Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Dexter Clinkscale…

If you’re the Cowboys and you’re trading for a starting cornerback, what better way to insure that your new player will fit in with your secondary than  if that player is already out with an injury? Jerry Wayne sent two draft picks to the Steelers last night for Joey Porter, Jr. He has three total interceptions in his three years in the NFL. He hasn’t played a down this year because of a nagging back injury and will not suit up against the Texans this Sunday. I’m not sure how this helps Christian Davis.

The Houston Texans are 0-3 and their quarterback, C.J. Stroud, looks absolutely lost. Good thing they’re hosting Dallas this Sunday. If there’s one thing the Cowboys defense can do, it’s make mediocre quarterbacks look like Joe Montana. Remember Russell Wilson throwing for 450 yards and three touchdowns against Dallas last year, a couple of weeks before the Giants cut him? Remember J.J. McCarthy lighting up the Cowboys for 250 yards and two scores? The Vikings demoted him to third string and then traded him to New York. Jordan Love aired it out for 337 yards and three TDS and Caleb Williams totaled 298 yards and four touchdowns in wins for the Packers and Bears. I’ll also mention Bryce Young’s three touchdown passes and Bo Nix’s four touchdown tosses to beat Dallas last year. And I’ll point to Jaxson Dart’s three touchdown passes against the Cowboys on opening night this year. Receivers are running wide open and wild through the Dallas secondary again. I’m thinking Stroud has a career game this Sunday. And then gets traded to Carolina in November.

I have no confidence in Arch Manning. None. He is still paralyzed in the pocket and looks like he’s never seen a zone defense before. Texas has plenty of weapons on offense but, because of their quarterback, they’re struggling to score 20 points. Manning holds the ball way too long, locks on receivers way too early, misses wide open targets, and takes unnecessary sacks. The Longhorns have a potential national championship caliber defense that should keep them close in every game, and Arch should get a little better as the season moves forward. But it’s hard to imagine him leading the ‘Horns to a title.

It came down to the Rangers and Astros. One of the two teams was going to be the first in Major League Baseball history to qualify for the playoffs with a losing record. It seems like that distinction would fit the Rangers’ history and narrative better than Houston’s, but the Astros were able to win their last regular season series and the Rangers couldn’t. Yikes. The Rangers have finished with a non-winning record in nine of the past ten seasons, the exception being their World Series Championship year of 2023. It’s more than obvious now that the 2023 Rangers, to a man, had career years they haven’t been able to match since. Their runs per game average was lower this year than it was last year! It’s time to blow this whole thing up. Past time. This isn’t working. I would keep Nimmo, Wyatt, Jung, Zeke, and Latz. That’s it. Everybody else is on the table. It will be difficult to move some of the pieces–no-trade clauses and bloated contracts are a barrier. But I’m guessing Chris Young is on the phone right now doing everything he can to remake this thing. Give Skip a break, man. Bless his heart.

I’m nauseated by the television networks and streaming platforms promoting their NBA games with footage and pics of Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson. Luka is the NBA’s scoring leader from last year and Brunson is the Finals MVP for the champion Knicks. They were both Dallas Mavericks. Together.

The puck finally drops on the Stars season tomorrow night against St Louis! Yes!! The one dependable, consistent sports entity in my life that never fails to thrill me with joy and hope and breathless expectation. This is the year, right? It has to be! If Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are both healthy, then everybody’s healthy! And rested! And hungry! This is certainly Benn’s and Seguin’s last chance to win the elusive Stanley Cup. Why not? Robo is playing for another contract. Mikko is motivated after last year’s postseason disappearing act. Wyatt is faster and stronger. Otter’s as good as there is in the NHL. This is it! I can’t wait for all the poke checks, trapezoids, face washings, five-holes, top shelfs, flying Chiclets, drop passes, hat tricks, power plays, slap shots, one-timers, biscuits in the basket, Razor Reaugh’s linguistic largesse, and grinders and goons getting chippy and chapped in a jam-packed barn!

Go Stars.
Allan