The Babaganoush Sports Beat

Texas Rangers
Tonight, the Rangers open up a series with the Detroit Tigers. Two days from now the Rangers will have an off day before heading to Seattle. They will play the Mariners, Angels, and A's before coming home (likely as AL West Champions) to play the Mariners and a season finale season series with the Angels. That means two things. HOLY COW THE SEASON IS ALMOST OVER and HOLY COW THE RANGERS WON'T PLAY ANOTHER NON-AL WEST TEAM AGAIN UNTIL THE PLAYOFFS AND THEN NOT AGAIN UNTIL 2011. I think about this season and it seems like it has flown by but then I think about things like the McGriddles game in Cleveland and it seems like a lifetime ago. I mean, Matt Harrison was in the rotation then. Ryan Garko was the starting first baseman that day. Cliff Lee was still a couple of weeks away from debuting in Seattle. Justin Smoak was still a week away from debuting in Texas. His debut? April 23rd at the Ballpark against Detroit of course.

It's been a long, strange, weird, awesome, draining, amazing, confusing, sexy, and hilarious season. And it's weird that this meaningless, except for Magic Number watching, series feels like such a milestone. No more AL Central and no more AL East. After Wednesday, the Rangers head out west and the next time they face a team from outside their division it will be the first time they've done so in a little thing we call MLB Postseason since 1999. It feels like reality is getting ready to sink in.

SMU Mustangs Football
Zach Line rushed for 122 yards and two touchdowns to lead SMU to a 28-7 victory against UAB on Saturday night. Line, recruited to SMU as a linebacker, moved to offense and was the team's goal-line rushing specialist last year, scoring seven TDs. The 235-pound sophomore won the starting running back job in the preseason.

Darius Johnson caught two touchdown passes from Kyle Padron as the Mustangs (1-1, 1-0 Conference USA) beat the Blazers (0-2, 0-1) for the fourth time in as many meetings since the schools became league rivals in 2005. Johnson had seven receptions for 45 yards.

David Isabelle threw a 4-yard TD pass to Mike Jones for UAB's only score.

Dallas Cowboys
For some, it is time to move on. For others, the bad taste that came with the 13-7 loss to the Redskins hasn't dissolved just yet. Players such as Keith Brooking and Marcus Spears talked about the disappointment of losing a game in the final seconds, especially when it virtually came down to a pair of plays at the end of each half. For rehashing sake, the two plays in reference were Tashard Choice's fumble on the last play of the first half when it seemed the Cowboys should've just kneeled on the ball and gone into halftime with a 3-0 deficit. Instead, a Hail Mary from their own 34 was called, resulting in a dump-off pass to Choice, who fumbled and it was returned for a touchdown. Secondly, with the Cowboys looking for the go-ahead win in the final seconds, trailing by six, an apparent game-tying touchdown pass from Tony Romo to Roy Williams was nullified by a holding penalty on Alex Barron, the third of the game for the Cowboys' right tackle.

Coach Wade Phillips refused to single out any player or coach on the final player, and didn't say whether Barron was supposed to have blocking help on the right side against Washington pass-rusher Brian Orakpo. Barron, who didn't speak to reporters after the game Sunday or in Monday's open locker room period, did apologize to Williams after the game, according to the receiver. While Barron apologized to Williams, whose game-winning touchdown certainly would've gone a long way to restoring the confidence of a Cowboys' fan base that has ridiculed the wide receiver, another culprit from Sunday's loss faced the music with reporters as well.
Admitting that he's constantly trying to make a play, Choice took the blame for his second-quarter fumble, the first of his career. Choice said he received a lot of support from his coaches and teammates about the play, and said the fact he got more carries in the second half was also encouraging.

However, more than Choice, taking most of the blame for that play was Phillips, who said he should've been more assertive in telling offensive coordinator Jason Garrett to call a more conservative play with just four seconds left on the clock. The play before the fumble, Barron was called for a holding penalty, pushing the ball back to the Cowboys' 36. Before the play, the Cowboys were prepared to throw a Hail Mary into the end zone.