Sometimes, you just have to get in the water

Or at least think about it.

Your latest ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Cowboy

Not to be outdone by fellow Triplet Emmitt Smith, now comes Troy Aikman on the new version of Dancing With the Stars show this fall. So now we have jimmy Johnson on Survivor, and Troy on this show. What’s next? Michael Irvin on the Life Channel? Whoo Boy!

Looks like TMZ broke the story here.

Oh wait, now we have conflicting stories.

Troy Aikman says he’s doing Dancing With the Stars (Lifelinelive)

Troy says “no way.” (dallasbasketball.com)

Is it possible? Could I actually write a book?

So I’m taking a personal day off from work today, and as I sit here updating my page for the Heart Walk coming in September, I just realized I should write a book. Now I say this not to brag about assumed style of writing, but I say this to say I might have some hints on how to get through to surviving a heart attack.

I mean, there are books about how to raise daffodils, how to make moon pies, all kinds of how to books. I just think I might have some pearls of wisdom on how to navigate the after effects of having a heart attack. I don’t claim to be an expert, but thank God I’m still alive.

Even though I am almost 59 years old and have survived a heart attack, I still feel 39. I still feel like I’m pretty active for an old codger. I attend a lot of baseball games, still go to work every day. I am very thankful a heart attack hasn’t stopped me, and it doesn’t have to stop you either.

It occurs to me that this here blog has many things that I have written before, during, and after my heart attack two years ago. So yeah, even though no one comments much about my stories here on my blog, I still believe I have some things to say in an entertaining, educated way. Things that can be put to good use in a somewhat entertaining manner. So we’ll see.

Let’s Get It Started in Here!

I am participating in the American Heart Association Heartwalk in Fort Worth September 11.

Join my team either as a fellow walker or contributor!

Let’s get it started!!

Dez Bryant Deal is Done!!!

The Dallas Cowboys have announced that receiver Dez Bryant has agreed to terms.

At 5:47 Central time today. More to follow.

So much for any hold out. The Cowboys have reached an agreement with first round pick Dez Bryant.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones is scheduled to meet with the media at 6:45 p.m. He and Bryant’s agent, Eugene Parker, started talks Monday and were able to come to a deal quickly. Bryant is the first first rounder to sign, which is a good thing because the Cowboys report to San Antonio on Friday for Saturday’s first practice.

The deal is 5-years, at $11.8 million with $8.3 million guaranteed.

The Cowboys traded up in April to get Bryant, the Lufkin native, after he slipped with some teams concerned about off-field issues. Bryant played in only three games as a junior at Oklahoma State because of an NCAA suspension. He had 17 catches for 323 yards and four touchdowns. He finished his college career with 147 receptions for 2,425 yards and 29 touchdowns.

With Miles Austin and Roy Williams, Bryant is not expected to start immediately, but he could have a big impact on special teams. He averaged 19.6 yards per punt return and also returned kicks.

Dez Bryant deal is done (PFT)

Cowboys agree to five-year deal with Dez Bryant (DMN)

Jimmy Johnson survived Jerry Jones, but can he survive this?

Former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson will be a contestant on the reality TV show Survivor this fall. The show will take place in Nicaragua according to the Dallas Morning News.

The series is being taped in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Filming started at the end of June, according to local reports.

Johnson, 67, will be one of the oldest contestants to ever appear on “Survivor,” one of his favorite television shows. The Miami Herald reported last year that he was almost a contestant on “Survivor: Gabon” (which aired in 2008), but he failed a physical. He has lost weight since.

Let’s hope Jimmy can make it 39 days without a beer.

Former Dallas Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson to be a contestant on ‘Survivor: Nicaragua (DMN)

What am I bid for a Major League Baseball team?

Have you ever heard of a Major League Baseball team being auctioned off? I haven’t either. The sale of the Texas Rangers becomes more bizarre as the days wear on in the Texas heat. Like my friend Willie Martin and I were discussing yesterday, baseball is a large game with many smaller games inside that game. So is the sale of the Texas Rangers.

The judge in this case could decide tomorrow on whether the team’s auction will be held as scheduled on Aug. 4 despite objections from major lenders and the ballclub’s court-appointed chief restructuring officer. 

J.P. Morgan Chase, the lead bank for the top lenders, filed a separate lawsuit Friday saying it holds the right to block the transfer of the $2 million a year lease on Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. That move has a chance to stall any sale of the team.

If that weren’t complicated enough, then there’s Mark Cuban throwing his hat in the ring as a possible investor. Why would he do that? Which side is he on? The Greenberg-Ryan side, or is he really wanting to be the owner of the baseball team himself? Interesting.

Major League Baseball wants Greenberg-Ryan as the owners, and the lenders want the chance for other potential investors to be allowed time to raise the ante so their losses won’t be as great. It’s all very confusing. Stay tuned.

The Grand Prairie AirHogs losing streak reaches 13 games – As some of you may know or not know, I have been spending most of the summer going to AirHogs game in Grand Prairie. I’ve been amazed how after it’s all said and done, it’s all a business. Forget trying to know who’s on first because they will probably be gone the next day. It’s just business. And you think it’s easy on the players?

To me, it seems very difficult to know how to cope with a 13 game losing streak, and then I take a step back and watch and listen.

Kids. They don’t care what the record is….Kids can come to Quick Trip park and get autographs! Kids can have fun no matter what the record is.

So there ya have it. From the 1st place Texas Rangers, to the last place Grand Prairie AirHogs, baseball always stands the test of time. We may get older, but baseball stays the same.

When I was a kid in Sweetwater Texas, I could fly like the wind. Center field was my home. It’s where opposing fly balls went to die.

I think back about center field every time I attend a game now. Baseball is the same. It’s me that has changed.

Catching two fouls hardly seems fair

From Out of Bounds

By Rob Sylvester

I’ve been to a few baseball games in my life, and I’ve never caught a home run or a foul ball. In fact I don’t think one has ever come within three rows of me. However, for every Yin, there is a Yang — in comes Adam Koltun, who caught not one, but two foul balls on consecutive pitches at Friday night’s Marlins-Nationals game in Miami. This is the sports nerd equivalent of those old ladies you hear about in the news who have won the lottery multiple times.

The pitches both came off the meager bat of phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg, who apparently has the same pinpoint control while fighting off fastballs as he does when throwing them. However, the Marlins crowd was full of haters that night, and promptly let Koltun know about their displeasure with his back-to-back strokes of luck.

“The boos came,” Koltun said, “and I thought I better give it to the kid.”

The kid would be 13-year-old Jose Wilhelm, who the second ball hit in the chest before Koltun lassoed it in off the ricochet. Koltun’s compelled gesture of generosity aside, how exactly does one get hit in the chest at a baseball game? “Hey, look at that white thing careening in my direction really fast, what is tha…UUUHMPF.” Let’s show some awareness out there, kid.

I’m firmly of the belief that all caught balls should be given to children anyway — really, what are you going to do with a foul ball? Display it on a trophy case atop your mantle, so you can regale visitors about that time that a pitcher failed to put a ball in play? Sell it on e-Bay for $2.75? Score yourself some points with the ladies in your section and hand that ball to the first kid you see, fellas — it’ll be a much bigger deal to them than it is to you.

However this is a neat story for Koltun, a statistical anomaly worth pointing out in a “huh-what-are-the-chances-of-that?” sort of way, and at least all those in attendance can say they actually saw something noteworthy in a Marlins-Nationals game (in addition to Strasburg’s six stellar scoreless innings). Plus, under pressure or not, he did give one of the balls to a kid, so good work Adam.

Unless of course he brought a glove to the game, for which he should be tarred and feathered out of principle. You have two perfectly good hands to catch a baseball, and, failing that, your beer cup. Let’s save everyone the embarrassment and leave the gloves at home, people.

***
Two pitches, two foul balls for Marlins spectator [NBC Sports]

7-13-2010 AirHogs

Good times

7-13-2010 AirHogs, posted with vodpod

Money for Nothing

A new Obama version

Thanks to Donna Hammond Harris