The news on the Dallas sports scene is better than expected in some ways, and concerning in others. A quick rundown:
Mavs dominate
The little Mavericks got off to a dominating start against the Memphis Grizzlies (when was the last time anyone saw a grizzly bear in Memphis, or anywhere in Tennessee for that matter?) last night.
Erick Dampier showed what a difference he can make when he’s interested.
In reality, this was not the Mavericks’ best game, but they fought for it all the way through. To me, this is more encouraging than a standout Dirk or Stackhouse performance would have been.
It’s only Game 1 of the first round, and it’s only Memphis, but it was a great start.
Has any coach ever gotten more out of his team in his first full year than Avery Johnson?
Stars wet the bed
On the other side of the coin, we have Your Dallas Stars, who looked to be asleep on Saturday night against Colorado. Poor play, way too many penalties, and way way too many turnovers led to a drubbing in every sense of the word.
Turco played well enough to win, but got nothing from his teammates, with the exception of Jason Arnott and whoever he was on the ice with. Until the rest of the offense realizes the playoffs have started, I vote for double-shifting Arnott and leaving wakeup calls for Modano and Guerin (esp Guerin, who’s been hitting the snooze button since Oct).
Rangers are above .500
The whole fam got to spend a wonderful Sunday at the Temple in Arlington yesterday, in a luxury box right behind home plate no less, thanks to our friends E and J. The kids had a great time running around with their friends and eating themselves silly, Robynne got to catch up with some of the girls, and I got to see John Koronka pitch a beauty.
Koronka has turned out to be the biggest pleasant Ranger surprise in a long time. The last-minute acquisition, whom I though was bound for Frisco or OK City, has, instead, turned in three very good to outstanding performances, crowned by yesterday’s eight-inning effort. A soft-tossing lefty, Koronka read thru Kenny Rogers’ pamphlet Successful Left-Handed Pitching at the Launching Pad in Arlington and clearly took good notes. He changed speeds, kept the ball down, and worked the corners. The Devil Rays (and what a crap team they have, btw) scattered a few hits and some runs, but never mounted any sort of charge.
Ranger bats, on the other hand, were plenty busy. The kids are huge fireworks fans, and they got to see lots of them as the Rangers belted homer after homer. The bottom of the third was particularly exciting, as Tex, Nevin, and Mench all clobbered long balls. Devil Rays’ manager Joe Maddon (who?) left poor Casey Fossum (who?) out there throughout the onslaught, determined to get four innings out of him, come hell or high water. He got both.
After a TERRIBLE start, the Rangers are righting the ship. Sweeping Tampa Bay in April is not anything to get overly excited about any more than getting drilled in the first week of the season was, but it a step in the right direction.
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