SportsDay Insider: Rangers opening day roundtable

SMU president Jay Hartzell on protests and free speech on college campuses, the future of college athletics and NIL. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dallas police’s explosive disposal team scoured NorthPark Center in Dallas Wednesday after a reported threat caused a full evacuation. In other news, Brooks Potteiger, an evangelical pastor from Tennessee and a pastor for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on a podcast this month that he wants Texas state Rep. James Talarico to die by crucifixion, prompting conflicting explanations of what he meant; the owners of The Shops at Willow Bend plan to start tearing down the mall within the next year — even if the Dallas Stars opt against building a hockey arena at the 90-acre site; and one of the Dallas region’s most well-known names in furniture is closing its retail operations. Weir’s Furniture, founded in 1948, announced on Wednesday it will shutter after all its merchandise is sold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian Jon Meacham on his anthology book American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

SportsDay Insiders Kevin Sherrington, Evan Grant and Shawn McFarland discuss the Rangers' final roster decisions going into Thursday's opening day in Philadelphia and deliver their predictions for the season. From Andrew McCutchen's surprising bid to the roster to the unprecedented talent at the top of the rotation, the guys cover it all, including their final take on ABS and their win totals in Skip Schumaker's debut season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Superintendents in several districts in the Dallas-Fort Worth area have announced their departures over the past few weeks. Some are retiring after lengthy tenures. Others left their districts more abruptly. In other news, city leaders promised to deliver the Dallas Wings a new practice facility in time for the start of training camp next month, but shovels have yet to hit the ground; at least two sightings of a coyote were recorded in the area on March 4 and March 12; and current MasterChef judge and former Top Chef “fan favorite” Tiffany Derry is opening a restaurant, sports bar and lounge called The Landing in Grand Prairie on April 9. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Multiple cold fronts should keep North Texans on their heels this week as temperatures fluctuate from the 70s to the 90s. In other news, Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Love Field were mostly normal Monday morning, defying long lines and worker shortages that have snarled passengers at other busy travel hubs; Tenet Healthcare, a major national for-profit health care company, has won a legal victory in a closely watched case related to a consumer watchdog group’s influential hospital safety grades; and the Texas Rangers selected former MVP winner Andrew McCutchen for their major league roster Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Increasing pressure from state leaders to address a perceived liberal bias in the classroom, campuses are ensnared in battles over the very purpose of higher education. In other news, a federal judge ruled last week that Texas must make its new education savings account program available to a number of Islamic schools in the state after several alleged in a lawsuit they were shut out of the voucher-like program; a 79-year-old man was identified as the person killed Saturday morning after a loose wheel from another vehicle struck his car on the highway in Dallas. Richard Hood Dunham died at the scene; and for the fifth consecutive season, the Dallas Stars are heading to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New eats are dropping across the Metroplex — and we've got the scoop. We're talking a new Italian restaurant in Keller, a hot spot in Plano and a brand-new taqueria that basically grew out of Imelda's own reporting. (Yes, really.) Then we're diving into the protein craze that has completely taken over menus, grocery aisles and our entire lives. #Brotein is real, and we need to talk about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John and Evan continue to whittle away at the biggest questions of spring. Evan is pretty high on how the Rangers have wandered, er, walked in the desert And he also offers his potential starting lineup. And the fellas sum up the WBC. Spoiler alert: Nobody's mad. Then Rangers Hall of Famer Ian Kinsler stops by to become the first member of the two-timers club and discuss the Rangers second base situation and the vibe Kinsler has heard about all spring. Finally, in the Archives in Arlington, we stroll down the lane of memorable season-opening moments, including the one where the Rangers were pulled off the field under a hail of baseballs and why Johnny Oates didn't leave his haunted hotel room. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The University of North Texas will eliminate or consolidate dozens of academic programs that have seen low enrollment as it aims to close a projected $45 million shortfall. In other news, a month out from James Broadnax’s execution date, another man has admitted to pulling the trigger during the deadly 2008 robbery that sent Broadnax to death row; one of Dallas’ most exclusive office campuses is about to get bigger. Developer Crow Holdings told The Dallas Morning News in an exclusive interview that they plan to begin work soon on a second phase of Old Parkland East; and Rashaun Agee had 22 points and nine rebounds, and No. 10 seed Texas A&M beat seventh-seeded Saint Mary’s 63-50 on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Ruben Dominguez added 11 points for the Aggies, who advanced in the South Region to face No. 2 seed Houston on Saturday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices