Whitt's End: 7.15.11
*Derek Holland looked unusually sharp from the first pitch last night. Seattle's woeful offensively. I had a feeling, so I Tweetcalled for a no-hitter in the bottom of the 1st. Holland took his no-no into the 6th and wound up with a five-hit shutout. Not a bad prediction, just a little short. Story of my life.
*Talked to Dez Bryant and he says his card-show liaison will be "taken care of." Good. Hope so. I still contend Dez is a good guy. Never been arrested or involved with drugs or violence. Just a little immature and makes some bad decisions. As a Cowboys fan, I'm thrilled he's on my team.
*Happy for Dirk Nowitzki for winning an ESPY. How's it, though, that Derrick Rose is NBA MVP but Dirk is ESPN's NBA Player of the Year?
*Remember this column about SMU assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Adrian Klemm? The guy is the real deal. He nabbed another stud commitment out of Los Angeles yesterday, the first 4-star offensive recruit of the June Jones era. The Mustangs just aren't supposed to be able to steal receivers like Venice High School's Gabriel Marks. The kid, ranked as the nation's 25th-best receiver, had an offer from UCLA.
*Is it just me or do the Rangers look, feel and play like a better team when Elvis Andrus is focused and scampering around the bases?
*I'm sure you guys will have fun spinning with/shitting upon them anyway, so I'll just present the June Arbitron PPM numbers and let you have your fun. PM Drive Men 25-54: The Ticket (8.6), The Fan (5.2), ESPN (4.5). A year ago this month The Fan's afternoon number was 2.0. CBS bosses see progress, but I'm sure y'all somehow see ...
*Hot.
*Not.
*You may not embrace despise my White Truck Theory that states the drivers of the pale pickup are the most dangerous, reckless and aggressive on our local highways, but you can't deny they are the most prevalent. On my way from McKinney to Dallas down 75 Wednesday I counted 207 of 'em. Swear.
*Nolan Ryan told us Thursday on RAGE that throwing out the first pitch before the Angels game next week was no biggie. When we joked about him not putting on an Angels' cap to accept his induction in the franchise's Hall of Fame, he didn't dismiss the idea and reminded us that he wore the cap for eight seasons. Yikes.
*Genghis Grill = Underrated.
*UTA to the WAC? Good for my alma mater and all, but how hurtin' is that conference these days? Last year they begged for Texas State and UT-San Antonio. Still, with a conference affiliation can the re-kindling of football be far behind? Nope, it can't be. Stay tuned.
*I'm not about to criticize Shannon Stone. The Brownwood firefighter was a better, more courageous person than I'll ever be. He should be hailed as a loyal public servant and good father. But ... he died because of a bad decision. No way around that. We'll have donation jars set up at our Old vs. New 105.3 The Fan Softball Turf War next Friday at Big League Dreams in Mansfield. Proceeds will go to the memorial fund set up for Stone's family. Hope every little bit helps.
*If you're into futures, buy this band of talented high schoolers from Sachse: Crel. Heard 16-year-old lead singer Morgan Daniels belt out "Sweet Child O' Mine" last weekend. Awesometown. They won a Battle of the Bands with this song and on July 27 will be playing at Duke's in Plano. At 16 my only talent was picking boogers and I was convinced girls had cooties.
*Best news I wrote all week was Chuck Greenberg's interest in buying the Stars. It's a better sports world when the Stars are good, and Greenberg won't let them be bad.




















