Email Author John Gonzalez

2000 Stories by John Gonzalez

• The Home Stretch

  published December 28, 2000

  I'm not sure when the Alex Rodriguez talks became serious, or even how they began in the first place. In the beginning, I laughed, chuckled at the... More >>

• Long-term Goals

  published December 21, 2000

  It can be tough, and he knows it. Knows it's a struggle. Knows his aspirations are lofty. Knows nosey columnists have their doubts. In fact, his... More >>

• A Love-Hate Thing

  published December 14, 2000

  On an unseasonably warm day, the smell of charcoal and beer wafting through the air, I slow my midnight-green Honda to a stop in a faraway parking... More >>

• Pony Up

  published December 7, 2000

  He was always talented, always smooth slashing to the goal or pulling up for a long jumper. Won back-to-back state championships at nearby Kimball... More >>

• Lion Feed

  published November 30, 2000

  Tonight was one of those nights. He hates those nights. They're tough to deal with, tougher still when reporters come around asking... More >>

• Sliding Downhill

  published November 16, 2000

  From here, the star doesn't shine as brightly as it once did. The blue isn't as deep. The silver isn't as lustrous. From here, the future seems... More >>

• Hope and Glory

  published November 9, 2000

  The coach gestures like an overcaffeinated child, frantically pointing here and there. He runs across finished hardwood--part of the pristine... More >>

• Boys to Men

  published November 2, 2000

  It's Friday. Only a few miles down the road, college kids and twentysomethings imbibe libations. They stand in line from Deep Ellum to Lower... More >>

• Run, Emmitt, Run

  published October 26, 2000

  Standing on a lacquered wooden bench near a corner in the Cowboys locker room, he held court after a convincing win, playing lord of the manor as... More >>

• Dazed and Confused

  published October 19, 2000

  While the Washington Capitals shuffle to their hotel, still suffering from a sound thumping absorbed not long before, a Stars fan talks with... More >>

• Oh, You Idiot

  published October 12, 2000

  On the eve of what was to be my first Texas-Oklahoma clash, a friend, who also happens to be a Sooner son, regaled me with enchanting tales of... More >>

• Push the Panic Button

  published October 5, 2000

  The lights are off here, creating a fitting, all-encompassing gloom. No one fills the seats or hawks the hot dogs or slugs the beers. No one... More >>

• Head Aik

  published September 28, 2000

  You fall from bed hours before work on a Sunday, hours before the dreadful 49ers will come calling on the even more dreadful Cowboys. You're too... More >>

• She's Better Than You

  published September 14, 2000

  Dawn Staley could have been a star. As could her teammates--most of them, anyway. But you don't care. You're not paying attention--to her, to... More >>

• Small Soldiers

  published September 7, 2000

  Uh-oh. That's what you're thinking, and you know it. You've been thinking it for days, letting it rattle around like some awful 'N Sync song... More >>

• Prodigal Son

  published August 31, 2000

  OKLAHOMA CITY--There was a time when he was deemed a dissenter, a cancerous growth too talented to biop. That changed quickly, of course, and... More >>

• Break a Leg

  published August 24, 2000

  While his teammates prepare for tonight's game at Cleveland, he is a thousand miles removed, in both locale and mindset. Soon, the Rangers will... More >>

• The Enforcer

  published August 17, 2000

  Cloaked in darkness, 10 Drug Enforcement Administration agents close in on a rickety trailer in rural Navarro County. They're about 55 miles south... More >>

• Spiel of Dreams

  published August 10, 2000

  He's sitting in a makeshift conference room in a temporary building, not far from where workmen are finishing his more permanent, palatial digs --... More >>

• Scrambling for cover

  published July 27, 2000

  If you squint hard enough, it's 1990 again--only the affluent have cell phones, George Bush The Original resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and... More >>

• Race riot

  published July 20, 2000

  Well, I lost a thumb on the Fourth of July / I ran into my mother and she started to cry / She looked at the label on that M-80... More >>

• Unlucky Luis

  published July 13, 2000

  Just hours after the decision was handed down, and just hours before the Rangers are to play A.L. West foil Oakland, the scene at The Ballpark is... More >>

• Feelin' the draft

  published July 6, 2000

  It's nearing 6 p.m. as the happy-hour crowd shuffles through heavy doors. Making the trek to Addison and this typically trendy suburban pub--Rock... More >>

• Positive reinforcement

  published June 29, 2000

  I'm not from 'round here, y'all. Don't speak with a drawl. Don't wear a big hat or boots or nut-hugger jeans. Don't drink Shiner, whatever that... More >>