New Coach at SMU?

In some football news that’s not Cowboys-Packers related, some strong rumors are out there that Navy’s Paul Johnson just might be Mustangs new football coach. People Newspapers‘ Scott Farrell had it early this afternoon. CBS’ Dennis Dodd has some stuff to add as well. If it turns out to be true, I agree, awesome awesomeness. Go, Ponies.

Re: Rating Marty Cortland

Hey, Glenn, we conduct reader research all the time and in many different ways. If the results are brutally honest, that’s perfect. But in this case, you have to remember that we’re essentially conducting a focus group. The group is one of FrontBurnervians, which certainly overlaps with our “print product” readership. But they are not the same audience. All of which is to say, this poll is just another tool — not the only tool — that we’ll use to evaluate Marty. Something like this, a back-page column, really comes down to a matter of taste. Mine, mostly. I happen to like Marty, which is why I brought him on.

I like him because he doesn’t do what most columnist do: play the everyman, beg to be liked. Marty is very much not the everyman. Because his net worth easily puts him in the top 1 percent of the country. But the themes he writes about — jealousy, greed, marital discord, the anxiety that comes from living in an environment that often seems beyond your control — are universal. Even if the details of his life cost more than the ones in your life or mine, you can still identify. And if you can’t, it’s fun to watch from the outside. Most important, Marty is a good writer.

Two final things. 1) In response to the comments on the poll post, no, Marty Cortland is not my alter ego. He’s a real person. I’ve been to his house. 2) If it helps, think of it this way: Marty Cortland isn’t Bill Cosby; he’s Bill Hicks.

Re: Rating Marty Cortland

Tim, that poll is brutal. Talk about the cold, hard facts of life. Doubt if I’d survive one–especially if my wife answered.

7-Eleven Goes for Gamers. Gamers Say, “Menh.”

7-Eleven is hoping to capture a big part of kids’ allowances by selling game cards at their convenience stores in the real world that enhance the virtual worlds of Nexon games. It’s a savvy business move, even though some in the gaming community aren’t so enthusiastic.

Rate Marty Cortland

A few months back, we debuted a new back-page columnist in the “print product.” His name is Marty Cortland. I’ve already gotten a lot of feedback on the guy, but I’d like to hear yours. Ready? Go.

Sack of Kittens: Egress

Tim called down the thunder. Well, now you’ve got it. After the jump, Sack of Kittens comes out of retirement for a moment.

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Cowboys/Packers Showdown Breakdown

It’s time for another supergood partytime local athletic team preview with me, your Resident Sports Expert. This time, the city is atwitter with tonight’s match-up between your Dallas Cowboys and those cheeseheads from the north, the Green Bay Packers. Both teams are 10-1 and are vying for a spot in the most super of all bowls—that’s right, the Super Bowl.

So who will walk away victorious from tonight’s game? Hard to say, even for me, your Resident Sports Expert. But as everyone knows, behind every good team is a great quarterback. Let’s take a look at tonight’s starting QBs, Tony Romo and Brett Favre, in a head-to-head comparison, after which, I’ll make my prediction.

What he brings to the table:
Favre: The seasoned veteran. Older, and presumably wiser. He brings with him experience, maturity, and know-how.
Romo: The boy wonder. Seemingly can do no wrong. (Besides that whole fumbling the snap thing last year. That was pretty bad.) He brings with him youthful exuberance, enthusiasm, and dimples.
Advantage: Favre
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Project Runway Report: Not Much From Local Crazy Last Night

Last night on Project Runway, the contestants were asked to make a menswear garment that Tiki Barber could wear on the Today Show. The designers had no idea who he was. This challenge was very stressful because apparently almost none of the folks had ever made anything for men. Ever. Sadly, last week hometown favorite Marion was auffed, so we only have nutty Elisa to half-heartedly cheer for now. Despite the cotton balls in her hair and the dreamy expression on her face in the picture to the left, nothing that interesting happened this week–except when she told her male model she wouldn’t watch him undress because it was disrespecting her boyfriend (murmur). Carmen was auffed due to the fact that she used a scarf as a shirt and the crotch of her pants was described by Michael Kors as “insane.” Also, Tim Gunn made that horrible snarl-and-raised-eyebrow face so many times last night I almost had to flip over to “Dirty, Sexy Money.” Almost. More (hopefully, come on Elisa!) next week. Photo courtesy of Bravotv.com.

Dailies Aren’t Dead

So thinks Dallas-based American Consolidated. The media company just purchased about $160 million of the things as part of a spending spree of publications in smaller markets. Good luck with all of that.

Tony Romo Gets Dogg’d

I’m a day late on this because of the pesky print version, but a numbers-crunching FBvian sends along this ESPN.com article, which includes some freestyle by Snoop Dogg about Dallas’ quarterbacking Casanova. A sample:

It’s like a real deal, this is not a promo
It’s big Snoop Dogg, they can compare me to Romo.
But when I bring it to you, you know you gonna go slow
Listen to me give it to you — pause — take the photo.

Snoop also provides an analysis of Romo’s game and explains why he and ToRo are alike: “The people around him, he make them look good, but they make him look better.” That’s fo’ shizzle.

New CEO Appointed at Handango

Readers of DallasCEO might recall the story of Handango, a Dallas-based company that creates the content that goes on your Smartphone. It’s just been announced that company founder (and whippersnapper, at just age 31) Randy Eisenman has stepped down as CEO, with industry heavyweight Bill Stone taking his place. Eisenman will remain on the company’s board.

Half Of Immigrants In Texas Are Illegal

So says today’s report from the anti-immigration Center for Immigration Studies, based on its deductions from census data. That should be no surprise to readers of the print edition of FrontBurner. In February, we reported:

No one knows exactly how many undocumented immigrants live among the 1.2 million residents of the City of Dallas, but the figure can be estimated. Approximately half of Dallas’ 516,000 Hispanics (43 percent of 1.2 million) are immigrants, or 258,000. Only 19 percent are naturalized citizens. According to the Dallas Federal Reserve, about 30 percent of U.S. immigrants are undocumented, which would indicate 77,400 of the immigrants in Dallas are undocumented. But the immigrant information clearinghouse DFW International says close to half of the foreign-born in Dallas are without documents [italics added]—which would make about 126,000. That’s about one person in 10 in the city. And the odds are at least six in 10 that he or she will be Mexican—10 percent of that country’s population is in the United States, as is 14 percent of its workforce, mostly sin papeles, without documentation.

Accepting the CIS numbers as fact, the question is, what to do about it? The need is for comprehensive reform of immigration policies, including some form of amnesty (yes, let’s use the forbidden word). But the government is paralyzed. Democrats fear offending the Hispanic vote; Republicans fear offending Lou Dobbs. So we can expect, as long as the Dallas economy is booming, for illegals to be drawn in greater numbers to fill the jobs our economy is producing. Where governments fail, the laws of economics take over.

Study: D/FW International Has 3rd Slowest Security Lines

The findings posted at FareCompare aren’t surprising. TSA employees aren’t exactly the best and brightest anyway, and the ones working pickpocket alley at D/FW seem particularly challenged.

Ron Paul Is a Playa … Or Is He?

Much was made of the announcement that Moonlite BunnyRanch owner Dennis Hof endorsed Ron Paul for president. Now, some claim it was nothing but a publicity stunt, attempting to smear Paul. Those people point the finger at Tucker Carlson and label him the culprit. But it’s not like Hof shied away from the story. Just the other night, he called into Big Dick Hunter’s “Wild Ass Circus” on 105.3 FM to say that Paul had accepted Hof’s endorsement. And if you can’t trust the owner of a brothel, who can you trust?

A. H. Belo’s New Executive Team Missing Someone?

A. H. Belo is the name of the new newspaper group (vs. Belo Corp, which will be the name of the broadcasting company). Today Robert Decherd announced its management committee. As expected, he will be chairman and CEO, and News publisher Jim Moroney will be executive v.p.(both are members of the founding family). The other three members are business and financial execs. Which leads me to ask, where’s the editor? Where’s any editor? Sure, the newspaper business faces financial difficulties. But aren’t those tied directly to its product? It would seem to me the fundamental problem is how to tailor the editorial product to meet the needs of readers in the new media world–and that is the central question a “management committee” should address. IJS.

Re: Speaking of Heydays

By contrast, look what’s happened to the fortunes of Fort Worth-based Encore Acquisition.

Speaking of Heydays

The New York Times also has a story today about airlines. It’s sort of the Prince and the Pauper around here, since (if you scroll down), you’ll find that American Airlines has to pay another $80 million every time the price of a barrel goes up another dollar.

NYT Says Dallas Ain’t What It Used To Be

An alert FBvian points us to this NYT story about the recently wealthy Russians. It includes this line:

Fueled by an oil boom, the Russian capital seems as awash in cash as Dallas was in its heyday.

Well, I guess it’s nice to be a benchmark. But with oil hovering at around $100 a barrel, the Barnett Shale booming, and local hedge funds plugging along, isn’t there still plenty of cash around here? Isn’t there a crane on just about every corner? And when was this heyday, anyway? IJS.

Minnesota Publisher to Lead DBJ

The new publisher of the Dallas Business Journal, announced this morning, will be coming to North Texas from Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Nigel Wheeler Makes His Egress From Channel 5

The handsome reporter says he’s leaving his steady reporting gig at the station to go on the road with his band, Egress. Zac Crain, I demand your patented “Sack of Kittens” treatment of this band’s latest release.

Thieves Nab $100,000 Worth of Beer

So police say, off South Lancaster last night. This photo has been circulated as a person of interest in the case.

Leading Off

1) Is there anything the Internets can’t do?

2) Yes. I know, it’s an annoying pet peeve I have. But AR-15s are not “high-powered.” It’s like calling a Honda Civic an SUV. (update: good discussion of this here.)

3) Two weeks of the red pill, now back to the blue pill. Murmur, murmur.