THE MANSION

I have already said how I feel about preseason football. I don't feel it is even close to a true indicator to measure a team's success. It is mainly importance is for the players to get in the flow of things (playing football) and for players fighting for spots to earn those spots.

But there was an importance to Monday Night's game, the health of Bengal quarterback Carson Palmer.

I just felt sick when Palmer hurt his knee. I still question the hit, even though people say it was legal.

With Palmer himself being cautious during the preseason and questioning if he will be ready, this was an important test. He took some hits and got up and today is not feeling any ill effects from the injury.

This injury normally would take a full year to be truly 100%. Palmer will not be at full strength for much of the season despite what you saw on Monday. The regular season is more difficult than preseaon. I feel the veterans hold back some during preseason games and don't go full out. So it will be interesting to see when he goes at it when the real battle begins.

While Palmer looked good, Packer QB Brett Favre looked terrible. I know, I know it is only preseason, but Favre just made mistakes that seem like he is pressing. If he is pressing during the preseason, how bad will it get for the regular season?

I know Favre has the right to come back. He loves the game of football so much he wanted to come back for another season. But will he enjoy it if the Packers go 4-12 again?

Favre's comments earlier in training camp that this is the best Packers team he has been around shows that he is trying to convince himself that this was not a mistake. By convincing the media and fans, he does not look as bad.

If I were a Packer fan, I expect a long season again and go for near 30 interception for Favre.
After all, he said he felt like he was walking on glass.

I have never really grasped the concept of fantasy football.

You would think that I am single and in my twenties that I would be playing fantasy football in any league that would take me.

But for the first time in my life I have joined a fantasy football league at the urging of one of my co-workers. I have the second pick in the draft which I will use to take Shaun Alexander. Unless the guy at number 1 takes Reggie Bush like the ESPN commercial guy, then it is Larry Johnson.

Am I excited? I don't know. I have a fear that I will become one of those guys who cheers for a team because one of my guys is on their team. That is not the true football fan who follows his favorite team and lives and dies with the wins and losses.

That is why I never have been a fan of fantasy football. People only care about their leagues and if a guy is gonna score or pile up the yardage. I do not want to be watching Monday Night Football and be begging at the end of the fourth quarter, "come on! 4 more yard and I win the weekend!!"

Nothing says football spirit by rooting for a guy to get a few more yards.

Nevertheless, I will give it a go this year. My draft is on Friday. I will try and build a competitive team and a high scoring team. I'm not sure if there is even a prize involved or what. I just joined the first one I could get.

But I am a dying breed. What football fan still roots for his team to win rather than a player to get stats?

Their is an increase in the number of Cowboy fans this year. It is not the TO situation or the young defense that looks like it will unleash hell on offenses this year.

This migration of Cowboy fans is coming from Interstate 45, from the team formely known as the Texans.

Word out of Texan camp is that their leading rusher Domanick Davis is in danger of being cut.

Wasn't this the guy that the Texans felt confident in so much that they passed on Reggie Bush?

According to various reports, Davis had a knee injury the Texans were concerned about before the draft. Before the draft. Would it have killed the Texans to pay more on the signing bonus?

This is Sam Bowie-Michael Jordan of the modern age.

Poor Mario Williams. None of this is his fault, but he has got unrealistic expectations if he wants Texans fans to forget about Bush.

Williams would have to surpass Reggie White as the all-time sack leader, pass Michael Strahan as the single season leader, score a touchdown once a year, and win the league MVP.

On team status, the Texans would have to win at least three Super Bowls to forget about Bush.

For all we know Bush might not be an extraordianry athlete, and may just be a good player. If the Saints don't win the Super Bowl while Bush is there or any team with Bush does not win, the pick historically will not seem as bad.

Of course Williams would still have to produce. Word from Peter King from SI is that he did not look to impressive in last postseason game. Of course, it is just exhibition football.

As a Ranger fan, I have the upmost hatred for one Alex Rodriguez.

I felt bitter, mad, and other adjectives that you can think of when you come across someone you despise. I felt A-Rod betrayed the Rangers, did not give in to the team concept Buck Showalter was trying to enforce.

Plus, I am still upset over the 24 kids comments he said about the Rangers when being traded.

But I have to come to the guys defense right now. Take it easy on the guy.

I have never seen such microscopic analysis of a player until the other day.

Watching Sportscenter, A-Rod's flaws are always pointed out. I mean has anyone ever gotten closeups of the bats players are using before Saturday? But there it was, ESPN highlighting that A-Rod was using Robinson Cano's bat to try to break out of a slump.

If this were TO, I understand why there was scrutiny, but this is the anti-TO and he gets the treatment of a villain from media, fans, and other players.

My advice to Alex would be first, quit having what other people say about you. Try the Barry Bonds approach. It is obvious you care too much about pleasing people, and let me tell you a little secret.....You can't. People are always going to hate you and like you.

You have got to learn to relax, take deep breaths and say hey life is wonderful!

For the fans, lay off. I get tired of hearing fans saying the contract is the reason they hate him.
And it is true A-Rod will be linked to the number 252 just like Dimaggio is to 56, Williams .400 and Bonds 73*.

But I tell these fans, so if you were offered $252 million to do what you do best, you would turn it down? Afraid of what people would say? Please!!! You would take the money in a heartbeat.
Blame Tom Hicks who was stupid enough to give him the money. Hicks could have had him for a lot less.

To the media, to quote Mike & Mike, just shut up! What has this guy done to make you want to vilify him. If he was a Barry Bonds jerk-type, I might see why there are negative columns and analysis on him. But please.

If Derek Jeter makes a bad play, people say "rarely does that" or "usually makes the play" or "It's just one of those days."

A-Rod makes a bad play, "another bad play by A-Rod" or "here we go again" or "continue in his struggles".

Granted A-Rod has struggled a bit this year, but ask any GM or manager and see how many would take A-Rods "struggles" this year over some of their players this year.

Alex, relax and realize they will boo you and just embrace it. That means they care as opposed to indifference. After all it is New York, even if you are great, they boo you.

Well I was just flipping through the channels and happened to come across SoapNet to catch an episode of Dallas. The episode involved an employee of the Ewing Oil business backstabbing and plotting against the dictatorial owner and manager of the establishment.

Wait, my bad, I have it on ESPNEWS and it's about the Dallas Cowboys, Terrell Owens, Bill Parcells and Jerry Jones.

These days you could not tell them apart to much.

So what to make of the latest TO mess? Overslept. Hey, I can believe that. Who has not overslept in their lifetime? if you say never, I don't believe you. I'm sure that is what all that is.

I even buy Parcells' explanation that it happens all the time in the NFL. And it does. Players get fined for being late or missing meetings all across the league and even under Parcells' teams in the past.

But what Parcells needs to understand is no matter what TO does, it will be magnified three times over. After all it is TO we are talking about.

Parcells knows that with TO comes much controversy and any comments about him or actions toward the receiver will be blown up, some much ado about nothing and others that will have serious consequences.

But after all these weeks of observing training camp and the past week, you have to admit, you know who is going to win this battle of wills if there is one. Parcells.

The Tuna has clearly showed who is in charge. Don't expect TO to start at Jacksonville in two weeks unless he has some serious practice time between now and then.

And for Cowboy fans who say get ready for Miami in January I will quote the Fabulous Sports Babe as she famously said "its just exhibition football!" Don't expect Terry Glenn to be as open as he was once the real game begins. And if TO is not lined up opposite of Glenn, you think the opposing corner will be intimidated by the likes of Patrick Crayton, Sam Ward, or Jamaica Rector?

Who are these guys you say? Exactly.

I expect TO to be in controversy for the rest of the season and as long as he is a Cowboy. He will not be here for the entire contract length.

The only thing this makes me say is Keyshawn where are you?!

The Rangers have just finished a 3-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics to avoid being swept. Despite being struck out 10+ times tonight the Rangers managed enough offense thanks to a 2-run homer by Matt Stairs.

It is really pointless for me to get optimistic. Even if the Athletics managed .500 ball the rest of the way, the Rangers would have to have a phenomenal September just to overtake that.

This is why Oakland is a second-half team and the Rangers are not.

Blame the heat, blame the pitching, blame the manager, the GM, the owner, the list goes on and on.

I know it is hot in the Ballpark (I know it is called Ameriquest Field but I will not call it that), and it can get to be a real scorcher. I don't know why there is not a roof over that thing.

But think of this. I never hear cold weather teams saying the cold is going to affect them as much as how it is going to affect the visitors.

For the Rangers, it is always how it affects them not the Rangers. My advice? Take advantage of the heat and use it for any edge you can get instead of whining about it. Nothing is going to change about that.

The pitching needs to upgrade. Make no mistake we do not need a Chan Ho Park mess again, but we need to open up the market and try to get some good pitchers here. The Rangers have 3 potentially good starting pitchers developing in the minors right now and they need some solid veteran leadership.

There is a website called firebuck.com that has started hoping for Buck Showalter to get the axe. I do not know if that would solve everything. I keep thinking if Ken Macca or Joe Torre or Jim Leyland were managing this roster would the Rangers be in contention? One thing might happen though is that the mood of the clubhouse would be different. The Rangers are pressing right now. You can just see it on Friday night when they were almost no-hit by Barry Zito.
A more upbeat clubhouse might have more patience at the plate instead of swinging the big sticks and maybe a different personality would bring that.

Let it be know everytime Showlater has been fired, the team won the World Series the next year. Coincidence? Of course it all comes down to talent, which leads me to Jon Daniels.

Jon Daniels, Rangers GM, is supposed to be a clone of Red Sox GM, both young and ready to make bold moves. The jury is still out with me if Daniels will pan out here. Heaven knows anything has to be better than The Jon Hart era.

But as the seaon goes some moves are just looking bad. The Alfonso Soriano-Brad Wilkerson deal stinks.

The Rangers gave up too easily on Chris Young, even though they receive Aki Otsuka in return.

Francisco Cordero has looked flawless since moving to Milwaukee and Carlos Lee has not really produce the power he is capable of, plus he is to slow in the outfield. Gary Matthews Jr. can get to balls quickly in left-center than Lee can.

If Lee bolts we gain nothing from the trade. I feel the Rangers need to suck up their pride and go back after Soriano and sign him to be our left fielder. It makes sense.

Now for Tom Hicks. Sell the team. If not, become a laisezz-faire owner. For those who did not take economics, than means hands-off. Do not give overblown contracts if you don't need to. We could have had A-rod for a whole lot less.

Also Mr. Hicks, increase the payroll. You know we cannot compete unless the payroll goes up. I have yet to see the financial flexibility that was promised when the A-Rod contract was traded away. Let's see it know.

But it all comes down to one thing as The Cowboys season starts and even though one month is left in the baseball season, see ya next year.

After looking at my first blog, I better use my spell check next time.

As a Ranger fan, now is the time of year where I look at my beloved Rangers and start thinking to myself "when does football season start?"

Any Ranger fan knows what I mean by that, knowing what we go through every year.

But the Rangers are for another day.

As a Cowboy fan, a lot of people are asking me about the Terrell Owens situation.

When Owens was first signed, I did not know how to react. Talent-wise, you had to be excited. But I wondered how long it would be before the controversy started.

To think Owens was going to change was ridiculous. Why do you think his contract is designed the way it is. It is basically three 1-year contracts.

Unless Owens' grandma was winning the team, Owens will do what only he knows how to do.

Do I think the hamstring injury is for real? Yes, I do.

Do I think it is being blown up out of proportion? Yes because of who is involved. Hines Ward and Steve Smith have missed training camp with injuries and no one has really noticed in the national media. Of course where will ESPN be without the To saga. It needs it to keep the Sportscenter audience from changing the channel.

Most of the comments are coming from people that may have spent no more than 1 day at the Cowboys practice. So most do not know what they are talking about.

You're probably saying, hey you haven't been there either and don't even live in the city so what do I know?

Well, I get my info from the writers who have hung around the team since mini-camp. These guys have the heads up on what is happening.

The TO situation is much ado about nothing for the most part. He will eventually come to practice, play on Sunday and be catching balls from Drew Bledsoe.

If he doesn't, he won't start or play much period. Don't believe me? See Drew Henson, Eddie George, and Peerless Price. These were acquisitions that were clearly driven by Jerry Jones.

What I am sick of his people saying parcells knew what he was getting himself into. This was clearly an owner driven acquisition.

Jerry Jones wanted Owens more than Parcells. Parcells agreed to it because he wants that Super Bowl and probably plans on retiring soon so Owens will soon be another headache.

But like the other Jones acquisitions, Owens could run the risk of being an outcast.

I mean, who has more to lose here? Owens clearly.

What other team would give him another chance at the money he wants if the Cowboys stay ends up similar to the Eagles stay?

Parcells could retire but I doubt his Cowboys coaching period would affect his legacy.

And Jones? Come on. He gave a $13 million dollar signing bonus to a part-time player ten years ago and hired a wishbone coach to coach a Super Bowl champion. Has it damaged his legacy any?

So Owens, my message for you is "It's time Terrell, it's time"

Something happened on my first attempt to blog and it just saved the title.

Well, first I would like to introduce myself to the world of bloggers. This blog will be s sports blog(as if there aren't enough already, huh?). But I will give my thoughts and analysis as petty as it could be to the sports world. I am a buig sports fan with allegiances to the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers. I have somewhat of an allegiance to the Texas Longhorns but I would classify myself as die-hard as the previous two teams. But I love college football. I am in my upper 20's and single and work in the sports world albeit a very small spectrum of the sports world.

However this blog will not be about just the Rangers, Cowboys, and Longhorns. I will try to give my thougths to other areas of the sports world as well. Granted, I hope there are people out there reading this beside my parents but if there are, feel free to comment on my thoughts and please tell me what an idiot you think I am and I will reply and explain why is it you are wrong.

Anyway, new posts will probably made in the evening because I work all day, so don't expect anything new until the evening.

I do not mean to brag, but I hope this blog will eventually rival Deadspin.com's as an alternative to what people on that blog are yused to reading. Granted aren't you tired of "you're with me leather"? That phrase jumped the shark long ago. I am no Chris Berman fan (his act jumped teh shark long befroe that phrase did), but they need to come up with some fresh meat. I have to sign off now but I shall return with hopefully some more fans than the two I expect.