“I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.” -Mia Hamm
Mia Hamm helped UNC to four NCAA Championships. Well known for leading team USA to her last gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.
Rangers up 7-0 against the Tampa Bay Rays in the top of the third inning. Mike Napoli hit a 3-run homer with Endy Chavez following up with a solo homerun. Big bat night for Texas.
Is the 2011 MLB season another year of the pitcher succeeding 2010? One could argue yes and no, but for one player it is arguably the year of his pitching career and its only midseason. Oh yeah and its also his first season in the starting rotation. Alexi Ogando, once a relief pitcher in the 2010 season, was moved into the Texas Rangers starting rotation after an off season of chaotic unsuccessful courtings of Cliff Lee.
Ogando wasn't a sure fire thing, as he was supposed to be just a brief replacement for Tommy Hunter, who was placed on the DL due to a strained groin during spring training. But to mosts dismay, Ogando quickly became amongst the elite pitchers in, not only the AL, but, the whole MLB.
Boasting an ERA of 1.76, Alexi ranks second amongst all AL pitchers. He's 5-0 coming off his first career shut out game against the Chicago White Sox on Monday May 23. Ogando gave up just five hits, walked three and struck out six during his grand outing.
Sprouting into the Rangers organization off the rule 5 draft in 2005, Ogando was converted to pitching as an experiment. The Rangers saw something in Ogando, something in the way he could throw the ball away. It was a gamble with a very high risk/reward factor. As most can tell it has definitely paid off with Alexi posting 45 strikeouts thus far and a .85 walks plus hits per innings pitched (WHIP).
The biggest worry though, amongst his infamous blister condition, has been whether or not Alexi could throw more than just his fastball. Worries aside, its been nothing but a fresh breath of air when talking about his pitching. The most refreshing piece of his pitching repertoire is his changeup. His changeup instantly made his curveball and fastball a difficult target to hit in any batting lineup.
Could this truly be just a Cinderella story or is there more to this pitcher than meets the eye? The stats don't lie and neither does Ogando's performance so far. This could be the year of the pitcher again and could very well be the year for Ogando's breakout season as a genuine elite starter. If he continues this amazing pitching season Alexi Ogando's name very well could be and SHOULD be mentioned in the same sentence of AL Cy Young award nominees of 2011.
"The man who has no imagination has no wings." -Muhammad Ali
One of the greatest American Boxers of all time. Before matches Ali would often tell reporters he could "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" in the boxing ring.
In light of the gut wrenching performance displayed by the Ranger's bullpen last night, there is some good news. RHP Brandon Webb pitched 80 pitches in his pullpen session in Surprise, Arizona, which will push him into an extended rehab stint in Double-A Frisco on Monday. He isn't on a pitch count for Monday but is believed to throw four to five innings.
Webb hasn't throw in a minor or major league game since 2009. "It will be something really new for me," Webb said. "I haven't really been this close, for me, in 2 1/2 years and I'm excited." Webb was at Texas Rangers Ballpark on friday and threw a side session. Also note that Webb’s velocity is down four mph from his pre-surgery marks.
Ron Washington has this to say regarding Webb, "I saw a difference in his stroke," manager Ron Washington said. "He was more or less getting on top of the ball with more consistency and I can see some better sink. I see a better breaking ball."
Brandon Webb also hopes that the minor league environment will help the adrenaline flow and get his velocity crankin'.
“We accomplished what we needed to out there and got up to six innings and 80 pitches roughly and came out of it pretty good,” said Webb about his series of starts at Extended Spring Training in Surprise, Arizona. “The next step was to get into some better competition and scheduled to throw on Monday in Frisco which will be something really new for me. I haven’t been anywhere close to this far in two and half years. I’m excited to get out there and pitch.”
It's no secret that Texas and their fans desperately want to see better pitching and the former Cy Young award winner take control of this pitching team. The timeline, however, does not show any indications of an imminent return. One can only pray to the baseball gods, and maybe Nolan Ryan, that this kids "stuff" becomes dominant again with an immediate debut to the Rangers starting rotation. Until then, here’s to being lucky and hoping the Ranger's luck doesn't fall short of the 2011 MLB season.
The sweet tooth has been tasted by not completely filled. The Dallas Mavericks are on their way to their second NBA Finals appearance ever. The Mavs defeated the young Thunder in a thrilling 100-96 victory just two days after an exhilarating fourth quarter come back win.
Top scorers for Dallas were Dirk Nowitzki with 26 points and Shawn Marion with 26 points and 3 blocks. Marion's thunder pounding dunk late in the fourth made it a two-possession game and just about sealed the deal. Nowitzki scored 7 of his 26 in crunch time, including his game leading 3 pointer with under 4 minutes left.
Despite closing the series with a one way ticket to the Finals, the Mavs suffered a horrendous shooting effort from the floor. They shot 41% with 5 of 20 from the 3 point range. They also shot 31 of 36 free throws. Dallas had 8 steals including one in the final minutes.
With at least five days off this should be plenty of rest and practice for the aging Mavs to figure out their new game plan. Is it going to be the Miami Heat or the Chicago Bulls? Most fans would agree that the Heat would be the icing on the cake, but what ever the outcome, there is still more to prepare for in order to win the cake. Don't worry though, the hunger is out there and Dallas is on the hunt. It's not over till the fat lady sings, or in this case Mark Cuban.
Dirk Nowitzki lit up the Dallas courts with a NBA playoff record breaking performance. Dirk scored 48 points total and made 24-24 free throws. Not even Durantula's 40 points on 10-for-18 shooting was enough to overcome the 121-112 victory showdown laid out by the Mavs.
Six Thunder players tried and failed at guarding the seven foot Dirk. But it wasn't just the Dirk show. Tonight was a team effort. They passed the ball efficiently, opening up shots, drawing fouls and getting to the foul line. The Mavs bench combined for a total 53 points. Terry the Jet had 24 points with J.J. Barea following in Jet's footsteps with 21 points. Once again the opposing team could not stop J.J.'s quick pick and roll. Barea cut through the Thunder's defense for a straight 12 point run at one point.
Game 1 was a convincing win that ensured the Dallas Mavs to be a NBA Finals finalist. Oh, and here's an interesting fun fact... teams that win the opener have won 79.6% of the series in NBA history.
The shoes are shined, the jerseys washed, the floors been waxed, and the beers are cold. It's time Dallas, Texas, to get your royal blue and wave it proudly. For the first time in five years, the Dallas Mavericks are back to the Western Conference Finals, with vengeance in their hearts and pride on their brows. Every one remembers that dreadful 06' season-ending finals heartbreak, but its almost in the rear view mirror now as the Mavs seek an NBA championship for the first time in franchise history.
The Mavs have had plenty of time to rest (nine days to be exact) for the chance to take back what is rightfully theirs. Tip off begins at 8pm against the OKC Thunder, with the Durantula (Kevin Durant) and Westbrook wielding the helm of their net thrashing offense. Whether you are a MFFL or just a pretty face takin' up space, you can't argue with the fact of a potential series threat against the Thunder. Their bench may not be as deep as the Mavs, but its certainly one that will challenge and test the durability and teamwork we have seen all season long. Here are a few potential match ups argued amongst sports analysts:
Jason Kidd vs. Russell Westbrook Westbrook: 14.9 points on 32 percent shooting, 9.1 assists, 4.0 rebounds
Analysis: This one will probably surprise people who didn’t watch the Mavs-Thunder games or have a foggy recollection of them. Westbrook’s quickness is a major weapon, but he still wasn’t effective against a man 16 years older than him. The Mavs’ big men deserve a large share of the credit for containing the All-Star. The majority of Westbrook’s shots against Kidd came in the paint, but he was only 10-of-26 on those attempts, including 8-of-18 at the rim. DeShawn Stevenson vs. Thabo Sefolosha
Sefolosha: 5.1 points on 60 percent shooting (3-5 in 56 minutes), 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists
Analysis: Neither of these defensive-minded role players are expected to put up big numbers, but Stevenson ranked among the NBA’s best 3-point shooters early in the season. He knocked down 6-of-10 3s when on the floor against Sefolosha. It’s a big bonus for the Mavs if Stevenson can shoot anywhere near that well in the West finals.
Shawn Marion vs. Kevin Durant
Marion (+3.6): 23.2 points on 65 percent shooting, 7.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists.
Analysis: The Mavs’ biggest mismatch problem in this series was surprisingly even. However, a lot of Marion’s minutes came at power forward, especially in the win when Dirk Nowitzki sprained his knee during the first half. The Mavs will need to make Durant work on defense, which means they’ll need to get Marion involved as a cutter and slasher in their halfcourt sets.
Ibaka: 22.9 points on 67 percent shooting, 9.8 rebounds, no assists.
Analysis: The 21-year-old Ibaka is one of the NBA’s best shot blockers, but the crafty Nowitzki uses that against him with an assortment of pump fakes Ibaka has to respect due to Dirk’s shooting ability. Nowitzki averaged 16.4 free throw attempts per 36 minutes against Ibaka, who will probably spend a lot of the series in foul trouble.
Analysis: Collison, a savvy veteran, played most of Game 7 against the Grizzlies and did a solid job defending Zach Randolph. Based on these numbers, however, Collision doesn’t appear to be the answer defending Dirk.
Perkins: 11.6 points on 80 percent shooting, 14.1 rebounds, no assists.
Analysis: These stats are from Perkins’ days with the Celtics. Neither big man should be judged solely on individual numbers. They have similar mindsets, but Perkins is much bulkier and Chandler much more athletic. Perkins has problems catching and finishing and isn’t a shooting threat, so Chandler won’t hesitate to help off him on defense.
Analysis: The battle of the sixth men shooting guards is a tough matchup for Terry. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Harden is a versatile player who will have a huge size advantage. Of course, if Terry hasn’t cooled off during the long layoff since his record-setting Game 4 shooting exhibition, size won’t matter.
Analysis: There aren’t many backup point guards who I’d take over Barea, but Maynor is one of them. He’s a mid-first round pick who fell in the Thunder’s laps because the Jazz wanted to avoid the luxury tax. Maynor is a pure point guard, while Barea is an explosive scorer who embarrassed the Lakers with his penetration off of pick-and-rolls.
Brendan Haywood vs. Nazr Mohammed
Haywood (+36.0): 9.0 points on 50 percent shooting, 15.0 rebounds, no assists
Mohammed: 12.0 points on 50 percent shooting, no rebounds, 3.0 assists
Analysis: These numbers are from a sample of only 12 minutes, but the Mavs should have a significant edge when the backup big men are on the floor. Mohammed has a championship ring from his time in San Antonio, but he’s no longer a starting-quality center. Haywood is, as he’s proven during the playoffs.
If the Dallas Mavericks can stop Durant and contain Westbrook, then the chances to advance are certainly improved. There is simply too much experience on the Mavs for the Thunder to cover and with Dirk, Kidd, Terry, Peja, Stevenson, and sometimes Barea all knockin' down threes, OKC might just find themselves running for the border like the defending champs did. It wont be an easy series, but it will further improve and unitize the Mavs as a franchise and most importantly as a team.
“The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure. These qualities are so much more important than the events that occur.” –Vince Lombardi
It was a beautiful day for baseball in Arlington, Texas. The sun was out, the breeze was blowing, and Derek Holland had himself a solid pitching effort. If only this could be said about Holland's run support. The Texas Rangers fall to the Angels 3-2 and so they're chances to jump Anaheim for the AL West lead fell short too.
Holland, the Dutch Oven, threw 105 pitches over six innings and allowed only two runs over six hits. Holland also had four strikeouts and walked three. Holland previously had been struggling on the mound with his command and mechanics and watched as his shiny ERA jumped from 2.25 to 5.18 over just five starts. But it seemed that anything that had gone wrong Holland ironed out this afternoon.
As for the at bats, it was a slow day for the Rangers lineup. What seemed to have been a working fix for the order, only a few hours/days earlier, stopped short of what most call production. The game went back and fourth and both teams had to rally in order to break the ties. The Angels prevailed when they broke the 2-2 tie in the ninth. Bobby Abreu was walked by Darren Oliver to bring up Izturis, who came through to give the Angels the final lead of the day.
White fluffy clouds, cool breezes and ice cold brews wasn't enough to put a "W" in the books on this sunny May afternoon. There is still one more game though, which means the series is still up for grabs. Lets hope that a strong start by Wilson provides enough boost and power to ignite this lineup for a rock'em, sock'em mid-Sunday afternoon kind of game. Until then, enjoy the leftover peanuts.
Well well well. It would seem that the Memphis Grizzlies don't want to give up as easily as some would have thought. They tied the series with a 95-83 win over the Thunder to 3-3 and will head into game seven sunday night. So Mavs fans this means we wont see a Western Conference Finals game till at least Tuesday night. Hopefully this rest will reenergize old man Kidd. It'd be nice to see his three pointer along side Terry's dominate Lakers fourth game attitude on game one. Just some food for thought.
Its been three weeks since the Texas Rangers faced Angels ace Jered Weaver. Weaver pitched a complete game and made the mighty Texas bats seem weak and subpar. Tonight, however, was a different story. This time Weaver graced the Texas bats with four runs in six innings, including Elvis Andrus second homerun of the season in the first.
Alexi Ogando struck out two in the first inning and worked his fastball to 95 mph. He lasted 6 1/3 innings allowing one run over five hits. Ogando struggled in the fifth and sixth innings when he faced runners in scoring position, but settled down to work through the batters and get his outs. It was a strong start for Ogando, even though he would eventually come out due to his everlasting blister troubles. Cody Eppley would relieve Ogando who got out of the inning with a ground out to second and a pop out to second. Oliver relieved the eighth with a one, two, three inning which brought on Feliz to end the ninth and get the save.
Yes the pitching was solid, but its been the hitting thats sparked this offense the past few games. Michael Young has now hit safely in 27 of his last 31 games, with a single and a double in tonights game. It doesn't matter where you put this guy in the lineup or what you throw at him apparently. Adrian Beltre hit a solo HR in the sixth inning to make the score 4-1.
Over all it was a solid outing at the ballpark. Maybe this is the momentum the Rangers have been looking for. Four hits off of Jered Weaver isn't bad and I will gladly take the 4-1 win over the leading AL west Angels. Now on to tomorrow for game two of the series. Play ball!
“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.” -Babe Ruth
"The Cowboys' draft class ranks securely in the top 10 of the NFL. Tyron Smith was a huge addition to an aging and underachieving offensive line. Bruce Carter appears to be a far more than adequate replacement for Keith Brooking. DeMarco Murray adds depth, youth and speed to the offensive side of the football, which I am never opposed to. But in ignoring the holes in the back end of the defense, Jones and his constituents have left a great deal riding on the 'Boys ability to sign a free-agent defensive back. One such player stands out: Michael Huff.
The seventh player chosen in the 2006 NFL Draft, Huff is a native of Irving, Texas, and an alumnus of the University of Texas. The former Thorpe Award winner calls Dallas home, and has been extremely forthcoming regarding his interest in playing for the Cowboys. Dallas passed on Bob Sanders and OJ Atogwe, who were free agents before the collective bargaining agreement expired. They then passed on the safety spot all together in the draft—selecting only cornerback, Joshua Thomas.
Rob Ryan was the defensive coordinator in Oakland when the Raiders drafted Huff. And, like seemingly everyone else in Dallas, sounded mostly disinterested with last weekend's proceedings. Perhaps Ryan is supremely overconfident in his abilities; so much so that he'd just as soon move forward with McCray and Barry Church. But, signs appear to be squarely positioned towards the All-Pro, Michael Huff. The problem is, with the free-agent signing period and the ability to move players on hold, teams like the Cardinals and Cowboys are essentially "all in."
By Kolby Paxton"
With the NFL draft looming into its 62nd day, the rumor mills continue to feed the ears of Cowboy fans on how they will address their secondary issues. It's no secret that the Dallas Cowboys have major issues in their backfield. So as this lockout continues all fans can do is speculate, hope and pray for someone like Huff to put on that Dallas jersey when this is over; now its up to Jerry to answer all those prayers.
Just as it seemed that those dark gloomy days were a thing of the past for the Texas Rangers, dark storm clouds swooped in and stole the win away that could have been the jump start this team needed. It was the start to the fourth inning and already the Rangers were up 7-0. Gio Gonzalez allowed seven runs in just one inning. As Gio seemed to be on a downward spiral loss, Matt Harrison on the other hand look to be gaining that much needed swagger from the beginning of the season we so dearly missed. Harrison started off walking two of the first three batters in the first inning but settled down to get through three more innings, allowing only one hit.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the Rangers had scored a total of 14 runs in two games, even though seven of those runs don't count due to the game being post poned. The little spurt of big bats and deep counts came from a change of batting order thats been a long time coming. The revamped lineup came with moving Julio Borbon into the lead off spot, Ian Kinsler to the three hole, putting Michael Young in the clean up spot, dropping Adrian Beltre to sixth, and moving Mitch Moreland up to fifth (which in my opinion is the best lineup change thats been made all year, just ask Gio about that "should have counted" grand slam blast).
With a few minor tweaks and changes maybe this is the confident boost the Rangers need in order for the AL champs to get back on track for another pennet. It would certainly help. Just remember, its not time to panic YET. There is still more than half the season left, not to mention Texas is missing their top batting kahunas. So is all of the just blind luck or are these the Rangers the Dallas area has grown to know and love poking through? Well the Rangers do have talent and to say that this profound new spark of life is simply pure, dumb, or blind luck would just be plain ignoramoose.
On a brighter sign to things baseball bound and more, Josh Hamilton is scheduled for batting practice friday and could see the field sooner than expected. That should be an earful of happy juice galore.
Things are finally looking up for the Dallas Mavericks. The monkey is finally off the back and they can finally move forward as a franchise past the first round of the playoffs and in search for the ultimate conquest, a championship ring. First, the Mavs would need to confront the Lakeshow for a best of seven series, which they made look easy by defeating the Lakers with a phenomenal 4-0 series sweep. Now the Mavs wait for their next villainous foe as they watch the Grizz and Thunder duke it out head-to-head. But as fans look towards the future, we can't help but wonder... is this the year of redemption? Five years later the Dallas Mavericks look to wreck and dismantle their opponent in the western conference finals. But as Dallas seeks a future with the most coveted and prestigious NBA honor, so does that team the ended the hopes and dreams of the 06' Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals. The Miami Heat have closed out the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals with a 97-87, 4-1 series win over the reigning Eastern champs, the Boston Celtics. Five years later the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat look to meet in the NBA finals, granted each team makes it past their conference's finals. So the ideas start to flow and the fans, as well as the NBA nation and maybe even the world, begin to ask the questions. Is this the year for redemption? Is this the year Dallas fans make their peace of mind and Dirk finally gets the ring he deserves? It certainly is a riveting thought. Time will only tell if this fairy-tale becomes a reality. If you are a Mavs fan, one can only hope the road to redemption is a short and sweet one that ends with confetti falling and old men crying.
