Dallas Sports Offseason Update

Dallas Sports Offseason Report

As UFC 100 betting grabs most of the sports headlines entering the weekend, Dallas’ top sports teams continue to retool and prepare for their upcoming season. Let’s check in with the Mavericks, Cowboys and Stars to see what’s new.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs are easily the busiest of all Dallas teams in the front office of late. First, they retained point guard Jason Kidd by signing him to a new three-year contract worth over $25 million. The deal pays Kidd through his 39th birthday. While Kidd’s 9.0 points per game was the lowest average of his career, his 40.6 three-point percentage was his second best single-season mark and his 8.7 assists fit his normal lofty standards.

The Mavs also just completed a multi-team trade that could significantly change the hoops betting landscape next season. While the biggest name moving in the deal may be Hedo Turkolgu going to Toronto, the Mavs make the biggest roster shakeup of any team involved. Dallas says goodbye to Jerry Stackhouse (going to Memphis), Devean George (Toronto) and Antoine Wright (Toronto). On the way to Dallas are Shawn Marion, the centerpiece of the deal, Kris Humphries, Nathan Jawai and Greg Buckner. It’s safe to say the Mavs will look very different on opening night of the 2009-10 season, and offshore sportsbook odds makers have taken notice.

Dallas Cowboys

Nothing major to report for the ’Boys, though their summer of offense experimentation continues. The latest idea: using Marion Barber and Felix Jones in the same backfield. The plan would extend beyond two-back sets, possibly spreading Jones wide, though his pass-catching ability wasn’t tested last season. The plan sounds reminiscent of New Orleans’ use of Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush a couple of seasons ago.

Dallas Stars

For the most part, the Stars have sat idle as other teams spend like crazy this NHL offseason. The Stars lost the Jonas Gustavsson sweepstakes to the Toronto Maple Leafs, meaning Marty Turco looks safe to retain the No. 1 goaltending job next season. Jere Lehtinen will be a Dallas Star for at least one more season; he signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal just before unrestricted free agency began on July 1. One of my main sports predictions for the season: If the Stars fall out of the playoff race come winter, I’m betting management trades Lehtinen to a contender.

Top Ten Dallas Sports Moments (Part II)

Yesterday we looked at moments #6-10 in the history of Dallas sports – today, we complete the list.

5. Moody Madness – April 26, 1984

It could be argued this game should be even higher on this list. Within their fourth season, the Mavericks had already made the playoffs through shrewd trades and good drafting. This team had a strong foundation built with players such as Rolando Blackman and Mark Aguirre along with Jay Vincent and Brad Davis.

This game in particular was the deciding fifth game of the first round series, held at SMU’s Moody Coliseum because of a tennis tournament being held at Reunion Arena. The Mavs had earned the fourth seed with a 43-39 record, giving them home-court advantage over the Seattle SuperSonics.

9,007 were packed into Moody Coliseum to see if the Mavs could get to the second round against the powerful LA Lakers. Seattle was up seven at the two minute mark and up six with 48 seconds to go, but the Mavs forced turnovers down the stretch and forced overtime.

While the Mavs jumped out to a lead in the extra frame, Seattle made a late push, but the Mavs held on for a thrilling 105-104 victory and moved on to the second round. While the team promptly fell to the Lakers, the Mavs announced their presence in the Dallas sports scene with this, one of their most memorable wins.

4. Cowboys trade Herschel Walker – October 12, 1989

The Trade, as it’s called, has been talked about more than enough in these parts, so I’ll just give a few quick facts:

• Largest trade in NFL history: involved 18 players and draft picks.
• The Cowboys received eight picks and five players while giving up Walker and four draft picks
• Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson and Russell Maryland all became Cowboys because of this trade.

This trade was made during a 1-15 season in 1989, the worst 16-game record in franchise history. (Dallas went 0-11-1 in 1960, its expansion year.) At the time, the trade was highly frowned upon, but shrewd drafting by the Cowboys’ staff propelled them to three Super Bowl titles in four years and into another stratosphere in terms of franchise value.

3. Dirk over Manu – May 22, 2006

Sometimes it’s hard to see which moments are the most important in a season until long after they happen. Sometimes you know exactly when something big happens. This was one of those times. The Mavs had a 3-1 lead on the defending champion Spurs, but had let it slip away to a Game 7 in San Antonio. The Mavs came out firing in the first half, building up a 14-point lead at halftime, only to see it slip away on a Manu Ginobili 3-pointer with 33 seconds left.

But on the next possession, Dirk put the Mavs on his back and drove to the hole – drawing a foul on Manu Ginobili in the process – which ended up forcing overtime. The Mavs held down Tim Duncan in OT and headed on to the Western Conference Finals. Everyone remembers how close the Mavs were to the Larry O’Brien trophy, but this play by Dirk should never be overlooked.

2. Game Six – June 19, 1999

We’re moving into rarefied air here. Anyone who doesn’t remember the magical run of the 1999 Dallas Stars needs a serious history lesson. Current GM Joe Nieuwendyk helped lead a loaded Dallas squad – winners of the President’s Trophy for best record in the regular season – into the franchise’s first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in the Lone Star State.

Their opponents? A Cinderella Buffalo Sabres team, who came into the NHL Playoffs seeded seventh in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo struck first with a Game 1 win, but the Stars found themselves up three games to two in Game 6 in Buffalo. The game became a 1-1 duel between netminders Eddie “The Eagle” Belfour, and Dominik “The Dominator” Hasek. The contest remained tied at 1 through two overtime periods before Brett Hull finally got one past Hasek. While his skate was in the crease, Hull’s goal was not waived off, and the Stars celebrated their first – and only – Stanley Cup championship.

1. XXVII – January 31, 1993

After two straight Super Bowl losses, it seemed as if the Buffalo Bills were due to finally win one after making it back to the Big Game for the third straight year. The Dallas Cowboys were just three years removed from being the worst team in the league – they couldn’t possibly rise that quickly to the top, could they?

Absolutely. While the Cowboys have won four other Super Bowls, I don’t believe that there was quite a moment like this one where a Dallas team was truly on top of the world. This game sparked a dynasty, and is one of the greatest teams in NFL history, by any standards. Although we’ll stick with the biased Dallas opinion. If only Leon Lett would have made it over the goal line with that ball, that scoring record would belong to the Cowboys…

So there you have it. The top 10 Dallas sports moments. Hopefully there will be a couple more recent ones that will crack the list soon; a championship can’t come soon enough.

Credits -

Mavs logo: vectorlogo.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html
Joe Nieuwendyk: http://www.thehockeynews.com/imgs/dynamique/photos/original/h053119A.jpg

Top Ten Dallas Sports Moments (Part 1)

The last ten years have been Sahara Desert-barren for us Dallas fans searching for a championship. We haven’t seen anything close to the dry spell of such cities as Cleveland, Seattle or Buffalo, but ever since the Stars hoisted the Cup in 1999, we’ve seen our share of gut-punch level defeats.

So let’s try and focus on some positives on a relatively mild summer day. Namely, what have the 10 best moments been in the sports history of our fair city?

Read more

Dallas Sports Offseason Report

Mavs looking to keep Kidd in Big D

While Daytona odds will be a big play in the Lone Star State this weekend, it’s always a good thing to keep up on the pro teams that are in their offseason, preparing for the 2009-10 campaign.

Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks’ hoops betting odds are heavily dependent on whether they can resign point guard Jason Kidd, who is a free agent and being courted by the New York Knicks. The Mavericks offered Kidd a three-year deal worth $25 million as soon as the free-agent market opened up on July 1st, and the Knicks would have problems matching that as they are trying to stay way under the cap to sign one of the marquee stars in next year’s free-agent class, notably one LeBron James. Kidd, at 36 years old, is still a triple-double threat every time he laces them up, and no one outside of New Orleans’ Chris Paul is better at getting their teammates involved. Kidd is also close with Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, and he’s even a better outside shooter. Gambling software would have a tough time handicapping the possibilities for the veteran floor leader. As for the draft, the Mavericks didn’t do much, selecting Ohio State center B.J. Mullens with the 24th pick, and then turning around to trade him to Oklahoma City for the 25th pick, point guard Rodrigue Beaubois from France. The Mavericks also took power forward Ahmad Nivins from Saint Joseph’s in the second round, and then took Florida guard Nick Calathes from Minnesota for a 2010 second-round pick and cash. Thing is, Calathes is going to play in Greece this year, so the Mavericks essentially got nothing in this draft.

Dallas Stars

The Stars were one of the quieter teams when the market for free agents opened on July 1st, choosing not to get locked up in outlandish deals. But they did pick up a very solid player with the eighth pick in the draft, taking Scott Glennie from the Brandon Wheat Kings. Glennie was tied with teammate Brayden Schenn for most postseason points this year, and Schenn was taken three spots higher. The right winger will inject some life into a veteran lineup, and while he won’t affect the Stars’ online betting odds too much for the upcoming season, he’s a great start for the future.

Dallas Cowboys

It’s been a good week for the Cowboys, no distractions, no fuss. The most noise coming out of their camp was Tony Romo’s pairing with Tiger Woods in the Pro-Am of Woods’ tournament, the AT&T National. Romo would apparently have decent AT&T odds at Congressional Country Club, as he is a 1-handicap, but maybe Tiger could give him some tips on dealing with pressure (low blow, I know, but it’s true). If he did, the Cowboys’ NFL betting odds would go way up.

The impact of Tom Hicks’ financial struggles

First the details: As first reported yesterday by rangerfans.com, “Inside Pitch,” a daily show which airs on SIRIUS XM Radio at 2 p.m., fielded a caller which said that the Rangers were forced to borrow $15 million in order to make payroll for the most recent pay period. Evan Grant of InsideCorner quickly jumped on the story, along with Maury Brown at The Biz of Baseball.

Read more

Dallas Sports Offseason Update

Stars hire new head coach, Mavs trade rumors blowing

While many sports fans prepare their Stanley Cup betting picks for the big Game 7 in Detroit Friday night and the Magic try to draw even with the Lakers tonight, the offseason rages on for the city of Dallas in the NHL, NBA and NFL. Let’s catch up with our favorite teams and see how their offseasons are going.

The Dallas Stars

For the second straight week, the Dallas Stars are the top newsmaker in the Offseason Update. Last week, they hired Joe Nieuwendyk as their new general manager; this week it was time for a coaching change. Dave Tippett, who coached the Stars to a 271-162-59 record over six seasons but never got the Stars to the Stanley Cup Final, got the axe this week and Dallas wasted no time in hiring their new head coach. They chose veteran bench boss Marc Crawford today and many Dallas fans, not to mention anyone hoping to bet on Stars’ Stanley Cup futures at their sportsbook, are not too pleased.

Crawford made a name for himself when he coached the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup in 1996 but has struggled since then. Coaching Vancouver and Los Angeles for nine total seasons, Crawford missed the playoffs five times and advanced past the first round of the playoffs just once. Only time will tell if he can shake that funk; he does arguably have a better roster to start with than inherited in Vancouver and L.A.

The Dallas Mavericks

Are the Mavs trying to trade for the Wizards’ fifth overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft? That’s the rumor, though most of the buzz is coming from blogs and forums rather than major media sources. Most fans are betting management in Dallas wants center Jordan Hill, though it remains to be seen what the Mavs would give up to get him?

Jason Kidd becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and all indications are that Dallas will try to re-sign him. If they don’t, they’ll have virtually nothing to show for the trade that sent Devin Harris to New Jersey and they’ll risk alienating their fans with a situation paralleling Steve Nash’s departure to Phoenix. The circumstances obviously aren’t totally the same, as Kidd likely has much less left in the tank than Nash did when he blew town. Read more

Dallas Sports Offseason Update

Stars sign Nieuwendyk to lead the way; Changes in the ‘Boys locker room

Get away from those Belmont Stakes odds for a second and catch up on what has been going on for a couple of the Lone Star State’s teams in the offseason. We all know offseason moves will directly relate to offshore sportsbook odds, and you wouldn’t want to be misinformed, would you?

The Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are trying to bounce back from a trying season in which they missed the playoffs for the first time in five years (not counting the lockout in 2005), only one year after reaching the Western Conference finals. But the Stars made a big front-office change, reassigning general managers Brett Hull and Les Jackson and hiring Joe Nieuwendyk, who won the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP with the Stars in 1999. Hull, in particular, played a huge role in bringing Sean Avery to Dallas last year, and we all know how that turned out. Nieuwendyk has experience, spending his retirement time as an assistant to the GM in both Florida and Toronto, and he has one of the finest hockey minds in the game. Mike Modano also decided to come back for his 20th season, all with the Stars. Modano was one of the most vocal players in terms of Avery’s behavior, and his veteran leadership is crucial to the Dallas’ NHL betting odds for next season.

The Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys are, well, the Cowboys. They released Terrell Owens (gone to Buffalo) and Adam “Pacman” Jones, two of the most controversial players in the league. Read more

Dallas Stars Name New General Manager

Why Hull and Jackson are Out
The Dallas Stars have decided to go in a different direction in their front offices. Brett Hull and Les Jackson served as co-general managers for the 2008-2009 NHL season. One of the main reasons that Hull and Jackson will be reassigned to different roles is the Sean Avery signing that will still hurt the Dallas Stars salary cap in the years to come. Sean Avery ruined team chemistry and made public comments about previous girlfriends that earned him a suspension from the NHL and a release from the Dallas Stars. He returned to the New York Rangers and the Stars are left to pay for a portion of his oversized contract.

New Dallas Stars General Manager, Joe Nieuwendyk
The Dallas Stars new General Manager will be Joe Nieuwendyk, who like Brett Hull was a member of the 1999 Dallas Stars Stanley Cup championship team. Joe was the awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy, which goes to the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nieuwendyk was traded from the Stars to the New Jersey Devils in the 2001-2002 season. Read more

Sean Avery Goes From Dallas Stars to New York Rangers

What is official is that as a Dallas Stars member he played 23 games, and had only 3 goals and 7 assists. At a price of 15.5 million over 4 years, this is not what you would call a good return on investment. This lack of production, comments about other players dating his ex-girlfriends, and poor behavior in the locker room have the Dallas Stars looking to get rid of Sean Avery.

At present it’s obvious the Dallas Stars are not missing Sean Avery. Sean Avery’s absence paired with the return of the Marty Turco that we remember from last year’s playoffs has the Dallas Stars moving towards the top of the standings again. Stars have gone 16-6-3 in their last 25 games, which has propelled them to 5th place in the Western Conference. They are now back in the playoff picture again instead of the Western Conference Cellar.

It is clear that Sean Avery will not be returning to the Stars lineup ever. There are several options for the Dallas Stars to dump Sean Avery, and the one that is being rumored now has him eventually ending up back with the New York Rangers, the team he skated with before becoming a Dallas Star. In this scenario Avery must pass through waivers and find an AHL team that is willing to put up with him. Hartford an AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers might just be that team, once he has played there for a while he will go through recall waivers. This is where the New York Rangers are rumored to plan on picking him up. During the recall waiver period they can grab him for half price, leaving the Stars paying the other half. Barring the very unlikely event of a trade, this is the best-case scenario.

The Stars last, and more expensive option is to buy Avery out. The price for a buyout is 11.5 million dollars, which can be spread out over 6 years. Either way the Dallas Stars end up paying around a million dollars a point. This makes Sean Avery’s signing a very high priced mistake for the Stars.

Mike Modano Lone Dallas Star in 2009 All-Star Game

38-year-old Mike Modano will be the only representative of the Dallas Stars on the Western Conference All-Star team this year.

Mike Modano has 26 points in 38 games, divided evenly at 13 between goals and assists. He is tied for second in goals with James Neal and is fourth on the team in points behind Brad Richards, Mike Ribiero, and goals leader Loui Eriksson.

Modano has played a critical role for the Dallas Stars as a veteran with the absence of captain and leader Brenden Morrow to a near season ending knee surgery. Mike Modano took the helm as the teams leader during the Sean Avery saga, and has played with a passion that has not been seen since his younger days. His play in the first half of this season, along with Eriksson, has brought the Dallas Stars out of the Western Conference cellar and put them back in the playoff hunt.

The Western starters for the 2009 All-Star game are Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, Blackhawks Captain Jonathan Toews, Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks, Brian Campbell of the Blackhawks, and Scott Niedermayer of the Ducks. The starting goalie for the West is the Ducks J. S. Giguere, despite missing around a month of the season for family reasons.

The starters for the Eastern Conference are Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Alexei Kovalev, Andrei Markov, and Mike Komisarek of the Montreal Canadians. The starting goalie for the East is the Habs Carey Price.

Syndey Crosby lead the league in All-Star votes with 1,713,02.

The 2009 NHL All-Star game will be on Jan. 26 at 7 p.m.

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