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GEORGE JOHN RETURNS FROM TWO-MONTH LOAN STINT WITH WEST HAMUNITED

Center back excited to return in time forFirst Kick versus Red Bull New York.

FC Dallas defender George John is set toreturn to FC Dallas following a two-monthloan with English Championship side WestHam United.

“We’re very excited to have a player ofGeorge John’s caliber return to our team,”said FC Dallas head coach SchellasHyndman. “He has been one of our mostconsistent players. Without question, FCDallas is a better team with George John.In speaking with George, he’s very excitedto rejoin our team and help FC Dallascompete for a return trip to MLS Cup.”

The young center back will be availablefor First Kick 2012, Sunday, March 11versus the New York Red Bulls at FCDallas Stadium.

“I’m glad I had this opportunity and expe-rience, and I want to thank MLS, FCDallas and West Ham,” said John. “Rightnow I’m really looking forward to gettingback to Dallas. I’ve been in touch withSchellas and I’m ready to get to work.”

Drafted by FC Dallas in the first round(14th overall) of the 2009 MLSSuperDraft, John made his professionaldebut on April 4, 2009. The 24-year oldcenter back scored his first career goal onOct. 17, 2009 in a 2-1 win over theColorado Rapids. John finished his rookieseason with 16 appearances and 1,162minutes played.

West Ham United elected not to turn theloan into a transfer based on their club’scurrent top-of-the-table success and thecurrent form of the club’s two starting cen-ter backs.


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AROUND THE AREAFC DALLAS PLAYER RETURNS

BASEBALLSPRING TRAINING

FISHERMAVS & THE OSCARS

GOLF GET A LIFT

BASEBALL RANGERS NOTES

COVER STORYTHE SURPRISE OF SURPRISE

HOCKEYSTARS STAND PAT

SPORT SHORTSJOSH’S COMMENTS

BASEBALLRANGERS QUESTIONS

TICKET WINDOWTOM GAGLARDI W/ THE HARDLINE

DININGTHE BEST HOTEL RESTAURANT IN DALLAS

March 2-8, 2012Volume 10, Issue 28

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“It was unfortunate that I didn’t get to play,but it really was understandable given thecircumstances,” said John, who scored agoal in his first Reserve game with theEnglish side. “I hope West Ham continuesits good form and gets back to the PremierLeague. That’s certainly where the clubbelongs.”

John started 31 regular season matches forFC Dallas in 2011, accumulating a career-high 2,781 minutes played. Only goalkeep-er Kevin Hartman (2,970) logged moreminutes for Dallas in MLS competition.

John scored three goals and added oneassist. He also finished eighth in the 2011MLS Castrol Index, which analyzes playerperformance throughout the season.

A native of Shoreline, WA, John logged 25starts and 2,138 minutes played during the2010 season. His lone goal of the year wasa timely one, coming in FC Dallas’ 3-0 winover the L.A. Galaxy in the WesternConference Semifinal. John’s presence onFC Dallas’ backline helped the team set afranchise record for fewest goals allowed ina season.

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BASEBALL

Rangers farm system making future brightby DIC HUMPHREYSENIOR [email protected]

When Jon Daniels was hired to be theRangers' General Manager, he pledged tobuild a quality farm system. Ranger fanreaction was “ho hum.” They had heardthis before. Then owner Tom Hicks letGM Doug Melvin go after the 2000 seasonciting the farm system bereft of talent asone of the reasons. He wanted a GM thatwould build a better farm system, but fiveyears later the system had not improved,and Hicks once again changed GMs. Thelong and the short is that building a qualityfarm system is not very sexy. It doesn'tsell tickets, and the term “rebuilding”translates to “we're not going to be verygood this year.”

RANGERS FINALLY GET THEIR MANDaniels has broken the mold. The Rangershave been to the World Series the past twoseasons, and are positioned to be a solidcontender for at least another five years.The backbone of that success is the farmsystem. The Ranger team on the field islargely home grown with players essential-ly developed from within. All five mem-bers of last year's starting rotation madetheir Major League debuts with theRangers. The farm system has also provid-ed the currency to make trades for signifi-cant in-season additions to the team.Players such as Cliff Lee, Jeff Francoer,Mike Adams, and Koji Uehara wereacquired because the Rangers had theprospects to make deals for the pennantrace help they needed.

The Rangers' farm system was rankednumber one by Baseball America sinceDaniels took over. In the years since, theRangers have graduated many of thoseprospects to the Major Leagues, players

such as Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, DerekHolland and Mitch Moreland. More ofthose prospects have been dealt in tradesfor pennant race help, players such asJustin Smoak, Blake Beaven and MichaelMain. Despite the graduations and trades,ESPN's Keith Law currently ranks theRangers farm system seventh, and thatranking did not consider Yu Darvish.

As for individual prospects in the system,there is no better source for Ranger fansthan Jamey Newberg. Each winter, he pub-lishes a bound edition of The NewbergReport which lists the top 72 prospects inthe Rangers' system. (Again, Darvish isnot included as this was published beforehe signed,) Newberg's top 10 prospectsare:

1. SS Jurickson Profar2. LHP Martin Perez3. 3B Mike Olt

4. OF Leonys Martin5. C Jorge Alfaro6. RHP David Perez7. 1B Ronald Guzman8. RHP Neil Ramirez9. RHP Tanner Scheppers10. OF Jordan Akins

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectusrates the top 101 Major League prospects.He did not consider Darvish, and has fiveRangers included: Profar 4th, Martin Perez36th, Olt 45th, Ramirez 77th, and Alfaro101st. Interestingly, Robbie Erlin (53rd)and Joe Wieland (74th) make Goldstein'slist. These are the two players traded forMike Adams last July.Baseball America revealed their top 10 thisweek and list Darvish fourth and Profareighth.

One indication of the success of theRangers' farm system in recent years has

been the loss of front office personnel.Other teams have noticed what Daniels hasbuilt, and want to attract the architects ofthe farm system. Jerry Dipoto was hired tobe the Angels' general manager this winter.He took Scott Servais with him. ThadLevine was mentioned to be of interest forGM openings this winter, and he likely willbe wooed away in the near future.

NO WHINING FOR ARMS ANYMOREFor most of the history of the TexasRangers, the problem has been pitching.Even the teams that made the playoffs inthe late 90's had a tacked together veteranstaffs. Now the Rangers have a log jam ofstarting pitchers, with seven solid candi-dates in spring training. Martin Perez andNeil Ramirez are the top two minor leaguepitching prospects. The log jam inArlington probably sends this pair toRound Rock to start the season. However,these two will soon be knocking on theRangers' door, or will be prizes for anotherorganization to acquire for help theRangers need in other areas. Havingprospects of this ilk being blocked at themajor league level rather than beinginstalled as the number three and fourstarters in the rotation is another indicationof how far this organization has come inrecent years, and why the Rangers havebecome a model franchise rather than thelaughing stock of baseball.

ESPN's Buster Olney wrote an articlerecently where he named the top teams forsuccess over the next five years. He tookinto account factors such as the team onthe field, the farm system, and ownershipcapability. The Rangers graded out num-ber one on that list. The ground work overthe past few years to procure and developquality players has this team set up nicelyfor the future.


YOU’VE GOT TO GO TO 3RDYOU’VE GOT TO GO TO 3RDBASE BEFORE HOME!BASE BEFORE HOME!

Girl of

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Week

Olivia


by MIKE FISHERF I S [email protected]

This weekend was a fine time to watch Dirk in the All-Star Game while contemplating the Mavs' second half …or a fine time to watch the Oscars while contemplating thebest in film … or, why not combine the two with myEvaluation of the Mavs' 10 Issues at the Break -- Oscars-Style?

All 2012 Mavs issues. All 2012 Academy-Award-nom-inated films. Somebody pop the popcorn …

1: The Artist: Dirk remains one of the 10 finest basket-ball players on the planet.

In the 11 games since Barkley's maddening "Dirk isDone'' proclamation, The UberMan is at 25.4 points, 48.5FG percentage, 37.8 3-point percentage, 8.4 rebounds, .8blocks, .8 steals, 2.4 assists, 1.9 TOs and (subpar for him)83.8 percent from the line.

"I feel good now,'' said Dirk."I'm back.''

2: The Help: Jason Terry leads a Dallas bench that hasconsistently been among the top three in the NBA so farthis season. The Mavs also without doubt one of the threedeepest teams in the league as well. But ultimately, thisbench is Jet's bench. And Terry's struggling on the roadhas become a trend.

Home: 18 games - 16.9 points, 51.1 FG%, 44 3PT%,3.6 assists, 2.1 rebounds, 2.1 TOs

Road: 14 games - 12.0 points, 33.2 FG%, 31.1 3PT%,3.9 assists, 2.2 rebounds, 2.1 TOs

3: War Horse: Of Jason Kidd and his "minutes limit,''coach Rick Carlisle says, "We want to be vigilant about it.You never say never, but right now we've been pretty con-sistent with it.”

The goal is to keep Kidd, at age 38, below 30 minutes agame. Vigilant? Yes, as Kidd is averaging a career-low28.3 minutes per game.

4: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close: Lamar Odomrepresents this year's most high-profile NBA bust.

"I would love for Lamar to be the kind of high-impactplayer that he is supposedly advertised as being,'' Carlislesays."But the truth is, he has been a consistent player.''

Rick is being kind -- and "kindness'' is what the ex-Lakers standout requires. "In need of constant validation''is what a source close to Lamar tells me about him, andwhile he needs validation, it would be nice if he'd give theMavs something ... anything ... back in return.

5: Midnight in Paris: The Mavs' French Connection,Roddy Beaubois and Ian Mahinmi, represents a great dealof promise. But that promise might end up being realizedelsewhere.

The French Connection will be Mavs assets in one formor another. They are players now, they are prospects evenin the future, they can serve as bait in The 3D Blueprint orthey can remain in Dallas as part of the affordable support-ing cast necessary to make expensive acquisitions afford-able.

6: Warrior: There have been enough ups and downs,even in a successful 21-13 first half that puts Dallas closeenough to a pace for the 61-percent wins that equate to a12th straight 50-win seasons, to deeply ponder individualgrades.

But for certain, Rick Carlisle's coaching staff gets that'A.'

7: The Tree of Life: Everything Dallas has done defen-sively this year -- and what the Mavs have done there iscreate a new "identity,'' as Carlisle says, as the NBA's No.1 team in FG percentage allowed, is rooted in the work ofShawn Marion.

8: Drive: Marion gets to the hole; he's in the top 20 inthe NBA when it comes to shot attempts inside 10 feet.Vince Carter can drive and finish and has done so consis-tently. Delonte does it. Roddy B can do it. And watch Dirkin the second half: I confidently predict he will increasing-ly work his way to the basket, his spinning layups joininghis One-Legged Euro FadeAway as Dirk Trademarks.

But a vignette from the Lakers loss keeps flashingthrough my mind: In the fourth quarter of that game, withthe traditional terrific free-throw-shooting Mavs in thebonus ... the Mavs settled for bombs, taking only two shotsin the paint in the final 12 minutes.

9: Beginners: We have to remind ourselves occasional-ly that while it's fun to unwrap new toys, the establishedtoys you have work just fine. Consider very seriouslyCarlisle's remark going into the break:

"We're playing playoff-style,'' he says. "The team thathas the best defense and flow game wins the champi-onship. That's the history of this league in the last 10years. That's how we did it last year, and that's how we'regoing to have to do it this year."

This is a team with a purpose. The purpose isn't tounveil new toys. The purpose is to ready the establishedtoys. The purpose is to get to the Tournament.

10: Moneybal: One of my favorite NBA games is“Asset Management.'' We are blessed to be able to study aDallas Mavericks front office with a mastery of it to matchour fascination with it.

In the case of Cuban, Donnie, Keith Grant and the rest,I truly believe they gobbled up the new CBA and its impli-cations as efficiently and as effectively as possible. Andthen they took a bold and proper stand: We are cominginto The Era of the SuperTeam. You are either going toplay by SuperTeam rules or you are destined to be an also-ran.

The Mavs are preparing for The SuperTeam Era (PlanA) while also attempting to position themselves for a runat repeating as champions. (Plan A2? Plan B?) It's thesimultaneous operation of two distinctly different plans,some might say "conflicting'' plans. But they are working.Both plans are working.

Check out Mike Fisher on Twitter atFishSports, on the Mavs telecasts on Fox SportsSouthwest, and at DallasBasketball.com

SPORTS TALK WITH MIKE FISHERTHE FISH

Merging Mavs storylines with the Oscars


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by TOM WARDS PE C IAL CO NTR I BUTO Rtompward@sbcglobal .net

I have an incredibly simple golf tip for youthis week that can help you improve yourshot making skills and make better contactwith the ball. One of the most chronicissues golfers encounter with on a regularbasis is the takeaway. It’s how you makeyour club head start back that will deter-mine what type of success you’re going tohave on the course. Doing this drill willhelp you become more proficient in yourtakeaway technique putting your club onthe right path to achieving your golfinggoals.

One sure fire way to sabotage your golfgame is to add more tension into yourswing than is necessary. As golfers wealready have enough stress and anxietywhen we are playing regardless if it’s asocial outing with clients or friends orwhether it’s a match against a tough oppo-nent at you club. No one likes to lose orembarrass themselves out on the links, butunless you take care of some importantcomponents in your swing like your take-away you’ll be setting yourself up formajor disappointment. What should be ano-brainer –placing the club head downbehind the ball—can add fuel to youralready combustible fire if you’re notcareful. I’m here to help extinguish yourfears and get you back on track.

A SIMPLE CURESo next time you head out to practice orplay I want you to try this drill as it can bea real game changer for you if you put insome time. First, as you set up over yourshot I don’t want you to ground your club.

Instead, try to let the clubhead hover slightly above theball as demonstrated by theyoung golfer in the photo-graph. Initially, this movewill feel somewhat awkward.That’s because we have con-ditioned ourselves to alwayshave the club head lyingbehind the ball touching thesurface of the ground. Theonly time we don’t groundthe club head is when we arein a hazard or a sand trap.When the club head is on theground it’s really easy toaccidently apply to muchpressure starting from thegrip transferring more ten-sion downward towards theclub head. That’s because theonly contact we have with theclub is in our hands. This, inturn, makes us push or dragthe club head back on ourtakeaway along the surface ofthe ground catching too muchgrass which can inhibit thenatural flow of the golf swing. Some peo-ple do this more dramatically than others,but either way it can be destructive to yourgame.

Having grass, sand or dirt nicking yourclub head as you make your backswingcan not only throw off your timing, it canalso alter the path upon which your clubtravels. Usually, if your club head dragsthe ground too much as you make yourtakeaway, then your club’s path will betraveling in a very steep or upright posi-tion. This directional path will force yourclub to get too far outside of your intend-ed swing plane and pull you off balance. Itwill then be a crapshoot to see if you canre-route the club head back in time prior tomaking contact with the ball. Personally, I

don’t like your chances as the odds andpercentages are stacked against you.

KEEP IT OFF THE GROUND TO IMPROVEYOUR FEELOne of the great benefits of allowing theclub head to dangle slightly off the groundis that you can actually feel the transitionof the club going back without any disrup-tion. That sensation helps you play greatgolf by feel instead of having a grocery listof random swing thoughts that come andgo. When you put in sometime with thisdrill you’ll marvel at how well you candiscern the subtle differences of the direc-tional path the club can travel. Everythingabout this particular drill is designed tohelp you counteract the tendency of utiliz-ing your hands and wrists too much espe-

cially when you start getting antsy underpressure.

An exercise I have all my students per-form is to take their stance over the balllike they are about to make a swing. I askthem to close their eyes as well. Next, Islowly take their club back for them asthey remain in their setup position. Then Iproceed to take the club too upright (out-side) on their respective takeaways andask them where they feel the club head isgoing. They only can respond with threeanswers: Too much outside, too muchinside or square. Of course, to drive mypoint home I take the club further inside oroutside than any golfer typically would tohammer home the importance of knowingwhere the club head is. I promise you aftertwo or three times doing this I can’t foolthem anymore.

The analogy I use with golfers is like theboxer who comes to the corner after around and is quite woozy after takingsome big hits. The boxer says to his train-er. “ I see three guys out there.” The train-er tells him.”Just hit the middle one.”Once you know and feel the correct swingpath, which is neither too upright( steep)nor too flat( shallow), all you have to do istake the middle road to success. If the pathof your club is being deflected off linebecause you apply too much tension andmisguided force in making your takeaway,then it’s time to transform your outlookand try this tip. All you have to do is liftyour club head off the ground before youmake your swing and you’ll be dialing upyour launch codes for success. This tip isguaranteed to give your game a much needlift.

Tom Ward can be reached at www.teetimewithtom.com

WITH TOM WARDGOLF

“Lift Off” to improve your ball striking


by DIC HUMPHREYSENIOR [email protected]

Spring training is in full swing this week.

The Rangers held their first full squadworkout Sunday, after position playersreported a day earlier, following pitchersand catchers, who had reported mid-week.This first week is filled with conditioningdrills and work on baseball fundamentalsin preparation for spring games that beginthis Sunday afternoon against KansasCity.

YU-SANITY IN FULL SWINGSo far the media attention for Yu Darvishhas been every bit the circus that wasanticipated. No detail of his spring train-ing day appears too trivial for the horde ofAsian press that numbers more than 100.Bullpen catchers, batters faced in battingpractice and observers are grilled afterevery session, and every report has beenoverwhelmingly positive.

So far the Rangers appear to be trying tolessen the pressure on Darvish. For exam-ple, his early batting practice throwingsessions have been against minor leagueplayers on back fields, not Ranger regu-lars. Earlier this week, manager RonWashington announced the first round ofgame appearances for his seven startingrotation candidates, which will most like-ly entail just two or perhaps three innings.Darvish's first game action follows five ofthe other six candidates. The team obvi-ously wants him to watch games to get afirst hand feel for American baseball priorto taking the mound himself.

Shortly after Washington announced hispitching plans, it was also announced thatnext Wednesday's game against the Padreswhen Darvish debuts will be webcast inthe US and televised in Japan. The bal-ance of the first round of appearances forthe rotation candidates are Colby Lewisand Scott Feldman in Sunday's opener,followed by Derek Holland and AlexiOgando in game two, Matt Harrison ingame three, and Neftali Feliz in game five. It has been generally assumed that AlexiOgando will be one of the two odd menout in the game of musical rotation chairs,but his early work is showing every indi-cation that he is not easily giving up thespot in the rotation he held last season.“Lights out” is one recent comment thathas been reported about Ogando's earlythrowing sessions. He was outstanding

last year with 13 wins, a 3.51 ERA and anAll-Star appearance. It would be a shamenot to build on that performance in his firstyear as a starter.

WILL FELIZ REMAIN A STARTER?So far, Texas seems committed to NeftaliFeliz in the rotation. However, it will beinteresting to see where the team goes ifOgando clearly out-pitches Feliz thisspring. One of Feliz's recent batting prac-tice throwing sessions was reported as notvery good. The batters he faced thoughwere Josh Hamilton, David Murphy andNelson Cruz, any of whom can makepitchers look bad. One of the big ques-tions for a reliever converted to starter isthe development of secondary pitches. Ascloser, Feliz mainly threw fastballs, andoccasionally mixed in an off speed pitch tokeep the hitters honest. As a starter, hewill need to command three or even fourpitches to work through an opposingteam's batting order three times in a night.

Another pitcher that has especially caughtthe eye is Koji Uehara. Texas is reported-ly a “tweak” over their salary budget andunloading Uehara's $4.0 million wouldsolve the problem. One potential trade toToronto was cancelled when Uehara nixedthe deal through a limited no-trade clausein his contract. In the past couple ofweeks another trade to Oakland fizzled.This may be good news. So far, Ueharahas been outstanding. Actually, he com-piled a 2.35 ERA in 65 appearances lastseason, an outstanding total that the

Rangers will be happy to have for $4.0million if he can duplicate those figuresthis year. Unfortunately, his numberswere much better in Baltimore before theJuly trade to Texas last July. Another rea-son that Uehara could end up being a val-ued bullpen member is that he is verygood against left-handed batters. If hethrows well, it is possible Texas will endup foregoing a left-handed bullpen spe-cialist, a role manned by Darren Oliver thepast two seasons. Washington has alreadysaid he is not opposed to an all right hand-ed bullpen if Uehara becomes his bestoption against left-handed batters.

Michael Kirkman is also getting strongreviews for his throwing sessions.

One area of the Rangers that can definite-ly improve is team defense. Texas is gen-erally thought to be a good defensive teambecause there are so many talented playersthat make great plays, but the team com-mits far too many errors. That obscenetotal was 126 last year, ranking them 12thin the league in fielding percentage, whichwas actually one of the better showings forTexas since Washington took over as man-ager. Pitchers committed 16 of thoseerrors. The biggest offender has beenColby Lewis, who has committed nineerrors over the past two seasons, one ofthe highest pitcher totals in baseball.Consequently, there has been a strongeremphasis on pitchers' fielding practice(PFP's) this spring.

The biggest offender in the Rangers' errortotal was Elvis Andrus, who committed25, approximately 20% of the team total.That was definitely a regression from2010's error total of 16, which still isn'tgood. Andrus obviously has the talent, butthe problem seems to be in focus. He sim-ply makes careless errors on routine plays,especially throwing errors. It is probablynot a coincidence that the Rangers havehired Tony Fernandez, once an All-Starshortstop, as a special assistant who is inuniform this spring.

EXUDING CONFIDENCEPerhaps the biggest difference in thisyear's team is attitude. Evan Grant report-ed in The Dallas Morning News this weekthat this team knows that it is good andknows what it needs to do to prepare forthe season. This is the residue of havingplayed a dozen World Series games overthe past two seasons. This team is stillvery young, but very few teams have theplayoff experience in their backgroundsthat this group of players have. This canbe nothing but good for Ranger fans.

National writer Jayson Starke tweeted lastweekend that last Saturday will be thefinal Saturday without a major leaguebaseball game until November. What agreat thought.

Let the games begin!

TEXAS RANGERSBASEBALL

Spring training notes: rotation and defense


TEXAS RANGERSCOVER STORY

by MIKE McGEHEECONTRIBUTOR

Tommy Hunter was a big personality in theTexas sports market.

His jovial smile and larger than life person-ality was embraced by Texas Ranger fans allacross the board. His stuff was inconsistent,but flashes of brilliance enticed Ranger fansabroad. He laughed, drank beer, and pickedon Craig Sager in the 2010 playoffs.

And all of the sudden, he was shipped off toBaltimore in a package with strikeout kingChris Davis for a lauded AL East pitcher,Koji Uehara.

THOUGHT TO BE A TOP RELIEVER...Often described as one of the best late-inning relievers in baseball, the Rangersfront office believed that had hit a gold minein Uehara. And in a flash, the well likedHunter and the often lauded hitter and firstbasemen Davis were Rangers history. Fansand front office alike thought they were get-ting on of the best bullpen additions in a sea-son when the pen had been called into ques-tion.

Most found themselves rooting for Uehara.His stuff was unquestionably sneaky goodand all were drawn in by the infectiousenthusiasm the man showed on the mound.After any dominant inning, he would slamhis fist into his glove and high five everyplayer on the bench on the way back in. Heseemed to be a perfect fit in Texas early.

BUT UNABLE TO DELIVER IN TEXASBaseball doesn't always provide the dreamscenario, however.

While allowing only 11 home runs in 86previous innings with Baltimore, Ueharagave up five in just 22 innings with theRangers. His off-speed stuff was not moving

like it used to. His fastball command wasnot as pinpoint as it used to be. Many whofound themselves cheering the trade forUehara now were groaning when a nodfrom the pitching coach went his way. Whenthe playoffs rolled around, Uehara was oftenleft on the bench in high pressure situationshe seemed fit for.

Koji Uehara was born in Neyagawa, Osaka,Japan in 1973. As a pitcher, he enjoyed greatsuccess until 2009, when he was finallygiven a chance by a Major League Baseballteam in the Baltimore Orioles. He was giventhe opportunity to start for the team, but did-n't find much success in his first year with

the team, going 2-4 with a 4.05 ERA and a.270 batting average against.

Baltimore then tried their hand at movingUehara to relief in 2010. He appeared in 43games and amassed 13 saves. He then firstshowed his pinpoint command by rackingup 55 strikeouts against on five walks in 44total innings. He was able to drop his WHIPto 0.95 and his BAA to .220.

It was in the first half of 2011 that Ueharawould truly shine with the Baltimore Oriels.Before the trade deadline he pitches in 47innings only allowing 25 hits. He was ableto strikeout 62 while only walking eight. He

also dropped his BAA to an astonishing.151. This was the kind of relief dominancethat made the Rangers very interested in theplayer, and he was doing it against theoffensively heavy AL East. The Yankees,Red Sox, Rays, and Blue Jays were allequally flustered by the array of pinpointpitches Uehara was able to roll out in eachappearance.

After the Rangers made the move forUehara, he was the subject of much scruti-ny. The team hoped he would be the answerto their bullpen woes, yet his numbers didn'tquite add up with the gravity of the situa-tions he was placed in. His stat line with the

The biggest surprise out of Surprise: Koji Uehara

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Texas Rangers wasn't unimpressive; it justseemed to be filled with ill timing. Heallowed 13 hits in 18 innings and eightearned runs. Still, he struck out 23 whileonly allowing one walk.

LOOKING FOR A BOUNCE BACK YEARNow, Uehara has dealt with an offseasonfilled with a myriad of trade rumors thatwould make anyone question just howmuch he was truly wanted. He lived in ahotel for the second half of the Rangers sea-son and longed for his home in Baltimore.However, he nixed a potential trade toToronto, showing his desire to prove hisworth in Texas.

Many have cited Koji Uehara and YoshinoriTateyama as big reasons that standout YuDarvish will be able to succeed in Texas. Agood base and an ability to communicatewith teammates have to help Darvish withthe culture change into the wide world ofAmerican baseball. As of February 28th,Darvish was already tweeting in Englishwith his catcher Mike Napoli and fansalike. Any casual fans can look at Uehara'snumbers and wish that he can return to thatclutch form and dominate. And who doesn'tenjoy a good celebration on the mound.

A few stats that do not show in the forefrontwith his time in Texas are WHIP (walks/hitsper inning pitched) and BAA (batting aver-age against) which were 0.78 and .191respectively. Both of these numbers arewell above impressive and kept his worthhigh in the minds of Jon Daniels and com-pany.

The Rangers were very high on TommyHunter. Barring an injury, fans would haveseen him in the starting rotation for the ballclub. Chris Davis was the ultimate talking

point. A guy with plus power and plusdefense who just couldn't piece it togetherin the big leagues. It felt as if every at batwould either be a strikeout or a home runfor Davis. These were two huge pieces inthe Rangers 40 man roster, though to be afactor for the future. Still, Jon Daniels sawthe value in Uehara, and made a move to tryto win now. All fans should be rooting forthe success of Uehara, because he can betruly dominant.

The team is moving onto spring trainingthis year with questions and expectationsabound. Many have pegged Uehara asbeing a standout. He seems to haveregained some of his dominating stuff, allwhile pitching in hitter friendly Surprise,Arizona. He has shown a bit of a return toform, and no one is more thrilled thatUehara with the steps he is taking. Ready toprove he is still a force to be reckoned within the bullpen, Uehara is walking tallamong Rangers pitchers quietly, beneaththe shadow of the Japanese pitching legendYu Darvish.

If Uehara can truly return to form, the ques-tionable Rangers bullpen becomes instantlystronger, and in a big way. His delivery hasbaffled hitters in both than Japanese leaguesand the MLB and he becomes a certifiedweapon in the late innings to back up MikeAdams and Joe Nathan.

Tommy Hunter is ready to fight for a toprotation spot in the Baltimore rotation,Chris Davis will be a favorite for their firstbase job.

And Koji Uehara sits quietly ready in theRangers bullpen, ready to make hitters fearhim again.


Tateyama (left) and Uehara will make Darvish’s transition easier this season. (Photo: Norm Hall)

DOES HAMILTON “OWE”FANS ANYTHING?

by KATE DELANEYS PE C IAL CO NTR I BUTO [email protected]

WORDS CAN STINGOne of the most popular athletes in theseparts hands down is Texas Ranger JoshHamilton, but he's doing his best to puthimself on another list. Once Hamilton letit fly that he doesn't owe the Rangers any-thing, he became a prime target for mas-sive criticism. Arrogant, cocky, andungrateful just a few of the words I heardflipping back and forth through the localsports radio fare.

His grenade-throwing comments cameafter a typical spring training interactionwith the media. Let me flush it out a bitmore to be fair. Last Friday Hamilton said,“The Rangers have done a lot for me, butI have a question for y'all: Have I done a

lot for the Rangers? I think I've given themeverything thing I've had.” I love Texas. Ilove fans of the Rangers. I love the organ-ization. I love my teammates. I love every-thing about it - but I'm not going to sit hereand say I owe the Rangers. I don't feel likeI owe the Rangers.”

It's a slippery slope for Hamilton whenyou think of his slip-ups and backing he'sgotten from the team - is there any doubthe's grateful? No. He just mangled hisresponse or got his back up when he washounded about a new contract. On thatfront, the team is waiting to let him sortout his personal demons. He will, and theRangers will extend his contract.

POLITICS MOVE THE START OF THE NFLWe are all creatures of habit, aren't we? Sowhen I heard that this year's NFL seasonwasn't starting on a Thursday I was a bitsurprised. NFL Commissioner RogerGoodell is accommodating theDemocrats. Yep, the President's address atthe Democratic National Convention isscheduled for Thursday, September 6th sothe opener was shifted to Wednesday.

Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? It's the first time that the kick - off tothe season hasn't been played on aThursday since 2002. Since sports is aboutstats and facts here's another one for you.An NFL game hasn't been played onWednesday since the Rams faced theLions in 1948.

There is a laundry list of major sportingevents that have had to be shifted becauseof earthquakes, floods and unforeseenaccidents that caused a game to be movedeven to a different venue. Do you remem-ber the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake?Game 3 of the World Series between theOakland A's and the Giants was moved for

a week. When you look at the video ofCandlestick Park you can see the stadiumswaying - it's a miracle that nobody washurt. That Sunday- October 22nd - justfive days later, the 49ers game against thePatriots was played at Stanford Stadium inPalo Alto. The Niners won 37-20.

Remember the Wildfires in SouthernCalifornia in October of 2003? Chargerfans certainly do as the game against theDolphins on the 27th meant a road trip toTempe, Arizona. They lost 26 - 10.Hurricane Katrina in 2005 tore apart somany lives and the city lost the Saints fora season as they were unable to play in theSuperdome.

The Saints played four games in BatonRouge, three in San Antonio and one inEast Rutherford, New York. Let's face itthe world was cheering for New Orleansthat season no matter where they played.Maybe moving the NFL Opener isn't sucha big deal after all.Kate Delaney hosts "America Tonight,"which airs from 11p.m. - 2a.m. on KKGM1630AM.


Josh may lose fans with statementsSPORTS SHORTS WITH KATE DELANEY

by Richard S. Pollak,The Hockey AttitudeSPECIAL [email protected]

STARS TARGETED PLAYER AT TRADEDEADLINE DEALT TO BUFFALO INSTEADDallas Stars GM Joe Niewendyk said," that

they were going to be active but not going tobe buyers or sellers at the trade deadline."

As the trade deadline came and went lastMonday, the Stars added 2 future draft picksin exchange for seasoned veteran defense-man Nick Grossman,who will become anunrestricted free agent at the end of the sea-son.

Cody Hodgson, ,the young former number#1 draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks in2008, and the focus of the Stars hockeymanagement team, was instead traded to theBuffalo Sabres. Hodgson has registered 16goals and 33 points this season so far whileassuming a more productive role with theteam. His name came up several times inserious discussions according to membersof the Vancouver Press in Dallas for last

Sunday night's game. No pro scouts fromany NHL teams were present for the lastStars home game prior to the trade deadline.Only the Montreal Canadiens scout hadrequested seating in the Press Box but didn'tshow up.

The entire Dallas Stars Hockey braintrustspent the game in GM Joe Nieuwendyk'sPress Box Suite with new Stars owner TomGaglardi and his checkbook.

YOU'RE INVITED: "A NIGHT WITH THESTARS" EXCLUSIVE GALA TO MEET NEWSTARS OWNER TOM GAGLARDIYes, DSPW Hockey readers, you are invit-ed to join me at the exclusive "A NIGHTWITH THE STARS" gala at the new OmniHotel for the introduction of new StarsOwner Tom Gaglardi to the Stars SuiteOwners and Dallas Society VIP's. Justbecause your not La Creme de la Creme inDallas High Society doesn't mean you can'ttake a peak behind the curtain as I recap theevent for you.

Once again, it was Alan Peppard, the DallasMorning News Society/Gossip Columnist

and I as the only media to attend. Last time,Alan and I were covering the Tony RomoWedding from the lawn outside the tightlysecured Tent at Arlington Hall at Lee Park Iwas pointing out the Dallas Cowboys andother High Profile Sports Personalitieswhile the DMN gossip maven let me knowwho's the riches of the rich and who's justpretending.

Jerry Jones and his family entourage werethere to meet the newest member of theDallas Sports Ownership Club.Interestingly, the Cowboys Owner had toget special permission from the commis-sioner to attend the Wedding during theNFL lockout.

Dallas Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk was seenthroughout the evening happily celebratingthe passing the NHL Trade Deadline and a 4game winning streak. Hully and Mo of 1999Stars Stanley Cup fame led the HockeyAlumni contingent along with severalCanucks executives.

Celelna Rae and the Emerald City Bandsang, " OH WHAT A NIGHT" and it surelywas that for the highest of the Dallas Elite

who had no idea of what hockey was orwhere Vancouver is!

Alan and I were munching on Ritz crackerstopped with Lobster in a Caviar speckedBernaise sauce and Kobe Steak Sliders, wehad our own personal security guards evenescort us out of the party to Valet. I assumeit was to avoid the rush!

CHARLIE, WILL YOU MARRY ME?Dallas Stars All-Star Jamie Benn leads theAmerican Airlines Center in teen girls’ handmade " WILL YOU MARRY ME" postersthis season. However, it was Gary Heiskalawho stole all of the romantic attention whenhe proposed to his girlfriend Charlie duringthe KISS-FM Kiss Cam Promo on theJumbotrons coreboard.

Thank the Stars that she said,"YES" as itinspired the new pre-recorded (not live)AAC organ player to chime out ," HOWDEEP IS YOUR LOVE " by the Bee Gees.

DALLAS STARSHOCKEY

Stars stand pat at trade deadline


by MIKE [email protected]

The Texas Rangers have given their fans amagical ride the last two years and accom-plished just about everything except win achampionship. Nothing in baseball is everstatic and the Rangers have a new set ofchallenges in 2012. Here are some of thequestions the Rangers face in 2012 and Iconsulted baseball history in search ofanswers.

1A) WHAT HAPPENS TO TEAMS THATLOSE BACK-TO-BACK WORLD SERIES?

The 2012 Texas Rangers are dealing with adouble whammy so the first two questionsare related. They went to the World Seriestwo years in a row and not only came upshort but also experienced a Buckneriansoul crushing loss of a championship in theprocess.

Going through history to find this answeris kind of like George Bailey going on atour of Pottersville with Clarence and see-ing what life would have been like withouthim, “You're not gonna like what you see,George.”

It's virtually unheard of (hasn't happenedsince 1923) to go back to the World Seriesa third year after losing twice in a row. Thelast three teams to lose two World Series ina row were the '92 Atlanta Braves, the '78Los Angeles Dodgers and the '64 New YorkYankees. The '93 Braves won the NL Westbut were knocked out by the Phillies in theplayoffs. The '79 Dodgers and '65 Yankeesboth finished under .500.

1B) THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOMNOBODY WANTS TO DISCUSS…WHATHAPPENS TO TEAMS WHO CHOKE ONOPPORTUNITIES FOR GREATNESS LIKETHE RANGERS DID IN GAME 6?

In Game 6 of the 2002 World Series, theSan Francisco Giants led the AnaheimAngels 3-2 and held a 5-0 lead in the bot-tom of the 7th inning only to cough up thatgame and Game 7. The next year theGiants won the NL West but were knockedout in the LDS by the Florida Marlins.

The '97 Cleveland Indians took a 2-1 leadto the 9th inning of Game 7 but lost inextra innings. The Indians won the ALCentral three of the next four years buthave never been back to the World Series.

Perhaps the most similar thing that hap-pened to the Rangers is what happened to

the '86 Boston Red Sox in Game 6 of theWorld Series. The Red Sox held a two-runlead in the 10th inning and were one outand one strike away from a championshipwhen disaster struck (“…the ball getsthrough Buckner, here comes Knight andthe Mets win it!!!”). The '87 Red Sox, ateam stocked with players like RogerClemens, Wade Boggs, Dwight Evans andJim Rice didn't get over what happened in1986 and somehow went 78-84.

Given their talent, the age of the team andthe weak division they play in, I can't fath-om the Rangers finishing below .500 in2012 but getting over what happened lastyear is my biggest worry with the team.One thing about the 2011 Texas Rangersteam is certain is that all of them will takewhat happened in Game 6 to their bleepinggraves.

2) IS THIS JOSH HAMILTON'S LAST SEA-SON WITH THE RANGERS AND WILL HISIMPENDING FREE AGENCY BECOME ADISTRACTION?

Three of the most popular players I canremember playing for the Texas Rangersare Nolan Ryan, Pudge Rodriguez and JoshHamilton. In 1997, Pudge was a 25 yearold star and eligible to hit free agency buthe had made it public that he wanted tostay.

Rangers ownership (Tom Schieffer Years)at the time was renowned for throwing

nickels around like man-hole covers.Several young players (Raffy Palmeiro,Kevin Brown, Kenny Rogers, DeanPalmer) who were about to become expen-sive, were traded or allowed to hit freeagency. Making obscene amounts ofmoney (the Rangers averaged 36,000+ fansper game in '97) trumped baseball deci-sions at the time.

Nobody could believe ownership would letPudge go (remember the “Sign Pudge”bumper stickers?) but that narrative grippedthe team early and put it in a headlock. Bythe time Pudge signed (4 months into theseason) the Rangers were 7 games under.500 / 10 games back and the season wasessentially lost.

In the modern world of baseball statisticsI'd get laughed at by sabermetric types forsaying that Pudge's contract was the reasonthe team played so badly but I have tobelieve it had some kind of effect becauseit was the dominant media topic that sea-son.

The Rangers won 3 AL West titles from'96-99 and the one year in that span theydidn't win the AL West (when Pudge'sfuture was uncertain), the Rangers went77-85

Early returns for the 2012 season are notpromising. The Rangers front office hassaid the talks have been tabled for nowwhile Josh keeps bringing up how much

loyalty is owed. My hope is that there's asense of urgency …a “this might be ourlast chance to win it all together” thing thathappens with the team and that we see2010 Josh once again but so far hisimpending free agency has become a domi-nant story the first week of SpringTraining.

3) WILL YU DARVISH BECOME A SUPER-STAR AND JUSTIFY THE $ 110 MILLIONINVESTMENT THE TEXAS RANGERSMADE IN HIM?

Mike Tyson was once asked about thestrategy opposing boxers used against himand he very famously said “Everybody'sgot a plan until they get hit in the mouth.”Rangers Ballpark in Arlington is a lot likeTyson circa '88 - a terrifying confluence(the heat, the jet stream, the AmericanLeague) where the challenge is every bitmental as it is physical.

Kevin Millwood was the American LeagueERA leader (2.86) in 2005 and that off-sea-son signed as a free agent with theRangers. Millwood sported a 5.38 ERA inhis first year with the Texas Rangers.Millwood is not alone when it comes tostruggling at RBiA. .

Cliff Lee (5.07), Tim Hudson (6.80), RoyHalladay (6.34), Dan Haren (5.05), ErvinSantana (7.17), Colby Lewis (5.26) FelixHernandez (4.35) are all good to greatpitchers that have ridiculously high careerERA's in Arlington.

Yu Darvish has so many other adjustments(the quality of hitters, stricter pitch counts,size of baseballs, pitching every 5 daysinstead of once a week, the travel) to makethis season to go along with pitching inTexas that I don't think he will be a super-star in his rookie year.

I expect Darvish to experience labor painsin his rookie year - neither Roy Halladaynor Cliff Lee could pitch well in Texas -and my hope is that he survives 2012 andbecomes a good pitcher. A 14-10 recordwith a 3.50ish ERA in 200 innings pitchedwould be a good start to his major leaguecareer and a possible foundation for great-ness.

4) WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGETHE 2012 TEXAS RANGERS FACE?

That's easy, defying major league history.

TEXAS RANGERSBASEBALL

Many questions loom for 2012 Rangers


Tom Gaglardi with The Hardline

The HardlineWeekdays, 3:00-7:00 PM

Mike: So the trade deadline hascome and gone now, and you guys on thestrength of a four game winning streakhave held tight. You've decided to playyour hand close to the vest and hold whatyou've got?

Tom: Yeah I think the four game winstreak was a bit of a factor for us. If youlook back, we've always thought thisteam was a playoff team and was capable

of getting there. After a great start, wehad a bit of inconsistent play throughoutthe middle of the season. So we've seennow what we've put together and whatwas supposed to happen and it shows upnow in the nick of time. There weresome interesting discussions over the lastcouple of weeks with some teams, andwe're committed to being better forlonger. If that means we get a littleyounger right now, that was somethingwe were going to consider doing. Weworked hard and listened a lot, but in theend there wasn't a deal there that made usa better hockey team so we decided tostand pat.

Mike: Would you have had to touchthe core of the team? Was anything thattempting for you?

Tom: In the end maybe not. For abunch of reasons the market changed alittle in terms of the prices being prettyhigh for the types of players that we cov-eted. When we talk about our core herewith the Stars, we're talking about guysin their mid 20's. We're talking about

Jamie Benn, Kari Lehtonen, TrevorDaley, Loui Eriksson, and Goligosky Iguess would be in that group. Thoseguys were untouchable for us. We've gotsome pieces we love that are older. SteveOtt for instance is 29 and under contract.A lot of teams were coveting Steve, andI'm happy he's still a Dallas Star todaybut there's tough decisions to be madehere in Dallas, and we want to take thenext step forward and be a better teamlonger term.

Corby: How difficult is it as a newowner? You want to make your imprint,or make a splash maybe. Does that enteryour head when the trade deadline comesand goes?

Tom: I don't really care to make a bigsplash. I've been around the game a longtime watching how teams are built andstudying that. I've got a pretty good ideaof what we want to do here, and franklyi'd prefer to do something over the sum-mer. It's always a worry when you tinkerwith the locker room when you likewhat's going on in the room. We've had

some bad luck with injuries. We lost ourgoalie for a month to a freaky injury, andJamie Benn our best young player had afreak skate cut to the leg and missedsome games. Our captain BrendanMorrow has missed large chunks of theseason. We've had some unlucky thingshappen to us in terms of being injured,and right now we're not the deepest teamaround. I think that plays a factor in theinconsistency that we went through inthe middle of the season. But we're pret-ty excited about our group. We beat theCanucks without our best player and ourcaptain, we've beaten the Bruins, theStanley Cup Champions.

We've beaten some good teams, andthere's some teams that fear us. We wantto be a championship caliber team, butwe've got to get better on the ice andwe've got to be more competitive, but wedon't want to make mistakes on the way.We've got a good farm system, and we'vegot some really nice things happeningwith the core group I mentioned earlier.

TICKET WINDOW


Dallas’ top hotel restaurant is at the Fairmontby RICHARD POLLAK,The Traveling GourmetSPECIAL [email protected]

Yes, Dallas, everyone already knows aboutFearing's at the Ritz and Tom Colicchio'sCraft at the W . There is also a lot of food-ies talk about Rex Turner's Q de Cheval atthe Hotel Intercontinental. However, thebest kept secret in hotel restaurants in Dallasis the Pyramid Restaurant & Bar at theFairmont Hotel!

The Fairmont's major renovation campaignbrought about a new sleek, yet warm,stylishand confortable feeling to the old restaurantthat has long been known as one of the oldstandards in Dallas dining. Executive ChefAndre Natera has recreated a "freshapproach" by utilizing his 3,000 square footgarden on the Hotel's roof full of homegrown herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables tobring to cutting edge flavor to the diningtable.

The amazing Trifecta Dinner held in the

Fairmont Ballroom brought the hotel's threeexecutives from the kitchen to a challenge.Three past winners of Dallas Food andWine’s Rising Star Chefs, includingExecutive Chef Andre Natera (2003 WhiteWine winner), Executive Sous Chef Paul

Peddle (2011 White Wine winner), andPyramid Sous Chef Andrew McDonald(2011 Red Wine winner),took part in theevent.

To celebrate these Rising Stars Trifecta ofaccomplishments, The Pyramid Restauranthosted the chef's tasting dinner and livecooking demonstration. Each Rising StarChef prepared an interpretation of their sig-nature award-winning dish, along with aspecial dessert course by Pastry ChefMaggie Huff.

AMUSE BOUCHE AT THE MENU TASTINGThe Faimont's Pyramid room Fall menucontinues the fresh-from-the-roof top gar-den to the table theme. Highlighted by adynamic Thanksgiving Feast of RoastedButternut Squash Bisque & SpanishChorizo along with a Rosemary RouladeTurkey, Mushroom Stuffing SoufllesCranberry Compote and PumpkinCheesecake with Fresh Chantilly Cream,Berry Compote and Cinnamon SpicedTuile.

FALL COCKTAIL SELECTIONSThe Lobby Bar at the Fairmont has longbeen known for it's creative libations inDowntown Dallas and the complimentaryhome-made Potato Chips are the best Barnibbles in town!

The Dallas Dining scene will rediscover theFairmont Hotel's Pyramid Restaurant andBar as the Best Hotel Restaurant in Dallas.

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