“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.
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Kevin Sherrington’s A La Carte
– When Connor Hellebuyck fell asleep on the team bus on the way to Team USA’s game against Sweden, Quinn Hughes knew it was in the bag. “This guy,” he said to himself, “is going to be good.” Hellebuyck woke up in time to lead the U.S. to its first gold medal since the Miracle on Ice in 1980. Forty-six years to the day, if you were counting. Hellebuyck stopped 41 of the magnificent Canadians’ 42 shots in regulation and overtime and earned a good, long nap.
Sports Roundup
– Hellebuyck was so good, Jake Oettinger could only watch, but he’s got a gold medal, just the same. The Stars swept the podium, in fact, with Thomas Harley taking silver and the Finnish Mafia of Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell and Miro Heiskanen bringing back bronze.
– Long before she became the first native Texan to win a gold medal in hockey, Hannah Bilka was a spark plug for the Dallas Ice Jets 13U team. Coppell’s own, now 24, stars for the Seattle Torrent of the Professional Women’s Hockey League when not making history.
– Could Cooper Flagg wear red, white and blue in Los Angeles in ‘28? Nice to have a fresh set of legs on rosters running over with 30-somethings.
– BTW: Flagg’s first game-worn Mavs jersey went for $1M in a Sotheby’s auction, beating out Victor Wembanyama’s $762,000 Spurs shirt in 2023. And you thought Lululemon was bougie.
– Kansas’ fabulous freshman, Darryn Peterson, is expected to be one of the top two or three picks in the lottery despite sitting out games for mysterious reasons and asking out of others. But you have to wonder if a slide is in order after Dick Vitale tweeted over the weekend it was time for the “soap opera” to end. Even pleaded for a divorce. When’s the last time Dicky V. called for something like that? Mavs better do their homework if they get lucky enough to make a call.
– Biggest indictment of the Cowboys’ defense? Rico Dowdle looked like gangbusters after running through it for 183 yards in October. Now he’s a second-tier option, at best, on the free agent market.
– The Athletic reports that Mets teammates thought Brandon Nimmo tried too hard to lead. Shouldn’t be a problem in the Rangers’ clubhouse, where no one tried at all.
– On the new challenge system for balls and strikes, just like the pitch clock, players will hate it at first, but fans will love it. Even something you love can use updating, as the lovely wife tells me, almost constantly.
– Story time: Of the 10 Olympics I’ve covered, Paris reigns supreme, but the Winter Games, in general, were my favorite. Fun for an ol’ boy from Texas to put on parkas and snow boots and tromp around writing about luge and curling and downhill skiing.
Growing up in Houston, it snowed once, and I was wearing a cast from hip to toe at the time.
As a rule, winter athletes are more fun to cover than the summer variety. Not as jaded. Even seemed to like us, or so we liked to think. Probably just glad someone was paying attention for a change.
Fewer media turn out for the winter, too, which is nice. The mixed zone, where you grab athletes as they walk past in various degrees of delight or delirium, can get a little crazy in summer. The floor of the U.S. Stock Exchange exudes more decorum.
Every Olympics you will read a story or two about how corrupt the process is, or the politics, or how little it does for the locals. All of it true. Riding the bus from my hotel in Rio de Janeiro to the press center every day, we drove past mile after mile of slums. As a member of the U.S. sailing team told me, he’d competed in harbors all over the world, and none is more beautiful than the one under the loving arms of Christ the Redeemer. The sailor got no argument here. Yet not even a mile away people collect water from storm sewer run-off just to make it through the day.
What we must remember is that the Olympics are no different from the NFL or NBA or MLB or NHL or college football. Especially college football. Like making sausage. Much goes on in the kitchen you really don’t want to see.
In this business, you learn to appreciate what Jackson Browne was talking about in “Doctor My Eyes.”
Just because it isn’t perfect, or even close, doesn’t mean it won’t raise the hair on the back of your neck, though. That’s the fun part, in the Olympics and life in general. You don’t have to close your eyes, but it helps sometimes if you squint.
More from Sherrington
– New Javonte Williams deal was a good start, but Jerry Jones still has plenty of work to do
– Patrick Dumont can do himself, Mavericks fans a favor by making a home-run hire at GM
– At TCU, Sonny Dykes is stepping into the classroom to share insight on leadership
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