ROWDY TIME SPORTS

FC DALLAS 3 SEATTLE 1
David Texeira scored twice and Blas Perez put the game away with his fourth goal in the last three games as FCD powered its way to a 3-1 win over Seattle at Toyota Stadium.
Dallas has all but secured its spot in the MLS playoffs while possibly knocking Seattle out of first place in the West pending the result of Sunday’s contest between Los Angeles and New York.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

FC DALLAS 1 @ LOS ANGELES 2
Alan Gordon’s goal in the 84th minute left FC Dallas unable to stop the surging Los Angeles Galaxy as they completed the comeback 2-1 win over FCD at the StubHub Center in Southern California.
Blas Perez’s third goal in two games gave Dallas the lead in the 54th minute, but it only ended up firing up the Galaxy, as Robbie Keane tied the game eight mites later, setting up Gordon’s ultimate winner.
The Galaxy clinched a spot in the MLS playoffs, while FCD suffered its third loss in four games, dropping to four points back of third place in the West while holding onto a six-point lead over Portland for the fourth spot.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

I must apologize to Ron Washington.

I stand by what I said in my previous piece in that if someone from my beloved Texas Rangers is revealed to have committed sexual assault/abuse, it would be extremely devastating. Abuse and violence against women is a horror that is sadly running rampant in this country with not enough being done to counteract it.

But in a huge rush of emotion, coupled with a belief that I had to prove myself to some people in showing I would be equally critical to a baseball person committing such an act as I would a football person, I made a rush to judgment based on nothing but a rumor. And that was wrong.

For now, I have no reason but to accept Wash’s explanation that his reason for resigning as Rangers manager, admitting that he did indeed “break his trust” with is wife, suggesting that an affair had been committed, and that he needs the time to step away to fix his personal situation.

Once I got down from the emotional rush of considering that someone as beloved as Washington could have committed such an act. I began to try and look things over logically. Why has there not been any official accusation from anyone? All that I heard since was none Facebook follower doing an admittedly amateurish criminal background check that turned up one complaint lodged against a Ronald Washington around the Seattle area back in May. No extra confirmation as to a middle name or a date of birth, so nothing definite that this is the same Ron Washington (which isn’t an uncommon name). And is it was our Wash, how come no charges were yet filed by the time the Rangers twiced returned to Seattle this season?

Now, I’m not going to completely look down on Jaime Kelly for posting that rumor on her Sports Scoop blog; like she later said, someone else would have posted it eventually. But I will frown on Adam Morris of Lonestarball.com for not just relaying the rumor via Yahoo Sports but feeling the need to fan the flames by calling Kelly “a credible source” and pointing out that this would explain all the secrecy. That was unnecessary information that comes off as a trial by media, as if Morris flat out said, “this is what happen, you have no choice but to believe my colleague’s words.”

What might have started as a rumor about an affair could have easily exploded into someone thinking it was an assault. The gossip channel and second-hand information do very bad things to the facts, like a sensationalized version of The Telephone Game we played as kids.

Now, there are going to be people refusing to accept all this at face value, insisting that something more has to be going on, that a simple affair is not enough for anyone to walk away from a dream job. But my friends at the Jagger Mafia summed it up best: Say the affair was indeed with someone like the Asian reporter that people are rumoring was assaulted. Media members are constantly hanging around baseball clubs, and the Asian media is around the Rangers big time thanks to Yu Darvish. Wash would not be able to avoid this person, and that would make it near impossible to stop things and regain the trust of his family. Being put in a position where he has to choose between his dream job and his family does make sense in this case.

And as far as him having lawyers with him: Whether or not an assault was actually committed, the rumors have already been spread, so seeking legal advice on how to deal with that is the right move also. If you think no one should consult legal counsel if they have never committed any wrongdoing, you need to lay off the court drama TV shows.

Could more reevaluations come forward in the doing days/weeks/months regarding this? Anything is possible.

But for now, I’m going to take what has officially come forth at face value and hope that Washington can turn his life around, which may have a better chance of happening than the Rangers turning their organization around.

And I am going to look at my own self and constantly remind him that immediately trusting rumors without fact and contributing to the spread of those rumors is shameful.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Just like that, anger toward one side turns to despair and a sense of betrayal toward the other.

This next column was supposed to be about how Ron Washington would end up as the next manager of the Houston Astros, likely taking Mike Maddux with him. Now, all that is almost certainly out the window.

How do you cope with hearing that someone you admired, someone you enjoyed watching for years, someone who helped bring you the best moments of your life as a sports fan might have committed the worst offense in the world in your own personal belief?

Part of me is trying to still say this can’t be true, that Ron Washington’s resignation can’t have actually been over allegations of a sexual assault. As someone who has spoken out for women’s rights, who donates to RAINN and vilifies rapists and sexual assaults vehemently, this has hit home more than anyone could possibly know. I have stood by this franchise through the worst of times on the field, but this goes so much deeper.

I stand by my belief that the chances of football players committing physical and sexual assault are much greater than that of baseball players, because the former of those sports draws in the vicious and the violent. But when there is a flat out accusation, that can’t be denied.

Of course, at the moment, there is nothing but rumor of an accusation in this case, reported by sports blogger Jaime Kelly. Lone Star Ball’s Adam Morris quickly relayed the story to Yahoo Sports, citing Kelly as “a credible source.” But no official police report has been publicly disseminated. One Twitter follower of mine with a history in background investigations did track down a report filed on a Ronald Washington in Everett/Snohomish County, Washington in May, but notes she couldn’t input a date of birth or track down our Wash’s middle name for possible further verification. (She also says to put little stock in her search, admitting it to being done by an amateur).

Two women who’s judgment I trust as much as anyone are also skeptical to outright believe these charges until more evidence comes out. I guess that makes them bigger people than me.

Because I was taught to expect any claim of sexual assault to be true. Any claims that prove to be false are so rare that to assume innocence in any case is just asking to be a victim blamer, which is a huge problem in this country, as Steubenville and Maryville proved.

I’ve seen accusations be debunked in the past. Michael Irvin’s accuser in 1997 was made to admit she made the whole thing up. Whether I want to believe it or not, prosecutors determined Ben Roethlisberger’s accuser could not provide enough proof. Heck there are people who believe Mike Tyson was falsely accused and would never have been convicted had he not used a tax attorney for his defense lawyer.

But I stood by my belief that people like Ray Rice were guilty. Admittedly in Rice’s case, there was a good amount of evidence to begin with, and when more was revealed exposing him, there was vindication for me.

But now this has surfaced. And for me, how can I assume innocence in this case just because it’s the manager of my team in my favorite sport?

There are still questions. If this incident did occur in April as some are speculating, why did it take this long for just this much to come from it?

Regardless, the only way out of this is the unlikely chance that Washington becomes completely absolved in all of this. Because otherwise, not only would one of the people long believed to be one of the good guys have committed one of the worst offenses possible, the Rangers organization could be in the same guilty position of trying to cover it up as the Baltimore Ravens have been.

And that is something I don’t think I could ever forgive them for. I honestly don’t know right now if I could ever enjoy Rangers baseball again.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Just because you knew something was coming doesn’t reduce the despair and anger when it ultimately occurs.

It didn’t take a genius to realize this season was not going to end with Ron Washington remaining Rangers manger. It just took a lack of being naive and realizing this was inevitable with an organization who’s number one guy in charge making certain his stamp is all over the club, come hell or high water. The Rangers 2015 media guide might as well have Jon Daniels’ face on it, because that’s the only guy who matters anymore.

I must preface this by saying that all of us can only speculate at this point due to almost no information being released at this time. It is entirely possible revelations will ultimately come out that could prove me wrong.

But for now, the most likely scenario is this: Daniels finally got his wish in ousting the manager he’s wanted gone for at least two years now. This season, no matter what the injury count, was the excuse he needed. And once the first Friday came following the Rangers’ official elimination from playoff contention (it’s pretty common practice for any business to release the bad news on a Friday afternoon), the standard firing made to look like a resignation was announced.

Or maybe it was a resignation after all. It does seem likely that Wash made a pre-emptive strike before Daniels could lower the boom himself. Whatever the case, I can’t just up and buy the “personal issue” reason. That sounds like a reason you take a leave of absence, not up and quit the job you love altogether.

And yes, I am well aware that Daniels is the one who hired Wash even before Ryan came back to the Rangers. But GMs fire coaches they hired all the time; Tom Grieve hired and fired Bobby Valentine. Relationships can change.

And it seems pretty clear that the relationship between Wash and JD had been souring ever since 2012. From his reported barging into the manager’s office demanding how the lineup should be to firing his coaches, it’s JD had been undercutting and undermining Wash for some time now. And when the team president that had his back despite being brought in after Ron’s hiring was forced out, the writing was on the wall.

If you don’t think Daniel’s influence is now in the dugout, just look at the completely overhauled lineup for the team’s first game without Wash. Elvis Andrus reduced to DH so Rougned Odor and Luis Sardinas could both be in the middle infield. Tomas Telis, not even regarded as their top catching prospect, batting third. Three of five infield positions filled in by players who started the year in AA.

With all that, the club that gave me the greatest moment of my life as a sports fan is completely destroyed. October 22, 2010 seems like one of the most distant memories.

There are some that will continue to think that this is not a big deal, that Washington was just like Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz – all of them nothing but easily replaceable cogs. They’ll cling to the belief that the franchise that, prior to 2010 was the oldest to never reach the World Series, has now suddenly become this machine that just churns out talent and is perfectly capable of replacing players and coaches on a whim and still keep moving.

But the Rangers have frequently had talent in their history, having produced the likes of Juan Gonzalez, Pudge Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Kevin Brown and Kenny Rogers. What they lacked for years was direction – direction they seemed to have when this decade started and came together perfectly to end that World Series drought.

But now that direction has been completely wrecked due to ego – maybe the ego of a number of people, but mainly the ego of a general manager that bought into his own headlines too much. Daniels began believing he could do everything in this organization all by himself, and now he has that ability to do so, using Tim Bogard as simply his go-between in seeing the players he wants, not who an actual baseball man wants, put in the lineup.

The cold, heartless number-cruncher who thinks players can be treated as just numbers and games are won by just calculating stats won out over the man who believed games are won by people and human decisions – as it sadly was going to end up in the end.

For now, it looks like the Rangers’ run is tragically over, and maybe for a very long time. But I doubt that Ron Washington’s time in baseball is over for very long. He will be back soon, and where that will be, I will predict next time.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »