New Dallas Stars GM has to change the apathy that surrounds this team

DALLAS, Texas - Approximately 8,323 people attended the introductory press conference for new Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill, nearly all of whom were members of the Stars organization. There is not a lack of caring or desire among the many good people that run this franchise. The issue is on the outside.

Nill was formally introduced as the new GM of the Stars on Monday morning at the American Airlines Center. He has a five-year contract to change what has troubled this team for so long few can remember – no one pays enough attention to put pressure on this team to win. No one is calling anybody out.

“We talk about it all the time; if we don’t demand it then nobody else is going to do it,” Stars president Jim Lites said Sunday.

Everybody from the players and coaches makes six to seven figures, and are quite comfortable with winning or losing because their standard of living is so high. The core fan base is so small and loyal that it’s not big enough to make a dent, and the members of the media that say a word make even less of an impression.

This problem is not specific to the Dallas Stars. A lot of teams in non-traditional markets fight it. People don't care enough to be mad. A very select few members of the media says a word about this team because to do is to risk alienating fans who want to hear about something else.

That’s just hockey in non-traditional markets. If the pressure and the demand to win does not come from within the organization, not enough external stressors exist to demand real change.

Stars owner Tom Gaglardi realizes a malaise is draped over the team. He sounds like a man, who having owned this team for about 18 months, is ready to raise expectations and make demands.

"The bar has to be higher," he told me after the press conference on Monday. "Great teams expect to win. If you do it properly and get to the top you can be hard to knock off. People in Detroit expected to win. The danger is if you don't win and let it go on for too long it can get tougher. You have to raise the bar."

Jim Nill should be a good hire because he comes from such a winning franchise, the Detroit Red Wings, that expects to win every year and does.

He also arrives at the right time. The team is stacked with quality young players. This team is loaded with wingers and defensemen. There are also high draft picks to find a quality centermen, or two.

I do not believe that Nill would have taken this job had he not felt the roster was right on the edge of moving up. He cherry picked his opportunity to leave the Detroit Red Wings because he knew there was tremendous potential to win with the Stars right now, and for a long while.

Hopefully he can make people care enough about hockey again to at least be mad.

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The Dallas Mavericks: To Dwight Howard or not to Dwight Howard

The Los Angeles Lakers are dead, and now it does appear that center Dwight Howard may hate it so much in SoCal he may actually take less money just to get out of town and away from Kobe Bryant.

Howard got tossed from the Lakers series-ending loss against the San Antonio Spurs, after which he called the season a "nightmare".

Despite his enormous physical gifts and ability the best thing for both sides may be for Dwight to just leave. At least that's according to LA Times columnist Bill Plaschke; I tend to agree with this point of view.

At the very least, D12 with a coach like Mark D'antoni doesn't work, and this is nothing to say about his Dwight's relationship with Kobe.

If you are the Dallas Mavericks, do you even try? Yes, yes, yes and yes. The guy sounds like a giant baby/head case but he is only 27 and a physical freak so the Mavs have to pursue this fantasy if possible.

The Lakers can offer Dwight a deal of five years at $117.9 million. The most the Mavs can offer is four years, $87.6 million. Dwight is really going to have to hate L.A. to leave $30 million on the table.

The Mavs are going to have approximately $34 billion under the cap space, and they desperately need a defender and rim protector. Maybe Tyson Chandler? OK, cheap shot but Howard is just 27 and would only be around for four years.

This much is for certain - whatever team D12 plays for it has to be about him. Or close. Dirk Nowitzki is not going to care, provided Dwight brings it and cares.

There may not be a better coach for D12 than Rick Carlisle. He respects players, and consistently has displayed the ability to coach players of all personality types without losing them.

The rub is D12 has a limit, and he is not a fan of being pushed too hard. Orlando Magic coach Jeff Van Gundy may have been a punchline, but he leaned on Dwight to be better and he was. Howard's best seasons came when Van Gundy rode him. In the end, however, all of that pushing cost him his job.

Then there is the issue of D12's body, which is beginning to show signs of not being able to hold up.

Add it all up and you have a dicey situation for a max-contract player.

Either way, if Howard elects to becomes a free agent the Mavs have to call.

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No shock: Dallas Stars to fire their GM & likely will have a new coach

Joe Nieuwendyk was loaded with perfectly reasonable explanations why the Dallas Stars stunk it up over the past four seasons, but despite those reasons enough mediocrity was enough. GM Joe, once one of this most celebrated names of this once proud franchise, is back to being another Joe.

A Dallas Stars source said that Nieuwendyk is out as the GM of the Stars. 

According to TSN.ca Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, he will be replaced by Detroit Red Wings assistant GM Jim Nill as early as Monday.

The Stars ended their season on Saturday night.

Makes perfect sense; Nill was with the Red Wings when current Dallas Stars president Jim Lites was a member of that organization. Nill has been next to one of the best GM's in the business in long-time Red Wings GM Ken Holland.

While we're at it, don't expect Nill to re-sign head coach Glen Gulutzan. His contract has expired, and it's hard to imagine a new GM will not bring in his own guy.

GM Joe's reign in the Stars front office was hamstrung mostly by the team's ownership problems from previous owner Tom Hicks. For three years of the four years of GM Joe's tenure, he was limited in his ability to make moves because at first Hicks didn't want to spend money, and when the team went into bankruptcy the banks that were signing the checks didn't want to do anything big.

Excuses aside, the Stars never made the postseason in Joe's tenure while many other franchises with uncertain ownernship situations still managed to win games and make the playoffs.

His trade of forward James Neal to the Pittsburgh Penguins for d-man Alex Goligoski was terrible. The reason to fire head coach Dave Tippett when he took over as GM may have been sound, but the subsequent hirings of Marc Crawford and Gulutzan as the were duds.

This is a franchise-record fifth consecutive season the Stars failed to make the postseason, and with interest in this team at an all-time low Stars owner Tom Gaglardi had no choice but to make this change.

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Si-Si! New Tex-Mex place finally ready to open

FORT WORTH, Texas - Two certainties in life: There is no such thing as bad free beer, and there can never, ever be enough Mexican restaurants.

Cowtown will be adding another Tex-Mex place shortly - Trevino's Comida Mexicana should be opening around the second week of May.

The location is 1812 Montgomery Street, across the street from the Fort Worth Science Museum and near the cultural area. Trevino's has one other location, in Rockwall, which has been open since 1988.

The owners have eyed Fort Worth for a while and construction on this has lasted just a bit longer than originally expected. (BTW - Is there any construction that hasn't lasted longer than originally expected?)

"We've been wanting to get this open for a while but every time we get close the city has one more thing for us to do. I don't know what else can go wrong," said the owner, Bertha Trevino. "I think it should be open the second week or so of May. That's what we are hoping for."

Seating inside will be for 30 people; there will be a larger patio area that will be good for summer or winter. It's a full restaurant with alcohol, etc.

The sour cream enchiladas, chile sauce smothered pork chops and the steak Juanito are some of the menu's more popular items.

Why can't it be the second week of May right now?

Trevino's Comida Mexicana
1812 Montgomery Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76107 

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The Dallas Cowboys best draft picks of all time - No. 2

As a celebration of NFL draft week, The Big Mac Blog will look back at the best and worst of the Dallas Cowboys' draft history. We continue with the good. The criteria is simple - the lower the expection, i.e. the selection, and the greater the return, the better pick.

2. Kevin Gogan, OL, Washington, 1987, 206th selection
Despite the fact he was selected so late he stepped in at right tackle as a rookie and nearly became the full-time starter immediately.

Gogan would go on to become one of the meaniest, dirtiest offensive lineman in the NFL in a 14-year career that included five franchises. He started as a tackle but was eventually moved to guard where he played for the Cowboys from '88 to '93, his final season with the team.

He was a starter for two of the Cowboys' Super Bowl winning teams in the '90s. Gogan was named to the Pro Bowl in '94, '97 and '98. He was second team all-NFL by the AP in 1998. He appeared in 213 games, 179 as a starter.

Picked immediately after: Charles Buchanan, DE, Tennessee State
Picked immediately ahead of: Toi Cook, DB, Stanford

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The Dallas Cowboys best draft picks of all time - No. 3

As a celebration of NFL draft week, The Big Mac Blog will look back at the best and worst of the Dallas Cowboys' draft history. We continue with the good. The criteria is simple - the lower the expection, i.e. the selection, and the greater the return, the better pick.

3. Jay Ratliff, DL, Auburn, 2005, 224th selection
This was a case of selecting a pretty good athlete from an SEC school and maybe hoping he might develop into a guy who could contribute. It took a while, and a position move from defensive end to nose tackle, but Ratliff developed into one of the nastiest nose tackles in the NFL.

He saw limited action as a rookie before he began to show signs as a potentially dominant player in 2006 when he had four sacks and three fumble recoveries as a backup.

An injury to starter Jason Ferguson forced the Cowboys to switch Ratliff to nose tackle where he excelled. He has been to four Pro Bowls and has been named an All-Pro once.

Ratliff has "the motor", not to mention one of the meaner streaks in the league. He's not dirty, but he's not pleasant.

He started all 16 games from 2008 to '11. Injuries limited him to just six games last season.

Picked immediately after: Marcus Maxwell, WR, Oregon
Picked immediately ahead of: Paris Warren, WR, Utah

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The Dallas Cowboys best draft picks of all time - No. 4

As a celebration of NFL draft week, The Big Mac Blog will look back at the best and worst of the Dallas Cowboys' draft history. We now continue with the good. The criteria is simple - the lower the expection, i.e. the selection, and the greater the return, the better pick.

4. Dennis Thurman, S, USC, 1978, 306th selection
Thurman began his career as a backup safety but eventually became a reliable starter at corner for four of his nine NFL seasons. He intercepted a total of 36 passes and scored five defensive touchdowns. Thurman never missed a game in his career that covered 137 total games.

In 1981, he was named second team all-NFC by the UPI.

He played his last season with the Cowboys in 1985 and spent one more year with the Cardinals before he retired. 

Picked immediately after: Lacy Brumley, OL, Clemson
Picked immediately ahead of: Willie Brock, C, Colorado

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The Dallas Cowboys best draft picks of all time - No. 5

As a celebration of NFL draft week, The Big Mac Blog will look back at the best and worst of the Dallas Cowboys' draft history. We now continue with the good. The criteria is simple - the lower the expection, i.e. the selection, and the greater the return, the better pick.

5. Larry Brown, CB, TCU, 1991, 320th selection
LB may not have been the world's greatest defensive back, but for a man who was one of the last picks in the 1991 draft he was both productive and valuable on a level few ever see from this spot. 

He played eight NFL seasons, intercepted 14 passes and returned two for touchdowns. Maybe he was the beneficiary of a Cowboys defense that abused so many, but he made plays.

Brown's biggest contribution came in Super Bowl XXX when he intercepted a pair of passes by Pittsburgh Steelers QB Neil O'Donnell in the second half.

The Steelers' trailed 13-7 in the third quarter and were around midfield. On third down, Brown intercepted a pass and returned it 44 yards, which set up an Emmitt Smith touchdown.

The Cowboys led 20-17 with 4:15 remaining in the game when the Steelers had the ball at their own 32. On second down, Brown picked off O'Donnell again and returned it 33 yards to the six-yard-line. Smith scored again to secure the Cowboys last Super Bowl win.

Brown is now one of seven defensive players to be named Super Bowl MVP; the others were Chuck Howley (Cowboys, LB, Super Bowl V), Jake Scott (Dolphins, S, Super Bowl VII), Harvey Martin & Randy White (Cowboys, DL, Super Bowl XII), Richard Dent (Bears, DE, Super Bowl XX), Ray Lewis (Ravens, LB, Super Bowl XXXV).

After this Super Bowl, Brown signed a five-year, $12.5 million contract with the Oakland Raiders that included a signing bonus of $3.5 million. It made him one of the highest paid DBs in the NFL at the time. 

Brown's detractors said those Super Bowl picks were both gifts. They were right, but Brown was in the right place at the right time, didn't drop the ball, and posted big returns to set up two touchdowns that were vital to the win.

It never really clicked with the Raiders, where he was a bit exposed as a guy who wasn't a lock down corner. In two seasons in Oakland, he started just once and played 12 games before he was cut. He returned to the Cowboys in '98 where he played four games. 

Picked immediately after: Rob Luedeke, C, Penn State
Picked immediately ahead of: Mark Drabczak, G, Minnesota

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Total bummer: Silva/GSP UFC super fight all but dead

My dream of the UFC holding a massive, mega, jumbo, biggie-sized super fight between Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre at Cowboys Stadium appears just about all but dead. At least that's what GSP says.

GSP told Joe Rogan on his latest Podcast that he does not envision fighting The Spider any time soon.

It is my mission to annoy UFC president Dana White with the question of "When is the UFC coming to Cowboys Stadium?" until my death, or until it actually happens. White has maintained the only way to come to Cowboys Stadium is to have a super fight, and the potential matchup of Silva v. GSP would fit that description.

But GSP does not think it's the best idea, and by the time he may be ready Silva will be too old. Silva is already 38, but he recently signed a new deal with UFC that secures him for 10 more fights, according to MMAjunkie.com

The weight difference between the two men may be too great for it to happen anyway.

"Anderson Silva is very big.  He’s 230 pounds," GSP told Rogan. "He’s a very big guy, walking around very big and I’m 190 pounds.  It’s a lot of weight difference. If this fight happens one day, we’re going to have to decide what weight class and everything."

BTW - GSP is 31 and weighs 170. And FYI - I look more like GSP, but fight more like Silva.

The next best alternative for a potential superfight involving Silva would be to include Jon Jones, who will fight Chael Sonnen on Saturday night in UFC 159. Jones is all set to replace Silva as the biggest, baddest fighter in the UFC, assuming he keeps winning (he's 17-1-0).

There is some good news to this dark cloud of no UFC at Cowboys Stadium just yet: It does appear that my guy, Johny "Bigg Rigg" Hendricks will get his shot at the title and fight GSP.

GSP told Rogan that he thinks his next opponent will be Hendricks, who is from Mansfield. Expect that fight to be this year.

 

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The Dallas Cowboys worst draft picks of all time - No. 2

As a celebration of NFL draft week, The Big Mac Blog will look back at the best and worst of the Dallas Cowboys' draft history. We will start with The Bad:

2. David LaFleur, TE, LSU, 1997, 22nd overall pick
Troy Aikman could not wait to pass it to LaFleur, who was going to replace Jay Novacek. Yeah .... that didn't quite take.

LaFleur was hurt all the time in his four years and caught 85 passes for 729 yards with 12 TDs. In 1999, his third year in the league, it looked as if he may break out as he caught 35 passes with seven TDs.

But the next season he battled injuries that he never could escape. As a player, he was a bit slow and was never able to command the type of presence in the middle of the field that Novcek did.

LaFleur was probably more of a fourth of fifth round type of talent whose career ended too soon because of injuries.

Picked immediately after: Renaldo Wynn, DT, Notre Dame
Picked immediately ahead of: Antowain Smith, RB, Houston 

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