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Rangers' Michael Young Gets A Day Off

2012-05-16T23:02:27Z

Michael Young, who is mired in an 8-48 slump, has been given the night off on Wednesday by Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington. Evan Grant shared some of his thoughts on the move on Twitter earlier on Wednesday:

Rangers are sitting DH Michael Young tonight. Young, who has 8 hits in his last 48 at-bats (.167) doesn't buy into the idea of slumps, but manager Ron Washington has been giving all his regulars time off this week and Young is subject to the same treatment of all the other regulars. Significant: Young, a opposite field hitter, has 12 ground balls to short or third base, in those 48 at-bats. Tells you something isn't perfect with swing.

It's a long season, and giving Young the day off certainly isn't a bad thing, especially since Young hasn't been hitting much anyway.

Young out of the lineup is likely to Yu Darvish's benefit tonight, as Young is a poor defender. Hopefully for Young, the night off will give his body some rest and allow him to clear his head, and he'll come back with a strong showing on Thursday.

For more on the Rangers, be sure to check out Lone Star Ball and join the discussion.

College Conference Realignment: Incoming Big 12 Commish 'Vigilant' About Realignment

2012-05-16T22:33:51Z

Incoming Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby certainly didn't put an end to any college conference realignment rumors, despite saying he'd prefer if conferences "hit the pause button." This is, of course, in response to talk about Florida State bolting the ACC and joining the Big 12.

"My opinion," he told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday, "is college athletics would be well served by some period of smooth water and not all of the angst and disorganization that goes with moves from one league to another."

Well, that's all well and good, but we all know that money reigns supreme in college athletics. Bowlsby realizes this, and went on to add this:

Bowlsby declined to address FSU specifically or whether the comments are likely to heighten expansion sentiment in the Big 12, but acknowledged, "Conference realignment will continue to be an issue and one we all have to be vigilant about."

It doesn't look like Bowlsby will stand idle if major schools are looking to leave their current conferences, such as Florida State.

Currently, the Big 12 has 10 schools inside the conference, and if the Big 12 were to expand, it would likely be by two schools, living up to its name again. We're still a long ways away from anything concrete, but it certainly looks as though Bowlsby will be keeping a close eye on Florida State.

2012 Preakness: Post Positions Announced

2012-05-16T22:16:09Z

The all-important post positions for the 2012 Preakness have been announced, and odds for each horse will be out shortly thereafter. The eleven horse field features the Kentucky Derby champion I'll Have Another, who looks to inch closer to the Triple Crown, as well as the favorite Bodemeister, and local Dallas-area horse Daddy Nose Best.

The post positions for each horse are as follows:

Tiger Walk
Teeth of the Dog
Pretension
Zetterholm
Went The Day Well
Creative Cause
Bodemeister
Daddy Nose Best
I'll Have Another
Optimizer
Cozzetti

It's certainly worth noting that the Preakness is a shorter race than the Kentucky Derby. The track at Churchill Downs is 1 and 1/4 miles long, whereas the track at the Preakness is 1 and 3/16 miles long.

We'll see what odds Daddy Nose Best comes in with out of the eighth post position. Many eyes will be on the horses next to him, I'll Have Another, but we'll see if Daddy Nose Best is the horse coming from the outside, and if he can spoil any Triple Crown ideas that I'll Have Another might have.

Bodemeister will still likely have the best odds of any horse in the race, and he'll also open alongside Daddy Nose Best, in the No. 7 post position.

Dallas Cowboys News: Mackenzy Bernadeau Has Hip Surgery

2012-05-16T22:09:53Z

Earlier on Wednesday at SB Nation Dallas, Jonathan Tjarks talked about the offensive line for the Dallas Cowboys, and how big questions marks still remain. Dallas' offensive line took a hit on Wednesday, as free agent addition Mackenzy Bernadeau underwent hip surgery over this past weekend, and will be sidelined for 10-12 weeks while he recovers.

According to multiple sources, Bernadeau, who signed a four-year, $11 million deal as a free agent in March, had surgery over the weekend to repair a tear in his right hip and the hope is he could be back in 10-12 weeks.

Bernadeau's agent declined comment.

Well, that's certainly not good news. As Todd Archer over at ESPN Dallas pointed out, Bernadeau was signed to be a starter, after leaving Carolina for Dallas this past offseason.

If Bernadeau is out closer to 12 weeks, then he'll be likely to return sometime in mid-August from his injury. Consequently, Bernadeau is likely to miss a fair amount of training camp as he recovers from his injury.

For more on the Dallas Cowboys, head over to Blogging the Boys and join the discussion.

Texas Rangers Vs. Oakland A's: Wednesday Starting Lineups

2012-05-16T21:11:26Z

The Texas Rangers look to rebound after being swept by the Kansas City Royals in a brief two-game series on Wednesday night, as they play host to the second-place Oakland Athletics. Luckily for the Rangers, Yu Darvish will be taking the mound on Wednesday, and is as good a choice as any member of Texas' staff to stop the losing streak.

Both managers have announced starting lineups for the game, and they are as follows:

Oakland Athletics

Jemile Weeks, 2B
Collin Cowgill, CF
Josh Reddick, RF
Seth Smith, LF
Kila Ka'aihue, DH
Josh Donaldson, 3B
Daric Barton, 1B
Anthony Recker, C
Eric Sogard, SS

Tom Milone, SP

Texas Rangers

Ian Kinsler, 2B
Elvis Andrus, SS
Josh Hamilton, LF
Adrian Beltre, 3B
Nelson Cruz, RF
Mike Napoli, DH
Yorvit Torrealba, C
Brandon Snyder, 1B
Craig Gentry, CF

Yu Darvish, SP

Oakland's lineup isn't terribly imposing, so Darvish should be able to put up some pretty nice numbers tonight -- if he has command of his pitches. As always, Darvish's control and command are worth watching, and are pretty correlative to his success.

For more on the Rangers, be sure to head over to Lone Star Ball and join the discussion.

Rangers Vs. Athletics: Yu Darvish, Rangers Take On Oakland A's

2012-05-16T21:03:46Z

Yu Darvish continues his impressive early season run Wednesday night against the A's in Arlington.

Yu Darvish has been exactly what the Texas Rangers expected he'd become - a dominant force at the top of the rotation, and reason enough to let C.J. Wilson go to the Angels - so far this year. Darvish is 5-1 and the first Ranger to win five of the first seven starts in a season. Darvish threw just under six innings and allowed only three runs in his last outing, a 10-3 win over the Angels. Against Oakland, he'll face a streaking team that's gone 8-5 and improved their hitting as of late.

Date / Time: Wednesday, May 16, 7:05 p.m. CT

Location: Rangers Ballpark In Arlington, Arlington, Texas

TV: FS-SW

Radio: 103.3 FM ESPN

Probable Starters: Yu Darvish (5-1) vs. Tommy Milone (5-2)

For more on the Texas Rangers, check out Lone Star Ball. Oakland Athletics news and information can be found at Athletics Nation, and all your MLB news and info is available at Baseball Nation.

2012 Byron Nelson Championship

2012-05-16T20:56:32Z

The PGA returns to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex this weekend, as the Byron Nelson Classic is set to begin on Thursday.

This weekend, the PGA Tour returns to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, as the 2012 Byron Nelson Championship will begin on Thursday, May 17. Since 2008, the tournament has been held exclusively at the Tournament Players Course at Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas, located in Irving, Texas.

The tournament began using Byron Nelson's name in 1968, but had been known under a variety of different names prior to that. It had previously been known as the Texas Victory Open, Dallas Open, Dallas Centennial Open, Texas International Open, and Dallas Open Invitational before using Byron Nelson's name in the tournament starting in 1968. Since 1968, it has been known as the Byron Nelson Gold Classic, the GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic, the Verizon Byron Nelson Classic, the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and finally, as it is known today, the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Par for 18 holes at the Byron Nelson Championship is an even 70, totaling 7,166 yards of play. There are a pair of par 5's on the course, with a dog-legged par 5 on the seventh hole 542 yards long, and a par 5 on the 16th hole that totals a course-high 546 yards. Rory Sabbatini set the record score for the tournament in 2009, shooting -19 for the entire tournament.

Keegan Bradley won the tournament in 2011 while shooting a -3 for the tournament, which was one of the highest (read: worst) scores to win in decades. We'll see what the 2012 version of the Byron Nelson Championship has to offer beginning on Thursday.

Dallas Cowboys Offseason 2012: Big Question Marks On Offensive Line

2012-05-16T18:56:39Z

While the Dallas Cowboys draft class has gotten rave reviews, one area they didn't address was the interior of the offensive line, which Football Outsiders has pegged as the team's biggest question mark headed into off-season workouts:

In a nutshell, the Cowboys have three starting spots open, and the four players fighting for them include two former seventh-rounders (Bill Nagy and Mackenzy Bernadeau) and two players who weren't drafted (Nate Livings and Phil Costa). The Cowboys cut Kyle Kosier and opted not to re-sign Montrae Holland, which meant neither starting guard from last year would return. They also chose not to re-sign Derrick Dockery, a key backup who saw action in eight games. The Cowboys did very well in most of our offensive line metrics, but in Power Situations (third and fourth down with two or fewer yards to go, or goal-to-go situations with two or fewer yards to go) they ranked just 23rd in the NFL.

While they may be the most anonymous starters on the entire roster, the interior of the offensive line is crucial in terms of protecting Tony Romo and opening up holes for the Dallas running backs.

New offensive line coach Bill Callahan has a reputation for working wonders with "the Big Uglies" and he'll certainly have his work cut out for him to get them ready for the 2012 season.

For more coverage of the Cowboys off-season, stay tuned to the SB Nation Dallas storystream as well as Blogging The Boys.