Dallas Sports Fan – Rangers Prepare For Huge Homestand; Cowboys Visit Jets In Season Opener

Even fishing fans are putting down their pole and getting ready for what should be a huge weekend in the Dallas sports area, as the Texas Rangers are preparing to return home for a massive homestand. On the gridiron, the Cowboys head north to take on the New York Jets to kick off the 2011 regular season.

Texas Rangers

The Rangers have Thursday off after a six-day road trip through the American League East, and they won two of three in Boston, scoring at least seven runs in all three games and 10 or more in two of them. Then Texas dropped two of three in Tampa Bay, a week after they had done the same thing to the Rays at home, but they’re still 2.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels in the West and the MLB betting favorites to come away with the division title. The next week will have a big say in Texas’ fate this season as they return home for six games, welcoming Oakland and Cleveland to town, and two straight sweeps are very possible. Rangers fans should also have a close eye on the Angels’ MLB baseball scores, as they will host the New York Yankees and then head to Oakland for a three-game set. If the Angels slip up, particularly this weekend against the Yankees, Texas should be there to capitalize.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys ended their preseason slate with a 2-2 record after a 17-3 in Miami, but the finale is the least important as head coaches are just trying to get through the last game without their starters being injured, and they’re looking to fill out their depth chart, so a lot of the players who played in that game, are no longer with the team. And with no NBA schedule on the horizon, even Maverick fans will be tuning in this season to follow the Cowboys, starting on Sunday night with a huge primetime matchup on the road against the New York Jets, where defensive coordinator Rob Ryan will go up against brother Rex, who has led the Jets to the past two AFC title games. But more important, the Cowboys have some injuries to worry about, starting with a secondary that wasn’t great to begin with. Starting cornerbacks Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman will both miss this game, so look for the Jets to go after their replacements, Alan Ball and Orlando Scandrick. Offensively, rookie tackle Tyron Smith has a knee injury and will miss 2-4 weeks, while tight end Martellus Bennett has a high ankle sprain, which is usually a six-week injury. The Cowboys are 4.5-point underdogs in this contest, but the line could move a little more towards the Jets before gametime in your sports betting book.

Dallas Cowboys Update: Free Agents Are Disappearing

Sports betting experts know that the Dallas Cowboys need help in the defensive secondary. As the 2011 March Madness betting approaches, the free agency signings continue and the Cowboys are missing out. Even though the sportsbook promo observers believe there is a good chance that the players will get locked out by the owners when the contract extension expires on Friday; that is not stopping the teams from signing free agents.

When free agency started, the betting services were curious to see how long it would take the Cowboys to sign a marquee safety or cornerback. So far Bob Sanders and O.J. Atogwe have both come and gone without so much as a sound from Valley Ranch. It could be that the Cowboys are waiting to see what the new collective bargaining agreement will look like before signing players. If that is the case, then the Cowboys will continue to miss out on opportunities. If the Cowboys are hoping to solve their secondary problem in the draft, then they are taking a huge risk.

The labor dispute has reached to all corners of the Cowboys’ organization. Despite the possibility that there could be no training camp and preseason, officials at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX are still preparing to host part of the Cowboys’ training camp this summer. All of the preparations for Cowboys training camp in San Antonio in July are being made, but if the players get locked out on Friday then the work will stop along with training camp preparations all over the NFL.

The players are starting to speak out about the current labor negotiations as well. Tight end and offensive team leader Jason Witten has said that he was hoping for some sort of miracle to prevent the March 4 lockout. When that small miracle happened, Witten says that it made him hopeful that the two sides will have an agreement in place before the next scheduled deadline of March 11.

Running back Tashard Choice is not being as forgiving as Witten. Choice used his Twitter account to send a message that he felt the owners were being greedy when it came to the most recent negotiations. None of the owners have commented on Choice’s message, but Choice posted a follow up message thanking the fans for their support throughout the difficult contract renewal period.

The Cowboys followed up on their promise to make sure that offensive lineman Doug Free stays in Dallas by placing a first and third-round tender offer on the 27-year-old veteran. That means that if any team wants to try and sign Free away from the Cowboys, they will have to give up a first and third-round pick. Other tender offers extended by the Cowboys include second-round tenders to defensive players Stephen Bowen and Jason Hatcher along with a seventh-round tender to safety Alan Ball. Free’s deal is worth $3.4 million, Bowen and Hatcher get $1.9 million and Ball’s deal is worth $1.2 million.

Dallas Cowboys Update: Free Agency and the Draft are Creating Headlines

The sports betting world is watching the Dallas Cowboys very closely this offseason, and there is a lot happening at Valley Ranch. As the March Madness betting gets started, the Cowboys have been sending strange signals about what they intend to do with the ninth pick in the draft.

The sportsbook promo experts are a bit confused as to why quarterback Cam Newton was seen visiting the Cowboys earlier in the week. The betting services are assuming that Newton will go in the top 10 picks, but it is unlikely that he will actually last all the way down to the ninth pick. Are the Cowboys considering trading up for Newton? Even if this is just procedural, the Cowboys have to wonder what kind of message they are sending to current quarterback Tony Romo. Is Romo falling out of favor now that there is a new head coach in Dallas? How will the fact that the Cowboys are even considering taking a quarterback affect Romo when the season starts?

One of the visits by draft picks to Valley Ranch that made sense was cornerback Prince Amukamara of Nebraska. With the immediate impact of high defensive draft pick Ndamukong Suh for the Detriot Lions, teams are now interested in choosing an impact player on defense early in the draft. Amukamara said that playing for the Cowboys would be a great opportunity, and the Cowboys could definitely use help at the cornerback position.

On the heels of the interview with Amukamara was the news that safety Gerald Sensabaugh has been told that he can explore free agency. The Cowboys have not outright said that Sensabaugh would be let go before the season started, but they did encourage him to explore his options. It looks like the Cowboys are looking to make wholesale changes in their secondary.

One of the more interesting pieces of free agent news to come out of Valley Ranch was the statement that the Cowboys are also encouraging defensive end Marcus Spears to explore his options in free agency as well. Spears missed much of the 2010 season after going on injured reserve in November. The Cowboys have been interviewing a wide variety of defensive ends at the combine in Indianapolis, and the feeling is that the Cowboys intend to start rebuilding their defense through the draft and that Spears will need to find a new home if he wants to continue playing in the NFL.

The Cowboys did announce that they intend on keeping defensive ends Jason Hatcher and Stephen Bowen as well as offensive tackle Doug Free. Another name mentioned as highly coveted by the Cowboys is safety Alan Ball. The pieces are starting to come together on what the 2011 Dallas Cowboys team will look like. But it is becoming apparent that Jerry Jones was not happy with the 2010 performance, and that some major changes could be coming to the Cowboys prior to the start of the new season.

Dallas Cowboys: Cause for Preseason Concern?

Read more great Dallas Cowboys Content from Ben at Blue Star Daily, Ben can also be found on Twitter @BenBulljive
With one more game remaining in the preseason, the Cowboys have been a hop topic for discussion since their horrible performance last Saturday in that 23-7 lost to the Houston Texans.

In that game, the Cowboys looked out of sync, discombobulated, and worn down as they were physically beaten by the Texans and raised some eye brows about the super bowl contender.

Will the red zone woes from last season carry over to this season? Can the offensive line hold up enough to keep Romo off his back? Or, can Alan Ball and Gerald Sensabaugh provide the consistent play at the safety positions this defense has desperately needed in past years.

So, here are four concerns for the Cowboys going into the last preseason game.  More importantly, these are areas they need to address with the regular season right around the corner: Read more