TCU May Get a Pass to the Big East Tournament

With The Big East preparing to expand to 17 teams with the inclusion of TCU next year no one is sure how the incredibly popular Big East men's basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden will work out.

So even if the Frogs struggle in the first year of the Big East they would at least be a part of the best conference tournament in the nation. For Frog fans, this is a tournament that is worth the trip.

Right now, all 16 teams get in. UConn won five games in five days to win the tournament in the spring, then won the NCAA tournament.

In an odd-numbered field, it's not uncommon that the last team has to play a "play-in" game, or is just left out.

Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim, whose voice carries a lot of weight, wants everybody in. 

Read this article to hear Boeheim's thoughts about a 17-team conference tourney.

Seventeen teams is a lot, but a conference tournament is something every team should be a part of. Even if the field is absurdly large.

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com 

DeShawn Stevenson Once Called LeBron Overrated

DALLAS - This NBA Finals is loaded with stories:

- Dirk
- Mavs gag in Miami in '06
- Last chance for J-Kidd 
- Cuban v. Stern
- LeBron

But checking out this post on The Big League  reminds us there is the another story  a lot of us may have completely forgot: DeShawn Stevenson vs. LeBron James

Yes, it's a little far-fetched to say LeBron is overrated, especially coming from a guy like DeShawn, who is a nice NBA player.

Don't think for a moment LeBron forgot this one, either. Wouldn't be surprised if LeBron has a picture of Stevenson on his bathroom mirror, a la Rocky and Ivan Drago.

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com 

Mark Cuban's Silence is Fine With Dirk

DALLAS - Mark Cuban creates news when he says anything, and now he does so by not saying a word.
His self-imposed gag order during these playoffs has created a tiny stir, mostly because us media dorks like what he says because he's not afraid of his own opinions.

And what Cuban says, or doesn't say, in these Finals against this opponent is relevant.
This is the guy who after Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Miami in 2006 apparently screamed at NBA commissioner David Stern that his league was rigged. Thanks to Tim Donaghy, we know Cuban was right. Cuban was fined $250,000 for his misconduct during that game.

While we in the media are collectively bummed that Cuban is not filling our notebooks with crazy accusations against us, opponents, or anyone, a lot of people are content with nothing coming from his mouth.

"It's fine with me," Dirk Nowitzki said after practice on Friday at the AAC. "It should be about the players. That's the this league is."

He's right. But with a team and a coach with almost no personality, Cuban seems to recognize the need to fill the personality void. Cuban makes people aware of the Dallas Mavericks, which has value. The value of the Dallas Mavericks will always be a priority to Cuban as long as he owns this team. 

"Mark has been a huge positive," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said today. "He's the most unique owner in the league. I love having him around because it lets players know how much he cares."

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com 

Does the Success of One Franchise (Mavs) Shield Us From Another (Rangers)? Not Really

ARLINGTON - Last fall when the Rangers were busy winning the hearts of all North Texans the Dallas Cowboys were in a collapse mode, complete with a head coach firing.
The line tossed about from both media dorks and PR types in and around the Dallas Cowboys was, "Thank God for the Rangers."

The idea being the success of one franchise attracts away from the overwhelming negativity towards the other. Even one like the Dallas Cowboys.

Because the Texas Rangers are in first place and it's not even June, it's hard to say the success of the Mavericks is drawing away a lot of attention away from the Rangers. Maybe it does a bit on talk radio, but beyond that the impact is not felt inside a clubhouse.

"Right now it's 'Mavs Fever' and it should be," Rangers DH Michael Young said when I asked him about this little media theory.
"I hope they keep going. I've always liked the Mavs. I like all the local teams. I'm a Cowboys nut. But in (in the clubhouse), (the media) is all loving the Mavs, which is the way it should be. 
"We really don't think about it. It's really not relevant. I mean, right now it's perfect. We have a good team coming off a great year and now the local basketball team is on fire. For us, it's fun. We hope on board like everyone else. I'd love to be able to have a day game, and be able to catch the Mavs at night."

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com

NBA Championship Winning Coach Bill Fitch: "I'm a Cuban Man."

Was speaking to former NBA coach Bill Fitch yesterday for a piece I am doing on Rick Carlisle and it surprised me to hear him to say this, "I'd really like to see Mark Cuban get (a title)," he said. "I'm a Cuban man. I'd love to see David Stern's face when he hands Cuban that championship trophy."

Had to ask - why?

"Oh, c'mon, you know why," he said.

I was under the impression a lot of the old guard coaches think nothing of Mark Cuban and his out-there antics. Fitch is OK with it. Mostly because he believes Mark Cuban badly wants to win, and for a player or coach that means a lot.

"I know sometimes he gets in trouble and stuff, but I love it," Fitch said. "He's not just there because he's a rich man. Now, he is, but he's there because he loves it and he wants to win a championship. Some of the crap (the NBA) gives him and those fines and all of that, I just think he deserves to win one.

"He is the guy that changed that team. He put the stuff in their locker room. Each could watch film in their locker room. He took care of players as far as the travel. He made that a franchise that players wanted to play for. You ask any player that played there and they will tell you they had an owner that wanted to win and who cared. You sometimes can't get players to agree on what to have for breakfast and when they agree on something as big as that that's very important." 

In case you are wondering, Fitch is very much retired these days and lives not too far from Houston.

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com 

Friday Hangover: Mavs/Heat - It's On Like Donkey Kong - Heat Favored by 5.5 in Game 1

1. The Hangover 2 is out. Early reviews aren't great. The sequel is never as good. And these guys didn't get rich off the first one so of course they came around for No. 2 to cash in.

2. Can the Mavs really beat this team? God let us hope so.

3. Time for the Rangers to get fat: They open a three-game series against the Royals tonight. A sweep is in order. The Dave Barnett era begins, too.

4. I can't believe this - four of the top five team ERAs in the AL come from the AL Joke.

5. This can't be good - Lance Armstrong is hiring more lawyers. Because he's clean.

6. The Astros aren't just awful, they are lose 100 games awful. 

7. The Miami Heat are favored by 5.5 points in Game 1.

8. A reason to put in a picture of Ashley Greene.

9. The greatest thing ever in sports - Game 7. The Bruins play the Lightning tonight for the right to lose to the Canucks in the Cup Finals.

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com 

 

Mavs "It" Factor Can Trump Heat's Three Best Friends That Anybody Could Have

Just finished watching the Chicago Thunder squander away a win against a Miami Heat team that may yet irritate the hell out of all us in a couple of weeks.

I will remain the optimist and say, "Let's Go Mavs! Let's do this for all the little schools that never had a chance to get here."

This is NOT a repeat of the 2006 Finals. These are dramatically different rosters. For starters, Erick Dampier is no longer stealing money from the Mavs. Josh Howard is teasing another team elsewhere.

The Mavs swept the season series against the Heat this season, but those games are totally meaningless. They were meaningless when they played them. The Heat didn't care when they played the Mavs.

November 27, 2010: Mavs 106, Heat 95 in Dallas
Heat held a player's-only team meeting after this loss. They decided they would try ... when they had to.

December 20, 2010: Mavs 98, Heat 96 in Miami
Mavs win snapped Heat win streak at 12.

The Truth I: The Heat will be the favorites. They have their lineup when GM Dwyane Wade colluded with LeBron James last offseason to make Pat Riley look like he was the man calling the shots on player acquisitions. Udonis Haslem is playing, so is Mike Miller, and the Heat are rolling.

The Truth II: The Mavs have the "It" factor going this postseason, and Dirk is totally and completely locked in.

Should be fun.

Prediction: Mavs in six* 

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com

Rick Pitino Talks TCU and The Big East

Spoke to Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino today as part of some gathering for a story on Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle.
But I took the chance to ask Pitino a few questions about TCU's inclusion into the Big East, which will happen in about one year.

Mac Engel: What was your reaction to the Big East's decision to add TCU?
Rick Pitino: We felt it was purely a football decision. One of my very worst experiences was traveling to TCU and getting killed there. We were in Conference USA (it was a 71-46 loss on Feb. 17, 2004). It was one of those nights that nothing went well for us and everything went right for them. It was a horrible experience. It really was one of the worst experiences of my coaching career. 
It was a football decision, but what it does is enhance the basketball program at TCU for sure. 
For all of us it adds value.
Texas is so fertile in recruiting; it's a big part of recruiting in the Big 10 and this should help for us as well. Some of us will feel more comfortable recruiting there now for sure.

ME: How does this add value for a Louisville, or a TCU?
RP: When I came to Louisville we were a top 10 program. In terms of value according to Forbes, there is only one basketball program among the top 50 money making athletic programs in the country that is basketball. The rest are all football. We're the one. That would not be true today if we were not in The Big East. The Big East makes Louisville a top five program. It was the one thing that Louisville lacked was that established conference. We really didn't have it in the Metro or Conference USA. Now we do.
TCU basketball could never, ever - or a South Florida or a DePaul or a wherever - be what it wants to be without being in a major conference. Now they are because they have that affiliation.

ME: UConn finished ninth in the Big East but won the NCAA tournament; can you describe how loaded and difficult this conference is in men's basketball?
RP: It's such a fine line here. We almost beat UConn three times, and we beat Butler at home and we got knocked out of the first round of the (NCAA) tournament. It's very easy to be as close to the top in this conference as it is to finish 10th or 11th. UConn could have been out of the tournament all together if their non-conference wasn't so good.
It's beyond being a bear. It's every night. For a guy like (TCU coach) Jimmy Christian - we went to the same high school, although at different times - he's taken a TCU job and he's building the thing and then all of a sudden he turns around and he's in the Big East. It's awesome from a recruiting standpoint, but, and he knows this, this is a very, very difficult basketball league.

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com

Impatience is the New Black - John Rhadigan Is Out As TV Voice of Rangers

Why can't the Rangers just get out of the way? Ever? Just once. Because this is what Rangers do.

Less than two months into the first season of his three-year contract, new Rangers TV play by play man John Rhadigan is out.

I just spoke to Rhadigan on Monday in the Rangers clubhouse at length and he was telling me how much more comfortable he was feeling in this new role as a team play-by-play guy. How much he was enjoying the job. Working with Tom Grieve. Getting into it as the voice of the team.

And less than five days later he's gone?

The fact that the Rangers would not give this guy a full season, much less to the All-Star break, to settle into this role is another piece of evidence that absolutely no one in electronic media has any time to impress anyone. Rhadigan got Paul Reisered.
 
In this day and age Vin Scully wouldn't have lasted a year with the Dodgers, the Cincinnati Reds would never, ever allow the outspoken Marty Brenneman to call their games, and Harry Caray would have been in the production truck. Those three are Hall of Fame broadcasters.

Rhadigan was not a HOF broadcaster, but who is going to get the time to build the credentials to become one any more? 

Rhadigan was hired in the offseason to replace Josh Lewin. The immediate feedback from the fans has not been glowing, but it never is. Ever. This is a no-win job. People whined about Josh. They whined about Bill Jones. They whined about Rhadigan. They'll whine about Dave Barnett, too.

Dave Barnett will take over as the TV voice of the Rangers working next to Grieve.

The problem isn't necessarily the announcer; the problem is the game of baseball is inherently slow moving and this generation of viewers requires constant stimulation. Baseball is not a product of constant stimulation. Hell, it's a game that could go weeks without anything interesting happening. There is nothing any announcer can do to make the game what it isn't.

Rhadigan will return to his old gig doing pre and post-games on Fox Sports Southwest. 

The one good thing the Rangers announced today is that long, long time part-time color man Steve Busby will be the primary color analyst on the radio broadcasts next to Eric Nadel.

ADD
After reading some of the comments I felt the need to add the following:

I'm not saying Rhadigan was great. I'm not saying he was bad. The Texas Rangers knew Rhadigan had no experience doing this job, and to think he was going to "nail it" in less than two months is preposterous. This is a case where the guy had no chance. Literally.

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com

BBQ Breakdown - Hickory House BBQ & Grill in Dallas Is a Solid Hit

DALLAS - A few rules for dining at any great establishment should be as follows:

1.) No chain. Chains suck.
2.) A place where the Dept. of Health doesn't drop by too often. We don't need them interfering with goodness.

Haven't hit BBQ a lot lately in my travels but I have been passing by this place - Hickory House BBQ & Grill in Dallas - for years and never stopped by until the other day.

Hickory House BBQ & Grill
600 S. Riverfront
Dallas, Texas 75207
214-742-4400

The place has been open since 1952, and has a large menu ranging from breakfast to burgers, to BBQ to enchiladas. 
The owner stressed that I should have ordered the burger, but instead I took the chopped sandwich with beans and fries.

Two of the employees really stressed I should have ordered the brisket, or the chicken fried steak. The chopped sandwich is good. Very good. Would have preferred a little more sauce on it, but the star of this sandwich is the bun.

It tastes like it's covered in oil or butter and it makes for a very sweet tasting BBQ sandwich.
The beans are sweet; even my 2-year-old daughter liked them

Fries? Standard. Good. Not great.

I will come back for the burger.

A good place to stop and eat for not a lot of money.

@MacEngelProf
tengel@star-telegram.com