I'm back!

I know it feels like a year since I last posted (at least for me), but I am back. The Cowboys have home-field throughout, the Patriots go 16-0, and the Dolphins won a game. The Mavs have a slow start and the Stars a playing like a team again. And the Rangers... well, they haven't changed much since my last post. But that could be a good thing and not so much a bad thing.

I have said in another blog that I would be posting more. And even though I was meaning to post more in that particular blog, it will have a "trickle down" effect for my other blogs, especially this blog, since it is my second largest blog of the bunch.

Now, my family went down to the thing in December and picked up a few autographs. That was cool. the moves the Rangers have made this season... well, nothing feels really impacting for the upcoming season. And when the report came out on the steroids thing, well I wasn't surprised by what was on the report, well, with the exception of Kevin Brown. I just felt really disappointed seeing his name on there.

Still, with that being the only thing to be an eye-opener on that report, I guess that is OK. Now, do I think that Mark McGuire and all the others should be banned from the Hall? I used to think so... but then I thought about it. My feeling about the whole thing is changed. Did Mark McGuire hit homeruns off of Kevin Brown, Roger Clemens, and others who juiced? And didn't Clemens win against teams who were juiced? It was juice vs. juice in the era. And even though a relatively small percentage used, you also have to consider that there were probably a good deal more who didn't get caught. Think of it like this: if you have ever done something wrong and got away with it, well, that has to count for this whole steroids thing in baseball. There has to be a percentage of players who "got away with it" as well.

Now, don't think I condone the actions of cheating, but since "everyone WAS doing it", it actually levels the playing field. Juice vs. juice is what would define this era. Kinda like the "out of shapers" in the Ruth era. Not everyone was out of shape then, but a whole bunch seemed to be so... and the ones who took advantage of it were the ones in the history book. The same should go for this corrupt era. OK, off the soapbox...

The Mavericks had the best record going into the playoffs last year and got ousted in the first round. Not just ousted, but embarrassed. Humiliated, really. Actually, I don't think there is a word to define just what happened to them last season... and people in Dallas are comparing the Mavs to the Cowboys of this season. Different sport... but could it be the same situation next weekend? To me, that only boils down to whether Owens plays or not. Should T.O. play, it is a Cowboys win. Irregardless of who the 'boys play. Now, if T.O. doesn't play... well, the game should be a nail-biter. And it would probably be a nail-biter through the entire game. T.O. is practicing, so he should be in uniform and starting come next weekend. The real competition would come the NFC Championship, which should be Green Bay vs. Dallas in Irving, TX.

I was talking with my wife about how the Cowboys are leaving Texas Stadium for the next house in Arlington (and let's just hope it isn't called "The Stadium in Arlington"... that would make me throw up). Since the Cowboys are now so competitive, they could actually be playing in the Super Bowl hosted here a couple of years from now. That may be a first, a team playing in the Super Bowl in their home-town.

The Mavericks are not playing their best basketball. And that is a good thing to say since they are tied second in their division and tied third in the Western Conference. Of course, Phoenix is first and San Antonio is second... the Mavs are tied with New Orleans right now. What is good about this team is the threat of scoring from just about anybody. In fact, Josh Howard is just as big a threat as Dirk.

Going into tonight's game, Dirk leads the team with 21.9 points a game. Josh is second (and a close second) with 21.2 per game. They are only seperated by .3 minutes per game, or a third of a minute a game (20 seconds a game). They play the Miami Heat tonight, which will more than likely be a yawner, since the Heat are having issues finding the win column this season. They look nothing like they did two seasons ago, beating the Mavs in the finals.

I do not know if many actually look at the feature of "per 48 minutes", but it really shows just how dangerous the Mavericks are with scoring potential. The Mavs have five players over 20 points in the p48m. And they have another three on the cusp of 20 points.

Here's a list of all eight players:

• Dirk Nowitzki
• Josh Howard
• Jose Juan Barea (played only 18 games)
• Jason Terry
• Devin Harris
• Brandon Bass
• Jerry Stackhouse
• Nick Fazekas (played only two games)

So, as I wait for mid-February to come, I will try to interest myself in Basketball, and maybe the once a week football game... stats are what interest me the most anyway, and LORD KNOWS you can always find stats. Johnny Out.