The Prairie View A&M Panthers will take on the Tigers of Grambling State University in an all around competition featuring both the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams in the Martin Luther King Jr. Basketball Classic – 4 The Love of Basketball sponsored by Farmers Insurance Group, McDonald’s, United States Marines, Williams Chicken and ALWE.com. The classic will also feature a game between the Paul Quinn College Tigers Men’s basketball team taking on the University of St. Thomas Celts.

“We are thankful to the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the Red River Athletic Conference for bringing great HBCU basketball to Dallas,” said Dallas Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins. “The games provide wholesome family entertainment for our community on a day when we celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. throughout our city. The Classic is one of many ways we are working to showcase our city and provide economic development in Southern Dallas.”

The second annual Martin Luther King Jr. Basketball Classic – 4 The Love of Basketball is a unique opportunity to view HBCU basketball at it’s best in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex featuring Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) rivals Prairie View A&M and Grambling State University and Red River Athletic Conference rivals Paul Quinn College and University of St. Thomas. Alumni and fans will also have an opportunity to watch some of Dallas-Fort Worth’s top basketball players compete on the collegiate level:

Paul Quinn College:

11 Quinten Johnson – Fr – Arlington – Mansfield Summit
24 Aaron Mccuin – Jr – Fort Worth – Poly Technicial
52 Demarcus Deckard – Fr – Dallas – Abilene High School
Praire View A&M University:

3 Louis Munks – So – Arlington – North Lake Junior College
31 Montreal Scott – Fr – Dallas – Madison H. S.
41 Tim Meadows -Sr – Fort Worth – Crowley H. S.
14 Chelsea Azore – Fr – Garland – Garland H. S. (Women’s)
Grambling State University:

3 Bre’Anna Johnson – Sr – Dallas – Lincon H. S. (Women’s)
25 Alexis Andrews – Jr – Dallas – Duncanville H. S. (Women’s)
Alumni and basketball fans are invited to come out for SWAC basketball featuring the Prairie View A&M Panthers taking on the Grambling State University Tigers and Red River basketball featuring the Paul Quinn Tigers taking on the University of St. Thomas Celts.

WHEN:
Monday, January 16, 2012 - Doors open at 1 p.m.

Paul Quinn College vs. University of St. Thomas – 2 p.m.
Prairie View A&M vs. Grambling State University – Women 4:30 p.m. and Men 7 p.m.
Sunday, January 15, 2012 – Team Practice/Shoot Around

Paul Quinn College 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Grambling State University Women 1 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Prairie View A&M University Women 2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Prairie View A&M University Men 4 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

Grambling State University Men 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
University of St. Thomas (No practice scheduled, will arrive day of game)
*Coach and player interviews will be conducted immediately after each practice

WHERE:

Ellis Davis Fieldhouse at the Jesse Owens Sports Complex
9191 South Polk Street @ Interstate 20
Dallas, Texas 75232

TICKETS:

Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster locations, all Williams Chicken locations or charge by phone at 1.800.745.3000

Last year at this time I would have laughed at the assertion of the Dallas Mavericks as championship contenders. It wasn’t until Jason Terry and Peja Stojakovic rained a parade of 3′s on the L.A. Lakers in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals that I became a believer.  When the season started I thought the team was too old and carried too much baggage.  When Caron Butler went down, it all seemed lost. I was wrong just like everyone else outside the team’s locker room.

So this year I’m willing to give the Mavericks all the latitude in the world as they round out the roster that will compete to retain their title. The 2011-2012 Mavericks seem to be extremely deep.  If Roddy B. and Dominique Jones could move forward they’re even deeper.

But come playoff time when the bench gets shorter and minutes get hard to come by, what matters most are the guys at the top of the postseason rotation. When Brendon Heywood was limited by injuries conference finals and NBA Finals, and Peja Stojakovic fell back to Earth, the Mavs were really playing a 7 man rotation: Jason Kidd, DeShawn Stevenson, Shawn Marion, Dirk, Tyson Chandler, J.J. Barea and Jet Terry.

In the Finals, the Mavs got some memorable minutes from Ian Mahinmi and The Custodian Brian Cardinal.  But really it was the seven players above who did the heavy lifting in the Finals for sure and through most of the playoffs.

I held out hope the Mavs would bring back Stevenson (reports are he’s signed with the New Jersey Nets), but now three of those seven players are gone.  A comparison of last year’s 9 deep roster vs. this year’s as currently constructed makes me optimistic but not convinced.

I make one assumption in my comparison: the returning players are equal pieces to this year’s team as they were to last year.  You could make an argument that say Dirk is better because of the championship run or J. Kidd is a step slower this year but think it’s all a wash.

Position/2010-2011 Player (Champs)/2011-12 Player (Current)

Point Guard Jason Kidd - Wash

Shooting Guard DeShawn Stevenson/Vince Carter – Advantage Current

This is a slight advantage for the new team.  Stevenson was a Maverick no one wanted to tangle with.  Last year he was a Kobe stopper and a LeBron Stopper.  Stevenson only averaged 5 points in the regular season but stepped it up in the postseason.  Some of his ill-advised three pointers found the bottom of the net and were huge.

If Vince Carter can come in and average 14-15 points again and give the Mavs a little something on defense he can make up the points that leave with Chandler and Stevenson both.

Small Forward Shawn Marion – Wash

Power Forward Dirk – Wash

Center Tyson Chandler/Brendon Heywood – Advantage Champs

This is a pretty big advantage for last year’s team.  Not just in points and rebounds (Chandler averaged 10 points/9 rebounds last year) but intangibles.  You can’t measure the toughness and energy Chandler brought to the Mavericks each and every time he stepped on the court.

Heywood doesn’t play the game that way, but that doesn’t mean he can’t pick up some of the statistical slack from Chandler’s departure.

Guard off the bench Jason Terry – Wash

Guard off the bench J.J. Barea/Delonte West – Advantage Champs

In the playoffs the Lakers and Heat had no answer for the quickness of Barea.  They couldn’t stop him on offense and couldn’t exploit him on defense.  He earned a lot of minutes in crunch time, and it’s hard to envision a scenario where West would be an option late in games.

But West has played in big games in his career, which could benefit the Mavs. That doesn’t make up for J.J. of the playoffs, who gained the respect of the entire league last postseason.

Forward off the bench Peja Stojakovic/Lamar Odom – Advantage Current

This is the biggest advantage of this year’s squad, especially when you consider how Peja disappeared late in the playoffs.  Lamar Odom makes up for some of the intangibles that were lost with Chandler.  He’s tough, experienced and can obviously score from all over the court.

Odom’s length is a problem for opponents on both ends of the floor. He seemed to be much more interested in the preseason (from a competition standpoint) than has Maverick teammates.

The Lakers could not have done what they did without Odom’s valuable contributions.  The Mavericks cannot do what they hope to do without the same from Odom this seasons.

Backup Center Brendon Heywood/Ian Mahinmi – Advantage Champs

This is another big advantage for last year’s team.  If you compare the 3 deep center rotation last year to this year’s it’s not even close as of today. Brendon Heywood gave the Mavs an NBA starter coming off the bench last season. In a league with fewer true centers each year that was huge.

Though Mahinmi made a valuable contribution in the Finals I’m not ready to say he’s better than Heywood.  If he was he would be starting. I feel like this is an area the Mavs will look to address as the season goes on.

Advantage goes to last years team obviously because they proved it. But I won’t count out this year’s team and the potential that they returning players will dial it up.  With a 66 game schedule there won’t be much time to gel, so let’s get it going guys.

What was the Dallas Mavericks’ preseason record last year? I don’t know either.  Frankly it doesn’t matter.  But for what it’s worth, I didn’t like what I saw from the World Champion’s last night.

Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd suited up but didn’t play against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the AAC on Sunday night.  That’s cool because it gave the new Mavs a chance to get on the court together and start the process of assimilating into Rick Carlisle’s way of doing things.

Shawn Marion says the Mavericks aren’t getting the respect they deserve as champions.  But it’s rare that a champion makes such drastic changes if they are convinced they can defend their title. We’re not talking about Florida Marlins types of changes, but they let three pretty nice pieces of the championship puzzle get away.

Back to Sunday night, the young Thunder looked much more ready for game action than the Mavs.  The Mavs looked like a team who had won a championship. Oklahoma City looked like a team that wanted to win one.

OKC players bounced out of their seats during timeouts (event stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook) to greet teammates while the Mavs kind of looked in the stands, shuffled around and waited for the game to be over.

I think the preseason means less than nothing.  But hopefully the Mavs will come out of the gates strong like they did last year and won’t try to play the “turn on the switch card” in the playoffs.

I guess it’s hard for athletes to act interested when they’re not.  Lamar Odom looked interested.  And for what it’s worth so did Dominique Jones looked interested too.  Hopefully tomorrow the Mavs will at least put in a little effort before kicking it up a notch on Christmas Day.

By Shawn Williams

Yesterday The Hardline was having an interesting discussion on The Ticket regarding Dallas Cowboys fandom.  The segment was so good I had to apologize to my son (as he giggled) for the terrible language we had to fight through to listen to the salient points that were being made.

Corby Davidson was leading the way, screaming his frustration with the fans around him who wouldn’t make noise or stand up to cheer despite the game being close.  He also noted that security guards asked fans to sit down if their enthusiasm was a detriment to the experience of those around them.

Corby was right, mostly.  He laid much of the blame at the feet of the fans, but It’s not just the fans that make Cowboys Stadium a tough place to watch NFL football.  It’s the overall product.  The building, the team, everything. Here are may takes to add with Corby from yesterday.

Broken Hearts Cheer Softly

The Chicago Cubs are loveable losers.  Over the last century they’ve struggled just to be mediocre, so when you go to a game at Wrigley Field, you pretty much know what you’re going to get.

It’s been nearly 2 decades since the Cowboys have competed for a Super Bowl, but at the beginning of each season fans are told it’s Super Bowl or bust.  So by missing the playoffs or making it in and losing quickly, there’s the perception the Cowboys are underachieving.

It’s hard to root for an underachiever as opposed to an overachiever.  Can you say Tebowing?

Then there are folks like me. I heard this week (haven’t checked but sounds legit) that in eight of Jason Garrett’s nine losses as head coach the team has had a 4th quarter lead.

It’s deflating to watch the team invent new ways to lose games.  I think fans have a hard time emotionally investing in the team when in the back of their minds, they’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The Big T.V.

It’s really hard to get into the game when you’re mesmerized by that ginormous 60 yard HD TV screen hovering above the field.

Segregation

The Hardliners made a pretty good call on this one yesterday.  When my son and I went to the Seahawks game this year (via $15 tickets purchased on StubHub) we decided to take a look around the stadium just after halftime.  We never made it back to our seats

Our initial plan was to circle the concourse, but obviously we had to stop when we made it to the restricted section.

I’m not tripping on there being parts of the stadium that common folks don’t have access to.  What was inconvenient was the fact that we had to get our tickets scanned so we could go outside, walk a quarter way around the stadium, then rescan our tickets to get back in.

After leaving the gift shop, rather than exiting the stadium and walking back to our seats, we exited the stadium and walked back to our car.

Too Far From the Action

Some of my favorite visits to Cowboys Stadium have been for high school football.  At those games you have access to parts of the stadium that many of us would not get to see on a Sunday.  It’s about 50/50 between watching the field and watching the screen on the first level.

I attended one of the Pacquiao fights and had pretty good seats there. It was probably my favorite Cowboys Stadium experience to date.

I sat on the Club Level for at A&M Arkansas game.  Not bad.  The fans were into it, but it was nothing like being somewhere like Kyle Field.

For the All-Star Game I literally sat about as far away from the court as possible.  It sounded like a church in there it was so quite.

This isn’t unique to Cowboys Stadium.  In new stadium designs it’s tough to avoid obstructed views and get fans close to the action. The food downstairs is better, so why not just hangout on the concourse? The incentives to stay in your seat up top are minimal.

Who Wants To Be That Loud Guy?

There’s a certain mob mentality at sporting contests and especially at football games.  99% fans are responsible and use that energy for good.

When you’re at at a college football game and everyone else around you is standing up and cheering, you don’t want to be the person who’s just sitting there doing nothing.  At least you might stand up and clap your hands.

The reverse is true at Cowboys Stadium.  When everyone around you is sitting down saying nothing or complaining about Tony Romo, it’s hard to be the one person who stands up to go crazy. I don’t mind being that guy at church, but not so much at the Cowboys game.

Better Options Within The Stadium

The Cowboys on the field are competing for fans attention with so many in-stadium bells an whistles.

Your choice ends up being to look down on tiny people running around vs. viewing world class art, squating at one of the bars, buying a tall margarita, taking a picture with the Tom Landry Statue, visiting the gift shop….you get the picture.  We spent the last quarter of the game in the gift shop so obviously we weren’t cheering.

If the Cowboys were 13-0 this would all be a moot point.  But they’re not, so it’s not.

I’ve always thought the practice of “icing the kicker”, calling a timeout right before a field goal is attempted, was stupid.  As Chris Collinsworth said on the NBC broadcast tonight, statistically it doesn’t work.

But after Jason Garrett (accidentally) iced his own kicker Dan Bailey last week resulting in a loss, who could blame Tom Coughlin for the way he played it at the end tonight.

Clearly the Cowboys didn’t lose because of Dan Bailey.  If there was one play that cost the Cowboys the game, you have to look at the missed pass between Tony Romo and Miles Austin with just over 2 minutes to go.  And Rob Ryan’s 4th quarter defense stinks.

But from now on when Dan Bailey lines up for a game winning or tying field goal, he can expect the opposing coach to call timeout before the kick.  Bailey has been the best rookie this season, but the last two weeks has taken some of the luster off of what was a stellar season.

The college bowl system is an absolute mess.  But Cotton Bowl Stadium managed to get one of the better matchups this postseason as the Houston Cougars will face the Penn State Nittany Lions in the 2nd TicketCity Bowl on January 2nd at 11 a.m.

There are 35 bowl games (which includes the “national championship game”) this post season.  30 of those bowls lie outside of the BCS system.  Of those thirty games, only four match two teams ranked in the final BCS Top 25.  One of those games will be the Ticket City Bowl and another will be the Cotton Bowl in Arlington (Arkansas vs. Kansas St).

The Capital One Bowl (S.Carolina vs. Nebraska) and the Outback Bowl (Georgia vs. Michigan St.) are the other two.

For the University of Houston, the Ticket City Bowl is disappointing consolation prize for missing out on a BCS game (think Sugar Bowl).  The Cougars bring to Dallas a quarterback in Case Keenum who was mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate until this past Saturday.

And coach Kevin Sumlin is one of hottest coaching commodities out there right now although his star lost a little luster after U of H was smacked down in the Conference USA Championship Game.  If Sumlin leaves for Texas A&M or another coaching gig, it’s very possible he might not coach the team in the bowl game.

Penn State, well it’s been a rough couple of months for the Lions.  Word is the Care Care Bowl in Houston passed over Penn State due to the controversy surrounding the school’s handling of child abuse allegations.  Outside of the unfortunate events of that troubling situation, Penn State had a decent season. The game will give Houston the chance to show they can hang with a school from a BCS conference.

Last year on New Year’s Day, Texas Tech defeated Northwestern 45-38 in the inaugural TicketCity Bowl.  There were 40,121 in attendance for the 2011 contest.  That’s not a bad showing, but in the massive Cotton Bowl (current capacity 92,100) it makes for a half empty (or half full to the optimist) stadium.

I have to say I’m intrigued by the matchup, possibly to the point of purchasing a ticket and heading out to the good old Cotton Bowl.  But of course weather will be a factor as it always is in Fair Park this time of year.

Saturday night, two of the state’s top football teams squared off at Irving Schools Stadium in a classic Class 5A showdown.  The highly anticipated matchup lived up to the hype with DISD’s Skyline Raiders outscoring the DeSoto Eagles 41-31.

The game got chippy at times.  DeSoto received two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in one second half drive and Skyline was flagged for a personal foul at a critical juncture in the 4th quarter.

Things apparently reached a boiling point as Skyline proceeded to run out the clock.  Quarterback Devante Kincade lay motionless on the ground for a few moments before bouncing up and heading for the sideline.  Kincade seemed to suggest DeSoto players were going overboard after the play, and Skyline coach Reginald Samples ran on the field to protest before the final play was run.

As time expired, one Skyline coach threw off his headset in celebration, while others began to hip bump players and one another.  Then members of the Skyline squad began to flap their arms (like Eagles apparently) as they ran out to the middle of the field, taunting their opponents in lieu of lining up to shake hands.

Skyline and DeSoto don’t like each other.  This is the 4th year in a row the teams have met in the playoffs and last year DeSoto blanked Skyline 38-0.  Rumors on the Skyline side said a fake casket was delivered to the Red Raiders locker room with two shovels and an eagle on top.  Who knows….the point is, they don’t like each other.

For the last five years or so, Skyline has been DISD’s best hope to make a deep football playoff run.  I’ve travelled to Waco and across North Texas to watch Coach Samples teams as they’ve represented the district admirably.  In every instance Coach Samples squads have played hard to the final buzzer and have won and lost with honor.

But on Saturday night, that all went out the window.

This was one of the best high school games I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen plenty.  It’s a shame that Skyline celebrated as if they had won the state championship.  I was sitting with a group of Skyline alumni from the Class of 1990.  I asked them all if they were disappointed in how their alma mater handled the victory.  They all said yes.

Skyline coaches had a chance to diffuse a volatile situation but chose to throw gas on the fire. For a moment it looked like the night might explode.  But players eventually showed restraint and police rushed to the field and helped keep the two sides apart.  The head coaches were jawing at one another as they left the field and were separated by their assistants.

DeSoto head coach Claude Mathis said Samples and Skyline “should show some class,”  but DeSoto was not without fault.  Mathis’ players taunted Skyline during the game and it seemed to be some after the whistle action by his players as time ran out.

Skyline should have handled the victory better.  Sportsmanship has been lost in youth sports on so many levels.  I hope that the Raiders will regain their composure as they continue what I hope to be a long playoff run.

The Kimball Knights scored 21 straight points in the second and third quarter to put away the Carter Cowboys Saturday afternoon in the Oak Cliff Super Bowl at Kincaide Stadium.

Kimball opened the game with an impressive drive that stalled at the Carter 15 and settled for a 22 yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.  This was the last highlight for the Kimball offense in the quarter as quarterback Jaalen Adkins threw an interception on the next possession that was returned 40 yards D’arric Thomas to make the score 7-3 Cowboys.

Kimball’s next possession also ended in a turnover as Adkins fumbled after an impressive run that was returned 60 yards by Carter’s Courtney Arnick to increase the lead to 14-3.

From that point on, the combination of good Kimball offense and poor Carter offense changed the course of the game. Kimball played field position and eventually got the Cowboys backed up inside their 5 yard line. A 3-and out ensued with a short punt to the Kimball 31-yard line. The Knights went up top on the first play as Prentavious Moorhead out jumped two Carter defensive backs for the touchdown pass from Traveon Thibodeaux.

Carter’s offense decided to get into a giving mood and fumbled on their next possession at the Kimball 36. The fumble was scooped up by Knight linebacker Johnny Brown who raced untouched to the end zone to put the Knights up 17-14.

Carter appeared to retake the lead on the ensuing kickoff but the 80 yard kick return was erased by a controversial holding call on what may have been an acting job by a Knight defender.

The second half was a defensive struggle with the only score being a 6-yard run by Kimball’s Xavier Alexander to end the 3rd quarter. Neither offense could generate a consistent drive in the final stanza.

Up next for the Kimball (6-1, 3-1) is Seagoville at Henry Stadium Friday night while Carter (1-6, 1-3) faces Molina at Kincaide.

Let’s try not to focus on C.J. Wilson taking the loss in the All-Star game after giving up a 3 run home to Prince Fielder. Remember the winning league of the All-Star game hosts the first to game of the World Series as well as 6 & 7 (if necessary).  Still not sold on that rule but at least the All-Star game means something.

If you’re looking to plan your next week or two around the Rangers and the World Series, here’s what the schedule looks like.

Game 1: Wednesday, October 19 – Busch Stadium, St. Louis

Game 2: Thursday, October 20 – Busch Stadium, St. Louis

Game 3: Saturday, October 22- Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

Game 4: Sunday, October 23 – Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

IF NECESSARY

Game 5: Monday, October 24 – Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

Game 6: Wednesday, October 26 – Busch Stadium, St. Louis

Game 7: Thursday, October 27 – Busch Stadium, St. Louis