Whitt’s End: A Rhyner & Greggo Reunion? And Cowboys Call-Outs

Whitt’s End: Our Weekly DFW Sports Notebook Features A Rhyner & Greggo Reunion (Maybe) And Some Dallas Cowboys Call-Outs

Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End 7.10.20 …

*Never, turns out, say never. Back in February – after seven years of pouting – I ditched my bitterness and called up ol’ radio partner Greg Williams. Just because. I dunno, finally felt like it was time. The more I’m treated to glimpses of the upcoming Mike Rhyner documentary – The Old Grey Wolf, by CV Wonder Films – the more I’m predicting Greggo recently received another similar call. 

via Dallas Morning News

If you’ve lived in DFW for any amount of time and own a working radio, you’re likely familiar with Rhyner’s KZEW-WBAP-KTCK 40-year Texas Radio Hall of Fame career. I first met him in 1986 in the Reunion Arena press section of a Dallas Sidekicks game. In 2008 he invited me to audition to be his afternoon partner at the groundbreaking, everlasting station he created, 1310 The Ticket. Not necessarily fast friends, but more than just friendly. 

Familiarity notwithstanding, his documentary set for release sometime this summer looks intriguing in its nostalgia and buzzworthy for its potential breaking news. There’s classic, old Ticket and Hardline footage. Peer interviews with former radio co-workers, Brad Sham, Dale Hansen, Curt Menefee, Randy Galloway, etc. Rhyner visiting The Ticket’s original “mothership” and delivering, as only he can, “This is where the most incredible chemistry in the history of radio was developed.” 

And then there’s Rhyner on camera talking about, sure enough, Greggo. There’s Greggo on camera talking about Rhyner. At one point, Rhyner hints “Never say never to anything ...” 

Their abrupt divorce in 2007 after 14 years of unprecedented radio marriage was on par with the local, public breakups between Jerry Jones-Jimmy Johnson, Mark Cuban-Don Nelson and Clay Jenkins-Greg Abbott. Even a subtle thawing of their relationship iceberg would be encouraging and comforting in a time when we could all use a therapeutic spoonful of warm-’n-fuzzy. Their first interaction in two decades caught on camera would immediately trumpet the documentary’s success. 

Of course, like I did stubbornly and steadfastly in the wake of our show’s firing from 105.3 The Fan, Rhyner has consistently said he’d go to his grave without reconciling with the “toxic” Williams. Maybe time – and retirement – indeed heals all wounds. I haven’t seen the entire finished product and, to my knowledge, they still haven’t spoken face-to-face in 13 years. But if I’m a betting man … here’s to Greggo having two fewer estranged radio partners in 2020.

*Dallas Cowboys’ running back Ezekiel Elliott is putting his money where his mouth is. On the field: Feed Me! Off the field: Feed the North Texas Food Bank! This week he donated $85,000 and his time – shortly after recovering from COVID-19 – to help 400,000 area families.

*Wait, Calvin Booth is now the Denver Nuggets’ general manager? This Calvin Booth? I was courtside in Salt Lake City’s Delta Center on May 3, 2001, when he made the most underrated shot in Dallas Mavericks’ history. The lanky lefty’s last-second layup helped erase a 17-point deficit and shock the Jazz in the decisive Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. The Mavs’ first playoff success in 13 years sent a young Mark Cuban sprinting onto the floor in jubilation and launched his team into a sparkling era of 16 consecutive winning seasons and a championship.

*This week’s joke: An epidemiologist, an ICU doctor and a scientist walk into a bar … Nope. They know better.

*The more we see, the more I’m convinced we’re gonna see less. From FC Dallas’ boot from the MLS is Back tournament to the cancellations of events such as the Ryder Cup, Lone Star Park and the State Fair of Texas, it’s apparent that 2020 is headed for a gigantic COVID-19 asterisk. 

As for high-school football? Dallas Independent School District President Michael Hinojosa says, “I seriously doubt that we can pull that off.” 

Meanwhile, state-level educators maintain “At this time, the UIL plans to begin fall competition seasons as scheduled.” I’ve done extensive research/interviews and can’t envision how football is played safely in the middle of a pandemic. The Ivy League has canceled its season. The Big Ten is playing a conference-only schedule. The Baltimore Ravens announced their attendance capacity this season will be an unfathomable 14,000. And the NFL now says it will ban post-game handshakes and jersey swaps. Let me get this straight: Go knock somebody’s head off during the game. Jump onto a 10-person pile of humanity. Swap blood, sweat and trash-talking droplets. But afterward – to be safe – don’t dare fraternize. Riiiiiiight.

*Attendance for the inaugural games in the Texas Rangers’ three homes:

April 21, 1972 Arlington Stadium: 20,105

April 11, 1994 Ballpark in Arlington: 46,056

July 24, 2020 Globe Life Field: 0

*Our mutated sports are, of course, a harsh reminder of a lesson most of us learned in the 2 Grade: If you want dessert, you have to clean your plate. In regard to COVID-19 guidelines – social distancing, washing hands, donning masks – we haven’t come close to eating our veggies. We haven’t done the hard part. Hence, no dessert. No sports. The games we play and love to watch be played are a reward of a functional society and, right now, we are nothing if not dysfunctional.

*Thanks to the good folks at Deep Vellum Publishing, aspiring DFW writers hit right in the ink well by COVID-19 don’t have to give up their dreams – or their day jobs. The non-profit publishing house just secured its second grant of the pandemic, this one for $50,000 that it will distribute to authors, editors and writers of all ilk experiencing financial insecurity because of the virus. Of 3,100 companies that applied to the National Endowment for the Arts, Deep Vellum is one of only 846 to receive money. Just one of its many Dallas-centric projects, DV is helping publish this Dirk Nowitzki book – authored by D Magazine’s Zac Crain – in the fall.

*Positive unintended consequences: Hand-held restaurant menus might be a thing of the past. Scanning a QR code and scrolling through the menu on your phone is much better than leafing through some 12-page encyclopedia of obviously photo-shopped options. Also, on your phone you can easily increase font. In other words, no more “Hey, pass me those readers.”

*Sports contracts that stopped me in my tracks: Nolan Ryan 4 years, $4.5 million in 1979. Magic Johnson 25 years, $25 million in 1981. Troy Aikman 8 years, $50 million in 1993. Alex Rodriguez 10 years, $252 million in 2000. Patrick Mahomes 12 years, $503 million in 2020. Given the same rate of inflation as Aikman-to-Mahomes, in 2045 the NFL’s highest-paid player will sign a contract worth 5 billion. With a 'b.' 

We’re just adding a zero every 25 years or so. Simple. But scary.

*While pondering taking a knee during next season’s national anthems, Cowboys’ defensive lineman Dontari Poe is echoing about Jerry Jones what I’ve been saying for months. “His silence definitely means a lot because in any other situation he will always have something to say,” Poe says. Though George Floyd was killed six weeks ago, Jones is, according to a CowboysSI.com scoop, consulting consultants on how to properly frame an official response. So much for genuine, heartfelt reactions.

*Hot.

*Not.

*This light at the end of the tunnel is brought to you by the Rangers, who – before throwing their first pitch in 2020 – have announced their schedule for 2021. To be clear, July 24, just two weeks from today, against the Rockies is this year’s home opener and April 5, 2021 against the Blue Jays is next year’s opener. I mean … by then … surely … right?

*How desperate and delusional is mankind? A Japanese amusement park is re-opening this weekend with the most ridiculous rule in the history of rules: No screaming.

*As if we needed another sign of the Apocalypse, Merriam-Webster – the folks who confirm words and such – now officially recognizes “irregardless.” Does not compute. I guess some people get twisted over this because “responsibility” and “irresponsibility” are opposites. But, no, “irregardless” and “regardless” are in fact identical. Next thing you know Webster will rubber-stamp our improper use of “lacksadaisical” because, well, they’ve grown too lazy and indifferent to care.

*First, Zeke. Then, Joey Gallo. If COVID-19 is hunting our team’s best players, somebody plead with Luka Doncic not to leave the Orlando bubble.

*If the brains on the East Coast (Ivy League) are dumping football and the brains on the West Coast (Stanford) are dropping minor sports in advance of lost revenue due to no football, shouldn’t us relative dopes in the middle follow suit?

*Why don’t fireworks get better? Awakened July 5 to social-media pics and videos of last night’s fireworks shows. But they could’ve been taken last year or last decade or last millennium. Everything in America evolves, except fireworks. Who knows, maybe what we see today is exactly the same as those “bombs bursting in air” they wrote about in 1776.

*Don’t look now, but we have a local player threatening to be the planet’s best at his sport. After adding 15 pounds of weight and 20 yards of distance during a very productive COVID-19 lockdown, SMU alum Bryson DeChambeau is now dominating PGA leaderboards and is the favorite to win The Masters in November. He has the potential to surpass Payne Stewart as the best golfer in Mustangs’ history.

*Initial jealousy at Mahomes’ outlandish numbers notwithstanding, Dak Prescott’s franchise-tag position is surprisingly strong. Earning $31.4 million in 2020, he’ll be the 8-highest paid quarterback in per-season average salary, behind Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff, Kirk Cousins and Carson Wentz.

*Biggest oddity of the Rangers’ it’s-a-sprint-not-a-marathon 60-game season: They play the division rival Houston Astros 10 times in September.

*I hear great guy and former Cowboys’ defensive lineman Jason Hatcher is opening a Bodybar Pilates studio with his wife, Tasha, in Carrollton. Hatch might even teach a class or two.

*Had a birthday this week. How old am I? 56, going on (COVID-)19.

*This Weekend? Four tennis matches in three days under 100-degree heat. What could possibly go wrong? As always, don’t be a stranger.