The Rangers begin the Lone Star Series in Houston against the Astros to kickoff another year of interleague play.  If the Silver Boot means anything to you, Ranger fans will be happy to hear they've had possession of it in 4 of the last 5 years.

The Ranger looking forward to this series the most is Ian Kinsler.  He's currently mired in a 3-for-25 slump but he morphs into Ty Cobb when he plays the Astros.  In 15 career games against Houston, Kinsler has hit safely in each game and that includeds multi hit games in nine of those.

We'll have highlights of the game from Minute Maid Park tonight on The 33 News.

If you plan to go to round 3 of the HP Byron Nelson Championship, set an early wake up call for Saturday.

With rain expected during the afternoon on Saturday, officials at the HP Byron Nelson Championship have decided to get Round 3 in before it gets wet.

Instead of starting the entire field from the #1 tee box, half the field will start at #1 and the other half will start at #10. 

Start times will all take place between 7:30am-9:30am and round three will end around 2:30pm.

The Horned Frogs finally thought this was their year to get a high seed in the NCAA tournament with the possibility to host a regional, afterall, the Mountain West baseball tournament was taking place at Lupton Stadium in Fort Worth.  Well that all went out the window on Friday night as Utah eliminated TCU.

The 6th seeded Utes scored four runs in the fifth and jumped out to a 6-0 lead.  TCU battled back with four runs but fell short.

"If we would have had the same focus in the first four and a half innings as we had in the last four in a half it would have been a different ballgame," said TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle.

The Frogs now await the NCAA tournament selection show on Monday morning to find out their post season seeding, opponent and location.

Mavericks forward Josh Howard put in a gutsy effort on gimpy ankles during the NBA playoffs.  Today he had surgery to fix the left ankle and also had a procedure to fix his left wrist.

Howard had successful arthroscopic surgery in New York yesterday and is on his way back to Dallas this weekend to begin his rehab work.

He averaged 18 points in 52 games during the regular season and 15 points during the playoffs.

Those Tuesday night thunderstorms that soaked the Metroplex have also had quite an effect at the Colonial Country Club.  Opening round scores are very low thanks to the soft greens. The winds have also been registering at 5-10 miles per hour, and the rough is cut much shorter than usual and several golfers are taking full advantage of it.

At this moment, 61 of the 123 players in the field are under par.

Woody Austin and Tim Clark are the clubhouse leaders with 7 under par 63. 

Two time champion Kenny Perry and Vijay Singh, playing in his first Colonial since 2002 are one stroke back at 6 under par. 

We will have first round highlights plus reaction from the leaders tonight on The 33 News at 9pm.

For the most up to the minute leaderboard http://www.pgatour.com/r/leaderboard/

 

In the last six years, TCU hasn't had a problem getting into the college baseball post season tournament, the issue has been getting out of regional tournament.  The Frogs think this may be their year. 

 

For the first time in school history, the NCAA has tabbed TCU to host a regional so the Frogs get to play in their home stadium where they won 20 games this year, and as the host school, they are the #1 seed.

 

TCU will open play tomorrow against Wright State, an automatic qualifier from the Horizon League in the second game of the day at 7:00pm.

 

The first game at 2:00pm features #2 Texas A&M vs #3 Oregon State.  The Beavers are just two years removed from back to back college baseball national championships.

 

All reserved seats at Lupton Stadium are sold out but standing room tickets remain.

 

I spent part of the morning at TCU practice and you'll hear from Head Coach Jim Schlossnagle along with game one starter, Paul Gerrish and third baseman Matt Carpenter tonight on The 33 News at 9pm.

Everything was going very well for Colleyville resident Chad Campbell until he ended up in a bunker on the 17th hole during day two of the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. 

He had an awkward stance to get the ball out of the newer, deeper bunkers at the Colonial Country club and injured his left leg.

He had to be carted to the clubhouse and has withdrawn from the tournament.  At the time of his injury he was in a tie for 14th place at 5 under par. 

Chad's wife, Amy told the Golf Channel "They were checking his knee but it's definitely not his knee.  He said when he was hitting the shot, on his follow through, he heard a pop, so they think it may be a separation of the calf muscle or a severe strain,"  Amy said Chad is in the clubhouse getting attention from doctors, getting some fluids in him and "popping some Advil."

We will have full second round coverage, complete with highlights and reaction tonight on The 33 News

I haven't seen one golfer who isn't wearing some kind of pink today. 

Upon learning of the breast cancer diagnosis of Amy Mickelson last week, the organizers of the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial decided to organize a "Pink Out" day. 

There is pink everywhere you look, ribbons on trees and poles, pink buttons that say "I love Amy" are affixed to hats and shirts.  There is even a large pink and white umbrella that sends love to Amy Mickelson as well.

Most golfers opted for a pink shirt and white pants, but Ian Poulter has matching pink pants and a pink shirt and they're the same shade of pink.

I hope you don't have the desire to go out and get any pink men's apparel in North Texas, because I believe those close racks are empty.

We will have reaction from the "Pink Out" today as well as all the third round highlights and reaction tonight on The 33 News at 9:00pm.

Missing the playoffs never sits well with Tom Hicks and today he decided to shake up the front office by moving Brett Hull and Les Jackson out of the General Manager office and calling on a former player to move into that role. 

Hicks has hired Joe Nieuwendyk to take over as the General Manager and explained his move in a news release issued by the Dallas Stars this afternoon.

"We are very excited to secure Joe Nieuwendyk as the General Manager." Hicks said.  "These moves are all about helping this club take the proverbial 'next step.' Joe is a leader and has been a winner in everything he has done. He is ready for this opportunity and has a bright future as an NHL General Manager. We want that future to be with the Dallas Stars."

Hull and Jackson have been reassigned to different roles within the organization.  Hull's new job is Executive Vice President and Alternate Governor.  Jackson moves back into his old office as Director of Scouting and Player Development.  Hicks made it clear that both men are still important to the organization.

"Brett and Les have done a great job as co-general managers but after analyzing the situation, it is in the team's best interest to return them to roles that fit their respective strengths" Hicks said.  "Brett will assist the club in several business areas and serve as an advisor to me and Jeff Cogen, while Les will go back to what he does best - overseeing our scouting department."

The Stars will formally introduce Nieuwendyk as the General Manager tomorrow afternoon at the American Airlines Center. 

We will have more on the move during Inside Sports tonight at 9:30pm on The 33 News

For the first time in school history, the TCU baseball team has advanced out of the NCAA regional tournament. 

The Frogs rallied from a 4-1 deficit to eliminate Oregon State on Sunday night at Lupton Stadium.

Former Plano West star Jason Coats completed the heroics with the game winning single to right field which scored Matt Holaday from second base. It was one of three hits for Coats who earned the Most Outstanding Player of the Fort Worth Regional.

The Frogs now head for Austin to meet the top seeded Texas Longhorns in the Super Regional later this week as one of 16 teams still in the hunt for the National Title.

Texas advanced with a 14-10 win over the Army on Sunday night in Austin.

Two wins over the Longhorns would clinch one of the 8 spots at the College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha.

More on the Horned Frogs all this week on The 33 News