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UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in TEXAS SPORTS.

Kimi Raikkonen took his Ferrari to victory in the FORMULA 1 PIRELLI 2018

UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX. It was the Finn’s first win since the 2013

Australian Grand Prix. Joining him on the podium in Austin were Max Verstappen and Lewis

Hamilton, second and third respectively for Red Bull Racing and Mercedes. The Englishman thus closes in on a fifth world title, extending his lead over

Sebastian Vettel by a further three points, after the German finished fourth today. Hamilton now leads by 70 points with three races remaining.

It was a really exciting race, with the crowd on the edge of their seats from start to finish. Raikkonen produced an impeccable drive, doing a clever job of

managing his tyres and getting every last drop of performance out of his Ferrari.

Raikkonen was the only front runner to start on the Ultrasoft tyres and he overtook pole sitter Hamilton at the first corner, settling down to a fast pace,

although he never really shook off his pursuers. Behind these two, Valtteri Bottas held onto third place, while Daniel Ricciardo and Vettel locked horns.

As was the case a fortnight ago in Suzuka, the German found himself colliding with a Red Bull and spinning before dropping down the order.

Ricciardo was able to continue and seemed to be heading for a good result, given his pace, but on lap 9, his Red Bull stopped because of an engine energy

store failure. The Australian thus posted yet another retirement in what has been a troubled season. As for Verstappen, having started 18th, he charged

up the order, just as he had done in Russia, to come up behind his team-mate.

The Virtual Safety Car was deployed while Ricciardo’s car was removed and Hamilton made the most of it to minimise the time lost compared to his rivals,

by coming in for Soft tyres on lap 11. At the time, Mercedes’ strategy seemed to be the right one, in that Hamilton had rejoined in third place and easily

closed on Raikkonen, who was running a longer stint. The Ferrari man stayed out until lap 21 before making his only pit stop, he too now running the Softs.

Behind the top two, drivers went for different strategies: having started on Softs, Verstappen tried the undercut on Bottas, stopping on lap 23 to take on

the Supersofts. Bottas responded next time round, fitting Softs. The Red Bull gamble paid off, because the Dutchman was able to get ahead of Bottas asthe

Finn rejoined the track and also because the Supersoft was clearly able to go all the way to the end without suffering much degradation.

The same could not be said of the Soft compound, especially on the two Mercedes. Hamilton started to suffer with a bit of degradation at the start of

lap 30, which saw his lead over Raikkonen drop from 17 to 9 seconds in just six laps. Inevitably, the championship leader had to make a second stop for a

set of new Softs, after which, he rejoined in fourth place.

On lap 38, Raikkonen led the race, with a 2.5 second advantage over Verstappen. Bottas was 9.1s back, Hamilton at 12s and Vettel trailed his team-

mate by 16.2 seconds. Quite rightly, Mercedes asked Bottas to move over for Hamilton after which the Englishman charged after the two cars in front. If he

had managed to take second place and his team-mate could have held off Vettel, then a fifth title was in the bag, here in the United States.

But the race ended with a different script. Hamilton tried all he could to pass Verstappen, but the Dutchman fought him in a hard but fair manner,

especially on lap 54, when Hamilton seemed to have got the upper hand, before running wide in the final sector, which meant Verstappen could make

good his escape. This scrap played into Raikkonen’s hands, as he managed to eke out a small lead. But it was all he needed to return to the top step of the

podium after a very long absence.

On that 54th lap, Bottas was clearly struggling even more with his tyres and had to give best to Vettel, who thus managed to limit the damage, keeping

the title fight alive for at least one more round.

The fight for the top places was fascinating all the way to the end, but the other points places were not completely decided until well after the

chequered flag had been waved. Nico Hulkenberg crossed the line in sixth spot, followed by Carlos Sainz, Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen and Sergio

Perez. However, post-race scrutineering led to the disqualification of Force India’s French driver, because his “fuel mass flow exceeded 100 kg/hr during

Lap 1 of the race.” A similar fate befell Haas’ Danish driver, because the “amount of fuel consumed exceeded 105 kg during the race.” This promoted

Brendon Hartley to ninth and Marcus Ericsson to tenth.

After this trip to the States, which featured an F1 show on the streets of Miami as well as the Formula 1 race, the pinnacle of motorsport stays in the

Americas, moving on to Mexico City where the FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE MEXICO 2018 takes place at Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez next weekend.

Stars Tame Wild

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in TEXAS SPORTS.

Stars Tame Wild with Second Straight Four-Goal Third Period

 

CEDAR PARK, Texas – The Texas Stars, American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, and the Iowa Wild were scoreless in the first half of tonight’s game at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park, but combined for nine goals in route to a 5-4 Stars win. Texas scored four goals in the third period for the second straight game to earn the win and put Iowa in the loss column for the first time this season.

 

Ben Gleason opened the scoring for the Stars to tie the Wild in the second period with his first goal of the season. The power play tally was the first of three goals on the man advantage for the Stars in the game as the rookie defenseman danced his way to an unassisted goal.

 

With the tie score holding until the third period, the flood gates opened. Mike Liambas scored his third of the season on a rebound for the Wild to advance the score to Iowa’s favor. The Stars turned a power play into the tying goal four minutes later. Michael Mersch connected for his second goal in as many games, battling in front of the crease at 5:28 of the third period. Less than thirty seconds later, Nicholas Caamano cashed in his second goal of the season, deflecting the puck off an Iowa defender and into the net.

 

The Stars seemed to control the pace but Iowa answered as Cal O’Reilly scored his first of the year to tie the game at 3-3. Penalty time continued to hurt the Wild who put the Stars on eight power plays in the game. At 9:01, Gleason continued his successful night, launching a pass to Joel L’Esperance for a redirection. The goal pushed the Stars to a lead that they never relinquished.

 

Third year forward Denis Gurianov helped the Stars solidify the win with insurance in the final six minutes. The winger notched his fourth goal in four games and held the game winning goal in the decision due to a final tally by Luke Kunin. The Wild netminder Andrew Hammond was pulled in the remaining 30 seconds to help pull his team within one goal but he suffered the loss with 21 saves as the comeback fell short.

 

Landon Bow earned his third win with the Stars, making 26 saves in the team’s victory.

 

The two teams meet again tomorrow night for a rematch at the H-E-B Center at 7 p.m.

Get in the Game: Exhibit at LBJ Presidential Library

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in Football, NFL FOOTBALL, TEXAS SPORTS.

(AUSTIN, TX)  The Fight for Equality in American Sports examines the intersection of social justice and sports in the United States.  The exhibition celebrates athletes who have broken barriers and spoken out for equality, both on and off the playing field.

 

Get in the Game begins at the turn of the nineteenth century by exploring the experiences of athletes of color in the early days of organized American sports and how those athletes contributed to the development of modern day athletics. “From Jack Johnson (recently pardoned by President Donald J. Trump) to Jackie Robinson and Billie Jean King to Jason Collins and Ibtihaj Muhammad, Get in the Game reflects sports as an indelible platform toward our ongoing quest for civil rights and social justice for all Americans,” said Mark K. Updegrove, President and CEO, LBJ Foundation.

 

The exhibition continues through to current day, stopping along the way to spotlight athletes and events that have contributed to or changed conversations around issues of race, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and religion in the United States.

 

By connecting beloved sports figures and defining athletic moments within the greater context of American history, visitors of all ages will learn about the courage of these leaders and view current sports issues in a discerning light. An interactive social media wall encourages an ongoing conversation about equality in sports.  #LBJGetInTheGame

 

Exhibition highlights

  • Stephen Curry, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and LeBron James autographed jerseys
  • Olympic Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad’s hijab, mask, and jacket
  • Michael Jordan’s first Nike Air Jordan Sneakers and others from 1985-2000
  • Venus and Serena Williams’ 2008 Olympic uniforms
  • Muhammad Ali’s autographed boxing gloves
  • Billie Jean King’s tennis dress
  • Jackie Robinson’s game-worn pants and autographed baseball
  • Jim Brown’s shoulder pads and autographed football
  • Jesse Owens’ diary from the 1936 Olympics in Berlin
  • Lee Trevino’s glove and hat
  • Negro League baseball jerseys and cleats
  • Black Fives Era basketball artifacts
  • All-American Girls Professional Baseball League artifacts
  • Colin Kaepernick and Colt McCoy autographed football

And lots more!

 

 Generous support of the exhibition is provided by The University of Texas at Austin.

 

LBJ_7899

 

Horns Win Red River

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in TEXAS SPORTS, UT FOOTBALL.

In what would ultimately be the highest total scoring game in the history of the Red River Showdown, the game lived up to its name in historic fashion. Dicker the Kicker of Austin Lake Travis nailed a 40-yard go-ahead field goal with seconds left in the game Saturday a the Cotton Bowl.
No. 19 Longhorns get a huge victory for Tom Herman’s young team with a 48-45 win on Saturday over No. 7 Oklahoma after a heart racing 4th quarter push by the Sooners late at the Red River Showdown. The Longhorns had a lead 45-24  into the fourth quarter but offensively looked rattled through a series of conservative calls. For a the top half of the 4th quarter it looked like Texas was self destructing. However, Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger, looked good all day, put a final game winning drive with about 2:38 left to get the Horns into field goal range. Texas has won five straight on the season and the first over Oklahoma since 2015.
Is Texas Back in the race for a  Big 12 Title?
The season is a third of the way into its games and the Horns are looking good at this point with big wins this season over top ranked USC, TCU and now Oklahoma.
Herman has a history for being an underdog. He’s now 10-4 overall and 13-1 versus the spread in similar games. Texas will likely be the favorite for its remaining match ups .
The Horns will host Baylor at DKR next week on Oct 13th where they are so far undefeated at home in 2018.

 

Texas Stars Win Season Opener

Written by Daniel Jones on . Posted in TEXAS SPORTS.

Texas Stars win season opener

BY DANIEL JONES

Outside it was a balmy 80-plus degrees, but inside the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park Friday night, Oct. 5, the ice was cold – marking the beginning of hockey season for the Texas Stars.
The Stars, who are the American Hockey League’s affiliate for the NHL’s Dallas Stars, opened their 10th season with a 3-1 home win over the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Coming off a strong season in which they won the Western Conference Championship with 38-24-0-14 record, the team picked up right where it left off.
Stars left winger Colton Hargrove scored an unassisted goal early in the first period before the Griffins tied the game going into the second period.
In the second period, center Joel L’Esperance scored on assists from Hargrove and right winger Erik Condra, sending the Stars into the third period with a 2-1 lead.
Lastly, Stars center Justin Dowling, in the last remaining minutes of the game, scored in an empty net after Grand Rapids had pulled their goalie.
Ultimately, the Stars took 21 shots on the night; the Griffins took 25, but Stars goalie Landon Bow was a defensive force with 24 saves on the night.
  “I thought we were really resilient – kind of the trademark of our organization. I like the way we handled that, especially with 11 new guys in the lineup,” said Stars head coach Derek Laxdal after the game. His contract was extended earlier this year, tonight marking his fifth season leading the team.
“… It’s always tough to get that first win,” he added, “so now we can move forward and focus on the second one.”
The Stars play the Milwaukee Admirals Saturday, Oct. 7, at 7 p.m., at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park, the Admirals’ first game of the season. Last season, the Stars beat the Admirals three out of four times.

Texas OU Preview

Written by Hunter Cooke on . Posted in TEXAS SPORTS.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.
That phrase was coined by Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, a Frenchman who had a penchant for satire. The showdown between Texas and Oklahoma coming on the first Saturday of October, however, is no laughing matter.
The duo broke in new coaches last year, Tom Herman for the Horns, and Lincoln Riley for the Sooners. Riley and Oklahoma took the first encounter 29-24, but it wasn’t easy. Sam Ehlinger, despite being punished every play for merely existing on the same 100 yard long and 53.5 yard wide field as the Sooners, put on a fine display of quarterbacking under pressure.
This year could be different though. Baker Mayfield, a son of Austin and now of Oklahoma, is long gone to the Cleveland Browns. Several Longhorn stalwarts are gone too, most notably on the defensive side of the ball. One thing is for sure: this is a largely unpredictable rivalry.
We’ve already mentioned Sam Ehlinger, so let’s focus on other Longhorn standouts. At the time of writing, Tre Watson leads Texas in rushing with a respectable 4.1 yards per carry. Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson have been solid receivers so far, despite the Longhorns’ struggles to move the ball at times. Keaontay Ingram has also flashed potential at the running back position as well.
On the defensive side of the ball, look for Charles Omenihu to make some big plays from the defensive end position. Breckyn Hager provides a solid bookend on the other side of the defensive line. Anthony Wheeler is having a solid season at linebacker, and the ‘Horns are talented in the secondary with Kris Boyd and P.J. Locke providing veteran knowledge, and Caden Sterns and B.J. Foster providing raw talent.
At the time of writing, Oklahoma looks like a juggernaut on offense. Few have been able to slow the Sooners, who are led in rushing and passing by Kyler Murray, who will leave after this season to join the Oakland Athletics. Murray made a whopping 4.7 million bonus for signing with the A’s, and will easily be the highest paid player on the field since this is college football and there’s definitely no other players getting that kind of money from bagmen or their universities. Bruising running back Trey Sermon returns as well, and CeeDee Lamb is a deep threat every time he steps on the turf.
On defense, the Sooners have some young stars of their own. Freshman DB Brendan Radley-Hiles is looking like a star in the making, and Curtis Bolton and Kenneth Murray are legitimate All-Big 12 contenders. The Oklahoma defense gives up some points, but with their offense they can afford to spot teams some points.
Texas is better this year, sure. But this is an Oklahoma team that appears to be just as good as the team that went to the College Football Playoff in 2017, and lost in overtime to Georgia in the semifinals.
Be patient, Texas fans. This one might not be your year. But anyone who knows anything about football can tell you that Tom Herman’s teams are improving, and his most promising players are his youngest. Your Longhorns might not pull this off. But they’re well set up for huge Big 12 runs in the future. There has been change, but for now, it’s likely that history will repeat itself with an Oklahoma win.

Houston, we have a QB.

Written by Charles Branch on . Posted in NFL FOOTBALL.

The Houston Texans last year found their quarterback of the future in Deshaun Watson. Many fantasy owners for about five weeks dominated their leagues because of his dominance in games. And it showed drastically with his chemistry with DeAndre Hopkins and his last four games with a Quarterback rating of at least 100 before suffering a torn ACL in practice. J.J. Watt was also lost for the season from a leg fracture in which Jadaveon Clowney had to step up to prove his first round caliber a few years ago.
Many outside fans and media have questioned how high this Texan’s ceiling and pedigree is under Coach Bill O’Brien who has many wondering if he is the reason they haven’t taken that next stop to become a championship level team. The Texan’s have the franchise quarterback, the playmaking receiver, and a defense that can take over games when they have to. All it needs it for it all to come together.
The AFC South has gotten stronger among the Jags, Colts, and Titans who have made drastic changes. Sacksonville has maybe taken over the top of the division with their elite defense, Andrew Luck is back and can maybe continue where he left off, the Titans made the playoffs and have made a coaching change with former player and coach Mike Vrabel. Vrabel spent 2014-2017 on the Texan’s sideline coaching the linebackers and last season as the defensive coordinator. It doesn’t seem like the week division Houston fans have come to be familiar with.
The addition of J.J. Watt and Tyrann Mathieu , the development of Watson, and the continuing growing of the running game can take this team great lengths in the 2018 season.
Unfortunately the first two weeks of the season they got off to slow starts against the Patriots and Titans but made some strides late in the game to come back before falling 0-2. The running game has picked up steam thanks to Lamar Miller.
Houston must come alive early in games to avoid stagnant offensive drives. They have the fire power but there needs to be better game planning and execution from the players and coaches. The AFC isn’t strong like it’s been in past years. The NFC is almost eight deep now with the emergence from the Rams and Vikings. So unless something changes the AFC might have a 9-7 team to sneak into the sixth seed this year, but that’s three months away and there is a ton of football left.
Here’s to a great season, tailgates, cookouts, and yelling fans on Sundays. Get your lungs ready the first couple of weeks are over and the rust is wearing off. Now is the time to get ready for some football.

What have you done for me lately Jerry?

Written by Thomas L. Seltzer on . Posted in NFL FOOTBALL.

The Dallas Cowboys’ 59th NFL season is under way, their 30th under the ownership of Jerry Jones. No franchise has a richer history than the Cowboys, who have won five Super Bowls and are the most valuable sports team in the world. Forbes sets the value at $4.8 billion.
A few short months before Jones bought the Cowboys and fired Head Coach Tom Landry, I had the privilege of meeting Landry. The date was November 20, 1988, and the Cowboys had just lost 38-24 to Boomer Esiason’s Cincinnati Bengals. It was their eighth straight loss.
As a kid growing up, I watched Landry prowl the sidelines of Sundays. He was the man in the hat, the stoic leader of America’s team, impeccably dressed and sporting a fedora. In those days, I didn’t like the Cowboys since I lived in St. Louis, home of the Cardinals (before they moved west).
On that day in 1988, that same stoic man was standing in front of me, bigger than life. Always the gentleman, Landry was calmly answering questions in a press conference in the Cowboys locker room at Texas Stadium. I was the sports editor of the now defunct Shreveport Journal at the time.
At the press conference, Landry was trying to explain how America’s team had slipped to 2-10. The team had been in decline since the mid-1980s, but things had gone from bad to worse. The last time the Cowboys had lost eight games in a row was in their first season under Landry – 1960.
 The Cowboys had been an NFL powerhouse for more than two decades but were now the NFL whipping boy. Still, Landry had nothing but accolades for the 9-3 Bengals, and he had no disparaging words for his beleaguered team. Landry was a man who epitomized the word “classy.”
“We’re having a tough year,” I recall Landry stating in his normal deadpan voice. That was an understatement from the man who had become a lightning rod for all of the criticism directed at his team. Cowboy fans weren’t accustom to losing, and they weren’t handling it well.
I recall that I wrote a column the next day entitled “What have you done for us lately, Tom Landry?” Had all of these myopic boneheads forgotten Landry’s legacy? In spite of finishing with a 3-13 record in 1988, Landry’s record during his 29 seasons with the Cowboys was 418-250.
Landry and my favorite cartoonist, Charles Schulz, creator of Charlie Brown, died on the same day: February 12, 2000. Mike Thompson, the Detroit Free Press cartoonist, honored them with a cartoon showing the pair entering the pearly gates together. Landry had his arm around Schulz.
I was saddened by Landry’s passing, but I’ve always considered that his first death occurred three months after I met him that day at Texas Stadium. It was February 25, 1989, and Jones’ first act as the new owner of the team was to announce the firing of Landry.
Jones went on to announce that University of Miami coach Jimmy Johnson, who played with Jones at Arkansas, would replace Landry. Like Landry, Jones had a tough first year. The Cowboys were 1-15 in 1989, but they went on to win Super Bowls in 1992 and 1993.
On the 25th anniversary of Jones’ purchase of the Cowboys and firing of Landry, Jones admitted that he acted too quickly in firing Landry after 29 years as the team’s head coach. “If I had a chance to do it over again I would’ve waited a year and just got my feet on the ground,” Jones said.
No one can dispute Jones’ success as a businessman. He bought the Cowboys from H.R. “Bum” Bright for $140 million, and it’s worth 35 times that much today. Taking a “hands-on” approach, Jones is also the Cowboys’ general manager. It’s not uncommon to see him down on the field with his team.
The 71-year-old billionaire makes it work. In three decades with Jones at the helm, the team have won three Super Bowls. But the last of those titles was 22 years ago, and Cowboys fans have grown restless. “What have you done for us, lately, Jerry Jones?”

 

Texas vs USC III

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in Football, TEXAS SPORTS, UT FOOTBALL.

Texas will get a chance to execute some much needed revenge against its 2006 National Title rival USC at DKR in Austin this weekend. Texas who was an underdog in last years contest at the Trojans came up just three points short in a double overtime thriller loosing 27-24 when freshman Chase McGrath hit a walk-off field goal to end the game.
Things are different this season as the music has changed song and to another venue for this renewed rivalry of recent years. Vince Young and Matt Leinart danced to their own tune with Texas’ 41-38 victory in that famous Rose Bowl match-up 13 years ago.
This year we get to witness the trilogy conclusion in this exciting match-up this weekend.
Sam Ehlinger’s turnovers last season as a freshman were key in the Trojans victory.
However, last year the game in Los Angeles was scoreless until 2:40 before halftime. The Longhorns tied the game shortly after when Darnold’s pass was tipped off receiver Jalen Greene’s hands and DeShon Elliott caught it for a 38-yard TD interception return.
The Trojans this year are coming off a loss as QB JT Daniels went 16-34 for 215 yards and threw two late 4th quarter interceptions against Stanford last week. It was far from his performance against UNLV in week 1 in the 2nd half.
While Texas’ defense has beefed up some despite loosing some big names like Elliot and Conner Williams, the horns escaped with a W at home last week hosting the Golden Hurricane. Unlike the Maryland game in week 1 the Longhorns took a 21-0 lead into half and coming out with a quick start at DKR against Tulsa. Both these teams sputtered offensively in the 2nd half of last weeks games. I think both teams will come out throwing the ball and being aggressive.
I’m not sure what the music will play out like this Saturday Night on the 40 acres, but If I had to guess, we are going to be tuned in for a good one. I expect this game to be a shootout with the edge slightly going to the Texas defense.
Horns enact some much needed revenge this week against the Trojans.
41-31 Texas wins.
Hook Em.

NFL passing record a Brees

Written by Russell Dowden on . Posted in NFL FOOTBALL.

Texas Sports Monthly is predicting that it will be week 6 of the 2018 NFL Season before Austin Texas’ very own Westlake Chaparral Drew Brees will be the NFL’s All-Time Passing leader. Brees will pass Hall of Fame QB Brett Farve the week before in Week 5 likely. Brees was 37-of 45 in week one this season putting up 439 yards and 3 TD’s in the loss against Tampa Bay.
Given the age of the competition, it is unlikely that anyone in Drew’s generation will catch up to the future Hall of Fame QB in passing yards.
We believe that Drew will ultimately be on top for many years to come with NFL passing. Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers are currently at 8th and 9th on the list while Eli Manning is amazingly only 5 short from his older brother Peyton. While Manning may be on top for the next few weeks, Drew will reclaim the passing title this October. Yet Tom Brady, who is older than Brees, is closing in on #9’s numbers. The biggest challenge for the GOAT (if he is indeed the greatest of all time), is can Tom Brady continue to play and stay on the field longer than Drew Brees?
Only time will tell and it is likely that Brady will be 2nd to the one time Westlake Chap of west Austin Texas. TSM believes that while some believe Brady may be one of the greatest QB to every play the game on Sundays, # 9 will edge out the GOAT as the # 1 all time passing leader in NFL History.
Go Drew!




Drew Brees   #9 QB

New Orleans Saints | Official Team SiteHeight: 6-0   Weight: 209   Age: 39

Born: 1/15/1979 Austin , TX

College: Purdue

Experience: 18th season

High School: Westlake HS [Austin, TX]