The Daily Nickel

1. A year after scoring the fourth most runs in the American league with a patient, "wait for the perfect pitch" type philosophy, the Rangers are now tweaking their offensive philosophy in 2011 with new hitting coach, Thad Bosley. Bosley is encouraging hitters (like Julio Borbon, Elvis Andrus, and Josh Hamilton) to be more aggressive at the plate to take advantage of favorable pitches earlier in the count. Unfortunately, that same philosophy worked so well in the past for the Rangers' with Rudy Jaramillo that it netted them a total of zero playoff wins. Come back Clint Hurdle. We miss you already.

2. Bengals' starting quarterback Carson Palmer has threatened to retire if the only NFL team that he's ever played for doesn't trade him this offseason. After several lackluster seasons at the helm for Cincinnati, how is this a threat? Shouldn't they be planning his retirement party for him?

3. ESPN's Marc Stein explains the reason why this years Mavs aren't the usual 'Lose in the First Round Mavs' and his reasoning essentially begins and ends with one name: Tyson Chandler. Steiny-Mo argues that Tyson is the perfect complement to Dirk, and after years of being stuck with stiffs like Erick Dampier, the Mavs finally have a center to anchor their defense as well as keep opposing defenses honest by having to guard him. I love Stein's logic, but I hate that our dreams and hopes rely solely on a man who played only 96 games the previous two seasons due to injuries. In fact, the Oklahoma City Thunder once traded for Chandler, but reneged on the deal when they got a closer look at his medical history despite being desperate for a starting center.

As I was starting to watch the Mavs-Sixers game last night, I was thinking to myself, if Chandler is what makes us different this year, and he's been brittle in the past, we may be sunk. Sure enough, I unintentionally jinxed the Mavs and Tyson rolled his ankle in the 2nd quarter of the game. Initial reports have listed the injury as just a sprain. Let's hope that Tyson drinks his milk so he can hold together for the long haul this year. Apparently, our hopes rest on him.

4. Speaking of the Mavericks, Peja Stojakovic just doesn't do it for me as the starting small forward. His shot has been mediocre at best, and his shot selection has no conscience or morals.

As mentioned in the D-Fdub Daily Nickel yesterday, Corey Brewer is on the Mavs' radar, and I for one would be excited to add him to see what he could do. Brewer has averaged about the same amount of points this season as Peja in almost the same amount of minutes, but it's his defensive ability that intrigues me. With Roddy and Dirk taking most of the shots for the first unit, it'd be nice to get another slasher and capable defender out there to carry the torch of guarding the oppositions best player until Marion comes off the bench.

5.In NHL news, oil and gas man Douglas Miller has put in a bid to own the Dallas Stars...oh wait, I'm sorry, no one cares about hockey. Why can't Sportscenter learn that?