“It Caught Twine in the Back of the Onion Bag.”

Stars win in overtime. And the above description of the winning goal is why I love Razor Reaugh. (Side note: yes, I’m a horribly casual hockey fan, and I didn’t watch a single game this season until the playoffs started. And, yes, I realize that some hardcore Stars fans take a dim view of people like me. There’s an ownership thing at work here. “I invested all those hours during the regular season watching the team. So don’t think you can come along and get as excited as I am about their going up 3-0 on the Sharks.” Okay, would you rather people like me not get excited this time of year? If the whole city — latecomers included — jump on the bandwagon here at the end, doesn’t that make it more fun for you, too? Just asking.)

Mavs Lose. Let’s Focus on Hockey Now.

As I write this, there are still 5.7 seconds left in the game. It actually got exciting right there, toward the end. The only reason it was close: Brandon Bass. That’s what I’m taking away from this playoffs. I look forward to watching more Bass next season. And less Josh Howard.

P.S. That foul that Jerry Stackhouse put on Chris Paul, the one that got him ejected? Embarrassing.

Rock ‘n’ Roll CEOs

We know that Blockbuster is revamping stores to become cool hangouts, but it looks like CEO Jim Keyes is really trying to be popular with the kids: He’s throwing down a Guitar Hero challenge. Keyes and Mayor Leppert are calling for local CEOs and notables to pony up $5,000 for six-minute spots in the 24-hour marathon Dallas CEO/Celebrity Guitar Hero Challenge—the event benefits Education is Freedom and starts at 3 p.m. May 16 at the Blockbuster on the corner of Lemmon and McKinney in Uptown. Regular folks can enter for $5 and compete for prizes; the CEO/celeb who raises the most cash wins the contest.

Giddy-Up: Four More Days To The Kentucky Derby

My anticipation for the first Saturday in May starts earlier and grows more fervent each year, and it seems like I learn something new every spring. For instance, I didn’t know there was a famous train decades ago that ran from Dallas-Fort Worth to Louisville, dubbed the “millionaires’ special,” that signaled the start of Derby fever. It was the Gulfstream of the day for owners and horseplayers. Very cool. (If someone wants to hire me to write about 200 pages about the Texas & Pacific’s trek to Kentucky, let’s chat.)

In related Derby news, the peeps at the NYT have (wisely) asked SMU alum, fellow horseplayer, and fellow fan of Louie’s Joe Drape to contribute to the new, Derby-centric blog called The Rail. Interested parties should check it out.

Evan Smith Interviews Jim Moroney

The Texas Monthly editor queries the DMN publisher on circulation, discounted copies, web traffic, and more here. Interestingly, while circ is down (as planned), Jim says the latest Scarborough study shows readership is up .6% in the four-county Dallas area.

Bankston Chevy Picks Up Stakes, Relocates

Now you see it, now you don’t. Last week Bankston Chevrolet was occupying the northwest corner of Northwest Highway and Abrams Road in Dallas, as it has for years; this week that corner’s empty and Bankston’s moved to larger digs at 4747 LBJ Freeway, next to its Nissan location. A spokeswoman says Bankston is leasing the Northwest/Abrams property through 2011, and has yet to decide whether to sublease it or put another dealership there.

Steven Soderbergh to Visit High-Class Call Girl; Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner to Pay For It

Well, sort of. The second film in Soderbergh’s six-picture deal with 2929 Entertainment partners Cubes and Wagner will be The Girlfriend Experience, “a look into the world of a $10,000-a-night/$1 million-a-year prostitute.” Like Soderbergh’s first film for 2929, 2005’s Bubble, the movie will be released in theaters and on DVD and cable at the same time, and will be shot with mostly unknown actors. Unlike Bubble, maybe this time it will work.

Tony Romo Takes His Gunslinging Attitude to the Blackjack Tables in Vegas and Drops $2.5 Million

Allegedly. The source on this is Robin Leach, so you might want to take that with a handful of sea salt.

The House(s) of the Rising Sun Sales Price

Something weird is afoot in the Dallas residential real estate market. So notes a reader of DallasDirt and so seconds some commentors. Sales prices of some homes are actually going up. Now, they could be exceptions and a case-by-case basis, but it’s still weird.

Bobby Valentine Is Big in Japan

Ever wonder what the former Rangers manager is up to? An alert FBvian points us to the this story about his enormous popularity as a manager in Japan — and about the documentary on him in the works. In related news, there are no documentaries about Ron Washington currently under way.

Dog Problem Continues in Dallas

I’m on record as saying the stray problem in Dallas is out of control and needs to be addressed. (Rod Davis made the case very well in the print version of FB.) As Mayor Pro Tem Elba Garcia noted yesterday:

Of over 63,000 311 calls in 2007, 24,462 were for loose and aggressive animals.

So I’m glad the Dallas City Council is doing something about it. Doug Bedell, the former DMN investigative sports reporter who now taunts me with how much money he makes at Haynes & Boone, says I’m ill-informed and it’s a bad ordinance. His full explanation of why after the jump.

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Leading Off

1. A 17th Dallas County man will likely be exonerated today after DNA tests showed that James Lee Woodard was not the man who sexually assaulted and killed a woman in December 1980.

2. SMU President Gerald Turner has rejected a proposal to open a pub on campus, which I’m very happy about. I don’t want those co-ed party girls getting hammered on campus on Friday nights. Their Daddies wouldn’t like that. They should do what they normally do on the weekend: Kick it with Old Man Celeste on the KSP dancefloor. Next thing ya know, shawty got low, low, low, low!

3. The Dallas Mavericks had a players-only practice yesterday, while Avery curled up in the fetal position under a footstool and spoke lovingly to his championship ring. Not that the wheels are coming off. Not at all.