Texas Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson (3) is welcomed into the dugout by, from left, Wyatt Langford, Josh Jung, Jake Burger, Luis Urueta and Skip Schumaker after hitting a leadoff home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Globe Life Field on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
“Kevin Sherrington’s A La Carte” is a weekly newsletter curated by DMN sports columnist Kevin Sherrington where he hits all of the latest sports topics around North Texas and all major sports.
Sign up for the Sports Roundup newsletter to receive exclusive content from Sherrington every week. Read an excerpt from this week’s newsletter below.
Kevin Sherrington’s A La Carte
— Betting on the Rangers coming off an upswing feels like a fool’s errand, but here goes: If Skip Schumaker can keep Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford in the lineup, it has enough juice to make a run so impressive even Ray Davis buys in. Another bullpen arm is the most likely addition, but a bat wouldn’t hurt my feelings.
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— Getting a career-salvaging bounce-back performance from Josh Jung is one thing, but Jung and Zeke Duran at an All-Star level? Feels like the stuff of playoff providence.
— The Spurs may yet get it together, but predictions of the Victor Wembanyama Era appear premature. Reminds me of when LeBron James said the Heat would win more than seven titles when he signed with Miami in 2010, then lost to the scrappy Mavs before getting the first of just two crowns there. Wemby’s time is coming, but it looks like the Knicks’ is now.
— Considering Deloitte’s estimates that Dallas hosts are averaging $4,400 from World Cup visitors, wonder if it’s too late to rent out a couple rooms? Breakfast included. What if I promise to wear a robe?
— The draft is two weeks away, and the Mavs still don’t have a head coach. Masai Ujiri is supposedly considering all options, including coaches with no previous experience in charge. Seems like a risk. Ujiri can’t afford to miss on this hire. Mavs fans are all out of patience.
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— So Brendan Sorsby will get his $5 million to play for Texas Tech after all. Can’t wait to see the reaction from student sections this fall.
— Now, I’m no city planner, but is Dallas’ problem keeping teams downtown related to the fact that it’s hemmed in by highways on three sides? The Mavs are getting at least three times as much space at Valley View as they would downtown.
— Jim Schlossnagle has now been to the College World Series three out of the last five years, which is more than his latest team from the state can say. He revitalized the programs at TCU and Texas A&M. Texas, with 39 CWS trips, more than anyone, expects this sort of thing.
— Is Cooper Flagg really the best teenage athlete around here, or is it Cooper Lutkenhaus? The 17-year-old, who just finished his junior year at Justin Northwest, ran the fastest outdoor 800 meters in the world Sunday in Stockholm, beating an Olympic silver medalist en route. Lutkenhaus, who turned pro last fall, ran 1:42.70, easily beating Marco Arop, who finished runner-up in Paris.
— Story time: As you may or may not know, some of us media types were knee-deep in soccer long before the World Cup hit town. Brad Sham got his broadcasting start doing play-by-play of Dallas Tornado games.
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Calling the ‘70s a simpler time in sports hardly covers the definition. On one of his first visits to a Tornado practice, Sham noticed that Dick Hall, a defender of note, looked familiar. Turns out he was also the maintenance man at Sham’s apartment.
When asked by Joe Echelle, the Tornado’s GM, if he would broadcast a rare televised game, Sham demurred. He was so new to soccer, he told Echelle that he didn’t know the rules. He didn’t even know the positions.
“We’ll pay you 50 bucks,” Echelle said.
“What time is kickoff?” Sham replied.
Sham went to the library and checked out an armload of books about soccer to prep for the new job. Also leaned heavily on his analyst, Kenny Cooper. As he described his debut, “Nobody died.” Still, he wasn’t exactly proud. Hadn’t done anything to assuage his earlier misgivings. Which is why, when Echelle approached him a couple weeks later, Sham repeated his reluctance.
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“We’ll pay you another 50 bucks,” Echelle said.
“What time is kickoff?”
Early on in his new gig, Sham flew to Mexico for a friendly with his new broadcast partner, Norm Hitzges. Everything was fine in the press box until Sham noticed they had no phone lines. No lines meant no broadcast. A quick recon of the area produced a bilingual doctor from Dallas who was then employed to contact the telephone company in Monterrey.
While Sham desperately tried to find a conduit to Dallas, Hitzges, a big believer in scouting, was talking to anyone who could tell him about the players on the Mexico roster. He wasn’t exactly discerning about his sources. Janitor, delivery guys, didn’t matter.
Complicating matters further was the language barrier.
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Hitzges, pointing at a name on the roster: “He kick good?”
“Norm,” he said, dropping a few obscenities, “if we don’t get a phone line, we’ll be talking to ourselves!”
As luck would have it, the good doctor got through. A minute before the start of the game, someone from the suite above handed down two phones. Three minutes into the game, our heroes were on the air.
“Mexico scored at some point,” Sham said, “and people are cheering and pouring beer on to us.
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“Welcome to broadcasting.”
Those were the days, all right. He’s glad he lived through them. Even if just barely.
More from Sherrington
— Brendan Sorsby trumps Pete Rose on college sports’ road to perdition
— Pickens or Lamb? Cowboys will face a decision if franchise tag WR handles business in 2026
— It won’t soothe everything, but Mavs’ Vegas owners should pony up for Valley View arena