Tim Cowlishaw: Why Rangers are well-equipped to be Dallas-Fort Worth’s first repeat champion since ‘93 Cowboys

Mar 27, 2024 - 9:30 AM

DALLAS — Mike Modano finally got his statue outside the American Airlines Center, and that’s important not just for Stars fans but from a Rangers’ perspective, too. Yes, I know Dirk Nowitzki already is taking his permanent fallback jumper out there on the plaza, but for a hockey player to get a statue in Dallas, Texas, it takes something extra. And, a generation ago, the Stars brought that extra.

There has been only one repeat professional champion in these parts, and it was the 1993 Dallas Cowboys beating Buffalo for a second straight Super Bowl. But after the Stars beat their own version of Buffalo to capture the Stanley Cup in 1999, they came oh-so-close in 2000, vanquishing Colorado in another seven-game thriller and then being favored but falling just short in losing to the New Jersey Devils in six games.

For sure, the Stars proved to be the opposite of the Mavericks, who made NBA history by failing to win a single playoff series for 10 years after winning a championship. That’s no way to capture the hearts and minds of a Cowboys-dominant culture.

To repeat? That is the challenge for the Texas Rangers, not just because it’s the goal of any champion in any sport. What would it be like around here if there was a repeat champion that didn’t feature Michael Irvin and Alvin Harper standing back-to-back for a Dallas Morning News photographer, one that came from another sport entirely?

And one created by the Rangers, of all teams, the doormat for so many years, the summer afterthought, the mid-Metroplex place you went for nachos, beer and sun (until the sun got a little too ferocious) and just hoped that a decent home team would show up every now and then?

The 2023 Rangers went where no club has ever gone, winning an unimaginable 11 consecutive road games, even conquering teams that spelled out the word — Rays, Orioles, Astros, Diamondbacks — just to make sure everyone got the ROAD message. What would it be like if the 2024 Rangers traveled a different route (presumably winning the American League West to make matters a bit easier) but arrived at the same finish line?

The good news is they have more than a couple of things in common with those ‘93 Cowboys, and that allows one to do more than dream of this actually happening.

It starts on the sideline (or in the dugout).

Bruce Bochy is Jimmy Johnson without the cockiness. Bochy already has collected four World Series rings, now needs one for the thumb and needs to show he can do it back to back. Johnson won a national championship at Miami and will gladly tell you how he should have won three. He arrived in Dallas with absolutely no doubts about his ability to add NFL trophies to his mantle. Players gain confidence from both being in charge. That means something, especially during the dog days of summer that Texas barely survived last August.

Then comes the offense. The Cowboys had the Triplets. We don’t need to type too much more than the names Troy, Michael and Emmitt to let folks know who set the tone for those titles. It’s different with the Rangers although Adolis and Corey and Marcus at the top of the lineup provide a powerful foundation. Now the club gets a boost from two kids set to wage a Rookie of the Year contest. I lost count of Wyatt Langford’s spring home runs at five and I still don’t remember Evan Carter making any outs during last year’s playoff run. There is no reason Texas shouldn’t lead the American League in runs scored again this season.

Like the Cowboys in the ‘90s, the Rangers have a singular focus on the team they have to beat. Unlike the 49ers, the Astros are a division rival. But even now, as Houston seems to be losing its grip on the West, it’s a necessary reminder that they have won the division seven straight times. The seven-game ALCS was a classic — an odd one in that the visitors won all seven games — but both teams tore into their opponent’s pitching on the road. As general manager Chris Young said this spring, “They love to hit in our park for some reason, but we like hitting in theirs, too.”

Whether the Yankees’ offseason haul has lifted them past Baltimore back to the top of the East remains to be seen (I have my doubts). But the Rangers know they must push past Houston at some point.

Those ‘93 Cowboys got a surprising but necessary boost in the NFC championship game. After Dallas dominated the first half, the 49ers cut the lead to 28-14 in the third quarter. Aikman was gone with a concussion. Dallas needed to land another punch or San Francisco was getting right back in the game. Enter Bernie Kosar to deliver a 42-yard touchdown pass to Harper and remove all doubts about who was playing Buffalo one more time.

The Kosar kick could come from Max Scherzer in June or Jacob deGrom later in the season. No doubt the Rangers’ rotation will need that boost. But they have not one but two aces in waiting, so the odds are on their side.

“It’s not all going to go right,” Young said. “Are we going to be lucky enough that the pieces don’t all break at once, that they come together at the right time like they did last year? I don’t take it for granted that we need things to break our way, that those guys need to come back for us at their respective timelines."

And if they do, we know the bats are in place. This is a team that plays October baseball without fear. They did that a year ago when they had nothing on their side but a losing franchise history, one that made it hard for fans to believe right up until the end.

“I never bought into that curse," Young said. “If you’re the best team, you’re not cursed. The ‘what can go wrong will go wrong,’ I never subscribed to that. But I understand why fans felt that."

Now they are the champions. Maybe they take that one last step the Stars did not quite manage in 2002. Maybe the atmosphere in D-FW and the annual ranking of franchises looks much different than it ever has before 2024 is over.

We could finally proclaim Josh Hamilton wrong about his “football town” comment all these years later. Is Ray Davis ready for two radio shows a week?