Local Show this Saturday in Funkytown...

I really wanted to check the Goodwin-Chatterton show Saturday over at the Moon Bar on Berry St. but I'll be in Big D canvasing the ladies...oh yeah, the Mavs won at home over the Kings 122-113. Have a great weekend!

(I feel like such a lazy sob today...evil snicker)

Mavs make deal before deadline, get Van Horn

Van Horn for Booth, Henderson, money

Van Horn for Booth and Henderson, m'kay.

Bad idea to end all bad ideas...

Republic of Texas

It would be a riot if Ticket host presented this proposition to G.W. Bush...

The next CD I'll be picking up...

Greatness I say, greatness. One of the few songs I remember from the movie Wall Street is This Must be the Place. Very 80's, simple, but classic good. Next up, This is It: The Best of Faith No More...Ah yes...

Deal with Bledsoe. Welcome to Big D!

I feel like I'm the only one welcoming Drew here. The one question I have for naysayers is this: What better offseason acquisition is there really? Draft a quarterback in the first round? Quite a gamble if you ask me (puts on fire suit for oncoming flames).

Bledsoe a Cowboy

College Hoops, Bledsoe deal with Cowboys

Three pretty good games in college hoops last night as Texas A&M defeated Iowa State, Texas Tech beat Texas at home and surprise! Nebraska upends Oklahoma State:


A&M over ISU

TTU over Texas, NU over OSU



Bledsoe a Cowboy?

Drew to Dallas

More Cowboys...

Can't really say if this guy is on the money or way off on Parcells. I know Big Bill isn't without fault for the current situation in Valley Ranch, but don't lay it squarely on him either. Sure, many writers and critics were 'ga-ga' by his presence when he arrived, but the guy is the coach, not a player. In my opinion, certain players simply let him down. Sure, bringing Vinny in wasn't a particularly good idea and Bledsoe might not be either, but at the very least it was/will be experimented and that's a good thing.

You won't see Parcells keep Vinny around like Cincinatti did with Kitna, Martz with Warner. Just won't happen and you better believe Jerry Jones won't tolerate a mess like that to occur. Yeah, this could be Bill's last hurrah as the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, but was it a wrong choice? Surely you couldn't tell me that it was when he was initially hired and you can't definitively place the blame on him now.

Chadiha Article

Kitos Corner this week re: Randy Moss

Should the Boys go after Moss???

"Moss loved the Cowboys and wanted to play for them over anybody. But when Jones passed up on Moss in the draft, Moss got angry and always saved his best game for Dallas. If Dallas went after him, would Moss be happy and give them his all or would he still resent them?

Henson would look better if he had Moss as a target. If they don't go after Moss, there are a lot of WRs hitting the market this year so they could get other top notch receivers at a good price as well. Also, the prospective owner for the Vikes is saying that once his purchase is finalized, he will definitely not trade Moss. However, it looks like his purchase won't be approved by the league because the guy doesn't have enough money as he says he does and he(apparently) didn't earn the money as legitimately as the NFL would like. We'll see if the guy is as legit as he states he is by the approval of his purchase of MN. If he isn't approved, it's not because of race, it's a business thing.

Maybe a trade can be worked out. I would like for him to be a Boy but I would want them to also make some big changes on D too. As long as they don't give up a whole lot to get him, the move will be ok by me." -Kitos

TWIP (This week in Poker):

Week in Poker (2-21 to 2-26)

(Thanks to pplayer.com for rounding these up)

Randy Moss to Dallas???

Probably a little more rumor than truth:

Moss Rumor

Flip Side - Potential new Vikings owner Reggie Fowler seems to like his man:

Moss will stay put?

Monday morning stuff...

There were quite a few things happening this weekend that I never got around to doing, some good, some bad. Went to see a blues band Friday night over at the Keys Lounge and really enjoyed myself, despite leaving after a $60 tab which reminds me of 6th Street Grill nights going to John Nitzinger and Swan Song shows. Ouch.

Saturday night was much less eventful. It was fun hanging out with the group but we needed a change of venue the whole night. The Qui Lounge just really isn't cutting it for me much anymore, although it is nice because it's so close to the crib. I thought they were going to renovate the BoomRoom and reopen that pretty soon???

Sports Stuff:

No, I didn't watch the NBA All-Star Game. To me that one goes down as the most boring and worthless all-star game of them all...plus Dirk doesn't start blah blah blah. Also, I didn't watch Gordon take the Daytona 500. I've never been a Nascar fan and never will be so please don't ask me for those updates.

I do have Ranger stuff for you today from Jamie Newberg speaking about Greer's retirement and opening-day roster news:

Greer Retirement


I so love Mondays. Kitos, where's that Corner???

Weekend Shows...

We have a couple really good bands, one major from Tejas playing tonight at the Gypsy Tea Room in Big D:

Polyphonic Spree favs Pilotdrift will open followed by the youngsters Eisley from Tyler.

Saturday in Ft. Worth at the Wreckroom Centromatic opens for The Baptist Generals.

http://www.gypsytearoom.com
http://www.wreckroomfortworth.com


Morris, you have no excuse not to check out tonight's act at the Tea Room...

4-0 Baby!

That win last night by the Mavs was absolute greatness. Nash could feel the camera on him late in the 4th.

Mavs Win


Barkley, is this team for real??? I think so brotha. Mr. Bradley still has a babyarm...

4-0 or 3-1 road trip decided tonight....late

I realize that sometimes you have to cater to different time zones but starting the Mavs-Suns game at 9:30 is wrong, just like the Sacramento game was. The game doesn't end until midnight or so and many times I find myself rooting for a blowout just to make it easier on myself to turn the tv off...


Aggies get whooped up on in Austin...was it really ever close???

NHL cancels season, cool Newberg story

Molded after Roger Clemens? Hopefully he isn't exactly like Clemens: baseball player good, human sorry:

Mr. Diamond


Sidenote: I can't afford NHL tickets anyway, good riddance, at least for the rest of this season.

Kyoto Protocol Doomed for Failure:

Get a scientist in a room and make him prove what causes global warming or if it even exists. If he does I'm all for the Kyoto agreement, but if he can't definitively...I'm sure he'll make my gas prices increase though. Thanks! Once again I guess Americans should apologize they have a greater population density than crowded Japan and other nations. Why don't we set the CO2 standards relative to that little statistic??? I know the U.S. emits the most CO2 than any other nation, but we drive the world's economy and I'm not going to apologize for that.

Kyoto

A Game I Should've Caught More Of...

The Mavs rip off probably the easiest game of the road swing...thought they mighta gassed out in that wretched 3rd quarter:

Mavs Win



I don't understand why a network would want or feel the need to broadcast the Westminster Dog Show for 3 freakin' hours but this painting is greatness, but for $590,000???

Poker Painting

Tech wins, didn't really get to see it...

Yeah, I'll admit it. I've gotten hooked on 24, not so much for it being great but it's the only thing on Monday nights, kinda like Boston Legal on Sundays. Not a great show by any means, but I'm usually not doing anything else really so I watch it. Sorry for the rant but it does have relevance here:

I missed a great double-OT game between Texas Tech and Kansas last night and Tech pulled it out in stunning fashion:

Tech pulls upset

Jazz Album of the Year???

I'm gonna tell you this is the standard by which all other 2005 albums need to be judged, it's that good. The Way Up was released in late January, too early for consideration in the Grammy balloting in which the great Ray Charles Genius Loves Company gets album of the year. You can mark me down to be at Nokia in Grand Prairie in March to see Metheny's whole production unfold live.

I also picked up One Quiet Night and if you're looking for a great baritone guitar wind down album, that's where it's at.

Over the weekend...

Is this Mavs team for real when they feel like playing? Damn skippy. They just won the first two of a killer 4 game stretch against solid playoff contenders. Terry with the timely shot, Dampier with double-doubles, Fin with the most minutes. I guess Avery Johnson and Nellie have the ability to get under their skin...

Mavs win again

My Preferred Way of Going Out...

I could totally see someone doing this, but not at my office cause powerpoint is 'too difficult to use'.

Powerpoint Ender

Where do I sign up???

All my problems pale in comparison to this young lad and his death buddies...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Luft's AL Rotation Rankings:

Frankly, I thought he ranked them a little high...#9. Lots of big names in that list...pass the cyanide tablet over.

AL Projected Rotations

Buy me a playstation, give me a doctorate...

I can't believe this craziness:

Electronic Arts Chair

Rangers News: Boras Threatens The Front Office with The Gambler's Retirement

I've always been one of the faction that says that people should live up to their contracts and agreements per the dotted line but Kenny Rogers' camp now wants a two-year deal or he'll retire, according to his devil-agent Scott Boras. Scotty, you aren't still ticked that the Rangers wouldn't put up millions for Ordonez are you? I'm sure Hicks would have hooked him up with a base salary laden with performance conditionals but what do you expect him to offer for a player that played 50 or so games last year? What a bush league move by Boras...

Roger's retirement???

Long Train Runnin'

One of my favorite Doobie songs along with "Jesus is Just Alright"...Mr. Knudsen went on to that great drumkit in the sky:

Doobie Drummer Passes Away

The Race...

So Kris and Jon didn't win the race but I'm still in the black, 30 more in fact if I can collect. Dave, I hope you're reading this cause you knew the rules in advance, no pushies here...

And for Fraley to insinuate that McNabb was sick in the 4th quarter, funny, maybe he was, whaaa!...I would have been sick if I panicked that bad in the 4th quarter.

Fraley bag

Is this really wrong...it is???

Good Times for Elementary Student

Kitos Corner : ('Patriots Dynasty?')

"The Pats are dominating in a very weak NFL - probably the weakest the NFL
has been in 30 years. Before this year, 5 consecutive Super Bowl champs did not make the playoffs the previous season. 03/04 - Pats, 02/03 - Tampa Bay,

01/02 - Pats, 00/01 - Baltimore; 99/00 - Rams.

The current NFL does not have a Super-Rivalry. The 60s was full of
Cowboys-Packers - 70s was Cowboys-Steelers - 80s was Niners, Bears, Giants,
and Skins. 90s was Niners-Cowboys, Redskins, and Giants. The NFC won18
consecutive Super Bowls. Remember the late 80s, early 90s games between
Dallas/Skins or Dallas/Niners. Those were like Super Bowls. I can't
remember there has been a game like that in a long time.

Look at the NFC East from the 90s. Dallas had to get through a solid NY
team (with Parcells for part of the 90s), a VERY solid Redskins team (with
Joe Gibbs), a tough Eagles team (with Buddy Ryan and Randall Cunningham).
But they had to do more then just get out of their division. They also had
to beat the Holmgren led Packers with a Brett Favre in his prime, a Niners
team that was with HOFer Steve Young and effective Jerry Rice in the NFC to
get to the SB. In the AFC, there was a solid KC team with Joe Montana, a
tough Oakland team, and a Buffalo team that owned the entire (weak) AFC.
There were some cup cakes that Dallas played (Arizona, New Orleans, Cincy,
Chicago, etc...) but the tougher teams were much tougher and a lot more
talented than the current teams. The teams 10 and 20 years ago had much
more depth (thanks to no salary cap) and put a much better team on the
field. It was more difficult to win more than 13 games a year. This decade
it seems like 5 teams a year do it with ease. Look at Pittsburgh. A rookie
QB and they lose 2 games.

Who is in New England's division? Miami (yikes), Buffalo (eewwww), and the
NY Jets (decent every other year). Rich Kotite could win the division
coaching the Pats. Also, who else in the league is championship material
the past 3 or 4 years? Pick one team from the past 4 years that you think
could compete the Cowboys, Niners, Bills, Packers, or Redskins of the late
80s, early 90s. I can't. The teams from this decade, like the Rams and
Colts, have a great but finesse offense and a weak defense. The standard
defense of the Boys or Niners of the 90s would squash those teams. They
sure did to the Oilers and Falcons when they were Run&Shoot'n it.

Another valid point is that Dallas reached 4 consecutive League
Championship games, going 3/4. It would have been 4/4 if Switzer didn't let
the team sleep walk through the first quarter and give up 21 points off of
turnovers in 6 minutes. I would think a solid dynasty would be at least the
top 2 or 3 teams in their conference for a stretch of 4 years. New England
didn't even make the playoffs two years ago. Not even top 6 of their
conference. If they're such a good team, how could they not even make the
playoffs that 1 year. Also, you would think a dynasty would have a streak
of winning their division. Dallas always managed to win the toughest
conference every year. New England maybe 2/4. At least one SB year they won
it as a wild card (I think) and then the year they didn't make the
playoffs.

Bottom line - Free Agency has weakened the level of competition in the NFL.
Gone are the days of the true dynasties of the
Packers-Steelers-Niners-Cowboys. Any team can make the playoffs in any year
and it has brought more fanfare to the league. I don't think the NFL is
upset about this fact. But the NFL has realized that they need these
dynasties for marketing. The league needs a team that will always be great.
All leagues need a one team that will be the "one to beat." MLB - Yankees -
NFL - Cowboys, Niners or (for now) the Pats; NBA - Lakers. And it seems
that the NFL has fallen in love with ESPN - and what city does ESPN love
more than anything - .... Boston. New England has received a lot of help
along the way to the 3 Lombardis. I won't go into it too deeply, but why
haven't teams tried to interview their coaches earlier - they obviously
got a lot of help against the Gruden-led Raiders in the snow bowl - and
Viniateri's remote control football.

The reason the Pats are successful is because they had a superior front
office that signed close-to-superstar players for average joe salaries for
long term, and held the leagues best coaching staff together. These are
the same reasons Dallas and S.F. were so successful too. Jim Walsh and
Seifert had Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren, Steve Marriuci, Ray Rhodes, etc..
as assistant coaches. Dallas had Dave Wannstedt, Norv Turner, Dave Campo,
and Butch Davis too as well as many others. All of the ones I listed went
on to become a HC somewhere else. It didn't hurt that they had Troy Aikman
and Joe Montana/Steve Young either.

But now it's over - Romeo Cremel (Defensive Coordinator) is going to
Cleveland and Charlie Weis (O.C.) is gone to Notre Dame. It's too bad
there aren't more teams trying to be as successful as these guys. Jerry
Jones should take some notes. Hopefully Parcells gets some balls and cleans
up his coaching staff. First step should be to fire Zimmer. The D
coordinator stinks IMO.” - Kitos

Don't go there...

I knew it was inevitable:

'Boys v. Pats

In my mind there's no comparison, 90's Cowboys would roll all over the 00's Pats...

The Bad Dreams are Killing Me...

I had one of the most vivid yet disturbing dreams that I've had in some time. Only once in a blue moon do I remember dreams but it was so haunting it woke me up at 4 in the morning...

Something about me getting electrocuted, dying, then being able to be seen by my sister, mother and youngest brother living out their lives while I'm in kind of a ghost form. However, they could not hear me speak, they could only see chirades-type movements. Also, I couldn't hear them speak at me or to each other without wearing some weird headphones...

Weird thing was that I was killed or setup to be killed by this rather F. Murray Abraham-type villian guy who eventually takes over another living buddy of mine, makes him carry out his dirty deeds and then kills him in front of me. Wow.

What does this mean? That I'm really F'd in the head I guess. Analyze that one Freud...

Oh Yeah, Rangers sign Astacio:

I don't really get this unless it's for insurance sake. Dude's been injured on and off for a couple years but we pick him up. Read a funny comment about how John Hart still thinks its 1999...good stuff.

Astacio signing

Last weekend happenings...

Lot o' stuff happened this weekend, Pats win the Super Bowl, Mavs beat the Raptors, jammed out with a couple buddies and did serious damage to my liver at my friend's wedding Saturday night. Nothing cures a hangover like another one, right?

CNN writer Peter King doesn't see a Cowboy bias in the Hall of Fame, I disagree. Read his thoughts about the Irvin snub here:
King Column


In baseball news apparently Michael Young isn't satisfied with rebuilding for future seasons and I can't blame him...
Galloway article


More stuff later...-Jake

Tripled up...

I'm usually as guilty as anyone for chasing bricks but this guy last night lived up to his moniker "atm", money machine. I think I killed his stack like 3 times (I can't even count how many rebuys) with 2 pair and a one time straight flop but yikes, what a tool. Wears his heart on his sleeve... If I have to go through another session with his cronies talkin' smack I'm going to kill myself. I ain't that great but that was too easy. Oh yeah, one guy rolled off quad J's to take a pot from "atm". Can't hate him for that happening...

Came across a cool ski guide...

Normally I don't trust review sites but after having visited most of these ski spots, this site is pretty dead on:
Edge Ski Guide


Poker Story:
Bro told me about a little no-limit tourney he was in last weekend which goes to show that you should NEVER slowplay the Almighty Aces...

Basically he had pocket aces pre-flop, flop comes two overs (no ace), he tries to slowplay, player over raises the pot to $5 (substantial in this game), brother calls. "Damnit, no" I said. "I would've pushed all in there just for principal's sake". Turns out the other player eventually drew out quad 9's on the turn....damn. AAA v. 9999

Hockey...errr

I personally believe that it will be awhile until the player's union and hockey owners come up with a deal to save their sport. I'm thinking now that they might be out 2 seasons total and that's a shame, especially Mike Modano who'll be out approximately $16 million if recollection serves me right.

Read about it: Lock Out

You might want to kill me for saying this but I kinda equate hockey to college basketball...I just can't seem to get turned on to the season until the playoffs or tourament/NIT arrives. Don't get me started on Dallas Stars ticket prices...

Kito's Corner sounds off with more NHL observations:

"The thing with hockey is that nobody cares in America except for a few fans in Detroit. I say fold the whole league and start from scratch. Set up 20 teams in the cities and go back to the NHL roots in Canada. Too many Canadian teams left their cities (where the fans are) for Miami, Orlando, Phoenix, LA, Anaheim, Memphis, Carolina (where the money was). Hockey isn't popular in the US besides a few pockets - like Michigan and the New England area. Stick to Canada and those areas and they'll be all-right - but no way could they ever compete with the NFL, MLB, or NBA. The only winner out of this strike is ESPN. They're not forced to pay the NHL their broadcasting fee but are still charging the same fees to the cable companies. Their profit must be soaring. "

Mavs win 2 nights straight, a rare occurence:
Win over Hornets


Who would've thought, 4 major football recruiting services differ in opinion? Of all I'd have to say scout.com might be the one most off-target but check it out for yourself:
Scout Rankings


A buddy of a buddy of mine plays drums in a great jam-type band Confusatron. They'll be playing at the Wreck Room this Saturday with Pablo and the Hemphill 7. If I didn't have to go to a wedding that night I'd definitely be part of the action. You can also check out Confusatron Sunday nights at the Black Dog Tavern on Throckmorton in downtown Ft. Worth. Confusatron

Have a good one - Jake

Sports and....sports

I guess I'll have to watch the little Mavericks try and stop the big man Shaq tonight. The only consolation is that we finally have a true center to stand up to him.

Mavs v. Heat - Tonight @ 7:30, UPN21


Greatness, but I think it's about time to hang it up Emmitt, about 2 years ago...
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1981383

Kitos opinion regarding E. Smith's retirement:

"He wasn't making fans staying around in the league with the Cardinals (who just completely overhauled their logo, btw). He had a great career - league rushing titles, league MVPs, Super Bowl MVP, 3 Rings, NFL ALL-TIME RUSHER, and several Turkey Legs from Madden. There just isn't anything left for the man to do as a player. Once Emmitt retires, the Cowboys can simultaneously place Darren Woodson, Aikman, Emmitt, and Irvin in the Ring of Honor during halftime against the Redskins. That will completely put to bed the argument that Jerry Jones' ownership wasn't worth anything. I think the Ring of Honor ceremonies should be complete before the last year that the Cowboys play in Texas Stadium. The Triplets' names should be in that stadium before they're moved to the new one."

College Hoops for tomorrow, Wed., Feb. 2nd:

Texas A&M @ Oklahoma - 7:00, ESPN+

Colorado @ Texas Tech - 7:00, local


College Football Recruiting News:

Texas gets a commit from athlete Quan Cosby, A&M lands Texas top football recruit Martellus Bennett from Alief, Tyler...


That be all for today - Jake