ACROSS THE FIELD!

Man does that have a whole NEW meaning now….

That is the title of THE Ohio State Buckeyes Fight Song! And talking about taking the HITS across the field!

With the announcement of the head coach of Ohio State Jim Tressel resignation from that position, because of the situation at the school, that involved some players that sold their uniforms, rings from their bowl game wins, receiving favors from a Tattoo Parlor in Columbus, as well as other violations.

The players involved took a five game suspension, the coach took two games but the school decided to put an additional three games on top of that to equal that of the players penalties.

Now the arguments are being made on both sides if Student Athletes should be paid in some capacity—yes they are given scholarships and that takes care of their education, but I almost have to agree with some of the masses—only because I think that if the College and Universities are going to go out of their way to promote certain players with their jerseys being sold at the concession stands and sports shops not just in the town of the College or University is in, but across the states or country for that matter.

Lets take into consideration that players such as Vince Young, Colt McCoy, and Chase Daniels, Cam Newton, and in the past Ricky Williams and the such, these products being sold because they are the reason why people come to the games. REALLY? YA THINK?

My theory is simple, if you are going to sell it, and the public is buying it, why then is the athlete not getting anything from it. AND WHY PROMOTE ONLY ONE PLAYER!?

This is not the NFL.. this is not the NBA, this is not the NHL, or MLB, this is COLLEGE FOOTBALL- and there has to be a reason why athletes then go out and sell their uniforms and rings so they can get something in return! They know that their presence will bring something to table, and they could get something from it.

So now.. here is how you stop it.. STOP SELLING THE PRODUCT! And stop promoting one player—promote the school the team, but stop selling their Jersey Number!

It has to stop somewhere—I know that this is a business and I know that there are fans and alumni that want to own their favorites numbered jersey and show their support of that player and for their team, but the player gets nothing from it.

At least with the pros they get something out of it, usually its with in their contracts, and with their bonus, that’s how they are compensated.

Long and short of it all is simple, what happened at THE Ohio State University, is most likely going on at other colleges and universities across the country.

What happened in Dallas/Ft Worth with a school on the Hill Top known as SMU, will NEVER happen to another school program again, there will never be a death penalty given to another school, but would this had warranted that sort of penalty? I am not sure, I can’t answer that, only because we will never know… but the facts are, that student athletes are always being courted by someone to go to that school, and play for that coach because of what they can get down the road, whether its “money” or exposure, or perks!

College sports as a whole, has to clean up its act, and I for one would love to see them stop with the promotion of individual players, and promote the school or the team as a whole! I would much rather see a jersey that is blank without a number on it but just the school name, and leave it at that! NUFF SAID!

Just a thought!

2011 Hp Byron Nelson Championship

With a playoff to finish off this years Byron Nelson Championship-- it was fitting that the winner had to sit and wait for a hour and half before he figured out who or what was to come of his three under par for the day-- what happened was Keegan Bradley was going to face Ryan Palmer in a playoff to see who would take home the 1.7 million dollar payday!

Keegan had never won on the Nation Wide Tour, and his one lofty goal was to play Augusta National, and after the long wait and hitting his drive down the right fairway into the trees-- he was able to get out of the woods and landing just a few feet to the left of the green lag a putt just past the flag-- and then sink a 7 footer  for the par to outlast Colleyville's Ryan Palmer on the first playoff hole.  Palmer's drive wound up in the trees as well on the right.. he had a better lie than Keegan, but the fact is.. he pushed his second shot over the green-- hits the knoll and it rolls into the water for a penalty.

The rest they say, is Nelson Lore! As Keegan wins his first PGA tour championship, and with that is picks up his exemption and will play the Masters next spring. Not bad eh? and the paycheck ain't too shabby either.

SO... this Nelson was exciting, it had drama, it had suspense, and it had a target enriched field of the female persuasion. OH YES! PAVILLION Was BOUNCIN!!!!!

There were lots of changes to this years "fun" side of the tournament... meaning that there were different style of the commercial end of things, with the tents and such, but all in all, I think that the experience was grand!

Talking to some of the people that have been covering or coming out to the Nelson for over 30 years, this was the 44th annual event, and of those 44 events, going back to the days when it was played on the Preston Trail Country Club course, it is easy to remember how this tournament took off and how the reputation got there, but the for all the years, and all the memories, and stories, none beats the time when Lord Byron Nelson addressed the media before one particular tournament, and he was telling the story of how he and Ben Hogan played two-- up and comers at the Bing Crosby Clambake, actually the match took place before the tournament because of a off the cuff bet between two millionaires at the time (this took place in 1956.. 10 years after Nelson retired from the game and Hogan was winding down his career after coming back from a horrific car accident)... the two up starts-- Ken Venturi, and Harvie Ward.

The story goes that the two teams were all even until they hit number 13, when Hogan birdied the hole-- and was able to hold on to that one stroke lead through the rest of the course-- coming oh so close to losing it, and seeing these two "rookies" almost making it even-- when it was all said and done with -- the Two Old Timers were able to outlast the youngsters and if it were not for the accounts of Author Mark Frost, no one would ever know the story, nor the history-- or even the significance of this little match play!

The Nelson-- mystique, intrigue, and most of all FUN!

Can't wait to see what happens next year...

Just a thought!

Business as Usual

The Dallas Mavericks are the Western Conference Champions-- did so just a little pass 10:20 on a Wednesday night in Downtown Dallas, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 100 to 96.

That's pretty much all anyone needs to know about the game... no need to go into detail how the Mavericks came from 8 points down in the 4th quarter, and really never had control of the game until the final 3 minutes. No need to talk about Jason Terry, Dirk Nowitzki, or Tyson Chandler, no need to explain how the Dallas Defense was able to shut down Kevin Durant and Westood in the final moments.

What you DO need to know is what happened during the celebration....

Oh wait! THERE was NO Celebration! Let me explain.

Something was missing from the usual flair, especially if you were at the American Airlines Center in 06 when the last time the Mavericks held the title of Western Conference Champions, the streamers, the confetti, the pumped up music, all of that was then... what was last night?... SUBDUED!

OH there was no Streamers from the rafters, there was no confetti being floated down to the floor, the music was majestic, and the ceremony was very matter of fact, even the on court presentation of the Conference trophy, was just business like.

So what does all this mean... it means that the Mavericks have set their sights on one goal and one goal only-- to WIN THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP and nothing else matters.

Listen to the players, from JJ Barerra and Jason Terry, to Dirk, they all pretty much said the same things in their after game quotes... it was good to beat the Thunder, but there are FOUR more games to win before they will consider what they have accomplished to mean anything.

EVEN BEATING LA in four strait games, which this franchise has NEVER done before in the post season, but that was just business as usual for them.

So the outcome of the Eastern Conference finals will determine who the Mavericks will meet in the finals, the Bulls who have six trophies in their show case, but lets face it, that was the Jordan era of basketball, the Miami Heat which has ONE, and that was when they beat the Mavericks in 06, but this is not the same team, in fact neither team is the same, the only constant is that both Duwayne Wade and Dirk Nowitzki were both on their respective teams then, but that was 5 years ago, and there are lot of changes for both.

So when they start, the finals that is, it will remind me of something that happened 40 years ago with another Dallas sports franchise that took the exact same approach as this Maverick team.

in 1971, the Dallas Cowboys, had come off a lost to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V, and in doing so, Tom Landry and the team decided that the next season they would just go about their business and win the games and establish themselves with the workman's like attitude... wining their playoff games, including a rematch against the San Francisco 49ers at Texas Stadium for the NFC Championship... they didn't light up cigars, or pour champagne on themselves , they just went about the game as if it was another game... until they beat the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI, then you see photos of Bob Lilly lighting up a cigar, along with John Niland, and the champagne showers on Bob Hayes and Chuck Howley, this was the penultimate of their season....

Well the Dallas Mavericks have a chance to place themselves in the same spot, a similar position, beat the team that they face with business like mechanics, take care of what they need to do, no hype, just play your game, stay with in yourself and watch the final seconds tick away with you in the lead and the fourth game in the bag.

THEN let the confetti fly, and the streamers fall and the champagne flow... because then the Mavericks will have deserved their right to be called CHAMPIONS!

Just a thought

The “Statue” of Limitations!

There is something missing, according to one NBA Legend, outside the Los Angeles Staples Center…. A Statue of Kareem Abdul- Jabbar!

If you read an interview, in The Sporting News, with the six time world champion and the 19 NBA All Star, Jabbar feels slighted that his image has not been immortalized in bigger than life size, outside the center!

There are five statues outside the building, two former Laker players, Ervin “Magic” Johnson, and Jerry West (who by the way, his silhouette is used for the NBA Logo)… the others, Chick Hearn, the voice of the Lakers, Wayne Gretzkey, and Boxer Oscar De La Hoya… how he got a statue I will never figure… however how in the world is Jabbar not there already???? Never mind the Lakers success, how about his time at UCLA where he won THREE National Championships with John Wooden as his coach! (I know it was Westwood not Inglewood!)  Still, the man who holds the all time scoring record and will most likely keep that record for some time, has no monument other than his retired jersey hanging from the rafters of the Staples Center should have something more pronounced.

When you think of “SHOW TIME” the first image is that of Magic, but there were James Worthy, Michael Collins, and others, then there was the big man—the one who developed the Sky Hook, hard to defend and probably deadly from anywhere on the floor from 15 feet in on the basket! Jabbar was the kingpin of those championship teams, and probably deserves his place in the spot light once again, Bigger Than Life!

I was thinking, monuments that are in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, we have a statue of Tom Landry outside Cowboys Stadium (former place was outside Texas Stadium) we have statures of both Tom Vandergriff, and Nolan Ryan at Rangers Ball Park in Arlington, Will Rogers, used to stand near Downtown Dallas (don’t know if its still there), Doak Walker stands outside Ford Stadium on the campus of SMU, we have statues saluting the cattle drives that made their ways through the streets of Fort Worth and Dallas, making their way up the Chisolm and Preston Trails to Kansas City—we have monuments at Fair Park for the heroes of Texas Liberty near the Hall of State… but nothing around the AAC for those who laid the ground work for your Dallas Mavericks or Dallas Stars… do you think we might one day see a statue for Brad Davis, Rolando Blackman, maybe Dirk Nowitski once he retires, or maybe to Mike Modano or Brett Hull for bringing a Stanley Cup to North Texas.

I just bring that up, considering that I know about the Ring of Honor inside Cowboys Stadium, and there are some retired numbers for both the Stars and the Mavericks, hell even the Dallas Desperados, (Clint Dozell) there’s not one for TATU of the Dallas Sidekicks if there is, they took that down when they brought down Reunion Arena… statues, expensive yes, but they are great to have your photo taken next to, you can’t climb into the rafters to have your photo taken next to the Jersey of your favorite player.

The Lakers have stated that Jabbar’s statue is in the works… however there is no timetable as to when that will happen, and that it could be in year or two or even much later, but they will acknowledge his accomplishments and contributions to the Lakers team, and when that happens it will be placed in it’s rightful place!

As for other teams that have placed statues near their arenas or stadiums, the likes of Harman Killabrew at Target Stadium in Minnesota, or Ty Cobb at Tigers Stadium outside of Detroit, or what about all those monuments at Yankee Stadium, now they’re not statutes but they are there.

Rangers Ball Park in Arlington has the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame with plaques inside the Hall, and it might be better than placing statues around the stadium, fans can still have their photos taken with the plaque of their heroes, but an actual statue— might be a bit expensive for every person who was special with the team.

Maybe the Mavericks will one day have a Maverick Hall of Fame and do the same thing at the AAC along with the Stars.. and one day—Jerry Jones has said that the property around the stadium will have a Dallas Cowboys Hall of Honor built and that might have bust or plaques of those players that have had their name enshrined in the Ring of Honor.

In the meantime, the LA Lakers will do what they have to do, and like the city of Boston, they gave a statue to Bill Russell, 40 years after he retired—better late than never!

Just a thought!

They Say That the Good Die Young

I was told last night of a lost of another friend, only this time, he was not a legend from broadcasting or of someone of high profile, he was just Terry!

Terry Crouch, the name might mean something to some of you, if you attended Oklahoma University during the late 70's and early 80's... recruited as a nose tackle on defense-- Terry was converted to offensive line and led the Sooners to a Big 8 championship, along with being named All American in '81.

He was drafted by the (then) Baltimore Colts, and played 9 games for the Colts before leaving and trying to play in the USFL for the LA Express, protecting some left handed throwing quarterback named Young! (Steve Young). Terry didn't pass the physical, they discovered that he had a heart murmur and he decided that one year of NFL experience was enough.

Terry returned to his roots in Dallas, you see, Terry graduated from Skyline High School in 1977, and he was then and up to his death, a gentle giant of a man. Six feet two inches and 278 lbs of moving earth, he hit you like a rock slide coming off a mountain! Solid and without mercy!

Terry was a coach to youngsters, and an insurance salesman to adults, and a friend to a lot of people.

  I remember my friend, we hadn't talked in years, and one day, a mutual friend gave me his new phone number, I called it on a whim, and it was like Terry and I never stopped speaking... picked up right where we left off at!

I am not sure of the type of illness that took Terry, though its been said that it was lengthy. He died on Sunday night at a Dallas Hospital, his family gathered to be around him we are told. I can tell you that I know he was not alone. That his faith, his family, his love was stronger than anything I ever witnessed. When we spoke, he told me of his spirit, and his ability to be calm in times of crisis. Qualities that I wish I had sometimes.

I admired Terry when we were younger, not because he was a football player, but because he was able to be a friend to the jock, and to the geek in school. He didn't see boundaries , he always saw potential in everyone!

When I was in college, I had the opportunity to cover the annual Texas- OU game at the Cotton Bowl, and Terry happen to be playing that day. He had spotted me on the sidelines a couple of times, and I thought he had nodded my way--- key word, 'Thought"... anyway-- this was in the days that the Sooner offence was the Wishbone-- lots of runs to the sidelines-- in the middle of the 2nd quarter-- OU is on the move-- and here comes the pitch to the sideline... right near where I was stationed to shoot photos-- and the next thing I know I am flat on my back- about 10 feet from where I was standing, and there's Terry with a big 'o grin on his face... extending his hand and saying--"Good to see ya David!"... and then ran off to the next play!  Yeah-- that was Terry's way of having a little fun at my expense-- but you know-- I didn't mind then... and I still don't mind today-- almost 30 years later!

Terry, you leave behind a lot of friends, and family that will miss you, and there are those of us who spoke about you often and always with a smile on our face... you're free from pain now my friend, and with hopes that you are able to rest in peace!

Just a thought

A Classless Act from a Once Proud Team

As the Dallas Mavericks clinched a birth in the Western Division Finals in the NBA, the two time Champion of the NBA and current defending Champion at that, The L.A. Lakers, were dismantled by the Mavericks at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on May 8th, 2011, which also happens to be Mother's Day this year.

However, what happened on the court, no Mom or child should had been a witness too, a classless act of stupidity from two players that wear the Purple and Gold of the LA Lakers.

Anthony Bynum just leveled JJ Barerra as he goes into the lane for a layup-- and out of nowhere Bynum comes flying in-- lowers his elbow into the ribs of JJ and puts him on the hardwood... the Referees immediately threw him out of the game-- but WAIT there's more... Lamar Odom gets thrown out of the game for another flagrant foul and HE gets tossed from the game.

Former Laker great and Hall of Famer, Ervin "Magic" Johnson, went on the air shortly after the game, and called what he saw an embarrassment on the organization, and that he, himself was embarrassed by being associated by this team.

Kobe Bryant, the "face" of this team, finally faced the media, but really didn't have any answers for what his teammates did out on the floor.

Its funny, this should be a story of how the Dallas Mavericks came from behind in two games in this series, and just leveled the Lakers, and swept them in four games. BUT NOOOOOOOO! It has to be how two guys on the losing team, took to cheap shots on their opponents and created havoc after the game in a locker room, and pretty much sending their legendary coach, Phil Jackson into retirement the way they did.

Jason Terry, Peja, Dirk, Kidd, they all took their turns at hitting the 20 out of 30 three's, and that tied an NBA Record, they also were able to shoot 60% from the field, they were able to shut down the Lakers and allow them only 38% from the field.

Let the party begin! The Dallas Mavericks are in the Western Conference Finals, for the first time since 2006, and we all know how that ended-- so are you looking forward to maybe a rematch with the Heat if they can get to the Eastern Conference Finals? Wouldn't that just be great.. bring back that matchup-- and lets see how it turns out this time.

HOWEVEVER! Before you can get to that match up, you first have to wait to see who the Mavericks will play-- either Memphis or Oklahoma City... they still have to beat each other up before we worry about who they will take on!

So in the process-- the Mavericks will rest and that's a good thing and get healthy- and stay sharp, and then bring on the next victim!

Just a thought!