D

What made this interesting and what started me reading was the BASEBALL not football or basketball. So what are you doing for those of us who want BASEBALL?

Didn’t mean to come across rudely! Just curious…looking forward to the hockey coverage!

espndallas.com looks pretty good

Don’t sweat it, Ranger Fan. Didn’t take it as rude, just passionate, which we have come to expect here.

@Jack Daddy: What would you be interested in, in terms of football coverage — besides more baseball coverage?

Again, everyone, this is a transitional period, but one I think will make everyone happy when it’s all said and done. Evan is irreplaceable, but that doesn’t mean we’re giving up on baseball. Not at all.

I see we have our first Donnybrook.

I apologize, Tom. We are generally a classy sort (besides me). I would prefer Jack judge my football analysis on its merits rather than my 40 time. 5.99, by the way.

I like all four major sports, but the reason I started reading this blog is because Evan is THE BEST baseball beat writer around. You can tell he genuinely appreciates baseball and the Rangers. It was awesome logging in 3-4 hrs before gametime and seeing the lineup posted. I will give your other coverage glances to be sure, but I hope you realize the big crowd here was baseball centric guys.

@Joel: Of course we realize that, sir. All too well. We’ll try to get you fixed up before baseball season rolls back around.

@ jack daddy:

apparently you are completely unfamiliar with the athletic prowess of one Robert Sturm:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C59kJoq43mY

@evan that’s you man…….

@bob -it means an author that can’t spell (i think the biggest detriment to our collective intelligence is spell check. I can’t spell a lick anymore!).

I’m busting your chops. You are awesome here and on radio. I just don’t like reading the technical merits about football. I think I’m still pouting about the Rangers, but for some reason I can’t get excited about football yet. I am real angry at the Cowboys and I can’t figure out why.

I don’t know the best format to cover football. I think you guys should just keep throwing stuff up there until something sticks.

Wasn’t trying to be mean-spirited. Trust me, if “atheletic” prowess meant anything than Norm wouldn’t have a job and I wouldn’t have spent countless hours listening to what he has to say.

I stand by what I said though on hockey!

I do think you should incorporate a fantasy football and/or gambling feature. Just about everyone I know or talk to only watches the NFL anymore because of fantasy or gambling. The games just don’t hold much without that added factor. I know I wouldn’t watch watch it without fantasy and wouldn’t watch it period without the Red Zone Channel.

Look at one of the most-read football columns out there – The Sports Guy’s Friday picks. It incorporates humor and gambling. Peter King’s MMQB wouldn’t be readable without his inside scoops (and is still barely readable at that).

Again, as MR always says, baseball is a talking sport. It lends itself to this type of forum.

Now stop busting on a guy because he doesn’t proof what he writes on here (that’s all I do all day long for a living)!

i’d like to start the off-season discussions off by proposing that texas brings back vicente on a one year deal in the $6-$9 mil range……..then we build a cage in the locker room for him and give him a special key to get in only one way in and one way out……then we build a portable fence for around the dugout…..but a special fence that collects the beer bottles and also has a drainage system built in so the beer flows off and collects to be resold in a special section…….then promote vicente plunker night and sell beer at a steep discount as long as vicente has not hit anyone……as soon as he hits someone the price of beer doubles………maybe on second thought i would also build a cage that would be on the field maybe between the dugout and the on deck circle and between innings vicente would have to go in there and maybe give him an iphone between innings……might need some new drainage for the beer thrown but the crowd would probably get into it and it’s just fire up vicente even more…….i am psyched…..padilla plunker night………i can’t wait…….

@Just S. I can see you have put a ;pyt pf thought into this. Hey, about you move to LA and keep us abreast if not…well, you know

@ John n C, Dementia. I crossed that bridge at rush hour and did not jump in. I still chuckle at your one liners. No wait that was 8 liners I was chuckling at…Who are You?

@All the peeps: Trust these dudes. Zac and Eric are wittier than I’ll ever hope to be. I officially nominate Sturm as an official candidate for the Cowboys head coaching position when Wade inevitable is fired. And the great one, Jeff Miller, is so freaking thorough, it’s not even funny. The dude rocks. We’ll always have the Summer of 2009. Maybe even Bryan Adams will write a song about it. As of Monday, though, you can find me back at my old address, 508 Young Street, home of the Dallas Morning News.

I’m glad the Rangers have once again failed and the boooooring baseball talk is over. Time to talk about our more interesting and SUCCESSFUL teams like the Mavs and Stars.

You the man Grant!!!

Evan, thanks for the kind words. You will be missed, fella.

@becca: I’m the least intimidating person in the world, though I’m glad the beard has done its job. My crushes will reveal themselves over time.

@gunter: Thanks for the welcome.

I can post 25 comments here in the time it takes to get several rejected posts with that Captcha crap at DMN. Just put out a bunch of hyperlinks to Evan’s post over there on this site, and I’ll do all my commenting here…

Jack Daddy, I 100000% agree with you. I am literally stewing all week at work until the Sports Guy picks come out every Friday. Everybody is into Fantasy. I’m not sure how many diehard Cowboy fans are into gambling, but I have a few pick ‘em and point spread pools I’m in. I would definitely come here to read some sort of picks postings.

I came here because of Mike Hindman. What does the future hold for him?

I second the postings here vs. DMN. So easy to post on here or bloggingtheboys.com. I’m just shocked that when I grew up, DMN set the standard. But it seems to have deteriorated once they went online. Seems like they’ve never tried to fix it.

Jack Daddy, love your blog! I’m gonna check it more often.

It’s not Inside Corner, which was unique–The Summer of Love, Camelot, etc (sadly, not The Endless Summer), but I think a blog on DFW sports blogs scene would be interesting, at least for a while:
The rusted hulk of the once queen DMN trying to reboot after taking a shell at the water line; losing the good cop/bad cop duo that kept it afloat over the past year. Durrent with his daily questions and likability and MacMahon with his Cossell-like edge, breadth of football/basketball knowledge and instinct for stirring up hits. Archer, a good reporter and a good guy, without, I suspect, the instincts to draw hits has stepped into the Cowboys breech. How will Evan fare between now and spring training. Does he have the work ethic and knowledge/interest in sports not involving a little white ball with red seams to be a full time blogger? How will he coexist with the Star Telegram arrangement in the summer? How will he deal with the vermin who pollute their comments section and drive away serious fans. Can St. Evan change the culture?
ESPN the 800 lb. gorilla. How will they develop after the shakedown cruise? Will they get the bugs out? Will they draw a loyal following? How will the egos coexist? Will the former DMN guys styles change? How local will it be?
Inside Corner-Can it reinvent itself? Hint: Find someone who can cover the Rangers off season and their minor leagues well. There is only one Hindman, and I assume he’s gone, but the DMN effort, last summer, was pathetic with Parryman contributing little or nothing. There may be a gap between Jamey’s Scott Lucas and Hindman level coverage. Can the other sports carry it through the winter? How much of what Evan has built can be retained?
How does Cuban’s blog fit? Especially with ESPN on the scene?
I think LSB is what it is: great links, heavily cyber devoted and a spot for young pop culture Rangers fans with a fan’s knowledge of the game, but great passion for it.. They have a niche.
The other dozens of smaller DFW sports blogs and national blogs covering DFW. Any poised to break out or wither?
I’d find it interesting, at least for a while. Maybe I’m the only one.

@Bob – you need to correct Norm on something. I just listed to his pod cast explaining Hicks’ financial situation and the team’s debt load (In spite of my earlier remark, I really only catch him from time to time). He was MOST accurate, but he talks talking as if the Rangers are upside down. That may or may not be true.

The debt is on the Holding Company that owns both the Rangers and the Stars (and some Real Estate investments). So to say the Rangers are upside down because they owe $585MM $60 to MLB) and the team is only worth around $425MM is not true. Now he is correct in that this is very complicated to unwind the sale of one of the teams I.e., does the full amount go to pay down debt, leaving the remaining debt that is on Stars and RE very OVER secured (in which case, Hicks could then refinance it)? Or would they take a allocable pay down? Not simple stuff, but the important thing to remember is the $525MM (or whatever the Credit Facility is) is not borrowed solely by, nor secured soley by, the Rangers.

One of these days, the true story is going to be written and it will be a fascinating read. The problem now is all the half truths and reporting going on.

Stay hard.

@juboon – I just don’t really care whether they win or lose and in fact take a sinister glee in the misery that their losses cause in their fans. I think I’m annoyed that while the Rangers were in a Pennant Race, people were wasting time debating whether Mike Jenkins or Orlando Freaking Scandrick should start at CB. Just pisses me off. ‘

So if I’m going to be bummed about the Rangers, I hope the entire Metroplex is miserable about the Cowboys (and I have been the biggest Cowboys fan alive since I was 5 years old — that’s how much I’m disillusioned). I feel like a spouse that was cheated on, we have decided to “put it in the past” and “forgive” them. Only I really haven’t and take passive aggressive shots at them constantly. Maybe for the health of the kids, we should just get a divorce and I can focus on my one true love, the Rangers. Weird, stuff huh? I really am a normal human.

@ Jack: How weird is it, then, that I understand exactly what you mean? Maybe we are just normal baseball fans?