Well, Sports Talk 790 has arrived in Dallas, Texas for Super Bowl week. Here are a couple of early photos.
Wex and Dylan assuming the position in our booth on Radio Row. Rich Eisen is mocking us on the NFL Network's set right now.
You really can't see it in this picture unless you look really close, but while we were eating dinner, we were debating whether the girl behind us was the man's daughter or his much younger wife.
Monday's show is sure to be killer with all the quality prep time Wex is putting in on our couch at Embassy Suites.
Just in case you haven't been inside Dallas Cowboys Stadium before, this picture was taken during this year's Cotton Bowl. Pretty amazing definition on the big screen off of an I-Phone.
1994 was the year Jeff Fisher was hired as the head coach of the then Houston Oilers. The Oilers had started off the year 1-9 and hired Fisher after firing Jack Pardee and Kevin Gilbride. Sixteen years later, Fisher was finally relieved of his coaching duties. Fisher was a good, but not great coach for the Titans, who did a terrible job in 2010. As much as you hate Bud Adams, Houston, (and you have every right to hate him), I know that you know that he holds his people more accountable than your current football owner.
In 1994 Jeff Bagwell was the MVP of the National League. He hit .368 with 39 HR and 116 RBI. Unfortunately, later that year, baseball turned out the lights.
The Rockets had just wrapped up the 1st of 2 NBA Championships......
But the Rockets title was overshadowed by a bigger Summer Sports story....
The Oscar for Best Picture in 1994....
Whitney Houston was sober and winning Grammy's.
Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt were being introduced to my dreams....
The NFL Draft: Where Suddenly the games don't matter.
Well somehow he's done it! Through no fault of his own, Jake Locker has made draft experts fall in love with him all over again. The guy has been at Washington since I've been of legal drinking age (or so it would seem). I'll post his college statistics, and you tell me what number screams "DRAFT ME EARLY!"
Jake is not just a victim of circumstances in terms of being at Washington during coaching changes and when there was little talent around him. He has not once had a performance at the college level that should have any talent evaluator or NFL scout thinking he has a future as an NFL QB. He's not accurate enough as a passer and, he has not performed well against his best competition. What am I missing here? Frankly the kid doesn't deserve to be at the Senior Bowl. How could he possible be among the best senior QB's in the country when he is an average at best college QB? I said this last year about Jimmy Claussen and I'll say it again about Locker. Don't believe the hype. The team that drafts Locker is wasting a draft pick. The team that drafts him with a 1st round pick might as well tell their season ticket holders to spend there $$$ elsewhere for the next 4 seasons until they draft their next QB.
I don't need film study or one one time to know the guys that can or can't play.
Here's 5 guys being talked up who deserve it based on production.
1. Von Miller LB Texas A&M 2. AJ Green WR Georgia 3. Patrick Peterson CB LSU 4. Gabe Carimi T Wisconsin 5. Julio Jones WR Alabama
Here are guys being talked up that I just can't buy. 1. Jake Locker QB Washington 2. DeQuan Bowers DE Clemson 3. Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri 4. Ryan Mallet QB Arkansas
The Astros signed Wandy Rodriguez to a 3 year $34 million contract on Tuesday. The contract includes a 4th year vesting option that could bring the value of the deal up to $44.5 million. Wandy was 11-12 with a 3.60 ERA last season. He has been inconsistent at times but figured to be a hot commodity on the 2012 FA pitching market. Wandy will actually enter 2011 as the 26th highest paid starting pitcher in MLB.
Here's a list of the guys that make more than Wandy that I would want ahead of Wandy (in no particular order):
1. Dan Haren (Anaheim) 5-4 2.87 ERA after trade from Arizona
2. Zack Grienke (Milwaukee) 10-14 4.17 ERA for the Royals last season, but figures to dominate and get better run support in the National League.
3. Chris Carpenter (St. Louis) 16-9 3.22 ERA. Has had some health issues, but is a true ace.
4. Tim Lincecum (SF Giants) 16-10 3.43 ERA. Even in a down year led the Giants to a World Series Title.
5. Felix Hernandez (Mariners) 13-12 2.27ERA. Dominated the AL despite the worst run support in MLB.
6. Johan Santana (Mets) 11-9 2.98 ERA. An ace unbefitting the crap the Mets have put around him.
7. Roy Halladay (Phillies) 21-10 2.44 ERA. The National League's reigning everything. Cooperstown awaits.
8. Cliff Lee (Phillies) 12-9 3.18 ERA. Struggled a bit in the regular season after trade to Texas, but made up for it in the post season. Having Halladay and Lee back to back is criminal.
9. Roy Oswalt (Phillies) 13-13 2.76 ERA. All he did after his arrival in Philly is dominate to the tune of 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA.
10. Justin Verlander (Detroit) 18-9 3.37ERA. Hits the gun in triple digits regularly. A guy you would pay to watch pitch.
11. CC Sabathia (Yankees) 21-7 3.18 ERA. The most durable ace in the American League. Here are guys making more $$ than Wandy that I would want less than Wandy.
1. Oliver Perez (NY Mets) 0-5 6.80ERA. A headcase, trainwreck, doesn't get any worse than this.
2. John Lackey (Boston) 14-11 4.40ERA. It appeared to me that the innings from Anaheim finally caught up to him. He gave up a Livan Hernandez like 233 hits in 215 IP.
3. Scott Kazmir (Anaheim) 9-15 5.94ERA. He lost his velocity and his confidence. Looks like a shot pitcher.
4. Kyle Lohse (St. Louis) 4-8 6.55ERA. Just another guy who throws puss and probably he thought he could get by in the inferior NL.
5. Carlos Silva (Cubs) 10-6 4.22 ERA. He won his 1st 7 decisions last season and then fell off the map.
6. Barry Zito (Giants) 9-14 4.15ERA. It's not his fault that SF gave him a stupid contract.
7. Jake Peavy (White Sox) 7-6 4.63ERA. He can't be counted on to stay healthy.
8. AJ Burnett (Yankees) 10-15 5.26ERA. When he isn't on the DL, he's probably getting shelled.
The remainder of the starting pitchers that make more $$ than Wandy are debatably a little better or worse than Wandy.
1. Derek Lowe (Atlanta) 16-12 4.00ERA. He's extremely durable having made 30+ starts 8 consecutive years, but I feel like Wandy has more of a chance to take over a game than this guy.
2. Josh Beckett (Boston) 6-6 5.78ERA. He obviously has an oustanding post season record, but his regular season numbers have been very inconsistent. Arm health is an issue.
3. Carlos Zambrano (Cubs) 11-6 3.33ERA. Big Z has the stuff of an ace, but such a horrible attitude that the Cubs refused to pitch him for stretches last season.
4. Ryan Dempster (Cubs) 15-12 3.85 ERA. Just about Wandy's equal over the last 2 seasons.
5. Hiroki Kuroda (Dodgers) 11-13 3.39ERA. Benefits from Dodger Stadium, but also got no run support last season.
6. Bronson Arroyo (Reds) 17-10 3.88ERA. Reminds me alot of Derek Lowe in that you know he will take the ball every 5th day and he won't get rattled if he gives up a ton of hits in any one game.
7. Mark Buehrle (White Sox) 13-13 4.28ERA. I put him on equal footing with Wandy because of the superior AL hitting.
The Astros have Rodriguez, Bret Myers, and JA Happ locked up for the next two years. If these guys pitch to their potential the club could remain competitive within the division. Bud Norris would appear to be a lock to be the #4 starter and there a ton of candidates to fill the 5th spot. The Astros' pitching staff actually looks half decent on paper.
From the people that brought you Cameron Wake, CFL'er turned Dolphins Pro Bowler, here's someone the Texans should throw a dart toward.
#53 is Phillip Hunt, a former Houston Cougar who led the CFL (Winnipeg) with 16 sacks this season. He's reportedly drawing interest from the Minnesota Vikings. The Dolphins turned CFL sack leader Cameron Wake into a hell of a player. How much you want to bet that the Texans have never heard of Phillip Hunt? 6'2 260 sounds like a 3-4 OLB to me. Hunt lasted all of one pre-season game with the Browns after going undrafted. The guy clearly deserves another shot to make a team, and it would cost the Texans next to nothing to sign him.
Apparently this is the British version of the "Ron Franklin" story. Famed Scottish Soccer analyst Andy Gray was dismissed by Sky Sports for comments he made on tape that were clearly not meant for on-air consumption. I'm not sure what makes a woman or a man fit/unfit to be a linesperson, but this sure seems a tad extreme. http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=ap-england-soccersexism
A strange thing happened to me on Sunday afternoon. I watched the NFL's conference championship games start to finish. Why was this a strange activity?
1. I didn't have a rooting interest. (not surprising since both the 49ers and Texans sucked this errr every season).
2. I did not have a group of friends to watch with me. (Very atypical especially for a playoff game.) I watched the games by myself from the comfort of my own recliner.
3. I didn't have one sip of alcohol during the entire afternoon, again very atypical of a Conference Championship Sunday. I find solo drinking awfully depressing and a clear sign of the need for a 12 step program.
4. I did not have a single wager on the games, a baby step for me in what should probably be a proper behavioral adjustment given my line of work.
I was rewarded with an afternoon of watching four phenomenal defenses take turns making specatcular plays. I spend so much time glorifying the breathtaking achievements of an Andre Johnson, Adrian Peterson or a Tom Brady and have spent so much time around the Texans, that it's easy to forget what a great defense looks like.
Julius Peppers: Penalties or no penalties, he was worth every penny to Chicago. The guy is physically dominant against the run and the pass and has joined Jared Allen on the list of players I am legitimately afraid would break my QB into pieces.
Brian Urlacher: Hard to argue that this guy wasn't born to be the MLB of the Chicago Bears' defense. He had a key sack and INT to keep the Bears in the game as long as possible. If not for injuries that have cut two plus seasons of his career short, he would be a no-brainer hall of famer. Seems to me he has a few more great years left in him.
Dom Capers: The brains behind the Packers suffocating defense called yet another outstanding game Sunday disguising his coverages and zone dogs to completely shut down the Bears passing game for the 1st 3 quarters. He called the play "Right Cat" for the 1st time all season Sunday afternoon and it resulted in DT BJ Raji faking a rush before dropping right into the passing lane of Bears QB Caleb Hanie. Raji picked off the pass and took it to the house for the decisive TD.
Darrelle Revis: Kudos to Ben Roethilsberger for actually having the stones to throw at this guy. Revis is the best corner since Ronnie Lott. He's a more willing contact player than Deion Sanders and has better technique than Lester Hayes. The fact that he is dominating the field in an era when all the rules favor the offenses make his achievements even more impressive. Quite simply, any defense of mine would be built around this man and this man alone.
The Steelers' LB's: James Harrison and Lamar Woodly garner all the headlines, but James Farrior and Lawrence Timmons make plenty of plays on the inside as well.
120 minutes of World Class defensive football just opens your eyes to how far your own team has to go to be a contender. I can't sit here with a straight face right now and say that my 49ers are just a QB away from contending for the Super Bowl. They need a CB at the Pro Bowl Level. They need a pass rushing threat at OLB. They need more physically intimidating personnel. How do you Texans fans feel about your own defense after seeing these 4 teams bang heads Sunday afternoon? mattandadam@sports790.com
While it may seem corny to think or say this, there not two more loyal and deserving fan bases than the Steelers and the Packers. They truly define what being a great fan is all about. They aren't arrogant or wreckless like Eagles, Jets, or Raider fans. They aren't bandwagon jumpers like Cowboys or Saints fans. They respect their team, their opponents, and the game of football.
Someone famous actually wanted to watch the New Jersey Nets on Saturday night. Believe it or not, Kim Kardashian was in attendance (her current boyfriend is Kris Humphries). There was something about Kim that seemed to gain alot of attention. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I might like to do that.
It will be the Steelers and the Packers to settle this year's NFL Championship. The Steelers took the opening kickoff and held onto the ball for over 9 minutes enroute to a touchdown that the Jets would never overcome. The Steelers took advantage of sloppy Jets tackling in the 1st half to build a 24-3 lead and held on for a 24-19 win. The Steelers outrushed the Jets 135-1 in the 1st half.
Green Bay beat Chicago 21-14. The Packers defense hurt two different Bears QB's (Jay Cutler, Todd Collins) and had a pick 6 courtesy of DT BJ Raji. Bears 3rd string QB Caleb Hanie tried to rally the Bears but they came up short.
On paper this should be a very good Super Bowl. I would put the line at Steelers -2. The Las Vegas Hilton set the opening line at Green Bay -2 with a total of 45.
A reminder we will have around the clock coverage of Super Bowl 45 beginning next Monday January 31st. All of our shows on Sports Talk 790 will originate from Radio Row in Dallas, courtesy of our friends with TxDot! We will have tons of interviews, and live videos of the sights and sounds surrounding Super Bowl 45.
I think Chicago Bears fans are a little unhappy with the "toughness" of their starting QB Jay Cutler. On the plus side for Cutler, he gets to go home to this.
If Jay Cutler says he couldn't go, that's good enough for me. I can't imagine a guy pulling himself out of a game as important as the NFC championship because he was tired of getting hit. Cutler took a crap load of hits all year long because his offensive line sucks at pass blocking.
Make no mistake about it, the Green Bay Packers earned their 21-14 victory over the Chicago Bears. That being said, Mike Martz end around to his slowest WR (Earl Bennet) on 3rd and 1 has to go down as one of the dumbest play calls in NFL history. Here are a couple of others.
1. Jerry Glanville's "Stagger Lee" From Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly's account of the game:
"With Houston backed up at its own four-yard line, on its second snap of the game, Glanville got this genius idea to try an end zone, overhand lateral to running back Mike Rozier on the far sideline, a play Houston calls Stagger Lee. Why throw a lateral to the man with the stoniest hands on the club, in your own end zone, so early in the biggest game that the franchise has had in eight years, on the road, in one of the most unforgiving stadiums in the country? That's one for Glanville to think about. What happened is that the ball hit Rozier in the numbers and the hands before bouncing stagger-ly into the arms of Bronco Steve Wilson at the one-yard line."
2. Joe Theisman throws an INT from his own 5 yard line on the last play of the 1st half that Raiders LB Jack Squirek returns for a TD giving the Raiders a commanding 21-3 lead at the break.
With the Rockets going through their 2nd consecutive forgettable season, it makes you wonder what Les Alexander is thinking about his franchise right about now. Another also ran NBA team, the Golden State Warriors has new ownership. Joe Lacob, one of the owners, gave a rather candid interview about the state of his franchise with the San Jose Mercury News. http://www.mercurynews.com/tim-kawakami/ci_17154660?nclick_check=1 It wouldn't kill Les Alexander to come out of his hole every now and then to give his assessment of the franchise.
The Clippers are probably not going to the NBA playoffs this season, but there aren't very many other teams I would rather watch for an entire 48 minutes of hoops.
Pretty nice week if you're a Texas Longhorn hoops fan. You slaughtered the Aggies at the Erwin Center on Wednesday night, and then on Saturday you can from 15 down to crush Kansas at Phog Allen Field House 74-63 ending the Jayhawks 69 game winning streak. Rick Barnes has some serious talent on this team. Between Jordan Hamilton, J'Covan Brown, and Tristan Thompson he has NBA caliber prospects that can change the game. The Longhorns 2nd half defense versus the Jayhawks was sensational. The Horns are definitely going to be in the Final Four discussion come March.
Westin Hotels & Resorts are an upscale hotel chain owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. As of 2005 Westin operated over 120 hotels in 24 countries, including Croatia, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Spain and others
Westin hotel Westin hotel outside view Westin hotel Tower Classic Westin hotel Westin hotel night view
Westin Hotels & Resorts are an upscale hotel chain owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. As of 2005 Westin operated over 120 hotels in 24 countries, including Croatia, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Spain and others
Westin hotel Westin hotel outside view Westin hotel Tower Classic Westin hotel Westin hotel night view
Anyone can breakdown the football aspects of the Conference Title games, but which city has contributed the most to music, TV, and the movies? Let's examine some of the highlights for each city.
New York: King Kong! The Original Sci-Fi Thriller!
The Godfather
Saturday Night Fever: Gave John Travolta his start, but sadly also briefly brought back Disco music.
Big: This famous scene with Tom Hanks took place at the NYC FAO Schwarz Toy Store.
Let's begin New York Music with one of its current icons:
Lenny Kravitz
New York City's Most Popular Concert Givers of All Time: Simon and Garfunkel
Pittsburgh: Silence of the Lambs: Yep Pittsburgh.
Mr. Belvedere: Where would 1980's family sitcoms be without Pittsburgh?
Mr.Rogers' Neighborhood: Something for the Kids.
Pittsburgh Music: Bret Michaels: Is this good or bad? I guess for his skank patrol, Pittsburgh gets a thumbs up!
Speaking of Skank Patrol, also from Pittsburgh....Christina Aguilera
Luckily, Pittsburgh redeems itself with...Mr. Dean Martin!!!!
Chicago:
Ferris Bueller's Day Off: One of my favorite movies of all time spawned this awesome youtube viral song.
The Blues Brothers: Doesn't get any better than this movie/music.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Classic John Candy and Steve Martin
My Favortite Chicago based TV show....GOOD TIMES!
Checking in to represent Chicago Musicians...Kanye West.
Billy Corgan
Wisconsin:
Hoop Dreams: One of the best sports movies you will ever see. Plus it's TRUE!
Happy Days: The sitcom also spawned another Wisconsin sitcom, Laverne and Shirley.
The Texans Longhorns just signed a 20 year $300 million deal with ESPN to produce the Longhorn Sports Network. I can's help but think this is the beginning of the end of the fragile marriage between the 10 remaining teams in the Big 12. How can A&M and OU compete with those numbers? Perhaps the best way to get even with Texas is to isolate them. I still expect A&M to end up in the SEC in the next 5 years. https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Morning-Buzz/2011/01/19/Texas-ESPN.aspx
If you want to know why the newspaper is dieing, look at this headline on the front page of the Green Bay Gazette. Hello editor? Hello Proofreader?
So what if Pittsburgh is about to get their 7th Super Bowl title, at least our cars don't have to ice skate. Yay Houston!!!!
For the 50th consecutive year, the worst face in America goes to......
Can you eat after seeing this? Do you think he is single?
On a lighter note, one of these cheerleaders was kicked off her squad at Mississippi State. Can you guess which one?
If you answered the blond, Taylor Corley, you are correct. Apparently she posed for Playboy under the name Taylor Stone. It took some SERIOUS detective work to figure out that this was her.
Things don't always come up roses for Miss America and other pageant winners. Take for example Miss USA 1992, Shannon Marketic. The 39 year old was convicted of shoplifting from a Target in Denton, Texas. Marketic walked out of the store with a package of Olay Professional ProX skin treatment valued at $59.99 and two baby items for a total of $86.97, according to a Denton police report.
