If Barber's the price for McFadden, pay it
Jeremy Heath

Jeremy Heath is the Dispatch Record's sports editor. His column appears Fridays. He can be contacted via e-mail at jheath@lampasas.com.

The rumor mill at Valley Ranch has been churning rapidly for the past month.

The most prominent rumor is Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will do just about anything to get a hold of fellow Arkansas Razorback Darren McFadden in the upcoming draft. The junior running back has the physical potential to be the next Eric Dickerson. (Many compare him with Minnesota Vikings rookie Adrian Peterson, but his style and skill set is much closer to Hall of Famer Dickerson's.)

Those rumors have Cowboys fans a little worried because, if they are true (they are), they include the possibility that Jones would be willing to part with Pro Bowl running back Marion Barber if that's what it takes to get high enough on the draft board to snag McFadden. This worries fans because Barber is probably the most beloved Cowboy since safety Bill Bates, who retired in 1997 after 15 seasons with the team. Fans love Barber because they know they're getting his best effort on every carry, hence Barber's nickname: Marion the Barbarian.

Personally, I think Jones has put himself in a win-win situation with Barber, who is an unrestricted free agent. Jones saddled Barber with the maximum restricted tender of $2.56 million. That means any team that wants to sign Barber must offer him at least $2.56 million in base salary and forfeit to the Cowboys a first- and third-round draft pick. If that happens, the Cowboys still could match the other team's offer and retain Barber's rights.

That, however, would be crazy, because a first- and a third-round pick for a player drafted in the fourth round -- a player whose career certainly will be cut short by his violent running style -- is a no-brainer. Jones would take the draft picks and put together a package that would land him a top 5 pick and a shot at McFadden.

The other option would be to use Barber as part of a trade that would net a draft pick high enough to get McFadden. Former Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells, who is the general manager in Miami now, is holding the No. 1 pick. Parcells drafted Barber. He coached Barber's father in New York. He'd like to have him on his roster.

I think if Jones could get Parcells to agree to trade the No. 1 pick for Barber and the Cowboys' No. 22 pick (which came from Cleveland via trade), it would be a worthy value. But Parcells is a frugal dealer and probably is asking for Barber, the No. 22 pick and the Cowboys' No. 28 pick as well. That's asking a bit too much.

It may irk Cowboys fans to even bring up this matter, but those same fans need to separate their emotions from their sensibilities if they want to get back to a Super Bowl.

Darren McFadden has the physical talent to be one of the greatest running backs in league history. Marion Barber, while extremely fun to watch, does not.

Chances are no general manager is willing to part with a first and a third for Barber, and Parcells won't offer enough in return to complete a trade, so Barber will be a Cowboy next year and beyond. But if Jones can swing a reasonable deal that includes Barber to get McFadden, he should do it. When McFadden's bust is immortalized in Canton, Ohio, 20 years from now, people won't be saying, "Remember when Jerry Jones got rid of Marion Barber?" They'll be saying, "Remember when Jerry Jones got a first- and a third-round pick for that guy we drafted in the fourth round and turned it into McFadden?"

And if Jones can figure out a way to get McFadden without losing Barber, well, at that point, maybe the people still holding a grudge against him for the disrespectful way he fired Tom Landry in 1989 should return to the fold because Jones would have proven a certified genius.

And this is coming from a 32- year-old man who named his son after Landry.

* The Lampasas High School baseball team made vast defensive improvements during its three games in the Killeen Shoemaker Wolf Pack Classic last weekend.

After suffering through two weeks of defensive ineptitude heading into the tournament, the team really came together behind its pitching. The Badgers (3-7) went 1-2 in the tourney but were competitive in all three games, and the reason was the improved defense.

The Badgers handled Austin Travis 9-3 in the opener, proving themselves to be pretty formidable when Cody Bailey is on the hill, and the defense behind him is solid.

They lost Game 2, 13-5, to Pflugerville Connally, but they led 5-3 going into the fifth inning. Coleton Lucas turned in a gutty performance on the mound, battling through some control problems. Problems arose in the fifth when Connally started hitting the ball the way Connally teams usually hit the ball. Not much a team can do about that.

Seth Fry was on the mound in the final game, and the Badgers lost 3-2 to Liberty Christian. Fry was solid, as was the defense.

In short, the improved defensive play made the Badgers competitive in two games and victorious in the other.

If they can continue the trend this weekend at the Brownwood Tournament, they'll be in pretty good shape when they open District 25-4A play Tuesday at Marble Falls.

*

While the Badger baseball team appears on its way to correcting some of its defensive woes, the Lady Badger softball team was plagued by its defense in an 11-1 loss Monday to Cedar Park Vista Ridge.

And it wasn't physical errors (also known as excusable errors) that hurt the Lady Badgers, who fell to 9-9-1 overall. It was those pesky mental errors -- poor decisions on relays, illadvised throws and, in one instance, forgetting to call timeout before a conference and allowing a runner to score from third.

This is simply a product of starting freshmen in key spots. It doesn't matter how many club games these freshmen have played or how spectacularly they performed against fellow freshmen during basketball season. The bottom line is that varsity competition is big-time. There's no way to simulate it. It's like nothing these girls have experienced.

What's awesome is that a handful of these girls are getting to experience it as freshmen. For example, if freshman catcher Marisa Bogart continues her outstanding play and remains healthy, she'll enter her senior year with more than 40 varsity district games under her belt. That's 40 or more DISTRICT games. Combine that kind of experience with her athletic gifts, and you've got the formula for an all-state player.

Of course, that's long-term speculation.

To keep it in the short-term, some positives came out of Monday night's game. First, the girls provided head coach Chris Gaffney with specific examples of things to work on in practice. Second, the underclassmen got a lesson in playing through a tough game. Third, they learned (if they didn't already know) that Gaffney and the upperclassmen have faith in them. The coach didn't start pulling players off the field, and the upperclassmen remained encouraging.

All things considered, this is a pretty good softball team. And a big reason is because of the skill and enthusiasm these freshmen provide.

This team is aggressive at the plate and has two very strong (and very different) pitchers in senior Kirby Crow and freshman Taylor Holloman. With consistent defense, it's a playoff contender.