Another arguement for a H.S. shot clock

I wrote a column back in December about why I felt like H.S. basketball needed a shot clock after Robert E. Lee stalled for much of the fourth quarter to beat the Palestine girls' basketball team. (READ HERE)

In the D/FW area last night, another reason has emerged. Nationally ranked Flower Mound Marcus (No. 12 in Yahoo's Rivals 100) topped Plano West 38-31, IN TRIPLE OVERTIME.

Why the low score? Well, since Marcus had blown out West earlier in the season, West decided the best strategy was to be very, very deliberate with its offensive possessions. What that resulted in was the low-scoring, three OT affair.

According to Yahoo's Prep Rally blog (Read the full story HERE), West averaged more than one minute per possession on offense.

No offense to West, because it was a strategy that worked brilliantly, but is this really what we want basketball to be about at the high school level?

Rangers send Francisco to Toronto for Napoli

According to multiple reports first started by FOXsport.com's Ken Rosenthal, the Rangers have traded long-time reliever Frank Francisco to Toronto for utility-man Mike Napoli, who was a Blue Jay for all of a week, acquired by the Canadian club in the Vernon Wells deal.

Rosenthal also tweeted that this deal probably shows that Vlad Guerrero won't be back in Texas either, as Napoli is expected to split time between C, 1B and DH.

Inside the TABC polls (Week of 1/24/10)

GIRLS (Full Rankings)
Class 3A
Only a slight change in the area 3A implications this week. After an undefeated week, Fairfield moved up two spots to No. 23.

Class 2A
Still no local squads or district rivals in the top-25 for Class 2A

Class 1A, Div. I
We saw some local movement in this poll after last week. Slocum jumped a spot from No. 13 to No. 12 after topping Grapeland on Tuesday then having Friday off. Slocum's district rival, Lovelady, made a big jump from No. 17 to No. 13, still one spot behind a Slocum squad they beat in district play. As far as District 20 goes, Martin's Mill held strong at No. 3, while LaPoynor moved up to No. 16 from No. 18 after beating Cayuga and Cross Roads during the week.

Class 1A, Div. II
Once again, Neches comes in at No. 2, a spot it should occupy until A) the Lady Tigers lose or 2) Saltillo suffers its first loss of the year.

This week's 'Monday Lookback'

For those that don't follow us on Twitter but do check the blog—there's bound to be one of y'all, right?—here's the link to yesterday's 'Monday Lookback' podcast on 'View From the Cheap Seats.'

I talk Westwood/Palestine rivalry games, as well as a little Palestine boys' soccer.

We'll have a chat with good friend Kyle Fuller (@pimpinkal) posted on Thursday, where we look back at the season that was in the NFL, and specifically in Cowboy land. We'll give you our MVPs, Rookies of the Year and biggest surprises/disappointments. Bet you can't guess who one—or both—of us chooses for that last one, huh?

Anyway, check it out HERE

Ramirez-to-Texas deal heating up

We've asked the question all week right over there -------> in the poll question, and for the one person who voted (and voted for Manny Ramirez) it seems your wish may come true.

According to the Jamey Newberg of the Newberg Report, in an e-mail sent to his mailing list (I got it from friend of the blog and podcast Kyle Fuller (follow him on Twitter @pimpinkal), the Ramirez deal is gaining some steam in the metroplex:

According to a local report posted in the last hour: “The Rangers are pursuing free agent outfielder/designated hitter Manny Ramirez.  He would be the big right-handed bat at DH and off the bench.  It would likely mean far more playing time for Michael Young at first base and would cut into Mitch Moreland's playing time.  But the Rangers are definitely interested in Ramirez.”

For anyone that thinks postgame (or match) press conferences are dumb and boring

If the title describes you, Caroline Wozniacki is on your side. However, unlike most people, the world's No. 1 female tennis player has the ways and means to change these types of things.

Change she did. Instead of allowing reporters to ask her the same, bland questions that open every press conference in every sport—it's true, sadly. We always ask the "So, how did it feel out there?" or "What does this win (or loss) mean moving forward?" questions first. Why? I don't know, I guess it's like wading into the pool instead of diving in head first. Plus, it helps build the back-and-forth needed in settings like that. One of the first things your taught in Journalism school is to ask the tough questions last, that way if they make someone mad, you've still got material.

But, I digress, follow the link to the full story HERE to check out how she handled things. (Via Deadspin.com)

Soccer match predicting octopus immortalized

Everyone remember Paul, the Octopus who so famously—and correctly—predicted the outcomes of all of Germany's matches past year's World Cup?

Well, unfortunately, Paul is no longer with this world, but the public's ability to remember him will soon increase exponentially, because Paul got a statue.

From the AP:

BERLIN (AP) — Paul the celebrated octopus has finally got his tentacles wrapped around a soccer ball.
The Sea Life aquarium in Oberhausen on Thursday unveiled an outsized memorial to the World Cup's most unlikely star: A 6 1/2-foot (2-meter) tall plastic replica of Paul clutching a ball in his eight arms.
Aquarium spokeswoman Tanja Munzig says Paul's cremated ashes were placed in a gold-leaf-covered urn inside the ball. Paul died three months ago and Munzig says fans around the world had asked for a memorial.
Paul correctly tipped the outcome of all seven of Germany's games at last year's World Cup plus the Spain-Netherlands final. He made his predictions by opening the lid of one of two boxes, each containing a mussel and bearing a team flag.

Most people don't even get statues when they die, but then again, most people are not that accurate with predictions. It got so bad that the poor guy got death threats against him when he picked against Germany in the semifinals.

RIP Paul.

Hakeem, Bill Simmons and nationalities...and how it never mattered (UPDATED)

So, on Twitter today I got into a discussion with ESPN's fantastic columnist Bill Simmons (@sportsguy33) about a comment he made in his new column (Read that here). Here's the part we talked about:

Dirk Nowitzki: Was moving into the Barkley/Malone big-picture historical discussion before an injury derailed his MVP campaign.
Manu Ginobili: Reclaimed "Only a few guys get better when it matters and he's one" and "Night in, night out, it's just hard to imagine anyone being more entertaining" status after bad ankles nearly derailed his career. Hey, here's another fun 2011 subplot: the three best foreign players ever who didn't play college ball in the U.S. (Dirk, Manu and Pau, in that order) playing on the same team.

The point I made was this: Isn't Hakeem Olajuwon foreign? I mean he was born in Nigeria, and didn't immigrate to the States until college. On the flip side, Patrick Ewing was born in Jamaica, but moved to the U.S. with his family when he was 11.

Record number of non-seniors to hit this year's NFL draft

According to a story released by the Associated Press, there are 56 non-seniors that are leaving their college squads to enter the 2011 NFL draft, a record number.

Now, the reasons could be many. For one, there is rampant speculation that in the upcoming labor dispute, the owners and league are going to almost mandate a rookie wage scale, much like the NBA has.

Great, great story out of Houston

Sports are fun. Fun to play, fun to watch and fun to cover.

This story out of Houston is one of the exact reasons why:

One-handed girls hoops star inspires outside of Houston

(Via Yahoo's Prep Rally/Houston Chronicle)