SportsDay Insider: Optimistic about Cowboys’ surge, Rangers’ moves and Texas college football

Call it the Sherrington Swoon Episode. As Calvin Watkins joins the fellas to break down the Cowboys’ big comeback over Philadelphia and the looming date with the Kansas City Chiefs, Kevin Sherrington can’t stop raving about George Pickens. Does Kevin really believe Pickens is a better talent than Michael Irvin? And do the guys think the Cowboys’ roll can extend into a three-game winning streak? Optimism (mostly) abounds. On to the Rangers, Kevin is in love with new outfielder Brandon Nimmo. Evan Grant, meanwhile, marvels at all the elements of a long, difficult offseason checklist the Rangers have already accomplished even before the winter meetings. And finally, it’s a huge week in college football in Texas. How many Texas teams will advance to their conference championships and to the CFP? Here, Evan takes over the love fest for SMU. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. We’re full of bright outlooks! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some residents say they are increasingly frustrated with frequent closures of busy thoroughfares, difficulty accessing their neighborhoods during shoots and too-little communication from filmmakers. They welcome the jobs and growth but say they would like city leaders to protect neighborhoods from becoming makeshift soundstages. In other news, the Dallas Stars are taking us back to 1999 with a new jersey announced Tuesday. The team unveiled a new alternate uniform with a legacy Dallas Stars logo and the modern Victory green color scheme. The logo is inspired by the Stars’ uniforms back in the late 1990s and early 2000s; and tune into Gordon Ramsay’s new competition show that’s dropping next month and you’ll see two familiar faces. Dallas-Fort Worth bakers Maricsa Trejo of La Casita Bakeshop and Nikki Jackson of Absolutely Edible Cakes and Catering are competitors on the new series Next Level Baker. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Randall Wallace, screenwriter of Braveheart, We Were Soldiers and Secretariat, is this week's guest on Intersections podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Host Talmage Boston interviews Peter Baker and Susan Glasser: journalists, presidential historians and bestselling authors of The Man Who Ran Washington and the Divider. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After leaders in four member cities scheduled elections to consider leaving the Dallas Area Rapid Transit agency next May, a fifth North Texas town may join the ranks. Addison’s City Council could join Irving, Plano, Highland Park and Farmers Branch if town leaders vote at a special meeting Tuesday, Dec. 2, to put its membership in DART on the ballot. In other news, Dallas police are investigating a disturbance call in downtown that turned into an officer-involved shooting early Monday; Informercial star Offer Vince Shlomi, best known as the “ShamWow guy” who hawked super absorbent towels on late-night television, is running for Congress in Texas. The 61-year old  Shlomi is vying for the Republican primary nod against 84-year old incumbent Rep. John Carter to represent a swath of Central Texas, which includes the northern suburbs of Austin, Temple and Fort Hood; and a beefy chain restaurant called Fatburger opened in Dallas’ Preston Hollow Village over the weekend.  It’s the first Fatburger in Dallas and the eighth in Texas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People from all walks of life lined up by the entrance to Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center on Saturday to receive homemade Thanksgiving meals. In other news, last month, AT&T filed suit against the National Advertising Division, seeking legal approval for the right to speak publicly about T-Mobile’s marketing claims that the Dallas-based telecom company has blasted as “misleading;" travelers who attempt to fly without a Real ID or a passport could be subject to a new airport security screening program that carries an $18 fee. On Thursday, the TSA announced another option for travelers who have yet to get their Real ID or are flying without their passport: the modernized alternative identity-verification program; and Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott passed Tony Romo to become the franchise’s all-time leader in passing yards in Sunday’s game against the Eagles. The Cowboys erased a 21-point first half deficit to beat Philadelphia 24-21. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Texas Restaurant Association sounded the alarm as the state's restaurants experience their worst month in years. Dwindling disposable income, inflation, tariffs and an employment challenges are to blame, and the Dallas Morning News food team adds context to the state of the industry in D-FW heading into the holidays. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Five people have pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists in connection with a July 4 attack outside an immigration detention center that left an Alvarado officer shot. In other news, the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a federal lawsuit Thursday against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton after Abbott issued a proclamation declaring the group a foreign terrorist organization; two military fighter jets buzzed over North Texas earlier this week for unknown reasons — shaking some residents — before visiting Dallas Love Field and taking off again; and do you earn enough to live comfortably in the Metroplex? Not if you’re making less than six figures, according to a report published Tuesday — even if you don’t have children to support. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gov. Greg Abbott has asked North Texas district attorneys and Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate what Abbott called “Sharia tribunals masquerading as legal courts.” In a letter sent to the officials on Wednesday, Abbott pointed to the Islamic Tribunal, launched in Dallas in 2014. In other news, one person is dead and two others were wounded Wednesday afternoon after gunfire erupted at a Lake Highlands Walmart; a Curious Texas question from a reader asked: With the population increasing in North Texas, why are so many school districts closing schools? Experts point to declining enrollment and budget strains. Public schools are struggling to fill their seats as competition with other modes of schooling — charter, private and home schooling — escalates; nd NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal is bringing his electronic music festival back to Fort Worth for a third year. Shaq’s Bass All-Stars Festival will return to Panther Island Pavilion on March 21. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SportsDay Insiders Kevin Sherrington, Evan Grant and Joe Hoyt discuss the Cowboys’ win over the Raiders, their most dominant win on both sides of the ball this season. Joe cites the addition of Quinnen Williams as a key to the defense’s transition from awful to at least average. Against the Eagles this week, Joe even expects the Cowboys to use all three DTs — Williams, Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa — at the same time in a five-man front. Evan gives us an update on the Rangers, then he and Kevin analyze Georgia’s battering of Texas between the hedges. They also discuss the CFP prospects for the Longhorns, Texas Tech, SMU and UNT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices