6/27

SPO-8:15- D Perez
HIC-6:00- Mendez
MYR-6:00- MDLS
FRS-7:00- Wieland
RRE-7:00- McClung
AZRL-pm- Blackwell?

6/26

SPO-8:15- Kukuruda
HIC-4:00- Buckel
MYR-3:00- Ross
FRS-6:00- Erlin
RRE-7:00- Hurley
AZRL- Off

6/25

SPO-8:15- Alvarez
HIC-6:00- Thompson
MYR-6:00- Loux
FRS-7:00- Pimentel
RRE-7:00- Feldman
AZRL-pm- Parra

6/24

SPO-9:00- S Perez
HIC-6:00- Jackson
MYR-6:00- Grimm
FRS-7:00- Webb
RRE-7:00- Jackson
AZRL-pm- Mavare

6/23

SPO-9:00- Payano
HIC-6:00- Tepesch
MYR-6:00- Boscan
FRS-7:00- Snyder
RRE-7:00- Ramirez
AZRL-pm- MDLS

6/22

SPO-9:00- D Perez
HIC- Off
MYR- Off
FRS-7:00- M Perez
RRE-7:00- Ramirez
AZRL-pm- Blackwell?

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Horace Silver - This is a fun timewaster - Vintage Mugshots from the 1920s 

"It has been calculated by environmental experts that one single bottle of imported beer uses 900g of CO2 - wiping out two-thirds of the annual carbon savings made by replacing all light bulbs in an average home with energy-saving models."

5/20
HIC-6:00- Jackson
MYR-6:00- Ross
FRS-7:00- Bleier
RRE-7:00- McClung

---------------------------

5/21

HIC-6:00- Mendez
MYR-5:00- Boscan
FRS-7:00- Perez
RRE-7:00- Ramirez

---------------------------------

5/22

HIC-1:00- Buckel
MYR-12:30- Wieland
FRS-4:00- Brigham
RRE-1:00- Jackson

------------------------------

5/23

HIC-6:00- Grimm
MYR- Off
FRS-11am- Pimentel
RRE-7:00- Hankins

---------------------------

5/24

HIC- Off
MYR-6:00- Erlin
FRS- Off
RRE-7:00- Feldman

----------------------------

5/25

HIC-6:00- Thompson
MYR-6:00- Loux
FRS-7:00- Bleier
RRE-7:00- McClung

JC and Parks are in Wilmington over the weekend to watch Myrtle Biatch play.  They should see Ross, Wieland and Boscan - just not sure what order yet - getting conflicting reports. Loooooove me some hyphens.

Nellie and Hammy shift their rehab stints over to Round Rock.  Godspeed, John Glenn.

Luke Jackson debuts today for the Hickory Lumberkings.  Raves have been raved about his stuff.  Don't let the country down, son.

Saturday night Martin Perez pitches @ San Antonio - great test to see if his apparent roll is fo' realz.

5/14

HIC-6:00- Melo

MYR-6:00- Ross

FRS-7:00- Feldman

RRE-9:00- Kirkman

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5/15

HIC-4:00- Mendez

MYR-2:00- Boscan

FRS-2:00- Bleier

RRE-2:00- Ramirez

---------------------------

5/16

HIC-6:00- Rojas

MYR-6:00- Wieland

FRS-7:00- Perez

RRE-9:00- Jackson

----------------------------

5/17

HIC-6:00-RAIN OUT

MYR-6:00-RAIN OUT

FRS-11am- Brigham

RRE-12:30- Hankins

------------------------------

5/18

HIC-3-DH- Grimm/Thom
MYR-11-DH- Erlin/Gomez
FRS-7:00- Pimentel
RRE- Off

---------------------------------

5/19

HIC-6:00- Tepesch

MYR-6:00- Loux

FRS-7:00- Mobley

RRE-7:00- Feldman

Ruiz is back from birthin' babies.  Paisano down to MYR.  McGuinness to DL.  DeFazio to DL.  Nicholas to MYR.

Frisco is on TV tonight and Jason Cole is the color guy.  Engel Beltre is still suspended for some reason.

Brett Perryman is a punk.  thedirkatron is scared of girls.  Yaya Toure.  Mike Olt just crushed a homer as I type.

Tonight is the beginning of the minor league playoffs.  3 of our teams are in action ...

SPO- Off
HIC-6:00- Ramirez
FRS-7:00- Bleier ---------------- 9/8
OKC-7:00- Moscoso

SPO-8:30- McBride 
HIC- Off ---------------------------- 9/9
FRS-7:00- Perez
OKC-7:00- BMac  

SPO- Off
HIC-6:00- Erlin ----------------- 9/10
FRS-7:00- Gutierrez
OKC-7:00- Mathis 

SPO-9:00- Stanford
HIC-6:00- Brigham ------------ 9/11
FRS-7:00- Ross
OKC- Swept

SPO-8:00- Rojas
HIC- Done ----------------------- 9/12
FRS- Done
OKC- Done

I updated the magic calendar with the first round info.  I'll try to remember to add boxscore links as the games get underway.

Uh-oh - not at 75 words yet, so ... here's a nice example of B&W photography for the shutterbug set.

And this crested black macaque is not impressed with you.

The Festival of Links is a collection of odds and ends linked for your interest.  A little of this.  A little of that.  A little time wasted.  Some items are sports-related, some are not, but all probably worth a click to check out.  Off we go ...

A Buick Regal and it's owner

Creepy robot dog thingie 

Season One of Archer - the links to FX work best I've found. 

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The old thread was up to 650 posts, figure a new one was due.  BTW, we all know you hate soccer and we all hate the Vuvuzelas.  So, check those two topics off your lists.  And no chat speak.  And please people, more emo - an unburdened heart is a happy heart.  Just ask John Terry.

The EPL released next season's fixtures.  My take on Manchester City's new sked ...

Start off in August @Spurs and vs Liverpool at home – interesting start to the season.

Finish season with some bad and some good –
bad – in each month of Jan-Feb-Mar-Apr we play a top-4 team away – ouch
good – finish with Spurs, @Blackburn, West Ham, @Everton, Stoke, @Notlob – That’s a pretty cushy finishing 6 games. I like that. My nerves should like that. Hard to fathom that there are 2 transfer windows to complete before those last 6 games arrive.

What’s the first impression you have of your team’s new fixtures?

Texas Stars coach Glen Gulutzan started Brent Krahn in goal attempting to break up the 3 straight losses Matt Climie suffered in Cedar Park, but the Hershey Bears scored early and often to tally a dominating 4-0 win on their home ice.

In the end the Stars couldn’t overcome the scoring drought of phenom Jamie Benn or the continuing absence of defensive cog Andrew Hutchinson. The Bear woke up … and the Bear ate us. Video highlights

What a first season though for the noobs near Austin – lotsa tradition and community goodwill was established. The Dallas Stars have got to be thrilled at seeing their primary farm team root themselves into the Heart of Texas like that.

The NHL draft is June 25/26. I’ll put together a preview package for it – full of links and skeds and mocks and stuff. Defending Big D and Andrews should have plenty of info to corral and present for seasonal hockey twits like us.  Until then ... Matt Treanor, y'all.

Texas Rangers fans saw just how impactful young top-of-the-rotation talent can be when Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 Pittsburgh Pirates in his MLB debut a week ago.  Now they're wondering if they have Strasburg-lite down on their AAA team in 23-yr-old righty Tanner Scheppers.  Scheppers made his first affiliate start as a pro Sunday afternoon, shutting out the Albuquerque Isotopes over 4 innings and LOWERING his minors ERA down to 1.32 over 34 IP, with 48 Ks to boot.  For as good as Scheppers already has been in 2010, what OKC pitching coach Terry Clark saw Sunday made him remark, "he's definitely getting better."

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Things were looking pretty solid when the Texas Stars got back to the Austin area after after taking the first 2 games in Hershey, but 3 straight home losses later and the Stars find themselves on the brink. No team has ever lost the first 2 games at home in the Calder Cup and come back to win the series. The Hershey Bears are sitting pretty to write a little AHL playoff history.

Defending Big D attended game 5 at the Center Park Center and shares their thoughts. Interesting take there on the insta-tradition the Stars have built their first season in Cedar Park, Tx.

The Stars have ridden the back of 20-yr-old Dallas Stars prospect Jamie Benn throughout the playoffs, but the kid just has not been able to impact the score column much against Hershey. Between international competition, the NHL regular season and now the AHL playoffs, Benn has logged more games than the NHL champion Chicago Hawks did this year – over a hundred contests. The year before Benn only played about 50. Kid’s tired.

With Benn’s attack blunted and their best D-man, Andrew Hutchison, out injured the last few games, the Stars are playing hamstrung. Hutchison was Texas’ 3rd best playoff scorer. Take him out and add in Benn’s woes and you got an offense that’s struggling and a defense that’s missing it’s rudder.

Game 6 is Monday night at 6:00 in Hershey.  The home team hasn’t won yet in this series. Hopefully the Stars remember that, buckle down and force a game 7.

These would appear to be the two heavyweights of Group C at the World Cup, so the winner of this match will have a huge advantage over the rest of the group.  That's why lots of folks think this will be be a dull, conservative affair with both sides perfectly satisfied with a draw outcome.  Not me, I think there will be a winner, and maybe even some fireworks.

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After the jump below is a collection of odds and ends linked for your interest.  Some are sports-related, some are not, but all probably worth a click to check out.  We plan to store these found links as we run across them and present them to SBN DFW patrons from time to time when the pile gets high enough.  A little of this.  A little of that.  A little bit of time wasted. 

We're gonna start off today with some high culture and go very very far down from there.  Enjoy ...

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When Rangers' first baseman Chris Davis was first sent down to the AAA Oklahoma City Redhawks after batting a maddening .188 over his first 15 games of the 2010 MLB season, his first intention, he tells OKCRedhawks.com's Bob Hersom, was to find consistent contact again. 

 "I started out just trying to get a feel for putting the ball in play, hitting the ball hard, getting some extra-base hits, driving in some runs, doing the things that a middle of the order guy, a run producer, is supposed to do."

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The AHL Calder Cup series is all knotted up at 2 after the Hershey Bears converted on the power play with 2 minutes to go in a 2-2 hockey game. A frustrating bench minor for too many men on the ice put the Texas Stars down a man and soon thereafter down a goal. The Bears deposited an empty-netter in the last minute to finalize the score at 4-2 Hershey. The Hundred Degree Hockey Blog thought the Stars played their game well, keeping the score low and controlling play … for 57 minutes.

Now the Stars face a best-of-3 championship series with the last 2 games on enemy ice, hopefully aware that the home ice team has yet to win in this war.

The Stars played without their best defenseman, Andrew Hutchison, meaning Trevor Ludwig, son of former Dallas Star Craig Ludwig, took the ice for the first time in the finals. Hutchison, whose status is day to day, skated but couldn’t play Wednesday night..

20-yr-old prospect Jamie Benn went pointless, but 22-yr-old Finnish prospect Perttu Lindgren gave the Stars a brief 2-1 lead midway through the 2nd period. 3 unanswered Hershey goals followed. Ouch.

The Stars’ final game on home ice will come in game 5 Friday night at the Cedar Park Center near Austin. Keep an eye on Defending Big D for the build up.