With The Nelson leaving Irving does Tiger return?

Now that Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan are no longer with us, Tiger Woods no longer has any reason to come to Texas to fake his way through a couple of tournaments he never wanted to play.

The most celebrated/interesting golfer in the world hasn't played one of the four major PGA tournaments in Texas - San Antonio, Houston, Fort Worth or Irving - since he missed the cut at the EDS Byron Nelson tournament in May of 2005.

Mr. Nelson died in September of 2006, and the tournament that bears his name has not been the same since. The same thing happened to Colonial after Ben Hogan died.

Perhaps Tiger will return to The Nelson now that the tournament has officially announced it will leave for the Trinity Forest Golf Course, beginning in 2019.

(Above is a picture of a lactating-Tiger relaxing on a yacht with his new GF, Linday Vonn.)

By the time Trinity Forest hosts its first PGA event, Tiger will be 43. Maybe his attitude about playing in the great state a Texas will have softened. Maybe. Possibly.

Tiger may behave like a boorish, bullying rear-end, but he does make golf more interesting. He is simply impossible not to watch.

By the time he is 43 he could have just about every major PGA record that ever existed, and more money than he could set fire to, so the the drive to play the Nelson again is a long shot.

But since he is not coming to San Antonio, Houston or Fort Worth, the new location for the Nelson may be Texas' only chance to see Tiger again.

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What do YOU want to ask Orel Hershiser?

Never done this before and it may be a total flop but ...

I am scheduled to talk to former Los Angeles Dodger pitcher and ex-Texas Rangers pitching coach Orel Hershiser on Thursday. He is now working for ESPN and will be in town to help call the Rangers - Detroit Tigers game on Sunday night at Rangers Ballpark.

Hershiser is one of the brighter and more well spoken men in professional sports I have ever come across.

If YOU have a question for Orel, please pass it along in the comment section here, or email me at tengel@star-telegram.com, or the Twitter thing or Facebook. 
I gotta get on MySpace. 

Just please be tasteful.

 

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And it continues: Gary Patterson suspends Devonte Fields for 2 games

In a little more than a year a program that routinely had been devoid of any and all embarrassing situations off the field has now racked up a list that would make the Miami Hurricanes say, "Nice work."

TCU head coach Gary Patterson has suspended Big 12 defensive player of the year Devonte Fields for the first two games of the 2013 season for a violation of university and team policy.

This is another reminder to never, ever boast, "We win the right way". In college football, there is no right way. There is merely doing the best you can and praying your kids don't get stupid. Or get caught.

Whatever Fields did it must have been a real winner to force GP to drop this hammer on the best defensive player in the Big 12. Quarterback Casey Pachall had a pretty impressive list and he was not suspended for a second until the administration had no choice but to take action last fall.

Fields will miss the season opener against LSU at Cowboys Stadium, and the following game against Southeastern Louisiana; TCU, welcome to 1-1.

Devonte Fields is the best player on this team. A sophomore out of Arlington Martin, Fields started all 13 games as a true freshman and was voted the Big 12 defensive freshman of the year, defensive player of the year and defensive newcomer of the year. 

He led the team with 18.5 tackles for a loss and 10 sacks, the fourth most in school history.

Whatever Fields did, this does not look good and it will not play well in the national media.

First it was the arrests of four football players for selling weed in February of '12. All four players were kicked off the team, and in due time the amount of publicity didn't quite measure up to the crime. But selling is selling, and the school had no choice.

Then it was the whole Pachall situation, that was not pretty, and eventually cost his team a shot at nine or 10 wins in 2012.

Now it's Devonte Fields, whose suspension will surely cost his team any shot at defeating a power such as LSU.

The season hasn't even started and already TCU is 0-1.

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The pointless hating of author Dan Brown

Here at Sucker Central Headquarters, I blew $23 on the latest Dan Brown book, "Because I Want to Buy a Continent".

Actually, the author of the Da Vinci Code's new book is called "Inferno" where his favorite character, Dr. Robert Langdon, solves the world's problems using numbers, codes, symbols and items found in a Cracker Jack box. Click here for Dan Brown's website.

With the return of Dan Brown to the book shelves it is also time for the expectant arrival of his many critics who pan his work as pedestrian, simple and stupid.  

This is the basic truth about all critics of pop culture - if there is not great pain, or slow death, it sucks and unworthy of high praise but merits considerable scorn. This is what is called serious writer envy. Please note his critics have seldom authored a successful book of their own.

The passing of Roger Ebert is a good reminder to critics of all culture that there is a place for everything. Ebert believed there is such a thing as "good" for a genre, which does not mean it merits a Pulitzer.

Dan Brown's work should never be confused for Catch 22, The Great Gatsby or The Sun Also Rises, but this does not mean his books are trash. Few are going to consider Brown's dialogue-rich prose to be in the same category as "To Kill A Mockingbird", or any other piece of classic American literature.

The last time I checked Brown was not campaigning to be seated next to Harper Lee, although I am sure he would not mind.

His books are fairly simple, and maybe the writing isn't worthy of an English PhD at Cal. The books move, and the writing lends itself to turning to the next page. At a minimum Brown's work encourages people to read, which helps attention spans, etc.

The Da Vinci code actually prompted serious discussion about how churches and organized religion opressed women for centuries. Ernest Hemingway never did that.

Brown's books serve their purpose - they entertain, which apparently in literature is a sin. 

No one who picks up Brown's latest book should think they are reading historical fiction. It's fiction with a few fun factoids added. 
No one who picks up Brown's latest book should think they are going to read a Da Vinci Code again; that was one of those career-books that are seldom repeated.
No one who picks up Brown's latest book should think they are reading War and Peace.

The Inferno is written with one purpose: To entertain you.

 

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Quote of the day

Tony Soprano: I won't pay. I know too much about extortion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Video: Galloway & Big Mac don't miss Josh Hamilton

 

 

 

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Big 12 to concede all future titles to Kansas after it signed nation's top player

Baylor, nice try.
Same for Oklahoma State.

Just when the Big 12 was ready to crown a new men's basketball champion for the first time since 1934, Kansas just had to step in and go all Kansas on the conference yet again.

In a highly, highly anticipated decision, top prep basketball prospect Andrew Wiggins said he will attend the University of Kansas to play basketball beginning in the fall.

Wiggins is listed as a 6-foot-7 small forward; he has been called one of the top recruits in the past decade.

HOORAY FOR KANSAS, and specifically the institution of higher learning and edumicashion.

This has to be KU's biggest name recruit since Larry Brown hired assistant coach Ed Manning so his son, Danny, would play basketball in Lawrence. Ed apparently was a dynamite coach.

Wiggins is the best prep player in the country, and he was attracting interest from every blue blood program in the nation. He picked KU over Kentucky, North Carolina and Florida State to play college basketball.

He may even attend class, although I don't why.

(* It should be noted that I am a KU undergrad alum, class of ... just very recently.)

This guy is so gone to the NBA this time a year from now the only classes he should be taking are How to Change My Cell Phone Number Every 15 Minutes, The History of Groupies and Entourage Studies.

KU could potentially have the No. 1 pick in the 2013 NBA draft - Ben McLemore - and '14 draft, Wiggins.

Both Baylor and Oklahoma State should have an edge in terms of preseason conference ranking because of the number of quality returning players, but the addition of a talent like Wiggins to Kansas changes everything.

Just prepare now for another KU Big 12 title.

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Former Cowboys tormentor to retire

The NFL basically said Donovan McNabb retired two years ago, and he is making formal what the rest of us knew a long time ago. He last played a game on Oct. 16, 2011.

McNabb said he plans to officially retire as a Philadelphia Eagle. This is the type of player who should sign a one-day contract with a team. McNabb played elsewhere, but he is an Eagle; he was the face of a good franchise for nearly a decade. 

Maybe he should have done more, but he did a lot. Three NFC title games and a Super Bowl, among many indvidual achievements.

It sounds as if McNabb will do a ceremony when the Eagles host the Kansas City Chiefs in Philly in Week 3 so he can be reunited with his former head coach, Andy Reid, who is now in KC.

When he was in his prime, and before he and Terrell Owens went through their lover's spat, McNabb kicked the living bleep out of the Dallas Cowboys. 

In 20 games against the Cowboys, McNabb was 12-8 with 4,122 yards passing, 26 TDs and 13 Ints. Most of the positive numbers he amassed in the first few years of his career when the Eagles were one of the best teams in the NFL, and the Cowboys one of the worst.

Between 1999 and 2004, McNabb was 8-2 against the Cowboys. In this stretch is arguably the most famous play of McNabb's career: Monday night, November 15, 2004 at Texas Stadium.

  

 

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Why Tyson Chandler should have been paid

The Dallas Mavericks are weeks into their offseason, and now part of the water-cooler discussion of possibly landing Los Angeles Lakers free agent center Dwight Howard.

Sounds great. Hope it happens. Dwight's going to have to take $30 million less to leave the Lakers, but who knows? Right now he is stepping away from basketball and trying to figure out the "right to be happy" ... whatever the hell that means. 

Plan on this - an additional $30 mil that he can get only from the Lakers is going to make him more happy.

From the Things I Can't Let Go Files: All the Mavs had to do was pay Tyson Chandler the four-year, $58 million deal two years ago and let everyone else other than Dirk Nowitzki go.

Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, DeShawn Stevenson, J.J. Barea all could have fallen off the books and while their absence would have been felt it's nothing like losing a competent 7-footer. These guys are impossible to find, and some take forever to develop.

Chandler may never be a scorer - the man has zero offensive game - what he does defensively remains a giant hole the Mavs have never come close to replacing since he left.

Chandler is currently getting his fanny kicked by Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and is calling out teammate Carmelo Anthony in the process. Even if the Knicks lose, and they will, and Chandler continues to get worked by Hibbert, he will, it does not diminish just how badly the Mavs miss him in the middle of the floor.

He was an All-Star for the Knicks last season and was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year. Yes, it helped he played in the East and in the New York market. He was recently named to second-team on the NBA's all-defensive team.

Two guards and small forwards come and go, but athletic big-men who can guard the rim, help on switches and provide as much positive denfensive energy and leadership such as Chandler are hard to find.

It took Chandler about nine years in the NBA before he fully developed into a major player. He is 30, and should be in this window for a few more seasons. 

The Mavs could have two of those, but elected for financial flexibility instead. 

If that flexibility can't lure Howard, what was the point? 

 

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Quote of the day

Frank Lucas: The loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room.

 

 

 

 

 

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