Geoausch

Nothing screams Freshman year of high school like NBA Jam. Well, maybe the untimely death of Kurt Cobain, but the arcade hit, and subsequent Super Nintendo favorite played a large role in my life in 1994.  I remember sitting in class, passing notes back and forth with my friends trying to get “cheats” for the game, to unlock players like Michael Jordan and Bill Clinton.  After school was out, we would gather at one of the members of our group’s house and play the Super Nintendo version of the game all night long (and all weekend long). On a trip to San Antonio, I remember spending 4 hours and countless quarters in an arcade in our hotel, trying to master the arcade version of the game, only to find out the “cheats” for the Super NES version were different than the “cheats” for the arcade version.  Needless to say, I was overcome with joy to read that the game is being revamped and released in December 2010.

Marc Stein, writing for ESPN.Com’s “Weekend Dime,” provided a breakdown of each team’s roster from 1993-1994 and who he would like see represented in the new version of the game. Reading through the list brought back countless memories and filled my head with the voices of the game announcers–”he’s on fire!”

One point where I disagree with Stein, I would pick Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, instead of Shawn Marion, for the Mavericks. Either way, the Mavs team in this version of NBA Jam, will be a significant upgrade from the 1994 version, which featured Derek Harper and Mike Iuzzolino.

While it may not be a popular opinion, I personally feel the NBA is far more entertaining brand of basketball than the college game. I’m familiar with all the arguments against the professional game–no defense, questionable officiating, overpaid superstars–and I’m not naive enough to argue those elements don’t exist. However, I am firmly attached to the Dallas Mavericks and have no connections to any Division I college basketball program. When the Mavs play, I watch and celebrate when the team fares well and sulk when things go wrong.

Tonight, I watched approximately ten minutes of a college basketball game between Butler and Wright State. It marked the first college basketball game I’ve watched in almost two years. Almost immediately, the warts of the college game became apparent. In observance of March Madness, I thought I would provide a few ideas to improve the college game.

• No Zone Defenses – This is something that drives me crazy about the professional game as well. Zone defenses may be pleasing from a technical standpoint, but they ruin the overall tempo of the game, turning every game into a half court affair. If nothing else, the college game should adopt the NBA policy of a defensive 3-second violation, preventing teams from camping out in the paint.

• Reduce the shot clock – Nothing irritates me more than watching a “four-corners” game develop during the NCAA tournament. Simply put, the shot clock in college basketball is far too long. Twenty-four seconds is more than enough time for a team to advance the ball to the front court and run an offense. The current shot clock actually encourages team to take the air out of the ball.

• Do away with the possession arrow – There is no reason why the college game cannot institute a NBA-like  “jump ball” in situations where the possession arrow is currently used. Simply alternating the possession arrow between teams is unfair.

• No 3-pointers The three point shot encourages jump shooting. Sounds fairly obvious, but for a game that stresses the fundamentals, the college game should embrace the “old school” philosophy of driving the ball to the basket and EARNING three points the real way with a basket and free throw.

• Fewer timeouts It seems like the final 2 minutes of a college game last an eternity because coaches save ALL of their timeouts until that time. Again, the NCAA could learn from the NBA. Limit the amount of timeouts a team can use during the final  2 minutes, maybe one full timeout and one 20 second time out. This would allow a much more organic feel to the game.

Last night the Dallas Mavericks recorded their 336 straight sell out. A couple of things made this game stand out from the rest. One, Dirk Nowitzki became the 34th player in NBA history, and the first not to have played college or high school ball in the U.S., to top the 20,000 point mark in his career. But what really made this night stand out was the large size of the crowd for the opposing team. The Los Angeles Lakers were in town and their t-shirt fandom was out in full force.

It goes without saying that 99% of the Lakers fans in attendance last night have never been to L.A. They have no real connection to the team, but they like to be associated with winners, so based on the past success of that franchise they buy the team’s merchandise and tickets to the game when the Lakers swim through Dallas. The Chicago Bulls attracted a similar following in the 1990′s and the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Red Wings and, yes, my beloved Dallas Cowboys attract similar followings in their respective sports.

While I am a die hard fan of the Cowboys, I grew up in the Dallas area to a family of Cowboys fans. Simply put, I am a Cowboys fan because they are the home town team and I have never turned my back on them, regardless of how tough times might have been. Similarly, I’ve been a Mavs fan my entire life–yes, even during the 90′s when the team was historically pathetic, and while I still haven’t got to celebrate a NBA title, I have had the opportunity to see the Mavs make it to the Finals, win 67 games in a season, see Dirk win the MVP and enjoy one of the most successful decades in NBA history (9 straight 50 + win seasons & 9 straight playoff appearances). With the Rangers, there hasn’t been much payoff for my loyalty, but even those gray skies seem to be clearing up.

It’s impossible for me to fathom rooting against any of the Dallas area teams. When the Lakers come to the AAC or when the Yankees visit the Ballpark, I see thousands of people who live in the same metropolitan area as me turn their back on their hometown teams and I’m left scratching my head, just as I’m sure fans in other cities wonder where all the Cowboys fans come from on Sunday afternoons. Shouldn’t there be some rules to being a fan? I think so…

1.) Live or Lived in the City – You live in Dallas; you root for Dallas teams. You live in Dallas and move to Boston; you can still root for Dallas teams. However, if you are born and live in Philly you should probably root for the Eagles instead of the Cowboys.

2.) Live in market for the franchise – This rule mainly applies to those people who live in areas without professional sports franchises. I grew up in East Texas. Dallas was the nearest city with a professional sports franchise. However, the local sports affiliates carried games for New Orleans, Houston & San Antonio teams in addition to the Dallas franchises. It’s acceptable for someone in this situation to be a fan of any of those teams.

3.) Family Ties – This is similar to rule #1, but allows for generational gaps. Your grandfather moved to Dallas in the 1940′s from Brooklyn. He was a die hard Dodgers fan, raised your father to be the same and your dad raised you the same way. It’s understandable and acceptable for you to be a Dodgers fan.

It is unacceptable to be a fan of a team simply because you like their star player, you like their team colors, or you like the fact that they have won numerous titles.

Normally, I don’t cover NBA stories that don’t deal with the Mavericks, but the New Jersey Nets’ dismal start to the 2009-2010 season intrigues me. Currently, the Nets are 0-13. The Nets are so bad, they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves on opening night and neither team has won since.

Looking at the Nets upcoming schedule, it’s hard to identify where their first win will come. Over the course of the next week, the Nets play at Denver, at Portland, at Sacramento and at the Lakers. They stand no chance against the Nuggets, Portland or LA. The Kings finished with the worst record in the NBA last season, but are much improved this season. I don’t think the Nets will win in Sacramento.

That puts the Nets at 0-17, tying the NBA record for start of season futility, accomplished by the 1988-1989 Miami Heat and the 1999-2000 Los Angeles Clippers.

On December 2, 2009, the Mavericks visit New Jersey and could make history, handing the Nets their 18 straight loss.

After that, the Nets get a little bit of relief with consecutive games against the Bobcats and Knicks, although the Nets have lost to both teams already this season.

If the Nets fail to win either of those games, they could potentially enter their December 23 game at home against the T’Wolves with 0-28 record. On the other side of equation are the T’Wolves who, as mentioned earlier, have not won since the first game of the season, against the Nets. They could be 1-28 entering that game. If so, I say put the thing on national television so we can all feel better about failed sports teams of the past, because it can’t get any worse than that.

I realize that I’ve been on a top 5 kick lately, but it’s just the mood I’m in. Let’s keep it rolling with the Top 5 moments from a busy sports weekend:

1.) SMU Becomes Bowl Eligible – For whatever reason, I’ve been a SMU fan from my earliest days. I have never attended school there and they haven’t had the on field success that elicits t-shirt fans, but I’m a fan of the Pony Express. I went to several SMU games as a kid, pre-death penalty, and I was at the first post-death penalty game, a win over UConn. To see this team rise from the depths, become bowl eligible and sit in the driver seats for the Conference USA title is great indeed.

2.) TCU Sends a Message – There are two legitimate national title contenders in Texas–the one in Austin everyone expected and then the one in Fort Worth that’s been battling for national respect for a decade.  While it will still take a miracle for TCU to earn a spot in the BCS National Championship Game, if they run the table and win their BCS bowl game they will provide yet another example of how the BCS is the biggest fraud in all of sports.

3.) Mavs Continue to Play Strong – In spite of a recent rash of injuries and illnesses, the Dallas Mavericks continue to play as well as anyone in the NBA. Over the weekend, they took games at Minnesota and Detroit and tonight won on a last second, OT buzzer beater in Milwaukee. While this may not be the Lakers, Celtics & Cavaliers, three straight road wins is always a feat in the NBA. Plus, the Mavs got these 3 wins without Josh Howard, Tim Thomas, Erick Dampier and Shaw Marion.

4.) Colts beat the Patriots – I’ve always said, every time the Patriots win, somewhere a little puppy dies. To see the look of failure and utter dejection on the face of Bill Belichick walking off the field last night actually helped ease the pain of the Cowboys loss (see #5).

5.) Wade Phillips is one step closer to being fired – In the “desperately-seeking-a-rainbow-after-the-storm” category, the Cowboys loss to Green Bay on Sunday means this franchise is one step closer to ridding itself of its final obstacle in the race to win a Super Bowl–Wade Phillips. I’m convinced that if this team does not make it to the NFC Championship game this year, Jerry Jones will fire Wade. While I will always support fellow Texans, Wade is just not the right fit in Dallas. In keeping with the “support my fellow Texans” theme, I’m also glad that the Packers win ensures that their GM, and former Atlanta Rabbit great, Ted Thompson’s job is safe for at least another week.

First, I’d like to apologize to my loyal readers. I’m using August as a vacation of sorts, to regroup and reset my blog. I’ll have some very exciting news to share regarding a new blog I’m launching within the next few weeks, so stayed tune.

Until then, football season is upon us and we need to talk some football. A couple of quick questions I thought about over my lunch break:

1.) I’m a life long Dallas Cowboys fan. I was 11 years old when Jerry Jones bought this team and fired my childhood hero, Tom Landry. During the past 20 years, I’ve experienced the highest highs and lowest lows with my team. Through it all, I’ve remembered not to give Jerry too much credit for the glory days and not to throw too much blame his way for the lean years.

I realize that Jerry’s personality rubs some people the wrong way, but I also realize that many of those same personality traits are traits necessary to building a winner. Jerry wants to win and will spare no cost in the attempt to reach his ultimate goal.

Why then do so many Cowboys fans despise Jerry so much? Do they not realize that the Cowboys owner wants to win more than any other owner in the NFL?

Does he make some bone headed decisions? Yes, but we all make mistakes.

2.) There is a small, but vocal, contingency of Rangers fans out there who complain about the amount of attention being placed on the Rangers wild card chase compared to Cowboys preseason action. They seem to be offended that more people want to watch a Cowboys preseason game than a Rangers regular season game.  At this point, ”baseball hubris” kicks in.

“Baseball hubris” is a trait possessed by some hardcore baseball fans who feel that baseball is the only true sports and all others should be ignored. They’ll berate the other leagues and belittle the fans of sports.  

I love baseball, but I don’t get “baseball hubris”. I think football, basketball and golf all have something to offer as well.  In the professional ranks, my love for the Cowboys has never caused me to hate the Rangers or Mavericks. In fact, I find that my love for these teams compliment one another.

Why is it that some Rangers fans HATE the Cowboys (and the NFL) so much?

It didn’t exactly go down the way that ESPN predicted, but Tim Thomas is officially a Dallas Maverick. While I’m sure the “kiss” Thomas blew at Dirk during the 2006 playoffs is forgotten, I don’t think Thomas and Dirk will ever be BFF’s. Don’t expect to see the two eating at Taco Diner or enjoying drinks at The Loon together, as Dirk and Steve Nash did. I’ve got to think that there will be at least some tension between the two. Dirk is a professional and I’m sure he will make every effort to make Thomas feel welcome on this team, but I’m sure he is with the rest of us and scratching his head at this signing.

Is this an indication that a trade is looming on the horizon?

Other blogs have speculated heavily on what the Mavs might be able to get for the Greg Buckner trading chip in September. Is it possible that either Thomas or Drew Gooden would be paired with Buckner to bring another piece to this ever confusing puzzle?

If Thomas stays with the Mavs, what will be his role? With the exception of Jason Terry, this team lacked a true 3-point threat last season. Sure, Dirk, Josh and Kidd would hit the occasional 3, but JET was the only true shooter on this squad.  Thomas instantly gives them another threat from beyond the arc. He ranks #22 all-time in 3-point field goal percentage at .413%.  Thomas, a highly emotional player, also brings a certain edge that has been lacking from this roster. Finally, while he will never be considered a defensive star, he is not a liability on defense either, especially in one-on-one situations. Look for Thomas to get minutes while Dirk rests.

As I said yesterday, free agency is unpredictable and it’s way too early to determine what effect this signing will have on the Mavs 2009-2010 season. However, at this point, it is definitely the most curious off-season move by the Mavericks this season. Almost as curious as using their mid-level exception on ‘Gana Diop last season. Let us pray that the results are not as disastrous.

NBA teams understand the unpredictable nature of free agency. You can never know how a player will adjust to a new system, the effect a new player will have on the chemistry of a team or the effect of other intangible elements will have on a team.  Granted, some signings are a little easier to predict than others, but for the most part you cannot be sure the effect a free-agent will have on a team until some point well into the season.

Not one expert–not John Hollinger, not Mark Stein, not Mark Cuban nor Donnie Nelson–can accurately predict the effect the singing of Drew Gooden will have on the upcoming season, neither can I; however, I do have a few observations about the signing.

First, let’s examine the good.

Assuming that the Mavs use Gooden primarily as a 5, the Mavs have instantly improved what has traditionally been the lowest scoring position on their squad. I’ve thrown the numbers out there several times in the past few weeks, but Erick Dampier averages only 7.9 PPG for his career and averaged only 5.7 PPG last season.  Gooden averages exactly 12 PPG for his career.  I will say we should tap the brakes just a little in regards to scoring.  Gooden has played only sparingly at the 5 position throughout his career, so the numbers might not translate exactly to his new position, but he definitely posses the athletic tools necessary to be a much more effective offensive threat than Dampier.

Dampier constantly frustrates the Mavs coaching staff, teammates and fan base with his inability to finish on the offensive end. Gooden has better hands and a better shot, so one would think his scoring average would not drop too drastically moving down to the center position. The Mavs have struggled to score in the paint for several seasons and Gooden should be able to help those numbers. Gooden is also a much better free throw shooter than Dampier, which can come in handy late in the game.

Obviously, this makes Dampier expendable. A lot has been made about trade potential that Dampier’s expiring contract presents. It looked like we were faced with another season of Dampier and Ryan Hollins at the 5, but with Gooden signed, the Mavs can now re-sign Hollins and shop the Dampier contract.

Gooden also brings playoff experience in a more youthful body than Dampier. While Dampier has appeared in more playoff games (52) than Gooden (44), Gooden has started more playoff games (40) and logged more playoff minutes (1,191  minutes) than Dampier (32 games started; 1,150 minutes).  Gooden has averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds per game in the playoffs, while Dampier has averaged 5 points and 6 rebounds per game. Both have appeared in one NBA Finals, yet Gooden is seven years young than Damp. At 27, Gooden would be the baby of the starting line up.

It scares me that none of Gooden’s former teams showed much interest in him. He admitted himself on his Twitter account that he was surprised that neither Cleveland nor San Antonio showed “as much interest as other teams.”  The Cavs have never made it to the NBA Finals without Gooden, yet they didn’t seem to think he was vital enough to bring back to their team. I got to see Gooden first hand in the Mavs/Spurs series and was impressed with his limited play. I don’t know why the Spurs chose not to use him more. Evidently, there was something about him the coaches did not like.

It’s too early to tell whether or not this will end up being a good signing for the Mavs, but I definitely think it has some potential. Maybe not as much potential as Marcin Gortat and it’s definitely not as sexy as getting Shaq, but this could very easily upgrade the Mavs at the 5 position, which could help tremendously down the line.

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Now playing: Merle Haggard – What Happened?
via FoxyTunes

I’m not your typical sports fan. I love sports, but only if my teams are involved, either directly or indirectly. During football season, I care about only the Cowboys. I’ll watch other NFC East games, because I know the outcome will have a direct effect on the Cowboys’ in the standings, but I have no interest in the performance of Chris Cooley, Donovan McNabb or Osi Umenyiora. I don’t watch basketball to see Kobe, LeBron or D’Wade.  I care about only the players who wear my teams’ uniform.

Since I live in Dallas, I’m lucky enough to have a ton of media coverage for each of my favorite teams. Before moving to Dallas, I had to depend on the limited coverage in the local papers and ESPN. With ESPN, I had to sit through 58 minutes of New England Patriot talk or New York Yankees talk, just to get a two minute segment on the Cowboys or Rangers. Maybe that’s why since moving to Dallas I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually watched Sports Center. Additionally, the advent of the league owned networks (i.e. NBA TV, NFL Network, MLB Network, etc.) have allowed me to keep up with my rivals without tuning into ESPN.

Based on a recent article in the New York Times, ESPN is targeting sports fans such as myself. In April, they launched ESPN Chicago, a website devoted to the city’s professional sports teams and local collegiate programs. ESPN plans to launch similar sites in three other cities, including one in Dallas in the fall. You would think that I would welcome their arrival, especially since the website promises local flavor; however, as I have weened myself off of the ESPN teet over the past few years, I’ve gained a sense of clarity and see ESPN for what it really is–a superfluous conglomerate that has destroyed the world of professional sports as we know it. What MTV did to music, ESPN has done to sports!

Forgot for a moment ESPN’s “East Coast bias,”  as exhibited by not only their content, but also the birthplace of many of their personalities.  Look at ESPN for what it has become, generic sports television, full of “know-it all” personalities and Captain Obvious comments and observations. Indeed, ESPN is no longer relevant in the world of sports.

Do they have deep pockets? Yes.  Are they well connected? Without a doubt, but being connected and being relevant are two completely different things.

If you read through the article, you will find that ESPN is trying to connect on a local level, that they plan to utilize fans as cub reporters, or “citizen journalists”, to send in pictures, video clips and scores from local sporting events, including high school sports. The way the ESPN executives speak, they feel that this is a completely new concept. What it shows is how out of touch ESPN is with the “flyover” states.

There are websites all over the state of Texas where fans can get together to discuss local sports, share scores, pictures and videos. The websites are run and maintained by members of the community and the writers, editors and forum moderators mix and mingle with their audience at the local high school football or basketball games.  These same sites provide the opportunity for fans to come together and discuss local pro and college teams as well. Basically, everything ESPN hopes to accomplish with their local websites has been in place since the turn of the century in many communities. The biggest difference is that they lack ESPN’s name and all that goes with it.

If there is anything we love as much as our sports in Dallas, it’s our Tex-Mex food. We have literally hundreds of restaurants where you can order tacos, fajitas and margaritas. Some of these restaurants are family-owned and operated, with family recipes that go back several generations.  Other restaurants are chains run by large corporations. While the chain may boasts fancy new digs and clever marketing, their food cannot compete with the family owned restaurants. They also lack the intimacy that makes the customer feel at home. At the end of the day, if you’re hungry for Tex-Mex in Dallas, you have the choice between Mia’s or On the Border. Nine out of ten Dallas-ites would choose Mia’s.

A little hint to the mental midgets running ESPN, in Dallas we consumer our sports like do our Tex-Mex food. A sparkling web design and clever marketing will only hold an audience for so long, eventually you’re going to have to cook up something worth eating and serve it in an intimate environment.

In the past, I’ve offered my analysis of both ESPN 103.3 and The Ticket. In all fairness, I think it’s time that I offer my assessment of the newest sports talk radio station in Dallas, 105.3 The Fan. I first became aware of The Fan flipping through the stations shortly before the start of baseball season. I heard the familiar voices of Ben & Skin, made famous by their weekend show on The Ticket, and thought I would give it a chance. Though their show lacked some of the comedy from their Ticket days, I still thought the station had potential to serve as an alternative on days when The Ticket was involved in shameless self promotions (i.e. Girls Night Out, Ticket Stock, The Great Game, etc.).

Over the next few months, I had the opportunity to catch some of the other shows, but never found a show that really engaged me. Based on the latest numbers, not many people have. The Ticket continues to dominate the male 25-54 demographic, ESPN is a distant second and The Fan brings up the rear of sports talk radio. Ironically, the Kevin Scott-Greg Hill experiment was the only Fan program not to finish dead last in head-to-head time slot competition with the other two stations, yet The Fan still decided to part ways with them.

They weren’t the only casualty, just ask Ben and Skin.  Ben and Skin pulled horrible numbers, but that says less about their appeal and more about the appeal of The Hardline. Look at it this way, a large part of Ben and Skins audience are loyal listeners to The Hardline and when given a choice between the two, the old reliable will win out. It would have been interesting to see what the numbers might have been if The Fan had decided to move the Ben & Skin time slot, say up against Norm Hitzges.  Instead, they canceled the show out right.

Why is The Fan in such bad shape and what can they do?

In addition to simply recycling on-air talent thrown away by other stations, The Fan takes their name too seriously. Sure, obnoxious, self-absorbed, know-it all hosts drive listeners away. Most people desire a radio program that engages the listener, not a program where the host spouts his opinions for 3 hours. The secret to good radio is knowing how to engage your audience without using the phone, text or e-mail as a crutch. These mediums should be used to supplement the programming, but never be the main focus of a program or a station.

The Fan throws out several, unrelated, inane topics to their audience over the course of a segment.  The on-air personality rarely issues an opinion and as such never develops their on-air persona. We learn more about “Gary in Garland” or “Joe in Prosper” than we do about the actual hosts. Contrast that with the personalities on The Ticket, loyal P1′s can you tell you everything about their favorite hosts. Vanilla hosts create vanilla programming, which in turn will drive down the ratings. In essence this is what plagues The Fan.

The station is not going anywhere. They have deep pockets and just signed contracts to carry both the Rangers and Cowboys, still they will continue to struggle with ratings as long as they continue down this path. What can they do to fix the problem?

First, address their identity problem. What type of radio station do they want to be?  From the outside looking in, it appears that they experimented with two different philosophies–the ESPN way and The Ticket way–bringing in personalities from each discipline. Kevin Scott and Ben & Skin got the ax, while Sean Salisbury and Newy Scruggs remain, so it appears that they have opted for generic sports talk, yet their hosts still engage in “man talk”, which can either be awkward or just plain terrible radio.

My best advice to program director at The Fan–talk to David Smoak. As we reported earlier this week, Smoak resigned as sports director and talk host at KTBB radio in Tyler. He brings close to 20 years of on-air experience and is well connected in the Dallas community.  Start him in the Noon-3 slot, against BaD Radio and Michael Irvin. Smoaky’s style would appeal more to the Irvin audience, but he might be able to steal a few from BaD Radio occasionally. No one is going to displace Dunham & Miller in morning drive (I still don’t understand the show) and The Hardline and GAC will be 1 & 2 as long as Galloway is still working. The noon-3 slot is the weakest point, relatively speaking, for both stations and is where The Fan should attack first. They can then build around that time slot.

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Now playing: Pearl Jam – In My Tree
via FoxyTunes