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The worst kept secret in motorsports was
made public today... Danica Patrick will be moving
to NASCAR fulltime in 2012. She has been running
some races on a part-time schedule when it fit
her Indy car schedule. It will be a joint partnership
that provides cars for her. JR Motorsports, owned
by Dale Earnhardt, Jr, will provide race cars for the
Nationwide series, and Stewart-Haas Racing, owned
in part by Tony Stewart, will be providing cars for
the Sprint Cup level of competition. Danica has yet
to drive in the premier series of NASCAR, and most
experts seem to think next February's running of the
Daytona 500 would be the perfect stage for her to
make her entrance into the series. Go-Daddy, the
website giant, will provide sponsorship for Danica
at both levels of racing. She has shown a great deal
of improvement in the Nationwide races this season
compared to last year. Danica told a press conference
she would be racing full time in the Nationwide series
and would be participating in select Sprint Cup races
until ownership thinks she is ready to compete on a
full time basis..
The Ring of Honor has three new members as of November 6th...Friday Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced the addition of Drew Pearson, Larry Allen, and Charles Haley. Their names and numbers will join the seventeen other Cowboys who have been honored this way.
Pearson played for the Cowboys for eleven seasons and was the primary target for quarterback Roger Staubach. Best remembered for his 'Hail Mary' catch in the playoff game with Minnesota in 1975, Pearson still ranks third on the Cowboys receiving list with 489 catches, for 7,822 yards, and 48 touchdowns.
Larry Allen was arguably the best offensive guard to play the game. He was a mainstay for the Cowboys for twelve years and played every position on the offensive line except center. NFL guru John Madden called Allen the best offensive guard he had ever seen. Allen is currently working with Dallas' first round draft pick Tyron Smith as the rookie makes the starting line-up.
Charles Haley was the premier pass-rusher of his day. He played on five Super Bowl Championship teams, two with San Francisco and three with Dallas. Known as the quiet man, Haley always let his on-field performances do the talking for him. He retired with 100.5 sacks of the quarterback to his record.
The announcement of the latest three members of the Ring of Honor came as fifty former players of the Cowboys showed up to support the trio. All three are still possible selections to the Pro Football Hall of Fame at Canton, Ohio.
There is going to be those that dispute his
enshrinement into the Basketball Hall of Fame,
but because of what he did on the court, Dennis
Rodman deserves to be there..
In the early 1980's I worked in Radio/TV in the
Sherman/Denison area and was privileged to see
Dennis play as a college prospect.....
But let me begin a lot earlier,...Dennis went to
South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas, and was a
less than average player. His sophomore year he
was listed at 5 foot 6 and cut from the basketball
team. By the time he was a senior he had grown to
5 foot 10, still nothing spectacular. In his own family
he was not the best basketball player. Rodman's two
sisters played on national contending college teams at
Louisiana Tech and Stephen F. Austin. After high
school he worked at various menial jobs before a
friend recommended him to the basketball coach at
Cooke County Junior College in Gainesville, Texas.
An average of 17 points per game got the attention
of other coaches and Rodman was given a scholarship
to Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant, Oklahoma.
This is where I came into the picture. Our TV station
covered the SEOS Savages and I had to work to get
Rodman to talk to me while the TV camera was over my
shoulder. Dennis had grown to 6 foot 10 by this time and
his slam-dunks never failed to arouse the 'standing room
only' crowds to attend Southeastern games. The shyness
finally went away and Rodman was extremely polite and accommodating to my interview requests after games. In 1986 he declared himself available for the NBA college draft and was the 27th player taken in the draft. The Detroit Pistons selected Rodman and I was suddenly overwhelmed by the requests from TV stations in Detroit for some video of their newest player. Dennis would go on to play for Detroit, San Antonio, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas. When he finally retired his resume was impressive! He had played on 5 NBA Champion teams, 7 times he led the NBA in rebounding, 7 times led the NBA in blocked shots, and twice was the league's Defensive Player of the Year.
It is a shame that most will remember Rodman for his tattoos, piercings, and colored hair,...but if you want to select a player for his basketball abilities, you have chosen the right player.. Rodman deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Congratulations Worm !!
I saw the promotional announcements for the TV
series 'Ice Road Truckers' and it got me to thinking
about the industry that I retired from in 2009. The
trucking industry is responsible for everything in
your home at this exact moment. From furniture,
appliances, lawn equipment, plumbing, to the
groceries in the pantry,..a truck brought it to the
store where you purchased it. I did my share of
general merchandise hauling all over the country,
but when I got the chance to drive for Wal-Mart
I jumped at the opportunity. I joined the WM
Private Fleet in 1997 and retired in 2009.
Now to the ice storm part of this story.. When the
TV weather guy calls for an impending storm, you
can bet the customers will clean out the shelves of
essentials. It is up to the distribution center to refill
those empty shelves, and more importantly, the WM
driver to get the merchandise and food to the stores.
Wal-Mart is annually rated the safest fleet of trucks
in the country...and the most dependable. Even with
ice and snow on the highways and roads, it is rare
when the load does not arrive at the store on time.
The stores usually clean the loading dock area after
the rest of the parking lot has been cleared of snow
and ice. This becomes another problem for the drivers
to contend with, and usually it comes down to an
argument with store management before the dock area
gets attention. A loaded truck is easier to handle in
snow conditions than an empty truck as the weight
works to give the truck more traction. The loaded
trailer is easier to put against the loading dock as the
driver can just let the truck slowly idle down into the
pit. Without any weight on the drive axles it is a lot
harder to pull the empty trailer away from the dock.
The safe course of action would be to just park the
truck but when a store is in dire need of re-supplying
the load must go through.
With the field of Republican candidates already
depleted of anyone with a real shot at defeating President
Obama, conservatives have turned their eyes to the
State of Texas once again. Texas Governor Rick Perry
is seen as a candidate that can bring conservatives and
middle of the road Republicans together in an effort to
make Barack Obama another one-term President.
Perry has already stirred the emotions of the Democrats
by saying 'he is considering a run for President.' The
Liberals know their chances of winning against the
current field of candidates is extremely good and they
want to keep it that way. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich,
Sarah Palin, and the others are just re-cycled candidates
from the past with a lot of baggage. The liberals are
already trying to label Perry as 'another George W. Bush.'
Perry spoke to a conservative group in New Orleans this
past weekend and left them standing and cheering. Perry
is definitely a more staunch conservative than George W.
Bush ever was. The economic downturn that has other
states on the brink of bankruptcy has not even touched
Texas. Under Perry's guidance, Texas has accumulated a
treasury in the millions of dollars. The schools in Texas
have created a crisis by becoming totally depended on funds from the state. An educational system that wants more and more money each year, while turning out students that can't read or do simple math will not work. Now the teachers (read
that Educators) want to make the State of Texas the heavy by proclaiming, 'Texas is withholding funds from the school system.' The American Education Association (teachers union) has already endorsed Barack Obama for reelection and they don't even know who his opponent will be. IF,...Rick Perry becomes President...his first course of action should be...the elimination of the Department of Education,... the
Environmental Protection Agency,...and the Department of Human Resources. Let the independent State Governments
guide their own futures instead of having the Federal Government mandate what is good for them. With a blanket decree over the entire country, it cannot possible be right for fifty different states. Maybe Rick Perry IS the man for the moment in time.
Most of the time when someone thinks
about bikers it is with a negative thought. This
past weekend Texoma Harley-Davidson hosted
another of its monthly shindigs with lots of
activities. There was a cookout with hot dogs and
chicken wings, a tattoo artist was there to apply
some ink, a live band provided the entertainment,
and some tune-up specialist were on hand to do a
dyno-tune to your bike...BUT also present on the
parking lot was the Bloodmobile of the Red Cross.
At first thought you might think they were wasting
their time, but think again. Officials with the Red
Cross were extremely pleased with their efforts on
Saturday. They reported 36 pints of blood were
donated by the 'black leather bunch.' Bikers are a
different breed...Get on the wrong side and you might
have to put up your dukes to prevent bloodshed, but
most bikers are patriotic, faithful, and sharing. Whenever
a biker breaks down on the road usually it will be another
bike that stops to offer assistance. While the 'Hells Angels'
and 'Bandito's' grab the headlines of the media, it is usually
the everyday rider that has to suffer the consequences. I
guess what I am trying to say is, 'Bikers are good people.'
Just ask the 'Toys For Tots' people,...or the 'American Cancer Society'...or any local 'Womens Shelter'....or in Saturday's
case,.. the 'American Red Cross.'
The Dallas Mavericks are in an envious position
as they prepare for the college draft on Thursday.
The Mavericks are fresh from last weekends win
over the Miami Heat for the Championship of the
National Basketball Association. Their current team
will most likely remain the same for next season, so
that will allow Dallas to season the Thursday selection
for a year or two. When it comes to drafting college
talent for the professional game the Mavs do not have
the best of credentials, judging from past performances.
They are the current champs, but the future starts on
Thursday and as Satchel Page once said, 'Never look
back, someone could be gaining on you.'
Here is a re-cap of the first-round selections of the
Dallas Mavericks since they came into being in 1980.
Dallas Mavericks Draft Day History
1980- Kiki Vandeweghe of U.C.L.A.- Refused to play in Dallas and was traded to Denver.
1981- Mark Aguirre of DePaul & Rolando Blackmon of
Kansas State.
1982- Bill Garnett of Wyoming- Played two years & traded.
1983- Dale Ellis of Tennessee & Derek Harper of Illinois.
1984- Sam Perkins of North Carolina & Terence Stansbury of
Temple.
1985- Detlef Schrempf of Washington, Bill Wennington of St.John's, & Uwe Blab of Indiana.
1986- Roy Tarpley of Michigan- played 6 years & banned for
drug abuses.
1987- Jim Farmer of Alabama- played one year & released.
1988- Traded away first round pick.
1989- Randy White of Louisiana- played 5 years.
1990- Traded away first round pick.
1991- Doug Smith of Missouri- played 4 years and drafted by
Toronto in expansion draft.
1992- Jim Jackson of Ohio State- played 4 years and traded
to Nets in nine player swap.
1993- Jamal Mashburn of Kentucky- played 3 years.
1994- Jason Kidd of California & Tony Dumas of Missouri-KC
1995- Cherokee Parks of Duke & Loren Meyer of Iowa State.
1996-Samaki Walker of Louisville- played 3 years.
1997- Kelvin Cato of Iowa State- traded on draft night.
1998- Robert Traylor of Michigan- traded to Milwaukee for rights to Dirk Nowitski.
1999- Leon Smith of MLK High School in Chicago- never played for Dallas.
2000- Etan Thomas of Syracuse- never played for Dallas/sent to Washington in 8 player trade.
2001- Traded First Round Pick.
2002- Traded First Round Pick.
2003- Josh Howard of Wake Forest.
2004- Traded First Round Pick.
2005- Traded First Round Pick.
2006- Maurice Ager of Michigan State- played 2 years and traded to NY Nets for Jason Kidd.
2007- Traded First Round Pick.
2008- Traded First Round Pick.
2009- Byron Mullens- Oklahoma State- traded to OKC on
draft night.
2010- Traded First Round Pick.
The Dallas Mavericks used their first round pick to select Jordan Hamilton of the University of Texas,...BUT then traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers. Dallas will receive two players in the deal. Rudy Fernandez, a shooting guard that will provide immediate help for Dallas, and Petteri Koponen, who is currently playing in Italy. Fernandez was a key player in the playoffs before the Blazers fell to the Mavericks. He is expected to fill the gap left by DeShawn Stevenson and Peja Stojakov, both are not expected to be re-signed by Dallas.
