8-1 DJ and Hoff: The Last Hurrah

The final edition of DJ and Hoff essentially started with 20 minutes of Jason Garrett talking. I cut that part out and replaced it with a funny 2 second edit of Jason Garrett talking. You're welcome. 

During the rest of the show we talked about the Rangers, the Cowboys and had some fun at each other's expense. We also talked with Amin Elhassan and Adnan Virk before I say goodbye.

Thank You Dallas, I'm Off to DC

In a few weeks, I'll be headed to Washington, D.C. to start on a new adventure. After two years in Dallas, I've been hired as the Redskins beat reporter at ESPN980, the Redskins flagship radio station.

The feedback as I've told people has been amazing. I hope that everyone can have the support I've felt not only in the last two days, but in the last month of my decision making process. From my parents to friends to professional mentors, I've been able to get an incredible amount of crucial input that helped me make what in the end was an easy decision. This was a job that was just too good to pass up.

That, however, doesn't mean what I'm leaving is anything to sneeze at and I never will. There were certainly times over the last year and a half where I was frustrated, but I was always cognizant that I was in a position that was borderline insane for someone my age. I learned a lot about patience and professionalism over the last two years, all while having an incredible job all things considered.

While I'm very much looking forward to getting back on the east coast and being within driving distance of so many family and friends I haven't been able to see consistently or at all, I'm going to miss Dallas immensely. The people here welcomed me with open arms and I don't have a bad word to say about this place beyond "it's hot as hell in the summer." If that's the worse you've got, than you're doing pretty good.

That's where I've been. Now to where I'm going and what I'm doing.

The new position is Redskins beat reporter for ESPN 980, but that's just the start. I'll be at practice, gathering sound and doing hits on our air on the team throughout the season. I'll be at games and have a role in pre-game, halftime and post-game on the Redskins Radio Network. I'll also be keeping a blog at ESPN980.com that we think will have not only written word, but perhaps some audio stories.

I had a great conversation with another reporter on my recent trip to NBA Summer League in Las Vegas about storytelling. I miss getting to do that. We think there will be a place for me to do that in this job. That doesn't happen in radio. I certainly hope we can make that happen.

It's no secret though that I want to be a host long-term and I'll have the opportunity to do that plenty in my new role. During the season it might be sporadic, but I'll be a part of shows consistently even if it's as a guest. During the off-season, I'll be hosting consistently on a fill-in basis. Every day will be something different. That's exciting. I love variety. This job has it.

This is an important job that's had high level people do it in the past and I don't take the responsibility likely. Luckily, I'm working with an amazing team at 980 and I'm very much looking forward to getting started.

7-18 DJ & Hoff: Scott Van Pelt from St. Andrews

Scott Van Pelt checks in from Scotland to talk about The Open Championship.



At the end of the interview, I was able to share some thoughts with Scott on his recently ended radio show. I've always thought it's important to show appreciation where it's due and I learned more from listening to Scott and Ryen Russillo do their show than I did from anywhere else about radio. Simply put, to have the opportunity to share that was pretty damn cool.

Jenny Taft on WWC

Fox Sports USWNT Insider Jenny Taft talks to me on the eve of the final, where the US looks for revenge against Japan.



Coverage is at 4pm on your local Fox station.

RIP Pa

I will inevitably write more later or this weekend or soon, but we lost a truly great man last night. My grandfather, whom we called Pa, was a superhero to me and my cousins. I just got off the phone with my cousin Jordan and he said "he was superman."

Cancer took away this physical superhuman and in the last few years diminished him to a man who was hunched over and had trouble breathing. It was depressing, yet I always had this feeling like if he could just get through a certain amount of time, he would get back to the gym and somehow transform back. 

A quick story - we were in Washington D.C. in probably about 2004 and were touring the Capitol. We were in the cafeteria having lunch and for some reason my cousin Scott, Jordan's brother, thought it was a good idea to arm wrestle Pa. At the time, Scott was a highly touted high school soccer player, strong and fit. Pa smoked him. Then he did it again. He had to be almost 70 years old at the time. Superhero. 

That's the man we already miss. A man who helped foster my love for sports. Who would call me while watching the Yankee game and say "I'll catch up on what you're doing from your grandmother, but what do you think of (insert sports story here)." I'll still be talking to you Pa, cause I know you'll always be listening.

NBA Draft Story - Hoff the Intern

Jahlil Okafor and D'Angelo Russell are on campus at ESPN today which reminds me of a funny, humbling moment from my ESPN internship. Over 10,000 student apply annually to be interns at ESPN and I was one of the nearly 100 selected. ESPN is truly like the commercials. You just never know who you're going to see when you turn the corner. Coaches and players from all over the sports world are visiting constantly. It was the NBA Draft prospects that got me though.

I was 21 years old and was living the dream! I was rubbing elbows with people I admired in the business, and their bosses. I was feeling pretty good about myself. "Who else has it like this? Young and accomplished. Yeah, man!"



Like today with Okafor and Russell, ESPN hosted two of the top two prospects in 2011: Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams. Kyrie was 19 years old and was a lock to be the #1 pick, make millions and become a star. I was a 21 year old intern.

This isn't a blog to make you think about perspective and all that. It's a blog meant for you to laugh at me. Or with me. Because it was funny. You're not that awesome, kid. You're not that awesome.

6-20 DJ & Hoff: Thoughts on Charleston

It's not uncommon for me to touch on serious topics on the radio. It is very uncommon for them to be completely disconnected from sports. What happened this week in Charleston, SC called for that rare exception. I felt especially moved after watching Jon Stewart talk about the shooting and his guest, Malala Yousafzai, talk about the power of one voice. I chose to use mine.

5-3 Mavs Magazine

This is the final edition of Mavs Magazine for the 2014-15 season! Thanks to all for listening all year long, and especially to those of you here. It's one thing to listen because you're in your car and I'm on the station you normally listen to, but to actually take the time to find the podcast is a whole other level of dedication as a listener. I appreciate that. I'll try to write on occasion in absences of the show during the off-season, so keep checking back!



Segment 1 - The End of an Era?
Segment 2 - Jay Allen, Rip City Radio (Portland)
Segment 3 - Marc Stein, ESPN
Segment 4 - Marc Stein, thank you and goodbye

4-26 Mavs Magazine

Seg 1: Where Rondo Went Wrong
Seg 2: Mike Meltser, SportsRadio 610 Houston
Seg 3: The Problem With Rebuilding
Seg 4: Free Agency Questions

4-18 Mavs Magazine

The playoffs are here!



OPEN - "A Season of Change"
2:20 - Three Things I'm Looking For
11:30 - Chuck Cooperstein, Voice of the Mavs
26:00 - Amin Elhassan, ESPN NBA Front Office Insider
36:13 - Tim MacMahon, ESPN.com Mavs Reporter
46:24 - Calvin Watkins, ESPN.com Rockets Reporter
56:30 - Mike Tirico, ESPN
1:12:46 - Closing Thoughts

4-12 Mavs Magazine

Segment 1 - The Magical Spurs
Segment 2 - Mike Breen, ESPN
Segment 3 - Baxter Holmes, ESPN The Magazine
Segment 4 - Kristen Ledlow, NBA TV

"Good At Math, Bad At People" by Baxter Holmes: http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/12587848/old-questions-surface-new-dallas-mavericks-point-guard-rajon-rondo

4-5 Mavs Magazine

Segment 1 - Are we taking the 2015 Mavs for granted?
Segment 2 - Ethan Strauss, ESPN.com
Segment 3 - Lee Jenkins, Sports Illustrated
Segment 4 - Marc Kestecher, ESPN Radio

3-29 Mavs Magazine

Segment 1 - The Monta Conundrum
Segment 2 - Ryen Russillo
Segment 3 - Amin Elhassan
Segment 4 - Jeff Platt

3-28 Sarah Spain

Sarah Spain joins DJ Ringenberg and me to talk about the steps the NFL should be taking on domestic violence and more.



I highly encourage reading Sarah's work on Ray McDonald and the NFL's lack of a DV rehabilitation program here: http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/12555187/talk-straight-fans

3-22 Mavs Magazine

Seg 1 - A Maverick Reality
Seg 2 - Jeff Platt on getting "Pop'd" and the Mavs
Seg 3 - Jorge Sedano on the West
Seg 4 - Marc Stein on Steve Nash

3-15 Mavs Magazine

Segment 1 - The Box Score Comparison Game
Segment 2 - Nancy Lieberman
Segment 3 - Dirk's Decline
Segment 4 - Amar'e Steps Up, Marc Stein

3-8 Mavs Magazine

Segment 1 - The Mavs Path to Success
Segment 2 - Ethan Strauss on Mavs
Segment 3 - Ethan Strass on West, #SSAC
Segment 4 - The Role of Rondo

2-28 Mavs Magazine

Seg 1 - Rajon Rondo - Another look at the 5 big questions and the fight with Carlisle
Seg 2 - Tim MacMahon, ESPNDallas.com
Seg 3 - Kristen Ledlow, NBATV
Seg 4 - Ryan Ruocco, ESPN/ESPN New York 98.7 FM/YES Network

2-22 Mavs Magazine

Seg 1 - Amar'e Stoudemire - Why did he sit? What's he add? Stories with Amin Elhassan
Seg 2 - Robin Lundberg
Seg 3 - Trade Deadline Recap
Seg 4 - Did the Mavs move too early on Rondo?

2-15 Mavs Magazine

Seg 1: What are analytics?
Seg 2: How have analytics evolved? How are they used?
Seg 3: Al-Farouq Aminu
Seg 4: Dena Adi on DJ Whiz T, Amare prospects

2-8 Mavs Magazine

Seg 1 - Mavs comeback to beat the Blazers
Seg 2 - Marc Kestecher
Seg 3 - Dean Smith thoughts, Al-Farouq Aminu's emergence
Seg 4 - Stein on Clippers, Parsons rebounding, calls

2-1 Mavs Magazine

Seg 1 - Mavs struggles continue
Seg 2 - Tom Haberstroh, ESPN.com
Seg 3 - Western Conference Playoff picture
Seg 4 - Rondo Big Number, Dirk's struggles, Calls

1-25 Mavs Magazine

Seg 1 - Rick Carlisle gets defensive
Seg 2 - Kevin Pelton, ESPN.com
Seg 3 - ESPN's Amin Elhassan on Carlisle
Seg 4 - Elhassan on Rondo, Ellis and more

1-18 Mavs Magazine

On the January 18th edition of Mavs Magazine, we discussed the Mavs at the midpoint of the season. Plus, ESPN Radio's Jorge Sedano joins me to talk about the Mavs, the other major stories in the NBA, and his memories of two Mavs vs Heat NBA Finals.



January 18th, 2015:

Seg 1 - Midseason Grades
Seg 2 - Jorge Sedano on Mavs, '06 Finals
Seg 3 - Jorge Sedano on NBA, '11 Finals
Seg 4 - Notebook

1-11 Mavs Magazine

On the January 11th edition of Mavs Magazine, we talked about a bad week for the Mavericks. We also played interviews with Dirk Nowitzki and Mark Cuban. Those interviews are available in full on the Mike and Mike page on ESPNRadio.com

Incomplete

It's amazing that a season that sprinted past every reasonable expectation could end feeling so incredibly incomplete.

The 2014-15 Dallas Cowboys were supposed to stink. They returned scraps of what was one of the worst defenses in the history of the NFL in the previous season. To make matters worse, they lost their best player, Sean Lee, to a season-ending ACL injury in OTA's.

The quarterback was coming off back surgery, again. The diva wide receiver was going into a contract year, which would surely be a distraction.

But none of that held the Cowboys back. Sure, there were defensive lapses, Romo scares and some unwanted contract headlines here and there, but they did as their coach instructed them. They fought. They went 12-4 and continued to fight last weekend, coming back to win a playoff game against Detroit in a most un-Cowboys way.

Today? Dallas played fine, but failed in at least three key sequences to make plays that could have changed the game in course of its favor. Instead, the Cowboys left the game in doubt late and a call changed the course of their history. First the three sequences:

The End Of The First Half

The end of the first half was disastrous for the Cowboys. First, they jumped offsides moving a 46-yard field goal attempt back to a 51-yard attempt. While Dan Bailey is normally terrific, that's a massive difference in the cold with a frozen ball. Bailey missed the initial attempt, somewhat making the penalty a mute point, but the psyche changes once the whistle blows, so who knows what would have happened. The one that counted? It was blocked and not even close.

The Packers took over with solid field position and slowly moved the football until rookie Demarcus Lawrence came up with an enormous sack of Aaron Rodgers, setting up a 3rd and 15 where the Packers needed a large chunk of yardage to get back into field goal range. The one thing you cannot do defensively is give up a long completion there.

They gave up a long completion. Aaron Rodgers dropped a dime to Randal Cobb for 31 yards and a first down.

The Packers' Mason Crosby nailed the field goal a play after another Rodgers completion. The Bailey miss and the Crosby essentially made it a six point swing going into the half. The final margin was five.

DeMarco Murray's Fumble

The Cowboys' first possession of the second half came with 12:19 to go in the 3rd quarter. They started to move the ball and then there it was: A massive hole for DeMarco Murray opened off the right side. He had a full head of steam. The only problem was he lost the football.
Fumbles happen. These are massive human beings running into each other at incredible speeds. This fumble did not happen in a massive collision, or even as someone tried with all their might to rip the ball loose. It happened on a simple swipe. It happened in softer than routine contact.

That's inexcusable. Troy Aikman said on the FOX broadcast he would have "hit his head on the goalpost." The Cowboys would have lead 21-10.

Randall Cobb's Fumble

Murray's fumble resulted in another Crosby field goal, shrinking the deficit to one. The Cowboys responded with purposeful drive that only saw 2nd down once. Dallas gained massive chunk after massive chunk before Murray finished the drive with a short touchdown scamper.
On the ensuing kickoff, Randall Cobb fumbled. The ball squirted high in the air before hitting the turf directly beneath Cowboys tight end James Hanna. It was at this point we found out why Hanna is the blocking tight end. The ball went through his hands and the Packers recovered.

If Hanna had managed to hold on to the football, the Cowboys would have had great field position, momentum and a chance to build a 28-13 lead with another touchdown. Above all the others plays, that was their moment.
Instead the Packers stayed close and eventually took the lead. It set up a chance for Tony Romo to play hero in his hometown and a fateful 4th and 2.

The Catch*



No one wants a game to hinge on a referee's call and that's what happened to the Cowboys for the second straight week. Last week's was as difficult to call and, like this one, was changed. Of course, last week's was changed unceremoniously to the point of absurdity while this one was done via replay and by the book.

Both calls were incredibly close. Had they been kept in their original states, the other fan bases would've been upset.

It's not that referees took the game out of the players hands. The game simply dictated the referees had to make difficult calls and they did the best they could.

Unlike last week's call, this one didn't have to be so difficult. That's what makes this scenario so frustrating.

The one thing that everyone agrees upon is that we all want this to be a catch. We don't want it be a catch so we can tell our grandkids about one of the best plays we'll ever see with our own eyes given the circumstances and general spectacularity of it turned out to be an incompletion. We want it to be a catch because every ounce of our rational football logic tells us it should be a catch.

Dez Bryant catches the football. He gets both feet down and takes an additional step. He dives for the goal line. In the meantime, he's in contact with a defender. His arm hits. The ball comes loose.



We don't care if every referee on television and the ones that actually made the decision tell us that the rules were enforced correctly. The rule requires a law degree to decipher. This is football. We shouldn't need a law degree.

Article 3 Completed or Intercepted Pass. A player who makes a catch may advance the ball. A forward pass is complete (by the offense) or intercepted (by the defense) if a player, who is inbounds:

1. (a)  secures control of the ball in his hands or arms prior to the ball touching the ground; and
   
2. (b)  touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands; and
   
3. (c)  maintains control of the ball long enough, after (a) and (b) have been fulfilled, to enable him to perform any act common to the game (i.e., maintaining control long enough to pitch it, pass it, advance with it, or avoid or ward off an opponent, etc.).
   

Note 1: It is not necessary that he commit such an act, provided that he maintains control of the ball long enough to do so.
Note 2: If a player has control of the ball, a slight movement of the ball will not be considered a loss of possession. He must lose control of the ball in order to rule that there has been a loss of possession.
If the player loses the ball while simultaneously touching both feet or any part of his body to the ground, it is not a catch.
Item 1: Player Going to the Ground. If a player goes to the ground in the act of catching a pass (with or without contact by an opponent), he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground, whether in the field of play or the end zone. If he loses control of the ball, and the ball touches the ground before he regains control,
the pass is incomplete. If he regains control prior to the ball touching the ground, the pass is complete.

The bottom of this rule (Item 1) is the problem for the Cowboys - "he must maintain control of the ball throughout the process of contacting the ground." My retort would be, "why?"

If a player establishes control, why does it matter whether he's run five yards or 50 yards? Dez Bryant secured the ball, touched the ground with both feet and maintained the ball long enough to make a football move. And yes, it was a football move. He dove for the goal line, something players do all the time. But that goes out the window because he was falling down?

This of course makes no sense, which is not the fault of the referees, but the fault of the rules. The NFL's Competition Committee should change the rule in the off-season. In fact, they should have in 2010 when Calvin Johnson fell victim to a similar fate.

None of that helps the Cowboys now. Instead there is the cruel reality that a team coached by Jason Garrett, a man who has preached "process" for five years, sees its season end in large part by not completing one.

1-4 Mavs Magazine

1-4 Mavs Magazine

Seg 1 - Rondo the adrenaline junkie
Seg 2 - Kevin Arnovitz on Mavs
Seg 3 - Kevin Arnovitz on the NBA
Seg 4 - Notebook