The Mavs will win this series.

It’s very easy to say that the day after the Mavs spank the Spurs.

It’s also very easy to say that a team like the Spurs will be able to adjust on the fly and regroup. I admire the Spurs as much as any team in this league. And, yes they have proven over the last several years that they can adjust as well or better than any other team in the NBA.

But, this is not last year’s Spurs team. This is not last year’s Mavs team.

This series is now prime for the Mavs taking…

Last night’s lineup created some very serious matchup problems for the Spurs. There is no doubt that they are smart enough to adjust. But I just don’t think that they are capable of matching up with this “new” Mavs lineup.

Now, saying that, I don’t think it’s time for the Mavs to start looking toward Phoenix. They need to take care of business against San Antonio. They need to finish this series off.

I am very happy that the City of Dallas has secured a two year extension of the Texas/OU game. But this is just a band aid. If attitudes don’t change, this band aid will not solve any problems.

This is a city being brought to it’s knees with personal agendas. This city about 15 to 20 years ago was perched on the edge of something and did not go forward. Other cities have gone forward. Other cities have advanced. Other cities have a huge advantage over the City of Dallas. They have elected officials who actually care more about the city than they do about their own personal agendas.

The City of Dallas found a way to throw away and enormous deal when it decided that it didn’t want of a Federal Prison to be constructed. The city turned it’s back on proposals for a horse track and a race track. They didn’t want the Ballpark and we are just very fortunate that the AAC deal was pushed through the system.

I don’t know what solves the constipation of this city. But this city desperately needs an enima.

Snap judgments and instant grades have become part of the NFL Draft landscape. The giving of absolute grades (A-B-C-F) can be a dangerous undertaking because teams may have had a plan they were sticking to. Plans we had not idea of. For example, Dallas surprised many by selecting a tight end in round two. But Dallas intends on drastically changing its offense by starting two tight ends and having no fullback.

So, realizing the risk of putting quickie analysis of the draft in print here are the initial evaluations of the ’06 choices. I believe a team’s draft grading MUST also take into account maneuvering that may have added future draft choices or veterans ready to play.

The Top 5

1) Arizona—Seven solid selections. No reaches. Lots of beef. Leinart fell into their laps.

2) Baltimore—This club knows what it’s doing. Had 10 picks in all. There’s a chance all 10 will make their roster. Didn’t pick a QB because they’ll get Steve McNair soon.

3) Cleveland—Good, solid, unspectacular drafting. Almost no reaches. Had 7 second day choices and made excellent picks

4) New England—Year in and year out nobody does it better. Six picks to shore up an offense that sagged in ’05. Maroney will be a star. A handful of very nice second day picks.

5) Dallas—First 6 picks all very good and taken where they belonged or later (value). Stuck to taking the best player available.

The Worst 5

1) Chicago—Had few picks and reached on many of them. Those players might be OK but none of the top 3 picks come close to representing value.

2) Washington—Had few choices. Dealt away their ’07 #2. Not a single pick got anyone’s blood pumping. Sooner or later they have to stop spending so many free agent bucks and make the draft a priority.

3) Buffalo—Reached for their first two choices. Then took some sliders. Lots of people liked their second day. Not me

4) Indianapolis—Colts like different sized players. But many of their picks are projections. I’m not sure Addai is the answer at RB after an LSU career where he never seized the fulltime HB job

The NFL Draft has ended. And a whole new set of evaluation parameters apparently have kicked into place.

For months and months and months prior to the draft fans and media plead for teams to simply take the best player available at any pick in the draft rather than reaching for a lower ability player simply because he fits a current need.

Then the Draft happens.

Suddenly a whole new set of criteria kicks in. Teams that drafted the “best player available” get ripped because they didn’t fill needs. So, which is it? Fill a need or take a better player?

For example, Houston’s getting torched for not coming to a deal with Reggie Bush. But, in truth, the Texans already have 2 good runners in Morency and Davis. Bush would have pushed each of those players into the background. Yes, he would have been an upgrade. But Mario Williams, the DE they chose #1, is also considered a spectacular player at his position, one that Houston currently has a huge need at.

If they had signed Bush he would not have filled a need, while Williams did. But when they signed Williams critics yipped at them for passing on a better player. If you are a critic, this is the best of both worlds. You could yell at them for either choice.

Let’s go to the Cowboys.

They, without question, need at least one solid Offensive Lineman. But, in round one Bobby Carpenter was a better player than any of those linemen left on the board. Ditto for round 2 where no tackle left when the Cowboys picked projected to be as good as a mid-2^nd pick.

By round 3 the same circumstance existed with nothing but mid-4^th rounders left on the board.

Dallas got solid value for every choice they made through the first 6 rounds. But, none of them were offensive linemen. So, some people are yipping at Dallas for not filling this need. Yet, when those same people look back the Cowboys draft history they complain that Dallas ignores the best player to fill needs with the likes of: Quincy Carter, Tony Dixon, Derek Ross, Kareem Larrimore, and many many others.

Every year the struggle at draft time is whether to draft the player that best fits your needs or simply the best player on the board. The “need” drafters can usually be easily identified by simply looking at the worst records in the National Football League.

If there is one overwhelming commandment on draft day it would be—“Thou Shalt Draft Ability”.

Fortunately for Dallas ability and need came together at the 18^th pick in the first round. One of the most glaring holes in the Dallas defense last year was the outside linebacker opposite rookie Demarcus Ware.

First round pick Bobby Carpenter fills that hole. He was not the most athletic LB available. He was not the best pass rushing LB available. He was not the best cover LB available. He was not the best run stopping LB available. HE WAS THE BEST LB AVAILABLE given the job description for that Cowboy position.

Ware will be the rush LB here. Carpenter will be asked to do a little bit of everything on the other side. That’s perfect for the most complete LB available when the Cowboys picked him up.

The 2^nd round selection of TE Anthony Fasano signals a whole new era of Cowboy offense. They will use 2 Tight Ends, 2 Wide Receivers and 1 Running back. There’ll be no blocking FB in the Dallas scheme.

To make this work the offensive line must prevent any quick penetration on passing plays. But the presence of a 2^nd Tight End should give Bledsoe 2 short-to-mid-range targets along with the longball threats of Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn. But that offense will put a premium on the RB’s ability to pick up any blitzer that comes free. Because we know that Drew Bledsoe isn’t terribly good at avoiding the rush.

The 3^rd round choice of Defensive End Jason Hatcher was almost without question a “best player available” type of pick. Hatcher’s stock had risen steadily during the off-season. Apparently New Orleans was ready to take him with the 2^nd pick of the 4^th round and Arizona would have pulled the trigger with the 10^th pick in the 4^th round.

But back to that pesky question of needs. Three significant holes still exist on the Cowboys—Free Safety, Right Tackle and backup Wide Receiver. Hoping that 2^nd day draftees could fill those holes is probably shaky thinking.

There is one player that I’d love to see still available when the Cowboys pick late in the 4^th round—Penn State Free Safety Calvin Lowry—he’s smart, plays the ball well, makes excellent adjustments and would certainly fill the description of the type of player the Cowboys need at that position.

It appears that the other shoe is about to fall in the Texas/OU tradition. Kirk Bowles of the Austin American Statesmen says that he believes the game will be removed from the Cotton Bowl.

Now that Texas and Arkansas has come to an agreement to play in 2008 and 2009 it just makes sense for the game to be played in Jerry’s new stadium. This means that the Texas/OU game will become a home and home series. If and when this happens it will mark just another in a series of sad moments in the sports history of the City of Dallas.

The Cotton Bowl is not in the list of the Top 100 stadiums in the nation. This goes back further than the City dragging its feet in the Dallas Cowboys negotiations. But a successful negotiation with the Dallas Cowboys would have certainly erased all of the bad memories.

I have plenty of Cotton Bowl memories. I love the Cotton Bowl. I love the Texas/OU game. The City of Dallas wants a long term commitment from Texas before they will put a $50 million bond on the ballot. But Texas has not committed and it looks like the game is history.

Everybody in this City government is suspicious of everybody else. What we’ve got here is a paralysis…paralysis by personal agenda. Personal agendas are in North Dallas, South Dallas, East Dallas, West Dallas…Personal agendas cover every race, every age group and every neighborhood in this city. That is what politics in this City have come to: None for all and all for one.

There is an appalling lack of cooperation in this City. And an appalling give a damn attitude about the future of this City. You don’t have to build everything that comes down…But the Racetrack has gone Ft. Worth, the Horsetrack to Grand Prairie, the Rangers stayed in Arlington and now the Cowboys are going to Arlington.

The Cowboys are gone and it appears that Texas/OU are going to be gone. Then what happens? What becomes of Fair Park? What becomes of South Dallas?

Hey, you may have not been in favor of the deal that the City cut for the American Airlines Center, but look at what’s happening in that area now. Do you remember what that area looked like before the AAC? That property was an environmental disaster. Look at it now.

You may have been opposed to the City funding a new stadium for the Dallas Cowboys. But let me ask you this question: who else is going to be willing to go to that area and invest the kind of money that will revitalize that neighborhood?

Maybe there’s a plan…But I’ve got decades of history telling me that City Officials have no plan and quite possibly no clue.