Stars Turco'ed

- Turco'ed - definition (verb) - To ambush the opponent in the shortest of time, no matter the sport. Where, in the blink of an eye, usually within 1 period/quarter of play, a team's chances of winning have been eliminated and the rest of the game is spent in give-up mode.

Dallas Stars' freefall continues with 6-3 loss

11:45 PM CST on Thursday, January 3, 2008
By MIKE HEIKA / The Dallas Morning News
mheika@dallasnews.com

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The spiral down continued Thursday for the Dallas Stars and Marty Turco, who allowed three Minnesota goals on the first four shots he faced and was pulled 13:14 into the game.

Dallas went on to lose 6-3 – its third loss in a row – and fell to 23-16-4 (50 points). Minnesota, meanwhile, moved to 23-15-2 (48 points) and closed the gap in a tightening Western Conference.

"For us to be a good team, we have to have all the pieces in place, and we're missing a lot of pieces right now," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "It's just as simple as that."

While the Stars are missing injured players such as Sergei Zubov, Jere Lehtinen, Jussi Jokinen and Philippe Boucher, Tippett was referring to the product on the ice.

Dallas made mistakes in all phases of the game. The struggling power play has not scored in four games and is 0-for-16 in that span. It had two chances in the first period, resulting only in a short-handed goal for the Wild.

Marian Gaborik broke in and scored on Turco when the Stars' goalie made a failed attempt at a poke check. Turco, who struggled in Detroit the night before, then allowed goals to Pavol Demitra and Pierre-Marc Bouchard in the next 3:24. He was pulled in favor of backup goalie Mike Smith.

When asked if Turco might need an extended break, Tippett said: "I don't know. We'll see."

Smith made some key saves to keep the Stars in the game, but he was beat on a Gaborik shot in the first period, yielded a power-play goal to Eric Belanger in the second and also was beat late in the game by Mark Parrish.

As Tippett said, it was a little bit of everything. The goaltending wasn't great and the special teams play was below par. The top lines were better than they were in Detroit the night before, but they did not carry the game.

"It's everything," Tippett said. "Every part of our game."

Stars center Mike Modano, who helped set up Steve Ott on a second period goal, said it has been very tough for the Stars to create offense lately.

"Ability with the puck right now is not really good," Modano said. "It just seems to be a real struggle to just get the puck up and down the ice."

As a result, the Stars are giving up the first goal and playing from behind against strong defensive teams.

"They got the lead early and they kept on coming, and we didn't really adjust until the middle of the second period," defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "You can't let a team like that get the lead. That's been their model for years."

Of course, the Wild also was motivated to follow that model. They lost an 8-3 game in Dallas last week and wanted a little measure of revenge.

"We knew how we played the last game in Dallas. We kind of struggled," Demitra said. "We obviously prepared for this game."

Now, the Stars will get the same opportunity for revenge. They play host to Detroit on Saturday and will see the Wild again Monday at home.

Zubov will test his hand injury today and could be back in the lineup against Detroit. However, the Stars say they have to be ready even if he isn't.

"He's a great player, but we're certainly capable of winning games with the lineup we have right now," said rookie defenseman Matt Niskanen, who scored a goal in his return to his home state. "Right now, I don't think we're giving a complete effort as a group for a full 60 minutes.

"We definitely have the people in here that should be able to get it done. We'll get it turned around."



- Mavs finally coming around. Health, health, health. All components of Avery's master plan are finally all healthy at the same time. And who would have thought Dampier would be such a major key to their success? Look it up.



Dallas Mavericks starting to play with feeling

12:40 AM CST on Friday, January 4, 2008
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com

Avery Johnson went to the dentist Thursday morning and was all numbed up for the start of practice.

But by the end of the workout, his face was slowly getting back to normal.

Sort of like the Mavericks lately.

What started as a sometimes-painful season that was lacking identity has started to develop some feeling. The cloudiness of the first two months has slowly begun to fade, judging from recent showings. The Mavericks have started to play better defense. They have cut down on opponents' points in the paint.

They have won games by keeping foes in the 80s and 90s and by scoring well into the 100s.

It's a start toward getting this team where it belongs, Johnson said.

"We're going to get that swagger back," Johnson said through his tingly jaw after practice. "We haven't gotten it yet. We've seen it in spurts. It's just going to take work and practice. It's going to take film sessions."

What has given Johnson and everybody else in the Mavericks' camp cause for optimism of late is the return of one of their most treasured assets – the ability to play and win while employing any style.

"That's where we feel our success can be, to be able to change," Johnson said.

Things that are coming into focus lately are everywhere, but three stand out:

The center position

The play of Erick Dampier is giving credence to what Johnson has been saying all season, that Dampier's shoulder injury hurt more in the playoffs last season than anyone let on at the time.

"Obviously, you've seen it," Johnson said. "People wonder why I 'didn't use him' in the playoffs. He had a shoulder that required surgery. He really could not perform. So now you can see when Damp is able to play at a high level, when we get that consistency, we're a pretty good team."

The Mavericks saw the same defense from Golden State on Wednesday that the Warriors used to beat them in the playoffs last spring. Atlanta last week did the same thing. Both times, Dampier burned them, as did others. Ball movement was crisp. Scoring was spread around. Smiles were everywhere.

"Obviously we're a better team when I'm out there on the floor setting picks, playing defense, rebounding, doing the little things that people don't notice," Dampier said. "My shoulder is a lot better, almost 100 percent. Before the surgery, it was kind of painful. But now I'm able to go out and do things pain-free."

Spacing

Eddie Jones starting opens the floor for Dampier, Josh Howard and Devin Harris.

"Eddie's been one of our good facilitators right now," Johnson said. "He's been initiating plays for us, and that's been a delight.

"The space goes from a pretty shrunken space to much more space to deal with because guys don't want to leave him. I think it helps everybody if Eddie's man doesn't leave him."

Johnson said it will take 10 or 15 more games before he can decide if Jones in the starting lineup is a permanent fixture.

Points in the paint

In one of the themes of their revival, the Mavericks have improved theirs and cut down on the opponents' cheap baskets.

"Our whole goal is to totally take away points in the paint," Jones said. "We're trying to get it together. If we keep guys from getting in the paint, we're a heck of a ball club."



- Mack about to make another genius hire, much like the Gene Chizik hire a few years ago. Goes out and gets a top 5 assistant coach. Austin, Texas has jedi powers when it comes to convincing guys to make lateral coaching moves.



Texas covets Auburn defensive coordinator

11:51 PM CST on Thursday, January 3, 2008
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
chipbrown@dallasnews.com

AUSTIN – Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp has interviewed with Texas coach Mack Brown about joining the Longhorns' staff, and a deal could be reached quickly, according to a source close to the UT program.

If Muschamp, 36, joins Brown's staff, he would be the defensive play-caller and coach linebackers. Duane Akina would relinquish play-calling duties and coach the secondary while maintaining a co-coordinator role. Larry Mac Duff, who served as co-coordinator and linebackers coach this season, resigned Wednesday.

Muschamp's agent, Jimmy Sexton, didn't immediately return phone calls.

UT's defense was ranked eighth nationally against the run (93.4 ypg) this season but gave up 25.3 points per game and a school-record 4,825 total yards and 277.8 passing yards per game.

Under Muschamp, Auburn was fifth nationally in scoring defense (16.7 ppg), eighth in total defense (298.3 ypg), seventh against the pass (179 ypg) and 26th against the run (119.3 ypg).

According to a source, Texas would likely have to pay Muschamp at least $400,000 to lure him from Auburn, where he has served under Tommy Tuberville the past two years. Akina and Mac Duff both earned $300,000 this season.

If Muschamp comes to Austin, it would be the second time in four years that Brown would be raiding Tuberville's staff for a defensive coordinator. Brown also hired Gene Chizik from Auburn in 2004. Chizik spent two years at Texas, including UT's national title season in 2005, before taking the head coaching position at Iowa State.


- Check this video out.





- Bo's core beliefs on football, coaching, and defense......



Steven M. Sipple: Core philosophies guide Pelini
Tuesday, Dec 25, 2007 - 12:24:08 am CST
Bo Pelini’s three-year tenure as Louisiana State’s defensive coordinator began rather inauspiciously.

In the Tigers’ 2005 season opener, Sam Keller — yes, that Sam Keller — torched Pelini’s defense for 461 passing yards as Arizona State accumulated 560 total yards in a 35-31 loss to LSU. In LSU’s next game, the Tigers fell 30-27 in overtime to Tennessee.

“Believe me, everybody in the state of Louisiana was ready to hang Bo Pelini,” says Bo Pelini.

At that point, it might have been tempting for Pelini to make significant changes to his defense. But he declined to deviate from his core philosophies. The result: Louisiana State ended the 2005 season with an 11-2 record and ranked No. 3 nationally in total defense — the ranking it also holds this week as it prepares to play Ohio State in the BCS national title game Jan. 7 in New Orleans.

Pelini’s core philosophies? Well, the new Nebraska head coach (he was hired Dec. 2, but is coaching Louisiana State’s defense in the championship game) addressed them last spring in a presentation to Louisiana high school coaches. A kind reader e-mailed me the presentation in the form of an audio link from fastandfuriousfootball.com, which provides a variety of learning resources for coaches.

It’s informative listening material, another chance to get to know Bo, and a nice Christmas surprise for sure. Some highlights from the 60-minute presentation:

* Pelini tells the coaches his goal always is to field “the best-effort defense” in the nation.

“Our philosophy is to create a culture of swarming to the football — that’s the first thing we do,” he says. “I want opposing teams, when they’re watching film of us, to say, ‘Wow, how do they get those guys to play so hard?’”

To that end, Pelini grades defenders’ effort on every play in practice, always looking for “11 guys playing in one continuous motion from the time the ball is snapped to the time the ballcarrier is on the ground.”

* Pelini avoids “beating guys down” with negative tones and harsh language.

“I take this philosophy: There hasn’t been a player ever that has tried to make a mistake out on the field,” Pelini says. “If he made a mistake, he made it for a reason. Well, as a coach, you need to search for that reason — search for a way to get through to that kid. Ultimately, when you coach that way, the players are going to believe in you. And at the end of the day, they’re going to want to run through a wall for you.”

Pelini tells a story from 2003 when he served as Nebraska’s defensive coordinator. A defender made a mistake in practice, and one of the Husker assistant coaches castigated the player. The assistant ranted and raved and even ran from the sideline into the defensive huddle to get in the player’s face.

“I called the assistant coach over to me and said, ‘All that stuff you just did: Was that for you or for the player? Because I heard you yelling at that kid and not one time did you tell him what he did wrong,’” Pelini says. “I told the coach, ‘So, the next time, it’s on you.’”

The key, Pelini says, is “getting kids to understand what they’re doing so they can do it fast.”

“If I get after a kid, (later) I’ll walk up and put my arm around him and say, ‘You’re better than that, right? You know you’re better than that, right?’”

* Pelini says a lot of coaches get too caught up in X’s and O’s and fail to get to know players on a personal level. He says it’s important to spend time with players away from the football setting, “so you know what makes them click.” He says he wants players to have fun. “Don’t make it doom and gloom for them,” he says.

* One of his main objectives is to take the opposing offense out of its comfort zone and disrupt the quarterback’s play-calling rhythm. To that end, Pelini says, he’s somewhat rare among defensive coordinators in that he scripts his calls early in games. In scripting his calls, he says, he tries to gives the offense “multiple, multiple looks” early on. He uses this tactic “to get in the heads” of offensive coordinators while simultaneously trying to dissuade the offense from using certain plays later in the game.

“If an offense has a couple of plays I know I don’t want to see, I’m going to run some blitzes and pressures and things that say, ‘OK, those things aren’t going to be there for you this week,’” Pelini says. “Because later in the game, when I get into my game plan, I don’t want to see a couple plays (from the offense). If I can put in their heads, ‘OK, let’s go away from that stuff,’ we’re going to be in a better situation as a defense.”

* “I know this: The great defensive football players play with very little or no wasted movement,” Pelini says. “They’re very efficient.”

* He says a prime objective for a defense should be putting itself in “winnable third-down situations,” such as third-and-6-or-more yards.

* He says defensive coordinators shouldn’t show panic, because their players will sense it and react accordingly.

For instance, “I’ve been around coaches who act like the world came to an end if the offense got a 3-yard gain on first down,” Pelini says. “What happens is, you act like that toward your players, they get in there and get more aggressive and boom — you start getting beat on play-action (passes) and ultimately you get beat over the top, and that’s how you lose games.”

* The most important statistic a staff charts during a game is an offense’s “explosive gains,” or passes that gain more than 16 yards and runs that cover more than 12. “If offenses don’t get explosive gains and have to execute all the way down the field, we’re going to win.”

Pelini, of course, speaks with his usual confidence and conviction. In 2005, as his LSU defense struggled early in the season, he held firm to his beliefs. You have to figure he’ll use the same approach in 2008 as he guides a Nebraska defense that finished this season ranked 112th nationally in yards allowed.

“It’s not about what offenses are doing — it’s about us,” Pelini told the coaches in his spring speech. “If we execute down after down after down, we’re going to be fine. That’s the key to playing great defense.”



- Big Magnificent Tuna fires Cam Cameron





- I really hate country music. I really do. The soccer moms will lining up to buy this crap. You tell em it's country, then it's country. Pliable, tractable. Call it what it is - generic, non-inspiring 80's pop garbage. Keep it on Mix 102.9.



Jessica Simpson Starts Work on Country Album
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 02, 2008 07:15 AM EST

By Nicholas White

Jessica Simpson is getting back to her roots.

The singer, 27, has begun recording a country album in Nashville, Billboard reports.

"I am a country girl," she told the magazine. "I grew up in Texas, and country music was what I listened to. I always wanted to wait until the time was right."

So why now? Simpson's recent movie efforts have sputtered, with her Blonde Ambition getting only a limited theatrical release and 2006's Employee of the Month failing to find a large audience. Her last pop CD, 2006's A Public Affair, also underperformed.

Simpson – who's now dating Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo – added that she'll pen some of the songs for the new project.

"Writing is a release for me," she said. "It's a way for me to tell my story. That's not to say I wouldn't record a song that I didn't write. It's just that it has been a while since I have opened the book."


- Shoot me now.




- And then bring me back to life.

Eat it Nellie

- The bigs dominate. Dampier (13 pts/7 rebounds), Bass (12 pts/11 rebounds), and Dirk (29 pts/8 rebounds/6 assists).
- I hope this shows Avery he CAN play Dampier against teams like Phoenix and Golden State. Irritates me to no end when he doesn't play his 5's and gets scared into uncomfortable lineups. You're better than those teams, act like it.
- Devin Harris continously takes it to the rack.
- Stephen Jackson is a non-factor on Dirk.
- Baron Davis looks like the punk he is.
- Mavs dominate and actually have won 2 in a row in the series.
- They continue to look good against everyone in the Western Conference.

Dallas Mavericks take out frustrations on Warriors

12:59 AM CST on Thursday, January 3, 2008
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com

The mean-and-nasty center of Golden State's universe was trying to get to the basket.

The last time Stephen Jackson was doing this, he humiliated Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks.

But with the stakes lowered and the Mavericks' backbone raised, Nowitzki finally got a smidge of payback Wednesday night.

Nowitzki threw two straight shots back into Jackson's face in the fourth quarter, then rebounded a third miss by Baron Davis. In one brief possession, Nowitzki sealed an emotionally charged 121-99 victory over the Warriors at American Airlines Center.

Jackson was suspended for the Mavericks' win at Golden State in early November. This time, the 6-8 forward who spent most of the playoff series last spring denying Dirk, was there again, trying to get in everybody's face the same way he did so successfully in the playoff upset of the Mavericks.

Not this time.

Nowitzki had 29 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks, igniting perhaps the Mavericks' best all-around performance of the season. They passed the ball exquisitely, their 28 assists missing the season best by one. Their ball movement was exceeded by their rebounding, which was overwhelming (50-35).

And both of those were eclipsed by what Avery Johnson called some of the best defense the team has shown this season.

"We haven't been getting after it like that defensively," he said. "This team scores 110 or 115 points a game (108.5, actually). To keep them under 100 and shoot 41 percent, we'll take that."

And, of course, Nowitzki was "a monster," Johnson said.

"He gave it to them every way – inside, in between, 3-point line, he defended and he had three blocks."

The Mavericks never trailed, led by double figures much of the way and when things got dicey late in the third quarter, with the Warriors drawing within three points on several occasions, the Mavericks responded.

They scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter to go up, 100-85, and the Warriors never got closer than 12.

Davis was stuffed by the Mavericks, with Jerry Stackhouse doing much of the defensive work in the second half. The point guard came in averaging 22.3 points and 8.3 rebounds but left with just 10 and six, missing 12 of 14 shots.

Jackson got 25 points, but he needed 21 shots to get them.

And then there was Erick Dampier and Brandon Bass, who ran a tag-team at center and came away with a combined 25 points and 18 rebounds.

Johnson said this was another example of how Dampier's shoulder injury hurt the Mavericks in the playoff series.


And when Dampier came out, Bass played well, responding positively to Saturday's game, in which Johnson did not play him.

"Defense won the game for us," Nowitzki said. "We got some stops, tried to contest their shots and tried to scramble defensively and make them take tough shots."

In short, it worked wonderfully, unlike the results of the playoff series. Of course, all this win did was get the Mavericks to 21-11. The Warriors playoff win last year got them to the second round.

"We'll get back to practice [today]," Johnson said, "because I don't think they gave a trophy out tonight."





- Bob Stoops the most overrated big game coach in college? 4 losses in a row in BCS bowls......



West Virginia crashes Oklahoma's fiesta

01:57 AM CST on Thursday, January 3, 2008
By BRANDON GEORGE / The Dallas Morning News
bgeorge@dallasnews.com

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Oklahoma's Fiesta Bowl misery isn't dead yet.

And this time, the Sooners weren't outsmarted by trick plays. They were simply outplayed.

No. 11 West Virginia jumped out to a two-touchdown lead by halftime Wednesday and never looked back in a 48-28 victory over No. 3 OU before a capacity crowd of 70,016 at University of Phoenix Stadium.

The Mountaineers (11-2) had no problem without coach Rich Rodriguez, their offensive play-caller, who bolted for Michigan last month. Interim coach Bill Stewart put the game in the hands of junior quarterback Pat White and freshman running back Noel Devine as WVU won its third consecutive bowl game.

"I speak for all the players," White said, "he [Stewart] needs to be our head coach. Oklahoma is a great team, but we were a little bit more hungry than they were."

Oklahoma (11-3) ended another season with a resounding thud. The Sooners lost a wild Fiesta Bowl a year ago to Boise State, 43-42, in overtime. OU lost its fourth consecutive BCS bowl game and dropped to 4-5 in bowls under coach Bob Stoops.

"They definitely outcoached us and outplayed us," Stoops said. "They were more physical and more disciplined. It's very disappointing to finish the season this way, after such a solid year, to come out and play like we did."

Stoops became the only coach to lose to an interim coach this bowl season. Before the Fiesta Bowl, teams with interim coaches were 0-5 and teams in the midst of a coaching change had been 1-7.

But switching leaders didn't seem to faze the Mountaineers.

WVU, the nation's fourth-leading rushing team at 293 yards per game, rolled up 525 yards of total offense and had 349 rushing yards against OU, which had the nation's seventh-ranked rushing defense.

But the Sooners defense played short-handed. OU replaced three defensive starters, who were out for the game, with three players who made their first starts of the season. And the Sooners played most of the game without junior receiver Malcolm Kelly (leg injury). OU also finished with 13 penalties for 113 yards.

"Just embarrassing. Absolutely no discipline whatsoever," Stoops said. "That has to be a reflection on me. I'm obviously not doing a good enough job of getting players to play smart."

White, the game's offensive MVP, finished with a game-high 150 rushing yards on 20 carries and was 10-for-19 passing for 176 yards and two touchdowns. Devine, who received most of the playing time at running back after starter Steve Slaton went out with a right hamstring injury in the first quarter, had 108 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 13 carries.

"The guys counted on me," Devine said, "so I had to step up."

West Virginia's defense had OU freshman quarterback Sam Bradford on the run most of the night. WVU had three sacks and seven tackles for losses, and held OU to minus-1 yard in the first quarter

WVU scored two second-quarter touchdowns to lead, 20-6.

OU cut the Mountaineers' lead to 20-15 in the third quarter with the third field goal of the game for senior Garrett Hartley of Southlake Carroll, followed by Chris Brown's 1-yard touchdown run.

Back in the game, Stoops then gambled by calling for an onside kick. Hartley grazed the football and it trickled only 8 yards before West Virginia recovered at the OU 39-yard line.

"We obviously didn't kick it far enough," Stoops said. "We had the momentum and the opportunity was there. We just didn't execute."

Six plays later, Devine scored on a 17-yard run around left end to put WVU up, 27-15. Late in the third quarter, WVU receiver Darius Reynaud added another touchdown on a 30-yard reverse to the left to go ahead, 34-15.

The Mountaineers poured it on in the fourth quarter on two big plays. Tito Gonzales caught White's pass down the middle of the field and ran through the tackle attempt of OU cornerback Marcus Walker, who slipped off of Gonzales' back. Gonzales raced 79 yards for a touchdown.

On WVU's ensuing possession, Devine took a handoff and bolted to the left before cutting back to the middle of the field and racing 65 yards for a touchdown.


OU is P.U.

Oklahoma endured another disappointment on the same field where the Sooners lost a classic Fiesta Bowl to Boise State one year ago. The Sooners have dropped four straight BCS games.

BCS bowl Opp Result
'08 Fiesta WVU L, 48-28
'07 Fiesta Boise St. L, 43-42*
'05 Orange USC L, 55-19
'04 Sugar LSU L, 21-14



- The Big Magnificent Tuna continues his Scorched Earth March to being head coach......



Cameron's firing continues Miami's upheaval under Parcells
Associated Press

Updated: January 3, 2008, 10:59 AM ET

DAVIE, Fla. -- Cam Cameron was fired as the Miami Dolphins' coach Thursday by new boss Bill Parcells after plunging to an 0-13 start in his first year on the job and finishing with just one victory.

The dismissal comes three days after Parcells ousted general manager Randy Mueller and means the reeling franchise will have its fifth coach in five seasons.

Parcells began work Thursday as executive vice president of football operations and quickly concluded the Dolphins need another fresh start.

It has been 37 years since the Dolphins fired a coach. But they never finished 1-15 before.

Cameron was on the job 11 months before he earned his first victory as an NFL head coach. Until Miami beat Baltimore in overtime Dec. 16, he was in danger of becoming the first coach to go 0-16.

Miami has missed the playoffs six consecutive seasons, a franchise record.

Cameron signed a four-year contract in January. Owner Wayne Huizenga hired him over at least 12 other candidates after a two-week coaching search, the most extensive since the franchise's first season in 1966.

The early front-runner to replace Cameron is Cowboys assistant head coach Tony Sparano. He's scheduled to interview Friday for the head-coaching vacancy in Atlanta.

Other coaches -- including some good ones -- have been fired after only one season with a team. The list includes Cameron mentor Marty Schottenheimer (Washington in 2001), Art Shell (Oakland in 2006) and Pete Carroll (New York Jets in 1994).

Cameron maintained a consistently low-key demeanor with the media and his team. The even-keel approach won praise from the locker room during training camp, but as losses mounted, players became coy when asked if they believed in Cameron.

He was hired after five years as offensive coordinator for the high-scoring San Diego Chargers, and the Dolphins' offense showed improvement early in the season. But when John Beck became the third starter at quarterback this year, the unit failed to score a touchdown in three consecutive games, and the rookie returned to the bench.

Cameron took over a team that had gone 19-29 the previous three years and was in decline following a series of bad drafts. Poor depth made this year's wave of injuries catastrophic.

Running back Ronnie Brown led the league in yards from scrimmage when he was sidelined for the season by a knee injury, and Green and linebacker Zach Thomas also went on injured reserve. When 2002 NFL rushing champion Ricky Williams returned from a suspension, he lasted only six carries before a chest injury ended his season.

In addition, top receiver Chris Chambers was traded after six games.

The coach's office became a revolving door in 2004, when Dave Wannstedt quit after nine games and was replaced by Jim Bates. Nick Saban became the coach in 2005 but lasted only two years before leaving for Alabama, and he was succeeded by Cameron.

Seven coaches started a season with a team that went 1-15, and only two returned the following year. Jimmy Johnson went 1-15 his first season in Dallas in 1989 but soon was winning Super Bowls, and Mike Riley remained with San Diego despite winning only once in 2000.

Cameron's only other head coaching job was at Indiana, where he was fired after five seasons. His career record as a head coach is 19-52.

Screw the NFL

- Bobby Petrino jumps ship from the No Fun League to Arkansas. Just proves again that even 2nd tier college jobs are light years better than NFL jobs.

I'm not defending these coaches like Spurrier, Saban, Petrino. I think they're idiots for even jumping to the NFL to begin with. But it adds to my ongoing disgust of the NFL. It's run by communists, it's more powerful than it needs to be, the public is blind and somehow obsessed with it, it's been saved by fantasy football, and outside of 1-2 games a weekend, they're all snoozer matchups.

All the coaches are retreads and no names, and you never know coaches around the league from year to year. You can't build teams anymore, you draft a guy and in 3 years he's gone. The salary cap handcuffs you. The games are on Sundays. The ticket prices are in the 100s. The clock doesn't stop at first downs because they have to have games end at 3 hours to usher in a new set of games. Comebacks are next to impossible. Screw the NFL.

Falcons' Petrino resigns, is hired as Arkansas head coach

11:16 PM CST on Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Associated Press

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Bobby Petrino was hired Tuesday as the football coach at Arkansas, capping a whirlwind day in which he stunningly resigned from the Atlanta Falcons after just 13 games.

Petrino succeeds Houston Nutt, who stepped down at Arkansas two weeks ago and became the head coach at Mississippi. Petrino was introduced as the Razorbacks coach by incoming athletic director Jeff Long at a late-night news conference.

“It is a tremendous honor for me to be named the 30th head coach at Arkansas, particularly on a night when we honored coach (Frank) Broyles for his 50 years service,” Petrino said, referring to former head coach and outgoing athletic director Frank Broyles. “He's such a legend and I can't wait to develop a friendship with him.”

In January, Petrino left as head coach at Louisville to take over in Atlanta, agreeing to a five-year, $24 million contract handed out by a team that felt he could help Michael Vick reach his full potential.

However, the star quarterback came under investigation for a grisly dogfighting operation that led him to plead guilty to federal charges. On Monday Vick was sentenced Monday to 23 months in prison without ever taking a snap for Petrino.

On Monday night, the Falcons lost to New Orleans 34-14, and hours later Petrino left the team with a 3-10 record to return to the college ranks.

“Today was a day of decision,” Petrino said. “It was difficult on one side, very easy on the other. It was difficult to leave Atlanta, the staff, players, fans. The timing of it probably is the thing that made it most difficult. Coming to Arkansas was the easy part.”

Arkansas had been looking for a coach for two weeks to replace Nutt, who resigned after a tumultuous season of his own. The Razorbacks came close to hiring Wake Forest's Jim Grobe last week, but Grobe remained with the Demon Deacons and Arkansas fans had to wonder whether the school could attract a big-name coach.

In Petrino, the Razorbacks found one. Petrino went 41-9 in four years at Louisville, coaching some of the highest-scoring teams in the country before leaving in January to join the Falcons.

Petrino received a standing ovation from the Arkansas supporters who came to his introductory news conference.

“Coach, this is just the tip of the iceberg,” chancellor John White announced.

Petrino's stint was one of the shortest for a non-interim coach since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. Pete McCulley was fired after starting out 1-8 with San Francisco in 1978, and Sid Gillman lasted only 10 games in his second stint as San Diego coach, going 4-6 in 1971 before quitting.

In an interesting twist, Lou Holtz coached the New York Jets for 13 games in 1976. He went 3-10, then left the team with one game remaining to become the coach at Arkansas.

Atlanta owner Arthur Blank and general manager Rich McKay were scheduled to hold a news conference Wednesday. There was no immediate word on who would take over for the team's final three games.

After losing Vick, Bobby Petrino tried three quarterbacks without success. The Falcons have lost four straight, all by double-digit margins, and are assured of the 32nd season of .500 or worse in their 42-year history.

“Anytime you're without one of the best athletes in the National Football League, it's going to be tough,” cornerback DeAngelo Hall said earlier in the season. “Take Peyton Manning from the Colts, and they'll go through a little slump.”

Arkansas played in the Southeastern Conference championship game in 2006, but the Razorbacks finished that season with three straight losses and Nutt faced unrest from fans and dissension in the program.

Fans used the Freedom of Information Act to investigate Nutt's cell phone records. As the team struggled this year, planes were spotted at games towing anti-Nutt banners.

This season started with Nutt's longterm status shaky, and the mood in Arkansas worsened when the Razorbacks began the SEC season 0-3. They finished strong, beating then-No. 1 LSU in their regular-season finale to go 8-4.

However, within days of one of his biggest victories at Arkansas, Nutt departed and defensive coordinator Reggie Herring was named interim coach.

Herring will coach the 25th-ranked Razorbacks when they face No. 7 Missouri in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 1. Then Petrino is the only person in charge.

“I knew I wanted to come back and coach in college football,” Petrino said. “I'm very excited to get back and work with the student athlete.”



- Another MLB gang bang of free agent signings leaves the Rangers sitting in the corner of the room playing with themselves. Japanese corner outfielder signs with the Cubs. And for a reasonable $12 mil a year. Would have been a nice, affordable option for the weakest outfield in the majors, and probably a top 5 worst 3-5 hitting lineup in the league as well. Why not sign this guy for 4 years at below market value, give yourself some extra development time for your outfielders in the minors, and bolster your outfield without breaking the bank? I hate Tom Hicks.



Japanese star Fukudome coming to Chicago to play for Cubs

CHICAGO -- Japanese outfielder Kosuke Fukudome and the Chicago Cubs reached a preliminary agreement Tuesday on a $48 million, four-year contract.

The deal is subject to a physical, according to a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made. The agreement could be finalized as early as Wednesday.

ESPN 1000 radio in Chicago first reported the agreement.

Fukudome was considered one of the best outfielders in Japanese baseball. The 30-year-old slugger was a key member of the Japan team that won the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March 2006.

He had surgery on his right elbow in August and sat out the Japan Series, but has 192 homers and a .305 batting average over nine seasons with the Chunichi Dragons, who won their first championship in 53 years on Nov. 2.

After becoming a free agent, Fukudome drew interest from the Cubs, San Diego Padres and White Sox.

He is expected to play right field for the Cubs, who traded outfielder Jacque Jones to Detroit this offseason and declined their contract option on veteran Cliff Floyd.

All-Star slugger Alfonso Soriano returns in left and speedy prospect Felix Pie is expected to take over in center after shuttling between the majors and minors this season. The Cubs hope Fukudome will provide the consistent left-handed bat they seek to go along with righties Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee.

Chicago won the NL Central title last season before being swept by Arizona in the first round of the playoffs.

Fukudome was the 2006 Central League MVP, batting .351 with 31 homers and 104 RBIs. He recently told the Dragons he wouldn't return next season, saying he wanted to move to the major leagues.



- Very cool time-waste. Although I've run this many times and I don't agree with the results at all.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls07/bracket

This is getting bad

- Shoddy defense. A 2-guard blowing them up. Settling for a lot of jump shots. The theme continues.

Nuggets add to Dallas Mavericks' misery

01:20 AM CST on Friday, December 7, 2007
By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News
esefko@dallasnews.com

The Mavericks' season has been herky-jerky, full of stops and starts.

On Thursday night, it was all that, but without the stops.

The defense couldn't keep Denver's whirling, Allen Iverson-led offense from piling up points and, in the end, a victory as the Nuggets peppered the Mavericks, 122-109, in a game that was a direct descendant of the shootout days of the 1980s.

By the time the crowd at American Airlines Center dwindled in the final minutes, it was clear these Mavericks are flat-out bad right now. They have lost six out of nine, including three of the last four. Too many players are playing below expectations.

"They're not very pretty right now," president Donnie Nelson said. "But they're ours, and we love them."

That was Nelson's way of saying there will be no overreaction to the Mavericks' disjointed play through the first quarter of the season. So drop those ideas of Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd or Shaquille O'Neal.

Instead, the Mavericks will concentrate on what it's going to take to pull out of this dreadful tailspin. They surrendered a season-high in points, forced only eight Denver turnovers, suffered 19 giveaways of their own and shot only 33.3 percent in the fourth quarter, when the game was still undecided.

Dirk Nowitzki (32 points, 12 rebounds) and Jerry Stackhouse (23 points, seven rebounds, five assists) had strong games, but anything the Mavericks did on the offensive end was wiped out with their lack of defense.

"It was a layup drill out there," Nowitzki said. "They got whatever they wanted. At no point in the game I thought we could really stop them."

Least of all when they were still in the game. A Jason Terry 3-pointer cut Denver's lead to 90-89 with 1:44 to go in the third quarter. Yes, the third quarter – a testament to the sloppy defense on both sides.

The difference was Denver's defense actually got serious the rest of the way.

Denver scored on its last four possessions of the third quarter and four of its first five in the fourth quarter to go up, 107-94. The Mavericks got no closer than nine points the rest of the way. Iverson finished with 35 points, 12 assists and six steals. Carmelo Anthony had a poor shooting night, but ended with 23 points. Linas Kleiza had 23 points off the bench for the Nuggets.

"Just got to fight through it," coach Avery Johnson said of what the Mavericks have to do. "We got to take a little time and refocus and reenergize and get back after it. The men are up for the challenge. They're disappointed. We're all disappointed. They don't want to play this way, but they'll keep fighting."

Not all of the problems were on defense. With five minutes left in the first half, Nowitzki was 7-for-9 from the field and everybody else was 7-for-24. Josh Howard fought foul problems, and Devin Harris and Terry were a combined 7-for-21 from the floor.

But nothing could overshadow the soft defense.

"Another hot player kind of burned us off the dribble, and we just got to take a little more pride in getting that guy stopped," Johnson said. "We just don't have that consistent attitude on defense. That's something we've always taken pride in. Right now, we're just trying to get one thing we can hang our hat on."

The Mavericks are 12-8. At one point last season, they were 35-8, although that wasn't such a great omen of things to come, either.

"Obviously, this is not the way we wanted to start the season," Nowitzki said. "But we're looking forward to the rest of the season. It can only get better."





- The Rangers sit in corner and pleasure themselves while other teams gang-bang free agents on the bed.



Texas Rangers shop but avoid spending spree

01:26 AM CST on Friday, December 7, 2007
By EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News
egrant@dallasnews.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Rangers came to the Winter Meetings with one philosophical rule: They would not allow themselves to be price-gouged.

And, if had not been for those room service quesadillas, they might have been able to pronounce themselves completely virtuous for the week. While the club came away with role-player Chris Shelton and five minor leaguers (thanks to the minor league phase of Thursday's Rule 5 draft), they did hold to their philosophy.

General manager Jon Daniels did pony up for the quesadillas, but he wouldn't go to three or four years for center fielder Andruw Jones. He hasn't given up the guarantee of a second year to any of the free agent relievers or corner outfielders to whom he's talked with. He wouldn't give up a package of his top, most-advanced prospects to make trade talks for a young center fielder more likely. And he wasn't about to empty the farm system to get into the Johan Santana bidding.

Daniels checked on every young high-ceiling outfielder who might be available on the market, from Adam Jones to Josh Hamilton, without getting very far. Daniels said upgrading the outfield remains "on the front-burner." That said, if the Rangers make a move this week, it's more likely to be a one-year deal for a reliever.

The Rangers have handed out one-year offers to both La Troy Hawkins and Eric Gagne, but neither has bitten. Daniels' comments Thursday suggested he has placed a deadline on accepting current offers.

"We're hoping to get some closure on some of these things in the next couple of days," he said. "Some things have started to pick up with some trades being made and signings being made."

Asked if "closure" meant that deadlines had been placed on offers, Daniels repeated the Rangers were hoping to get "closure" on those situations.

Besides, the Rangers have already offered Gagne a two-year deal and were turned down. They extended that offer shortly before trading Gagne to Boston in July. The offer included two guaranteed years and two option years.

"We're only planning on guaranteeing one year in this market," Daniels said of the free agent market in general.

The Rangers were more willing to do a two-year deal for Jones. But agent Scott Boras told Daniels the price for switching leagues from the NL to the AL had to include a longer commitment. The Rangers made it clear that Torii Hunter was the only center fielder on the free agent market in whom they were interested in on a long-term deal.

"On a short-term deal, he wasn't willing to go the American League," Daniels said. "He didn't want to change leagues and have that adjustment period."

The other outfield target in whom the Rangers might be willing to go beyond two years: Japanese right fielder Kosuke Fukudome. But he still hasn't officially announced he will play in the U.S. Fukudome is believed to already have an offer of at least three years for $10 million per season from San Diego. The Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox have also expressed interest.

Next week, the free agent market could also expand. The Rangers have put off really pushing hard for a first baseman while they wait to see what happens with Seattle's Ben Broussard. Broussard could become a non-tendered free agent on Wednesday if Seattle fails to offer him arbitration. If the Mariners don't offer arbitration, Broussard would likely go to the top of the Rangers' list. If Seattle does tender him a contract, the Rangers will probably choose between Mike Lamb and Sean Casey.

Whoever ends up there will likely share time with Shelton, who was acquired late Wednesday. Shelton, 27, gives the Rangers a right-handed hitting option at first base.



- http://wheresgreggo.com/



Hammering Out a Deal
Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 02:20:11 PM

Lawyers. That’s the latest update on the continuing saga of host Greg Williams and KTCK-AM (1310, The Ticket). The wind has drastically changed directions since I wrote in my November 22 column that “The Hammer” would be back on the air at The Ticket.

At the time, Williams was determined to exorcise his drug demons and re-claim his spot on the afternoon show "The Hardline." And, at the time, station management was receptive -- or, at least, legally obligated to accept his return. Now? Don’t count on it.

After Thanksgiving, there was a volatile face-to-face meeting between Williams and co-workers. And, recently, Williams and station management have down-shifted from not being able to say too much to not being able to say anything at all. Which means only one thing: lawyers.

My theory is that the involved parties are negotiating a departure rather than a return -- and that this could drag out for weeks, likely into the new year. Co-host Mike Rhyner most recently addressed the situation on-air on November 26 when he hinted at the show’s future being dramatically altered from its past. “Now that it's out there,” Mike said, “we can talk about it. But we have to wait until we have a definitive resolution on this thing. When we do address it, we'll focus more on what's in front of us rather than what's gone on with this show in the past.”

This morning we received another subtle, yet seemingly definitive clue about Hammer’s life-support status when he wasn’t included in The Ticket’s annual “White Elephant” cross-dressing of hosts and shifts, set for next Wednesday. Afterward, morning hosts George Dunham and Craig Miller teased us with the promise of a phone call from a long-time Ticket voice upset at his exclusion. Hammer? Fake Greggo? Nope, just this guy. --Richie Whitt




- Sad tale in Omaha, and just another instance of how f'ed up people are these days. A first hand account from an officer.



Published Friday | December 7, 2007
Personal account: Officers came face to face with horror


Note: Omaha Police Sgt. Jeff Baker was in the first group of officers at Westroads Mall. The World-Herald asked for his perspective from the inside. Although he can't describe certain details because of the police investigation, he offered this account:

In excess of 100 mph on the Interstate en route to Westroads, time still seemed to crawl.

A feeling of dread crept over me with every update given on the radio.

Shots being fired in the mall???

Upon arrival and armed with a shotgun, I entered Von Maur not knowing what I'd encounter.

Twenty years in policing, 10 as a supervisor, didn't adequately prepare me for what I was about to see.

It was surreal.

The smell of gunfire in the air, like the aroma of firecrackers you shot off as a kid.

Shell casings on the marble floor.

Mortally wounded gunshot victims.

People running past, crying, sheer terror on their faces. Others frozen and cowering under displays and in fitting rooms.

Abandoned baby strollers, ladies' handbags, dropped cups of coffee and Christmas shopping bags littering the floor throughout the mall.

An alarm shrieking from overhead speakers, only partially drowning out Christmas music being played.

And all the while, you're searching, guns at the ready, certain the bad guy is going to pop up from a clothing rack and kill one of you before your buddies can react and fight back.

It was surreal, like living out a horror movie.

The mall swarmed with incoming officers from Omaha Police Department and other agencies.

I used the radio to warn responders that we might have a suspect on the loose with a high-powered rifle and that we had to lock down the mall.

There's no time to sit and ponder options.

You have to rely on your training and the officer next to you, so we broke into search elements to track down the suspect.

All the officers involved yesterday (Wednesday) knew he had to be stopped, and we were aware it was entirely possible that any one of us could be among those who would not go home to their families that night.

I experienced a wide array of emotions. Anxiety. Frustration. Sadness. Anger.

As the hours wore on and various personnel finished the task of clearing the mall and evacuating shoppers and employees, I felt exhaustion.

Being at such a high state of alert for so long is taxing, and I could see the emotional and physical drain on the faces of a number of police officers, federal agents and firefighters on the scene.

I got home about 9 p.m., roughly 13 hours after starting my shift.

The first thing I did was hug my wife and tell her I loved her. Then I prayed before managing about three hours of broken sleep.

Omaha shed its innocence yesterday, our own 9/11, and while this tragedy won't beat us as a city, I think Omahans will be forever changed by what happened.

It goes down as a dark day in our history, an abomination, the most senseless act of brutality I have ever seen.


- An employee account.

Mall employee describes deadly shooting

By SOPHIA TAREEN
Associated Press Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- For almost 30 harrowing minutes, Jodi Longmeyer recounted to a 911 dispatcher what she could see and hear of a teenage gunman's deadly rage in a mall department store - and then broke down, she said Friday.

As she told the dispatcher she could see Robert A. Hawkins' body lying next to a gun, her voice cracked, and she began to cry - a mixture of sadness and relief that the crisis was over. Nine people, including the gunman, were dead.

"I had seen more than I wanted to see," Longmeyer told NBC's "Today" show Friday, describing the call.

Longmeyer, who is a human resources manager at Von Maur, agonized with the operator while barricaded in an employee locker room at the store. Tapes of her 911 call were released Thursday, a day after the tragedy unfolded.

She saw the gunman step off the mall elevator on the third floor. He was dressed in dark clothes. She saw his gun, watched him open fire.

Then she hit the floor.

"I just saw someone up here in the locker room and she's got a lot of blood on the floor," Longmeyer told the dispatcher.

Minutes later, shaking and scared, Longmeyer was able to get into a security room, where she described what she could see on live surveillance of the department store.

She gasped.

"Oh my gosh," she told the dispatcher. "It looks like the gun is lying over by customer service. It looks like he might have killed himself," Longmeyer said, her voice rising as she started to sob.

Longmeyer's account, one of more than a dozen 911 calls placed during Wednesday's shooting, offered new details about what happened inside the shopping mall on Omaha's west side.

New details also surfaced about the gunman.

State officials said Hawkins spent four years in a series of treatment centers, group homes and foster care after threatening to kill his stepmother in 2002.

Finally, in August 2006, social workers, the courts and his father all agreed: It was time for Hawkins to be released - nine months before he turned 19 and would have been required to leave anyway.

The group homes and treatment centers were for youths with substance abuse, mental or behavioral problems. Altogether, the state spent about $265,000 on Hawkins, officials said.

The aftermath of Wednesday's killings left some who knew Hawkins questioning if more should have been done.

"He should have gotten help, but I think he needed someone to help him and needed someone to be there when in the past he's said he wanted to kill himself," said Karissa Fox, who said she knew Hawkins through a friend. "Someone should have listened to him."

Todd Landry, state director of children and family services, said court records do not show precisely why Hawkins was released. But he said if Hawkins should not have been set free, an official would have raised a red flag.

"It was not a failure of the system to provide appropriate services," Landry said. "If that was an issue, any of the participants in the case would have brought that forward."

After reviewing surveillance tape, a suicide note and Hawkins' last conversations with those close to him, police said they don't know - and may never know - exactly why Hawkins went to the Von Maur store at Westroads Mall and opened fire.

But he clearly planned ahead, walking through the store, exiting, then returning a few minutes later with a gun concealed in a balled-up sweat shirt he was carrying, authorities said.

Police said they have found no connections between the 19-year-old and the six employees and two shoppers he killed. "The shooting victims were randomly selected," as was the location of the shooting, Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren said.

Acquaintances said that Hawkins was a drug user and that he had a history of depression. In 2005 and 2006, according to court records, he underwent psychiatric evaluations, the reasons for which Landry would not disclose, citing privacy rules.

In May 2002, he was sent to a treatment center in Waynesville, Mo., after threatening his stepmother. Four months later, a Nebraska court decided Hawkins' problems were serious enough that he should be under state supervision and made him a ward of the state.

He went through a series of institutions in Nebraska as he progressed through the system: months at a treatment center and group home in Omaha in 2003; time in a foster care program and treatment center in 2004 and 2005; then a felony drug-possession charge later in 2005. Landry said the court records do not identify the drug.

The drug charge was eventually dropped, but he was jailed in 2006 for not performing community service as required.

On Aug. 21, 2006, he was released from state custody.

Under state law, Landry said, wards are released when all sides - parents, courts, social workers - agree it is time for them to go. Once Hawkins was set free, he was entirely on his own. He was no longer under state supervision, and was not released into anyone's custody.

"When our role is ended, we try to step out," said Chris Peterson, director of the state Department of Health and Human Services.

About an hour before the shootings, Hawkins called Debora Maruca-Kovac, a woman who with her husband took Hawkins into their home because he had no other place to live. He told her he had written a suicide note, Maruca-Kovac said. In the note, Hawkins wrote that he was "sorry for everything" and would not be a burden on his family anymore.

The shoppers killed were Gary Scharf, 48, of Lincoln, and John McDonald, 65, of Council Bluffs, Iowa. The employees killed were Angie Schuster, 36; Maggie Webb, 24; Janet Jorgensen, 66; Diane Trent, 53; Gary Joy, 56; and Beverly Flynn, 47, all of Omaha.

Also Thursday, Bellevue police arrested a 17-year-old friend of Hawkins who they said threatened to kill a teenage girl who had made remarks about Hawkins that offended his friend, Chief John Stacey said.

The teen was being held in a juvenile detention center on suspicion of making terroristic threats, Stacey said. Police found a rifle and two shotguns at the teen's house, weapons he had access to, the chief said.



- The 911 call.



911 calls show fear, chaos during mall shooting

OMAHA, Nebraska (CNN) -- Dozens of calls flooded the Omaha Police Department's 911 emergency line after a gunman opened fire inside the city's Westroads Mall, with witnesses calling in tones that ranged from almost matter-of-fact to near terror.

I haven't seen anything. I'm hiding in a clothes rack," a woman said after a dispatcher asked her for a description of the shooter. "I mean, there's been like 50 gunshots."

In one of the recordings, provided to CNN by the police department, a rapid burst of three gunshots can be heard, followed by two more a moment later before the line goes dead.

A dispatcher asked one caller to move away from a woman shouting in the background.

"Oh Lord God help us," the woman can be heard screaming. Hear some of the 911 calls »

"She said there is a bunch of people shot," the caller says.

Robert Hawkins, 19, killed six employees and two customers of Von Maur department store on Wednesday before turning his AK-47 rifle on himself.

Two employees remained hospitalized Thursday, one with critical injuries and one in serious condition.

A woman who called 911 before ducking into a security office in the store said she heard the gunman demand that a vault be opened near the store's customer service area.

Police have not described the shooting as a robbery attempt, saying Thursday they don't know why Hawkins chose the store as a target.

The caller described the shooter as having "a very large gun" and said he came out of an elevator on the store's third floor and began firing shots into the air.

"I heard the gunshots and I got down as soon as possible because I've got kids," she said.

Later, she told the dispatcher she'd moved into the security office -- where she appears to have seen Hawkins' dead body on a surveillance camera.

"Oh my gosh! It looks like the gun is laying over by customer service -- it looks like he might have killed himself," she said, breaking into tears. "I see him laying by the gun!"

Police said Thursday that Hawkins had had "some mental health problems," including thoughts of suicide. He had lost his job and recently broken up with his girlfriend, according to a family friend.




- The best channel on TV looks back at WWII. I have never seen a channel with more quality programming. Not your generic documentary station, everything is well done and with footage you won't find anywhere else.



How It Was: Attack on Pearl Harbor [TV-14 V Ratings N/A]
Wednesday, December 5, 2007, at 09P
It was an event that devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet killing thousands of American servicemen and thrusting America into World War Two. The story has been told many times, but the essential reality of that day can only be found on the edges of history. Anchored by dramatic eyewitness accounts, expert testimony, forgotten artifacts and rarely seen images, National Geographic Channels As it Was: Attack on Pearl Harbor presents an American nightmare as youve never seen it before from the decks of U.S. battleships to the cockpits of Japanese airplanes to the propaganda campaign triggered by the attack to the tangible, physical scars that still exist today.

How It Was: Battle for Iwo Jima [TV-14 V Ratings N/A]
Wednesday, December 5, 2007, at 10P
During World War Two, the battle of Iwo Jima was a brutal and unforgiving fight to the death resulting in the highest single event casualty rate in Marine Corps history. The event was immortalized by a photograph of the American flag being raised on Mt. Suribachi the inspiration for the Marine Corps War Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. But there is much more to Iwo Jima than a single image. National Geographic Channels Battle for Iwo Jima will change your perceptions about one of the decisive battles in the Pacific campaign. This new examination of startling color film footage and dramatic eyewitness testimony is highlighted by a rare trip to the remote island where more than 25,000 American and Japanese soldiers died during five weeks of horrific combat.

An ill wind blowing

- Multiple things that frustrate and I hope I'm not knee jerking. This is based on the start of the season and what I have seen -

1) I'm sounding the alarm on Dirk. He has got caught up too much in Avery's new plan. He has forgotten that HE'S the MVP, HE'S the superstar, and HE should own the 4th quarter. It's fine that he drifts in and out in quarters 1-3 and defers to teammates, in fact this is what has made them successful in the past few years. But he needs to realize that he's Dirk and they're not. He looks out of sync, and out of place. I don't think he's comfortable with this new role/team philosophy.

2) The offense looks horrible without Devin Harris in. There's no rhythym, no flow, no speed to keep up with the top PG's of the league.

3) Once again they get exposed athletically at the 2 guard. They haven't looked right on defense all year. Defense carries you to strong play on the road. They're now 4-6 on the road, with 3 losses to Eastern Conference bottom feeders. That should sound an alarm right there.

4) Josh Howard needs to learn how to score in the 2nd half. This would be ok if Dirk steps up in the 2nd half (like they've been doing for the past 2-3 years), but this year, sleepy Dirk decides to float all game now. It used to be Howard in the 1st half, Dirk in the 2nd. Now the latter is non-existent.

5) I hope this isn't true, but this team's best chance with Dirk in his prime was 04-05 (loss to Phoenix in Conf Semis), 05-06 (lost in Finals), and 06-07 (lost in 1st round). The window of having their superstar be able to lead them to a title may have been shut significantly.

6) They could be the 2000's version of the 90's Seattle Supersonics......

7) Getting bad flashbacks of 03-04, where they had a lot of weapons on offense and Dirk didn't shoot as much, wasn't aggressive, the team played horrible on the road, the defense was terrible, and San Antonio dominated them.



- Without Tim Duncan, against a team they usually can take care of, they still lose. Pitiful. Dallas-Ex Marc the troll Stein bangs it home about Dirk.

Why Dirk Needs To Shoot More

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com

SAN ANTONIO -- After giving the home team what he and Tim Duncan normally supply offensively, Manu Ginobili felt helpless when the ball found Dirk Nowitzki in the corner.

"I was holding my breath," Ginobili said. "Definitely."

As for the Dallas perspective …

"I was running back to the locker room," Jason Terry said. "I bet nine times out of 10 he's going to make that shot."

The reaction on both sides of the biggest rivalry in Texas was grand surprise Wednesday night. Nowitzki was presented with a great look on a game-winning triple at the buzzer and somehow managed to leave it short, preserving a gutsy (and chippy) 97-95 victory for the home team at the AT&T Center, with Duncan watching it all in a blazer and jeans.

Truth is, though, that there were bigger surprises in this one. Much bigger.

Exhibit A: Nowitzki had only 11 field-goal attempts and just four in the fourth quarter, or one less than Mavs newcomer Brandon Bass.

Exhibit B: Mavs coach Avery Johnson volunteered almost immediately in his post-game remarks that Nowitzki was the second option on the play, behind Josh Howard.

Wait a second.

Second option?

Nowitzki's sluggish start has consumed almost one-fourth of the season and finds him connecting on just 27.3 percent of his 3-point attempts, which doesn't seem possible for a shooter of his pedigree, someone who just posted three straight seasons in the .400 Club from deep. So current form tells us that the miss wasn't all that surprising, especially since Nowitzki missed a similar 3 at the end of regulation that could have beaten New Orleans as recently as Saturday night.

The reigning MVP can't duck blame here. Since his first-round nightmare against Golden State, Nowitzki is seeing more double-teams and traps from the baseline and swarms from smaller defenders. But he's been too passive at times in response. And he knows it.

"I'm still trying to figure it out," he said.

However …

As a frequent Mavs observer, I'd say it's time for Johnson to rethink his equal-opportunity offense and start giving Nowitzki more touches. Keep trying to hold his minutes down, yes, but ask him to be even more involved than usual when he's out there. One obvious way to help Nowitzki shake this malaise is to force feed him out of it by calling more plays for him.

Calling the game's biggest play for Nowitzki, at the very least, would be a good start.

"He's still climbing up the mountain right now," Johnson said. "He's going to get it going. And once he gets it going, we know what he can do."

History says so, too. It's difficult to envision Nowitzki's percentage on 3s staying anywhere close to where it's been, since he's only the sweetest shooting 7-footer of all-time.

But it's worth noting that this wasn't the first time in the Mavs' 19 games that Bass -- a fantastic free-agent find, don't get me wrong, who supplied 18 points and six boards in 26 productive minutes here -- has been featured for a spell in the fourth quarter. Which should be Nowitzki Time.

You wouldn't have been thrown by anything San Antonio did without Duncan in moving to 16-3. Long before he set up Nowitzki's chance to be the hero with 10 straight points in the final 2:23, Jason Terry felled Tony Parker and Ginobili with hard fouls that enraged the hosts. But Ginobili typically responds to rough stuff better than anyone and did so again, throwing down a memorable dunk in traffic halfway through the third quarter and capping that 16-point period with an uncontested 3 that enraged Johnson. Relinquishing his sixth-man role to start in Duncan's place, Ginobili was so hot in a 23-point second half that the Mavs (12-7) actually ran three defenders at him at one stage, making you wonder how Ginobili was ever a candidate to join Duncan in street clothes because of a sprained finger on his shooting hand.

Yet it's a borderline shocker to hear that Nowitzki -- going for the tie or the win on an inbounds play against their biggest rivals -- was Johnson's second choice. As a matter of confidence, if nothing else.

Isn't it?

"It's a shot that [I've] got to make," Nowitzki said, rapping only himself for botching the finish after he unexpectedly got himself open in the corner by running "the wrong route."

"Hopefully we as a team and I get better from month to month and we'll be there at the end."



- Stars lose.



Dallas Stars can't catch up to Sharks in 3-2 loss


12:08 AM CST on Thursday, December 6, 2007
By CHUCK CARLTON / The Dallas Morning News
ccarlton@dallasnews.com

On the scoreboard, the Stars were always chasing the San Jose Sharks.

It felt that way on the ice, too. And when Joe Thornton saw two plays no one else did, the Stars were trying to explain a 3-2 loss Wednesday in their homecoming from a six-game road trip.

"Our ability to make plays and pass and skate with the puck was really ineffective tonight and below average," Mike Modano said. "We just didn't have much puck possession. It seemed like most of the night we were chasing it around. By the time you get it, you're too tired to do anything with it anyways."

The Sharks outshot the Stars 28-19 and never trailed.

"Five-on-five, we just need to be better and get the pucks out of our zone and into theirs and create opportunities," Stu Barnes said.

The game had significant ramifications on the Pacific Division, more than the standings reflected on first glance.

The Sharks (13-8-4) moved within two points of the Stars despite having played three fewer games.

And the Pacific just got even more competitive. Defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim got a boost with the announced return of defenseman Scott Niedermayer.

Thornton was the game's unquestioned dominant force and first star, with two assists and the game-winning goal at 11:24 of the third period.

He dumped the puck into the trapezoidal area of the Stars zone where goaltender Marty Turco was not allowed to play the puck.

Milan Michalek won the race to the loose puck and was able to shovel the pass to Thornton, who scored rumbling to the Stars' net.

"He's a rare combination of big and unbelievable skill, great hands, a great shot," Barnes said of Thornton, who has 34 points in 26 games. "A great player and a great game."

The Stars' best chance for a tie came with less than four minutes to play. San Jose's Mike Grier was called for interference – the first Sharks penalty of the game – and Craig Rivet sent the puck over the glass on the penalty-kill for a delay of game.

But even with a two-man advantage for 47 seconds, the Stars were able to get the tying score against San Jose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov.

"We had a couple of point-blank chances on the 5-on-3 and couldn't convert, which was certainly frustrating," Stars coach Dave Tippett said.

Modano, whose goal had given the Stars a tie earlier in the third period, suggested the timing was bad. The ice was beat up and snowy late, Modano said, making it difficult to set up a perfect play on the two-man advantage.

The Sharks had gotten the game's first five power plays, scoring when Jonathan Cheechoo's pass deflected off Stars defenseman Nicklas Grossman for the game's first goal.



- The theme of kick ass off-seasons continues for the Rangers. You gotta love the commitment to winning. This guy will sell some tickets and be worth at least 10 wins.



Texas Rangers acquire infielder Shelton from Tigers

01:19 AM CST on Thursday, December 6, 2007
By EVAN GRANT / The Dallas Morning News
egrant@dallasnews.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – If the Rangers' management team and expeditionary force can find their way out of the cavernous labyrinth known as the Gaylord Opryland Resort today, the winter meetings will officially end.

At least, the club will have a little something to show for the month it spent in Nashville the last three days. On Wednesday night, the team completed a trade with Detroit that sent bypassed outfielder Freddy Guzman to the Tigers for one-time Rangers killer Chris Shelton.

Hey, we said it was a little something.

Shelton, 27, has not played in the majors since being sent down in July 2006. He began that season with 10 home runs and a .326 average in April. It included a series in which he went 8-for-15 against the Rangers with three homers and seven RBIs.

In Triple-A Toledo last season, he hit .269 with 14 homers and 65 RBIs

Shelton could give the Rangers some right-handed-hitting depth at first base and in the outfield. The club is looking at three left-handed options at first base: Frank Catalanotto and free agents Sean Casey and Mike Lamb.

And unless something happens in the waning moments of the meetings, Shelton will represent the entirety of the Rangers' Nashville haul.

Oh, the club has "kicked the tires" on lots of situations. But all they have to show for the tire kicking is sore toes and a lot of clarity. So they have that going for them.

"We said that this was probably not going to be our year to make a big, splashy kind of move," general manager Jon Daniels said. "We're realistic about our situation.

"We've gotten a lot more information and flushed out some options, gotten some clarity of cost and gotten a realistic sense of what it would take to make some deals," Daniels said. "I'm not optimistic [about other moves]."

The Rangers have had ongoing dialogue with agent Larry Reynolds, who represents reliever LaTroy Hawkins, and they were supposed to meet with Eric Gagne's agent, Scott Boras, Wednesday night.

Daniels acknowledged interest in signing more than one reliever to add to what could be a very crowded bullpen. C.J. Wilson, Joaquin Benoit, Frank Francisco and Akinori Otsuka all seem to have spots if healthy. There will be at least one lefty, probably John Rheinecker. Signing Hawkins and Gagne would leave little room for Kameron Loe, Wes Littleton and Scott Feldman. It would also probably mean not bringing back long reliever Jamey Wright.

The club has also held internal discussions about outfield options Corey Patterson and Milton Bradley. The Rangers were expected to discuss Patterson in more depth with Boras on Wednesday. The Rangers are awaiting a clearer medical picture on Bradley, who is recovering from knee surgery, before proceeding on him.

"I'd be very comfortable with Milton Bradley," manager Ron Washington said. "If he becomes available to us, I'd certainly like to have him."

Other expeditions have not progressed much. For the second time in two weeks, the Rangers explored getting involved in the race for Johan Santana, but that went nowhere. The Rangers are not interested in pitcher Mark Prior. They have apparently turned away from veteran free-agent center fielders who might require more than a one-year commitment, such as Mike Cameron and Aaron Rowand. They found the asking price too high – in terms of young starting pitching – to make a serious play for a younger center fielder.

They've fielded some calls about Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla, but they are not interested in straight salary dump trades right now.

In Nashville, the Rangers got Shelton and clarity. So, they've got that going for them.




- Rhyner's not dead, he's alive and well singing for Petty Theft.



Dallas Talk Radio Drums Up Local Music Support

By Merritt Martin
Published: December 6, 2007

When I was 21, I had an apartment a half-block and one possible mugging away from Greenville Avenue. Social calendars wrapped around live music and, on shitty show nights like Mondays, drink specials. There was maybe—and I stress maybe—one night a week our social activities team, Quick Like Bunny (I'm so not lying, and I have the shirt to prove it), was not out spending hard-earned cash at the bar and merch booths. Back then, I could drink today's me under the table, smoke a pack and do it all again the next day. I learned that vodka doesn't leave trace stench like gin and earplugs are God's gift to music lovers.

It's different now. I've gotten older. I finally learned how to download music. TiVo has become a member of my household and the livers of QLB just aren't functioning at the rate they once were. We've grown up and slowed down.

But we haven't stopped. Thing is, I notice that while my circle of music fans has naturally slowed down with age and added responsibilities, music audiences in general also have gotten smaller. There are a few must-see/must-hear bands for everyone, but unless there's something like a charity tie-in or a local celeb to meet, people just don't seem as excited about music. That is, unless someone they trust tells them to be.

MySpace, blogs and, hell, papers like this one give readers on the low end of the age bracket their low-down. But I've found we aging hipsters find guidance on the radio. Sounds obvious enough, but I'm not talking about music formats. It's all talk.

Dedicated listeners of shows such as The Hardline and The Russ Martin Show get their daily dose of info from these beloved sources. Along the way, they get tips on what to listen to and—even if it means going to see a cover band—what to do come day's end.

Russ Martin, the head honcho of The Russ Martin Show on KLLI-105.3 FM, avoids taking any credit for influencing his listeners' entertainment choices (a surprise to those who are familiar with his slightly egotistical shtick). "As much as radio people think they are the vanguard of entertainment and music, for the most part, we're just background noise," he says.

Still, his listeners flock to see the Russ Martin Show Band (they benefit the Russ Martin Show Listeners Foundation, supporting the families of fallen police and firefighters). Their free Christmas show is Friday at House of Blues, and based on past RMSB events, it will be packed tighter than the Double Wide and Granada put together. Fans want to see their local celebs in action and will come out for a good cause. The band could be crap or absolutely stellar, but there's added excitement. It's not just a basic local show.

Mike Rhyner, from KTCK-1310 AM The Ticket's weekday drive time show The Hardline, is the lead member of Tom Petty cover band Petty Theft, which enjoyed a packed house at Sullivan's Steakhouse last Saturday night. The audience was a mix of McMansion-ed restaurant patrons (doing the patented housewife side-to-side during "American Girl") and Ticket P1s there to see Rhyner rock out. More important, though, is that listeners, who at one time would have chosen a Deep Ellum every-band over any cover band, were in a Tollway steakhouse to worship at the altar. A dozen guitars, two keyboards, pleated pants and leather vest accompanied their radio king, the Old Gray Wolf.

"We're just some old guys trying to have fun before we get put on the short bus," Rhyner says. "I think a goodly amount of people who come see the band are people who also listen to the radio station and listen to this show. And we have played a few show events, or a few radio station events, and I think that some of the people there who probably wouldn't be inclined to come see us became inclined to come see us elsewhere, after having seen us there. It's a nice dovetail."

The Hardline does more for local music than plug two or three Petty Theft shows each month. It provides music samples, info about local shows, general music news and even the occasional music history lesson during what has morphed from sports talk into all-out pop culture talk. "We do E-News every day. We do community quick hits every day. We do 'What's on Mike's Mind' every day. Any one of those things could turn toward [music]," Rhyner says. "About once every week or two we do new music...Whenever the other boys on the show are getting curious about a band from back in the day, they'll tell me to put together a 'What's the Deal With So-and-So.' We'll play some of their music, and I'll talk about what they did back in the day and what they meant back in the day, all that stuff."

Anyone who listens to The Hardline knows producer Danny Balis (bassist for local darlings Sorta) is the self-deprecating element of the show, and he hates it when the other guys talk about his band. "It's unfair to hundreds of other bands out there that don't have a media forum to shamelessly promote their stuff," Balis says. "I'm more interested in helping other artists than shoving my stupid crap down listeners' throats." Though he says he thinks The Hardline plays more new music than most music stations, Balis won't take undue credit for affecting show turnout.

"Just because we say it's good or suggest that people should attend a show, I think it might translate to a couple of new attendees, if any," Balis says. "Now, if we have some audio to play of a band, and they're good, it will be heard by 100,000-plus people. When we debuted the Redwalls and Midlake, the response was overwhelming. But, if you suck, you suck, and no matter what we say, people ain't coming out." Fair enough.

Rhyner agrees that while the show exposes new music, motivating listeners to get out to clubs requires more than a good play list. It's hard to persuade someone who would be just as happy listening to recorded music to see a show. "You gotta get off your ass to go, and you don't really have to get off your ass and get out of your pajamas or whatever to download something," he says. "And sometimes when you're out, you might think about something you heard us talk about, and you might wheel into Best Buy or wherever and buy the thing. But going to a show, as you well know, is an entirely different and more complicated proposition.

"I think that people base their willingness to go to shows on 30-second clips of a song they hear on iTunes rather than actually being adventurous and checking bands out sight unseen. Basically, people are fucking lazy," Balis says. "Me included."

That's truer and sadder than more of us would care to admit. But what comes first? The live experience or the download? How do you get people excited enough to get off their asses and go to a show and revive that grit we all had just a few years ago? Guilt everyone by tying every show to a charity event? Have a local celeb like Martin or Rhyner in every band? It's not possible.

Non-music shows like the Ticket's The Hardline and Dunham & Miller and Live 105's Russ Martin Show are the event guides to P1s who don't listen to music radio. And they may not think they make a big dent in suggesting and discussing goings-on in Dallas, but they do if just one more person shows up, even to a cover band's show. Because, schlock or not, going out to shows is addictive. And that's not a bad thing.

I'll just have to make sure my downloads are finished before I head out.




- Follow up to the D-Bag column in the Observer.



Douchebags in the Follow-Up Blog Item

Thu Dec 06, 2007 at 12:00:47 PM

I have so thoroughly enjoyed the barrage of mail and comments received about my $30,000 millionaire expose in last week's paper version of Unfair Park. Even (or especially) the part when a guy wrote in calling me a "jaded, man-hating cunt." I just wish he hadn't held back, you know? Oh, well. I needed a catchy name for my next blog, anyway.

The best part was hearing the first-person accounts of homo sapiens douchebagus interactions from across North Texas. You, brave readers, are to be commended for your courage and valor in dealing with douchebagus, who, as we all know, can be a difficult creature. But in reading these letters, I have gained a fair amount of sympathy (or maybe, empathy) for the $30k millionaire, which perhaps I didn't express enough of in the article. Are we not all victims of a consumeristic, materialistic society of judgmental pricks, striving to cover ourselves in whatever pre-packaged façade we find most appealing? If anybody wants to write 5,000 words on narcissistic functional alcoholic wannabe-hipster writers with inferiority complexes who still haven't gotten over the fact that they weren't even C-list popular in high school, I can totally hook you up with a good lead.

Nevertheless, I've hand-picked a few of the very best first-person accounts to post here that we may all further our education with regard to douchebagus. Knowledge is power, people.

Let's blow our load right up top with a letter from Eric in Dallas. Eric sent in this gem about his (good?) friend: "He is a real-life, text-book example of a $30,000 millionaire. Upon graduation from college, my friend moved to Dallas but was essentially unemployed for the better part of a year. He now has a job cold-calling unfortunate individuals who are about to default on their home mortgages and trying to get them to refinance. I do not know his exact salary but I estimate it is in the low $30s."

Eric's friend then "bought a $3,000 home-theater system that takes up most of the square footage in his small living room." As for nightlife, "He enjoys going out on weeknights, always dressed in designer jeans, shiny leather loafers, with a sports coat over a form-fitting t-shirt. He wears copious amounts of gel in his hair. His pride and joy is his 2008 GMC Yukon (leased), topped off with 22 inch rims." Eric was once told by his friend, "'Only 2 other people in Dallas have these rims, Tony Romo and one of the Dallas Stars”

But, according to Eric, "what really makes this guy a true $30K millionaire is the fact that he doesn’t know he is a $30K millionaire. He honestly thinks this is just how people live, from pay check to pay check, with no money in the bank, just paying the minimum every month on his credit cards. His goal is, of course, to have sex with women, preferably attractive ones." Unfortunately for Eric's friend, it seems "the market is flooded with $30K millionaires … he was depressed on account that he hadn’t been laid in 3 months. That was over 2 months ago and as far as I know, the dry spell continues."

Another of our faithful readers supervises a douchebagus in the workplace: "I have one that works for me that somehow was able to buy a 1000 square-foot townhouse [in Uptown.] Price tag: $325,000 American dollars. Salary: $48,000. He doesn't have any furniture."

And, a true treat from John in Dallas, regarding the sighting of female homo sapiens douchebagus: "I was having dinner at the bar in Primo's when this girl flashing her iPhone like a diamond asked about the George Saunders book I was reading. After I described a bit about it, she asked me what 'products' it made me want to buy. As you can imagine, this was about the most nonsensical comment I'd ever heard directed toward an innocent book of essays in my life. She then asked what time I had to work in the morning, and when I said, '8am,' you might have thought I told her I shop at Walmart or something."

A gentleman named Gabe had a case of mistaken BMW-identity with a douchebagus: "The other night leaving Mantus, at the valet stand, I encountered one of them. My car was brought up, and this budding 30K MM, grabbed his silicone breasted gold digga gf and made a beeline towards my car. I was pretty certain it was my car but he looked so confident walking towards it; I thought maybe I could of been mistaken. He got to my car and looked in and made a disgusted look on his face. t was one of those looks that you get when someone mentions your parents in the act of your conception. I said 'Is this your car or mine?'/ The 30K MM looked at me like I had said something blasphemous and replied, 'Nah, you kidding bro...mine has the Navi.'"

I heard from more than one letter writer about an apartment complex called Austin Ranch in the Colony. Reader Andrew calls Austin Ranch "a nest" for douchebagus and writes, "I used to live there. No joke, there was a guy renting above me (couldn't be paying more than $700 per month) that had two, brand-new cars: a BMW 745i and a Mercedes CLS 550. But, it gets even better: 1) he washed his cars himself, 2) he purchased two extra parking spaces in the garage to ensure his cars' safety, and 3) he parked his cars in the garage like they were on display at a car show."

Andrew had another encounter, "even better than that guy." His story: "The day I moved out, I ran into a $30K millionaire (frosted tips, white pants and sweater, big tinted shades) sitting on a curb outside the UPS store at The Ranch waiting for a cab. He asked for my help. His story was touching: he told me he had spent $500 at Dragonfly the night before on an Austin Ranch 'hottie' and was car-less to get home. He offered me $30 (lest he take a cab) to take him back to, get this, the Budget Inn on I-35. In typical douchebag fashion, he blamed his dire straits on 'the things hot chicks make you do, you know?' I said I don't. Then I got in my Acura TSX, drove away, and never felt so rich."

I would also be doing readers a disservice if I didn't point them in the direction of the scandalous DirtyBigD.com, an entire Web site dedicated to doing the kind of work I embarked on for "Douchebags in the Mist." But this is Douchebags On Your Computer Screen.

Do continue to send in your tips, insults and personal accounts. --Andrea Grimes




- Good ol Dwight, won't find these on CMT


- Great Vegas video here