Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …
• Thoughts and prayers in the wake of a school shooting? Too late. But in the case of Dallas boxing champion Errol Spence? Appropriate. Spence, 26-0 and the welterweight champ, crashed his speeding white Ferrari in Dallas at 3 a.m. Thursday. He is in ICU and badly injured, but expected to survive. Police say Spence’s car crossed a median into oncoming traffic and flipped several times. He wasn’t wearing his seat belt. The prayers: For Spence to survive, heal and hopefully again box one day. The thoughts: That he learns to slow down, and fasten his seat belt.
• Latest Las Vegas odds on the next NFL coach to be fired have Jason Garrett in the second-worst peril at 4/1. No way. The Cowboys coach may be lame duck, but he’ll finish the season. He’ll be fired after the season if Dallas doesn’t make it to the NFC Championship Game. He’ll only be fired during the season if Dallas loses to Buffalo on Thanksgiving to fall to 3-8.
• Another deep playoff scar for the greatest pitcher of his generation. Highland Park’s Clayton Kershaw gave up homers on consecutive pitches in the eighth inning of Wednesday night’s Game 5 against the Nationals, coughing up a 3-1 lead and authoring yet another playoff disaster. The Dodgers won 106 games and held a 2-1 lead in the NLDS. But thanks to Kershaw – winner of 3 Cy Youngs and an MVP – today it’s winter in L.A. In his career, Kershaw’s ERA is 2.44 in the regular season and 4.33 in October. Led by their ace, the Dodgers have won seven straight division titles and have nothing – punctuated by back-to-back World Series losses – to show for it. Sometimes sports is just cruel. And unexplainable.
• The headband. The hair. The nose rings. The belly shirts. The exaggerated individual celebrations. Here’s hoping Ezekiel Elliott isn’t morphing into Rougned Odor: More style than substance. All we know for now is that the Rangers second baseman’s production has plummeted while his fashion eccentricities escalate, and Zeke is tiptoeing in the same general direction. He’s off to the slowest start of his NFL career with only 85 carries for 386 yards through five games. The guy who led the league in rushing two of the last three seasons is currently eighth.
• Got our first glimpse of the Mavs’ Kristaps Porzingis Wednesday night and … wow. He’s smooth. Super smooth. In his preseason debut he scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 19 lively minutes. He finished lobs. He produced seamless catch-and-shoots. The night before – remind why they are playing on back-to-back nights in the preseason? – I tuned in to see 7-foot-3 Boban Sideshow clang a 3-pointer. Please tell me that’s not gonna be a “thing” this season. Mavs, for what it’s worth, have a 4-point line painted on their court during training camp. Thank you for redefining “range”, Steph Curry.
• It was eight Octobers ago that Nelson Cruz failed to catch the most important fly ball in Rangers history. Two years later, in 2013, he wasn’t re-signed because of what the Rangers perceived as dwindling production. Oops. Since leaving Arlington, Cruz the last six seasons has averaged – averaged – hitting .286 with 41 homers and 105 RBI with four All-Star appearances. The Twins have already picked up his 2020 option for a cool $12 million. Rangers would kill for that kind of right-handed power. And as the DH in Minnesota, Cruz doesn’t even have to own a glove. Or make a catch.
• Look, the NBA’s been gone awhile and we miss it. I get it. But the national media is suffering some premature exaltation. On Wednesday night the Mavs’ Luka Doncic dribbled between his legs and scored on a floater. Pedestrian move that, honestly, had zero effect on his defenders or open space. ESPN’s reaction: “Luka magic!” Same night, rookie Zion Williamson took a pass under the basket with his back to the baseline, jumped and turned to dunk, finishing looking at the rim. Yahoo! Sports’ reaction: “Zion with the 360!” Nope. Being giddy apparently screws up your geometry recall. It was a 180. Nice and all, but still only a 180. Deep breaths.
• Stumbled across Joel Osteen on TV last Sunday morning. He was over-dramatically whispering about “God’s grace” in relation to the Amber Guyger case. I dunno, I’d have been more impressed if “God’s grace” would’ve jammed Guyger’s gun or, even better, turned it into chocolate pudding right before she pulled the trigger. Botham Jean would still be alive and, instead of calling 911 to report she shot him, Guyger could’ve just said “Oops, I thought this was my apartment … want some pudding?” Then the next day the new friends could’ve held a press conference to describe their non-incident, thanks to divine intervention. Now that, Joel Osteen, would deserve a little whisper praise of “God’s grace.”
• In our state, football is religion. So this hurts: In the last 40 years, the state of Florida has 11 college national championships; the state of Texas has 1.
• Hot.
• Not. (Sorry, SMU.)
• Money over morals, NBA-style. Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweets for democracy and against communism and next thing you know it’s an international incident that has commish Adam Silver inexplicably on the fence between which side to support: good or evil. This isn’t difficult: The NBA can be business partners with China, but in the end, it should support freedom and reject totalitarianism. Sure, there are more NBA fans in China than there are people in America. But, remember, Twitter is blocked in China and the country’s only news outlet is state-run TV. China doesn’t believe in freedom of speech, a free press or anything free. China, in other words, sucks. Bowing down to it sends a horribly wrong message. Where’s “ambassador” Dennis Rodman to straighten this crap out?
• Thank God I wasn’t in Vegas last weekend. In our little “Bet the House” exercise, I picked 12 football games against the spread and went – wait for it – 1 and . . . . . 11. Kinda impressive. I couldn’t do that if I tried. Wait, I did try. And I did do it.
• Long-time buddy of mine is into “rucking”, or walking/marching long distances with a weighted, military-style rucksack strapped to his back. This Saturday he’s doing a 50-miler in and around Dallas. Saddled with 20 pounds of weights and another 15 of supplies and water, he’ll take off Friday night at 9 p.m. and have until Saturday at 5 p.m. to finish. And I thought I was crazy for doing a Tough Mudder.
• In the final analysis Baker Mayfield is a jerk, but Richard Sherman is a liar. They kinda deserve each other.
• Have yet to see Joker. But Sybil did, and called it her favorite movie of the year. She’s characteristically tough on movies, but said, “It’s not a typical CGI comic book film with big special effects, but instead a pure, real-life catastrophe.” Color me intrigued.
• I rarely cuss. I haven’t smoked marijuana since a lame attempt in college. Why is it then, that I could listen to Snoop Dogg talk – or cuss about smoking – all day? Just something about his cadence and content and, yes, cussing that I find mesmerizing. And hilarious.
• I understand the applause for Ellen DeGeneres, for her explanation of a lesbian woman sitting next to a former Republican President (Dubya Bush) at last week’s Cowboys game. “I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share my beliefs,” the comedian said on her Monday show. I get it. But just 15 years ago, Bush called for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in America. There’s a big difference – to me, at least – in “people who don’t share my beliefs” and “Presidents who attempt to alienate and discriminate millions of people and an entire segment of Americans based on fear and ignorance.”
• Wait, Art Briles has already found trouble (and has to forfeit games) at Mount Vernon High School. No waaaaaay?!
• Pulled up behind a sweet van at a light Tuesday in Dallas. One of those two-tone paint jobs, green sorta effortlessly blending with blue. A Mavs fan, maybe? Or … “The Earth is Not Flat!” read the inscription on the back door. Really? So if I was to follow that van and never turn and keep driving and then drive some more we’d both eventually just drive “off” the face of the planet?
• You know who is really quiet these days? The critics of Christian McCaffrey that trashed him for skipping the Sun Bowl as a member of Stanford’s team in 2016. “He’s ruined his reputation!” they crowed. Now? Ssshhhh. McCaffrey, healthy for the draft, was the eighth overall pick in 2017 and this year is the early leader for NFL MVP. He has more yards from scrimmage (866) than Todd Gurley and Zeke … combined.
• I’m pretty basic when it comes to pizza. Papa John’s, Pizza Hut and Domino’s aren’t different enough to go out of my way for any of ’em. But I went to a joint in Dallas’ Design District this week called Pie Tap. Three thumbs up. Some sort of sugar crust situation in play. Delicious.
• Brad Sham skipped a Cowboys game to observe Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and this week Mavs play-by-play voice Chuck Cooperstein didn’t call his team’s preseason opener because of Yom Kippur (Jewish service of atonement, often accompanied by fasting). Me to my Jewish friend: “Y’all’s holidays are legit serious, huh?” My Jewish friend to me: “I guess, but I don’t need to starve to remember to repent.” Touché.
• If you think NFL referees are getting too much face time, you are correct. Last year the average game featured 13.5 penalties for 115 yards. This year it’s up to 15.2 and 128 yards. No one, and I mean no one – other than the referees’ union – thinks this trend is good for football.
• This weekend? Should be interesting, as I’m watching Texas-OU from the Kyle Field parking lot while tailgating before A&M-Alabama in College Station. With any luck, I’ll be back – and semi-sober – in Dallas in time for Cowboys-Jets Sunday afternoon. As always, don’t be a stranger.
