Well, we all know how the old saying goes - where there's smoke there's fire. There has been a lot of smoke coming from Rangers and Stars owner Tom Hicks lately. He has talked openly of defaulting on his loans for his professional sports franchises and he is openly seeking someone to buy a minority share of his teams.
Before I go any further let me say that I am blogging this as a Rangers fan. To be totally honest, I really couldn't care what happens to the Stars. I know they were the Metroplex's last championship team but I am just not in to them and I don't like the idea of sharing Rangers' baseball money with them - don't even get me started on Mr. Hicks' soccer exploits.
Since he has owned the Rangers, Mr. Hicks has envisioned his team as a knock-off New York Yankees franchise but he has always tried to run them on a Pittsburgh Pirate Budget. The Rangers are a top-five market team, meaning there are more potential fans here than most other teams have access to. The problem is the team is budgeted like a bottom-five market team. There are many problems with the Rangers but the biggest one is that they have an owner who is not willing to spend the big bucks where he needs to.
A few years ago, the Rangers money whipped Alex Rodriguez to get him to come to Texas but then wouldn't pay to put a team around him. The Rangers operate in a league without a salary cap. Operating in a non-salary cap system with an owner unable to spend some money is a recipe for failure. Last year, the Tampa Bay Rays were hugely successful with home-grown talented young players and a low budget. However, mark my words, when the contacts of these young players expire, these players will walk to the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers of the big leagues.
The Rangers have a great nucleus of young players with the best minor-league system in baseball. Imagine what kind of team Texas would have if they could continue to develop talent as they have been able to as of late while supplanting their roster with some key off-season free-agent signings. This will never happen with the current ownership in place. We must begin looking for a new owner, an owner chosen by the people. He must be a baseball fan and must have a vested interest in the metroplex.
There is but one individual for this job - the incomparable Mark Cuban. I think Mark Cuban is a bit of a nut job. His antics wear me out but he is a good owner to his team. He spends money where he should and has made a team relevant that had previously been a running joke in the NBA for a decade. He can do this for the Rangers as well. The Rangers and the Nationals (formerly the Expos) are the only major league teams to have never made it to their respective League Championship Series. Cuban could change this. We know he would like to own a baseball team because of his flirtation with the Chicago Cubs. Please join me in humbly asking Mr. Cuban to save us from penny-pinching and mediocrity. Mark, if you're out there reading this, go find Tom the next time you are both around the AAC and make the man an offer he can't refuse. Who knows, he may even pay you to take the Stars.
Showing posts with label Texas Rangers Baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Texas Rangers Baseball. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Opening Day 2009
As we drove into Arlington today there was a buzz. It's the kind of excitement shared by all fans of all sports teams when the season opener finally arrives. Before the opening pitch is ever thrown, hopes and dreams of a lifelong pursuit for Texas' first World Series Championship is being imagined by players, owners, coaches, and fans alike. Opening Day 2009 was a spectacular event for the Texas Rangers.
Our 43rd Commander in Chief, President George W. Bush, threw out the first pitch at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. A strike right down the pike at that. And what is humbling is that President Bush is a true fan just like the rest of us. "Laura and I are excited to once again cheer on our home team at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, and I'm honored Tom Hicks and Nolan Ryan invited me to throw out the first pitch," Bush said in a statement. "There's no better place to spend Opening Day than back home among fellow fans of the Texas Rangers." And fellow fans there were. Masses of them.
Everywhere you looked, Texas Rangers red, white and blue colors were proudly worn. People enjoying the cool start that seemed to warm as the game progressed, cheered emphatically as the Rangers beat the Indians 9 to 1. Texas did a superb job of everything today. Pitching was consistent, the defense was great and the blazing bats finished the game in victory bringing the opening day losing streak of five years to a close. And if we can come to expect this level of play as a norm this year, we will see this team accomplish great things.
Governor Rick Perry joined President Bush at the Ballpark today along with Nolan Ryan and other sports greats. Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys owner, was even on hand to witness at least one of Texas' franchise teams win a season opener. It was a proud day to be a Texas Rangers fan. Midway through the fourth inning "Deep in the Heart of Texas" began to play. I looked around and noticed others joining in singing the song. All I could think of was how this was just a neat moment. We Texans have good reason to be proud.
I spent the day with family enjoying one of America's greatest past times. My son, nearly two, sat through his first game. I was proud as I watched him clap when the crowd did and I laughed as he danced wildly anytime a song would blast over the stadium sound system. My daughter, four, enjoyed the game, cotton candy, holding daddy's hand and a hotdog. My Mother and Father watched their favorite MLB team win on opening day. It reminded me of how full circle my life has come. I recall going to the games with them and my brother and sister when we were younger, and now I'm passing that tradition on to my kids. I was thrilled at being on hand for such a fantastic day. As we made our way back to the car amongst the tens of thousands of Rangers fans, I realized that perhaps only fifteen percent of the total Texas workforce committed to a full day of work in the office today. And I was happy to join the game goers.
I hope as I do every year that the Rangers surprise us all and win the final series to bring home the championship. I'm encouraged by such a promising start. The only thing I hope that I forget about today is the unbelievably bad traffic. And boy was it bad. But being stuck in a crowd of slow to no moving happy Texas Rangers fans celebrating a win, isn't really all that bad. It's just part of the experience. Peanuts, popcorn, the crack of the bat, and the car horns.
Our 43rd Commander in Chief, President George W. Bush, threw out the first pitch at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. A strike right down the pike at that. And what is humbling is that President Bush is a true fan just like the rest of us. "Laura and I are excited to once again cheer on our home team at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, and I'm honored Tom Hicks and Nolan Ryan invited me to throw out the first pitch," Bush said in a statement. "There's no better place to spend Opening Day than back home among fellow fans of the Texas Rangers." And fellow fans there were. Masses of them.
Everywhere you looked, Texas Rangers red, white and blue colors were proudly worn. People enjoying the cool start that seemed to warm as the game progressed, cheered emphatically as the Rangers beat the Indians 9 to 1. Texas did a superb job of everything today. Pitching was consistent, the defense was great and the blazing bats finished the game in victory bringing the opening day losing streak of five years to a close. And if we can come to expect this level of play as a norm this year, we will see this team accomplish great things.
Governor Rick Perry joined President Bush at the Ballpark today along with Nolan Ryan and other sports greats. Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys owner, was even on hand to witness at least one of Texas' franchise teams win a season opener. It was a proud day to be a Texas Rangers fan. Midway through the fourth inning "Deep in the Heart of Texas" began to play. I looked around and noticed others joining in singing the song. All I could think of was how this was just a neat moment. We Texans have good reason to be proud.
I spent the day with family enjoying one of America's greatest past times. My son, nearly two, sat through his first game. I was proud as I watched him clap when the crowd did and I laughed as he danced wildly anytime a song would blast over the stadium sound system. My daughter, four, enjoyed the game, cotton candy, holding daddy's hand and a hotdog. My Mother and Father watched their favorite MLB team win on opening day. It reminded me of how full circle my life has come. I recall going to the games with them and my brother and sister when we were younger, and now I'm passing that tradition on to my kids. I was thrilled at being on hand for such a fantastic day. As we made our way back to the car amongst the tens of thousands of Rangers fans, I realized that perhaps only fifteen percent of the total Texas workforce committed to a full day of work in the office today. And I was happy to join the game goers.
I hope as I do every year that the Rangers surprise us all and win the final series to bring home the championship. I'm encouraged by such a promising start. The only thing I hope that I forget about today is the unbelievably bad traffic. And boy was it bad. But being stuck in a crowd of slow to no moving happy Texas Rangers fans celebrating a win, isn't really all that bad. It's just part of the experience. Peanuts, popcorn, the crack of the bat, and the car horns.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Radio Days
Driving back from Austin this weekend, I frantically searched for the Louisville-Michigan State game on my radio dial. As you may know, yours truly had picked the Cardinals of Louisville to win the entire shootin’ match, as they say. As you may further know, Louisville went on to lose that game and my interest in the Final Four has, as a result, waned. Anyway, I never found the game on any radio station AM or FM. However, in Belton, I managed to pick up the Rangers-Angels spring training game on the all-powerful KRLD. It came in loud and clear, I could have possibly picked it up even further south had I been surfing the radio dial earlier.
Every year when I hear my first broadcast of the season, I am flooded with so many reminders of youth. For as long as I can remember, we have listened to Ranger’s baseball. It is a part of who I am. I can remember as a very young child, laying in bed and hearing my dad’s radio barely audible over the window unit. Mark Holtz and Eric Nadel there with me until I would fall asleep. I can remember leaving a game early because my Uncle Mike wanted to beat traffic and Texas was losing badly so we listened to the end of the game on the way home. The Rangers batted around and Odibe McDowell won the game for the Rangers in the home half of the ninth by belting a grand slam. I also recall listening to Nolan Ryan getting Ricky Henderson looking for his 5,000th career strikeout – we were on our way home from Six Flags at the time.
I would lay in bed at night (while I was supposed to be asleep – I usually had to be in bed by the 7th inning stretch) with my earphones on listening in as Bo Jackson feasted on Rangers pitching; and I recall the hope and enthusiasm of an organization conveyed through its broadcasters when they would mention young Ranger prospects and how they were faring in the minors – Rodriguez, Gonzalez, and Sosa. It was a sad day when Mark Holtz left the radio booth for the TV gig. We were still able to hear “Hello Win Column!” but it just wasn’t the same for some reason. Now Holtz is gone, of course. No one has ever sounded as good next to Eric Nadel. I don’t know what I’ll do the day he leaves the broadcast booth for the last time. That to me will symbolize the final great passing of my youth. Listening to him call baseball games serves as somewhat of a soundtrack for my summers and a backdrop for the re-living of sweet memories from days gone by. It’s a shame the Rangers have never made it to the World Series – I would like to know how the boys of summer sound in autumn.
Every year when I hear my first broadcast of the season, I am flooded with so many reminders of youth. For as long as I can remember, we have listened to Ranger’s baseball. It is a part of who I am. I can remember as a very young child, laying in bed and hearing my dad’s radio barely audible over the window unit. Mark Holtz and Eric Nadel there with me until I would fall asleep. I can remember leaving a game early because my Uncle Mike wanted to beat traffic and Texas was losing badly so we listened to the end of the game on the way home. The Rangers batted around and Odibe McDowell won the game for the Rangers in the home half of the ninth by belting a grand slam. I also recall listening to Nolan Ryan getting Ricky Henderson looking for his 5,000th career strikeout – we were on our way home from Six Flags at the time.
I would lay in bed at night (while I was supposed to be asleep – I usually had to be in bed by the 7th inning stretch) with my earphones on listening in as Bo Jackson feasted on Rangers pitching; and I recall the hope and enthusiasm of an organization conveyed through its broadcasters when they would mention young Ranger prospects and how they were faring in the minors – Rodriguez, Gonzalez, and Sosa. It was a sad day when Mark Holtz left the radio booth for the TV gig. We were still able to hear “Hello Win Column!” but it just wasn’t the same for some reason. Now Holtz is gone, of course. No one has ever sounded as good next to Eric Nadel. I don’t know what I’ll do the day he leaves the broadcast booth for the last time. That to me will symbolize the final great passing of my youth. Listening to him call baseball games serves as somewhat of a soundtrack for my summers and a backdrop for the re-living of sweet memories from days gone by. It’s a shame the Rangers have never made it to the World Series – I would like to know how the boys of summer sound in autumn.
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