Jon Daniels is trying to push Nolan Ryan out....or is he?
Nolan Ryan is a Texas hero and Texas Rangers legend. He is leaving the Rangers because he lost the power struggle. Or is he?
Dallas-Ft Worth sports media is spinning out of control with wild speculation about my favorite team and frankly it's annoying. They know a lot of nothing and read between the lines more than I did in my last relationship (or whatever that was).
I don't really care what inside, unnamed sources say. I love and respect both of these men for their work on this team. I posted on my Facebook wall today that I have had to sit through some terrible baseball over my 42 years. Some really bad baseball.
I moved to Texas when I was 10 and I quickly adopted the Rangers but before becoming a die-hard,10 year old Ranger fan I was a Chicago Cubs fan. I have cried for both teams. Let's not even talk about the 2003 NLCS Game 6 loss and I still go into a fetal position over Game 6 of the 2011 World Series. I suffered for my baseball. I cried and died for my baseball.
You have to understand when the guys in my office see me....they want to talk sports. I have a former minor league player who comes to me to debate every detail of Rangers baseball. I have a LSU fan who comes to talk all sports. I have a Rangers fan/Aggies fan who comes to...drive me crazy. I have another Aggies fan/Astros fan who comes to remind me....baseball could be a lot worse! I am not your average female. When my company rewards me for a good job, they buy me Mavs tickets. When vendors want to woo me they take me to Rangers or Mavs games.
So, here is my take: DFW sports media are bored. The Mavs are, let's face it, just terrible. The shortened NHL season has taken it's toll on the hockey excitement and this town has a hard time getting too excited about hockey until the playoffs. The Cowboys died the same death they have been dying in December for a decade and a half. You can only debate the "Romo issue" so much before you become bored and they have been debating Tony Romo for at least 6 years. Jerry Jones is wheels off. That's not news. Jerry-World is obnoxious. This is old news. The best team in town is still the Texas Rangers for the 4th year in a row and Spring Training is extra long this year (thanks to the World Baseball Classic). Nolan Ryan may just have some health issues that he doesn't want to share with the world. He has had heart problems in the past. He may be mad that they reduced his power also, I don't know. The front office is saying all the right things. Mr. Simpson, one of the owners, has insisted the team is not forcing out Nolan. Jon Daniels has issued a statement that he reports to Nolan Ryan. Jon Daniels will be on at 11:30 this morning on ESPN radio to talk about this. My guess is that he will manage to do what he alway does, calm the fear and make everything seem ok.
Everyone breath. Baseball hasn't started yet and to steal a line from Tony Romo: if this is the worst thing that ever happens in my life, my life will be ok. We have another 26 days before the games count. We have another 4 months before everyone starts talkng about the Cowboys Super Bowl 2013. (Yawn). We have another 32 minutes before someone starts trading Tony Romo for a case of Campbells soup and 17 First Round Draft picks (That GM Jerry will waste on defensive lineman when the problem is the o-line but that is another blog!)
I don't know if Nolan Ryan is going to stay or go. I don't know if the Rangers will win a World Series in the next 5 years. I don't know if Jon Daniels is a Ninja. I don't know the calorie count on an entire sleeve of Thin Mints (Please don't tell me.) I don't know if I am going to fall in love again and get married and have a baby (Okay, I do know that. I am but let's pretend)......the only thing I know is this, Life is a ride filled with ups and downs and half the fun in every ride is the struggle. So let's all just enjoy the ride. Any day WITH Texas Rangers baseball is a good day!
UPDATE:
I just listened to Jon Daniels' interview on ESPN radio regarding the Nolan Ryan situations and to say that JD is as clueless as me seems to be accurate. JD describes his relationship with Nolan as a good working relationship. He said they have a lot in common with respect to their view on baseball and family. He indicated they have had a lot of success working together and he wants this to continue. According to JD there is no change in the way things will be done and that although he ultimately would have final say, he supposes, on baseball decisions, that isn't really the way they have ever worked. They seem to listen to each other and make a group decision. Based on this interview, JD seems confused as to what is going on. As confused as I am and he speculates the reason this has been blown out of proportion is that Nolan hasn't addressed this issue with the media and therefore the media is going to unknown sources behind the scenes with unknown agendas. Basically, JD indicated that he saw Nolan all weekend and that Nolan gave him no indication there were problems. With that in mind, JD did indicate that he thought Nolan had some things he was thinking through. He did not elaborate on what those 'things' were. JD: Nolan and I are talking. We talk everyday....Between the two of us, there is nothing that needs to be said but I can't speak for the others involved.
My take:
If there is a problem it is with ownership and Nolan and it is clear that JD and Nolan are fine. I don't think there is anything else that we can speculate on. I believe that, from Jon Daniels perspective, this is all a lot of extra stuff and he just wants to talk on the field and his team. I can't say this interview made me feel any better however whatever this issues is, this needs to be worked out with Nolan and the rest of ownership. Which, by the way is what Richard Durrett basically just said as well so I must be a baseball genius because I typed that before he said it!
3/23/16 Update:
Nolan left the club and now works for the Astros. JD is still with the club. Rumors flew on this forever before the October moment when Ryan finally stepped down. The club has survived. I was disappointed and upset that JD and Nolan couldn't get it together but it is what it is. Nolan will forever be one of my favorite Texas Rangers and JD is the man in charge, without a doubt now. By the end, it was clear that Nolan was probably being forced out. Some folks don't like JD because of it. It doesn't matter because I am sure that JD doesn't lose a lot of sleep over it.
For the record, the best teams in town right now may be the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Stars. I have no hope for the Cowboys and the Mavs are just horrible, in spite of the fact that I will forever love Dirk.
Simply,
Laura