Stars rebranding more than a logo

by Dustin Copening

Tom Gaglardi spent his first full season as the Stars owner allowing GM Joe Nieuwendyk and coach Glen Gulutzan one final chance to prove their vision for the organization was the correct one. Once that vision fizzled out in the final weeks of April, Gaglardi decided it was time to put his stamp on the organization he purchased for $240 million.

His first big move was to relieve Nieuwendyk of his duties and bring in Jim Nill from the Detroit Red Wings (assistant GM) to take over as GM. It’s a hire that has most of the fan base buzzing, since Nill was a key part of 4 Stanley Cup champions. And it wasn’t long until Nill removed Gulutzan from his coaching duties, an anticipated move that has generated buzz of Lindy Ruff, Alain Vigneault, or fan favorite Dave Tippett as potential replacement options.

The draft is approaching in 26 days, and the Stars currently possess two picks in the 1st round (10 & 28). It’s an enviable position once again for Dallas to be in, as they look to climb into the top 10 of NHL farm systems with this summer’s haul of youngsters.

So, this evening the Dallas Stars will host their official reveal party for their new logo and uniforms at the Winspear Opera House. It promises to be a glitzy and glamorous affair filled with front office officials, a handful of players, local media celebrities, and a loyal contingent of Stars season ticket holders.

Events like this aren’t always made into such a big deal, but this is no average time in the history of the Stars organization. After seeing attendance drop to 28th (14,226 p/g) in the NHL in 2011-12, the Stars climbed to 21st (17,063 p/g) in attendance this past season. That’s despite yet another postseason missed and a lockout shortened season.

Some of the steam from this evening’s event evaporated when someone in the Stars IT department hit the wrong button back on the 23rd of May, and leaked what has been widely assumed to be the team’s new logo. The Stars have steadfastly refused to comment on the gaff, but that hasn’t kept several creative guesses at what the new Dallas uni’s could look like from being put together by a handful of fans with a lot of free time not being spent watching their home team in the playoffs.

The passion displayed by this artfully skilled bunch shows that there’s a hunger for quality playoff hockey to return to Dallas. For the first time after it opened in 2001, the AAC has been void of any postseason games by it’s two primary tenants. Another busted free agent run for the Mavs could leave the door wide open for some of those NBA sellout crowds to swing over to the nights when the Stars are on the ice.

So tonight hundreds will be standing somewhere in the Winspear enjoying an adult beverage and hoping to get their mitts on some new hockey swag. Dreams of postseasons to come will dance through their heads, and they’ll be hopeful that the wait for those dreams to come true might be as close as a regular season away.

Poll Question: Was It Time To Change Stars Logo?

Daily Sports Affirmation 6/4/13

None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.
-Henry David Thoreau

Age is something we all face. It is the sad irony of life that just as our brains begin to really get a handle on things, our bodies begin to lose the ability to maximize its potential. In the sports world this window of time is known as a player's "prime." The amount of time contained in a player's prime varies, as some bodies betray the prematurely while others take longer to figure things out. A great example of this theory in action is with the Big 3 of the Miami Heat. From the point two years ago when LeBron got absolutely embarrassed against the Mavericks in the Finals, James has begun to figure it out and find the full potential in that amazingly athletic body. His role not only as the best player in the game but also the singular leader of that Heat team has been very impressive to watch, no matter what your opinion is of him and "The Decision." It appears LeBron has finally trained to become a full basketball Jedi, like Jordan and Kobe before him, and clearly has "The Force." It should make for a great series in The Finals.

Meanwhile #2 of the Big 3, Dwayne Wade, has began to feel the effects of age. His smallish frame has taking a pounding over years of exceptional basketball. He has played with such an explosive and violent brand of hoops that he can't quite do what he once did. You can still see the constant passion as a glimmer in his eyes, but now it only comes in short bursts on the court. How an athlete, or in fact any of us, deal with that change and still maximize our assets is critical to growing old "gracefully." It reminds me of what ESPN's Mark Schlereth once said about recovering from all the many injuries he had. He said that during his rehab he would learn what his "new 100%" was now and just strived for that. He knew attaining the level he had when he was 22 years old with fresh young knee ligaments was impossible. But by changing his focus, he could still contribute to his team and know his limitations. These NBA Finals will also be fascinating to see how Wade takes on that struggle, not just against the Spurs but also against his own mind and body.

Today, think on the ways your own body has changed. Is it due to age or disuse? Challenge yourself to find your "new 100%" and try to get there everyday.

Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
― Alfred Tennyson, Idylls of the King and a Selection of Poems

College Football Check-In 2

by Darren Boyd

 

The Baylor Program has had a resurgence over the last 3 years under Coach Art Briles. He has lead the Baylor program back to a level of National Respect. This is a big year for this program as its the last year in the dump that is Floyd Casey stadium. They move into their state of the art 250 Million Dollar stadium on the bank of the Brazos River next year. The Offense will be the strength of the team again. Led by self proclaimed Heisman Candidate RB Lache Seastrunk, former Temple High School great, this high octane Offense will have no problem lighting up the score board every week. The only question mark is QB Bryce Petty, he is getting his shot as a junior after several Redshirt seasons. He is 6'3 230 pounds and draws some Tim Tebow comparisons in his game. Baylor must hope he is a lot more accurate then Tebow was in college. Baylor also scored a recruiting coup by stealing WR Robbie Rhodes from Texas. The expectation is that Rhodes, in time, will continue the NFL pipeline of Baylor Receivers like Kendall Wright and Terrance Williams.

    The Baylor Defense is the Achilles Heel of the program. Last year Baylor Ranked last in Total Defense and Pass Defense in the Big 12. LB Bryce Hager is a tackling machine and DE Chris McAllister can get after the Quarterback. The Secondary uses small and undersized Cornerbacks in Joe Williams and K.J Morton both are 5'9. This is a problem with the bigger wide Receivers in the Big 12. The Defensive side of the ball did well in it's requiting class by landing DT Andrew Billings, who was also a top Guard prospect, and LB Brian Nance. I envision another 8 win season for the Bears this year, Their Offense will be cant miss TV but their Defense is too porous to make them legitimate Big 12 Championship Contenders.

 

TCU had a rough introduction into the Big 12 finishing with a losing record in conference play. They made a bowl game though cause everybody make a bowl game these days. The program will get a boost with the return of troubled Sr. QB Casey Pachall. He was reinstated to school after his DUI arrest and rehab stint. If his head is on straight, he is a welcome addition back at the QB spot. TCU has a tough schedule on paper starting with their date with LSU on August 31 at Cowboy Stadium.  TCU had a solid recruiting class getting RB Kyle Hicks who was going to Texas but chose TCU late in the process.  TCU's Offense gets a spark from the return of Waymon James after he injured a knee is week 2 last year. The WR Corp looks solid with Brandon Carter, Cam White and the 6'4 LaDuris Brown who had 5 td catches last year.

  TCU's Defense is the strength of this team. The Frogs were the big 12 leaders in total Defense and rush Defense. Sophomore Devonte Fields is coming off of a 10 sack season. He had a rough spring though, first he was called out by Coach Patterson for his work ethic, then suspended for the first 2 games of the season for violating team rules/conduct. CB Jason Verrett is on a lot of NFL teams radars, he had 6 INTS last season.  TCU is a tough team to gauge this season. I'm calling for a 6 win season this year for the Honed Frogs. 

Rangers Pepper 6/3: Moreland Cools A Bit, Profar May Stay, Attendance Update

by Dustin Copening

 

“#RangersThoughts” on Twitter can be seen by following me @dfwfanconnect, but those thoughts evolve every few days from 140 characters into what I have dubbed as  “Rangers Pepper”. Here’s a very poorly executed game of pepper to get your mind right:

Mitch Moreland The Streak Revisted - It was Thursday morning on May 9th and I had settled in for another ho hum day at the office, most of which is normally spent playing around on Twitter and soaking up any and all information from the sports world that peak’s my interest. It was that Thursday morning that I began a passionate exchange with Eddie Middlebrook of SDI where I valiantly defended Mitch Moreland as a changed man.

The main point of Eddie’s argument was that what Mitch was doing at the time was nothing more than a repeat of a similar hot streak in 2012, where from April 24th to May 26th Mitch hit .377, with a .417 OBP, 1.144 OPS, 7 HR, and 15 RBI. After that streak Moreland hit just .258, with a .299 OBP, .709 OPS, 7 HR, and 31 RBI for the remainder of the season. That included a stretch from June 20th to July 30th where Mitch missed 31 games with a hamstring injury.

The Rangers first baseman has cooled some since Eddie backed off a bit on his Mitch stance and Peter Ellwood took an inside the numbers look at the hit streak that started all this heated Rangers debate. The good news for Rangers fans is that his bat hasn’t frozen like it did after the 2012 hot streak. In the 18 games last year from May 27th to before hitting the DL on June 20th, Moreland batted .188, with a .235 OBP, .589 OPS, 2 HR, and 6 RBI. In the 19 games from May 13th of this year until today’s day off, Mitch has hit .266, with a .314 OBP, .892 OBP, 5 HR, and 13 RBI.

One more sign that Mitch Moreland is a changed man is his approach at the plate against lefties. I pointed this out to Peter Ellwood in a tweet during that fateful Thursday morning debate with the help of Texas Leaguers database. Now, here's the spray chart versus lefties for Mitch over that same 19 game stretch.

You can see that he has nearly abandoned pulling the ball to right field. This is not something batters luck into, but rather something that occurs when they make a conscious decision to take what the pitcher is giving them. To borrow a less used Wash'ism, Moreland is doing what the game asks him to do, and everyone is being rewarded for it.

Profar’s Play Reducing Trade Chances - Texas entered Sunday’s game against the Royals needing a win to prevent their four game homestand from turning sour after a tough Saturday loss in extra innings. Jurikson Profar’s first game winning home run of his blossoming career led the way to a 3-1 victory that kept the Athletics 2 back and dropped the Angels to 10.5 back in the West.

The popular theory when Profar was called up to play for the injured Ian Kinsler was that a solid stretch of play would enhance his trade value. With him hitting .324 with 2 HR, and 6 RBI, my gut is telling me that Jon Daniels and the rest of the brass are finding it harder and harder to imagine parting with their rookie phenom. Especially with the latest news that often touted trade target Giancarlo Stanton is slowing down the rehab from his strained hammy due to knee soreness. Couple this with David Price’s dreadful start to 2013 and DL stint, and there doesn’t seem to be an available target worthy of sending Profar away for just because a Ranges roster log jam exists right now.

Thad Levine backed up this line of thought by telling Jim Bowden from ESPN that the vision Texas’s front office has had from the start is to hold onto Kinsler, Elvis Andrus and Jurickson.

Baseball Town Continued - The 26th home game of the season wrapped up with the Rangers overall attendance for the season at 1,028,154. That total is good for 7th in all of baseball, and Texas’s per game average of 39,544 is 4th in the bigs and 1st in the AL. The Yankees (39,055), Angels (37,228), Tigers (36,023), and Red Sox (33,029) round out the top 5 in the AL.

The Rangers are off a bit from last year’s record number of 3,460,280, but through 26 games last year the Yankees had brought 47,754 per game on a Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. That helped to significantly boost the per game total of 43,452. No other weekday series has come close to drawing that many fans to the Ballpark in 2013.

Poll Question: Will The Rangers Top Last Year's Record Attendance Total?

Daily Sports Affirmation 6/3/13

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it"
- John Wooden

It seems that life revolves around those do-or-die moments we all face from time to time. Whether it be a big presentation before the board, an interview for your dream job or even just the last frame of your local bowling league, the pressure and adrenaline that surrounds those moments can be intoxicating. Add to that 20,000+ fans in person and millions more on TV and those moments are HUGE! And tonight is one of those opportunities.

In the NBA, NHL and MLB, those moments usually revolve around a Game 7 in the playoffs. It is in these games that legends are made or destroyed. Whether it's Willis Reed emerging from the locker room for the Knicks in 1970 or Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run for the Pirates in 1960, players that can not only survive but thrive under the immense pressure of the moment punch their ticket to sports immortality. And tonight gives us another opportunity to place someone in that hallowed place. Whatever the outcome, it is these moments that make sports so much fun to consume. Enjoy the game tonight, whether your team wins or loses. Just be happy that you were a part of something special.

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

- Nelson Mandella

Daily Sports Affirmation 6/2/13

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
 - 1 Corinthians 9:25

It's very easy to get caught up in the world of sports. Whether as a fan, coach or athlete, sports is an exciting world with defined rules and often instant gratification. All that makes it very appealing as a measure of one's ability and worth. Life itself is much more messy, without defined opponents or scoring. And while one's ability in a sport can usually be ascertained over a career, life's defining of abilities is an ever-present and ever-changing process that last from birth until death. And sometime even beyond death as an appreciation for one's works may not be found until after his life is gone.

And so, while sports is an interesting microcosm for life, it is in no way more important than life itself. Even if sports is your livelihood, as I hope it will be mine one day, the priorities of life need to always stay in perspective. One time when I was complaining about a particularly frustrating day at work, my grandmother waited until I finished and said simply "Honey, you don't work for UPS. You work for God. He just wants you to work for UPS right now. So when your bosses or co-workers get to you, remember you work for the Lord and he's your real boss."

So today and throughout next week, remember that whatever you are tasked to do, be it your job or chores or whatever, you are working for a higher purpose. Even if you don't believe in a higher power, your energy contributes to the world and staying positive, grounded and productive will make the planet a better place. Work with purpose, even if it isn't your own.

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
 - Buddha

College Football Check-In

By Darren Boyd

Well Sports Narrative Fans and football fans, summer is almost here so that means we are closer to the college football season starting. I'm blogging today about the major Texas college teams, what they did in recruiting, coaching changes and my outlook for this season for each team.

    As a Texas Longhorn Fan this hurts to say this but Texas A&M is the best team in Texas. I have to be objective when putting together the blog as a football analyst. I along with many questioned Texas A&M'S move to the SEC last year but they proved me wrong. It helps when Johnny Manziel take the college football world by storm and wins the Heisman Trophy and beats Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The expectation in College Station has to be to win the BCS Championship this year. The Aggie Offensive line should not miss a beat with Top 10 NFL draft prospect Jake Matthews taking over at Left Tackle from Luke Joeckel. The team loaded up on the Wide Receiver position bringing in several blue chippers, Ricky Seals Jones and Sebastian LaRue from their 32 member class this year. Also Johnny Manziel is the front runner to repeat as the Heisman Trophy winner this year.

    My only concern for the Aggies is on the Defensive side of the ball. They lost 2 linebackers and D Moore to the NFL. Julien Obioha must fill the shoes of Moore and get after the QB. The Aggies brought in Isaiah Golden, a 330 Pound DT and Justin Manning to help their Def Line for the future. It will be interesting to see how quickly the new Linebackers Tyrell Taylor and Donnie Baggs can gel because Alabama is coming to College Station on Sept 14, 2013 at 2pm. I expect the Aggies to contend for the BCS Championship this season. They have a soft schedule outside of Alabama at home and on the road at Mississippi & LSU even if they lose one of those games, they should be in contention for the BCS championship with just 1 loss.

 

 

 

 

The seat under Mack Brown seems to be on fire and the season has not begun. After 3 straight losses to Oklahoma and the inability to recruit a great QB, having tried to switch RG3 and Johnny Football to Def back positions while recruiting them, the Buzz around Austin is this could be Coach Brown's swan song. David Ash is a serviceable QB, while he is 10-3 as a starter; he gets blamed for not winning the big game yet. The Offense will light up the score board as usual. I expect Johnathan Gray to have a breakout year. He has all of the tools to become a special player at Texas. The majority of the Texas Recruiting class this year was spent on the Offensive line.

    The biggest issue for the Longhorn is their awful defense. They lost Kenny Vaccaro and Alex Okafor but the return of a healthy Jackson Jeffcoat will help. This defense on paper looks worse than last years. The defense will lead to the demise of Mack Brown after a 7 win season and another loss to Oklahoma.  Although the good news for Longhorn fans will be the line for a replacement Coach forms to the left. Texas is still a top 3 destination and has the resources to hire whoever they want. I feel that a lot of top college coaches or NFL coaches would jump to Austin and its 5 Million a year football coach salary.

 

The next blog will feature Baylor and TCU.