Stars, Rangers under weather
I returned to my humble apartment yesterday to turn on Pardon The Interruption to hear the two talking heads say that the Texas Rangers were already out of contention.
I know many of you are saying that a couple weeks ago I gave 10 reasons why the Rangers would not win the pennant. Winning the pennant and contending are two completely different things.
To say that the Rangers are out of it already is preposterous. How can someone make a statement like that when the first month of the season isn’t even complete?
Last year, the Rangers were playing better than average in April and went down the tubes in May, June and July. Let’s just hope that the Rangers reverse that path this year.
It hurts to hear people throw the team under the bus this early in the season. I hear some of my friends say they don’t even want to go watch them anymore. They complain that they don’t even like the guys who play on the team.
About a week ago, three of my friends and I went out to the old Ballpark in Arlington for an evening game. We did the normal things: tailgate, eat dogs, drink beverages and sit in the cheap seats. We had an excellent time sitting by the bullpen and letting Ranger pitcher John Rocker know that he needed to save the ball game. Sure enough, he did, and the Rangers pulled out the victory.
The bottom line is that the Rangers lack pitching. They have enough skill to contend for a pennant, but they lack major skill in the pitching department.
Now on to the Dallas Stars. For the first time since 1994, the Stars did not make the playoffs.
After the past three years of competing for Lord Stanley’s Cup, the team finds itself planning vacations for the summer already.
After the firing of head coach Ken Hitchcock and the resignation of general manager Bob Gainey, the Stars traded forwards Joe Nieuwendyk and Jamie Langenbrunner to the New Jersey Devils. These moves didn’t benefit the Stars at all. They received Jason Arnott and Randy McKay who were mediocre down the stretch.
I believe this season will end up benefiting the Stars in the long run. They deserve a break after three years of contending for the Cup with little or no break in the off-season.
With the time off, the Stars can try to make some moves in the off-season to better their situation. The team is in desperate need of goal scorers. The worst thing the Stars did last year was let Brett Hull go.
The Stars and Rangers both need to focus in on their objectives. I hope they do something soon, because the Dallas Mavericks are the hottest ticket in town, and what does that say about the teams in Dallas?
