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2006 filled with surprises for Texas sports fans
Vince Young was sure he was coming back for his senior season at Texas. Only NFLdraftniks knew who Mario Williams was. Todd Dodge’s phone rang a lot, but it was never Bill Parcells or a Division I-A athletic director calling with job offers. Avery Johnson and the Dallas Mavericks were off to a strong start, but already headed for a second-round showdown with his mentor Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. That meant Tim Duncan had a good chance of finally defending an NBA title. Roger Clemens was retired, Jeff Bagwell wasn’t. Buck Showalter was managing the Texas Rangers. The only speedskaters you could name were the guy with the soul patch on his chin and Eric Heiden. And the only footwork associated with Emmitt Smith was to avoid would-be tacklers. OK, OK. You’ve pretty much got the theme by now: 2006 was a year of change, with plenty of surprises along the way. Before we flip the calendar to ’07 and see all the unex- pected delights the next 12 months bring, here’s a look back at the top story lines of this year involving Texas teams and athletes with Texas ties: NFL Flopping around at 3-3, the Cowboys were ready to collapse when Parcells benched Drew Bledsoe and turned the offense over to Romo, an undrafted, unproven backup the last 3 1/2 years. Owner Jerry Jones admitted he was lowering his once-high expectations for the season and was probably ready to give up when Dallas trailed going into the fourth quarter of Romo’s debut. Then the legend began. The Cowboys had their highestscoring fourth quarter ever, starting a 6-2 roll that’s carried them to the top of the NFC East and earned Romo a trip to the Pro Bowl. Terrell Owens gets a bullet point all to himself because, well, he always gets treated differently. This recap of his year needs no explanation for those who’ve been following his Cowboys career and isn’t worth explaining for those who’ve been able to tune him out: Hamstring, Tour De T.O., “I overslept, ” broken hand, accidental overdose, “25 million reasons to live,” drops, sleeping disorder, a nap in the end zone, drops, a Salvation Army donation, happy birthday to me, drops, beware the snitch and beware the spit. _ Texans fans know how folks in Portland felt after the Trail Blazers drafted Sam Bowie instead of Michael Jordan. Houston could’ve had Reggie Bush or Young, the hometown hero fresh off leading the Longhorns to the national championship. But questions about Bush’s character and a decision to keep throwing money at David Carr turned the Texans to Williams, a defensive end they hoped would give Peyton Manning cold sweats the night before Houston Indianapolis games. The Texans didn’t even bother trading down to get Williams. Charley Casserly quit as general manager soon after, supposedly for an NFLjob but wound up on TV. New coach Gary Kubiak has seen Carr regress, has no running game and the playoffs seem as far away as ever. At least DeMeco Ryans, their first pick in the second round, is definitely a keeper. _ LaDainian Tomlinson, a Waco native and former TCU star, brought the NFLrecord for rushing touchdowns back to Texas, even if he plays for the San Diego Chargers. Seattle’s Shawn Alexander took the crown last year from Smith, the former Cowboys star whose Q rating soared this year after he took his charming smile and, uh, great moves, to victory on “Dancing With The Stars.” College football The Longhorns won a thrilling Rose Bowl for their first national championship since 1969, then Young left, handing the offense to redshirt freshman Colt McCoy. He proved he was no Vince Young in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown with Ohio State, then spent the next two months showing he might be Major Applewhite. The small-town kid with the great name and tough resolve won eight straight games and set a school record with 27 touchdown passes. There was talk of Texas getting back into the national championship game until McCoy got hurt in a loss to Kansas State. A loss to Texas A&M, which ended with McCoy being carted off the field, kept the Longhorns from even defending their Big 12 South title. Six points. That’s all that stood between Texas A&M and an unbeaten season. Bashers of coach Dennis Franchione probably prefer to look at how close some of the wins were (a last-minute stand against Army?!) and they certainly can fret about why Mack truck, er, running back Jorvorskie Lane didn’t get the ball near the goal line late in some games. But the bottom line is Coach Fran has the Aggies on the upswing, with a top 15 finish possible if A&M beats Cal in the Holiday Bowl. Houston’s Art Briles can commiserate with Franchione; his Cougars were eight points from an unbeaten season. The Coogs won their first four games and their last six, winning the Conference USA title, with Kevin Kolb becoming the conference’s career passing leader. Perhaps the most underrated coaching performance in the country was done by Todd Graham at Rice. Taking over a 1-10 team built to run the wishbone, Graham brought in his high-flying passing attack and predictably started 0-4. The Owls ended up winning their final six, landing in a bowl for the first time since 1961. They were seeking their first postseason win since ’54 but lost 41-17 to Troy on Friday. Two years ago, North Texas was a Sun Belt dynamo. But coach Darrell Dickey couldn’t keep it up, losing his job before this season was over. Then things really got interesting. An angry alum demanded his name be taken off the team’s practice facility and the deposed coach’s name put on it. The school relented, then handed the keys to the Darrell Dickey Practice Field to a high school coach. Dodge is no ordinary high school coach, though, having built Southlake Carroll High into one of the top programs in the country and catching Parcells’ attention. Still, Division I-A is a big leap from Class 5A, something the school will be reminded often if this doesn’t work out. Could Big 12 defenses be catching up to Mike Leach’s offense? The Red Raiders went 7-4, with polished, pedigreed Graham Harrell unable to put up the eye-popping numbers of his less-gifted predecessors. Still, Leach was linked to various high-profile coaching jobs, although he seems likely to stay in Lubbock. The Baylor Bears won only one of their final six games and that was by a single point. Still, at 4-8 and ahead of Oklahoma State in the Big 12 South, there remains hope for coach Guy Morriss. As for the state’s other Division I-A schools: TCU went 11- 2, beating Northern Illinois in a bowl game; SMU narrowly missed a bowl berth, but going 6-6 with a promising freshman quarterback in Justin Willis was enough for coach Phil Bennett to keep his job; and Mike Price seems to be losing steam at UTEP, with the Miners losing five of their last six to finish 5- 7. One more coach to note: Ryan Leaf. The former NFLdraft bust/bad boy was the QB coach at West Texas A&M and helped the Buffaloes go 11-2, with Dalton Bell throwing for 3,998 yards and 32 TDs. High school football New rules let four teams per district into the 5A playoffs, opening the door to 52 percent of all schools in the largest classification _ even 3-7 Dallas Adams. Let ‘em all in and they still might not be able to slow Carroll, which sent out Dodge with his 79th win in 80 games. Dodge won his fourth state title and the school’s seventh Saturday night with a 43-29 win over Austin Westlake. That tied the state record, which Celina failed to stretch to eight after losing 22-19 to Liberty Hill on Saturday in the Class 3A Division II state championship. Perhaps the wackiest high school story of the year comes from Willis, where coach Mack Malone kicked six players off the team for being late to practice. Their excuse? They were donating blood. Malone let them back on the club the next day, but still made them sit out a game. “It’s still showing that we’re being punished,” player Jeff Cheatham said. Perhaps the most important sports story of the year was the UIL mandating that all 1,300 public schools have automated external defibrillators by Aug. 1. The decision, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, came a month after an Austin Westlake player’s life was saved by using the device during a football game. NBA After a regular season that earned Avery Johnson coach of the year and Dirk Nowitzki was third in MVP voting, Dallas outlasted San Antonio in a seven-game series that still needed overtime to be decided. The Mavs beat the Miami Heat in the first two games of the finals and seemed headed to a sweep with a 13-point lead with 6:34 left in Game 3, but didn’t win again. (Blame the refs or blame Mark Cuban for blaming the refs.) Sent into summer early by Manu Ginobili’s silly foul on Nowitzki that let the Mavs force OT in Game 7, the Spurs only made some minor tweaks to the roster. Smart move as Ginobili, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker have San Antonio off to a solid start. The best way to slow the Spurs this postseason could be strategic scheduling of Parker’s bachelor party; he’s engaged to actress Eva Longoria. After an injury-ruined season, the Rockets are going strong thanks to the dominant play of Yao Ming. But it comes with a warning: Tracy McGrady’s back problems are already acting up and Bonzi Wells is merely acting up. The Rockets also played host to the All-Star Game in ’06, with stunning results from the skills competitions: 7-footer Nowitzki was the best 3-point shooter and 5-foot-9 Nate Robinson of the Knicks was the top dunker. Major league baseball The Astros made things interesting in September for a third straight season, but this time it was just a tease. After being 8 1/2 games out of first place in the NL Central on Sept. 20, Houston rallied to within a half-game before fizzling. Maybe the Astros can take some solace in having kicked the St. Louis Cardinals into a gear they rode all the way to the World Series title. The offseason has been interesting, too, with Andy Pettitte threatening retirement then rejoining the New York Yankees and possibly taking Clemens with him. Jason Jennings joins the rotation, although it took Willy Taveras and two pitching prospects to pry him from Colorado. Also, Craig Biggio re-signed for a year, and Bagwell called it a career after not playing all season anyway. The Rangers flopped again under micromanager Showalter, so GM Jon Daniels dumped him and hired Ron Washington, who has no managing experience but oozes charm and personality. Pitching is the team’s biggest problem, though, and owner Tom Hicks is pursuing a bunch of arms to help his new skipper. The first biggie is closer Eric Gagne, who’s been hurt the last two years. College basketball Texas Tech’s Bob Knight has been called a lot of things. Pretty soon, he’s going to have to be called the winningest coach in men’s college basketball history. Knight already has passed Adolph Rupp for No. 2 and on Saturday tied Dean Smith’s mark of 879 wins when Tech beat Bucknell. The Lady Raiders, meanwhile, have a new coach: Kristy Curry, who left Purdue to replace Marsha Sharp after she retired following a 24-year career that included a national championship. Curry got Tech back into the poll early this season, but the club has fallen back since. Billy Gillispie and Gary Blair are doing their best to turn Texas A&M into a basketball powerhouse. “Whoever would have thunk it,” Blair said in a recent online message to fans, remembering his first Aggies women’s team going 2-14 while the men were 0-16. Gillispie’s men won 21 games and made the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1987. The Aggies upset Syracuse in the first round, then lost by one point to eventual Final Four participant LSU. They recently were ranked sixth, the best in school history. Blair’s club also hit a high point, reaching the top 10 for the first time, after making the NCAA tournament last season. _ The Longhorns won a school-record 30 games, but needed 31 to get to the Final Four, losing to LSU in the regional final. Then P.J. Tucker, LaMarcus Aldridge and Daniel Gibson left for the NBA, with Aldridge being taken second. Now coach Rick Barnes is building around freshman Kevin Durant, but his tremendous all-around game probably won’t be in Austin beyond this season. Things were supposedly going well for the Lady Longhorns, too, but a ballyhooed freshman class couldn’t live up to expectations and injuries, finishing 13-15 for coach Jody Conradt’s third losing season in 30 years at Texas. Lopsided losses to Duke and Tennessee show this year’s team has a ways to go, too. This time last year, Baylor’s women were defending a national title and the men hadn’t even started their season because of penalties. All-American Sophia Young led the women back to the Sweet 16, losing to eventual national champion Maryland. The men went 4-13 in their conference only season; they already have more wins this season. SMU is trying to make its way into the hoops scene, hiring Matt Doherty, an AP coach of the year when he was at North Carolina. He started 9-1 and the program got another boost with the announcement that a spiffy new practice facility is being built. Although Hollywood fiddled with the facts, the movie “Glory Road” told the story of the 1966 Texas Western team that beat Kentucky with the first allblack starting lineup in a championship game. High school hodgepodge Nikki Lopez of Cameron Yoe won a gold medal at the state track meet as a freshman, but her promising career slowed when she got pregnant. As a senior, she won the Class 3A 100 and 300 meters two days before Mother’s Day, then gave her prizes to her son, Jordan. “He loves shiny things,” she said. At the state basketball tournament, Plano beat defending 5A champ Humble Kingwood 60-58 in overtime. Plano’s John Roberson hit six 3-pointers. Nic Wise hit seven for Kingwood but missed his last that would have won the game. Fond farewells Byron Nelson and Lamar Hunt were true gentlemen from another era. In death, it was their humility that stood out above their accomplishments, and both accomplished a heck of a lot. Nelson won a record 11 straight golf tournament during a record-filled career, then retired once he’d made enough money to own the ranch of his dreams. He stayed there until his dying day on Sept. 26, at age 94, but always remained close to his sport as a teacher, fan and icon. His namesake tournament has raised more than $94 million for charity, tops in PGA Tour history. When Hunt was born, his dad was the richest man in the world. Yet he always stuck his hand out and genuinely introduced himself to people as if they were the ones of wealth and privilege. He made his mark in sports by founding the AFL, negotiating the merger with the NFLand coining the term “Super Bowl,” but also played a major role in pro soccer and tennis, plus collected six NBA championship rings through his part-ownership of the Chicago Bulls. Hunt died Dec. 13 at age 74. Others eulogized in 2006: Former Astros pitcher Joe Niekro, former Texas A&M football star John Kimbrough, former Cowboys coaches Ernie Stautner and Joe Brodsky, former Texas football star Bud McFadin, former Texas State coach and AD Bill Miller and Bevo XIII, the longest tenured Longhorns mascot. Looking ahead to ’07 Dallas Stars center Mike Modano is closing in on the NHL records for goals and points by a U.S.-born player. The NHL All-Star game will be played in Dallas on Jan. 24, making it a rare midweek event. Biggio is 70 hits from 3,000. That’s the snapshot as of late- December 2006. Next up is the fun part, waiting to see how things develop over the next 12 months. |
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