White Hat, Black Hat

The sports wonks in Dallas have been talking and writing about the Titans' defense this week.  The feeling seems to be that this defense is, at best, very physical, at worst a bunch of cheaters.  These guys lead the league in roughing-the-passer penalties and are tied for the most defensive penalties.  Of course, they also lead the league in sacks.  No surprise, I suppose, since Jeff Fisher is a Buddy Ryan protege.  In a column in today's Dallas Morning News,  Gerry Fraley urges the Cowboys to turn the other cheek, noting that in the Titans' 2 losses, their opponents did not retaliate.  On the other hand, in Titan wins, the opponents lost their
respective cools and had double-digit penalties by game's end.  According the Fraley, this is exactly what the Titans want.

I heard the great Drew Pearson interviewed on this topic by Randy Galloway on Friday and found his comments really fascinating.  Pearson said that if someone gave him a cheap shot, he made a point of getting the guy back at some point in the game.  When asked how he did it, Pearson said that he would wait for an opportunity to (legally, he said) clock the guy under the chin or upside of the head with an elbow or forearm.  Usually, he said, this would be on a running play, or sometimes in a pile.  He then said he thought it would be useful for the young receivers to talk to the veterans, like Pearson, to learn how to do this because the receivers coach, having never played, wouldn't know.

While I completely understand Pearson's point of view, I think that in the end, you have to behave as though nothing the other guy does bothers you.  Take a hit?  Just get up and trot back to the huddle.  Keep playing...DO NOT BACK OFF.  The absolute worst thing you can do is let the other guy know he is getting to you and if you retaliate, he knows.  If you change your game, he knows.  If you short-arm the ball, whine to the ref, change your route, run out of bounds to avoid a hit...he knows.  Don't be  p*****s.  Execute.  Win.  Winning is the best revenge.

Paunch

Tim Brown, former Notre Dame (boo hiss) and Oakland Raider wide receiver, was a guest on Randy Galloway's sports talk show today.  He commented that Wade Phillips' defense is vulmerable in the middle; that when the Raiders played Denver, back when Wade coached at Denver, the Raiders were able to exploit that defense; that it is a defense that cannot adjust; and that the Phillips defense forces safeties into coverage, which "is always a bad thing".  I was alarmed.  But then I got to thinking:  this defense isn't new and if no one has "exploited" it yet, then likely no one will.

By the way, does anyone remember the Cotton Bowl game between the Aggies and the Domers when Brown, that year's Heisman winner, pitched a hissy fit when a walk-on 12th man snatched Brown's towel from his britches during a kick-off return?  I was there and it was hilarious!  Didn't like Brown much after that but he turned out to be a good player.  Check out his stats.  The guy had 75 catches 10 years in a row.  According to Brown, he played with 21 different quarterbacks.  Oy.

Stinkin' Cowboys

Who here thinks this group of punks can beat New Orleans, San Diego, Philly, Washington or any combination thereof?  Oxey thinks the coach should take a tip from the Giants and pull some starters, starting with Romo.  Is there a way to pull the coach?

NFL Talk

Tampa Bay was a team that I expected the Cowboys to beat and they did. The win wasn't particularly glorious, but we take them where we can. Romo seemed off the first half and the run defense was stinko malo but maybe they drank a few beers at half-time because they played better in the second half. Receivers looked good, but I don't know if that is because they are good or because the Tampa defense had a few breakdowns. Who cares. I would like to have seen more of Felix Jones, though. Next week the Cowboys face the Giants. I just watched the Giants -Redskins game: pretty good D but fairly anemic offense.

Donovan McNabb broke a rib so we may be seeing Joe Mexico at QB once his suspension is complete.

Matt Stafford: 3 ints in loss to New Orleans.

Jake Delhomme: muy stinko malo. 4 turnovers, at least. I lost count.

Adrian Peterson: unreal. One of his t.d. runs will be repeated all year. I can't even begin to describe it, so look for it on the interweb.

Midway through the 4th, San Francisco is leading the Cardinals, 20-14. Being from Dallas, I hate the 49ers as a matter of principle, but I like Mike Singletary. I have no particular love for the Cardinals, but I do like Larry Fitzgerald, who is simply tremendous and who I covet for the Cowboys.

Tonight: Bears verses Packers. GO BEARS.

The End is Here

Here are some of the people who got waived, released, or terminated by NFL teams over the weekend: Maurice Purify, Brooks Bollinger, Billy Cundiff, John David Booty, Rhett Bomar, Zach Thomas, Chase Daniel, David Tyree, Joey Harrington, and Jeff Garcia. Lots of QB's on that list. As for the Cowboys, they finally have given up on Isaiah Stanback. Rudy Carpenter, free-agent QB, was released but is expected to be picked up for the practice squad. Aggie Stephen McGee is hurt, but still on the team. Question: is Bobby Carpenter worth keeping? He just seems a step late on everthing.

A plea from the frozen north

I have heard nothing, nada, zippo about the Cowboys camp. Up here it is cutler, cutler, cutler, what do you think of cutler. So what are folks talking about down there?
As for the bears, I think they are going to enjoy being in the division where Adrian Peterson and Percy Harbin score a gadjillion points and go to the superbowl and lose. ( it is minnesota afterall)

IF Jerry signs Vick, he can have Abuse Your Dog day

From Bloomberg.

By Mary Schlangenstein and Thomas Korosec
Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- A crowd of 82,000 isn’t enough for
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
He has a plan to set a National Football League attendance
record when the team starts playing in its new $1.15 billion
stadium next month. Tickets are being sold to fans who won’t get
seats: They’ll watch the game standing up.

The Cowboys Just Got Better

Sadly, the Philadelphia Eagles excellent defensive coordinator, Jim Johnson, passed away yesterday.

Greg Ellis: No Mas

Well, after 11 years, the Cowboys have decided to let Greg Ellis go. I think they'd still like to make a trade but absent that, they will release him. Thus is resurrected the Randy Moss debate, for it was Ellis whom the Cowboys chose over Moss 11 years ago. Moss lacked character, was a bad dude; Ellis was a man whom his college coach (Mac Brown) would choose to raise his kids should he (Brown) suffer some tragedy. The Cowboys were reeling from a series of embarassingly public and seedy revelations about certain players (remember the White House?) and Jerry "It's my actual hair" Jones didn't think the Cowboys could risk taking on Moss and his baggage. So Ellis was picked and will be forever remembered as the guy they took instead of Moss, and not for his performance, on or off the field.

Agony of Defeat

Jen and I were in DC last week for a show. We were staying in the Suburbs because driving and parking our giant white panel van around town did not seem like a good idea. (I wanted to put a turban on and drive by the White House honking, Jen said no). Anyway we had to take the subway to get downtown and see the sights. We had dinner and took the train home. The train was packed with Washington Capitol fans returning from game 7 against the Penguins. It had been a great series with several overtime games and arguably the 2 best players in hockey. The Penguins killed them getting out to a 5-0 lead in the 2nd period. You have never seen such an angry, disconsolate group of people (outside of Kyle field) in your life. They were all in bright red Caps jerseys and hats. They were griping, moaning and cussing. I know how they felt.

Baltimore beating the Cowboys in the Superbowl. We were jobbed.
Texas beating the then #2 Ags in '75, getting a 17 point lead in 90 seconds. I am still PO'ed.
Plano beating Highland Park by 1 point in '78, when the Scotts had a 28 pt halftime lead. Plano went on to win the State championship. Bastards.
F***ing 49ers and Dwight F***ing Clark and Joe F***ing Montana in 1979. Danny White still almost won that game.
Romo fumbling the snap for a game winning chip shot field goal against Seattle. Dummy.

I had better stop. I am getting worked up. I know exactly how the poor Capitols fans feel.
I root for the Cowboys, Aggies, Rangers, and Mavericks.