Updated June 27, 2008, 5 p.m.
The Hays Highway
The San Marcos MercuryTexas State receives big boost for big-time football
A $100,000 gift from alumni Jerry and Linda Fields moves Texas State substantially closer to its 2008 football attendance and season ticket goals as the university steps up its drive to compete in major college football. (June 27, 2008).
See The Mercury story.
Texas State to hold Football 101 clinic for women
Texas State football coach Brad Wright will explain the game to an audience of women at the end of July. (June 20, 2008).
See The Mercury story.
Goldschmidt wins student-athlete of year in baseball
Texas State first baseman Paul Goldschmidt won student-athlete of the year in baseball by the Southland Conference this week. (June 19, 2008).
See The Mercury story.
Interleague play loses its force either way
Interleague play in Major League Baseball no longer is thrilling nor annoying. It’s just a chronic ache one learns to live with. (June 17, 2008).
See The Mercury story.
Two Bobcats tabbed in big league draft
Two Texas State player are selected in the Major League draft. Pitcher Mike Hart went to the Oakland Athletics, while shortstop Thomas Field went to the Colorado Rockies. (June 9, 2008).
See The Mercury story.
Texas State awards stadium contracts
Texas State approved bids for new baseball and softball stadiums Monday as the athletic department continues its attempt to upgrade. (June 3, 2008).
See The Mercury story.
Texas State's moving target
The Texas State regents have placed their blessing on the university’s attempt to start big-time college football. But we still don’t know where the NCAA will set the bar. (May 18, 2008).
See The Mercury story.
Surprises in NL Central
The National League Central division turned up surprises in the first two weeks of the baseball season. Sadly for the Houston Astros, they're as bad as expected. (April 18, 2008).
See story.
Bobcats struggle with state powers
Though the Texas State Bobcats are well positioned in the Southland Conference West Division, they have struggled this year against the state's baseball powers. (April 9, 2008).
See story.
Astros have nowhere to go
With little pitching at the major or minor league levels, the Houston Astros will struggle, and they apparently have nowhere to go for a very long time. (March 31, 2008).
See The Texas Baseball Review story.
Look elsewhere for Rangers
Those who believe the Texas Rangers can someday be relevant will pay minimal attention this year to the ball club in Arlington and pay more attention to the farm clubs in the system. (March 31, 2008).
See The Texas Baseball Review story.
Memphis tanks Texas
With their big, fast, long and athletic players, the Memphis Tigers knocked decisively knocked the Texas Longhorns out of the NCAA Tournament Sunday, one game short of the Final Four. All Texas fans could do was reflect on a surprisingly good season. (March 31, 2008).
See Sports Blog entry.
What about Texas?
Texas men's basketball coach Rick Barnes has built such an attractive program that he can recruit players who are too good to hang around. Does that mean Texas can't win a national championship? It has to happen sometime. (March 27, 2008).
See column.
The X-Men mark the spot
You can pull for Texas or A&M in the NCAA basketball tournament, but we're pulling for an outcome that might make the NCAA change its ways. (March 18, 2008).
See column.
Clemens vs. The Feds
Roger Clemens picked a bad time to try scoring public relations points in Congress over accusations that he used steroids. (March 4, 2008).
See The Texas Baseball Review story.
Pain, gain at Texas State?
Texas State is angling towards the big time in college football. Could be fun. But hold onto your stomachs, because it's going to hurt for a while. (February 19, 2008).
See story.
Ryan's the right fit
If you believe the Texas Rangers made Nolan Ryan their club president for publicity reasons, you could be right about the Rangers, but you would be wrong about Ryan. (February 10, 2008).
See The Texas Baseball Review story.
Giants win as perfection's foil
As the NFL dresses up its Super Bowl for red carpets and caviar, the New York Giants reminded us Sunday that football is won by brutal means. (February 4, 2008).
See The Football Review of Texas story.
How the Giants can win
Though much has to go right for the New York Giants if they are to beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, upsets have been known to happen. (February 3, 2008).
See The Football Review of Texas story.
So, what is the Astros' plan?
The Houston Astros' trade for Miguel Tejada, at the cost of pitching prospects Troy Patton and Matt Albers, only makes sense if the club is angling for the 2009 market in free agent pitchers. (January 28, 2008).
See The Texas Baseball Review story.
Coming soon: a real Super Bowl
Remember the old days, when Super Bowl hype over-matched the actual game? This year's Super Bowl might take us back. (January 21, 2008).
See The Football Review of Texas story.
Wrong again about the Cowboys
Some of us thought the Dallas Cowboys might still be hiding a championship football team beneath their glitz and glam. We were wrong. (January 14, 2008).
See The Football Review of Texas story.
Tony Romo is just doing his job
When Tony Romo ran off to Mexico with Jessica Simpson for vacation recently, many nags thought he wasn't doing his job. Here's what they don't understand: that is his job. (January 12, 2008).
See The Football Review of Texas story.
Tech plays it to the end
The Texas Tech Red Raiders never give up on a football game, which is how they snatched another comeback bowl win, 31-28 on New Year's Day against Virginia in the Gator Bowl. (January 2, 2008).
See The Football Review of Texas blog entry.
A Hall of Fame ballot
The rookie class on this year's Hall of Fame ballot is one of the weakest in memory. Don't be surprised if Goose Gossage finally makes it, but be very surprised if anyone else does. (December 31, 2007)
See Texas Baseball Review Blog entry.
A new day in Aggieland
One of the beauties of sports is a fresh start at the end of a poor season. The fresh start has seldom been more beautiful for Texas A&M football. (December 30, 2007).
See The Football Review of Texas blog entry.
Where have they been?
Playing like they were shot from a cannon, the Texas Longhorns pounded Arizona State, 52-34, in the Holiday Bowl, salvaging their seventh straight ten-win season and their fourth straight bowl win while making fans wonder where they've been all year. (December 28, 2007).
See The Football Review of Texas blog entry.
Longhorns and the spread
At the end of a disappointing season, the Texas Longhorns go to the Holiday Bowl against Arizona State and its spread offense, which is, not coincidentally, one of their biggest problems. (December 27, 2007).
See The Football Review of Texas blog entry.
Clearing the air
Let's slow down and try to understand what was going on today, when former Senator George Mitchell finally released his report on performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball. (December 14, 2007).
See The Texas Baseball Review story.
One year doesn't make parity
After college football just gave us the best regular season of any kind in the 21st century, one wonders if we'll again see its like. (December 8, 2007).
See The Football Review of Texas story.
Rush job
Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne might have hired the right man when he brought in Mike Sherman as his new football coach. But did he do it the right way? (November 29, 2007).
See The Football Review of Texas blog entry.
Farewell to Fran
In the end, Dennis Franchione left Texas A&M with a season-making win. It just didn't make much of a season. (November 25, 2007).
See The Football Review of Texas blog entry.
Bobcats finish 4-7
The Texas State Bobcats lost their final football game in the final five seconds to finish their season 4-7. (November 20, 2007).
See Sports Blog entry.
Too late, but Bobcats rallying
Wins in their last two games would give the Texas State Bobcats a winning football seasons. But a playoff berth or a Southland Conference title are out of the question. (November 5, 2007).
See Sports Blog entry.
Romo's perfect timing
Like his timing on the field, Tony Romo's timing in signing a six-year contract extension is close to perfect. (November 2, 2007).
See The Football Review of Texas story.
Big day for Bobcats
Winning for the first time in 50 days, the Texas State Bobcats crushed Stephen F. Austin, 52-29, at Bobcat Stadium Saturday. (October 22, 2007).
See Sports Blog entry.
Texas' trail of trouble
Where does one to begin discussing the Texas Longhorns troubles? No running game, Limas Sweed is out for the year, the defense allows more big plays than it makes ... (October 11, 2007).
See The Football Review of Texas blog entry.
Texas State not alone
The three Texas schools in the Southland Conference are a combined 3-12 this year. So, Texas State's 1-4 start this football season is right in step. (September 12, 2007).
See Sports Blog entry.
Are the Texans for real?
The Houston Texans showed us a whole different football team, winning their opener, 20-3, against Kansas City. If the Texans can do it again, we'll know it wasn't a mirage. (September 12, 2007).
See The Football Review of Texas story.
Texas State already in weird zone
Two weeks into the football season, Texas State has defeated an FCS contender and lost to a Division II opponent. Heaven knows what's next. (September 12, 2007).
See Sports Blog entry.
Longhorns yet to show up
A 21-13 win on opening night against Arkansas State told us next to nothing about the Texas Longhorns. Accordingly, neither the fans nor the polls were impressed. (September 4, 2007).
See The Football Review of Texas story.
Astros face reality, perhaps
The Houston Astros unwittingly held a funeral for the Killer Bs Sunday, then cleared out most of what remained from the old regime. (August 28, 2007).
See The Texas Baseball Review story.
Longhorns to defend honor
Opening fall drills, the Texas Longhorns have something much more integral on the line than a national championship. (August 8, 2007) See Texas Review of Football Blog entry.
New era at Texas State
New Texas State football coach Brad Wright is making changes on offense and defense as the Bobcats begin fall drills. (August 7, 2007).
See Sports Blog entry.
Are the Spurs a dynasty? No.
Winning four NBA championships in nine years, the San Antonio Spurs certainly are an accomplished organization. But maybe they should win two in a row before we call them a dynasty. (June 21, 2007).
See Sports Blog entry.
'Bad guys' are best team
The San Antonio Spurs might be the team America likes to dislike lately, but they still look like the NBA's best team. (June 8, 2007).
See Sports Blog entry.
Good PR, not justice
Roger Goodell's year-long suspension of Pacman Jones is good public relations, but the ex post facto punishment is foul. (May 15, 2007)
See Football Review of Texas story.
Clemens pact could begin new age
Now that Roger Clemens has signed with the New York Yankees, perhaps the partial-season contract he has perfected will begin a new age of free agency for middle-aged players. (May 7, 2007).
See The Texas Baseball Review story.
Wait 'til next year
The Dallas Cowboys might yet enjoy that "wow" draft Jerry Jones has been talking about. But it won't happen until next year. (May 1, 2007).
See The Football Review of Texas story.
Rangers lose a no-no
It shouldn't be terribly surprising that Chicago White Sox left hander Mark Buehrle threw a no-hitter at the Texas Rangers for a 6-0 win Wednesday night. It's more remarkable that people were about to write him off so quickly. (April 19, 2007)
See Texas Baseball Review Blog entry.
Three problems with Houston hitting
Two days into the season, the Houston Astros are the same punchless outfit that made five months of 2006 so hard to take. The Houston offense has three dispositional problems, which means those problems aren't going away. (April 4, 2007).
See The Texas Baseball Review story.
Carr out, Schaub in
A flurry of activity smacking of desperation ended with the Houston Texans releasing David Carr and trading for Matt Schaub as their new quarterback. In five months, we'll begin to find out what difference it makes. (March 23, 2007).
See The Texas Review of Football story.
Bobcats lagging to last basket
The Texas State men's basketball team is having a bad season at 9-19, but it's not as bad as last year. (February 27, 2007).
See Sports Blog entry.
Bobcats batter 'em up
Though the Texas State baseball team lost this week to Texas, the Bobcats already have notched impressive wins against NCAA Tournament hopefuls from Rice and Notre Dame. (February 22, 2007).
See Sports Blog entry.
How a Hall of Fame voter votes
It's always been tough voting on the baseball hall of fame, and it just got tougher. (Janaury 18, 2007). See Texas Baseball Review story.
Bobcats bow out at 5-6
Last season's playoff thrill ride was forgotten by mid-October and the Texas State Bobcats finished their football season with a losing record. (November 21, 2006) See Sports Blog entry.
Bobcats blunder on offense
Texas State is 1-2, partially because the offense doesn't cash in chances early opportunities. (September 18, 2006) See Texas Review of Football Blog entry.
Horns should learn from laugher
The Texas Longhorns took a school-record 19 penalties in a 52-7 win against Rice, giving Mack Brown and his staff plenty to coach this week. (September 18, 2006) See Texas Review of Football Blog entry.
Ohio River 2, Hill Country 0
Hill Country college football teams took their lumps last weekend from teams living near the Ohio River. Texas and Texas State will attempt a return to normal this Saturday. (September 14, 2006) See Sports Blog entry.
What Texas State might anticipate
Freshman running back Andre McCorkle made SportsCenter's highlights in this week's coaches' all-star game. (August 4, 2006) See Sports Blog entry.
Bobcats: Best of an unknown lot?
Two quarterbacks — one with an arm and the other with feet — are bidding to replace Barrick Nealy at Texas State. (July 25, 2006) See Sports Blog entry.
Centers of attention
Think the San Antonio Spurs still need a center? (July 21, 2006) See Sports Blog entry.
Alcala and his ACL
The best soccer player to come from the area will wait a year on a pro career. (July 13, 2006) See Sports Blog entry
A typical lost opportunity
Once again, failing to score enough for Roger Clemens Friday night, the Houston Astros have returned the focus to their broader questions. (June 21, 2006). See Texas Baseball Review entry.
Whither Round Rock?
Maybe it would be more convenient for Hays County fans if the local minor league baseball team were in Austin, but you can't say Round Rock has failed the franchise. (June 21, 2006). See Sports Blog entry.
Spurring the offseason
The San Antonio Spurs evidently will need a few changes if they're going to jump back on top of the NBA's Western Conference. (June 9, 2006) See Sports Blog entry.
Better batting through walking
The Houston Astros are walking as if Jeff Bagwell were in their lineup, so they're scoring like it, too. (April 29, 2006). See story.
The anti-hype machine
The NFL draft is a hype machine that's really an anti-hype machine. (April 29, 2006) See story.
Stars out of alignment
Hockey season is about over in Texas. The Dallas Stars trail Colorado, 3-0, in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (April 28, 2006) See Sports Blog entry
In defeat, closers save managers
The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers are blowing ninth-inning leads, but the managers are purportedly blameless. (April 28, 2006). See Sports Blog entry.
Bye, bye Bagwell?
Houston Astros fans greeted Jeff Bagwell warmly on Opening Day. Will they ever see him again? (April 4, 2006). See Sports Blog entry.
Baseball begins again
The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers both made changes during the offseason. Now, weSee storyThe spirit of Bodeism
Bode Miller was the wrong guy to fill the media ether at the Winter Olympics. (March 7, 2006) See story
Lance in France
No athlete who has ever come along can quite be compared with the great Austin cyclist. (July 24, 2005) See story
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