FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Saying a former teammate makes this a non-story... Tex is a hired gun, my 9-yr old still thinks he's great, and when the Rangers played Angels at the end of the season, he hit her a homerun! LOL... she hated it was against the Rangers, but she believed what Tex said, that the Rangers traded him... she is afterall, 9, and naive... Tex did what Scott Boras would have him do, go where the money is, instead of wasting his career in Arlington like Michael Young. Hats off from a fan to Michael Young, but I feel for someone with his talent not even able to make the playoffs season after season... I imagine that once Tex has seen the apex of his career, then he'll settle down to a long term contract on a team where he can retire. The Rangers a farm team, nothing more... and it's not the manager's fault, he puts the talent on the field the GM and owner gives him. How about removing 5-10 rows of seats in the outfield and backing the fence up a bit, then HIRE SOME FRIGGIN' PITCHING!!! But I digress, any team would be better with Tex in the line-up and playing first base, everyone whines about A-Rod too. Go Joe Torre!!!

So uninspired... I have tickets to games I don't even want to take my kids to see.

If Botts played baseball as well as Guitar Hero, who knows?!? His days of being a Rock Star baseball player are getting close to an end, he'll soon be playing in sandlots or a garage band. He should have gotten him a contract like Blalock...

Players with contracts get 'demoted' or bought out, in the real world you get fired or layed off... unfortunately for him, drastic times call for drastic measures and with the season slipping away even before the All-Star break again this year, Nolan, Jon, and Ron are grasping at straws... maybe we need Oshan to come in and shore up the line-up or fix cracks in the foundation of the team! Botts would do well to find another team, as would Young, before he signed his deal last year... I think the last player on the team with any sense was Tex, he was smart enough to get out while he still had a few years to prove something. Young could have been a GREATER Hall of Famer, but he'll waste away on this team... we need to take out about 10-20 rows of outfield seats on the lower level in Arlington and then maybe we could get some pitchers willing to risk their ERA to play for us before they retire.

The Mavs losing another playoff series is such a non-issue, it didn't even make watercooler discussion this morning in the office... Dirk has demonstrated that he has played to peak of his incompetence, and Avery no longer can inspire the team... Cuban tried being Mr. Nice Guy, but even he has to see that giving the players the warm and fuzzies has done nothing more than leave the fans frustrated three years in a row. My dig at Dirk isn't necessarily all bad, I mean look at Dan Marino and Greg Norman in their respective sports. The Rangers were effectively out of the playoffs Opening Day, leaving sports fans in Dallas with Turco in the playoffs, or Jerry and Romo-Simpson, its going to be a long summer!

I think if anything, this season has shown that Garrett lacks the experience to be much more than the offensive coordinator at this point... each week Romo has to dump it off to Witten because Garrett's plays don't work, or the other teams have figured out the 3-5 plays in Garrett's playbook. If not for the caliber of players Parcell's left in the Cowboys stable, Jason Garrett wouldn't have anything to work with... granted the difference between Parcell's coaching and Phillips' allows for talent like T.O. and Barber to flourish. Romo has matured since last year's playoff debacle, probably an off-season of reflection and the decision not to let him touch the ball when kicking field goals, certainly didn't hurt... but I think the best thing said about the Cowboys, and also the most telling, if not a back-handed compliment, was Aikman saying that "Championship teams find a way to win, and that's what the Cowboys have done this season." Winning this season has more to do with the players and Phillip's than it does with Jason Garrett... Jones need to let the whole team get a little stability under its belt before jerking the rug out from under the players and fans again. Let's see what December holds for the future of the Cowboys... hopefully more than just a one and out post-season.

To Hell with the Rangers, their management team has demonstrated once again they are nothing more than a minor league farm team in big league uniforms, a perpetual rebuilding team... the season is lost, so let's start all over again next season for the 8th year in a row!?! Hank was right, Tex will have an opportunity to do something no Ranger has done since Kenny Rogers went to Detroit, and that's win! Young is understandably upset, because it pushes any chance for him to see any post-season action another 2-3 years down the road... if I were him I'd be looking for a trade as well. As good as Young is, he can't be expected to carry the team, there has to be some cohesion in the infield and a decent glove with some speed in the outfield (Soriano). You are never going to get a team to play together with a rotating roster from the minor leagues. Keep my season tickets next year, and I'll go watch the new independent league team in Arlington!

He was less than impressive last night in Frisco, ground out, fly out, and a couple of walks... but I bet his RoughRider jersey will be worth something in the gift shop! He's ready to go, and if he goes, I hope he does go to the O's, its his hometown and it would be great to see him lighten up on the $$$ Boras is seeking, even if the loss is only a few grand to play in his hometown. My hope is that they would get someone to put in the starting rotation with a better ERA than 6, but since some of the current Rangers were still school the last time Texas went to the playoffs, who wants to pitch for a known losing team? The Rangers can be competitive at times, but start shaking up the roster and we'll be lucky to finish with 65-70 wins this year. Its amazing how a player begins to talk like a team leader just about the time his contract is up... if not for the lackluster performance earlier season of some of the team veterans, the Rangers might be playing .500 ball at least and battling for 3rd place! No playoffs in eight years... can you blame the guy for being a little homesick?

Trade the best closer in Gagne we've had in years and you have lost a season ticket holder... for all the whining fans have done over the years about Rangers' pitching, trade Tex to build up the bullpen and leave the closer alone. Its sickening year after year to be considered a rebuilding team, and then have two disasterous years following Michael Young's comments it was time to put up or shut up, only to hear Jon Daniels say immediately upon his contract extension that we are officially a rebuilding team.

My daughter will be devastated, she loves Tex... as much as my wife loved Blaylock, until he got hurt and now its Michael Young... there is no loyalty in baseball and certainly not in Texas. if Mark were to take less than the $20 gazillion that Boras is asking just to play in his hometown, he might preserve some respect as opposed to leaving town for the money. We keep Jon Daniels, and let him trade one of the key components to the Rangers successful infield, for what, some pitching prospects that may pay off 2-3 years down the line, if they don't throw their arms out in the minors or get traded to another team before we ever see any benefit? Why wouldn't you leave if you were Tex... he knows he'll never have a pennant or a chance at World Series with the Rangers, so why not leave while there is still money to be had instead of wasting his prime away in Arlington? He should go to Baltimore, but he'll be in Frisco as a RoughRider tonight!

Who is managing this team, Jon Daniels? LOL...

I just hope that sharing a parking lot with the Rangers doesn't rub off on the Cowboys... if history repeats itself in Arlington, then Cowboy fans may actually see them in the playoffs a couple of times in the ten years after the new stadium is completed! Not that they can make it past the first round... I just Carry Underwood doesn't hand Romo one of her trophies to hold!

The Rangers have become nothing more than a farm team for talent to cut their big league teeth and move on... we will forever be a "rebuilding" team because about the time someone starts to show some promise, they're traded for another up and comer, 2-3 years from paying off, and then guess what? They too are lost to another team and do very well I might add... if I was anyone with talent, like Tex and Mr. Young, I would want to be traded off this perpetual merry-go-round too! How can we ever have any chemistry if we are constantly trading everything away? And gimmick players may put butts in the seats, but come on... Daniels needs to do something and do it now to stop the bleeding, or they are going to lose the fans, with the Cowboys moving in next door, season ticket holders are going to have even more options, especially with a new independent baseball park opening up nearby.

Hey Yankee fans! Let you without sin throw the first stone!!!

How funny to hear Yankee fans complain about her shirt... A-rod and the Mrs. have been in New York for a few years now, what do you expect, its bound to rub off... I wouldn't be surprised if the kids are dropping f-bombs next!

Congress has the power to supoena, and hold hearings, but then what? If Giambi gets up there and says Yea, I did steroids... what are they going to do about it? Baseball isn't the mob... if he rolls over on everyone else, he will become the same pariah that Canseco is now. There should be such an outcry from Americans sick to death of a legislative branch gone awry... they'll ramrod an immigration bill through as long as every special interest group gets their piece of the pie, and then spend a year on baseball? Here's a switch on the owners and players, the fans should go on strike! Support your local little league team!!! Just add Giambi to the 'Scooter' list of pardons Bush is going to make as he exits in 2008.

That's the way it is with the Rangers, always thinking about the future... but tomorrow never comes, and in the meantime, it been since almost a decade since they made a play-off appearance, with no fear of even coming close to post-season action this year either and we haven't even made the All-star break with no one even saying, "We've still got a lot of baseball to play" its more like, "Better luck next year" but probably not.

I should add, is it any different anywhere else, that the fans are treated like sheep?

The Rangers' losing streak goes way back before Jon Daniels ever took the GM spot in 2005, so there is no merit in that argument... if you want to talk about his age, or inexperience with only five years in baseball, there might be something there, questionable drafts, sure... but generally, they are all excuses, and its not like Tom Hicks or even Jeff Cogen couldn't void any move Daniels wanted to make... at some point we have to quit blaming the front office and start looking at the talent on the team. To hear some of the chit-chat, these guys sure aren't playing like they want to be traded, they're acting like they wish someone would take their starting spot and they could just phone it in from a lazy boy recliner... for all the whining about the owners keeping salaries down, I haven't seen anyone in Arlington honestly trying earn a paycheck, its like they're on an entitlement program or something! I mean, they're losing 3-0 in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs, and come back to win 4-3 against the Brewers?!? Oh wait, who was the Brewer's closer? Cordero... that's right... hmm, no one seem to mind when Daniels let that guy go, after a season of similar blown saves... it was almost like the Rangers waited until he came in to pitch to start playing, so if they can lay down on Coach Washington for eight innings, only to come back to win it in the ninth, you can't tell me they are playing baseball. Dallas is just a bad place for sports, as much as people act like fans, going to a Rangers game these days, you could almost close your eyes and think you were in the visiting teams ballpark... Cowboys 'fans' are no better than those of the Rangers, Stars, or the Mavs when they are losing... fair weather at best... but it makes sense, they are all the same fans. Rest assured, Sosa would rather still be in Chicago, but he is trying to reach 600... and what better ballpark to hit homeruns than The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington? THAT'S why we can't get any worthy pitching in Texas! Believe me, if Hicks would pony-up the money for A-rod, he would just as easily have gone for Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens... but they still have a few years and an ERA worthy of their contracts, not to mention their future Hall of Fame status. Homeruns put butts in the seats... so fickle Ranger fans, carpet-baggers, and all the Yankee nay-sayers, just know, when the fans quit showing up to the various ballparks, stadiums, and arenas, the owners, whether it be Hicks, Cuban, or Jones, they'll do what's right, just in time to sell it to someone else, or bargain for a new billion-dollar ballpark, stadium, or arena, ain't that right Mr. Jones? Are the people in Dallas, fans or sheep?

Well, he certainly increased his 'batting average' when he started cavorting with the stripper! And $6000 earrings doesn't even come close to what Kobe had to shell out... I bet Mrs. A-Rod is just getting warmed up, especially after reading about record $184 million divorce settlement this week... Alex... one word ---- HALF!

That reporter had just better be glad it wasn't Kenny Rogers he was screwing with...