New Football Coach, New Futbol Coach

SMU promoted assistant men’s soccer coach Tim McClements to head coach today.

McClements is the third head coach in the history of the program. He is a former professional soccer player.

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Young Will Likely Make One More Rehab Start

Ex-Scot Chris Young is likely one more rehab start away from re-joining the San Diego Padres pitching staff.

Young suffered a broken nose when he took a line drive to the face off the bat of St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols on May 22.

Sounds like Young might finally return next week.

Stafford on Davey O’Brien Award Watch List

Former Highland Park and current Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford has been selected to the Davey O’Brien Award Watch List.

Stafford is one of 31 players named to the list. The award is given annually to the top college quarterback for a Bowl Subdivision team.

The winner will be named Dec. 11. (more…)

Kershaw Looks Sharp

After a stint in the majors with the Los Angeles Dodgers, former Highland Park star pitcher Clayton Kershaw is back in the minors.

Kershaw, who is now at Double-A Jacksonville, had one of his strongest outings of the season last night in an 8-0 victory. He went five innings, allowing just one hit against the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx.

Stars Schedule Released

The NHL released team schedules for the upcoming season today, so the Dallas Stars now know when and where they will be playing.

Some highlights include home games against: Washington (Oct. 25), New Jersey (Dec. 31), the New York Rangers (Feb. 6), Pittsburgh (March 1), Carolina (March 12) and Florida (March 28).

The Stars will also play host to defending champion Detroit in a rematch of the Western Conference Finals Dec. 12 and Jan. 12.

Young Makes Rehab Start at Lake Elsinore

Former Highland Park pitcher Chris Young is close to returning to the mound for the San Diego Padres after suffering a broken nose during a game on May 21.

Young, who took a line drive off the bat of St. Louis’ Albert Pujols, made his first rehab start Wednesday night for the Lake Elsinore Storm. He went 3 2/3 innings. Young hopes to return to the majors by the end of the month.

SMU Punter Makes Preseason Team

SMU senior punter Thomas Morstead was selected as a first-team pick on the Conference-USA coaches preseason team.

Morstead led the conference and was ninth in the nation last season with a 44.6-yard average. The Mustangs ranked second nationally in net punting last season.

SMU opens the regular season Friday, Aug. 29, at Rice. It will be the first game with June Jones as head coach.

Josh Almighty

Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton said he once dreamed of being in Yankee Stadium and participating in the Home Run Derby, an annual prelude to the All-Star Game.

Last night, Hamilton had the chance to make that dream come true. He didn’t win the contest. It didn’t matter.

Hamilton was still the highlight of the night. He continued his tale of redemption by smashing a record 28 home runs in the first round. With 71-year-old Clay Council, who used to throw batting practice to Hamilton in North Carolina.

At one point, Hamilton, a former drug and alcohol addict, connected on 13 straight homers. He ultimately lost to Minnesota’s Justin Morneau in the finals, but not before he totalled 35 homers and had even New York Yankees fans chanting his name.

Can’t wait to see what he does for an encore in tonight’s All-Star Game. He will be starting in center field.

Cooper Named MLS All-Star

FC Dallas forward and Jesuit grad Kenny Cooper was named to Major League Soccer’s First XI members of the All-Star Team. This will be Cooper’s first trip to the All-Star Game in his three seasons.

Cooper has eight goals and an assist this season, good for fourth in scoring in the league.

The All-Star Game will feature the MLS against West Ham United July 24 in Toronto.

Four All-Stars, Four Big Games For Rangers

Although it almost ended in disaster, yesterday was a pretty good day to be a Texas Rangers fan. How often can anybody say that?

Despite nearly blowing an 11-5 lead, the Rangers hung on to beat Baltimore, 11-10, and take two out of three from the Baltimore Orioles Sunday afternoon in a marathon of a game. Three hours, forty-eight minutes to be exact.

But what was even better was that four Rangers - Josh Hamilton, Milton Bradley, Ian Kinsler and Michael Young - were named to the American League All-Star team. Hamilton and Bradley will both start the game.

The Rangers (46-43) are also starting a big four-game series with AL-West leader Anaheim (53-35) at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington at 7:05 tonight.

Stafford on Maxwell Award Preseason List

Former Scots quarterback Matthew Stafford, who is now at Georgia, is in line to have a huge season this fall.

With a strong core of players around him, Stafford is receiving lots of national attention for what he could potentially do this season.

Stafford and teammate Knowshon Moreno are two of 75 players on the preseason Maxwell Award list. The Maxwell Award is given to college football’s top player.

Kerhsaw Headed Back to Jacksonville

After a little more than a month in the Majors, ex-Scot Clayton Kershaw is headed back to Double-A Jacksonville.

Kershaw was optioned to make room for the return of Hiroki Kuroda, who is coming off the disabled list. It sounds like it won’t be too long before he’s back, but the 20-year-old lefty is clearly disappointed.

He pitched pretty well with the Dodgers, although he didn’t have a win to show for it.

Cuban’s Castle Crumbles

While Merritt was touring Amarillo, Mike Modano and Mark Cuban brought down the house (of sand) at The Palladium Friday night. The hosts of the Reebok 2008 Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game decided to play in the sandbox during the pre-game party.  Their playful roughhousing turned into a tumble off the chillOUT sand castle. While I was busy capturing the Kodak moment, Mike’s wife, Mandy (aka Willa Ford), was quick to clean off her sand covered man.

An Overheardian told me the next evening’s post-game fireworks were better than most he had seen on the 4th.  It makes me wonder, where are the best 4th of July fireworks in Dallas? Overheardians, share the scoop. The time to light up the night sky is here!Â

SMU Goes Retro

The SMU athletic department announced uniform changes it hopes will remind fans of the glory days of the Pony Express. (more…)

SMU Football’s Identity Crisis Continues

For the umpteenth time in the last 20 years or so, the SMU football team has changed its uniforms and its helmets.

The Ponies are going back to their traditional white helmets with the red and blue stripes down the middle (good call) similar to what they wore up until 1997. SMU kept the white helmets, but ditched the stripes in 1997. The Ponies went to a navy helmet in 2003.

The new unis are a little different looking, too. Not bad. And I suppose it’s kind of cool that the June Jones era will begin with an entirely different looking team. Especially after a 1-11 year.

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Snakebit Kershaw Gets Another No Decision

Former Highland Park pitcher Clayton Kershaw was in line to earn his first Major League victory while pitching in his home state last night in Houston.

Kershaw went 5 2/3 innings for the Dodgers, leaving the game with a 6-3 lead. He gave up six hits with four strikeouts and two walks. But the Los Angeles bullpen couldn’t make the lead stand up. The first three relief pitchers gave up a run apiece to allow the Astros to tie things at 6-6 in the seventh.

Kershaw (0-2) will try again on Sunday at San Francisco.

The Dodgers then rallied for a 7-6 in 11 innings off a Jeff Kent solo homer.

Could Kershaw’s First Win Happen in Texas?

How appropriate it would be if former Highland Park standout pitcher Clayton Kershaw could pick up his first career Major League win tonight in Houston?

Pitching back in his home state, Kershaw (0-2) and the Dodgers are facing Wandy Rodriguez (3-3) and the Astros at Minute Maid Park in a few hours.

Kershaw, 20, has a 4.36 ERA and has issued 22 walks in 33 innings in the bigs.

Scots Make All-State Baseball Team

Former Highland Park baseball players Seth Gardner and Joey Hainsfurther both were named to the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association’s Class 4A All-State Team.

Gardner, who will play for Arkansas next year, earned a spot as a first-team outfielder, while Hainsfurther, a Baylor signee, was named a second-team shortstop.

The Scots broke the school record for wins in a season by finishing 35-8.

If it Weren’t For Bad Luck…

Former Scot Clayton Kershaw has pitched well in most of his seven Major League starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers since being called up from Double-A on May 24.

However, the lefty still doesn’t have a win to show for it. Yesterday in the City of Angels, Kershaw pitched four-plus innings, giving up two runs with four walks and three strikeouts. But the Dodgers were shut out, 2-0, by former Ranger John Danks and the Chicago White Sox.

Kershaw will try again on Tuesday night in Houston when he squares off with Wandy Rodriguez, who beat the Rangers last night.

Hard Times for Hockey Players?

A certain Dallas Stars’ player whose home has been on the market off and on for several years, recently reduced the asking price on his home by $26,000. Any Overheardians interested?   We’d be neighbors!

Re:SMU, You May Want to Call Your Lawyers

The comment-posting Overheardian “Tri Delta Lady” already said this, but the Mustang Realty pony doesn’t face the same way as the SMU one. The SMU mustang faces right. The Ford mustang points left,

And by the way, poster “JC,” you’re wrong about SMU taking the logo from Ford. They took it from us. [Sorry, it's a .pdf, but scroll down or search "Ford Mustang" in the document, you'll get the story]

Also, I don’t think SMU will be putting its lawyer pants on to fight Mustang Realty, they’re a pretty big athletics sponsor at the school.

Kershaw Faces Former Ranger Next

Ex-Scot Clayton Kershaw will try again for his first Major League victory when the Los Angeles Dodgers host the Chicago White Sox in an interleague game on Thursday.

The lefty phenom will take on former Ranger prospect John Danks (4-4, 2.80 ERA).

Since coming up from Double-A, Kershaw has started six games and is 0-1 with a 4.34 ERA. He hasn’t exactly had a wealth of run support, though. The Dodgers have plated a mere eight runs with Kershaw pitching.

After the White Sox series and weekend set against the Angels, the Dodgers play at Houston. Kershaw should get the start on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.

Young Close to Return to Mound

Former Highland Park pitcher Chris Young is nearing a return to the hill for the San Diego Padres after suffering a scary injury on May 21.

Young took a line drive off the bat of Albert Pujols to the face,  resulting in a broken nose and more than a month on the disabled list.

Kershaw Climbs Hill Again Tonight

Former Highland Park standout Clayton Kershaw takes his turn in the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching rotation once again tonight when the Cleveland Indians play at Dodger Stadium.

In his last outing, Kershaw (0-1, 3.75 ERA) pitched four scoreless inning before a long rain delay against the Detroit Tigers. He did not come back out to pitch after the 47-minute delay.

After this series against Cleveland and one against the Chicago White Sox, the Dodgers play a four-game set at Houston June 30 through July 3. If the rotation stays intact, Kershaw would pitch on Tuesday night (July 1) at Minute Maid Park

HP Lone Star Cup Champions Once Again

Highland Park has won its sixth consecutive Lone Star Cup and ninth overall. The award, sponsoredby Texas Dodge Dealers, is based on overall number of championships in athletic and academic competition and is awarded to one team in each classification.

HP finished the school year with 98 points, 18 points better than second-place Friendswood. The Scots won numerous state titles this year, including boys golf and girls swimming.

The first year of the Lone Star Cup was 1997-98. HP won the 4A division each of the first three years.