Leading Off (9/29/11)
Rangers Start Playoffs Against Rays on Friday. The Rangers secured the No. 2 seed thanks to Mike Napoli’s homer, so: REMATCH. How did it come about, on a wild last night in the bigs? “Evan Longoria’s walk-off homer in the 12th [against the Yankees], just moments after Baltimore scored two in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Red Sox, means that Tampa will head to Texas for the first round.” I still am behind on my DirecTV bill, and also behind on calling them to switch service to my new place, so I followed on Twitter, via tweets such as “NAPOLI” and “Oh god. Oh Jesus God.” (Sawx fan).
Arrest Warrant Issued in Denton for NFL Quarterback Impersonator. Stephan Pittman was arrested in D.C. for impersonating Eagles backup QB Vince Young, so now Denton prosecutors have issued a warrant for his arrest, too. Pittman received deferred adjudication after a sexual assault in Denton in 2009; his D.C. arrest means it has been deferred until right about now. So Denton is officially, really, pretty much the only place where someone like Vince Young is wanted these days. NAILED IT.
“Pilots Report More Laser Attacks in North Texas.” Now there is a headline. I’d click-thru that even if I was 90 percent certain there was a virus on the other side, or a recording of an old Jean-Jacques Taylor-hosted edition of The Soul Patch. Come on. Laser attacks. As for the story, there’s been a lot this year, and especially a lot recently. And this: “In a written statement, American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith emailed ‘aiming a laser at any aircraft is an extraordinarily dumb thing to do.’” Smith hit “send” and muttered something under his breath, and checked LinkedIn again, for the 20th — but not last — time of the day. He then stared at the picture of his kids for a good long time, until his eyes got sort of glassy, then listened to the Arcade Fire for the rest of the day with his eyes closed. I mean, probably. I’m not his biographer.
DA’s Office Nabs 14 of 17 Members of “Sophisticated” Theft Ring. The retail theft operation centered on TJ Maxx, apparently. In this story, authorities called it “major and sophisticated.” Which are probably the first two words that come to my mind when someone says “TJ Maxx.”
Is the Rangers’ Season Over?
Up till now, I’ve been pretty sanguine about the Rangers’ season. But yesterday they lost to the Tigers — again. That means they’ve lost two games in a row. Not only that, but Josh Hamilton will be on the DL for upwards of eight weeks. He griped about third-base coach Dave Anderson sending him home on the play that caused the injury, and then he apologized. It’s never a good sign when you’ve clubhouse discord this early in the season. So it’s time to face facts. The Rangers are 9-3 right now. I’m worried that they won’t win 10 games this year.
Rangers Fans’ Productivity to Drop This Week
The Rangers and Tigers will start a three-game series in less than an hour. All three games are scheduled for 12:05 p.m. I have no memory of the Rangers playing an entire series of weekday day games. Does anyone else? And does anyone know why the series was scheduled this way?
The First Knoxy Clip of the Season
Rangers sideline reporter Jim Knox, for sports bloggers, pays off like a broken slot machine. (While watching the game, Tim and I had a text back-and-forth, unprintable here, based around this idea.) So the clip below (h/t: Deadspin) will likely be the first of many, and he will feature more heavily in the ones to follow. Anyway, the segment I saw him do after the game was probably more insane, but this will do.
Leading Off (4/6/11)
Dish Network Wins Blockbuster’s Assets in Bankruptcy Auction. “Blockbuster will complement our existing video offerings while presenting cross-marketing and service extension opportunities for Dish Network,” Tom Cullen, an executive vice president at Dish, said, also winning a side bet to see if he could make me care less by using extremely generic biz speak.
Rangers Beat Mariners, Stay Undefeated. I know it’s only five games, so no one should get too excited. On the other hand: CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW CLAW.
A&M Wins Women’s NCAA Championship. Maryann Baker, a guard from Bishop Lynch, scored two points in nine minutes of action. Oh, and then Gary Blair — their 65-year-old coach, who grew up in Forest Hills and went to Bryan Adams — did the Dougie. Sort of.
Southwest Finds Cracks on Five Planes. And not, as I had previously read, crack. Anyway, no big dealOH MY GOD OH MY GOD.
City Still Insists on Building Second Signature Bridge. Even though it seems like it, essentially, is unfunded. And they’re going to have to go after $92 million in federal earmarks to get it funded. Which should make Tom Leppert put out, like, 50 YouTube videos. Oh, and TxDOT would replace the bridge that’s there anyway. Otherwise, seems like a solid idea.
Leading Off (10/28/10)
1. I’m new to this baseball thing. So I’m not really sure how I should feel about last night’s game. Should I be completely bummed and get off the bandwagon because we lost? Or should I be like, “Eh, we’ve got six more games. Claw! Antlers!” I’m enjoying this baseball thing way too much. So, claw! Antlers!
2. I’m not worried about tonight’s game. Why? Because we’re going to have help. They must have got lost on their way to last night’s game.
3. Oh, and this happened last night.
Best Picture in the History of Ever
One more thing to get you fired up for the game now less than two hours away. Passed on to me by Twitter pal Chris Ebbesen. CLAW! ANTLERS! JUMP!
Reasons to “Fear the Beard”–and the Underdog Giants
From a 48-year Giants fan who watches most of their games on cable’s MLB package, jump for a couple of things about the Texas Rangers’ World Series opponents you may not know …
Rangers Inspire Extra Effort From Media
Last night at CVS, the counter was filled with copies of a glossy Rangers magazine/yearbook that included the results of the ALCS. All the photos were credited to the AP, none of the stories carried a byline, and the fine print said the whole thing was produced in New Jersey. (“New Jersey?!? Get a rope.”) I would have picked up a copy to show Tim and Wick, but the $7.99 cover price was a bit steep.
And this morning at Arapaho Center Station, a guy standing near the ticket machines was hawking a special World Series edition of the Morning News. I’ve never seen a human selling newspapers at a DART station. The price point was much more aggreable this time: 50 cents.
Get Fired Up For the World Series With Me, Zac Crain, YouTube Enthusiast
Clap. Clap. Clap. Clap. CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. CLAP. CLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAPCLAP.
(Oh, and some have NSFW language because sometimes winners work blue.)
Introducing ‘The Beard’; Assessing the Series
Two interesting new stories here about World Series topics, since that’s nearly all many are thinking about this week. First, especially for Texas’ Ian Kinsler, who said over the weekend that he doesn’t know much about San Francisco, a look at the Giants’ ace closer Brian Wilson, he of the weird intimidating beard. Then sportswriter Jeff Passan calls the matchup starting Wednesday a dead tossup, based on his Rangers-Giants “futility” comparison.
Hi. Did You Hear About the Rangers? They’re Kind of Awesome.
Just stop for a minute, and take this in: A team who was mired in bankruptcy, with a payroll of $55 million, just beat a team that basically expects to go to the World Series every year because it’s what they do. And now the Rangers will go to the World Series. The Rangers, not the Yankees. Some fans have waited patiently since the team came here for this. Some just noticed that there’s a baseball club in Arlington, and the debit card charge at Wal-Mart for their Rangers shirt hasn’t even cleared the bank yet.
But I think Ron Washington has summed up the feeling best. Here, and here. Â Wash’s heart and gut beat (as someone aptly pointed out to me as we all watched the game) Joe Girardi’s binder. It sounds like a story book ending, because it is. These are your Texas Rangers, y’all, and they’re going to the World Series.
‘Yankees [Are Not Good]! Yankees [Are Not Good]!
Between Cruz’s homer and Kinsler’s double, an immature chant broke out.
ESPN Columnist Suggests Rangers GM Jon Daniels Harbors Hopes of Escape to New York
There’s been speculation that the New York Metropolitans, who are looking for a new general manager, have designs on Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels. After the initial rumors, most reports have indicated that he’s probably not going anywhere and that ownership is looking to give him a contract extension after this season in which the Rangers find themselves – as of this blogging – one win from the World Series.
I’ve been a regular reader of ESPN.com columnist Rob Neyer for more than a decade, at least. Sensible fellow that Neyer. While he’s a sabermetric sort, I appreciate his willingness to admit when perhaps the old-school approach to winning baseball games has some merit. Accent on the some – I think he’s dead right about Ron Washington in the ALCS.
However, today he saw fit to suggest that someone like Daniels, who grew up in New York, probably would jump at the chance to get back to his hometown:
I’ve known people who grew up in the Northeast and wound up, for one reason or another, in the Midwest or in Texas. And I can tell you that most of them harbor thoughts about going home, where they can take the subway and it’s not hard to find a real bagel and pizzas don’t taste like cardboard topped with spaghetti sauce.
OK, so maybe he’s right about the bagels.  But all our pizza tastes like cardboard? Hogwash. Here’s Exhibit A.
Scribe on Cliff Lee: “He is the Master at Work”
On a day the Rangers could nail down a World Series appearance, those who appreciate good writing are passing around this post by Joe Posnanski on the greatness of Texas ace Cliff Lee. Says one scribe of Posnanski’s gem: “Not even Blackie could do it better.” (Here’s hoping, by the way, for a Lee-Lincecum matchup next Wednesday at AT&T Park. Now, that will be a shoot-out.)
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