Jerry Jones is No Jackass

For years, Jerry Jones has been the favorite whipping post of some of Dallas' most iconic sports media. Randy Galloway, the half-sober, deep-voiced columnist and radio personality has worked overtime to paint Jones as a bumbling idiot. Dale Hansen, the egomaniacal sports anchor for the local ABC affiliate, can barely hide his hatred of the Cowboys' owner (and I am sure it has nothing whatever to do with Jones firing him as the Cowboys' radio network color analyst.)



Certainly, Jones brings much of the criticism on himself. He isn't the best-spoken individual. In fact, he may be among the worst. His public speeches and interviews are usually laced with misspeaks, butchered words, and nonsensical ramblings. In that regard, Jones is sort of like our much-maligned president. People assume he is a dummy because he stumbles over his words so much. (Not really sure how many self-made "dumb" billionaires there are in the world, though.)

So Jerry gets criticism from every corner but one. You never here current or former players go off on him. You never hear them talk about how he sucks as a general manager or as an owner. And you sure never hear them say he is unfair in his dealings with them. Why would they? From Troy Aikman to Emmitt Smith to Tony Romo, Jerry has proven that he will loosen the purse strings and pay market value or better to the men who make his organization go.

Jerry got it right with Romo. He waited to see if last season's production was an aberration, but he didn't wait too long. He didn't use the incredible leverage he possessed in the form of a franchise player tag. He didn't let negotiations drag on and become a distraction to the team or a sore spot for Tony. Nope! Jerry ponied up. He always does. Now it is up to the sixty-million dollar kid with the hundred-million dollar grin to prove he's worth it.

Hey, I am not saying Jerry is above criticism. Heck, I will find more than ample opportunity to do just that myself. I am just saying that, contrary to Tweedle Dee (Dale Hansen) and Tweedle Dumb (Randy Galloway), Jerry is neither a dumbass (that would be Galloway) nor a jackass (Hansen).

Did The Longhorns' Old Dogs Learn A New Trick Saturday?

The Texas Longhorns narrowly escaped another upset(ting) loss Saturday, this time to the lowly Nebraska Cornhuskers. The escape artist's name? Jamaal Charles.

Charles came within a few yards of setting a new NCAA record for yards rushing in one quarter when he went off on the Huskers in the fourth quarter for 216 yards. The fleet back had a total of 290 yards on 33 carries, the most ever gained by any back against the storied Huskers' Blackshirts defense, and the fourth most ever by a Texas running back.

For three quarters, things looked as bleak as ever for the struggling running back and his underachieving teammates. Going into the final stanza, the Horns trailed 17-9 and Charles had only rushed for 74 yards on 20 carries. But then offensive coordinator Greg Davis began mixing in the zone read shotgun option offense that had worked so famously during the Vince Young era, and Jamaal began breaking off long runs, three of them for touchdowns.

What Saturday proved to me was that the Shotgun Option offense is a nice change-of-pace attack for the current offensive personnel. It should not be the featured package, but sprinkle it in here and there and you catch the defense flat-footed or headed the wrong direction. That's when the world-class speed of a Jamaal Charles becomes a game-changer.

You have to believe that when upcoming opponents break down the game film from this contest, they will conclude that sneaking eight, or sometimes nine, men into the box might be prudent. Imagine what that will do for Texas' talent-laden receiving corps. They might actually become the scoring machine they ought to have been all along.

Of course, this offensive epiphany comes a couple losses too late for this season to be anything special. But hey, Greg Davis and Mack Brown are what they are...and you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks.

Beantown is Booming

Boston fans were so much less annoying when they spent every Summer and Fall lamenting and bemoaning the Curse of the Bambino. They were the lovable losers, sorta like the Cubbies. Now look at them!

Not only are their Sox up two games to nothing in the World Series, their dadgum Patriots are undefeated and torching and plundering every other NFL city in sight; their BC Eagles are flying high, ranked second in the nation and just last night pulled off a miracle win over Virginia Tech; and now, even the Celtics appear set to make a run at returning to their former glory.

It's a good time to be a Bostonian...and a rather annoying time for the rest of us. Guess we just have to wait it out.

Colt McCoy Backs Me Up!

For two years, I have been calling for the Texas Longhorns' offensive coaches to wake up and realize Vince Young has gone to Tennessee and he ain't coming back. The shotgun option attack the 'Horns employed for Young and running back Jamaal Charles was a thing of exquisite beauty. But it worked because of Young, not Charles.

Because the defense had to account for Young's incredible running skills, Charles found himself slicing and dicing opponents' defenses, despite running from a set that was not best suited to him. The shotgun option has Charles running parallel to the line of scrimmage rather than hitting the hole quickly and popping into the defensive secondary, where the speedburner's quick feet and blinding speed are most effective.

Now, Chip Brown of the Dallas Morning News quotes the Longhorns' quarterback, Colt McCoy, who, in effect, admits that I am a football genius and the Longhorns' offensive braintrust is neither brainy nor trustworthy:

"Jamaal's going to be fine. He knows he hasn't done as well, but we've got
to play to Jamaal's strengths," McCoy said. "I think we've got to get him up
inside a little bit more instead of running him sideways.

"We've got to spread him out and let him catch the ball. ... He knows
he can run the ball. He's just got to get his confidence back up."

Thank you very much.

The Seahawks' Scene Is Pretty Cool

After a weekend trip to Seattle to visit family and take in the Seahawks/Rams game, I can personally vouch for the notion that the 'Hawks have themselves a pretty cool scene. From the moment we stepped out of our vehicle, you could feel the electricity in the air. Those fans are rabid, avid, voracious, involved, and 100% committed to their team.

Once inside the stadium, I was struck with how much the place resembled a college gameday atmosphere. It was as if the entire crowd were a student section. There were chants and cheers and the constant roar of the crowd was reminiscent of the Sea-Tac International Airport just a few miles away, down I-5.

The Seahawks stumbled into the weekend on a two-game losing streak. They were just 3-3 going into Sunday's game. The Rams showed up with not a single win to boast of. The two are division rivals, and there is something to be said for that. But still, 0-6 versus 3-3? Not exactly the stuff of memorable NFL moments, right? But if all you had to go on was the enthusiasm of the home crowd, you would have thought the game pitted undefeated rivals or something.

Every time the opposing team had the ball, the fans went berserk, making such incredible noise they caused three or four false starts for the hated Rams. Even when the game was out of hand, and victory was in the bag, rather than leaving early, the crowd ramped it up even more. It was deafening. They showed why they are rated the loudest stadium in the NFL, and demonstrated exactly why, since opening Qwest Field, their stadium leads the league in opponents' false start penalties.

Those fans don't just show up to cheer on their Seahawks. They go there to make a difference.

And that's just what they did.

The Greatest TD by the Great TD

Here's that 99-yard TD run by Tony Dorsett. Enjoy!

AP Reminds Me Of TD

The Cowboys are set to play host to the most electrifying running back to hit the NFL in years. Just six games into his rookie season, Adrian Peterson has established himself as an elite runner...maybe the best in the league. I know that LT might have something to say about that, but this kid is special.

Asked by the hosts of the morning show on KTCK (The Ticket) in Dallas to compare Peterson to other backs he has seen, Cowboys' head coach Wade Phillips evoked the names of Eric Dickerson and Gale Sayers. That's pretty high cotton and heady company and all those other cliches.

The conversation between the coach and the Ticket boys reminded me of the glory days in Dallas, when our beloved Cowboys had the most electrifying running back in the league. NO! I do NOT mean Emmitt Smith. I mean the greatest tailback in Cowboys' history - and one of the greatest in NCAA and NFL history - Tony Dorsett (TD, we called him). I was a teenage football fanatic in 1977 when the Cowboys pulled off the blockbuster trade with the brand new Seattle Seahawks franchise that landed the Good Guys the greatness of Dorsett.

Playing the Vikings invokes precious memories of those halcyon days for a couple reasons. Peterson is the first reason, as I mentioned. The second is that long ago Monday night game between the Cowboys and the Minnesota Vikings when my all-time favorite running back set an NFL record that may some day be tied but can never be broken. With his team backed up inside the one yard line, TD broke loose for a 99 1/2 yard touchdown. It was second only to the miraculous Hail Mary pass (again against the Vikings) from Roger Staubach to Drew Pearson in magical moments for me as a lifelong Cowboys' fan.

This weekend, my wife and I are in Seattle visiting her brother and his family. We will attend the Seahawks/Rams game tomorrow (they have season tickets, so that's cool.) Being in Seattle, the place that made the whole Dorsett era possible for the Cowboys, and the Cowboys playing the Vikings and Peterson...these things have conspired to make me just a wee bit nostaligic.

My Unbiased Opinion On Unbiased Opinions

Don't you hate it when someone asks for your "unbiased opinion" on something? What a pressure cooker! Little beads of sweat pop out on your forehead. You force that "unbiased," analytical, "sure-I-can-do-that" look onto your face, and nod. But you know good and doggoned well your opinion is anything but unbiased. The very fact that it was sought immediately biased you in some way. Admit it!

Unbiased opinion is just another of those fun little oxymorons we throw around. It makes about as much sense as jumbo shrimp, criminal lawyer, or Microsoft Works. I mean, good grief, who wants a criminal lawyer? These things make no sense!

Opinions are biased. That's what makes them opinions, dammit! You think what you think about a subject because of your biases, your preconceived notions, your affiliations, your beliefs, your likes and dislikes, what your momma told you, what your daddy didn't. It's just an opinion...and it is biased. But that doesn't make it tainted or irrelevant. It just makes it...biased.

You don't think the national media is biased? It is impossible - and decidedly "unhuman" - for them to be anything but. There is a reason Fox News and CNN can report the same facts and give you a completely different perspective or feeling about those facts.

Sports media is no different. They have their favorites...and their favorite whipping posts. Some in the "legitimate" media dismiss sports editorials like this because they are written by "fans." Pshaw! They are fans, too. If they aren't, who the heck cares what they think about sports in the first place?

I don't mind a sports journalist or reporter slanting or tailoring his work to suit his bias. I don't even mind it when his opinion is juxtaposed to my own (he's entitled to be wrong). Just don't do it with a stiff upper lip. Don't pretend to be above the fray, fair and unbiased. Don't be afraid of the truth, even if it does get in the way of your self-delusion.

So, why bring this up in the first place? Because everyone is entitled to my opinion. That's why.

Everson Walls Did It Anyway

What if you gave everything you had to give and it still wasn't enough? What if you did the best you could to make a difference...and it really didn't?

These are questions potentially facing Everson Walls today. Seven months ago, he became America's best-known organ donor, when he gave his good friend and former teammate, Ron Springs, a kidney.

Walls and Springs were Dallas Cowboys teammates in the '80s. They developed a firm and lasting friendship. Then, Springs developed adult onset Diabetes. The disease was advanced, debilitating, and potentially life-threatening. Springs needed a kidney in order to improve his quality of life and possibly extend his life expectancy. Walls volunteered to give his friend a kidney...and their story became the feel-good sports-related story of the year.

The news came down yesterday, however, that Ron Springs had fallen into a coma during an operation to have a cyst removed from his arm. As of the writing of this article, he has not awakened, and His son, Shawn, a cornerback for the Washington Redskins has taken leave from his team to be with his father.

I am not sure how it feels to be Everson Walls right now. I am sure he is hurting for his friend and his friend's family. I feel he must be proud that he did the best he could to save his friend, to give him a chance at a more "normal" life. But one might think that perhaps he is dealing with some level of disappointment or frustration, too.

We can all identify with how it feels to do the best you can and learn that your best just wasn't good enough. How one deals with that, I believe, is a sure sign of that individual's character. Thinking about that made me think again about The Paradoxical Commandments written by Dr. Kent Keith...

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the
smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.

I am certainly not saying that all, or even most, of these things apply to the Springs - Walls story. I am just saying, it is good to do good for the sake of doing good, regardless the outcome.

Do it anyway.

Cowboys Belong On SNL

What do the Saturday Night Live crew and the Dallas Cowboys have in common? They are both populated with "Not-Yet-Ready-For-Primetime-Players."

The Cowboys came into today's marquis matchup with the formidable New England Patriots with high hopes and great expectations. They had their moments, too. Tony Romo, T.O, Jason Witten, Marion Barber, Julius Jones, Demarcus Ware, even Jason Hatcher...they had their moments. But in the end, they proved to be overmatched by Tom "Cool Daddy" Brady and his arsenal of high-powered weapons.

Belichick's D slowed down the Cowboys just enough - which begs the question: "Why did the derelict-looking super genius feel the need to cheat?" - while Big D's D barely slowed the Brady Bunch at all. It was an entertaining game for 3 1/2 quarters. Heck, the Pats even trailed in the second half for the FIRST time all season.

The 'Boys have no reason to hang their heads. They did their best. They made their fans crack a few smiles. Romo even got a grin out of the ref after one TD pass. They're good. But like the SNL crew, they just aren't quite there. Maybe some day soon they will do like the long line of SNL alums and find themselves ready for the bigtime. They might even be there come December...or January.

But not today.

The Bledsoe Understudy Bowl: Romo vs. Brady

"Be not afraid of greatness; some are born great, some achieve greatness, and
others have greatness thrust upon them." ~ William Shakespeare

Who are the top quarterbacks currently playing in the NFL? The beginning of that list - that is, the top two names - is easy. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are pretty much consensus choices for 1 and 2, or 1a and 1b, or however you separate them. Along with these guys, you have to throw in Brett Favre, right? His career achievements make him a shoo-in first ballot hall of famer. After that, names like Carson Palmer, Drew Brees, Phillip Rivers, and now, Tony Romo pop up.

The road to greatness is as varied as it is difficult. Peyton Manning, the son of a legendary NFL quarterback and older brother of Eli, who seems to be emerging into at least "good QB" status, appears to have been born to greatness. Peyton has the pedigree, the numbers, and now the hardware to prove his greatness. He certainly seems to fall into the first of Shakespeare's three categories of greatness.

Brett Favre is one who has achieved greatness. His fearless gunslinger style has catapulted him into the rare air of NFL legends. He has endured setbacks, losses, horrible decisions resulting in losses, but he has persevered and planted himself squarely in Canton. It's just a matter of time.

But tomorrow's game features two quarterbacks who seem to fit into category three. Tom Brady was a sixth round draft pick, the 199th player taken in the draft! Who could have envisioned what he would become? Certainly not Drew Bledsoe, the much bally-hooed first round draft choice, hand-picked by the genius himself, Bill Parcells.

Then it happened, the unthinkable. Bledsoe suffers an injury, the ball is handed to Brady, and he never gives it back. Three Super Bowl victories later and Brady's name is mentioned in the same breath with the all-time greats. Moreover, many experts claim him as the single greatest draft-day steal in league history. And that is tough to argue.

Hold on, though. The hottest young QB in the league, Tony Romo, has yet to play a full sixteen-game season in the NFL, but is already called by some the third or fourth best at his position in the league. He, too, was found by Big Bill Parcells. But he wasn't drafted by him. In fact, he wasn't drafted by anyone. Seven times all thirty-two NFL teams picked someone else. So, The Tuna signed him as an undrafted free agent. Could Romo unseat Brady as the biggest steal ever? Time will tell.

Ironically, it was a faltering Bledsoe who gave Romo his break, too. Last year, at half time of the Giants game, Parcells pulled Bledsoe and inserted Romo into the starting lineup. Like Brady before him, the kid took the ball and didn't give it back.

So, tomorrow's meeting between the undefeated Cowboys and unbeaten Patriots may not feature the two best QBs in the league, but it damn sure features the two most unlikely "great" quarterbacks we have seen in awhile...maybe ever.

Peyton may have been born great, Favre may have achieved greatness, but these boys had greatness thrust upon them. Seeing them on the same field, leading their respective unbeaten teams is going to be...well, great!

Jerry Jones: Write-in Candidate for Dancing with the Stars?

This...is scary!

To The Men Who Lose!

America loves a winner. We celebrate champions and forget also-rans. We say things like, "Second place is just the first loser." We quote people like Vince Lombardi, who declared, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." We spawn ridiculous Hollywood characters like Ricky Bobby's daddy, who told his adolescent son, "If you aren't in first place, you're in last place!"

Of course, it is about winning. If it wasn't, then why keep score? Why name champions? Why hand out trophies and rings? We all want to win. But there is something to be said for a hard-fought loss, too, isn't there? What about that team that climbs the mountain again and again, only to be knocked down when they reach the peak?

What about the Buffalo Bills of the early 90's? We talk about dynasties and we mention the Packers of the 60s, the Steelers of the 70s, the 49ers of the 80s, the Cowboys of the 90s, and the Patriots of this decade. These are dynasties, to be sure. But which of these played in four consecutive Super Bowls? None of them. The Bills did. The first one, they lost in a heart-breaker. Remember wide right? They were blown out in a couple, too. But they climbed that mountain. They made that incredible journey over and over. Are they losers?

What about the Cowboys of the '70s, the most under-represented near-dynasty team in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? They were a part of an incredible run under coach Tom Landry, in which the Cowboys made the playoffs for 20 consecutive years. They made 5 Super Bowl Appearances in that 10-year period, winning two of them. Each of their losses was by less than a touchdown, and the two games against the Steelers were instant classics.

We all love - and remember - the winners. But history should also remember those who left their blood, sweat, and tears on the field of battle, who strove and fought the good fight only to be at last bested by a force greater than themselves on that particular day. Remember them, because losing doesn't make you a loser. Quitting does.

In my library, one of my favorite books is Best-Loved Poems of the American People. In it I found this poem by George L. Scarborough:

Here's To The Men Who Lose

Here's to the men who lose!
What though their work be e'er so nobly planned,
And watched with zealous care,
No glorious halo crowns their efforts grand;
Contempt is failure's share.

Here's to the men who lose!
If Triumph's easy smile our struggles greet,
Courage is easy then;
The King is he, who after fierce defeat,
Can up and fight again.

Here's to the men who lose!
The ready plaudits of a fawning world
Ring sweet in victors' ears;
The vanquished banners never are unfurled,
For them there sound no cheers.

Here's to the men who lose!
the touchstone of true worth is not success.
There is a higher test -
Though fate may darkly frown, onward to press,
And bravely do one's best.

Here's to the men who lose!
It is the vanquished's praises that I sing.
And this is the toast I choose:
"A hard-fought failure is a noble thing!
Here's to the men who lose."

Leave Coach Fran Alone

Give The Devil His Due: Parcells' 11 Commandments

Before the Cowboys - Bills Monday night game, ESPN analyst and legendary coach Bill Parcells shared the list of eleven mandates he gave to Tony Romo after signing the undrafted free agent to play for the Dallas Cowboys. It...was brilliant!


1. Press or t.v., agents or advisors, family or wives, friends or relatives, fans or hangers on, ignore them on matters of football, they don’t know what’s happening here.

2. Don’t forget to have fun, but don’t be the class clown. Clowns and leaders don’t mix. Clowns can’t run a huddle.

3. A quarterback throws with his legs more than his arms. Squat and run. Fat quarterbacks can’t avoid the rush.

4. Know your job cold. This is not a game without errors. Keep yours to a minimum. Study.

5. Know your own players. Who’s fast? Who can catch? Who needs encouragement? Be precise. Know your opponent.

6. Be the same guy everyday. In condition, preparing to lead, studying your plan. A coach can’t prepare you for every eventuality. Prepare yourself and remember, impulse decisions usually equal mistakes.

7. Throwing the ball away is a good play. Sacks, interceptions, and fumbles are bad plays..Protect against those.

8. You must learn to manage the game. Personnel, play call, motions, ball handling, proper reads, accurate throws, play fakes. Clock, clock, clock, don’t you ever lose track of the clock.

9. Passing stats and td passes are not how you’re gonna be judged. Your job is to get your team in the endzone and that’s how you’re gonna be judged.

10. When all around you is in chaos, you must be the hand that steers the ship. If you have a panic button, so will everyone else. Our ship can’t have panic buttons.

11. Don’t be a celebrity quarterback. We don’t need any of those. We need battlefield commanders that are willing to fight it out everyday, every week, and every season, and lead their team to win after win after win.

I am no Parcells fan, as I have documented. I think he is arrogant, self-important, and determined to keep the spotlight on himself. He wants all the credit for success and none of the blame for failure, and he proved it in news conference after news conference while in Dallas. BUT, he is a coach, a brilliant man, and a unique leader. So this is me giving the Devil his due.

Scientific Reasons The Cowboys Upset The Patriots This Sunday

The latest Vegas line has the Pats as 5 1/2 point favorites. But the 'Boys will win the game, and here's why:

1. Kharma. The Patriots were caught cheating, red-handed. What have they suffered as a result? The loss of a little discretionary spending money and a first-round draft pick that doesn't hurt nearly so bad, since they had two of them anyway. Belicheater wasn't suspended like Cowboys' coach Wade Wilson was (and Wilson's transgression took place while he was on the Bears' staff, so the Cowboys were unjustly penalized by the whole affair.) The Football gods have to rise up and smite the dirty bastards, since Goodell won't.
2. Romojo. It's magic, baby. If Monday night didn't teach us anything else, it taught us that. NOBODY throws five interceptions and rises from the ashes to win. Don't look him in the eyes, boys. Behind that peat-seed eating, boyish grin he hides a hypnotic power.
3. God is watching. That hole in the roof of Texas stadium is there for a reason. You don't think they will dismiss church early in Heaven for this one? The Cowboys aren't just America's team, ya know.
4. The cowboys have been punished enough for not drafting Randy Moss. The statute of limitations has run out.
5. The Cowboys aren't just playing for records and Super Bowls and stuff. They are playing to keep the Dallas Metroplex economy flourishing. When the Cowboys lose, North Texas spins into a mini-recession. You want your Patriots to win; we need our Cowboys to win.

These are scientific facts, and they are indisputable.

Final score: Cowboys 38, Randy Moss 35 (the rest of the Pats team is shutout)

Cowboys' Unlikely Comeback

It was an ugly game from the Cowboys' perspective, but Monday night's win over the Bills is sure to go down as a classic.

If Life Were Football

The only thing I hate about football is that there is more to life. At least, that is what I am told...or have been told many times by an exasperated wife.

I don't hear it as much lately as I once did. I suppose twenty-seven years of planning family trips, weekends, holidays, and meals out around the football schedule have finally taken their toll. I don't know exactly when she waved the white flag of surrender. I just feel certain she has. Maybe she thinks it best, if I am to have a mistress, that she be oblong, leather-skinned, and hard to hang onto.

It's a shame, really. If life were football, think how it would uncomplicate things...

1. First, you would know exactly who to blame for all your misfortunes. They wear prison-style pin stripes, blow whistles and throw yellow flags.
2. You would know who your enemies are, too. No more looking over your shoulder at work or at your neighbor with a suspicious eye. The enemy is clearly marked. He wears a uniform with a logo on his helmet and his name and number emblazoned on his back.
3. Moreover, You would know just how people feel about you. You could hear their wild cheers when they are loving you and their vehement cursing and booing when they wanted you dead.
4. You would know where you belong, what your role is, and that the pursuit of your own success is in keeping with the greater good. There would be a common goal that is large enough to absorb each individual's goals into itself.
5. You would know at the end of the day exactly where you stood. Just look at the scoreboard. You won. You lost. No gray areas. No ambiguity.
6. Finally, you would know that no matter how good or bad this day turns out, the next day will present a clean slate. The score will be even again. Losers might become winners. Winners might be made into losers. Or you might just become a dynasty.

But there's more to life than football.

Right?

On The Measure And the Making Of A Man

When asked if his team was outplayed by the Buffalo Bills on Monday night, Tony Romo answered, "I don't think our team was outplayed by the Bills, but I sure was." He went on to credit his teammates for picking him up on an off night. He made no excuses for his bad play, nor did he attempt to sugar coat it or play it down.

Any athlete - or person, for that matter - can flourish in prosperity. It is easy to comport oneself properly when one's endeavors are successful. It is in the tough times, the times when everything you do is wrong, when every effort results in apparent failure that a real man is measured.

Tony Romo threw four interceptions in the first half. Of the Bills' 24 points, he was directly responsible for fourteen of them, throwing two picks that were returned for touchdowns. He also was responsible for taking points off the board for the Cowboys by throwing an interception in the end zone, as they were attempting to go in for the score.

But an absolutely horrendous night was salvaged because the kid refused to quit fighting. He hung his head for a bit, but he didn't implode or self-destruct. Nor did he try to pass the buck. He just got up and went back to work.

Romo was not the first Cowboys' quarterback to throw five picks in a game. Troy Aikman did it. So did Danny White, Steve Pelleur, and Eddie LeBaron. Romo is the first Cowboys' quarterback, however, to throw that many interceptions in a game and still win it.

He credited his teammates for picking him up: "I put the team in a hole early in the game, and our team dug me out," he said. Tight end Jason Witten, however, made a brilliant observation when he said, "If there was any doubt (about Tony), they need to believe now. I was trying to stay in his ear and support him, but he doesn't need it." That is high praise from a teammate on a night when you have done everything in your power to lose a game your team should have won handily.

Watching Romo struggle in that game and then pick himself up and guide his team to an unlikely victory, I couldn't help but think of the marvelous poem by Rudyard Kipling:

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming
it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make
allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by
waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't
give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think
- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the
truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch
the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with
worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And
risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your
beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force
your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says
to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,'
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor
loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of
distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And -
which is more - you'll be a Man, my son! That, my friend, is the measure of a
man.

Tony Romo may not always be the man, but if he continues to develop like this, he will certainly be a man among men.

Could The Cowboys Set The Scoring Record?

The Dallas Cowboys, now 1/4 through the NFL season, are on a record-setting pace for points scored. In 1998, the Minnesota Vikings set the current record, scoring 556 points.

Here is a comparison of the 2007 Cowboys thus far and the Vikings' '98 season stats:

'98 Vikes:

Points per game - 34.7
Rushing average - 121
Passing Average - 270.5
Total yards per game - 391.5
Yards per play - 6.21

'07 'Boys:

Points per game - 37.8
Rushing average - 152.5
Passing Average - 288.3
Total yards per game - 440.8
Yards per play - 7.0

I know. It's early. But it's not that early.

Here is Jean Jacques-Taylor's Dallas Morning News column on the subject...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/100807dnspotaylor.3b077a4.html

MY ASSessment of the Network NFL Teams

A good booth can enliven a humdrum game as surely as a bad one can kill the buzz on a good game. Equally important to the football consumer is the studio crew. I realize this is all purely objective, but here are my rankings of the big four, from worst to first:

4th: ESPN. They are in my basement primarily due to Korn(ball)heiser. Has there ever been a cornier, more clueless commentator on the national stage? I mean, really? Does this guy know a field goal from a field mouse? Not only is he prone to absurd observances, he brings nothing of real value to the broadcast. You can feel Jaworski's frustration growing with each passing week. Chris Berman could almost save the day, but not quite. Besides, they added the pompous, smug, know-it-all Parcells to their studio team.

3rd: CBS. Phil Simms alone is enough to lower CBS' standings, in my book. If you want some in depth analysis and personality, better look elsewhere, but if you like football for dummies by dummies, Phil's your guy. Back in the studio, Shannon sharpe has personality, but it is nearly impossible to understand him when he talks, Boomer is BORING, and Jim Brown...well, Fox doesn't miss him.

2nd: Fox. Their Sunday pregame show is always the top-rated. Adding Switzer and creating the Grumpy Old Coaches segment was genius. Jimmy Johnson brings fire, Howie Long brings class, Curt Menefee brings a steady hand at the controls, and Terry Bradshaw brings...the cornbread, I guess. Their top announcer crew of Buck and Aikman is solid. The second team featuring Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa is entertaining, as well.

1st. NBC. Can there be any argument, really? This is the Dream Team NBC has assembled. There is no better play-by-play caller than Al Michaels. John Madden is THE LEGEND when it comes to color analysts. He may be something of a caricature of his former self. But Old Cliched Madden is still Madden, by gum! Back at the studio...what can I say? Bob Costas is the standard, and he has 19 emmys to prove it. Add the hands-down best athlete analyst in Cris Collinsworth alongside two very strong newcomers Jerome Bettis and Tiki Barber, throw in Peter (the) King (of NFL insiders) and Keith (by God!) Olbermann and there is just no room left for debate. The song may be a little corny and Faith Hill may not pull off the tough girl thing as well as dirty, nasty Pink did. But she's right about this: "The NFL rocks on NBC."

I said there was no debate. I take it back. Of course there is room for debate. Your two cents is more than welcome, my yardbarking friend.

OJ Fakes 'Em Out Again

OJ Simpson was poetry in motion with a football in his hands. He juked and weaved his way to glory at every level. He was elusive, quick, hard to bring down.

The Goldmans have spent a decade learning that OJ the Killer is just as elusive. First, he skates on the murder of their son, despite the mountain of evidence that led directly to his doorstep. Then, even after winning a judgment against him, they have found it next to impossible to collect. OJ is still the Juice, weaving and bobbing and eluding pursuers.

The latest report has the Goldmans being ordered to return a watch to Simpson. It had been awarded them because it was presumed to be a Rolex and of great value. But when appraised, it was found to be $100 knock-off.

A fake. Just like its owner. He jukes 'em again!

Read about it here...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071005/ap_en_ce/simpson_goldman

OU is Just UT - North

The Sooners beat the Longhorns today, 28-21. Okies everywhere will be celebrating the victory. Deservedly so, I suppose.

Of course, when you consider that The Sooners have 45 players from Texas on their roster, the Okies are really just celebrating another Texas victory. The Longhorns have 113 players who played their high school football in-state. This has long been the case with these two schools. It's UT North vs. UT. What the Red River Rivalry really does is showcase the quality of Texas high school football.

A native Texan and lifelong fan of the 'Horns, I have always been bummed to see so many terrific Texas schoolboys defect to the Sooner state. I never could figure out why, given the choice, a person would choose Norman, Oklahoma over Austin, Texas. Do these people later take family vacations to Beirut rather than Bermuda? Do they prefer fast food to a steak and baked potato?

Ah well. To each his own. Congratulations, Oklahoma. You piggy-backed your way to another very nice team and a great win today.

Proof Even God Hates The Yankees?

It was reminiscent of Moses' rod, wasn't it? Just when the Yankees appeared set to climb back into contention in the ALDS series against the Indians, they were plagued by millions of bugs, unnerving their rookie reliever and sending the pin-stripers spiraling into a 2-0 deficit.

Then, as suddenly as they appeared, the bugs were gone, leaving devastation in their wake...

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=286455

I envision Moses laughing as Jesus unleashes the plague on the hated Yankees. "Couldna done it better myself, Lord!"

The Lord smiles wryly and replies, "I am sick of A-Rod taking all the credit."

Mike Gundy Coors Light Commercial

This...is genius, no?

The Mack Brown (Get Schooled) School of Coaching

Since coming to UT, Mack Brown has been the picture of consistency. He regularly out-recruits other coaches...and just as regularly gets out-coached on game day. Seldom has a college coach accrued more talent and accomplished less with it.

The exception, of course, was the Vince Young era. Young is a transcendent athlete (a bitter Matt Leinart called him a "freakish athlete" after the Trojans' bitter loss to Texas in the national championship game two years ago), who was able to place the entire team on his shoulders and will them to victory despite glaring game day coaching gaffes and scheme deficiencies.

But Young has moved on to Tennessee and the perfectly-named Colt McCoy has taken the reins. McCoy is a nice player, gritty and tough and above average in the talent department. But, he is no Vince Young.

And therein lies the problem! Brown and his colossally unimaginative offensive coordinator, Greg Davis, haven't yet realized that Young is gone. They are still running that shotgun option offense most of the time. It was a great fit for Young, whose running ability in the open field is legendary. Not so, for McCoy. Moreover, the scheme has kept Jamaal Charles from turning in the kind of performances his talent and raw speed suggest he ought.

Why not implement some I-formation or pro set? Why not give Charles a fullback to block for him, open some holes, get him past the stinking line of scrimmage, where his elusiveness and speed make him an eminent threat?

Obviously, when recruiting McCoy, the Longhorns weren't tailoring personnel to fit their scheme. So why do the knuckleheads refuse to tailor their scheme to fit the current personnel? It makes no sense.

With the news that the Oklahoma Sooners are schooling the 'Horns in the recruiting department (see previous blog: The Sooner, The Better), it looks as if the one edge Mack had on the Big 12 - and the nation - has been lost. The guy better either figure out how to coach these kids up or find himself an offensive coordinator who can. (How did he let Todd Dodge escape to the University of North Texas???) Otherwise, it is going to be a long season...maybe several long seasons.

And I won't even mention the talent-laden and hoppin' mad Sooners they have to deal with in 14 hours.

The Sooner, The Better?

The Oklahoma Sooners, who have lost the last two Red River Shootouts to the Texas Longhorns, are winning the Dallas area recruiting battle hands-down, according to Dallas Morning News reporter, Todd Wills...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/100507dnspoourecruiting.2aedea2.html

Of course, the jaded sports fan might assume the Okies are just paying better than the Texans these days. But you can't prove that, can you?

Mack's Truck

While Longhorns fans were devastated by the 41-21 trouncing their boys in burnt orange received at the hands of the K-State Wildcats, Coach Mack Brown has his own reasons to feel run over, according to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/100507dnspoutarrests.3829d60.html

Tony Romo Scramble vs Rams

Oh! Here's that Romorific play vs. the Rams. Shades of Favre, my ass! This is shades of Staubach.

Is Greg Ellis Sorry?

Most have no trouble spotting sorriness when they see it in, say, Terrell Owens or Randy Moss. The flamboyant athlete in a team sport, the one who seems to exude the me-first mentality is an easy mark. So, when T.O. had his little was-it-a-suicide-attempt-or-not thing last year, or when he missed most of training camp and hammed it up on his stationary bike while the rest of the team beat the dog out of each other, sports pundits had no problem saying, "Heeere we go again!"

But then there are the "good guys," the "team players." You know, the guys who are always courteous to the media and go about their business quietly and toe the company line. Guys like, oh, I don't know, Greg Ellis. Greg Ellis, a team captain. Greg Ellis, an upstanding guy. Greg Ellis, a hard worker.

Greg Ellis, a bum? Maybe! Consider that the Cowboys' trainers have said, since way back in training camp, that Ellis was fine to play as far as they could tell. Consider that he missed all of training camp, all of the preseason, and three regular season games. Consider that as soon as Jerry Jones stepped up and said that if Greg would play, he would purchase an additional $2 million dollar insurance policy for the player out of his own pocket to get him on the field, Ellis felt well enough to play the very next game. Jerry essentially agreed to work out a new deal for a player who was under contract, a player who had signed a deal, and a nice one, of his own volition, and then decided it wasn't good enough and he didn't want to be a Cowboy anymore.

Ellis has basically held Jones and the Cowboys hostage for two years. He has pissed and moaned to the media over and over. He has insisted that he wasn't sure he was healthy enough to play...until...he got what he wanted. Then, voila, he is miraculously cured, plays against the Rams, and records a sack and gets credit for half of another.

So, this "team" player abandoned his teammates, deserted his post, contemplated retirement (yeah right), and rode the pine until Jones ponied up. Credit Jerry for putting the team's interests ahead of his own sense of propriety and accommodating Ellis. But be wary, Cowboys' fans, of the fallout. What will happen the next time a player is unhappy with his contract? Will he remember Ellis and suddenly develop a phantom injury?

I know, I know! Ellis' injury was serious, the kind that can be difficult to come back from, the kind that can end a career. But it didn't; he healed. He got better. And he did not retire. He just refused to play until he got what he wanted.

Sometimes that whole team player or team cancer thing is murkier water than anyone cares to admit. But, hey, the Cowboys are 4-0 and riding high.

So, who cares, right?

Romomantic, Ain't It?

If you didn't see that bit of magic Tony Romo pulled off Sunday against the Rams, well, you gotta see it! Third down and four and the ball is snapped a mile over his head. He gives chase, running full out toward his own goalline, boots the ball trying to pick it up, keeps chasing, finally secures it, and begins his 180 degree turn...all of this with the entire Rams' defensive line in hot pursuit. Headed up the left sideline, Romo breaks one tackle, head fakes another would-be tackler out of his jock strap, fakes a pass to avoid another, and scampers for a first down. All told, he ran about seventy yards to pick up the first down. Ultimately, that drive would end in a touchdown...and the game would be inexorably turned in the favor of the 'Boys.

Still, on a local Sunday night sports report, one Dallas sportswriter said, given the choice, he would still take Drew Brees over Tony Romo. Some people are slow learners; others are just plain retarded. Betting on Romo to be a stud for a long time to come right now is tantamount to insider trading. Comparatively speaking, guys like Brees look more ordinary every day. While Brees and the Saints falter, Romo and his Cowboys continue to flourish.

Moreover, Tony Romo may be the fastest rising stock in America. While Jerry Jones and Romo's agent haggle, the kid keeps doing magical things that raise the price of doing business. We could be looking at a nine-figure contract with 20 - 25 million in guaranteed money!

No wonder there is a movement in the gay community to bag this guy. I have read that some are showing up for games wearing shirts that say things like "Homos for Romo," and "I'm a Romosexual." In the 90's, it was Aikman and Steve Young the gay community kept trying to claim. I guess that is some sort of sign you have arrived.

Well, I am no Romosexual, myself. But, I am definitely a Romo Sapien.

Go Cowboys!