Second Time the Charm

Felix Jones Breaks Off a 40-Yard Run In the Second Half. Jones had 94 yards for the game but injured his knee on the play.

Cowboys Shut Down Panthers in the Second Half to Win First Game in New Stadium, 21-7

The Dallas Cowboys rebounded after a slow start to steal a victory at home over the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football, Sept. 28. Dallas increased their overall record to 2-1 on the season even though they were being shut out at halftime 7-0. The Panthers (0-3) struggled mightily in the second half as the Cowboys scored 21 unanswered points on their way to victory.

Dallas’ running game was unstoppable again as they became the first Cowboys’ team since 1979 to record 2 straight 200+ yard rushing games. Felix Jones had 94 yards on 8 carries (11.8 yards per carry) and Tashard Choice had 82 yards and a touchdown as the Cowboys’ averaged 6.2 yards per carry as a team. Felix Jones became the first running back since Bo Jackson to achieve 400 career yards in less than 50 attempts. The offensive line was once again dominant at the line of scrimmage, bullying the Panthers’ defenders all game long.

The Dallas defense played a high-quality game for the first time all season. After going the first two games without recording a sack or causing a turnover; the Cowboys’ had three sacks, two forced fumbles (one recovery), and two interceptions. Two of those sacks, the fumble recovery, and one of those interceptions were a part of a second half in which the Dallas defense completed dominated the Panthers’ offense. The interception was Terrence Newman’s first of the season, and the 27-yard return for a touchdown was the second of his career. This put Dallas up 21-7 with 5:07 left in regulation. Rookie linebacker Victor Butler accounted for the two sacks (the first sacks of his 3 game career), including the forced fumble with 1:07 left to seal the victory. Carolina failed to register a first down in the second half until under 5 minutes left in the game.

Tony Romo had a bounce-back game, although he mostly just played the role of facilitator. Romo went 22-33 for 255 with no touchdowns or interceptions. Jason Witten led the way receiving for the Cowboys with 9 catches for 77 yard and Roy Williams had 4 catches for 75 yards in an overall balanced offensive effort.

It definitely wasn’t pretty, but the Dallas Cowboys badly needed this win as a second consecutive loss to break-in the new stadium would be nothing less than an embarrassment for a team with Super Bowl aspirations – especially to a struggling 0-2 Panthers’ team. But Dallas’ responded and gutted it out in the second half using a superior running game along with suffocating defense to pull out a desperately needed win.

The Cowboys’ are tied for second in the division with the Philadelphia Eagles at 2-1. Dallas’ next game is Oct. 4 at 3:15 pm, in Denver, against the Broncos.

Above Photo Copyright 2009 Associated Press

Dallas Mavericks Looking For a Point

The Dallas Mavericks acquired two point guards; Rodrigue Beaubois from France (pictured upper left) and Nick Calethes from Florida (pictured right) Thursday night, both by trade, in what was a guard heavy 1st round of the 2009 NBA Draft. 17 guards were taken in the 1st round alone.


Dallas acquired Rodrigue Beaubois through a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder in what was basically a one pick swap in which Dallas took Ohio State Center B.J. Mullins at #24 and OKC picked Beabois at #25 and then both teams swapped players. Dallas received a 2nd round pick in next years draft as part of the deal.

Beaubois is 21 years old, 6'1, and 182 lbs but has a 6'9 wingspan. In the French League last year he averaged 10 points, shot 47.5 % from the field, and had 2.3 assists while committing 1.9 turnovers. Beabois played 22.3 minutes per in 29 games. By all accounts he will not play in the NBA until at least next season. Dallas plans to let the Frenchman develop overseas. Overall a solid if not unspectacular pick as many mock drafts had Beaubois going in the 2nd round. Here is a scouting report from CBSsports.com.

The Mavericks acquired Nick Calathes through a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2nd round. Minnesota had already drafted 4 guards in the first round (PG's: Ricky Rubio, Johnny Flynn, and Ty Lawson; along with SG Wayne Ellington) when they drafted Calathes with their first pick of the 2nd round at #45. Dallas managed to trade for Calathes while only giving up a 2nd round draft pick in next years draft. Ironically, that second round pick is the pick Dallas got from Portland for moving down two spots (from #22 to #24) in the draft. Maybe that extra 2nd rounder wasn't so worthless after all.

Nick Calathes was named SEC co-freshman of the year for 2007-2008. Calathes also broke University of Florida records for assists and assists per game in his first two years. He is 6'5 and 188 lbs. His career averages at Florida are: 16.2 points per game, 5.3 rebounds, and 6.2 assists. Calathes, like Beaubois, figures to spend some time overseas before seeing action in the NBA. Unlike Beabois, Calathes has to spend at least 1 year in Greece after signing a contract with Panathinaikos. This was the biggest reason in which he fell to the 2nd round. CBSSports.com has the full scouting report.

Dallas was also able to keep their pick at #56 which was 6'9, 242 pound power forward Ahmad Nivins. Nivins played 4 years at St. Joseph's and averaged 19.2 points and 11.8 rebounds his senior season. Seems like a pretty decent player.

All-in-all Dallas had a solid draft on paper but it seems as though any type of contribution from their top two picks will have to wait at least 1 year.

This is not it for the Mavericks as the start of free agency is only 6 days away (July 1st). There are more deals to be done and I will try and keep you up to date with all of them.

Rangers Weather The Storm, Beat Yankees 7-3.

Texas 1st baseman Chris Davis celebrates after hitting a solo home run, Davis hit 2 home runs on the day to help the Rangers to victory.
The Texas Rangers weathered not only an actual storm (which delayed the start of the game 2 hours and 24 minutes) but a storm of Yankee hits (13 to be exact) to pull out a win.

Texas managed to knock Joba Chamberlain out of the game early after scoring 3 runs on him in only 4 innings of work. The Rangers then knocked around the New York bullpen to the tune of 4 more runs in their 4 innings of pitching. Yankees' relief pitcher Alfredo Aceves allowed 3 earned runs and saw his ERA jump from 1.84 to 3.24 and received the loss (3-1).

Ranger starting pitcher Kevin Millwood managed to get through 5.2 innings but faltered after the Rangers gave him a 3-0 lead after 4 innings. Millwood walked 4 batters, allowed 9 hits, and 3 earned runs. Jason Jennings relieved Millwood to get the final out of the top of the 5th and the first out of the 6th before his night was done. Jennings got the win (2-1). Texas managed to persevere through New York's 13 hits by turning 3 double plays on the game. New York left 12 runners on base for the game.

The Rangers bottom of the 1st started out with a triple from Ian Kinsler that turned out to be insignificant. Michael Young followed Kinsler with a grounder to the third base side. Kinsler tried to fake to home in order to create some hesitancy in New York 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez but his plan backfired as Rodriguez faked a throw to first and immediately ran at the 3rd base bag. A-Rod dove and touched the bag with the ball in his hand and in a close play Kinsler was out at 3rd on a fielder's choice. Amazing play by Rodriguez, somewhat of a head-scratching decision on Ian's part. Josh Hamilton came up next and hit into another fielder's choice, this time Young was out at second. The inning that started out with a runner on 3rd and 0 outs was now 2 outs and J-Ham on 1st. Luckily for the Rangers, hot hitting Nelson Cruz came up to bat next and knocked a double to left field that put runners on 2nd and 3rd. David Murphy followed with a walk to load the bases and then Marlon Byrd hit a 2-2 pitch to right field for a single. Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz both scored, giving the Rangers their first lead of the series at 2-0. Chris Davis followed with his 67th strikeout of the season to end the inning.

Texas struck again in the bottom of the 4th in their first at-bat of the inning. Chris Davis ended a 1 for 30 slump on an 0-1 pitch that he sent deep over the center field wall, making it 3-0 Rangers. That would be all for Texas though as Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out and Omar Vizquel and Ian Kinsler both flied out to end the inning.

The Yankees would strike back quickly in the top of the 5th. Kevin Millwood started off the inning strong as he got New York shortstop Derek Jeter to ground out and then left fielder Johnny Damon to fly out to get 2 quick outs. Unfortunately for the Rangers Ace, the first pitch Yankees 1st baseman Mark Texeira saw was driven deep to right field into the upper deck for a home run that put New York on the board 3-1. Yankees 3rd baseman Alex Rodriguez reached next on an infield single that bounced off of Millwood's hand, but that was all for New York as 2nd baseman Robinson Cano hit a liner to Ian Kinsler's glove to end the inning.

New York wasn't finished yet and continued their string of hits in the top of the 6th. Yankees center fielder Brett Gardner (who came into the game in the 1st inning after Melky Cabrera was injured chasing Ian Kinsler's triple) led off the inning with a single and then stole second base. New York had 5 steals and Gardner had 3 by himself for the game. Yankees DH Hideki Matsui followed with a double to right field that scored Gardner and reduced the Rangers lead to 3-2. Kevin Millwood got right fielder Nick Swisher to strike out but then allowed catcher Francisco Cervelli to single to center field scoring Matsui from 2nd base, and tying the game at 3-3. Derek Jeter followed by hitting into a fielder's choice in which Cervelli was out at second, New York was down to their final out of the inning. Jeter stole second but it didn't matter as Millwood walked Johnny Damon who would be the last batter he faced. Millwood was done after 5 2/3 innings with 2 on and 2 out and Jason Jennings was brought in to clean up his mess. Jennings made a great defensive play after Mark Texeira hit a weak ground ball down the first base line that Jennings charged and made a great throw to 1st to end the inning.

The Texas bottom of the 6th started out harmlessly with a David Murphy groundout to 2nd base. Marlon Byrd followed with a double down the right field line. Byrd was 2-4 on the day with 2 RBI's and 1 run. Chris Davis was next and struck out for his 68th of the season. Jarrod Saltalamacchia came up to bat next and delivered with a single to right field that scored Byrd and gave Texas the lead back at 4-3. Omar Vizquel fouled out to end the inning.

The bottom of the 7th started out quick for Texas after Ian Kinsler hit a single on the first pitch he saw and Michael Young hit a double on his first pitch which combined to end the night for Alfredo Aceves. Phil Coke relieved Aceves and the first batter he faced was Josh Hamilton. Hamilton grounded into a sacrifice fielder's choice that scored Kinsler from 3rd and made it 5-3 Rangers. Nelson Cruz was intentionally walked which led to David Murphy hitting a sac fly to center field that scored Michael Young from third and gave Texas even more distance from the Yankees on the scoreboard 6-3. Marlon Byrd flied out to end the inning.

Texas wasn't finished padding their lead yet and the bottom of the 8th started the same way the 4th did; with a Chris Davis home run. Davis took a 1-1 pitch deep over the right field that hit the Kia sign just below the upper deck. Davis was 2-4 on the day with 2 solo home runs and 2 strikeouts. Texas led 7-3 with no outs but the inning would end after a strikeout from Salty, a groundout by Vizquel, and a fly out by Ian Kinsler.

Frank Francisco came for the bottom of the 9th (even though it wasn't a save situation) and didn't allow the heart of the Yankees order to hit the ball beyond the infield. Francisco got Texeira to ground out to second, A-Rod to pop out to the short stop, and the only hit he allowed was an infield single to Robinson Cano. After getting behind in the count 3-0 to Brett Gardner, Francisco settled down and got 3 consecutive strikes looking to end the game.

Texas Wins 7-3

News and Notes:

• Texas is now 27-18, the best record in the American League.
• The Rangers now have a 4-game lead on the Los Angeles Angels after their loss against the Chicago White Sox 4-2.
• Texas has the best record in the American League and the 2nd best in the entire Major Leagues behind the Dodgers. (Didn't know if you saw that the first time and yes I know its early)
• Texas is tied with New York with the best road record in the American league at 12-11.
• Chris Davis hit his 11th and 12th home runs of the year and is now tied for the team lead with Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler. Each are tied for 5th in the American League.
• Rangers Closer Frank Francisco still has not allowed a run this year in 16 and 2/3 innings.

The final game of the New York-Texas 3-game series is tomorrow at 7:05 pm central time. It will be the Yankees final game in Arlington this season. The Rangers go to New York for a 3 game series starting next Tuesday (June 2nd).

Orlando Wins 116-114, Takes Commanding Lead 3-1.

LeBron James was spectacular again with 44 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists; but yet another amazing 3-pointer at the end of the game (4 seconds remaining in OT) couldn't save the Cavaliers as Orlando now has to win just 1 of the next 3 games to advance.

The Cleveland Cavaliers led by 8 at halftime but their lead had diminished by the 4th as Orlando (who began to take over in the second half) had chipped Cleveland's lead down to 1 at 79-78. The Magic got ahead by as much as 8 in the fourth but couldn't hold on late. Orlando was down 98-97 with 6 seconds left until Rashard Lewis made a turnaround 3-point jumper that gave the Magic a 100-98 lead with only 4 seconds remaining. Then the referee's got involved and bailed the Cavs out with less than a second remaining (0.5). LeBron James drove wildly to the basket and it appeared as though he had tripped over his own feet while simultaneously losing the ball and pushing his defender (Mickael Pietrus) to the ground. Of course, King James got the call and made both free throws including the second which hit every part of the rim before going in, tying the game at 100 all with 0.5 to go. Then, on the other end, Orlando had one last shot to prevent overtime. It appeared as though Dwight Howard was clearly fouled by Anderson Varejao on a lob attempt to the basket, but the refs swallowed their whistles and Overtime was guaranteed.

The OT period was extremely close and the largest lead was when Orlando pulled away and got up 111-105 with 1:12 remaining in overtime. LeBron James immediately brought the Cavs back to within 2 after he got a dunk and made 2 free throws in less than 30 seconds. Orlando responded by going into the paint to Dwight Howard who got fouled and made both of his free throws to give the Magic a 113-109 lead with 21 seconds remaining. Howard made another great play, this time on the defensive end on a James drive to the basket, as he completed capped LeBron which resulted in a jump ball. The Cavaliers managed to steal the tip from Orlando as Delonte West ended up with the ball. James subsequently missed a 3 pointer but Zydrunas Ilgauskas got the offensive rebound and was fouled. After 2 made free throws from Big Z with 7 seconds remaining made it 113-111 Magic, Cleveland quickly fouled Rashard Lewis on the in-bounds play with only 1 second going off the clock. Lewis made both free throws (making it 115-111) and the Cavs took a 20 second timeout with 6 seconds remaining on the game clock. Then it was time for another Horse shot from the King. LeBron James put up a fall away into the Orlando bench three pointer that somehow went in and made it a 1 point game with 4 seconds left. Rashard Lewis was fouled again and only hit 1 of 2 free throws but Cleveland had no more timeouts and couldn't advance the ball. This resulted in a 38 foot shot from LeBron that grazed the left side of the basket to end the game; 116-114 Orlando Magic. Dwight Howard had 10 of Orlando's 16 total points in Overtime after scoring only 4 points in the 3rd and 4th quarters combined.

Orlando's Dwight Howard had 27 points (62.5% shooting), 14 boards, 4 assists, and 3 blocks but the real hero was Rafer 'Skip To My Lou' Alston who had 26 points on 10 for 17 shooting and also went 6 of 12 from distance to lead Orlando's 3 point brigade. The Magic had 80 total field goal attempts for the game. Of those 80, nearly half were from three (38) and Orlando made 17 of those (44.7%) to break their previous franchise record for made three pointers in a game. Who says "jump shooting" teams can't win in the playoffs?

Cleveland, on the other hand, had over 50 points in the paint but were dreadful from behind the arc as they only hit 6 of the 22 three's they attempted (27.3%). Although LeBron was a monster scoring the basketball, on the boards, and in getting his teammates good looks at the rim; critics will note that he did have 8 turnovers for the game including 6 in the 4th quarter and Overtime combined.

• Only 8 teams in NBA history have come back from being down 3-1 in a 7 game playoff series.

Texas Loses The Game 4-3; Gets Swept For The Series.

Nelson Cruz tagged out trying to score a run in the top of the 2nd inning. Texas had the bases loaded and only 1 out in the inning but could not capitalize.


Texas rallied back from down 3-1 in the top of the 8th to tie it at 3-3 but Millwood couldn't hold the tie in the bottom of the 8th and the Rangers lost their 3rd straight game.

The Detroit Tigers, on the other hand, have now won 6 straight games and were led by their starter Edwin Jackson. Jackson came into the game 2nd in the American League in ERA at 2.42 and did not disappoint as he only allowed 3 earned runs, had 7 strikeouts, and scattered 7 hits in 8 innings of work. He improved to 4-2 on the season with the win. Fernando Rodney pitched for the 3rd consecutive game and got his 2nd straight save for his 8th of the season.

Kevin Millwood, 8th in the AL in ERA, had a normally adequate outing with 8 innings pitched and 4 earned runs on 6 hits; but the Rangers couldn't put enough runs on the board to win the game. Millwood got the loss and is now 4-4 for the season. Home runs led to his downfall as he allowed 2 for the game which led to 3 runs for the Tigers. Both pitchers combined to throw 253 pitches for the game.

Texas started it off in the top of the 1st, after an Ian Kinsler pop out, David Murphy took the second pitch that he saw deep over the right field wall to make it 1-0 Rangers. It was his 2nd home run of the season. The runs would stop there, though, as Michael Young and Hank Blalock had consecutive ground outs to the shortstop to end the inning.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, Detroit came right back in the bottom of the 1st to tie it. After a fly out to center field by Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson and 2nd baseman Placido Polanco grounded out; Clete Thomas hit a monster home run over center that tied the game at 1-1. It was Thomas' 1st home run of the year. Millwood got Detroit DH-first baseman Miguel Cabrera to ground out to him to end the inning.

Texas had the bases loaded with only 1 out in the top of the second but couldn't take advantage. It all began after Marlon Byrd grounded out to start the inning. Nelson Cruz singled to center field and then Chris Davis followed with a walk on 4 pitches. This was a wild inning for Edwin Jackson as he walked Jarrod Saltalamacchia next on 4 pitches also. Elvis Andrus followed with a fly ball out to right field. Nelson Cruz tried to tag up and score on the play from 3rd but was called out on a close play at the plate. 2 quick outs and Jackson survived the inning.

Detroit shortstop Adam Everett led off the bottom of the 3rd with a walk on 5 pitches. The Tigers back-up catcher Dane Sardinha struck out looking and then Millwood made a pitch to Curtis Granderson that he would regret. After getting down in the count 2-0, Millwood hung a breaking ball that Granderson took deep over the right field wall for his 11th home run of the year and Detroit had gained the lead 3-1.

Texas came back in the top of the 8th starting with a David Murphy walk. Murphy was 3 for 3 on the day with 2 walks, 2 runs scored, a homer, and an RBI. Michael Young followed with a pop-out but then Hank Blalock scorched a double to right field that gave the Rangers runners on 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out in the inning. Marlon Byrd came up to bat next and couldn't capitalize as he lined out to the shortstop. Nelson Cruz stepped up to the plate and knocked the ball into the gap in center field for a bases clearing double that made it 3-3 all. Nelson Cruz then stole third and he was 2-4 on the day with 2 RBI's and 2 steals. Chris Davis followed with a walk that gave Texas runners on the corners with 2 outs. Unfortunately for the Rangers, Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out swinging to end the inning.

The bottom of the 8th started out well for Millwood after he got Dane Sardinha to strike out and Curtis Granderson to ground out to begin the inning. Placido Polanco was next in the order and knocked a single to center field. Millwood then walked Clete Thomas to put 2 on with 2 outs for the inning. Miguel Cabrera took advantage with a single to center field that scored Polanco from 2nd and gave Detroit a 4-3 lead they would not relinquish. Millwood got the next batter, 1st baseman Kevin Larish, to ground out to end the inning.

Texas threatened again in the top of the 9th after Elvis Andrus walked and David Murphy singled but Ian Kinsler struck out and Michael Young grounded out into a double play to end the game.

Rangers Lose 4-3.

News and Notes:

• Texas had 5 steals as a team for the game (2 by Nelson Cruz). Texas in 6th as a team in Major League Baseball with 29 steals on the season. Ian Kinsler leads the team with 10 and is 8th in the American League.
• Texas has now lost 3 games in a row after winning 7 straight.
• The Rangers have lost 11 games in a row in Detroit dating back to September of 2007.
  
• This was the first series Texas has lost in the month of May.
• Texas is now 23-17 for the season and still in 1st in the AL West; leading the Angels by 2.5 games.
  

Detroit comes to Arlington starting July 27th for a 3 game series.