*While youve been consumed by late-night Mavs drama, the Texas Rangers have not unexpectedly flat-lined.Thursdays 11-6 lo s in Colorado completed a hideous 0-9 road trip and extended their NFL Minnesota Vikings Jersey road losing streak to a stunning 15. When they were last in Arlington on May 23 they punctuated a scintillating weekend sweep of the Houston Astros with a walk-off win. By the time they return Friday night theyre dead in the water, 22-36 with little hope of sniffing .500 until Opening Day 2022.Since Mothers Day they are 4-18. And it may get worse on the road before it gets better.They are the sixth team in the last 50 years and first since 1985 to have a single-season road losing streak of at least 15 games. Their next seven on the road: Los Angeles Dodgers, Astros and Oakland As. The Rangers havent won a road games since May 6.Again, not surprising. These are the anticipated growing pains for a young team molding for 2023 and beyond. Painful, nonethele s. I tuned in to Tuesday nights lo s in Denver and they gave up a run when a ground-ball out caromed off the second-base umpires leg for an infield single.When it rains, it absolutely pours.*At least the Rangers are making history. Reliever Brett Martin has delivered two walk-off wild pitches in the last three weeks. Texas has never done that via walk or balk or pa sed ball, etc. twice in an entire season.*Not sure Im a fan of Rangers catcher Jonah Heims one-knee crouch/setup. I think its supposed to garner more called strikes, but the stark reality is that hes been a part of 13 wild pitches since May 1. Seems like an absurdly high amount. For my money, he also has a bad habit of lazily laying his mitt on the ground during the pitchers wind-up.What happened to giving the pitcher a clear and consistent target?*Fitting and deserving that the Rangers Chris Doleman Jersey will give away 14,000 Shin-Soo Choo bobbleheads Saturday night. He played seven seasons in Arlington. Was an All-Star. In 2018 he reached base in a franchise-record 52 consecutive games. But what Ill remember Choo for even more than lead-off homers is him getting hit by pitches. Hes the Rangers all-time leader with 71.Plus, wouldnt that make an intriguing bobblehead pose?*RANGERS RISK: We all think the Texas Rangers are going to be putrid this season. , but no one thinks .500 is plausible. Lets put our money where our mouth is. Im going to bet a virtual $100 the Rangers every game this season and, after six months and 162 games, see where I wind up. Ill keep a running tab right there each Friday and come September Ill (wink) disperse my profits to my most loyal readers. RECORD: 22-36 TOTAL: +$216.*Most Player. This time of year every NBA arena has its preferred candidate to endorse, the guy who gets serenaded with a bouquet of M-V-P! chants when he steps to the free-throw line.LeBron James. Kawhi Leonard. Nikola Jokic. Ru sell Westbrook. Joel Embiid. Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even the Knicks Julius Randle got the royal treatment from the Madison Square Garden crazies.But if the award is truly given Jordan Berry Jersey to the most player, it should go to the Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic. Why? Because he is simply more to his team than any other player to any other team.Without him, the Mavs are in the NBA Lottery.With him, the Mavs lead the Los Angeles Clippers, 3-2, heading into Friday nights Game 6 at American Airlines Center.The case for Lukas MVP candidacy can be made merely with Game 5. With Doncic on the floor for 43 minutes, the Mavs made 35 shots. He scored or a sisted 31 of them. Without him in the game, they scored four points in five minutes.Lukas 31 of 37 (84 percent) is the highest percentage of a teams field goals/a sists by any player in NBA postseason history.You can argue that there are players than Luka. (Maybe.) But there are no more players.*May I suggest an alarm clock? Perhaps another cup of coffee? A little pre-game whoopie to get the blood flowing? Something. Anything. Because the Rangers havent scored a first-inning run in an almost unfathomable 17 consecutive games. And the way I remember it, the Cowboys failed to score a touchdown on any of their 16 opening drives last season.Now, if the Mavs lay a goose egg in their first 12 minutes of a playoff game well really have ourselves a crisis.*Another sign that normal is just around the corner: The State Fair of Texas will open for busine s-as-usual Sept. 24. No way to socially distance in a cramped midway saturated with fried food and sweaty humans. Happily in the Fall of 2021, there is no need to do so. Big Tex says .*NBA teams that win Game 5 of a 2-2 series go on to advance 87 percent of the time. The Mavs are 6-0 all-time in such circumstances. Regardle s of math and history and momentum, this series is still legitimately losable.*You know how we grudgingly see another $40 siphoned out of our checking accounts by the North Texas Toll Fran Tarkenton Jersey Authority and steam, We long ago paid for those roads!? Well, its about to get steamier.Beginning in July, DFW drivers will pay a penny more to drive on toll roads, from 19 cents per mile to 20. The NTTA is counting on you to shrug and say whats one penny?, but a 30-mile drive to work that costs $5.70 in this month will bump up to $6 next month.Worse: There was a rate hike as recently as 2019.Double-worse: The NTTA says the increase will be used to pay for $2 billion in improvements over the next Myles Dorn Jersey five years.Cool, so not another increase until 2026. Pinkie swear?*The two best young players in the NBA are literally leaving different footprints. Doncic has mastered taking two giant, slow Euro steps to get himself to the rim. The Atlanta Hawks Trae Young, meanwhile, takes fast, small stutter steps to get him into the lane where he slays defenses with 10-foot floaters.Different strokes for different folks.*We including me underestimate the danger of ladders. Thats right, ladders. Ive heard three stories recently about Texas men being seriously injured, even dying, after a fall. According to the World Health Organization, . Each year there are 165,000 emergency-room visits for ladder injuries and approximately 300 deaths. By comparison, .While we have an irrational fear of snakes, we carele sly climb ladders. Be careful up there, everybody.Scroll to Continue*After all their finagling and dealing and commitment to get tougher, the Mavs are beating the Clippers with e sentially the same players that last year lost to the Clippers. Jalen Brunson and Dwight Powell are healthy and available, and that helps. But the trades to bring in Josh Richardson for his junkyard defense and J.J. Redick for h
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