March Madness

Hey everyone, sorry it's been several weeks since my last post. I've been busy with work so the blog kind of got put on the back burner.

A quick update from my previous post. I said in it that there were rumors of Dat Nguyne joining the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff. Just so you know, four days after the interview Dat was named the new linebackers coach for the Cowboys. Also named to the staff that day was Wes Phillips. He is the son of new head coach Wade Phillips. A side note on Wes is that just two years ago he was the quarterbacks coach for West Texas A&M here in Canyon.

Alright enough football, it's March Madness time. By now most all of you have joined a pool or know of one you will be joining soon. Selection Sunday is just a couple of days away and then all the madness truly begins. No, I'm not going to offer any advice at who might be this season's George Mason because I too want to win my office pool. (I would choose someone like Southern Illinois or Washington State though). I am also very excited that this year the Big 12 conference should be very competitive and we could see a national champion out of Kansas, Texas A&M or maybe just maybe and upset title run by Texas. Hey nothings out of the question, we saw Florida do it last year.

My best advice however is to join more than one pool because there will be teams your head tells you to pick and then there are the teams you want to pick with your heart. In one pool, fill it out with which teams you think are better, picking a few upsets here and there but sticking the best of the best in the final four. Then in your second pool, fill it out like you would ideally like to see it turn out with all your favorite teams meeting in the final four (It won't happen that way but maybe then you feel better about cheering for them even if it messes up your first bracket). The very worst thing you could do is combine the two strategies. (i.e. picking some teams that should win and others you would like to see win). That's like combining Ketchup and ice cream, both very good choices in their own right but put them together and you're going to lose!

Good luck to everyone in March Madness and let me know if you win your pool.

Take Care,
Lee K.

Pretty Good Weekend

Not a bad weekend I would have to say. Usually the weekend following the Super Bowl is sort of a let down but this weekend was different.


I flipped on ESPN Sunday Morning only to see a feature story on former NFL player turned WTAMU quarterbacks coach Ryan Leaf. Several weeks ago ESPN had called our sports office to request video of Ryan at WTAMU. So as you may have guessed, my video that I shot on my camera was on ESPN! That was a first (but not a last!).





Saturday night I had the opportunity to interview former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Dat Nguyen. He was speaking at an Amarillo YMCA event and he was such a nice guy to talk to. Also, there are rumors that he may be joining the Cowboys coaching staff in the near future. I did ask him if the rumors were true and he said he is keeping his options open and coaching is a possibility. Just remember, you heard it hear first!



Then there was the NFL pro bowl and NASCAR season began. Locally the Gorillas hockey team picked up a big win over Colorado and the dominant Lady Buffs basketball team ran their conference record to 10-0. Also the Texas Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame honored the very best athletes and coaches of the year and my hometown Clovis wildcats set a new school record for 3 pointers in a game, 16! All in all a pretty good weekend.


Take Care,
Lee K.

Cowboys Head Coach

Ever since the Tuna swam his way out of the proverbial media crazed ocean that is the Dallas Cowboys, the shark Jerry Jones has been looking to hook his next coach.

Now the popular and initial reaction from the majority of media experts has been that former Cowboys coordinator Norv Turner will be the next man with the job. I however maintain that out of the now 10 candidates that have been interviewed, one stands out as the best choice. Wade Phillips. He may not be the popular choice nor will he ever have a sound bite worthy of Bill Parcells but talking

pure X's and O's, I think Phillips can achieve the quickest results.

The teams Phillips has helped turn around include Denver (defensive coordinator and head coach), Buffalo (defensive coordinator and head coach), Atlanta (defensive coordinator) and San Diego (defensive coordinator). He runs the 3-4 defense so the Cowboys wouldn't have to spend a year or two restructuring the defense and since Jason Garrett is already on board, he can have full control over the offense.

My Choice:
Head Coach- Wade Phillips
Offensive C- Jason Garrett
Defensive C- Mike Singletary

The More Sexy Media Choice:
Head Coach- Norv Turner
Offensive C- Jason Garrett
Defensive C- Ron Rivera

I could be right or completely wrong, but I hope whoever Jones decides to hire, they can purchase T.O. a new pair of receivers gloves because the other ones aren't getting the job done.

Super Bowl XLI

The Super Bowl halftime show featuring Prince was horrible so let's go ahead and get that out of the way and some commercials were pretty good but none that I would consider in the top 10 of all-time.

But between the halftime show and the commercials was a pretty good game. I also hate to say I told you so but in my last post you may remember I chose the Colts in a close game over the Bears. I'm not going to take too much credit though because that's what most everyone else predicted as well.

Super Bowl 41 was a game of firsts. Believe it or not it was the first rainy Super Bowl and it was also the first time the opening kickoff was returned for a touchdown. Although I was cheering for the Colts, I do appreciate the talent of Devin Hester and it was fun to watch him score on the kickoff. I wasn't too worried because if you remember Ohio State returned the opening kickoff in the college football championship and Florida still won the game.

The MVP of the game Peyton Manning was great as expected, but it was also impressive to see Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai run the ball as effectively as they did (191 yds rushing). Adam Vinatieri played decent despite his holder Hunter Smith doing his best Tony Romo impression in the first half and even the Colts defense showed that they aren't nearly as bad as everyone made them out to be.

As for the Bears. Rex Grossman was Rex Grossman. Very inconsistent with costly turnovers. Thomas Jones ran the ball well and would have been the MVP had Chicago won and the defense led by New Mexico native Brian Urlacher played well but had a hard time stopping runs up the middle.

In the end I would give Super Bowl XLI an A minus. It was enjoyable to watch with a great storyline and a fitting culmination to a good season. And now I guess we will have to shift our attention to basketball and baseball as we eagerly await another NFL season. Go COWBOYS!

Sports Blogging 101

Sports blogging 101- Well I'm not real sure how I'm going to treat this new adventure or how good I will be at updating new entries, but I do promise to do my best. So here goes...

The story of the week in the world of sports is of course the Super Bowl. The Mecca of all sporting events that generates more revenue than any other sport could ever dream of. In fact a 30 second commercial spot ($2.6 million) in the Super Bowl more than triples that of its closest competitor.. the summer Olympics.



And this year it will feature an AFC powerhouse offense of the Indianapolis Colts and the defensive minded NFC Chicago Bears. Of course the cliche is that "defense wins championships" however I don't think whoever first made that statement knew about Peyton Manning. Simply put, the Colts are the better team. I'm not saying the Bears won't have a chance, in fact I think it will be a close game, but in the end I believe it will be Manning once and for all silencing his critics.



Staying in the NFL. It was great to eat lunch today with Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, who
also happens to be my former Clovis high school teammate Hank Baskett. The best thing about Hank isn't his talent on the field nor is it his great character off the field but its the fact that he hasn't changed a bit. Our conversation today was no different than ones we had in high school except this time we talked about things like quarterback controversy in Philadelphia. By the way if you are wondering, Hank says there isn't one and he should know, he talked to Jeff Garcia yesterday.


I think that will be enough for one entry. Check back soon because I know I'll be discussing the Dallas Cowboys search for a new coach and many more sports topics.

Take Care,
Lee K.