Cash Cow

Didn’t take long for Terrell Owens to start paying dividends. On Monday the Cowboys sold 1,500 Owens jerseys at $75 a pop. According to my abacus that’s around $112,000, which makes it a long way to go toward recouping the $10 million he’s guaranteed this season, but it’s a healthy…

The Team-wrecker

During the Ring of Honor induction for the Triplets last fall, I asked Michael Irvin about Terrell Owens and the controversy of the moment—T.O.’s stream of negative comments about Eagles QB and multiple Pro Bowler Donovan McNabb. Irvin, of course, is buddies with T.O., who infamously agreed with Irvin’s comments…

In Bill We Trust?

So, where was he? Bill Parcells, so we’re told, is the only guy on the planet capable of handling Terrell Owens. The infallible Tuna is the main reason the Cowboys think their T.O. experiment will work when 31 other teams are convinced it won’t. But on Saturday, at Owens’ introductory…

T.O. or Not T.O.?

Jerry Jones is in the Caribbean. Bill Parcells is in Florida. Terrell Owens is in limbo. And every Cowboys fan is in the dark. If you watched KLBK-Channel 13 in Lubbock this morning, you’re sure Owens signed a multi-year contract with the Cowboys late Thursday night and that a press…

Close Shave

As the NCAA men’s basketball tournament grips Dallas today at the American Airlines Center, its fun to ponder all of the money and cheating that will be following the bouncing ball. Cheating? According to economist Justin Wolfers assistant professor of business and public policy at the Wharton School of the…

Pat the Bunny

ESPN.com columnist Pat Forde writes today about the paucity of Texas Longhorns fans at yesterday’s opening practice sessions at the American Airlines Center. To which I say, Dude, some of us gotta work. But I will be there tonight when the Horns play Penn in the first-round regional, which is…

Spring Senility

Some call it March Madness; others, the Big Dance. Me, I joyfully refer to it as the one month a year when gambling on sports is not only legal but openly promoted. Pop the corks, and ransack your 401(k)–it’s time to bet on basketball! If you work in an office…

Hansen: Still Unplugged

Don’t tug on Superman’s cape. Don’t spit into the wind. And, unless you have an hour and a backup notebook or two, don’t call Dale Hansen for a quick comment. In the wake of the Dallas Cowboys’ move to KTCK-AM (1310, The Ticket), I got tons…fine, 12 e-mails from readers…

America’s Ticket

Appearing now on the Dallas Cowboys’ new flagship radio station: A lunchtime host who fought the former head coach and constantly fillets the current one. A drive-time star who champions himself as leader of the “anti-Cowboys faction” and refers to Bill Parcells as “The New Jersey Con Man.” And a…

America’s Past Prime

Ssssh. Hear that? Is it butterflies peein’ in a cotton field? Vince Young’s gears turnin’? Bode Miller’s Olympic medals clanging together? Nope, just the hollow clamor surrounding the World Baseball Classic. Chalk up another one for Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig. First, despite a mountain of evidence that Barry…

You Can Spell Team Without T.O.

As Jerry Seinfeld so eloquently put it: We don’t cheer players, we cheer laundry. That’s true enough around here: We booed Deion Sanders as a San Francisco 49er and then cheered him as a Dallas Cowboy; and we cheered Steve Nash as a Dallas Maverick and now boo him as…

Genteel Fans

Texas was not just outplayed yesterday in the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament final. It was out-fanned. Looked to me like burnt orange outnumbered by about two-to-one the grape or periwinkle or whatever color Kansas claims, but the KU fans absolutely shook the American Airlines Center with their ardor. Texas…

Altered State of Mind

Remember way back when there were only two sports in Dallas: football and off-season football? Don’t look now, helmet head, but Dallas is suddenly imitating a pretty decent Mecca of basketball. The rise of roundball permeates all levels. Last weekend in Austin, Dallas-area high schools swept the three biggest classes…

Labor of Love

Not that we never really worried, but the National Football League we know and love was kept intact last night. Facing a do-or-drastically-alter deadline, league owners meeting at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport voted to accept a collective bargaining agreement proposal from the players’ union. I could tell you that the…

Oscar Overhaul

The tuxedos were suave. The carpet was royally red. Joan Rivers’ fashion fangs were bloodthirsty. And the cleavage deliciously breached its levees. Yet something was missing from Sunday’s 78th Academy Awards. Ahem, where was sports? Sure, host Jon Stewart played soccer at William & Mary University, and a boxing flick…

In Dallas, Even the Fans Play “D”

No doubt the Dallas Mavericks’ defense is tougher this season. So are their fans. During a particularly violent third quarter in last night’s gritty home win over the Portland Trail Blazers, three fans were involved in nasty collisions with propelled players. The first was the worst: Mavs guard Devin Harris…

Talent Scout

I’m not just saying this because he gave me oral favors on last Thursday’s WFAA-Channel 8 sportscast…OK, yeah, actually I am. But it doesn’t change the fact that Dale Hansen has a keen eye for talent. Who else in this town, besides Mike Modano, could lose Gina Miller and immediately…

Cowboys Getting a Bone(r)

After months of negotiations with almost every station on the dial, your Dallas Cowboys have announced this afternoon they’ve found a new radio home on KDBN-FM (93.3), better known as The Bone, and KTCK-AM (1310), or The Ticket, both of which currently fall under the Susquehanna Radio umbrella. The partnership,…

Ignorance is Bliss

When an athlete screws up, we cover it like World War III. So when an asshole finally apologizes, shouldn’t we cover it like a peace treaty? I think so and wrote as much in my Observer column last week, detailing the secret settlement between Kenny Rogers and Larry Rodriguez, the…

Dirk Diggling

He’s an �ber-talented freak, a legit MVP candidate and the best player on one of the NBA’s best teams. But at the biggest times in the biggest game of the season, a 98-89 loss to the San Antonio Spurs Thursday night, Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki wasn’t good enough–or even good…

Curveball

Finally, it was over. After seven months of pain and six hours of mediation, they reached an agreement. Documents signed. Sighs exhaled. Farewells exchanged. But wait, Kenny Rogers had one more surprise for Larry Rodriguez. As the former Texas Rangers pitcher, the KDFW-Channel 4 cameraman he assaulted last June and…

The Joy of Six

He amassed a 30-2 record, hung 467 yards and 41 points on Southern Cal and led the University of Texas to its first national championship in 35 years. But from this day forward, right or wrong, Vince Young will always be associated with the number six. As in “Act your…