FanHouse Dallas

Darren Dreger of TSN reported today that the Tampa Bay Lightning have alerted center Brad Richards they're trying to deal him. Richards has given management a list of teams for which he'd be willing to waive his NTC; GM Jay Feaster will take the offers he's received -- allegedly from Vancouver, Columbus and Dallas -- to ownership, and a former Conn Smythe winner making $7.8 million per season until 2011 could be gonzo by the trade deadline.

If you go by the hockey rumoristas, Richards has been on the block longer than a septuagenarian prostitute. But this time could be different, if Dreger's on point with this line from his TSN.ca piece: "Tampa Bay's incoming owner Oren Koules is said to be heavily involved." Koules has taken over a losing team with the gross national product of Guyana tied up into three players; snipping a valuable but under-performing Richards would, I imagine, be something he might be interested in.

There are several teams rumored to be in the hunt for Richards. But would he improve any of them in the short term or the long run?

The statistics never lie, and this season Casey Mears has seen that to the fullest extent. Average start? 24th. Average finish? 29th.

It's one thing to start poorly (see: Matt Kenseth qualifying everywhere) and another to finish even worse. And for Mears, that has been the tale of the tape for his inaugural foray in Nextel Cup racing with Hendrick Motorsports.

It's definitely not been an off-year for Hendrick -- after all Jimmie Johnson has three wins and Kyle Busch one while Jeff Gordon leads the points. The 25 National Guard car just simply hasn't had the luck to run up front as the equipment Mears is provided with can.

At Martinsville, a broken suspension piece left Mears with a 42nd-place finish. There was an early wreck caused by Robby Gordon at Las Vegas and the team has struggled mightily to get a handle at California and Atlanta. However, Texas will be the seventh event for Mears and new crew chief Darian Grubb, who came on board the 25 team just before pre-season testing.

"Building the right chemistry takes time, but I feel really good about the communication between me and Darian (Grubb). We're headed in the right direction," Mears told Sky Sports.

Texas could be a nice dose of good news for the team, especially after a solid top-10 run at Bristol three weeks ago. Mears has the fifth best average position in the last four races at Texas for all drivers in addition to having two top-5s. Mears could use a finish near his average of 10.5, as well.

The 25 team has long lived in the shadow of the other Hendrick teams, but don't expect Mears to settle for that. He came to Hendrick for one reason -- to win.

This weekend at Texas could set him in the right direction.

The Nextel Cup boys return to the track this weekend in the Lone Star State at Texas Motor Speedway. Kasey Kahne won last year's event, and another this weekend would get his terrible start for the 2007 campaign somewhat turned around. Coverage of Sunday's Samsung 500 starts live on FOX at 1:30pm/ET.

1. Tony Stewart. - He was on fire here a few years ago -- literally. This weekend Smoke returns to victory lane in a performance that will put the troubles of Bristol very, very distant in the rearview mirror.

2. Jeff Gordon. - The 24 car has never seen victory lane at Texas, and this weekend will be no different. A solid run will keep the points lead in hand, however.

3. Elliott Sadler. - Remember that Sadler was in victory lane at TMS in 2004 while driving for another team. Look for the 19 to be up front again this weekend as Sadler continues his pursuit to make the Chase.

Quite a few folks in Chicago are worried that Lovie Smith could leave the Bears to coach the Dallas Cowboys. Today's Chicago Sun-Times reports, that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is a big fan of Smith's and would love to lure him away.

That possibility could develop now with Smith, the lowest-paid head coach in the NFL, due a huge raise from the Bears and signed only through 2007. Jones is the kind of maverick who, if he saw a coach he wanted badly, would put together the kind of compensation package required.

I think Lovie Smith is a genius, and I think it was idiotic for the Bears to allow him to get within one year of the end of his deal without locking him up with a long-term contract extension. I also think Jones would love to do exactly what the Jets did when Parcells was the Patriots' coach, and lure him away while he prepares for the Super Bowl.

But I just don't see it happening. Smith seems happy in Chicago, and the city would revolt if the McCaskey family allowed Smith to leave. Smith would be ideal for the Cowboys, but I don't think he's one of the Cowboys' candidates.