The Babaganoush Sports Beat

Texas Rangers

The Rangers should have a better idea by Wednesday the identity of their next potential owner, keeping in mind possible litigation or maneuvers that may arise from the day's events. The Rangers, in their 39th season since moving to Texas, will formally be put up for auction at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth. The winning bidder will then have to receive final approval from Major League Baseball before the transfer of ownership can take place. How long that process could take is not clear.

There are three known bidders: One is a group headed by Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg, the second is Houston businessman Jim Crane and another is Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. There has been speculation that Crane and Cuban could form an alliance and attempt to buy the team together. Greenberg's group includes Rangers president Nolan Ryan as well as Fort Worth businessman Bob Simpson and Dallas businessman Ray Davis. FOX News Corp. was identified in recent days as a possible bidder, but one of its executives, Randy Freer, told USA Today on Tuesday that was not the case. Dallas real estate investor Jeff Beck also has been mentioned as a possible bidder. Dennis Gilbert, a former player agent with a Beverly Hills insurance business, tried to buy the team last year, but has indicated he will not get involved in the auction.

Greenberg's group reached an agreement on Jan. 23, to buy the Rangers and land around the Ballpark in Arlington from owner Tom Hicks for $575 million. That included cash and the assumption of $204 million of debt. After a lengthy process, Greenberg's group was selected by Hicks over both the Crane and Gilbert groups, and Major League Baseball supported that choice. The Greenberg group recently enhanced its bid in an attempt to prevent Wednesday's auction, but U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Lynn rejected it, ordering the auction to proceed as scheduled.

Initial bids must be submitted by Tuesday night and must be at least $15 million more than the original bid from the Greenberg Group. Subsequent bids at Wednesday's auction must be at least $2 million more than the highest bid on Tuesday night. There likely would be lengthy delays after each bid to allow court officers to review the validity of each bid and allow potential buyers time to consult with lawyers and other investors.

The Rangers filed for bankruptcy in May, hoping that Lynn would approve the sale to the Greenberg group with the proceeds used to pay off the lenders who hold the debt on Hicks Sports Group. But the lenders, who hold $525 million in debt, objected to the plan, insisting there could be higher bids for the team. The lenders also were concerned that the proceeds from the sale of the land would go to Hicks. After numerous legal maneuvers, Lynn has decided to go forth Wednesday with the auction -- an event that has at long last arrived for a team that continues to enjoy an impressive American League West-leading season on the field.

Dallas Cowboys

Full pads were back Tuesday afternoon for a hard-hitting session which worked on the two-minute drill, with the three offenses getting shots to cover a full field in the no-huddle to close the practice. While the early 11-on-11s were dominated by the defenses, the offenses all moved the ball, in spite of heavy blitzing, on the final drives. The final scrimmages saw the receiving greybeards Patrick Crayton and Sam Hurd make big catches with the first offense. The coaches rotated them in with Tony Romo and the rest of the starters and with the older guys used their plays wisely. Crayton made three consecutive catches to start the drive, while Hurd made some big grabs later. Repeat to yourselves, ladies and gents, receiver depth is a good thing; receiver depth is a very good thing.

Joe DeCamillis' guys started the practice working on the finer points of blocking field goals and punts. Reggie Herring took the left side of the rush on one side of the field, while John Garrett handled the right side on the other half. DeCamillis rotated from side to side to monitor the drills. One rusher went for the ball, and then peeled back to block the kicker while a second rusher went after the spiked ball. Assistants kicked volleyballs to discourage hand injuries and to give truer bounces to the blocked balls.

The offense then worked on split field sessions, with the receivers and corners going one-on-one on the left half while the rest of the team went 9-on-9 with runs the only calls. The rotations moved fast, but Alex Barron and Mike Tepper created a lot of space around their perimeter on one sweep. Later, Jay Ratliff established order for the first unit by beating a Phil Costa/Travis Bright double team before stuffing the runner. The rookies Tepper and Josh Brent had a hard-core battle. Brent has a pretty deep repertoire for a rookie, with a solid rip move, swim move and a pretty strong bull rush. He had Tepper hanging on.

The teams then went full scrimmage two-minute, no-huddle attacks. The first offense, with Crayton and Hurd outside, went at the 2nd defense. Jason Witten got the drive started with a quick 8 yard out. The defense was blitzing on every down and Romo showed extraordinary communication with Crayton, hitting the receiver on three consecutive plays just ahead of the rush. Crayton caught a square-in short of the safeties and finished with a velcro snag of a fade over Orlando Scrandrick. Romo was throwing to spots with the rush in his face and Crayton got to those spots every time -- and made the catch.

The quarterbacks were getting the ball off in eight seconds in the no-huddle drill during morning workouts. I wondered how much time we should add if linemen were added to the workout. This afternoon, I got my answer. Romo, Kitna and McGee all got plays off between 9 and 12 seconds when in hurry-up mode. The Cowboys are getting close to being full speed.