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Josh Howard Returns to “Old Self”?

If you can have a “big day” NBA training camp, Wednesday was one for the Mavericks: forward-turned-two-guard Josh Howard practiced. It was the first time he did any real contact stuff since having off-season ankle surgery. There’s no timetable set for his return.

“I’m just working myself into practice,” Howard said.

“He’s worked extremely hard,” head coach Rick Carlisle said.  “He had a serious procedure and this was a positive sign today but no means is he ready to jump into game.”

I mentioned in this space earlier that I thought Dirk Nowitzki had sort of returned; perhaps the popular phrase is “back to his old self.”  I think we can say the same for Howard.

Last season he was coming off that Youtube nightmare in which he was caught saying some things he really regretted saying.  The entire 2008-2009 season he wanted nothing to do with the media. Any conversation I had with him was forced. His answers were short, he wouldn’t make eye contact with me, and there wasn’t a smile or laugh to be found. He felt like we (the media) almost vilified him. He even told me he used it as motivation to be a better player.

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Tonight’s Stars Telecast NOT on Dish Network

Dish Network customers in Dallas and the surrounding area won’t receive the Stars-Nashville game being telecast by Fox Sports Southwest.

Fox SW increased this season’s schedule to 61 games and, according to the Stars, increased the charge paid by local cable and satellite systems. Dish was the only carrier that declined to pay the increase and is currently scheduled to miss out on 20 games, including tonight and Friday night’s home game against Boston.

Report: Rudy Jaramillo Will Not Return To Rangers

After fielding one of the worst offenses in the history of the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington era, Evan Grant is reporting that the Rangers will not retain the services of hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo. According to the report, the club extended a one year offer to Jaramillo, but he declined it and will explore other options via free agency.

Jaramillo has been the Rangers hitting instructor since the 1995 season, and from 1996 through 2004, the Rangers ranked in the top five in batting average, runs scored, slugging percentage, home runs, and hits. Texas is also only a year removed from leading the majors with 901 runs scored.

But 2009 was a different story, as the Rangers failed to crack 800 runs for the first time since ’95, Jaramillo’s first year on the job. Texas also led the A.L. in strikeouts (1253) and ranked 12th out of 14 teams in walks (472), seeing a 20.6% drop in free passes from last year. The Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros have already been listed as potential suitors for Jaramillo.

We Like The Football Musings

This morning, I wanted to show you a few numbers about this question about the 2-TE results. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the receiving portion of Martellus Bennett has been shockingly disappointing. You can ask a dozen people as to why, and you will get different responses about why Marty B has 4 catches in 5 weeks (not quite the 50 or so that I had thought possible!) for 40 yards. Surely, Tony Curtis could have done that.

But, does that mean the “12″ and the “22″ personnel packages are failing? Not even close.

Is the object of the game to get Martellus Bennett stats, or for this offense to prove it can be elite? Originally, I thought one would lead to another, but now we see something different so far.

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Bond of Brothers: Stars’ Jamie Benn Lives NHL Dream; Jordie Benn Now in Allen Seeking Same

Jamie Benn

By coincidence, the hockey playing Benn brothers from Victoria, B.C., both came into this season aiming to play for the Dallas Stars’ new American Hockey League affiliate down in Cedar Park near Austin. Jamie, a 20-year-old wing, instead earned a roster spot in Dallas, continuing his meteoric rise since being drafted in the fifth round only two years ago. Jordie, a 22-year-old defenseman, didn’t make the AHL Texas Stars’ roster and has been assigned to the new Central Hockey League club in Allen, the Americans.

Half a continent from home but about 15 minutes from each other, one Benn is living his NHL dream ahead of schedule while the other is seeking his own.

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Catching Cold: Taking A Look At The Ranger Catchers

A year from now, assuming the Minnesota Twins aren’t still battling for a World Series title, Joe Mauer will be sitting at home and pondering his future. Mauer’s contract expires after next season, and he’ll have his choice of where he wants to play baseball in 2011. If he leaves his native Minnesota for, say, New York or Boston or Los Angeles, he could very well sign one of the richest contracts in baseball history. If he stays with the Twins, he’ll probably have to settle for less… somewhere in the $15 million a year range. In other words, Joe’s no ordinary Joe.

The reason for all the hype around Mauer is quite simple: good catchers are hard to come by, and a truly great catcher, like Mauer, can be once in a generation. Which helps to explain why only one catcher in the last 32 years — the Rangers’ own Ivan Rodriguez in 1999 — has earned an MVP award in either league (though that could  change in a month if Mauer is named A.L. MVP, as expected). It’s also why rookie catcher Matt Wieters, who the normally conservative PECOTA system pegged for a .949 OPS this year, received a standing ovation as he approached the plate for his first major league at-bat back in May.

There just aren’t many guys that can withstand six month’s worth of beatings behind the plate and still crank out a hit or two per game. So when Texas traded Gerald Laird, a solid starting catcher with two controllable years left, because they seemingly had too much catching last December, quite a few teams looked on in envy. The parting was mutual: Laird wanted a chance to be “the man” behind the plate, and the Rangers were ready to show off a deep farm system that boasted prospects like Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden, and Max Ramirez, as well as Tomas Telis, Manny Pina, and Leonel De Los Santos at the lower levels of the minors. But less than a year later, things aren’t so rosy. After a season in which none of their young catchers established themselves at the big league level, the Rangers have been left to wonder if their future backstop is even on the current roster.

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