Daily Ticket: The Blog

Monday's Pick 6

Six links to click before heading to the water cooler:

1. From a numbers and financial standpoint, Jerry Jones said this Super Bowl "should be the best ever."

2. Gil LeBreton: All sorts of monkey business can go into the Super Bowl winner, so give me the Pittsburgh Steelers.

3. Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders and O.J. Simpson are among the Hall of Famer players who never played in a Super Bowl.

4. The Dallas Mavericks get their first look at Washington Wizards rookie John Wall tonight (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Southwest).

5. The Texas Rangers agreed to terms with free-agent right-handed pitcher Dave Bush, who gets a minor-league deal with an invitation to spring training.

6. TCU's 2011 signing class is being called Gary Patterson's best ever.

-- David Thomas

Friday's Pick 6

Six links to click before heading to the water cooler:

1. Dallas Mavericks 111, Houston Rockets 106: The Mavs blew a 25-point second-quarter lead, but held off the Rockets behind J.J. Barea's 19 points.

2. NFL officials are projecting an attendance of 105,000 for Sunday's game, which would break the Super Bowl record.

3. Ray Buck: The Pittsburgh Steelers' success is difficult for Dallas Cowboys' fans to watch.

4. The Lombardi Trophy, which was unveiled Thursday night at NorthPark Center mall, is simple in design but stunning in presence.

5. Jan Hubbard: The Cowboys won't find their first-round pick at the Senior Bowl.

6. TCU and BYU are close to finalizing plans for a football game against each other in 2011. That would fill TCU's vacancy created when Texas Tech dropped the Horned Frogs off its schedule.

-- David Thomas

Thursday's Pick 6

Six links to click before heading to the water cooler:

1. For the celebrities joining in on the Super Bowl fun, it's party first and game second.

2. Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington said the addition of Mike Napoli gives his team more options and does not cut into his plans to keep Michael Young in the starting lineup.

3. Randy Galloway: The Rangers continue saying that Young fits with this team, but don't count out them trading Young at some point.

4. Dallas Cowboys notes: Despite Jerry Jones' praise of the team's cornerbacks, the Cowboys need to look at players at that position at the Senior Bowl.

5. Dallas Stars 3, Edmonton Oilers 1: Kari Lehtonen stopped 34 shots as the Stars ended a two-game losing streak in which they allowed seven goals in both games.

6. Here is the official word: Dirk Nowitzki says Peja Stojakovic is the better shooter of the two, saying a healthy Stojakovic is "one of the best shooters in the world." The Dallas Mavericks host the Houston Rockets tonight (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Southwest).

-- David Thomas

Tuesday's Pick 6

Six links to click before heading to the water cooler:

1. Randy Galloway: Jerry Jones couldn't have asked for a better matchup than Steelers-Packers in his stadium's Super Bowl. Well, actually he could have, but  that didn't happen because he's better at building stadiums than teams.

2. Dallas Cowboys notes: Jones is at the Senior Bowl this week looking for future players instead of watching his current players prepare for the Super Bowl.

3. Rookie cornerback Sam Shields is the latest unheralded player to make key contributions in the Green Bay Packers' run to the Super Bowl XLV.

4. Vancouver Canucks 7, Dallas Stars 1: The Stars allowed three power play goals in giving up seven goals for the second consecutive game.

5. Los Angeles Clippers rookie Blake Griffin is already drawing comparisons to Karl Malone. The Clippers and Dallas Mavericks play tonight at American Airlines Center (7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Southwest).

6. Aledo running back Johnathan Gray, with his father as his guide, is taking it slow in the recruiting process.

-- David Thomas

 

 

Monday's Pick 6

Six links to click before heading to the water cooler:

1. Pittsburgh Steelers 24, New York Jets 19: The Steelers held on after leading 24-0 and will go for an NFL-record seventh Super Bowl championship in two weeks.

2. Jennifer Floyd Engel: The Steelers are headed to Jerry Jones' stadium because they are the type of franchise that Jones does not have.

3. Green Bay Packers 21, Chicago Bears 14: The Packers won on the road in the playoffs for the third consecutive week, qualifying for Super Bowl XLV as a sixth seed.

4. Gil LeBreton: Green Bay, which once were 8-6, will roll into Arlington as the NFL's hottest team.

5. The Texas Rangers and reliever Darren O'Day avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $1.251 million contract.

6. A look at the top story lines of the 2011 professional golf season, including a shuffling of Dallas-Fort Worth's tournaments.

-- David Thomas

Friday's Pick 6

Six links to click before heading to the water cooler:

1. Dallas Stars 4, Edmonton Oilers 2: The Stars improved to 7-0-1 in January and broke the franchise record with their eighth consecutive road win.

2. Chicago Bulls 82, Dallas Mavericks 77: One night after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers, the Mavs suffered through cold shooting on a cold night in Chicago.

3. Randy Galloway: Two weeks later there still are no answers for why Ray Sherman has been the only Dallas Cowboys assistant coach fired.

4. A Q&A with Charles Haley as he awaits the vote that will determine whether he will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year.

5. Gil LeBreton: Texas Tech's decision to drop TCU from its 2011 schedule could be a missed opportunity for the Red Raiders.

6. Texas Rangers catcher Matt Treanor wanted to return to Arlington in 2011, and he has that chance with his one-year contract.

-- David Thomas

Thursday's Pick 6

Six links to click before heading to the water cooler:

1. Dallas Mavericks 109, Los Angeles Lakers 100: The six-game losing streak is over, with Jason Kidd breaking out of his slump to score 21 points and Jason Terry and Shawn Marion scoring 22 each. The Mavs are right back on the road, visiting the Chicago Bulls tonight (7 p.m., TNT).

2. Mavericks notes: There's no panic despite the number of losses that has piled up recently.

3. Randy Galloway: No doubt, Rob Ryan will add to the fun around the Dallas Cowboys. As soon as he is allowed to talk.

4. Texas Tech has backed out of its 2011 football game with TCU, saying it needed to create room for a ninth Big 12 opponent in the upcoming season.

5. Texas Rangers notes: Barring something unexpected, the current roster will be the one the Rangers take to spring training.

6. Everything is on schedule at Cowboys Stadium for Super Bowl XLV, even with Wednesday's announcement that President Barack Obama will attend the game if the Chicago Bears win on Sunday.

-- David Thomas

Wednesday's Pick 6

Six links to click before heading to the water cooler:

1. On the verge of their first seven-game losing streak since Mark Cuban became owner, the Dallas Mavericks host the Los Angeles Lakers tonight (8 p.m., KTXA/21 and ESPN).

2. Gil LeBreton: That music you hearing playing in the Mavs' background is Taps.

3. Caron Butler spoke to the media for the first time since undergoing knee surgery and said he hopes to return if the Mavs make a deep playoff run.

4. The Texas Rangers reached one-year contract agreements with C.J. Wilson ($7 million) and Nelson Cruz ($3.65 million). They now will seek to reach deals with Josh Hamilton, Frank Francisco and Darren O'Day in order to avoid arbitration hearings.

5. The NFL has decided to count up to 12,000 people who could watch Super Bowl XLV from outside Cowboys Stadium as part of the game's attendance. That creates the opportunity to break the Super Bowl attendance record.

6. Not surprisingly, TCU and Auburn are among the recruiting winners coming out of the bowl season.

-- David Thomas

Tuesday's Pick 6

Six links to click before heading to the water cooler:

1. Detroit Pistons 103, Dallas Mavericks 89: An "uninspired" effort sent the Mavs to their sixth consecutive loss, including five in a row by at least 10 points.

2. Dallas Stars 2, Los Angeles Kings 1: Jeff Woywitka's decision to take a penalty and give the Kings a late penalty shot turned out to be a good one as the Stars improved to 6-0-1 in their past seven games.

3. Gil LeBreton: The Dallas Cowboys hiring Rex Ryan -- son of Buddy -- would make for an interesting pairing alongside Jason Garrett.

4. Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews interviewed for the Cowboys' assistant offensive line coach position.

5. The Dunbar Flyin' Wildcats boys basketball team is in serious jeopardy of seeing its 36-year playoff streak end.

6. Texas Rangers reliever Darren Oliver spent part of his Martin Luther King Day volunteering at Fort Worth's Wesley Center.

-- David Thomas

Friday's Pick 6

Six links to click before heading to the water cooler:

1. The Dallas Cowboys will indeed have a new defensive coordinator in 2011, with Paul Pasqualoni becoming head coach at UConn.

2. Randy Galloway: This might sound crazy to you, but the Cowboys should draft Auburn quarterback Cam Newton.

3. Gil LeBreton: Jim Thome and the Texas Rangers could provide the answer to each other's question.

4. Dirk Nowitizk returned to practice, but he's not ready to play yet as the Dallas Mavericks visit the San Antonio Spurs tonight (7 p.m., Fox Sports Southwest and ESPN).

5. Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen is eagerly anticipating his first meeting with his former team, the Atlanta Thrashers.

6. The Pittsburgh Steelers-Baltimore Ravens is built on mutual respect and hatred.

-- David Thomas