th quarter of a big game,  you have the perfect recipe for disappointment.  This is what I like to call Mavericks 101- Lessons in Chocking When It Really Counts.

It will be a miracle if Dallas makes the playoffs, much less win 4 games in a row in the playoffs to make it to and win the Super Bowl. What another DALLAS DISSAPOINTMENT!!!

Random Questions?

Mike Sherman expects aTm to win games next year?  Was he at the t.u. game?  I am just so confused.

Why does Romo seem to spit the bit every time a big, big moment comes around?  He may still be learning how to win in this league, but big interceptions are getting old.

Why get rid of the BCS?  It gives us something to talk about every year.  A playoff with the winner determined on the field is just so boring.  That is why every major conference team should be happy with the conference title and winning a major bowl game.

IS J.J. Barea an actual NBA basketball player, or a very short man on a hot streak.   He hit a huge shot last Tuesday in the comeback win vs. the Clip Joint.

Best Bowl Game? Poinsettia Bowl ,  Worst Bowl Game? International Bowl.  Uconn vs. Buffalo.  Really?   These two schools are in a bowl?

Thanksgiving Football Feast

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there. Of course, Thanksgiving means a great day of football. I am thankful for the aTm-t.u. football game being moved to Thaksgiving night. I am not thankful that it may end up t.u. 80-aTm 20. Ugh. At least the Cowboys should be able to pull this one out. Official prediction Cowboys 31, Seahawks 17.

Ok kids, Happy Thanksgiving football!!!

Press The Reset Button

Remember those times you very playing a video game and the computer was beating you?  You would get real mad, say it isn't fair and then press the reset button.  It was the easiest thing to do.  You would start over, maybe even a couple of more times, then eventually end up winning the game.

After the a Baylor 41-21 victory over the Ags Saturday, I am officially calling for Bill Byrne to press the reset button. I have fallen off whatever Mike Sherman band wagon I might have been on this past Saturday.  He is just not going to be the coach that this school needs.

I can handle the loss to OU.  Though embarrassing, aTm just did not have the horses to compete.   Baylor is a different story.  Sherman has some talent on this team.  Certainly enough to complete with the likes of Baylor. The fact that that team Saturday took the field and systematically got destroyed by that school is unacceptable. That is a direct indictment of poor coaching.  It was not absurd to think that Baylor could have won the game, that is not the point.  The point is the fact that Baylor was winning the game 41-7 until two cheapo touchdowns were scored in the fourth.  The game was over in the first 4 minutes of the third quarter.  

Mike Sherman brought in an NFL pedigree that he and Bill Byrne were very quick to mention at every turn.  That pedigree has now gotten us a loss to the equivalent of a high school team and a loss to a school that really has no business being in the Big 12.

Good coaches coach players up.  Mike Sherman has not been able to do that. An offense that is inconsistent at best and a defense that most high school JV teams could score 14 on every game.  THAT IS A JOKE!!

It's not too late though.  Pull the trigger while the ashes are still smoldering.  Don't wait to build another average house only to set it on fire again.  Texas A&M has already had their John Mackovic, we don't need to replace him with another Bill Callahan.  

 

Probably the last aTm football post this year.  I have just had enough. Hopefully the Cowboys have pressed the rest button for the last time this season and will get everything on track.  Tough fourth quarter that they played and an awesome catch for "Mr. Money B" Martellus Bennett.  More to come.  Hopefully they won't go out and mess up all the good things they did Sunday night. 

NOW GO TO BED!!  or GET BACK TO WORK!!!!!

Leaders Make The Difference

When choosing a new leader, you really don't ever know what you are really going to get.  Tuesday, the majority of the nation selected a new leader of the free world.  The funny thing with leaders are that while you think you know what you are going to get you may not really know. No, I am not talking about what you will get with Obama as President but what may happen when you hire the wrong coach.

Whom is this coach that you speak of?  The coach that, at half time of what was turning into a blow out, couldn't decide if he wanted to pull the 40 year old bag of dust he had throwing interceptions under center.  The same coach that dubbed himself "Mr. Fix-It" for a defense that still cannot cover receivers of get true pressure on the quarterback.  That coach is Wade Philips. 

Big Wade is just a few losses away from being the worst coach in Cowboys history.  Dave Campo was bad, but he was bad because he had no talent on the field, not because he could not motivate a team with insane amounts of talent.  I am officially jumping on the fire Wade bandwagon!!! 

Wade has no control of this team.  He has yet to demonstrate that he can fire up the troops when the going gets tough.  It makes you wonder what pictures he had of Jerry that he threatened to use if he didn’t get hired.  Really though, this is as much Jerry's fault as anyone.  Parcells left outside the fray and Jerry had to get back in the mix. What better of a person to have coaching your team than a good ‘ole country boy like Wade. We should have known better though, each place that Wade has coached has been a carbon copy of what we have seen here in Dallas. Great first year, mediocre second year, bad third year, fired. Though this year, that three year steak will be broken when he is fired at the end of the year. See what happens when you choose the wrong leader?

By the way, give T.O. credit. If I were him, I would have shot up the place by now!!

Fearless weekend predictions:

aTm 28, OU 789.235—The Ags two game winning streak comes to a close. I am so glad though that they actually did not adhere to my not winning another game prediction.

tech rejects 48 Okie Lite 49—those morons are too spent mentally to put it together. tech will still continue to never really win at anything.

LSU 28 Bama 27

Coming soon, dedicated posts to why the Mavs are beyond mediocre.

 

Here is appropriate song to characterize the Cowboy's season so far:

 

I pay to complain.....

No one has ever accused me of being an optimists.  I am just not wired that way.  I am a planner always looking to play out worst case scenarios and developing plans to deal with them.  It's just what I do. 

Two weeks ago, aTm vs. K-State.  # minutes into the game it is 7-0.  I have been known to be vocal at football games and made my displeasure known with a simple phrase, "This team sucks."   A woman who has shared season tickets in out area over the last several years turns to a couple behind her and asks, "why does he even come to the games?"  Of course, my gut tells me to go down there and tell her in no uncertain terms why I come.  A few years ago, I would have.  My wisdom and the woman who seems to follow me everywhere I go told me to check myself.  SO I did, continued to watch the game and called it like I saw it.  NO incident, but another loss

Fast forward to last weekend.  tech scores a meaningless touchdown at the end of the game to "run up the score."  We Aggies are mad.  Especially the little lady that sits two rows in front of me.  She, her son and husband begin to attack a couple dressed in tech gear sitting on the row in front of them.  They of course cheer, when the touchdown is scored and this lovely family goes as far as to have grandpa flip off the tech couple with grandchild in lap.  Classy.  It is the first time in my life I felt bad for someone from tech.  Believe me, I am not getting soft.  As soon as we start winning again, I will be all up in everyone's business telling them about it.  I have endured too much for too long not to do that.  But, the lady, the lazy, I did have something to tell her. 

Why do I come to the games.  Because I love me team.  You vote with your wallet and my wallet tells me that I love me some Aggie.  Money for season tickets, gas, lodging, food, beer, scotch, scotch, scotch, and 12 seasons of this tells me that I can pretty much say as I please about this program. I pay for it and I have earned it.

Calling it like it is does not constitute as a lack of support, but a statement of fact.   Just becasue I am not happy with watching a Division 1 college football tem play like the Central High School freshman D team does not mean I don't love Aggie football.  It just is what it is.  So lady, just remember that the next time you want to question me about my loyalty to a team I want to remind you that the pot should never call the kettle black.  Besides, it has been a good three seasons since I have visibly flipped someone off anyway so SCOREBOARD GRANDMA!!!!!!

 

TO the weekend predictions:

aTm 31 ISU 24

Cowboys 20 Bucs 17--If the Cowboys lose this one, season over!!!

sips 45 okie lite 44.  okie lite blows a 44 point 4th quarter lead thanks to Mike Gundy being a man and 41!!!

P.S. Thanks Tampa Bay for ruining the World Series for me!!!!!!!

Football Weekend Observations

Hello from sunny Florida where the lone ranger of The Malt has to call home this week. Good football weekend. Thought I would put out a couple of HSO's before it's time to call it a night.

• My Aggies are bad. They will not win another game this year. Though it was refreshing to see Jerrod Johnson throw for over 400 yards with a line that couldn't block a bunch of fifth graders. The offense is actually looking better each time I see them. I expect them to actually put up a few points against tech. They also found a big time possession receiver in Ryan Tannehill. He can catch just about everything. Glad her will be around for three more years. The defense on the other hand is pathetic!!! This must be fixed by the Sherminator or he will not be successful here in Aggieland. That being said, this season is unacceptable and the question looms if Sherm is really the answer. He must begin to coach and get this team to play above its potential. That may not be much, but I expect More from a former NFL coach who has had the experience he can boast.

• When did OK State get good? They knock off Mizzou last night and now are a top 10 team. I still wouldn't run to Vegas to bet my depleted 401k balance on this one. Mr. I'M a Man... is still due to do something stupid before the year is out. Also, it is OK State, they will blow a big lead at some point

• Congrats to the liberal school in Austin for grabbing the number 1 ranking again. Enjoy your week at the top. Your defense still gave up 35 and Mizzou will put up a lot of points to make up for spitting the bit Saturday night.

• I still can't stand Tim Tebow!! But come on LSU, why did you give him an excuse?? That is why most of the time people should keep their mouths shut

• Speaking of keeping your mouth shut, T.O. Owens gets a free pass this week. The comments after the Washington game were a bit overboard, but he is right. When he gets the ball and can make plays, the Cowboys win. Plain and simple. This team is in free fall right now and they have to get it together. The saving grace is that they are not falling apart in December and January as in years past. It still makes me believe that they will get things together and make a run this year. Until the, the O-line must block. Those guys get paid too much and are too good to continue to play as pathetically as they are right now. The defense must defend. Their is too much talent out there to let receivers run free all day. Tony Romo, protect the ball!!! The Jedi makes play, but his carelessness is beginning to be a problem. Wade Philips, coach this team don't caudal this team. Chew their asses out, make them run more, I don't care just make them accountable!!

So good night from the FLA!!! Here is some groovy tunes to bring you home http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY1ahFCYT5k

Fight On....

Every year ESPN tells us how great USC is going to be.  In 2005 they ran segments on SportsCenter about how USC would match up with the best college teams of all time, BEFORE THEY EVEN PLAYED IN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!  OF course they went on to lose to the second rate school in Austin.

Turn the page to 2008.  Unanimous number 1.  We were told that this is quite possibly the greatest defense ever.   Playing lowly Oregon State.  Kapowee!!!!!  Another USC loss.  Will ESPN please stop telling me how great USC is now.  They lost to unranked Oregon State in 06, 41 point dog Stanford in 07 AT HOME, and unranked Oregon State again while they were ranked number 1!!  USC has a good football program, but they are not fielding the best teams of all time.  GIVE IT A REST!!!!!!  I love to see USC lose. 

 

 

On the Aggie front.  The NFL guru cost the team the game at the end of the first half vs. Miami.  3 time outs with 1:45 ish to go.  Didn't go deep, didn't kneel on the ball. Threw some short passes., called a time out, punted and then gave up a big return.  A few plays later Jordan Peterson was again staring in the stands as a receiver runs by him and sits in the end zone because he is so wide open.  Great job Sherm!!!  Is this what we get?  Pathetic. 

 

My prediction this week:  aTm wins in what could be the last Aggie win of the year.  This is the worst aTm football team I have ever seen.

 

Thank God for Romo, T.O and the boys.  They look good.  The real testing ground will be in December and January.  Still makes you feel good to watch Romo have a pedestrian game by his standards and still throw for 260 yards.  Just quit throwing red zone picks Tony!!!!! 

 

Here is a song that describes 2008 Aggie Football:

Here comes the story of the hurricane...

 

 

While trite, it's true......Hurricanes blow.  (Forgive me)  I have always been fascinated with the phenomenon and power of a hurricane.  I still am, but I am really tired of my friends and family getting blown away by hurricanes.  Over the weekend, I served as home base for many refugees from the gulf coast.  It is interesting how you can actually sleep 6 in an 800 square foot apartment.  The sad thing of all this is that everyone was affected by Ike's wrath.  Especially my mom, AGAIN.  For those that don't know, her business and home were beat up pretty badly during Rita in 2005.  Fast forward to 2008.  Ike spares her house, but not her business.  She decided to go back to Beaumont to check it out and oops, the power that she told was restored is back out.  She will be back in DFW tomorrow, but don't go where she is staying, she has a gun an an itchy trigger finger.

 

Let's also give a shout out to the recently rehired J.P.  who rode out the storm.  His first belligerent hurricane party soon turned when Ike's ferocious winds shrilled of pain and horror.  J.P. was quoted "Never again."  before the storm had even left Houston.  The only fortunate thing is that he is stranded in a very nice suburb of Houston and generate power off the tears of homeless people.  Stay hard J.P.!!!!

 

College Station had power restored Sunday night, but alas they are preparing for another hurricane on Saturday. The good guys in maroon somehow came out of New Mexico with a win.  3 good quarters of defense followed by the signature of this group of players.  They somehow found a way to take a good win and turn it around into making your fans feel like a loss. 

 

Now Miami rolls into town and I fear the devastation will move on to the Aggie football team.  They are young, but they are fast and have a defense that made even the great Tim Tebow (can't stand him) look bad.   It could be a long, long day in Aggieland.  Stevie Mc will probably not play.  The Jerrod Johnson era is about to begin, but he will not fair as well as he did against the Lobos.  Look for Miami to blitz as soon as the get off the bus.  They will continue the beating they started last year.  By they way I paid a lot of money to go see that game last year.  I still never got Fran to pay me back for that trip.   I will save my score prediction as is tradition with J.P. and I not to reveal this until kickoff, but I will tell you that it is not going aTm's way.    No matter how the games ends though, J.P. will still be very happy to have a/c at least for the weekend.

 

BTW, Tony Romo was greatness last night.  Thanks God the Cowboys will give me something to get excited about this year!!

del.icio.us Tags: Hurricanes,Aggies,Cowboys,Beer,Beaumont,Tony Romo

Becoming Irrelevant

How does something become irrelevant?  There are probably many ways to answer this question. It happens when you gimmick gets old, your competition catches up with you, when you are resistant to change, or your perception is much higher than what reality reveals to you.

How do people react to you when you are truly irrelevant?  They may poke fun at you for a minute, but it is mostly an act of actually being polite.  Two seconds later, its as if they never knew you existed. When you become irrelevant, people just don't care, unless they just absolutely hated you in the first place.  The casual person either feels sorry for you or they never knew you were there.

Why as this talk?  Because I think I saw something become irrelevant right before my eyes and it started last Saturday night.  Ark. State 18 aTm 14.  Quite possibly the worst loss in Texas A&M football history.  How could this be the worst loss ever?  Didn't you watch 77-0?  I did.  While that loss was embarrassing, it never made me feel the way this loss made me feel this week.   5 years ago right after the 77-0 blowout to OU, my phone rang consistently for an hour.  My whole office was more than happy to post pictures of the scoreboard, send me email of news articles, and harass me well into March of 2004.   It took all of my Aggieness to be strong and endure. 

Fast forward to 2008. Things changed dramatically.  I did receive phone calls.  Two to be exact.  One from J.P. telling me I was right not to attend the game and another from a friend (t.u. fan) who talked about it for a grand total of two minutes.  The rest of our normally rival related talked shifted to talk of the Food Network and how I now like living in an apartment again.  Work was not the same either.  Normally over energetic co workers ready to pounce on any aTm loss seemed subdued.  I got one appropriate dose of ridicule followed by a few people acknowledging the loss with as much enthusiasm as one might have when watching paint dry on a wall. 

Which now confirms in my mind how this is the worst loss in aTm football history.  On August 30th, 2008, a loss to Ark. State on Kyle Field deemed this era of aTm football irrelevant.  Our gimmick got old (3-4, The Wrecking Crew), our competition caught up with us (have you seen recruiting lately?), we were resistant to change (1950 called, it wants its playbook back), and our perception of this program is higher than the rest of the world tells us it is (we think that we are a step away from Texas or OU, when we may be instep with Ok. State and a step ahead of Baylor).

Does that make me insane to continue to buy tickets year after year?  God help us all!!

Ranking the Big 12 Rivalries

ESPN had a nice blog entry about the best rivalries in the Big 12 last week.  I thought I would weigh in on this one.  Even though I am the world's mots disgruntled Aggie, I have no problems with t.u. 0u being the #1 rivalry.  I agree with it. High profile game historically with Big 12 and national title implications most years.  I am ok with it.  I was surprised that aTm-tech was in the mix.  We Aggies do not feel tech is even in our league when it comes to anything. (tech is a rival Ags)  CU-NU is a classic from the Big 8 and aTm-t.u is obviously my favorite.

I would like someone to tell me how Mizzou-Kansas came up in this ranking. I guess one could argue that it is from the fact that this may be talking about not only football, but please raise your hand if you knew that these two schools were rivals before their showdown last November.  If you are raising your hand right now and do not live in Missouri or Kansas you are lying.   I can't wait until Chase Daniel graduates and Mangino the Hut actually eats the entire football team so I won't be whipped by this anymore. 

Now listen to this and go away...

Quick Hitty Goodness

Thank God that football is getting back in town from vacation.  College media days are in full swing, NFL training camps are underway, and Canadian football is all up in your business. So let the blogging begin.

 

Let's take a look at few of the things that have been able to awaken the football lover in me.

 

Mike Sherman has been saying all the right things so far.  He has conducted himself as a no nonsense guy.  He wants to bring back the Aggie traditions and Aggie pride that many felt Fran never connected to fully.   He is also putting Stevie Mc and Jerrod Johnson square in a good 'ol fashion QB competition. Am I the only one in the world that thinks that Stevie is on a short leash?   I really had been out on Stevie towards the end of the year, but I have a often up on him just a little bit.  He really does leave it all on the field.  Unfortunately his legacy will more than likely be gusty guy, beat t.u. twice and became the guy that single handily got destroyed by Fran.

 

I hate Tim Tebow.  Please tell me what is so great about that guy?  He is the ultimate system quarterback.  Any guy that can run and throw 3 yard dump offs could be a quarterback in Urban Meyer's system.  I can't wait for him to go pro and be Alex Smith.

 

My beloved Cowboys are going to camp Thursday.  Seems like they really never took the summer off.  From Pacman Jones to T.O. saving a dude's life last week, make no doubt about America loves it when the Cowboys have a bunch of unique personalities that can actually play because there is always something to talk about. Wade Phillips didn't want to be left out of the conversation and took a T.O. catch phase even further by telling us to get our ring fingers ready.  I would ask why do people continue say these things?  It is just bad sports karma.  Why get our ring fingers ready?  We already got a banner last year.

 

 

By the way, I have officially fired everyone else on staff at The Malt.  I am taking applications for writers so get your ring fingers ready..to type. 

 

Ok a cool new country (yes, unusual for  me) band I discovered.  You should love this song as much as I do.

My Adventures in Coed Softball

First of all, thank you to the dedicated readers that have stuck with our little blog.  Let's be real honest, the contributors on this blog just don't really care to much about baseball season.  The summers are slow.  We take vacations, we go to the lake, we con our inlaws into doing work around our houses and buying us dinner.  It is just a fact of life. 

Though this fact exists, people are still criticizing me for lack of content.  Very well, point taken.  So at 11:41 p.m. I wonder what I should post here.  Maybe talk about Derrick Rose sitting out a summer league game, Elton Brand burning the Clippers, or Jesse Jackson wanting to cut off Obama's privates.  While relevant, none of these are worthy.  Instead, I care to talk about my night as an overweight recreational co-ed softball league player.

Yes, I am playing softball, in a co-ed league.  From my observation, there are two types of people that play in these leagues.  Those that want to get together with friends, have fun, and get exercise.  Then there are those that believe that in there 30's that they are athletic and want to prove it to the rest of the world. Of course, I fall in the latter description.

So tonight my team was defeated 38-2.  The game was called after 4 innings, but was much closer than the score indicated. I personally went 0-2 at the plate.  Gave up 2 runs and walked 2 pitching, but I did have a 1.000 fielding percentage at first base.

As a finally tuned 5'10" 265 pound athlete, I feel my performance was a disappointment not only to myself, but to my team, my wife,  and the scouts that may actually recruit me to men's D league softball.  I will now dedicate the next week of my life to becoming the perfect softball player.  I will hit, field, throw and run my way to absolute greatness.  I will dedicate myself to the team so that we can be winners next Thursday night.  I will show all everyone that there is an athlete underneath this man's lumpy body ready to become a SportsCenter highlight reel. If that doesn't work out, I guess that I will just go to Chili's after the game again because Happy Hour runs until close.  

So to all my softball friends that gave me grief about the blog, stay hard, keep jammin, and keep you eyes posted on "The Malt" for content so great you will cry.

By the way, here is the next great band that you will love real strong good. (and yes the singer is a girl)

iwresteldabearonce

Guys I Can't Stand

This week has been an especially good sports week for me. There have been a lot of news of the past couple of days about guys that I just cannot bear. Let's take a peek at this week's misgivings.

Joakim Noah:

A bad Memorial Day Weekend for Mr. Noah. I am certainly not going to condemn a grown man for having a beer, but come on Yannick!!! It is not a big deal he was drinking a beer on the street, it is a big deal in the eye of American law that he was in possession of a little Wacky Tobaccy. I just cannot stand these two. It was bad enough that all of America had to endure 2 years worth of NCAA tournaments staring at two over emotional guys with really bad hair. Hopefully Joakim will take his 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds to France to stay with his father permanently. I and the rest of the people outside of Chicago and Gainesville, Florida will be excited to see him go.

Vince Young:

An especially disliked figure in my world. Vince was quoted this week that he was ready to tell his football career goodbye. First questions I have is someone please tell me why high profile longhorn football players have such a hard time just playing football after they leave Austin? (Rickkkkkyyyyy) The cited article is especially offensive to insult our intelligence by saying it was so hard for Vince to have an undefeated National Championship season, or to be in Reggie (overrated) Bush's shadow, or to take criticism about a reported 6 on the Wonderlic Exam, or to only be drafted 3rd overall, or to be 1 of 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL. The disclaimer here is that the above story does not talk about the family problems he might have been going through. That is and should be off limits.

The easy thing to say here is what is so hard? You are a professional football player that has won on every level. The real question to ask here why would you open yourself up to this type of criticism that will allow your team and your fans to have an ounce of doubt about you as a leader? Just think about the next time he floats a ball 6 yards of the head of an open receiver. Will you continue to think he just is not great at throwing the ball or will you think he just doesn't have the desire enough to try and correct it?

Roy Williams

Tonight's Sportscenter asked the question of "Who is the biggest distraction in Big D?" Good question. At press time, we had no answer to this Sportsnation questions, but here is my vote. It is not Pacman, that is just an interesting side story right now. it is not T.O.'s contract. He learned about behaving badly in a contract year. It is not even Romo and his on again off again love affair with Jess. It is Roy Williams. Roy Williams used to be a wildman stud flying through the air hitting people and making plays. He is now a player who is lost and "Wishes opponents wouldn't throw his way." Huh? How can you say that? Roy, prepare to be thrown at by every team on almost every play next season. Roy Williams gets paid a lot of money to play a position that is not always of high value for a football team. Let's face it, good safeties are nice but they can be a dime a dozen. Looking back, it is hard to say if Roy was really great or if the Cowboys were so bad for a few years that we all were a little tainted starring through our Cowboy tinted glasses. Either way today he is just not as good as he used to be. This is the player the Cowboys need to worry about right now. He is showing that he is not committed to Dallas anymore. His lack of skill and lack of commitment will cost the Cowboys in crucial situations this next year. The Pacman Jones trade may not have been the most popular move ever, but Jerry can begin to get some forgiveness by running Roy and his large contract out of town.

Quick Hits

This is why everyone hates tech, Eccentric Leach ready to lead Red Raiders to ultimate treasure. No, not because they might be a decent football team this year, but for Mike Leech and his stupid pirate fetish. Why is ESPN wasting time on this? It is a sad commentary when your school's big off-season story focuses more on how crazy your coach is as opposed to the actual team. Part of me wants to think this is kind of funny, it is a good bit. What everyone needs to remember is tech is a school full of bits (throwing tortillas, killing horses, being in Lubbock, actually attending tech, Bobby Knight) I guess no goal post is safe in Lubbock tonight.

JP in Houston was correct about Kobe during our conversation yesterday when he asked "Should it have really taken this long for him to win the MVP?" No, it should not have. I dislike him personally, but I can't deny him as a player.

Does this look like a guy who is not drunk? Benson denies being drunk. Because he was probably high. You be the judge.

Maybe he just had pepper spray in his eyes. Sorry C-Bong. Hope you and J-Toke have a great summer!!!

Scorched Earth?

Ok, last Mavs post and then we will put them to bed.

I actually had the rare afternoon away from work that allowed me to spend the afternoon absorbing the little general's farewell press conference.   I began the day by thinking how much of a stand up guy Avery was being.  Facing up to his firing, fielding questions with confidence, and being the man who had never been afraid to tackle adversity.

After my third time of listening through, it seems that all of Avery's confident words seemed much more arrogant than humble.  One would almost think that Avery might be giving himself a little more kudos than there were to really go around.  Let's look at a few examples:

In his first full season, the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals but blew a 2-0 lead and lost to Miami. They came back the next season and won 67 games, only to lose in the first round to the Nelson-coached Warriors.  "That team significantly, significantly overachieved," Johnson said. "We paid the price for it in the playoffs."  What an easy way to wash your hands of those two colossal meltdowns.  Why would he not mention the way he was bullied by Pat Riley and Don Nelson in those series?  Could you not adjust your game plan in these series to help you team overachieve for a few more games? I am not saying that the team overachieving is not true, it is just too easy of an out.

He said it was a “miracle” that this season’s team even reached the playoffs.  Thus making him the miracle worker?  Or was his coaching and decision making the obstacle that required this miracle?

Johnson also seemed to backpedal from the Jason Kidd trade. He referred to Devin Harris as a budding All-Star who he helped develop for four seasons and especially this season when Harris took over as the starting point guard.  "He's going to be an 18 (points) and eight (assists) guy," Johnson said This begs the question of how badly Johnson really wanted to make the deal.I'm on record [within the organization] about what my feelings were," Johnson said, without specifying what exactly he told Cuban or president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson.  Someone tell me how he felt this way when he was busy stripping Devin Harris of his play calling duties?  Many reports showed Avery on board with this trade:

And now, for the first time, the General has a quarterback.  We've got somebody who when you are in the red zone can help you get touchdowns," said coach Avery Johnson, going all football on us. "We feel this inches us a little closer."  I don't buy this at all.  Like most fans, Avery did not like the Kidd deal in the end, but all signs point to him being on board to "changing of the guard" in February.

This is by no means in any way to absolve the players of the failures of the last three years.  Players play, coaches coach.  The players have to deliver on the court.  I just don't think it this easy to explain it all away. 

Mavs-Hornets--Game 5. It's Over!!

The coach leaving practice. The players conducting a "Player's Only Practice." Whatever that is. No matter!!! Same song different verse.

The Hornets were the better team this series. CP3 was the superstar, Byron Scott was the better coach, and the New Orleans back ups were the better compliments than the Mavs "deep and experienced" bench. In the end, the worst pill to swallow for Mavs fans will be that the Hornets will get handled in the second round by Timmy and the Spurs rather easily.

Where did it all go wrong? Tonight simply has to with the Mavs lapsing to give up big runs in the second and the fourth quarters. The Mavs showed fight, but they still showed too much confusion, panic, and apathy at points in the game.

Where does it go from here? Strapped by the salary cap and by aging and ineffective players, it almost seems that the Mavs have no other choice but to roll with what they have. I can't see how they will be able to dump Stackhouse, J-Toke, or the self-proclaimed "second best center in the league's"salary. Especially after the colossal meltdowns they have been apart in the last 3 seasons. Thank goodness that my former childhood idol's contract will free up nearly $20 mil after next season. (Sorry J-Kidd)

This group of players are now officially damaged goods. Avery (who as an man and a leader I admire) is no longer the coach for this team. Much like Bill Parcells with the Cowboys, his overbearing micromanagement is no longer effective for this group of players. He also had the added bonus of out thinking himself in critical situations. Stay Hard Avery.

Of course, there is always a way to rebuild a franchise. Maybe Owner Cuban should call Owner Jones and ask him the finer points of how to completely take advantage of a league by dealing your best player for draft picks. It seemed to work for Owner Jones in the '90s. Can it be the answer now?

Oh well. On we go to the dead time between now and college football. Look for Red Sox and Ranger opinions from me, plus a fun article that I should have done in a few days after I string a little research together. BTW, Aggie Baseball scores 3-2 over TCU today and what is up with Boston and the ATL tied at 2? Go Acie!!!

Good song to summarize the Mavs run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtFaU5BXbGQ&feature=related

Mavs-Hornets Game 4 Reaction

Quick thoughts on tonight's game:

After an inspired performance in game 3, the Mavs reverted to their mind numbing inconsistent play in game 4. Tonight we can chalk this one up to offensive futility and coaching ineptness.


The little general single handily killed all Maverick momentum by inserting JJ Barea along with other reserves a minute into the second quarter. Within 3 minutes the lead is gone and New Orleans was never again threatened.

The Mavs supporting cast could not have been more inept at playing basketball tonight. J-Toke and Stackhouse did all they can to take focus off of Avery's poor decisions by shooting fade away jumpers for most of the evening. Jason Kidd looked confused for the better part of the evening. While Dirk did not have a stellar game, he has to have some help.

Now at 3-1, the series should end Tuesday night in New Orleans. This will signal the beginning of the end for Avery and the opportunity for J-Toke to start his favorite off season activity.

Hey, at least I sold my tickets to game 3!!!

Cowboys - The New Correctional Facility

I am a proclaimed Cowboy Hater, but I keep up with the Cryboys because it is the NFL and I live in Dallas. I was in Chicago part of this week and they do not cover Cryboys news, so we I landed back in the great sports town of Dallas (HAHA!) the first thing I hear is that “Pacman” is coming to Dallas. Insert strip club jokes here. I know the history of the Dallas Cryboys. They have a great legacy with the likes of Roger S, Tom L, Randy W, Danny W, and the great Dat Nguyen (yes I went to A&M). Lets rewind the clock to the early years of Skeletor’s ownership. (Flashback) The Cryboys had a chance to draft a stud WR, but the owner did not want to deal with is off-field problems. Who was this WR….. Randy Moss. (Flash forward) I guess that Skeletor is desperate to win a Superbowl, because off-field problems do not matter any more. The past three years the Cryboys have picked up Owen, Johnson, and now Packman. Now when Packman wants it to make it rain at strip club he can take Tank with all of his guns to shoot the place up while T.O. is in the bathroom OD’ing. I want to close with an idea from Dale Hanson. The Cryboys are looking for a WR, well there is a guy who is 6’4” and nobody can catch him….
Osama Bin Laden.

My $.02.
Out.

Response and maybe some help for Dallas fan

The following are responses to the previous post on this most wonderful of blogs:

1) You are a Dallas sports fan right? you should be used to road playoff losses

2)I assume you are referencing little Avery, I love little people big world maybe he should be on that show

3)What happened to Cuban being the best franchise owner in Dallas sports history..blah blah blah

4)espn.com, check it out

5)Dirk is the leader right? It's his noose to hang from

6)Dirk is soft! David West proved that on national TV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAreNz25wqE

7)Have the Mavs ever played defense?

8)ugh what?

9) Again, you are a Dallas sports fan right?

10) Worst excuse cliche ever

11) You repeated yourself, see #9

12) This is not stub hub

I am a self proclaimed NBA hater, to me the NBA season is just filler between baseball and football seasons. I just want to get the other point of view out there, Mavs suck.

Sincerly,

Everyone outside Loop 635 and 820

Mavs vs. Hornets: Game 2 Reaction—Things I Am Sick of….

I am sick of lopsided road playoff losses….

I am sick of the coach not being able to figure out how to get through to these players…

I am sick of Mark Cuban and his shark teeth pouting about everything…..

I am sick of it being so hard to find box scores online these days….

I am sick of people trying to hang this on all Dirk……

I am sick of JP in Houston calling Dirk soft……

I am sick of wide open shots….

I am sick of the Ric Flair “WHOOOOOS”……

I am sick of a team that continues to show no heart………..

I am sick of hearing this team say “Wait until we get back to Dallas”….. uh ok and?

I am sick of a team with NO HEART and NO STONES…..

Good seat still available for Friday’s game. Let me know if you are interested.

Today’s music http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3hm-PlN6rg

Chick's Corner: Introduction

Name: Stacie
Gender: Female
Addicted to: College Football, College Basketball, Major League Baseball, and the NFL.
Favorite Teams: OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY COWBOYS, Houston (dis)Astros, the Texans (was an original Oilers fan) (I know, I have a lot of sadness in my life L)

Yes, I am a woman who just so happens to be obsessed with sports—and no, I am not a ‘spy’. I read one time one of those forwards that claims if you don’t send it to ten people in 10 minutes that your eyeballs will fall out and you will be forced to wear duct tape underwear (shout out to Eric!) —and it was a list of “Man Laws” and one of them described how if a woman claims to like sports that she can not be trusted because she is most likely a spy sent to infiltrate the man-world of sports, flatulence, beer, and fried food. I, however, could not be further from being ‘spy’. I have one younger sister, so my poor dad didn’t have a son, so we were taught at a very early age the following:

1. You will not be a cheerleader or a dancer—no matter what anyone tells you, these are not sports. (And I know your mom was a cheerleader but she wouldn’t have been able to handle athletics—don’t tell her I said that).

2. You will play sports and you will not cry while you are playing sports.

3. If you ever have to come out of a game, or if you are ever crying because you are hurt, you better either (a) have a broken neck or (b) be gushing blood at or near a major artery.

This is a slight exaggeration, but not too far from the truth. This is the main reason that growing up I played ever sort of sport one could imagine. (And the reason that when I tore my ACL and I was crying—I know, what a wimp!—that I was afraid my dad would be mad at me—) My sister and I were the only two girls on the street, so when they boys wanted to play tackle football, we joined right in and never cried, complained, or worried about “what we looked like”. (Wouldn’t the world be so much better if this occurred in the female species maybe even 0.5% of the time?!) Most of my elementary school and middle school days consisted of my mom begging me to wear a dress or a skirt, and I would still don a pair Umbro shorts and team-du-jour (::ahem:: Oklahoma State/Oilers/Astros) sports t-shirt. Dresses were much too impractical, and besides, how are you supposed to practice bounce passes and lay-ups in a dress? I digress.

Speed to 2007—I’m working as an engineer and I’m still obsessed with sports, and I meet a group of guys and gal (Laura) that predict the scores of the upcoming football games for the Big 12—well actually, it was those in participation’s alma maters which means predictions only for Texas A&M, Texas, and Texas Tech--And on one glorious September afternoon, I got the call: I was invited into the elite group that spends most of their Thursday writing their statistic-laden, witty, and completely biased predictions. So based on my contributions to those, Laura recommended me to the singlemaltsports blog and I’m really excited to be writing in my own little ‘corner’.

Enough about me…Onto bigger and better things…such as…

Astros Baseball:

›Why can’t the Astros ever let a pitcher just rest and not put them in immediately after major shoulder surgery so they just tear their arm/shoulder rendering them useless?

›Why do I consume at least seven (7) $8.00 beers every time I go? Am I made out of money or am I just a borderline alcoholic? Please don’t answer that.

Big 12 Football:

›Why are there 9 never-ending months between the national championship and opening weekend? I go through really painful withdrawals...

›Why is Mike Gundy still the coach at Oklahoma State? I hate him—for the record, just so you know—he is a complete idiot. His play calling sucks, he can’t motivate, and he thinks it’s o.k. to discontinue what was putting points on the board (aka Dantrell running the ball up the middle on everyone) and back off so the other team can gain confidence, and pull out the win. However, we have never lost a tailgate. And he’s a man and he’s 40. awesome. (But I love Zac Robinson even though he does have a slightly odd shaped head ;)

›Will Mike Sherman really bring the Aggies back to ‘greatness’? Not if he continues to play McGee—Jerrod Johnson is where it’s at—I’m going to miss Fran… ;)

›Why does A&M lose games if they always have 12 men out there? easy, easy!! Just a joke, boys and girls :)

›Mack.Brown.Please.Stop.Clapping.All.The.Damn.Time.So.Close.To.Your.Body. And besides, you have how many high school All-Americans and you still get your asses handed to you by OU?!

›OU Sucks.

›I do not want to put my crabs up, ok?!?! Please stop telling me to do so :)

›OU Sucks Bigtime.

Congrats to Bill Self, fellow OSU Alum on winning the National Championship!!
:) (I had to end on a girlie note because apparently this is the Chick’s Corner)

Holla back!

Angry White Guy and Some Site News

I am so pissed, the Rockets are going to get rolled by Utah again, I hate the Utah Jazz. The only thing that makes me feel ok with the Rockets loss is knowing full well that they can make their off season plans with that basketball team from Dallas. I love nothing more than the Stars (yes, the NHL still exists) over shadowing the Mavs and still no one cares. Dallas is the worst sports town in the history of the world. Pompeii was a better sports town, and might still be!

I am also pissed at the Astros, they play awesome one night and then get blown out the next. Does Uncle Drayton not know what this does to even the average Astros fan. Ugh...

Enough of my rant today, I sincerely apologize to our millions and millions of readers for taking the past two weeks off, but sometimes life does get in way. We have some big news, Single Malt Sports is adding a contributor. Stacie is going to be writing a "chick's corner" article for us. She has just completed her first one and it should be added to the site soon. We at Single Malt Sports have fully vetted Stacie, and we are excited to bring her on board.

Quick NBA Playoff Predictions

West Round 1
Lakers vs. Nuggets--Lakers in 6. Entertaining series, but the Lakers are just better than Melo and AI.

Jazz vs. Rockets-- Jazz in 5. I used to despise T-Mac, but he has shown a lot of heart this year. Unfortunately, he just can't get past the Williams ,Boozer tandum.

Spurs vs. Suns-- Spurs in 7,. This will be the most entertaining series of round one. In the end, Phoenix just has no defense to speak of when it counts.

Hornets vs. Mavs-- Hornets in 6. Please see the previous post. Dallas gets work by another dominate guard.

East Round 1
Celtics vs. Hawks--Celts sweep. Sorry Acie.

Cavs vs. Wizards--Cavs in 7. For all the smack being talked, the Cavs King James. Washington does not. Great players win in the end.

Magic vs. Raptors--Magic in 6. Dwight Howard vs. Chris Bosh. Great series for the east. Toronto will lose a couple of close games that will eventually lead kill their momentum. Expect Toronto to look discouraged as the series goes along.

Pistons vs. Sixers--Pistons sweep. They should have just gotten a bye.

West Semis
Lakers vs. Jazz--Lakers in 6
Hornets vs. Spurs--Spurs in 5

East Semis
Celtics vs. Cavs-Celtics in 5
Pistons vs. Magic--Pistons in 5

West Finals
Lakers vs. Spurs--Lakers in 7

East Finals
Celtics vs. Pistons-Celtics in 7

Finals
Celtics vs. Lakers--Celtics in 7. Classic matchup. Kobe will win a title in the next 3 years, but the Lakers will not be able to overcome without Andrew Bynum or with a rusty Andrew Bynum. The Celtics relive the glory, but tap the breaks on being a dynasty.

Why the Mavs Can't Win

First, I would like to welcome you all back from the "life gets in the way of blogging sometimes" break.



The first day of the NBA playoffs is in the books. We saw some great action from Lebron's sick alley oop (http://youtube.com/watch?v=QZjqvqSiG-o), to Timmy's first three of the season to force double overtime (http://youtube.com/watch?v=5PDdb48g4_c). We also saw what has become an NBA playoff tradition, the Dallas Mavericks finding a way to lose in the most important time of the year.


This year's version of the Mavericks spent the better part of Saturday night letting another talented guard(Please also see D-Wade and Baron Davis) dominate them in every facet of the game and handing the team yet another playoff loss. Why does this continue to happen year end and year out? It is not talent, it is not even heart, it is mental.


The Mavericks have lost 7 straight road playoff games dating back to the collapse in Miami. Tonight, the Mavs jumped out to a 12 point lead, only to again fold in the second half and look especially bad doing it.

This team suffers from mentally from two things: 1) An epic hangover that Lindsey Lohan would be proud of and 2) The fatal mistake that teams have and or still fear them in some way. Both are evidenced by the Mavs performance in the third quarter. The Mavs come out complacent settling for jumpers and lacking intensity on defense. It is almost as if they said, "Ok we are up by 12, we have experience and New Orleans should go away now and understand that we are the Mavericks." Only Chris Paul decided that this would not be the case. When Dallas discovered this, the core of the team reverted back to panic mode and was again blown out in yet another playoff game.

For the record, this version of the Mavs are done. I expect this to go five, maybe 6 (I do have Game 3 tickets on sale if anyone is interested). As a friend of mine said earlier in the month, the window has closed. I now agree. This should not be laid at the feet of Dirk either. This collapse should be blamed on the complete cast of characters who have not had the mental fortitude to deal with the pressure that comes with being a legitimate NBA contender. It is also should be laid at the feet of the Little General, who has been on record saying he likes to take adversity head on. He may like it, but he has never been able to translate his lessons learned to his team.

This veteran group of players are just shell shocked and quarter of a step to slow. Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson should be ready, willing and able to revisit every player on this roster and make deals is necessary to get a bit younger and a bit tougher across the board. They also should be willing get change the head coach, who voice in the locker room is becoming less relevant by each passing day.

Dallas as a Sports Town and Final Four Predictions

Over the last couple of days, I have had a lot of time on my hands. Most feel that this is a good thing. Down time, relax, watch some TV or some such. This is not usually a good thing for me personally, especially as I participate in what has quickly become the hottest blog on the Internet.

During this time, my mind has raced with sports topics to write about, but with all of the delicious headlines out there took a backseat to a 28 second blurb I heard on the radio as I returned from dinner this evening.

The blurb? The local Dallas sports radio station praising Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Kidd for his team changing play during the Mavs blow out victory over Golden State Wednesday. The same guys ripping him and the team after an embarrassing loss to the Golden State just 3 days before.

Believe me, I love the sports station that I speak of above. I even agree with them and steal a lot of my ideas from what I hear there. But it made me begin to think about Dallas (D/FW) as sports town.

After 8 years of living here, I have now determined that D/FW wins the title as the biggest front-running sports town in America. Why? I hear sports talk and the local papers tell me that a team is championship caliber after one win and destined for 20 years of ineptness after one loss. I live this yo-yo after every win and loss of my favorite hometown teams. Many would say that this is the beauty of sports, I would say that it is irrational emotion of humans (which I do practice on a daily basis)

Don't get me wrong, as the resident Mavs Maniac around here I no longer harbor any illusions that the Mavs are going to the Finals. I still believe they may not even make the playoffs. Of course this will all change when the Mavs beat the Lakers tonight. Then you might as well pencil the Mavs in back Finals again this year, unless they lose. Then you can blow up the team and pray they get Michael Beasley. Right now Mavs 80 Lake Show 71. 4:00 minutes left in the third.

Quick Final Four Predictions
Kansas 87 UNC 86-- Kansas is so good they can play any style of basketball, they will beat Carolina at their own game

Memphis 75 UCLA 68--Kevin Love discovers he may be K-Fed, Collision remains inconsistent and Memphis pulls away late.

Championship
Kansas 80 Memphis 70--Kansas is scary good on defense, Rose plays like a freshman for once and Bill Self gets a National Title before bolting for Okie State. (wink)

Fearless MLB Predictions

Well boys and girls (the latter being wishful thinking), baseball season is upon us and to be honest, I am not very excited. I almost always find the beginning of certain sporting seasons to be a fun and exciting excluding the WNBA, why is that league still around? Anyway to get back on point, we are two games into the Astros' season and they have scored a whopping one run and have no wins. I have a feeling this is just a precursor to the rest of the season. With only one and half pitchers, it's going to be hard to win games. They will score some runs but not enough. So with that being said here are some fearless and bold predictions...

We will start with the National league and how they will finish:

NL Central
Chicago Cubs
Milwaukee Brewers
Cincinnati Reds
Houston Astros
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals

NL East
New York Mets
Atlanta Braves (Wild Card)
Philadelphia Phillies
Florida Marlins
Washington Nationals

NL West
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants

Moving on to the over-priced half of the MLB, the American league:

AL Central
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Chicago White Sox
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins

AL East
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
Toronto Blue Jays
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Baltimore Orioles

AL West
Los Angeles of Whatever Angels
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers
Oakland A's

World Series
New York Yankees over Chicago Cubs

NL MVP
David Wright

AL MVP
Alex Rodriguez

NL Cy Young
Johan Santana

AL Cy Young
Erik Bedard

So let us hear from you. Agree, disagree or don't care - we would love to hear from you guys.

Quick thoughts on Bobby Knight and Bill Parcells

So I am watching SportsCenter this morning when they roll out an interview with Bobby Knight and Bill Parcells. Please know that I have grown to greatly dislike both of these men and you read the biased in this post.

Anyway, Parcells says...when asked if players today are different, he responds "It's not the player so much that is different, but the peripheral people around him that are." Of course, Bobby agreed.

That's interesting, but not surprising. Since the players haven't changed, I guess that is why Billy and Bobby have managed to win many more championships over the years. Oh wait..they haven't. Bobby hasn't won a national championship since 1987. He also hasn't been able to reach the elite eight or win a conference championship since 1993. Billy hasn't managed to win the Super Bowl since 1990 and is an overall 95-81 in the regular season and 3-5 in the playoffs.

Will someone please tell me what is so special about records that would get just about anyone else fired over the same periods of time? We can only hope they both become insignificant as soon as possible because I don't know if there can be two more sorry people in the business today.

Some Thoughts on the NCAA Tourney and what are the Cowboys thinking? Plus a sweet video

Every year there is some Cinderella team, this year is no different with the Wildcats of Davidson. Last night they beat a very good Wisconsin team, however the glass slipper must come off at some point. Kansas will win and Davidson can go back to being irrelevant. The MVP of tournament so far, and it kills to me to admit this, is Kevin Love. This dude is averaging a double double in the first three games, and he is a true freshman. My personal belief is that Love is a long lost Back Street Boy that refers to himself in the third person during interviews. I can hear it now...."Yeah Kevin Love is having a fantastic tournament I mean Kevin Love just takes it one game at a time and gives all Kevin Love can give....". Hey Kevin you are Greg Ostertag on your best day buddy, live it up now because the future ain't so bright brotha.


What in the world are the Dallas Cowboys doing? Adam "Pacman" Jones really? I put the over/under on this guy having his first incident at 36 days. I can imagine what the headline will be....Cowboys' Pacman Makes it Rain Again. Jerry Jones can't help himself sometimes, this guy is not worth the trouble no matter how talented he is. The reality is though that someone will pay this guy a lot of money to play football, and until the owners of professional teams get tired of having to deal with the thugs it will continue.



Kevin Love's greatest moment...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZpljX-jnFk


And as promised a sweet video...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKO6G0pC0AM

Wait Until Next Year.....

The Texas A&M Aggies battle cry year after year. Because of the recent Boston Red Sox success, Aggie fans have now become the leaders when it comes to high hopes, stunning disappointments, and the undying belief in this thing called next season. (Apologies to Chicago Cubs fans)

The latest in a long string of heartaches, the ninth seed Aggies 49 and one seed UCLA 51.

I honestly didn’t think that this would be much of a game. I thought the inconsistency the Aggies had faced all year would come to the forefront early on in the game and UCLA would just be too much for this team. I was wrong and right. As my Aggies built a 10 point lead midway through the second half, I began to make hotel reservations in San Antonio for the Final Four. Little did I know that 30 very short real minutes later I would be pitching a temper tantrum like a four year old girl. ALMOST 10 MINUTES WITHOUT A BASKET, 10 MINUTES. HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU DO THAT? My sick suspicion before the game came to be a real fact in the end.

Most would hope that I would say that had Donald Sloan should have been at the line with a chance to tie. We were robbed, we were robbed. Well, we were!!! On that call… But as a former high caliber high school athlete playing this particular sport, I think that you never blame one call for the loss of a game.

Donald Sloan had a chance to let the play develop and get it to who it was meant for in the first place, Dominique Kirk flashing open for a three to win the game. Watch the replay, Kirk’s man gets lost in the shuffle. Had Sloan waited a half-second longer to commit on his drive, Kirk gets open with a great look to win the game.

The real thing to blame is the inconsistency of not having a go to guy on offense to help you down the stretch. It is hard to replace an All-American point guard like Acie Law. It may have been too much to ask this team to duplicate the success is the 06-07 season. All and all I think the year was successful. The program moved forward.

But next year, good ‘ol next year. Next year we will be really good. Or will we? Between now and next October, Mark Turegon must find his leader and go to guy when it all matters the most. The leader in the clubhouse? Donald Sloan. He is at times clunky, out of control, and on the brink of being another special player to vault the Aggies to the next level. Why Sloan? For all of his flaws, he is not afraid. He has the look in his eye that many great closer have. You know, that intense stare that boarder lines on psychotic killer. Every great player has it. I see it in Sloan. He made a bad decision (not as bad as Deandre Jordan did, but that is a completely different and lengthy post) but from this bad decision he will learn. Who knows, the next big crunch time decision may be the decision that takes the Aggies all the way to the Final Four.

But then again, I am thinking about next year. Everyone knows how much we Aggies love looking forward to next year……

Welcome

Welcome to Single Malt Sports!!! Those that are reading this right now are more than likely close friends that feel really bad for us and came here because we begged you to check out our blog. Most likely you are thinking "They're pathetic, I am going to youtube to watch Chocolate Rain again." Just wait, give my masterful writing a few more moments before you decide to delete this from your memory forever. Here is the why's and what for's about this little legend in the making.

Why are we wasting our time? Why not? Everyone seems to be spewing their opinion across the internet. So we might as well get a piece of the action while domain names are cheap.

What is the point? The point is for some average (and maybe not average if we play our cards right) guys to share their opinions on sports and the rare not so sportsy topics as much as possible.

How often should I check in to see your "big time sports writing"? Every week, of course we reserve the right to be more or less frequent depending on mood, schedule, or out and out laziness.

The bottom line is that we are just a few average guys wanting to have fun sharing their opinions about sports. It is the same thing that we do every time we have a conversation. Our opinions will be right, they will be wrong, they won't make sense or a times be grammatically correct. But the best thing about it all, is that the opinions will be ours. This will not be an Aggie only blog (though a lot of our sports world will revolve around these topics) it will be a sports blog. Mainly covering Houston and Dallas; and maybe Portland (still not sure on that one yet).

So get ready America!!! Single Malt Sports has taken over the internet. Get ready to laugh, get ready to cry, get ready to vomit as your favorite thirty something average guys share their warped view on all that matters to them. Tell your friends and comment often!!

Single Malt Sports..Log on and grab a glass!!!



P.S. Here is the link to Chocolate Rain if you are still out on all this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwTZ2xpQwpA