Giving Thanks: Dallas Cowboys Joining DFW's Golden Era of Sports?
WHITT'S END 11.24.23:
Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …
*Thanksgiving leftovers on Black Friday, anyone? Hopefully you took time between food, family and football to be grateful on Thursday, because rarely has there been a better time to be a sports fan in DFW. We’ve finally got a championship, and some closure.
In the last four years we’ve enjoyed a World Series title, an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals, a trip to the NBA’s Western Conference Finals, an NFL division championship and a combined 101 playoff games by our four teams – the Texas Rangers (17) and Dallas Stars (50), Mavericks (31) and Cowboys (3).
Postseason wins since 2020: Stars 27, Mavericks 20, Rangers 13, Cowboys 1.
Sure there’s only one trophy in this span, but when you endured a dirty dozen years without one, beggars can’t be choosers. Other than 2011 – when the Mavs won their lone title and the Rangers came within one strike of winning theirs – these are the golden years.
Since 2020 we’ve boasted an NFL Rookie of the Year (Micah Parsons), an All-NBA first-teamer (Luka Doncic), a World Series MVP (Corey Seager) and an Executive of the Year (Jim Nill).
On the heels of the Rangers’ miraculous and shocking run, the Cowboys are 8-3 heading toward December while the Stars and Mavs are both among the top five teams in their conferences. In their seasons that started in 2023, all four could make the playoffs.
We’re being treated to in-their-prime stars such as Doncic, Dak, Adolis Garcia and Jason Robertson. We’ve also, just as importantly, mended fences to our past.
A year ago the Mavs unveiled Dirk Nowitzki’s statue outside American Airlines Center. In March, alongside him will arise one saluting the Stars’ all-time greatest player, Mike Modano.
“Being out there with Dirk obviously means a lot,” Modano says. “It’s kind of the icing on the whole thing.”
Even the perceived icy relationship between Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson has thawed, with the owner finally caving to public pressure and inducting the coach into the Cowboys Ring of Honor. You want more icing? Jimmy’s quarterback – ESPN analyst Troy Aikman – will be in AT&T Stadium Dec. 30 for the ceremony.
Said Jones, “It just feels like the perfect time.”
Indeed it does.
*Cowboys 45, Commanders 10: My Top 10 Whitty Observations.
*Held our collective breath Wednesday night as Mavs' rookie center Dereck Lively II went up for a lob dunk in L.A. against the Lakers, briefly hung on the rim and they fell awkwardly and violently on his back. He left the court without being able to put pressure on his left leg. Last thing the Mavs and their promising big man needed. Without him, Dallas is essentially forced to play (very) small ball with 6-9 Richaun Holmes as their "big."
*Court of public opinion: As I've said before, the NBA's In-Season Tournament - doesn't the hollow name same it all? - is even less valuable than a division title.
After losses in their first two games, the Mavs are longshots to advance out of their group. So what? The stakes are confusing. And about those garish courts?
"I think that the floors are hard to watch on TV,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd says. “The league has gone a little bit too far with the floor."
Dallas scrapped plans for its custom In-Season Tournament Court in its first game. But get ready for more gray than you ever care to see Tuesday night when they host the Houston Rockets.
*The Rangers clinched the World Series three weeks ago and I’m still not sure I believe what I witnessed. Going 11-0 on the road in the playoffs is unfathomable and unprecedented. Until MLB expands its playoff field and extends into another round, I can’t see that mark being broken.
But … to me this is even more mind-boggling: During the regular season the Rangers’ bullpen had more blown saves (33) than saves (30). Their save percentage of an awful 48 percent tied for worst in the bigs with the Colorado Rockies, who went 59-103. During the season – by default – they used a closer-by-committee featuring Will Smith, Aroldis Chapman, Josh Sborz, Jonathan Hernandez, Will Smith, Brock Burke and Jose Leclerc. In Game 159 at Seattle, they coughed up the AL West title by surrendering a two-out, two-run double in the 9th inning of a 3-2 loss. Nobody picked them to win a round in the playoffs for one reason: Bullpen. Then, out of nowhere, the trio of Sborz, Chapman and Leclerc magically morphed into Goose Gossage, Dennis Eckersly and Mariano Rivera. They went five of six in save opportunities.
Of course, the offense helped. A lot. In going 13-4, the Rangers won by an average of 3.7 runs. Only twice did Leclerc have to get the final out in a one-run game. Pinch me. Still. Forever.
*8 1k runs. 8 functional fitness challenges. 1 proud survival. Because it’s never too early for a New Year’s Resolution – or a not-so-subtle Christmas gift – I highly recommend America’s latest fitness craze: HYROX. To complete it, you will use exhaust every muscle’s strength and challenge your mind’s willpower. Combine it with last month’s Spartan and I’m … ready for a long Winter’s nap.
*Hot.
*Not.
DFW: City of ... Champions?
*This week’s Eagles-Chiefs game – thanks for nothing, Marquez Valdes-Scantling! – drew more than 29 million viewers (including 15.5 on ABC and 11.5 on ESPN), the biggest Monday Night Football audience since Cowboys-Packers way back in 1996.
*Thursday’s game was a win, but not classic enough to crack my Top 10 all-time Cowboys Thanksgiving memories.
*You don't often win an NBA game by being outscored, 30-13, in the fourth quarter. But the Mavs pulled off that Houdini with five points from Kyrie Irving, an assist and steal by Luka and two clutch misses by LeBron James. Whew! The Mavs won on the road against a playoff team despite shooting 39 percent. Between 2017 and 2020 they lost 49 consecutive games when hitting less than 40 percent. Good sign moving forward.
*During the Mavs’ fast start you know who I have – not once – said “Wow, I really miss that guy”? This one. What a bust.
*Sign of the times: It’s easier to watch porn than it is for some DFW sports fans to watch their favorite teams. It’s been a disaster for local TV viewers since Bally’s bought Fox Sports Southwest in 2019. Diamond Sports Group (who owns Bally’s) is negotiating bankruptcy, and part of that plan is cut costs by dumping the Rangers. That would mean that in 2024 the defending World Series champions would be a TV free agent. For now, it means that viewers who subscribe to cable streaming networks such as Dish TV, Hulu and YouTube still can’t watch local baseball.
*AAA projects that 55 million Americans will travel by trains, planes and automobiles this Thanksgiving weekend. That’s a three-percent increase from a year ago and will be the third-busiest travel weekend since the company began such tracking in 2000. But, please, do go on whining about how our current political leadership is running the country and plunging our economy in the toilet. Because it sure seems like people are showing their disapproval by … spending money.
*This Weekend? Friday let’s hang with old friends and watch Texas-Texas Tech. Saturday let’s hang with Big Brothers Big Sisters lil’ bro Ja. Sunday let’s hang with the parents in JoCoMoFo. As always, don’t be a stranger.
