A Day to Remember

This is February 1st, the one year anniversary of the most surprising (and worst) trade in the history of Texas sports. Luka for “Street Clothes” Davis. A generational talent who may well be the league MVP this year for a part time player who spends most of his time on the injured list. Enough has been said and written about this, but I was thinking this morning about what an unbelievable surprise it was. It was so stunning that the first reaction was disbelief.

Later in the year local fans were shocked to hear that Jerry Jones had traded his best defensive player to the Packers. This wasn’t totally out of the blue, as there was a great deal of talk and speculation about what might happen, (Isn’t there always conjecture surrounding Jerry?) but it was still a bit of a surprise. So on this Groundhog’s Day eve, I thought it might be fun to look back at some other shocking headlines from our local sports world.

1989 - Jerry Jones Buys Cowboys. This was followed up with firing Tom Landry and hiring Jimmie Johnson. No need to elaborate on details here. One surprise after another. And the beat goes on…

1989 - Cowboys Trade Herschel Walker. This was a huge shocker, as Dallas received five players, three draft picks, and conditional picks attached to the players if they were cut from the team. The Cowboys ended up getting players like Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Darren Woodson, and Kevin Smith. This trade was the key to the success of the franchise in the 90’s. (Remember when?)

1989 - Texas Signs Nolan Ryan. Suddenly the Rangers had relevance! This one turned out pretty good.

1992 - Texas Trades for Jose Canseco. The team sent Ruben Sierra, Bobby Witt and Jeff Russell to Oakland for the superstar slugger. Canseco brought some juice to the team. (Pun intended) Whether he struck out or hit the ball 450 feet, every at bat was an adventure, but the highlight best remembered is when a ball bounced off his head and over the fence for a home run.

1994 - Jimmy and Jerry Part Ways. There wasn’t enough room in the metroplex for both egos. This Soap Opera has lasted longer than The Days of Our Lives.

1996 - Breakup of the Three J’s. The Mavericks had assembled three superstars: Jason Kidd, Jamaal Mashburn, and Jim Johnston, but they couldn’t get along, so the dismantling began with the trade of Kidd to the Suns (for Michael Finley). Of course, J Kidd did manage to come back and help the Mavs win a championship in 2011, and then be named Head Coach in 2021.

2012 - Yu Won’t Believe This. Texas shocked the world by signing Japanese star Yu Darvish. For a while watching him pitch for the Rangers was “must see TV”.

2025 - Semien Traded For Nimmo. You knew the Rangers were going to do something, but this trade still was a little surprising to Texas fans. I hope it works out well for both teams.

You can probably think of other headlines in recent years which you were surprised to read, but these came from the Coot Warehouse. What others come to mind for you?

This is one man’s opinion - What’s yours?