Subtle though it may have been, the Kansas City’s all-time leading rusher, Priest Holmes, got in a pretty good jab at the foolishness of Chiefs’ head coach Todd Haley putting 32-year-old Thomas Jones ahead of Jamaal Charles on KC’s depth chart, and talking about how he’ll go with whoever has the “hot hand.” Holmes told the Kansas City Star that Charles possesses many of the skills it takes to achieve long-term success in the NFL — and perhaps enough to surpass his team-record 6,070 rushing yards. “If they cater to his running style and ability, I think that’s where his success will really show,” Holmes said. The University of Texas ex also said of Charles, “They always say you’re as good as your last performance (259 yards against Denver), and I think that what he has done is set a precedent of what he’s capable of doing.” That fact seems apparent to all but the nitwits calling the shots in Kansas City . . . One didn’t have to watch Kansas City’s preseason opener against Atlanta long on Friday night to feel like it was a Southeast Texas All-Star game. Bridge City’s Matt Bryant capped the Falcons opening drive with a 30-yard field goal, Lincoln ex Jonathan Babineaux made a jarring tackle on Kansas City’s second offensive play, then Memorial’s Charles, running behind what continues to be a very mediocre Chiefs offensive line, ripped off consecutive gains of 11, 12 and 12 yards.

Another Lincoln ex was in the spotlight this weekend. Donald Narcisse, who played college football at the only school — Texas Southern — that would give him the time of day, was officially inducted into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame on Saturday. The 5-9, 175 pound Narcisse, over a 12-year career with the Sasketchewan Rough Riders, caught 919 passes for 12,366 yards and 75 touchdowns. One of 185 nominees for the CFL’s 50 greatest players list, his name is all over the league’s receiving records. His career year was 1989 when he caught 81 passes for 1,419 yards in helping the Rough Riders win the CFL championship (Grey Cup). Sadly, Narcisse’s special week began on a tragic note when his 73-year-old mother, Dorothy, died from congestive heart failure . . . Most Cowboys fans, I’m sure, as well as fans in general, were touched and moved by Emmitt Smith’s compelling NFL Hall of Fame acceptance speech. Not so University of Florida fans who watched Smith star for the Gators in the late 1980s. Somehow old No. 22 managed to get through a 22-minute speech without acknowledging the school where he built his NFL draft resume. Smith later tweeted an apology for the oversight, but some were not buying it, considering that he reportedly spent hours memorizing a speech that was written for him. How do you rehearse something for weeks, as Emmitt apparently did, and not realize there is no mention of where you played collegiately?

I’m betting Astros owner Drayton McLane, down deep, wasn’t all that thrilled when the Nolan Ryan group landed the Texas Rangers at last week’s bankruptcy auction. Why? Because it’s going to cost McLane money? As Sports Illustrated pointed out, the Rangers are on the verge of becoming an American League superpower. They already look like the Yankees most serious challenger this year, they arguably have the deepest and best farm system in baseball, they now have financial stability and, in Ryan, they have a shrewd leader who is among the game’s most respected former players. Outside the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, the Astros have long been Texas’ preferred baseball team. That’s about to change. Also about to change is the affiliation of Houston’s AAA team in Round Rock. Expect it to be a Rangers’ farm club next season . . . Very quietly, Lumberton ex Clay Buchholz is putting together one of the best pitching resumes in the American League. The Boston right-hander boasts the AL’s top ERA of 2.49 and is No. 4 in victories with a 13-5 record. That, despite probably missing three starts while on the disabled list. After seemingly being one of Boston’s first pitchers mentioned during off-season trade talk the last couple of years, it looks like Buchholz has become the staff’s ace . . . Roy Oswalt’s first victory for the Philadelphia Phillies had a decided Astros feel to it last week.  Oswalt didn’t get much in the way of run support in a 2-0 victory over the Dodgers, then he watched from the dugout, as he did many times with Houston, while Brad Lidge came on for a ninth-inning save.

Port Neches-Groves students should probably expect new superintendent Rodney Cavness to be more understanding of youthful pranks that your typical authority figure. As a strong safety on Lamar’s 1988 football team, Cavness saw airport officials descend upon him in Lubbock while the Cardinals were in the process of going through security. He was the guy they determined had hollered the words, “Hi, Jack,” to a teammate.  Before he knew what was happening, Cavness had been pinned against the wall and was being searched. Once officials determined he was a college football player goofing around, he’d missed the flight Lamar was on. Cardinal coach Ray Alborn made him pay his own way back to Beaumont as a life lesson . . .  Lest there be any doubt former TJ star Todd Dodge is on an extremely hot seat as head football coach at the University of North Texas, he confirmed in an interview last week that he’d been given a directive from UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal about the number of games he must win to keep his job. “It was pretty blunt,” Dodge said . . . “I think about seven would probably be the magic number.” That number, of course, won’t be as easy to reach as if his son, Riley, were healthy enough to play quarterback instead of wide receiver . . .  On the lighter side, one of the victims of Nebraska and Colorado leaving the Big 12 is Kansas’ school song. “I’m a Jayhawk,” written many years ago when Kansas was in the old Big Eight, specifically mentions six of that conference’s foes, including Nebraska and Colorado. So now the Kansas Alumni Association is holding a contest for students to come up with a new lyrics.

As one who remains uneasy that Wade Phillips’  fate as Cowboys head coach is tied to what Jason Garrett does as the team’s offensive coordinator, there has been nothing reassuring about Dallas’ first two preseason games. And, yes, you shouldn’t put too much weight on the preseason. And, yes, tight end injuries have hampered what the Cowboys can do. But some things — namely Dallas’ problems scoring touchdowns in the red zone — never seem to change. It was especially troubling to watch Garrett, in the Hall of Fame game, opt for three consecutive passes on 1st-and-goal from the Bengals three. Naturally, Dallas settled for a field goal . . . Best wishes for a speedy recovery to former Nederland football coach Neal Morgan who fell and broke his left hip a week ago. My first thought was that Neal had been shoved down from behind by an angry Republican hacked off at last Sunday’s column  on the PA News editorial page.  Morgan, who is recovering at the Southeast Texas Medical Center,  failed to see the humor in that suggestion . . .  That was an eye-opening story about Jimmy Johnson and how taking a physical to be on in Survivor in 2007 might have saved his life. If you missed it, Jimmy was told he had one blocked artery and another 70 percent blocked. That’s pretty scary. As for the Survivor show which premieres Sept. 15 on CBS, it’s really going to be interesting to watch what kind of leadership role JJ takes, and how others react to him.

Sports editor Bob West can be e-mailed at rdwest@usa.net