Tom Hicks' Legacy in Texas

On Saturday night, the news broke that Tom Hicks and the investment group led by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan had finally struck a deal to purchase the bulk of Hicks' remaining stake in the Rangers.

You needn't have looked any further than this thread over at Lone Star Ball to see just how badly Ranger fans were looking forward to this day. Myself, included, as I opined that one team was down, but there were two more to go.

Obviously, I realize Hicks is going to hold onto Liverpool FC until he can get a new stadium built for England's most storied football club of all time (sorry, Mancs). And the last time Hicks put the Stars up for sale, all he could fetch was a couple of chirps from his neighborhood crickets. So let's throw that pipe dream out the window.

As the days have passed, however, I am forced to admit to a certain degree that Hicks wasn't as bad an owner as some are making him out to be. Part of this partial turnabout is due to Jamey Newberg's latest article, where he points out...

Hicks gets far too much criticism from the mainstream media, who choose not to recognize the guts and foresight it took to make Jon Daniels, who at the time had less than five years in baseball, his general manager, and the patience and lack of ego it took to authorize the plan that Daniels presented to him in May 2007 to trade Mark Teixeira and shift focus and resources to scouting and player development and a wholesale effort to load up on young talent through the draft and international market and trades, a philosophy that’s a lot less flashy and far more gradual than many owners would have signed off on. 

[...]

The Herschel Walker trade wasn’t the Herschel Walker Trade until the Cowboys turned the Minnesota draft picks into Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson and Russell Maryland and Kevin Smith and three Lombardi Trophies. The Teixeira trade is no Herschel Walker Trade – yet. But there’s no question that without it, this franchise wouldn’t be in nearly as good a position as everyone agrees that it is. Hicks should get some credit for believing in, and consenting to, the plan that Jon Daniels and his crew proposed and have now been executing for two very good years.

Don’t count on the general columnists recognizing Hicks’s role in that, however.

Or acknowledging in print the millions of Hicks dollars that may not have gone to player payroll (a favorite topic of the media, rarely mentioning Ben Sheets or Torii Hunter or Daisuke Matsuzaka or Barry Zito or Carlos Delgado as free agent acquisitions he has consistently greenlighted even though they’d have busted the budget) but did go to annual decisions to pay out of slot to pave the way for the drafting and signing of the right high school and college players (Teixeira, Derek Holland, Justin Smoak, Taylor Teagarden, Julio Borbon, Jake Brigham, Neil Ramirez, Marcus Lemon, Robbie Ross, Clark Murphy, Johnny Whittleman, Kyle Ocampo, Matt Thompson, and others), to outspend the competition in Latin America (examples: Martin Perez, Fabio Castillo, Cristian Santana, and Richard Alvarez, plus the aggregate of a Preller/Welke/Batista class like 2006’s Wilmer Font/Wilfredo Boscan/Kennil Gomez/Carlos Pimentel/Geuris Grullon/Macumba haul), to pay top dollar to make sure we had the hitting coach and pitching coach we’d zeroed in on, and to hire Nolan Ryan.

Hicks also authorized Jon Daniels, on many an occasion, to go above slot when it came to signing draft picks to help stock what Baseball America termed last year, the top farm system in the Majors. Not to mention, he actually stuck with a Daniels-approved plan instead of trying to emulate the flavor of the month, be it Florida, Tampa Bay, or the White Sox.

That all having been said, the club was about to hit a glass ceiling that I'm not sure they would have been able to break. And that's all due to Hicks' financial struggles.

That's not to say that Greenburg and Ryan should start trying to compete with the Yankees, Red Sox, or even the Anaheim Angels in terms of free agent spending. Afterall, I still hold true to the belief that the best way to build a winner is to fill holes first by looking from within your own farm system. Any holes that need to be filled after that, you fill through free agency.

And as Hicks found out in the 90's and early 00's, it's extremely difficult to financially compete with the Yankees. My other favorite team, the Red Sox, has a hard enough time, themselves, keeping up. And they've got a payroll approaching the $130 million.

Fortunately, the bar for Greenburg and Ryan won't be nearly that high. I'd settle for a payroll in the $80 million to $90 million range. And a commitment to a consistent approach.

Fortunately for Ranger fans, Hicks had the decency to at least hold up that end of the bargain. And the Rangers will be all the better for it in the long haul.

Vikings 34 - Cowboys 3

Troy Aikman said he thought the team that could best protect it's quarterback would be the team that would win the game. And after each team's first series, both defensive lines had an impact on 3rd down when Ray Edwards stripped Tony Romo and the Kevin Williams recovered the ball on their own 35 yard line.

Minnesota's offense took over and went three and out after Demarcus Ware sacked Brett Favre on third down. The next time the Dallas defense sacked Favre, it was already 17-3 and the Vikings defense had asserted their will on the Cowboys' offensive line.

Dallas' best chance to win this game was gone after the first three drives produced a grand total of three points. I don't think the Romo fumble on the first drive hurt because Dallas' defense was able to get the Vikes to go three and out. But to not get anything out of the second drive (and not go for it on 4th down when the run game was gashing the Vikings' defense) and to not be able to punch the ball in on the third drive when they had to settle for their only points of the game?

That was a killer.

A month ago, Dallas took the crowd out of the game in New Orleans by scoring on their first two drives of the game. I think that allowed them to win that night.

Not being able to jump out to a quick start today killed any chance they had of winning the game.

Now I suppose you could look at the lopsided score and suggest this was as bad as the 44-6 debacle in Philly that ended the year for the Cowboys last year.

In some ways it was. I'm still dumbfounded at how bad the offensive line played and how Gerald Sensabaugh probably still doesn't know Sidney Rice caught that TD pass in the first period. He gets his head around, and he might even have a chance to intercept it.

But unlike against Philly, I still think Dallas had a fighter's chance to get back in this game. Aside from the Favre to Rice TD, the defense played rather well. through three quarters and finally gave in in the fourth. Against Philly, they were out of it almost from the word go, and then it snowballed downhill from there.

Now Jason Garrett is going to get some blame. And he probably deserves some, like on the pitch out to Marion Barber. What that play was supposed to accomplish, I'm not entirely sure.

But when your offensive line is getting used and abused by what's probably the best defensive line in football, there's not a lot you can do, playcalling wise, to counter that.

And as we look to the future, I'm not sure what the Cowboys will be able to do to upgrade their offensive line. Because they made the final 8, they're subject to the stupid free agent rule that prevents them from signing any free agents unless the lose one first. Thanks Roger. Ass.

And because some moron owner decided to trade away a third round, sixth round, and seventh round pick this season for a spare wide receiver, the Cowboys are a little limited in the draft in April.

So I'm just going to make the following prediction:

This team will miss the playoffs next season and Wade will get fired.

Cowboys-Vikings Preview

Mike Fisher notes that he successfully convinced a newspaper he worked with years ago (the Startlegrame, presumably?) to do away with the stupid matchup chart.

You know, which team had the edge at the QB, RB, WR, etc. positions?

His reasoning was simple. Tony Romo isn't going up against Brett Favre, head to head. He's going up against the Vikings pass defense just as Favre is going head to head against the Cowboys defense.

Now, if you want to make a position by position comparison and used it to determine which team has the more prolific weapons at their disposable, I suppose you could that.

To me, though, this game may come down to which team can protect it's QB better. I say that because I think Dallas could do a slightly worse job protecting Romo, but still come away with the win, if only because Minnesota's pass defense was shredded in December by the likes of Kurt Warner, Matt Moore, and Jay Cutler.

And no, I don't buy the 'they didn't have anything to play for' excuse, just as I wasn't buying it from the Cowboys two years ago after the Giants dispatched the Cowboys at Texas Stadium in this same playoff round.

Against Favre, I'd still give the Cowboys improving secondary a chance against Percy Harvin, Sidney Rice, and Bernard Berrian. Though that glaring mismatch between Visanthe Shiancoe and the Cowboys' linebackers could prove to be problematic as the game wears on tomorrow.

The only reason I'd give the Vikes a chance in this one is simply because they're playing at home where they're 8-0. Albeit, partially because of a perfect mark saving catch by Greg Lewis in the back of the end zone against San Francisco.

But it's clear that Minnesota is much different team at home than they've been on the road, where they lost their last three road games and finished with a 4-4 mark. It's also clear that the noise the Cowboys will face tomorrow will probably be the most deafening crowd noise they've faced all year.

Will you be able to handle it, Flozell and Jason? Because this game may come down to their ability to handle the crowd noise and, specifically, for Flozell to be able to contain Jared Allen. If he can't, both Allen and Kevin Williams may have a field day in harrassing Romo.

And the Cowboys will be going home.

I try not to blog too much on politics on a sports blog

For one, politics are extremely divisive these days.

That said, I think we can all agree that the following pols/political commentators said some really stupid things this week:

Pat Robertson, Rush Limbaugh, and Danny Glover.

But the dumbest comment of the weak? That belongs to Martha Coakley, a Democrat who is running in the special senatorial election in Masschusetts against Republican Scott Brown. The winner will finish out the term of the late Ted Kennedy.



That's right, she accused Curt Schilling, noted Red Sock great but also political fly in the ointment conservative (especially since he lives in the uber-liberal land known as Boston), a Yankees fan.

That's not her most egregious error, however.

Boston, MA - Thomas "Hockey Dad" Junta was sentenced today to 6 to 10 years in prison for killing Michael Costin during the course of a fight at a hockey rink. Another senseless death may have resulted from the manslaughter case, say some doctors, because the district attorney overruled a request from Costin's family to donate his heart in a transplant to save another person's life, according to an article in the January 25, 2002 issue of the Boston Globe.

"Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley blocked the donation of Costin's heart after he was diagnosed clinically brain-dead," writes Sean P Murphy of the Globe, "to preclude any possibility that his assailant's lawyer might contend at the trial that Costin died of a pre-existing heart condition rather than the beating."

Although the move may have made sense as a matter of legal strategy, Murphy notes, some doctors say that a patient was probably denied a heart transplant because of it, and that preserving the heart would not have strengthened the prosecution's case any further "because it was demonstrably healthy, and transplant surgeons would have rejected it if any defects were discovered." The medical evidence, they argue, showed overwhelmingly that Costin died from head trauma and that his heart was fine, and that would have been enough to counter any doubts raised by the defense by questioning the cause of death.

If this woman somehow wins this election, it'll be due to the fact Massachusetts is one of the bluest states in the land. Because, honestly, this is one of the worst political campaigns I think I've ever seen.

Congratulations to Dirk Nowitzki

Member of the NBA's 20,000 point club as of about 45 minutes ago. He was the 19th quickest in NBA history to reach that sacred plateau.

But I'm sure he'd probably give back those points if it meant a win tonight. Instead, the Mavs fell 100-95 to the Lake Show in front of a packed house at the AAC. Most of whom rooted for the Mavs, a few of whom were honest to goodness lifetime Laker fans...and then have asshats like this guy.

Hat tip to Bob Sturm for the upload. In case you can't tell, this jackass is wearing a Bulls hat backwards and a Lakers sweatshirt. Like Mike Fisher said, he probably had on a Patriots and Cowboys sock, Yankees wristband, and...OK, Mike, the Habs don't have that much of a bandwagon fanbase here in Dallas. Probably was wearing Red Wings panties.

Anyway, this may or may not have been his method of transportation to tonight's game.

It reminds me of somebody I used to know who rooted for the Yankees, Red Wings, Lakers, and Packers.

Seriously.

And no, I don't consider myself a bandwagon fan. My fandom of the Red Sox goes back to 1986, bitches.

Back on track, I knew this game was lost when Erick Dampier found himself all alone under the bucket and couldn't convert on what should have been an 'and one' with about 21 seconds to go. Damp's a 58% free throw shooter. That fact alone boggles my mind.

Seriously, this is the NBA. How is it that you can only hit 58% of your free throws?

On this particular trip, Damp couldn't even hit one free throw and the Mavs still trailed by 2. Andrew Bynum left the door open by only hitting 1 of 2, but Josh Howard couldn't take advantage of some nice ball rotation that left him wide open for a potential game tying three. J-Ho clanked it off the front end of the rim, the Lakers rebounded, and Jordan Farmar salted the game away.

Don't look now, but the Mavs and Spurs are even in the loss column. San Antonio, as they are always wont to do, started slow but have slowly gathered some chemistry and steam. They don't show any signs of going away in the second half of the season.

And if the Mavs don't take care of business on Friday against the Thunder, they'll finish up this homestand with an ugly 0-3 mark.

[Update] And if they do lose on Friday to OKC, they'll be a very average 12-8 at home. Championship teams don't go 12-8 at home. They don't even go 12-7, either.

I didn't even realize the Mavs were so poor at home until Mike Fisher pointed it out over at DB.com.

Riding the Fence With the Mavs

As it stands here on January 12th (or the 13th, depending on when you read this post), your Dallas Mavericks stand as the 2nd seed in the West and division leaders in the Southwest with a 25-12 mark and just 3.5 games behind the defending NBA Champion, Los Angeles Lakers.

BTW, the Lake Show will be rolling into town tonight either with or without Kobe.

By all accounts, it's been a fairly successful campaign to this point. But I can't help but feel is also been a little unsatisfying at times.

Case in point, Dallas rallies from down 13 in the 3rd period Friday night to beat the Spurs down San Antonio way. They follow that effort up with a 111-93 loss to the Utah Jazz. And that's after the Lakers took them behind the ol' woodshed and kicked their asses to the tune of 131-96 back on January 3rd at the Staples Center.

Now granted, I'll gladly take this season over the start of last season where the Mavs stumbled out of the gate at 2-7, then recovered nicely to make the playoffs as the 6th seed, where they dispatched of the shorthanded Spurs in 5 games. And Dallas has gotten some surprise contributions from Drew Gooden and J.J. Barea this season. And they've beaten the Lakers and Spurs on the road this year

And, oh yeah, they have gotten something out of Shawn Marion that they haven't gotten...well...ever in the Mark Cuban ownership era.

An athletic big who can defend.

He can also score a little, though his PPG is down to around the 11 point mark.

Still, they've had some less than impressive close wins against some of the dregs of the NBA and had a season opening loss to Washington. Certainly enough to cast a shadow over the big wins against the Lakers and Spurs.

And there's still that whole thing in 2006 and 2007 that we never speak of around here.

And I think until the Mavericks can vanquish those ghosts much like the Cowboys vanquished the "Can't win in December and in the playoffs" ghost, that's just how it's going to be around here.

Daisuke's our Japanese Punching Bag

And for good reason, according to this Peter Abraham story in which Matsuzaka told a Japanese magazine, Friday, that he hurt his leg before the World Baseball Classic but hid the injury.

(h/t to Joy of Sox)

Some excerpts from the story, as translated by friend of the blog Daigo Fujiwara, a Globe staff graphic designer.

"Early on in January 2009, I hurt my right inner thigh. I consider movement around my hip joint a crucial part of my pitching motion. It happened during my exercise to strengthen my hip joint that I incorporated into training since 2008. I may have pushed myself just a little too hard. It wasn't the pain that killed me, but it was the regrets and guilt that filled my mind. It was the time to start building up for the season, but I hurt myself because of my own doing.

"I had to make a decision whether this injury was serious enough to withdraw from the World Baseball Classic. But my body was functioning well, and by taking anti-inflammatory medicine I can tolerate the pain. So I continued training, but actually it was even hard just to jog. .

Matsuzaka mentions later that Red Sox trainers didn't know he was injured because he has his own training regimen. The fallout from all this, as all Sox fans know, is he had a subpar season due to the adjustment in his mechanics. An adjustment that also led to his shoulder injury in May.

Well, that's just fan-fucking-tastic, Dice.

As redsock from Joy of Sox points out, Theo Epstein spoke with Tony Massorati

One of the things we actually tell our players in the minor leagues is you need to be more honest with us about when you're hurting ... With the way we built this team, I would rather have a right fielder who plays at a very high level who plays in 130 games rather than someone who plays hurt, plays at a lesser level, and ends up playing 155...Now I have respect for the guy who guts it out all the time, but sometimes they can cross the line and be fool-hardy.

Not hard to figure out whether Dice crossed the line or not.