Texas Two Step

Houstonians are extremely sad to Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt go. Berkman and Oswalt were supposed to be lifetime Astros -- just like Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. But as much as it hurts to see the Astros' two franchise players over the past few years be in new uniforms, it is something that had to been done.

The Astros were not going anywhere with their aging stars. Their farm system has been lifeless for the last several years, and they need to try to find those players who can be the future face of the franchise.

After all of the wheeling and dealing, the Astros ended up with first baseman Brett Wallace who made his major league debut Saturday as Berkman's replacement. Wallace was the third rookie in the starting lineup for the Astros, filling up the 6-8 spots in the order in Wallace, Chris Johnson (not the football player) and Jason Castro.

So far Astros general manager Ed Wade is looking like a genius following the trade of sending Oswalt to the Phillies. Oswalt had a subpar debut in Philadelphia losing 8-1. Meanwhile, the Astros behind former Phillie J.A. Happ, shut down the Brewers in six scoreless innings in a 5-0 win for Houston.

Only time will tell on how these trades end up working out.

The city of Houston let out a sigh of relief on Thursday when Andre Johnson showed up for OTAs after skipping the first three days of the voluntary practices.

Johnson's absence was a minor protest to show his dissatisfaction about his contract.

Being displeased with the way organizations are being run has been a common theme among star wide receivers. Johnson, who is considered one of the top receivers in the NFL, stuck with his reputation of being a team-first player and not the me-first egoistic superstar.

“You can’t win against the organization," Johnson said. "When you’re under contract, they can hold you to it. It’s up to them to re-do it, give you an extension or whatever. They really don’t have to do anything. But I’m past all that now. I’m here working and I’m going to continue to work and hopefully we can achieve our goal of getting to the playoffs and winning the Super Bowl."

Then Johnson, a Florida native, pledged his loyalty to the team.

“I plan on being a Texan until the day I retire."

Johnson has five years left on his eight-year, $60 million contract.

And for those of you like me who just need to see some type of football, here is "The Ultimate" compilation of Andre Johnson.

This is the reason students decide to go to the University of Texas. To have the opportunity to be a part of a national championship season.

Football rules supreme at UT, a school where the professors (or at least the good ones) decide to cancel class the day before Texas-OU weekend.

And for the third time in six years, Southern California will be painted burnt orange for the Longhorns matchup with Alabama on Thursday to decide a national champion.

However the two teams got there does not matter anymore. What happens in any other bowl game means nothing.

We have the two best teams in the championship and the only thing that matters is who has more points at the end of 60 minutes of football (and an hour long halftime).

Both teams have Heisman finalists. Both teams have great coaches. Both teams have over a century of traditions and fans that bleed burnt orange or crimson.

But only one team has a Cody Johnson.

The Longhorn running back is the key to beating the Crimson Tide. He is not getting any publicity and may not even be on the field for half the offensive snaps, but he will be the difference maker if Texas is able to win its second national championship in five years.

This season, Texas has had three different starting running backs. Mack Brown has switched it up every game between Tre Newton, Fozzy Whitaker and Johnson.

Johnson is the Longhorns’ power back who you will definitely see in goal line situations and on third and inches, but if it were up to me, he should be in for almost every first down.

A huge problem for the Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship was the inability of the offense to get decent yardage on first down. That put them in many difficult third-and-long situations, which are obviously harder to convert than a third and three.

Johnson, to an extent, is like Jerome Bettis. He is able to power through defenders. Just ask the Oklahoma defense who was dragged on the back of Johnson, which gave the Longhorns an important first down late in October’s Red River Rivalry.

Averaging four yards per carry and scoring 12 touchdowns, Johnson is capable of making second and third down much easier for a Longhorn offense that will not be able to rely 100 percent on the pass.

Texas must have long drives, which will happen if it can run the ball for three-five yards and set up easier third downs.

Long drives will not only tire the Alabama defense, but keep Mark Ingram off the field. Newton, the freshman, has the speed and the agility to break a long run, but also can get stopped behind the line of scrimmage.

But Johnson complements him well adding the power. The duo of Newton and Johnson is to a lesser extent similar to USC’s Reggie Bush and LenDale White.

Texas has abandoned the running game at times this season and opposing defenses have taken advantage of it. See: Nebraska.

Mack Brown and offensive coordinator Greg Davis cannot allow the Crimson Tide defense to know that Colt McCoy will be throwing the ball every down. They are going to have to mix it up. Nebraska made it seem like it knew what was going to happen every play. It was like the Huskers were in on the huddle. Alabama, who has the top defense, will be able to do the same thing.

Of course there are many other factors to this game, but I feel that the Longhorns' most underrated weapon is Johnson, who is capable of making a huge difference and winning Texas another championship.
Want to read more about the Longhorns?

ESPN's Pat Forde write about a side of Mack Brown you may not know about.

SI's Andy Staples also talks about the Longhorn running game.

See you in Pasadena and Hook'em Horns!

Although the Cowboys have lost their status of being America’s Team over the past decade, it would take a change of borders with the city of Dallas becoming part of Oklahoma for them not to be the most popular team in Texas.

But this year is another chance for the Houston Texans to chip away at that state supremacy. Since entering the NFL in 2002, the Texans have slowly gotten better while the Cowboys have remained a middle-of-the-pack football team that gets too much publicity.

Now the Texans are on the verge of becoming a better football team than the Cowboys.

I am trying not to be a homer because I am from Houston and despise the Cowboys, so let's just look at some facts.
Obviously, the Cowboys have the built-in advantage of history and tradition. They are the most significant sports organization ever in the state of Texas and maybe even in the south.

The Cowboys have Super Bowls and the Texans have 8-8 records. The Cowboys have Hall of Famers and the Texans have 1,000-yard rushers. The Cowboy cheerleaders have a reality TV show. The Texans’ cheerleaders were eliminated from the same show and went four hours south looking for the next best thing.

The Texans did start off on the right note back in 2002 when the Cowboys came to Reliant Stadium led by the joke of an NFL quarterback that was Quincy Carter. Forever in the heads of Texans’ fans are the numbers 19-10, the final score of the Texans' win over Dallas in their first ever game. What you won’t hear from Texans’ fans, however, is the score of their second matchup, which I am hoping got lost in the records.

But the future looks bright for what is still the youngest franchise in the NFL. It looks as if Charley Casserly was right when he drafted Mario Williams. Matt Schaub, when healthy, is one of the most accurate passers in the NFL. Andre Johnson is arguably the best wide receiver in the league. But in the tough AFC South, the Texans have been having trouble getting out of the cellar.

In their attempt to dethrone the Colts as the perennial favorites to win the AFC South, the Texans have gained little popularity throughout the state.

So what can the Texans do to become the primary team people think about when they first think about football in the state it is named after?
1. Win a Super Bowl and then maybe three or four more.
2. Sign Mike Vick.
3. Hope another Cowboys' structure collapses, but maybe takes out the entire offense this time (just kidding, of course).

If there is a chance for the Texans to gain more respect from the media and NFL fans outside of Houston, this year is a good time for them to take advantage of some recent losses in Dallas. T.O. is gone, Pacman is gone, and even Jessica Simpson is gone.

But still it won’t matter, because it is the almighty Cowboys. If the Texans win their first six games and the Cowboys lose their first six games, the top story around the media outlets will be, “What’s wrong with Romo?” or “Should Wade Phillips be fired?”

So will the Texans ever reach the status of the Dallas Cowboys? We can only hope.