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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mario Williams had his coming-out party this Sunday at Reliant Stadium as the Texans narrowly defeated the Dolphins 17-15. Williams tallied his first career sack and then was credited with another half-sack on the following play as the crowd in Reliant Stadium went nuts. It was as if the Texans had secured a playoff spot or it was announced that there was free beer at the concession stand. I'm not sure who was more relieved, the fans or Williams himself. Mario also tipped RB Ronnie Brown's pass on Miami's trick-play two-point conversion that sealed the game for the Texans. Resplendent in his purple suit and alligator-skin shoes following the game, Williams acknowledged his progress while still admitting to the long road ahead of him before he becomes a pro-bowl-caliber defensive lineman.

Some other strong performances for the 1-3 Texans came from WR Andre Johnson and MLB Demeco Ryans ...

After the fold below are some text-message exchanges between a family member – one of the many St. Louis Cardinals fans I happen to be friendly with, as I was born and raised in that city and live and die with its team’s fortunes – and me during the past few days of baseball. To give you some idea of our state of mind, the transcript culminates with my pathetically paraphrasing St. Francis of Assisi's Serenity Prayer. We’ll start with those concerning Sunday night’s game at Minute Maid, which the Houston Astronauts won 7-3 to complete what now appears to be a sweep so deep that its impact is less broom cleaning floor than sword nicking several thoracic organs. We – this family member and I – suffered ourselves at that gimmicky monstrosity on Friday and Saturday.