Tuesday, January 02, 2007
The Vault
Been a while folks. Give me a moment to dust the spider-webs in the vault and lets see what is there to offer:
1. The Cowboys will not go far in the Super Bowl with this defense. You got only two guys who are playing at good level and they are Demarcus Ware and Terance Newman. Yes I know Newman botched a punt return and was burned on a TD pass but he is the best we got. What were the Cowboys thinking putting pint-size Aaron Glenn on Roy Williams? Anthony Henry or Terance Newman could have been better. The problem with the Cowboys is they do not adjust their defense. They play with the same style all day.
2. One thing I do like is Tony Romo probably getting humbled. With the 4 game winning streak from the middle of the year to all the comparisons to The Natural and to the supposed hook-ups to Jessica Simpson and now Carrie Underwood at the latest, I worried if all this would get to his head. I don't know if it did, but I think it will serve better in the long run for Romo to have a few bad games. One, he will learn on how to overcome adversity, and two, it will keep him humbled. I know he tries to mimic Brett Favre and Favre did have that kind of swagger but that did not really develop or show until the team started winning. Romo needs to remember that Rick Mirer had a good first year and then no one heard from him again. At the same time, all first year quarterbacks need to make mistakes. That is how they become great. And he must know it is better to take the sack or the short minimal game than having to always make a play.
3. The fans booing at the game at Romo. I hope that was for the whole team. Can you fans remember Drew Bledsoe? The game would not have been this close if had been Bledsoe in the game. Romo did his best, he just tried to hard.
4. It puzzles me how TO can make a great one handed catch and gain a lot of yards, yet drops so many catchable balls. TO should and will be gone at the end of the year. I mean, all you Cowboy fans like myself cannot honestly say he has had a good year. Would our receiving corps be depleted if he left. Sure but look at some of the other receiving corps that are in and not in the playoffs. Can anyone name a Patriots receiver? How about a Chiefs receiver other than Tony Gonzalez? Eagels besides Donte Stallworth? Bad choice there because we were recently burned but you get my point. A receiver tandem of Terry Glenn and Patrick Crayton won't be the end of it. Remember Michael Irvin-Kevin Williams combo? Sure Glenn will draw double coverage, only the better to get Crayton and Jason Witten in single coverage. And with a full training camp with Romo as the starter, this will be good.
5. I did not see a big deal about TO visiting his old teammates in the Eagles hotel. I mean, did it really do any harm? I am not a TO supporter, but that was another overblown debacle.
6. Another question has risen and that is should the Cowboys let go of Parcells? The question all year has been will Parcells want to be back? Now I think the question is does Jerry Jones want him back? There is no question that the last 3 losses have to do with poor coaching. I am an avid Parcells supporter and usually side with the coach on most matters. But he needs to take his share of the blame for this loss. I mean the team is not fired up? No emotion? I am a Rangers fan and if you follow the Rangers there were questions about the recent Rangers manager, Buck Showalter being fired after 4 seasons of producing only one winning season and no playoff appearances. Rangers fans were critical of Showalter and his hard disciplined style and said after 4 years he needed to go. So lets use that analogy to see how the Parcells era is in the last 4 years. 4 seasons, 2 playoff appearances, 0 divisions, and 35-31 record. So, why is there no outrage for one the highest paid head coaches? That is all it produces plus the lackluster play the last few weeks?
I don't know if Parcells should go. I remember the Dave Campo and Chan Gailey years and I have to say I would not want to go back to that. There is better foundation left than what Campo left Parcells, but the bottom line is it has not produced.
I have kind of pushed for the Cowboys to pursue Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis, mainly because Weis was an assistant and offensive coordinator for Parcells so the style of offense and defense is similar to them both. I do not think Weis is going anywhere and there is no body that is available that really blows me away. Pete Carroll? Cam Cameron? Ken Wisenhunt? Russ Grim? Tim Lewis? Mike Singletary? Norm Chow? Jim Mora? Kirk Ferentz? Mike Zimmer?
Again no one blows me away. There could be a sleeper in that group but mentally and emotionally is this the best thing for the team?
The thing that worries me is that Jerry Jones will go back to his old thinking ways, you know where he thought by watching Jimmy Johnson draft players all those years that he could draft and hire just as well. You know where the coach was forced to take on the coaching staff of the owners' liking and sit shotgun to Jone's drafting of players and free agent signings. Rememebr Qunicy Carter anyone? So I have to ask, whose judgement do you trust more in evaluating talent, Parcells or Jones?
7. Seattle is banged up for the upcoming playoffs. They only got one healthy cornerback this week who is a rookie and just barely joined the team. All the other CBs are banged up including Kelly Herndon who has a broken ankle. The reason I give Dallas a shot is because they have not looked like the Seahawks of last year. And Dallas has had a history of playing well in Quest Field. With a banged up secondary, expect the Cowboys to open up to TO and Glenn. This will hoefully also open up the running lanes for Julius Jones and Marion Barber who seemed to have disappeared the last few weeks.
8. But the Cowboys defense is still the Cowboys defense and it will give up plays. The Seahawks offense was banged up but that a while back and they have recovered. Matt Hasselback, Shaun Alexander, Deion Branch, NAte Burleson, Bobby Engram, and Darrel JAackson will torch the defense of the Cowboys. Hey if the Lions cand Eagles could do it, these guys will for sure. Cowboys will win 45-41.
9. Other playoff games, I like the Eagles over the Giants because if there is a team that is in more freefall than the Cowboys, it is the Giants. Then on Monday, we will hear of Tom Coughlin getting fired. (Another coaching candidate?) As a Cowboys fan, I am glad to see Tiki Barber go. As a football fan, I will miss him. I mean where will the Giants have been this year without Barber? They will be searching for answers because they sure cannot rely on Eli MAnning, so look for the Cowboys to sweep the Giants next year.
10. I like the Chiefs in an upset of the Colts mainly because the Colts cannot stop the run and the Chiefs will give Larry Johnson 35-40 carries and just beat up the Colts defense.
I also like the Jets in an upset over the Patriots because the Jets have been overall been playing better football than the Patriots this year and I do not like the Patriots offense against that Jts defense.
11. Anyone catch the halftime of the Fiesta Bowl? Was it just me or was it odd seeing Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson sitting side by side analyzing a game? It was jsut so weird for me.
12. Dennis Green and Jim Mora were fired from their jobs on Black Monday yesterday. I think we all saw this coming. I just wonder if Mora was let go because of his verbal gaffe from a few weeks ago.
13. Broncos CB Darrent Williams was killed overnight New Years mroning when a vehicle that stopped next to his limosine fired bullets into his limo killing him and injuring two others. The death is a tragedy but let me say this, I don't care if it is New Years' Eve, if you are at a nightclub and are out a 3 in the morning, nothing good can happen.
14. I stood by the Michigan Wolverines when they were robbed of another shot against Ohio State. I felt they deserved the rematch. But they just played terrible yesterday. They had a chance to win and start nexy year as the number 1 ranked team in the nation. Now it is a waste and I am sure Michigan fan is calling for Lloyd Carr's firing. Looked at you guys at the M Zone and nobody has done it. Deadspin pointed out that the announcers, Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit, and Bob Davie were saying how quickly the bloggers were going to call for Carr's head.
15. You know, you do not get a Notre Dame guy ( Davie), and an Ohio State guy (Herbstreit), to call the Michigan game. Don't you think Herbstreit was doing some fist pumps when USC kept scoring?
16. Good to see I was not the only one who saw the USC cheerleader without underwear on. Could not get the feed from YouTube but at elast she was cheering for the right side this time.
17. What a finish on the Fiesta Bowl! I have never seen play-calling like that at a high school game much less a college. I have always heard of the Statue of Libery trick but I have never seen it executed well in a game, but man that was great execution yesterday.
18. I hope this game makes the university presidents want a college playoff. As you know I have pushed for a 8 team playoff at the minimum, and after this game, I feel it needs it. A 16 team playoff would be better and I just do not feel this will take away from the regular season.
19. Boise States win gives hope for all the mid-majors who deserve a shot at the top teams in the nation. I feel Boise State should have a shot at Ohio State. A playoff would settle it onca and for all. Wishful thinking.
20. I had no problem going for two based on this reasoning which has been echoed by the media types and that is the Boise State defense could not stop the Sooner offense and the Broncos wanted to end the game once and for all and they felt it was their best chance. If they had lost, yes it would have been scond guessed but the reasoning is good, not like the boneheaded decision of the Cowboys in 1995 with Barry Switzers go for it on 4th and 1.
21. Boise State tailback Ian Johnson propsed to his girlfriend, Broncos cheerleader Chrissy Popadics, on live TV moments after the game ended. Nice TV. I just hope Ian was just not caught up in the moment. Now that he has had time to sleep on it, I hope he is not waking up thinking, What Did I Do?!
22. Nice comeback by Texas Tech against Minnesota. Down 38-7 and win it 44-41. Of course it was on the NFL Network and of course, I could not see it. Don;t get me started there on the NFL.
23. Alabama just is begging Nick Saban to take the job. The question is first when will coaches be held accountable for their contracts? College, NFL, and NBA coaches contracts have no validity to them because a coach can easily leave to another team. Second, suppose Saban does not take it, where does Alabama go from here? Bear Bryant probably would be spinning in his grave knowing that no one wants his old job.
24. Bob Knight became the all-time wins leader in men's college basketball. I missed the Bucknell game where he tied the record beacuse of weather concerns and was set to witness the tying ahd they lost to UNLV. Some have tried to downplay the record as if it is not that important taht is a record based on longetivity. He got the record because he coached a long time and it is not as impressive. The record is impressive though. I mean how many coaches who started coaching when Knight started are still around? For someone to coach 40 years is impressive. It shows you are a good coach. You can say what you want about him, he has his criticisms and deservedly so on some of them. He does have a temper and a very aggresive, militaristic style of coaching. But never have his teams been sanctioned or put on probabtion for rules violation (Jim Harrick, Jerry Tarkanian, Kelvin Sampson) and graduates all his players that finish with him through there time at his school. You cannot count people who dropout because they transfer to another school. His teams play their hearts out for him and many have learned a lot from him and used his teachings throughout their lives. The record is important and impressive. Unfortunately he will be remembered for his antics more than for his coaching.
25. There was a fight in hockey not too long ago and I cannot remember the teams names or the players involved, after all it was hockey. But the incident involved one player sucker-punching another player from behind knocking him to the ground and kept on hitting the guy.
Why do I bring this up? Where is the outrage from this? People made a big deal about the Nuggets-Knicks brawl calling Carmelo Anthony thugs and saying this is what is wrong with the game today. So where is the outrage for this? Is it race? MAybe. I think race is a factor. I am not saying what Anthony did was okay. It was not and he should be and was suspended. I am saying that there is a double standard between what happened in the NHL game and the NBA game. Hockey analyst for ESPN Barry Melrose says fighting must happen because that is the way hockey polices itself, that if there was no fighting, things would be worst in hockey. All I know is if players throw punches at each otehr in hockey, they go to a penalty box for a few minutes and get to come back in tthe game with hardly a mention of it. In the NBA it is the lead story on ESPN and we have all these analysts discussing who and what should be done to the players involved. Hockey needs to do something about the fighting and take it to the level of suspensions of the NBA and maybe it will finally wipe out fighting in hockey once and for all.
26. Barry Zito signs with the Giants. I knew there was very little chance of the Rangers actually getting him but I am gald he is out of OAkland, he had a very good record against the Rangers and almost no-hit us this year. I am also gald he is out of the AL and in the NL.
27. The Rangers traded their top prospect, pitcher John Danks to the White Sox for Brandon McCarthy. I had always said that if the Rangers were to part with one of the DVD pitchers in their farm system that John Danks was untouchable. Now Danks will go on to be a superstar pitcher in the White Sox organization and lets hope we can get a few good seasons from McCarthy. So far here is how I see our most important positions this year:
SP-Brandon McCarthy
Kevin Millwood
Vicente Padilla
Robinson Tejeda
Josh rupe/Kameron Loe/John Koronka
middle relief-Akani Otsuka
closer-ERic Gagne
batting order-
CF Kenny Lofton
DH Frank Catalanotto
SS Michael Young
1B Mark Teixeira
C Gerald Laird
3B Hank Blalock
RF Nelson Cruz
LF Brad Wilkerson
2B Ian Kinsler
Vault is empty , I am out of here.
1. The Cowboys will not go far in the Super Bowl with this defense. You got only two guys who are playing at good level and they are Demarcus Ware and Terance Newman. Yes I know Newman botched a punt return and was burned on a TD pass but he is the best we got. What were the Cowboys thinking putting pint-size Aaron Glenn on Roy Williams? Anthony Henry or Terance Newman could have been better. The problem with the Cowboys is they do not adjust their defense. They play with the same style all day.
2. One thing I do like is Tony Romo probably getting humbled. With the 4 game winning streak from the middle of the year to all the comparisons to The Natural and to the supposed hook-ups to Jessica Simpson and now Carrie Underwood at the latest, I worried if all this would get to his head. I don't know if it did, but I think it will serve better in the long run for Romo to have a few bad games. One, he will learn on how to overcome adversity, and two, it will keep him humbled. I know he tries to mimic Brett Favre and Favre did have that kind of swagger but that did not really develop or show until the team started winning. Romo needs to remember that Rick Mirer had a good first year and then no one heard from him again. At the same time, all first year quarterbacks need to make mistakes. That is how they become great. And he must know it is better to take the sack or the short minimal game than having to always make a play.
3. The fans booing at the game at Romo. I hope that was for the whole team. Can you fans remember Drew Bledsoe? The game would not have been this close if had been Bledsoe in the game. Romo did his best, he just tried to hard.
4. It puzzles me how TO can make a great one handed catch and gain a lot of yards, yet drops so many catchable balls. TO should and will be gone at the end of the year. I mean, all you Cowboy fans like myself cannot honestly say he has had a good year. Would our receiving corps be depleted if he left. Sure but look at some of the other receiving corps that are in and not in the playoffs. Can anyone name a Patriots receiver? How about a Chiefs receiver other than Tony Gonzalez? Eagels besides Donte Stallworth? Bad choice there because we were recently burned but you get my point. A receiver tandem of Terry Glenn and Patrick Crayton won't be the end of it. Remember Michael Irvin-Kevin Williams combo? Sure Glenn will draw double coverage, only the better to get Crayton and Jason Witten in single coverage. And with a full training camp with Romo as the starter, this will be good.
5. I did not see a big deal about TO visiting his old teammates in the Eagles hotel. I mean, did it really do any harm? I am not a TO supporter, but that was another overblown debacle.
6. Another question has risen and that is should the Cowboys let go of Parcells? The question all year has been will Parcells want to be back? Now I think the question is does Jerry Jones want him back? There is no question that the last 3 losses have to do with poor coaching. I am an avid Parcells supporter and usually side with the coach on most matters. But he needs to take his share of the blame for this loss. I mean the team is not fired up? No emotion? I am a Rangers fan and if you follow the Rangers there were questions about the recent Rangers manager, Buck Showalter being fired after 4 seasons of producing only one winning season and no playoff appearances. Rangers fans were critical of Showalter and his hard disciplined style and said after 4 years he needed to go. So lets use that analogy to see how the Parcells era is in the last 4 years. 4 seasons, 2 playoff appearances, 0 divisions, and 35-31 record. So, why is there no outrage for one the highest paid head coaches? That is all it produces plus the lackluster play the last few weeks?
I don't know if Parcells should go. I remember the Dave Campo and Chan Gailey years and I have to say I would not want to go back to that. There is better foundation left than what Campo left Parcells, but the bottom line is it has not produced.
I have kind of pushed for the Cowboys to pursue Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis, mainly because Weis was an assistant and offensive coordinator for Parcells so the style of offense and defense is similar to them both. I do not think Weis is going anywhere and there is no body that is available that really blows me away. Pete Carroll? Cam Cameron? Ken Wisenhunt? Russ Grim? Tim Lewis? Mike Singletary? Norm Chow? Jim Mora? Kirk Ferentz? Mike Zimmer?
Again no one blows me away. There could be a sleeper in that group but mentally and emotionally is this the best thing for the team?
The thing that worries me is that Jerry Jones will go back to his old thinking ways, you know where he thought by watching Jimmy Johnson draft players all those years that he could draft and hire just as well. You know where the coach was forced to take on the coaching staff of the owners' liking and sit shotgun to Jone's drafting of players and free agent signings. Rememebr Qunicy Carter anyone? So I have to ask, whose judgement do you trust more in evaluating talent, Parcells or Jones?
7. Seattle is banged up for the upcoming playoffs. They only got one healthy cornerback this week who is a rookie and just barely joined the team. All the other CBs are banged up including Kelly Herndon who has a broken ankle. The reason I give Dallas a shot is because they have not looked like the Seahawks of last year. And Dallas has had a history of playing well in Quest Field. With a banged up secondary, expect the Cowboys to open up to TO and Glenn. This will hoefully also open up the running lanes for Julius Jones and Marion Barber who seemed to have disappeared the last few weeks.
8. But the Cowboys defense is still the Cowboys defense and it will give up plays. The Seahawks offense was banged up but that a while back and they have recovered. Matt Hasselback, Shaun Alexander, Deion Branch, NAte Burleson, Bobby Engram, and Darrel JAackson will torch the defense of the Cowboys. Hey if the Lions cand Eagles could do it, these guys will for sure. Cowboys will win 45-41.
9. Other playoff games, I like the Eagles over the Giants because if there is a team that is in more freefall than the Cowboys, it is the Giants. Then on Monday, we will hear of Tom Coughlin getting fired. (Another coaching candidate?) As a Cowboys fan, I am glad to see Tiki Barber go. As a football fan, I will miss him. I mean where will the Giants have been this year without Barber? They will be searching for answers because they sure cannot rely on Eli MAnning, so look for the Cowboys to sweep the Giants next year.
10. I like the Chiefs in an upset of the Colts mainly because the Colts cannot stop the run and the Chiefs will give Larry Johnson 35-40 carries and just beat up the Colts defense.
I also like the Jets in an upset over the Patriots because the Jets have been overall been playing better football than the Patriots this year and I do not like the Patriots offense against that Jts defense.
11. Anyone catch the halftime of the Fiesta Bowl? Was it just me or was it odd seeing Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson sitting side by side analyzing a game? It was jsut so weird for me.
12. Dennis Green and Jim Mora were fired from their jobs on Black Monday yesterday. I think we all saw this coming. I just wonder if Mora was let go because of his verbal gaffe from a few weeks ago.
13. Broncos CB Darrent Williams was killed overnight New Years mroning when a vehicle that stopped next to his limosine fired bullets into his limo killing him and injuring two others. The death is a tragedy but let me say this, I don't care if it is New Years' Eve, if you are at a nightclub and are out a 3 in the morning, nothing good can happen.
14. I stood by the Michigan Wolverines when they were robbed of another shot against Ohio State. I felt they deserved the rematch. But they just played terrible yesterday. They had a chance to win and start nexy year as the number 1 ranked team in the nation. Now it is a waste and I am sure Michigan fan is calling for Lloyd Carr's firing. Looked at you guys at the M Zone and nobody has done it. Deadspin pointed out that the announcers, Brent Musberger, Kirk Herbstreit, and Bob Davie were saying how quickly the bloggers were going to call for Carr's head.
15. You know, you do not get a Notre Dame guy ( Davie), and an Ohio State guy (Herbstreit), to call the Michigan game. Don't you think Herbstreit was doing some fist pumps when USC kept scoring?
16. Good to see I was not the only one who saw the USC cheerleader without underwear on. Could not get the feed from YouTube but at elast she was cheering for the right side this time.
17. What a finish on the Fiesta Bowl! I have never seen play-calling like that at a high school game much less a college. I have always heard of the Statue of Libery trick but I have never seen it executed well in a game, but man that was great execution yesterday.
18. I hope this game makes the university presidents want a college playoff. As you know I have pushed for a 8 team playoff at the minimum, and after this game, I feel it needs it. A 16 team playoff would be better and I just do not feel this will take away from the regular season.
19. Boise States win gives hope for all the mid-majors who deserve a shot at the top teams in the nation. I feel Boise State should have a shot at Ohio State. A playoff would settle it onca and for all. Wishful thinking.
20. I had no problem going for two based on this reasoning which has been echoed by the media types and that is the Boise State defense could not stop the Sooner offense and the Broncos wanted to end the game once and for all and they felt it was their best chance. If they had lost, yes it would have been scond guessed but the reasoning is good, not like the boneheaded decision of the Cowboys in 1995 with Barry Switzers go for it on 4th and 1.
21. Boise State tailback Ian Johnson propsed to his girlfriend, Broncos cheerleader Chrissy Popadics, on live TV moments after the game ended. Nice TV. I just hope Ian was just not caught up in the moment. Now that he has had time to sleep on it, I hope he is not waking up thinking, What Did I Do?!
22. Nice comeback by Texas Tech against Minnesota. Down 38-7 and win it 44-41. Of course it was on the NFL Network and of course, I could not see it. Don;t get me started there on the NFL.
23. Alabama just is begging Nick Saban to take the job. The question is first when will coaches be held accountable for their contracts? College, NFL, and NBA coaches contracts have no validity to them because a coach can easily leave to another team. Second, suppose Saban does not take it, where does Alabama go from here? Bear Bryant probably would be spinning in his grave knowing that no one wants his old job.
24. Bob Knight became the all-time wins leader in men's college basketball. I missed the Bucknell game where he tied the record beacuse of weather concerns and was set to witness the tying ahd they lost to UNLV. Some have tried to downplay the record as if it is not that important taht is a record based on longetivity. He got the record because he coached a long time and it is not as impressive. The record is impressive though. I mean how many coaches who started coaching when Knight started are still around? For someone to coach 40 years is impressive. It shows you are a good coach. You can say what you want about him, he has his criticisms and deservedly so on some of them. He does have a temper and a very aggresive, militaristic style of coaching. But never have his teams been sanctioned or put on probabtion for rules violation (Jim Harrick, Jerry Tarkanian, Kelvin Sampson) and graduates all his players that finish with him through there time at his school. You cannot count people who dropout because they transfer to another school. His teams play their hearts out for him and many have learned a lot from him and used his teachings throughout their lives. The record is important and impressive. Unfortunately he will be remembered for his antics more than for his coaching.
25. There was a fight in hockey not too long ago and I cannot remember the teams names or the players involved, after all it was hockey. But the incident involved one player sucker-punching another player from behind knocking him to the ground and kept on hitting the guy.
Why do I bring this up? Where is the outrage from this? People made a big deal about the Nuggets-Knicks brawl calling Carmelo Anthony thugs and saying this is what is wrong with the game today. So where is the outrage for this? Is it race? MAybe. I think race is a factor. I am not saying what Anthony did was okay. It was not and he should be and was suspended. I am saying that there is a double standard between what happened in the NHL game and the NBA game. Hockey analyst for ESPN Barry Melrose says fighting must happen because that is the way hockey polices itself, that if there was no fighting, things would be worst in hockey. All I know is if players throw punches at each otehr in hockey, they go to a penalty box for a few minutes and get to come back in tthe game with hardly a mention of it. In the NBA it is the lead story on ESPN and we have all these analysts discussing who and what should be done to the players involved. Hockey needs to do something about the fighting and take it to the level of suspensions of the NBA and maybe it will finally wipe out fighting in hockey once and for all.
26. Barry Zito signs with the Giants. I knew there was very little chance of the Rangers actually getting him but I am gald he is out of OAkland, he had a very good record against the Rangers and almost no-hit us this year. I am also gald he is out of the AL and in the NL.
27. The Rangers traded their top prospect, pitcher John Danks to the White Sox for Brandon McCarthy. I had always said that if the Rangers were to part with one of the DVD pitchers in their farm system that John Danks was untouchable. Now Danks will go on to be a superstar pitcher in the White Sox organization and lets hope we can get a few good seasons from McCarthy. So far here is how I see our most important positions this year:
SP-Brandon McCarthy
Kevin Millwood
Vicente Padilla
Robinson Tejeda
Josh rupe/Kameron Loe/John Koronka
middle relief-Akani Otsuka
closer-ERic Gagne
batting order-
CF Kenny Lofton
DH Frank Catalanotto
SS Michael Young
1B Mark Teixeira
C Gerald Laird
3B Hank Blalock
RF Nelson Cruz
LF Brad Wilkerson
2B Ian Kinsler
Vault is empty , I am out of here.
# posted by ttheman @ 10:32 AM 
