Inside the TABC polls (Week of 1/17/10)

I've learned something about basketball here in the Dogwood Circle as we near the halfway mark for district play in the area: We've got some teams that can ball.

As it currently stands, there are seven local squads (four boys/three girls) that sit inside the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) Top-25. Oddly enough, all of them are in the state's smallest two classifications, Class 1A, Div. I and Class 1A,  Div. II.

So, with that being said—and with squads from area districts also being ranked—from here on out during the basketball season we'll dive into the polls weekly to see where the movement, if any, has been for the local squads.

New View From the Cheap Seats Podcast

Meant to post this yesterday, but a new episode of the podcast is up over at palestineherald.com. In the episode, my buddy Kyle (@pimpinkal) joins me to talk a little Rangers' offseason and the NFL playoffs. Sorry about the dated Jim Thome talk, who knew?

Anyway go check it out, let us know what you think.

McDonald's employee fired for letting Adrian Peterson use bathroom? (UPDATED)

According to Yahoo's Shutdown Corner NFL blog, a McDonald's employee was recently let go because she allowed someone to come into the restaurant to use the restroom after closing time.

Turns out, that someone was Palestine-native and Minnesota Vikings' star Adrian Peterson. From Shutdown Corner:

An assistant manager at McDonald's was fired after allowing Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson to use the bathroom while the restaurant was closed. 

While working the late-night drive-thru shift at 3 a.m., a female employee encountered a man standing outside the window who asked to come inside and use the restroom. After a little while, she realized it was the popular Minnesota Vikings star and opened the door for him to come inside and use the facilities. (The seating area at the restaurant is normally closed during the late-night hours.)

One week later, the mother of three was fired for the offense. 

"He's a public figure... I know him better than some of the maintenance people that come in and out," she told Consumerist. "I never thought in a million years that that decision was going to cost me my career."

Thome stays in Minny...Now what?

Earlier in the week, we talked here on the blog about the possibility of Jim Thome bringing his talents to North Texas. My buddy Kyle and I even talked about the move on the newest installment of the View From the Cheap Seats podcast.

But according to ESPN, Thome's talents are staying far, far north. The question is now, what are the Rangers' plans? One apparent possibility is that Manny Ramirez could bring his show to Arlington. The Rangers are apparently interested in the slugger along with a slew of other squads.

New Braunfels' school installs red turf field

Yes, the headline is correct. At  New Braunfels Canyon High School, the school's new red turf field debuted this past week during some soccer matches (via Yahoo's Prep Rally). The turf will be home to the football team in 2011 as well.

Much like Boise State's blue turf, the red turf leaves quite an impression, but whether or not that is a good or bad thing is up to personal taste I guess. Me personally, I'm a fan of the basic green turf. But that's just me, maybe I'm old school.

But, according to the above-linked article, Canyon may not even have the brightest turf within a 50 mile radius if UT-San Antonio gets its way. Apparently, the Roadrunners are hoping to have an orange field inside the Alamodome when the program begins play in 2011 under Larry Coker. I guess with Boise State moving to the Mountain West Conference and UTSA heading into the WAC soon, someone had to take the weird turf torch.

What do you think of the field? OK with random weird colors or just keep it green?

Some MLB updates, links

Josh Hamilton is still recovering from his bout withe pneaumonia, but is expected to be out of the hospital by the weekend: via dallasnews.com's Ranger's Blog

Astro fans, welcome to Texas Ranger fan's world. Apparently, Drake McClane has "20-25" potential buyers for the 'Stros lined up: via the Houston Chronicle

But, that sale isn't stopping Astros general manager Ed Wade from taking on some New Year's resolutions. Wade is going to run the Houston Marathon, three years after completeing the Marine Corp. Marathon in an impressive 4:45. (Via Yahoo's Big League Stew)

"Golden-voiced" man headed to rehab

I guess the story of Ted Williams, who went from homeless to Youtube sensation to celebrity in about 36 hours last week, couldn't turn out quite that Hollywood.

According to CNN, Williams is headed to rehab at the urgence of Dr. Phil. If you'll remember, Williams was offered voice-over work by the Cleveland Cavaliers, the NFL and more entities once the Cleveland Plain-Dealer's Web site discovered him in a video piece done by one of their reporters.

Here's CNN's full story

New Podcast available

After a day of some technical difficulties that I could not fix nor even understand, we've gotten the very first "View From the Cheapseats" sports podcast up and running over at the paper's Website.

Head over, check it out and let me know what you guys think. We'll be doing more very soon, and hope to be adding guests including local coaches and players, as well as other media types from around the area and more.

Check it out here

RANGERS: Why is Texas chasing Jim Thome?

According to multiple ESPN baseball sources, the Rangers are apparently in the hunt for the services of designated hitter and future Cooperstown resident Jim Thome.


I first heard this last night, and the first thing I said was "Huh?"

I mean, the club just signed Adrian Beltre to an almost $100 million dollar contract, and in the process said that Michael Young was going to be a "super-utility" player for the team, with most of his at-bats coming at DH, but also spelling others in the infield when they needed the rest.

New Year's Resolutions and such

Everyone has their basic New Year's Resolutions. Get in shape, eat better, be better with money, etc. In fact, all three of those are my personal resolutions for 2011. Will I be able to do it? Who knows, but I'm going to try.

But, in addition to personal resolutions this year, I made a couple of professional ones as well. Namely, I'm going to be more out there. I'm going to get away from merely being on the sports page. So, my plan is to blog more as well as probably set up a dedicated Twitter account for the sports department here at the paper. We've also got a possible podcast in the works, where myself and others will get on and talk a little sports for people's listening pleasure. With the absence of any sports radio in the area outside of game broadcasts, I think that it'll be a good venture. At least I hope it will be.