Forget about the Drew Bledsoe/Terry Glenn connection. It looks like Bledsoe's found himself a new favorite receiver. With two receptions in the Philadelphia game, including a 102-yard touchdown, looks like Lito Sheppard may just be the face of Dallas' future. Wait, what's that you're saying? Sheppard is an Eagle? Well thanks for the info, Pat Summerall. Why didn't you explain that to Bledsoe yesterday? I don't see how that last coffin-nail intercepted pass wasn't aimed directly at Sheppard. Now, I'm not saying Bledsoe did it intentionally. He's old, he's confused, and he should probably be tested for blue/green color-blindness. At this point I wonder if Terrell Owens is wishing he'd worn his old Eagles' jersey Sunday. Maybe Bledsoe would've thrown a few more his way. Read More | Comment »

Still drunk and stinking even more so after a 3-mile jog to retrieve my car from the evil clutches of a colleague's-birthday-party parking spot – thanks for the ride this morning, whoever you are – I called up my grandmother in St. Louis.

After the requisite small talk – my cousin will not, in fact, be making it to my brother's wedding; in other news, I'm growing up too fast – we settled into the real reason for our own little Sunday Conversation.

I'm no Margaret Cho or every single other stand-up comedian walking the face of the Earth – not trying to do the funny-family thing here – but what follows is real, people, albeit slightly parsed. Read More | Comment »

News came in this week that the Austin Toros will have the 10th pick in this year's D-League draft, which will take place Nov. 2. In honor of the occasion, I felt it was a good time to explain the ins and outs of the NBDL, its draft, and its affiliation system: in other words, a little primer. So, get out your pens and pads, put the kids to bed, and put on your learning caps. This is the NBDL in 2,000 words or less: Read More | Comment »

Tonight's pick game is easy: Westwood visiting Leander at A.C. Bible Stadium. Leave now, and you might still beat the 183 traffic. Maybe not, but still. QB Chase Rich has led the Warriors to their first-ever 4-0 start, including wins over Round Rock (behind Rich's 328 passing yards); Austin High (see below); and area 4A preseason favorite Lake Travis (who, by the way, are picking up steam, stomping Vista Ridge 49-14 last night behind four touchdowns from fabulously named senior back Austin Wrinkle). Beating Leander, 2-2, but still ranked No. 10 in the state in one poll and eminently dangerous, will go a long way toward proving the Warriors are for real, and put them in the 14-5A driver's seat to boot. Read More | Comment »

While Vince Young was celebrating his first pro start by spitting out the grass the Dallas Cowboys' defense had shoved into his craw, last year's second-best Texas college quarterback was all but forgotten.

If you don't know the name Barrick Nealy, you missed out on – next to Vince's win (yes, he did it himself) over USC in the Rose Bowl – the most exciting football in these parts, circa 2005. About now you're saying to yourself, "Sure, that's easy in I-AA ball." Don't tell that to the Texas A&M Aggies who should have lost to Barrick's Texas State Bobcats. And don't forget that I-AA has a playoff system Texas State almost blew through thanks to Nealy's pyrotechnics.

Almost. That should be the catchphrase for this Vince Young doppelganger. Read More | 4 Comments »

Good afternoon, sports fans. I just awoke from a nearly weeklong alcohol-induced coma, which I fell into after the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the National League Central. It was in celebration, yes, but it was also in relief. It was a release of sorts. Remember: We don't drink to forget; we drink to ... remember.

But we also drink to expedite the passing-out process so as to escape Godsmack's "I Stand Alone," which some turd at Fox Sports Southwest and/or in the Houston Astros' organization thought was an appropriate choice to accompany a season-ending montage of highlights upon last Sunday's loss to the Atlanta Braves.
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DPS will increase patrols Friday and Saturday along I-35 between Austin and Dallas to monitor traffic headed to Dallas for the Texas-Oklahoma football game. Troopers will concentrate on finding aggressive drivers, as well as speeders and drunken drivers on their way to the game or on their way home. They'll also look for people who are not wearing safety belts. Any drivers caught carrying an Oklahoma driver's license will be asked to leave the state immediately. Read More | Comment »

You already knew that, now Austin's Independence Brewing Co. has put it in a bottle. Run over to Central Market before supplies run out and get a 12-pack of their limited-edition "Oklahoma Suks" brand of beer. It will taste especially sweet while UT runs up the score. Read More | Comment »

The Next Level, Vince Young's new reality show (airing Wednesdays at 8:30pm on BET), is the worst thing to happen to his career since he got drafted by the Titans. For someone so freakishly talented, Young sure is a dull, average guy off the field, or at least that's how he seems on TV. Most of The Next Level plays like home movies, with Young walking around his hometown of Houston, introducing everybody he's ever met, including (seriously) people he played peewee football with. In case you were wondering, Vince, the third pick of the 2006 draft who carried UT to a national championship, was a freaking awesome peewee ball player.
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Tough weekend for the Lady Longhorns: First they completely outplayed a good Oklahoma State team, only to lose, 1-0, on the Cowgirls' only shot on goal of the entire game; then they fumbled away a late two-goal lead and settled for a 3-3 draw with the 3-8 OU Sooners. The OSU game highlighted a persistent problem over the last few seasons: an inability to finish in close games or to turn big advantages in shot count into advantages on the scoreboard. The Horns have outshot every opponent this year except Penn State, often by huge margins. And in their three losses this year, each by a 1-0 count, UT has outshot opponents by a total of 43-14. So what's the solution? Hey, beats me. I don't really understand offenses; I'm more a defense-wins-championships kinda guy. For more soccer news and Euro 2008 Preview ... Read More | Comment »

The Astros sent an interesting message today, extending skipper Phil Garner's contract through 2008 and cutting pitching coach Jim Hickey loose, despite the general excellence of the pitching staff since Hickey replaced former Longhorn Burt Hooton two years ago. But it does make a certain kind of sense. Hickey, who came up from Round Rock (he and Hooton essentially switched), was a decent pitching coach, but how much coaching Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, and Roy Oswalt need is up for debate. Garner finally coaxed one of those late-season runs the Astros should patent at this point out of his club, although this year it came a game or two too late to get them into the postseason.
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No game can stain a Longhorn season deeper, and make those perpetually envious Okies more insufferable, than a Sooner scalping in the Red River Shootout. Mack Brown's hide was in serious jeopardy because of those four straight losses before Vince Young bailed him out big-time last year. It's also worth remembering that Texas' last pre-Ohio State loss was hung on them by the crimson and cream in 2004's 12-0 shutout. It's true: Post-Vince, it's right back to anyone's ballgame, but still one Texas can, and probably should, win. "It's not about who's the best team, it's about who plays best on Saturday" Mack Brown said at his press conference Monday, encouraging words five days before freaking OU weekend. Read More | Comment »

Watching Marcus Mann and the McCallum Knights run up a 41-0 halftime lead against the Reagan Raiders at Nelson Field last Thursday night, I thought it was going to be a typical weekend of high school football here in Austin. Then on Friday night at House Park, the impossible happened. The Austin High Maroons, after 16 unsuccessful bids, finally stole a win from the Westlake Chaparrals. It’s been 16 years since Westlake has been beaten by another team from AISD (Reagan did it last in 1990). Granted the Chaparrals are still reeling from the forced retirement of star lineman Matt Nader, but the Maroons’ 31-24 victory will nonetheless go down as unforgettable to any Central Texas football fan long since tired of their team being drubbed annually by the Westlake juggernaut.

For more on high school football, the New Orleans Saints, and UT-OU ... Read More | Comment »

What would the State Fair of Texas be without people stuffing their faces with fried things? The Fourth Annual World Corny Dog Eating Contest commenced on Sunday afternoon during the opening weekend of the fair in Dallas. The sun beat down on 14 brave contestants, many of them competitive-eating-contest veterans. Supplied only with cups of water to drink and a pan of the deep-fried dogs, they had 10 minutes to stuff their maws. Toward the end of the competition the crowd began to chant: "Eat! Eat! Eat!" Tensions ran high as did the probability of imminent spewage. "Nasty" Nathan Biller of Wichita Falls placed first with 12 corn dogs; he also placed in the Lewisville World Tamale Eating Championship last month. Last year's runner-up Brent Ricord placed second with 11. American Idol runner-up Bo Bice was a last minute add, leisurely eating one corn dog. Other heart-smart delicacies at the fair include fried Coca-Cola, barbecue bologna, fried Oreos, and "Donkey Tails" – a hot dog stuffed with cheese, wrapped in a tortilla, and, of course, deep fried. Read More | Comment »

The Red River Shootout is this weekend, and as the Longhorns and Sooners players prepare for a dogfight, fans continue the relatively pointless argument regarding who has the better program. Unfortunately for Texas, numbers don’t lie. The Horns lead the all-time series of 100 games 56-39-5 (though since the end of World War II, the series is virtually even, with UT ahead 29-28-3), and are the defending national champions. Otherwise, UT has little to hang their 10-gallon hat on:

	OKLAHOMA	TEXAS
National Championships	7	3
Conference Titles	39	26
Heisman Trophies	4	2
National Award Winners	33	17
All-Americans	141	115
Bowl Record	24-14-1 (.628)	22-21-2 (.511)
Weeks No. 1 by AP	95 (No. 1)	42 (No. 8)
Weeks Top 5 by AP	342 (No. 1)	248 (No. 7)

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Our very own Arena Football League franchise, the Austin Wranglers, have had a busy offseason in preparation for a hopeful return to the playoffs. Smarting from an early exit in their first-and-only playoff appearance last year the Wranglers fired coach Skip Foster shortly after the season ended. Foster made some questionable play-calls in last year's tough playoff loss to Jon Bon Jovi's Philadelphia Soul and Austin definitely needed to head in a new direction.

The Wranglers opened the free-agent signing period buy adding former Georgia Force defensive specialist Nate Coggins. Read More | Comment »

Turn out the lights at the home that Enron built. The Astros slammed their own door shut with a 3-1 loss to John Smoltz and the Atlanta Braves on Sunday, stranding 11 runners and committing two costly errors. Oh, by the way, the Cardinals lost that day as well. While the Cardinals certainly don't deserve to win the Central, neither do the Astros. With an anemic offense, only two consistent starting pitchers (Roger Clemens and Roy Oswalt), and a faltering Brad Lidge losing his closer's role at the end of the season to Dan Wheeler, the Stros were lucky that they were in the running on the last day of the season. They finally turned on their engines for the last two weeks but it was too little and much too late.

Click below for a look ahead to the 2007 season.
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While most normal baseball fans follow the successes and failures of their favorite teams, I’ve always been one to pull for my favorite individual players. This gets chalked up to there being no team based out of my hometown of New Orleans. While later stints in Houston, Los Angeles, and Oakland have at times gotten me caught up in certain pennant races, it’s still the joy of seeing a favorite player’s line in a box score that keeps me checking the sports section on a daily basis. Whether that be Kevin Mitchell playing all-purpose utility man for the ’86 Mets or Devon White slapping lead-off homers for the ’93 Blue Jays, it’s that quest for multiple-hit games and appearances on the leader board that keeps me most intrigued.

For the past eight years, it’s been Miguel Tejada who has dominated my interest in baseball.
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The New Orleans Saints couldn’t have looked any better beating the Atlanta Falcons in the first game to be played in the Superdome since Hurricane Katrina. New Head Coach Sean Payton must be some sort of genius, leading a traditionally underachieving team to three straight wins and for the time being, the pole position in the NFC South. Apparently the newly acquired Drew Brees provides just the stable guidance that the Saints have lacked at quarterback for years. And who could scoff at the infinitely dynamic running back tandem of Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush? But by far, the biggest surprise has come from the defensive unit, currently ranked fifth in the NFL by yielding a mere 267 yards per game. A completely revamped corps of linebackers sets the tone as no longer can opposing teams simply run up the gut of the Saints defense with little to no resistance.
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I have to admit the Cowboys had me worried for a while there. For a few quarters, the Titans were looking like an actual threat. Not only was Vince Young getting his first NFL start, the game was in Nashville, and LenDale White was even guaranteed some playing time. That was all Dallas needed going into the game – two hungry rookies fighting for respect and position in front of a home crowd – especially this week, after the unique public relations dilemma that was that one guy who did some things. You may remember it from the front page of every newspaper in the state.
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