Forget the Cowboys: Stars, Rangers, and Mavs All Making Noise

I know that Dallas traditionally and especially with the media is a Cowboys town. I've come to accept that fact. Hell, I will freely admit that I despised the Cowboys when I first moved here. I grew up an ND fan and hated the University of Miami with a passion during my childhood. So when Jimmy Johnson left Miami for the Cowboys right about the time I moved to town, it was bad timing.


While I accepted the Rangers and Mavericks as my own upon arriving in the Metroplex circa 1989, I refused to root for the Cowboys because their new head coach was Jimmy Johnson. In hindsight, that decision was probably a huge mistake. Instead of letting bygones be bygones and forgetting JJ's college allegiance, I continued to root against the cowboys all during their championship runs of the 90s. I was the guy at the Super Bowl parties in this area rooting for the Bills while the Cowboys won 3 super bowls in 4 years. It was not a pleasant experience. Even now, the Cowboys are #4 on my Dallas sports pecking order because of that history.

While I may have missed out on some glorius times to be a Cowboys fan, I stayed true to my allegiances and feel like I am a better fan because of it.

Which brings me to my main point, you could argue right now that the other three DAllas franchises (Stars, Mavs, Rangers) who have always played 2nd fiddle to the Cowboys are all in better shape in terms of competing for a Championship than the city's #1 team.



Mavericks

21-7 T-1st with San Antonio for best record in the West

The Mavericks look to be in better shape than ever before to make a run at a championship. Even the 2002-2003 team which had a magical run all the way to game 6 of the Western Conference Finals probably isn't as well equipped as this Mavericks team to win a championship. Avery Johnson after going through some growing pains last year has assembled along with Cuban a team that has a legitimate shot to knock off San Anotonio in the west.

Dirk is the superstar and has really picked up all aspects of his game this season and is looking again like one of the top 5 or 10 best guys in the league.

The backcourt is shaping up nicely with Jason Terry, Devin Harris, and Darrell Armstrong all doing a good job handling the point guard duties.

If Josh Howard and Marquise Daniels can ever be healthy at the same time, they can provide a pretty formidable 1-2 punch at the small forward position.

Jerry STackhouse looks to be rounding into form especially after that posterized dunk on Jermaine O'Neal last night.

Desagana Diop has exceeded anyone's expectations in providing a formidable defensive presence around the basket

This team has everything it needs to make a deep run in the playoffs and the future is very bright indeed for the Mavs




Stars

23-10-1 47 pts. T-1st in Pacific Divison

After a very slow start to the season (especially from their goalie), the Stars quitely have been on a tear recently and have put themselves in good position to make a run this year hopefully deep into the playoffs.

The Stars have been able to find a good mix of veterans with up and coming young players to put together 2 or 3 good lines of scoring punch on their lines. Modano has had a renaissance of sorts teamed up with the always underrated Jeri Lehtinen.

If Turco can get that monkey off the back in the playoffs, look out. If anyone remember the Stars cup run in '99, you really can't beat playoff hockey. It should be a fun April/May/June around DFW if the STars and Mavs play up to capabilities this Spring.




Rangers

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

-- Letter from Andy Dufresne to Red in the movie Shawshank Redemption

I know readers around here get sick of me talking about the Rangers. Well, there is plenty of room on the Rangers bandwagon and I think 2006 could be the season the Rangers become relevant in this area again. The Rangers have been stuck in mud ever since their last division title in 1999 and have never won a playoff series in their franchise's history.

From the A-Rod trade debacle to the Chan Ho Park signing, this franchise has done almost nothing right (well, that's probably overly harsh but you get my point) in the last 5 years.

As hard as it has been to root for this team during the last few seasons, 2006 should be the year where all that pain and suffering pays off. The young, wonderkid GM Jon Daniels has basically done everything right this offseason short of bringing a 21 year old Roger Clemens in here. He has made all the right moves (Chris Young trade makes sense after the Millwood signing) and has not given away any major pieces of our farm system (Adrian Gonzalez would never have a role on this team as long as Tex is here) in the process.

The future has never looked brighter for the 3 "other" teams in Dallas sports.

So while everyone around the area (most especially the media) worries about the Cowboys playoff lives and how they are going to make it in, I will be waiting for the Stars, Rangers, or Mavs to bring Dallas its next championship.

And oh yea, the Horns are in the rose bowl too so we may be talking about that as well..