THE MANSION

Here are my picks:

Dallas over ST Louis
Tampa Bay ove Carolina
Indianapolis over Denver
Oakland over Miami
San Diego over Kansas City
Baltimore over Cleveland
Chicago over Detroit
Green Bay over Minnesota
Houston over Atlanta
NY Jets over Buffalo
Philadelphia over NY Giants
Pittsburgh over Arizona
Seattle over San Francisco
New England over Cincinnati

A lot to get to this week so here it is:

1. Wow is all I can say. The Bears were a game I marked as a loss early in the year in trying to predict how the Cowboys will do. What a statement game. The Cowboys responded by being aggressive on offense and taking advantage of the mistakes of Rex Grossman, which is what I said would they would have to do but I was wrong about it being a nailbiter.

2. Keep in mind the 1999 Cowboys went 3-0 and then finished the season 8-8 and a first round loss to the Vikings. That season also marked the firing of Chan Gailey and the retirement of Michael Irvin. In fact Irvin got hurt in the game following the 3-0 start. Why am I being a pessimisst you say? I am not. I am just saying try to keep it real. The real test will be in December. The Cowboys usually start strong and then in December, the fade begins. Can they keep this up for a season? I hope so.

3. One thing I am sure of is Tony Romo is the man. He will be the guy, Super Bowl or not that will probably leading this team to the ups and downs for the next ten years. He made great decisions, showed great poise and was able to move out of the pocket and get open receivers. Plus TO loves the guy. How many QBs have maintained a good rapport with Owens in his career. How many stil talk to him? This is an area that is sold on. We are set. No more talk of that botched snap.

4. Running game really sagged if you wipe out that long run at the end of the game, we really did not do well. Marion Barber is still the best back. I keeep hearing that the Cowboys will not break away from their current system of splitting the carries. I also hear Julius Jones will not be back next year. So what happens next year? Is Barber the feauture back or are we going to go get another back to complement him? And don't say Darren McFadden, refering to the Browns number 1 pick. It is still too early to be monitoring that. All I know is that Barber needs to get more carries.

5. Terance Newman looked good being a nickel back but from the looks of things he was in pain afterwards. Not a good sign.

6. Hey, Flozell Adams was his usual reliable self, a hold, a sack allowed and a false start.

7. 10 penalities called for nearly a 100 yards. I mean I know some of the penalties were questionable but man, we will not win the Super Bowl playing this way. It needs to stop.

8. Back to the questionable penalties. Let them play ref! I mean that block in the back call on Jason Witten or the stupid pass interference call on TO. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Plus ignoring the rule on stopping the clock on change of possession at the end of the half. I hope this ref crew will be fined.

9. Tommie Harris and Lance Briggs injuries sure helped a lot. I don't know if the Cowboys would have won if those guys had not gone out.

10. There is still a lot of people saying that the defense has still not proven it can shut down a good team. They take into account that the teams the Boys beat were mediocre offenses. Granted that is true. But a good defense is supposed to make a bad or mediocre offense look bad. Remember, Rex Grossman has looked good before. So pretty much, the Cowboys were the team that finally sacked Grossman to the bench. Force him to make mistakes and make a mediocre back like Cedric Benson look mediocre. I don't think the defense is great yet but it is not bad. I would say it is a good defense.

11. It sure looks good that Stephen Jackson and JP Losman will be out for the next two games the Cowboys play. On paper it looks good but lets not look ahead to that game on October 14th.

12. You know you would think Roy Williams would learn how to wrap up on a tackle instead of looking for the big hit all the time.

13. Well Matt McBriar seemed to win the battle as Devin Hester did not make any big plays on returns and was no more than a decoy on offense. Hester also muffed a few bad kicks. Maybe all that kicking away from him made him forget how to catch the ball.

14. I don't know what is the big deal on Brian Griese, he has not been that good in the NFL, not being able to take the pressure of replacing John Elway in Denver, so I don't know why people love this guy only for the reason that he is not Rex Grossman.

15. I don't think Donovan McNabb will get criticized as much this week as in previous weeks.

16. Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt can say it all he wants but when you lift your starter who is not playing well for your backup, you have a QB contoversy.

17. The Patriots really look great. Scary great.

18. What is Michael Vick thinking? Now I wonder if that apology was sincere. You smoke pot right when you are awaiting sentencing for the dogfighting charges?

19. I got tired last year of the Dallas media saying we let go of the wrong coach when Sean Payton went on to lead the Saints to the NFC championship. Now his team is o-3 and looks really bad. I know it is still early but so much for his genius.

20. The baseball races are really hitting up in the national league. We know who is playing in the AL but man what a trip in the NL. We could have as many as 3 one game playoffs on Monday.

21. What Greg Ryan did to Hope Solo was bad. You don't bench your hot goalie based on what your older goalie did against a previous team from a long time ago. That said what Solo said was stupid. You don't go after your teammate. Go after your coach but don't attack your teammate. And your apology on your myspacew account, stupid.

22. I don't know why people are in an uproar over James spader winning the Emmy. If you ever seen Boston Legal, he is good.

23. Who did not buy Halo 3?

That is it see ya.

Here are my picks, a lot of tough ones to pick:

Dallas over Chicago
Baltimore over Arizona
Carolina over Atlanta
Denver over Jacksonville
Indianapolis over Houston
Kansas City over Minnesota
New England over Buffalo
NY Jets over Miami
Oakland over Cleveland
Philadelphia over Detroit
Pittsburgh over San Francisco
San Diego over Green Bay
Seattle over Cincinnati
Tampa Bay over St Louis
Washington over NY Giants
New Orleans over Tennessee

Here it goes:

1. Well so much for the bad defense huh? I told you it was only 1 game. Of course, the Dolphins offense is so bad that it is hard to judge how good the defense really was. But a solid effort is a solid effort, 5 turnovers including 4 interceptions. And without Terence Newman and Jason Ferguson. Again it is only 2 games and the Dolphins are not exactly an elite offense. But a good defense is supposed to tear up a bad or mediocre offense.

2. Newman's injury is either really worse than what people are letting on or he really does not want to risk hurting it anymore. Don't be surprise if he undergoes offseason surgery to help the process. This will be a season long issue.

3. You can just tell by watching, unless you are a complete idiot that Marion Barber is a better running back than Julius Jones. I mean when the short yardage came up, I wanted Barber in there. I feel the Cowboys should increase his carries this season but still should go with the 1-2 punch they have with the two players, just put Barber in the upper part of the duo. Jones is as good as gone this offseason and I am sure Barber, a Drew Rosenhaus client and restricted free agent will be seeing a huge contract from the Cowboys.

4. Tony Romo showed he could manage a game correctly. I mean how can you explain it any other way. Most people compare him to his idol Brett Favre and in many ways he is like Favre. He has that gunslinger mentality and cockiness that we as Cowboys fans grew to respect and admire. But Favre was no game clock manager. I mean did you ever hear the sentence with game management and Brett Favre in the same sentence? No. So imagine if Favre was able to do that. That is what we have in Romo. That is both scary and great if you are an imposing QB. I mean he eluded the pass rush of Jason Taylor for crying out loud.

5. Jason Garrett continues to call a great game. He has shown boldness, the pass play on fourth down that led to the TO touchdown, and has done a good job of opening up receivers despite the defense making adjustments.

6. It puzzles me how a guy like Flozell Adams can be in the league 10 years, dominate Jason Taylor throughout most of the game, still have problems with the false starts. Well, I guess underachieving talent is better than no talent.

7. The big test will be the Chicago Bears. This game will be low scoring and will be a fight to the end. The best way for the Cowboys to win is to rattle Rex Grossman. Lets face it. He is no good, so I would make him uncomfortable in the pocket, force him to rush throws because when Grossman is bad, he is really bad. I do not respect Cedric Benson as a complete running back in the league so I feel the running game is not much of a factor. This will also be Jason Garrett and Tony Romo's first real test against a formidable defense. Brian Urlacher is a linebacker I feel can cover Jason Witten one on one so Garrettt needs to move Witten and the receiving corps all over the field and try to get a matchup against some of their banged up secondary. Also the matchup of the best punter in the league Matt McBriar and the best return man in the league Devin Hester. I would not challenge Hester too much and kick away from him most of the day.

8. Rumor is that the Cowboys have brought in Tank Johnson for a physical. My answer to this is don't do it. If Johnson so much as screws up again, it could be costly for the Cowboys. NFL commish Roger Goodell has shown he means business if a team tries to sign or draft a player with a history of legal problems. The team could face fines and draft pick losses. Johnson is a multiple repeat offender for gun possession charges (twice) and a suspicion of DUI. I mean the guy has not learned his lesson and we do not need a person like that on the team. I am not saying people do not deserve second chances, but his would be his fourth chance and Jay Ratliff, although not great has been pretty decent at watching the spot.

9. TO needs to stop the celebrating. I know he was probably mocking the Patriots camera controversy but that cost us 15 yards on the kickoff and the Dolphins were able to march down and score right after that.

10. Other than Leonard Davis, is this the same offensive line that protected Drew Bledsoe last year? The one that could not do squat. What a difference it makes to have a QB that will move out of the pocket and make adjustments.

11. I do not know why the other teams in the NFL do not use what the Cowboys are using to make sure the players stay cool on the sideline. I am talking about that pumping cool air into their bodies. Other than Jason Witten being late from the locker room at halftime for needing an IV, you really did not see a lot of fatigue, cramping, or dehydration from the Cowboys but you sure saw it in the faces of the Dolphins. Would Jason Taylor had gotten to Romo on that pass rush if he had been cooler?

12. All right here is my take on the Bill Belichick situation. He cheated. He got caught and he should be suspended. I felt he should have gotten suspended for at least a game but I am okay with the current punishment. After hearing Roger Goodell's comments on the situation and on how Cowboys QB coach Wade Wilson was suspended because he was involved in criminal activity and how what Belichick did was against rules and unethical, it was not crimianl. So after hearing that I can see why Wilson was giving a harsher punishment. I also see the merits of if any other coach was to get caught the rest of the season, Goodell would have been force to suspend that coach as well because he had already set a precedent. So by keeping it at a fine and draft pick loss, he can do that with any other coach if they are caught. I just hope that was the reason and not because Patriots owner Bob Kraft is in such good standing. In that case, Jerry Jones must not be in good standing.

13. Does the cheating scandal take away from the Patriots string of success. I feel it does no more than what Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, or any other cheater in the game has done. We don't know. We just don't know. Anything in this era that happens will be called into question. As I sat and watched the Chargers-Patriots game and saw the bushwhacking of the Chargers, what NFL fan other than the Patrios did not think, "Gee I wonder how they were get by so easily on that play?" I mean everything is suspect. The Rick Ankiel story probably did it for me. I mean that was a feel good story of epic proportions and look, now it just goes down with a big asterisk on it. Belichick will still have his bust in Canton evenutallu but this will taint the legacy somewhat and it will stick with him whenever he is mentioned.

14. But I do wonder if some of the really bad teams such as the Raiders from last year or the Bengals and Rams teams of the nineties or the Matt Millen led Lions had done the spying techniques, would they have won more games? Maybe I do think you have to have the right players at the right positions to execution. It all comes down to execution. Now we know how Belichick did it with average players.

15. The Texans look good. Very good. The Falcons still are kicking themselves for letting Matt Schaub go and Schaub has only gotten sacked twice in two games. Wonder what David Carr was thinking as he stood across the opposing sideline on Sunday.

16. The Broncos calling timeout just as the Raiders kicked the winning field goal was a legal play. A legal sneaky dirty play but a legal play nevertheless.

17. Who is Derek Anderson? I mean that was an Arena league game by scoring standards and this should put the Brady Quinn rumors to rest for a little while.

18. Wow Chad Johnson you really went into the Dog Pound.

19. Gee I wonder what the mood of Eagles fans is like.

20. There is probably some merit to what Donovan McNabb said the other day on HBO's Real Sports about a black QB being judged differently. But McNabb, you play in Philadelphia! They booed Kobe, Mike Schmidt and threw snowballs at Santa. What do you expect? They are going to rip you apart. I don't think white QBs are getting off easy in some of their respected cities such as Eli Manning and Rex Grossman. Remember Peton Manning was ripped for not winning the big one for a long time.

21. I can't believe I am saying in this but the Yanks-Red Sox series has finally jumped the shark. Why do I say this? Because of the increased amount of overexposure the networks such as Fox and ESPN have giving this series. I just can't get excited like I used to.

22. You know I am sick of any OJ Simpson news. I just do not want to comment on this story about the alleged armed robbery. The man has been unstable since he was acquitted of double murder in 1995 and I just tired of any news he makes and tired of the Goldman family commenting on this story as well. I am just sick of it.

23. I can't believe the stuff that is coming out of this Isaiah Thomas trial. I mean what does Stephon Marbury having sex with an intern have to do with the lawsuit? I mean this is not good for the Knicks no matter how you put it. They should have just settled out of court.

24. Oh gosh, Greg Oden out for the year? I felt the Blazers drafted well at the time and would have taken Oden in a heartbeat but man what bad luck. The curse of Sam Bowie lives. Thank GOd that Oden is only 19 and can probably return to full health when he is 21. Then they would have him but he might be damaged goods. He does not even know how he got injured.

25. I guess the Dallas columnist who were calling Sean Payton a genius and saying we let the wrong coach leave are now wondering what happened. The Saints have looked terrible in their two games and the Saints have not used Deuce McCalister enough.

26. I watched the ending to Alabama-Arkansas and the ending of Louisville-Kentucky. What a way to spend a Saturday night!

27. Notre Dame three games in without a touchdown. Where are the cries for Charlie Weis's head? I mean Ty Willingham never did this bad and there were calls to replace him right away. I still feel the move to fire Willingham was racially motivated. Weis has not done any better than Willingham.

28. Texas is still overrated. I mean struggle against Central Florida? Who are they? Oklahoma will win the Big 12 this year, not Texas.

29. LSU, Oklahoma, and USC are my favorites for the college championship at this point.

I think that is it, see ya!

I went 10-5 last week. Forgot to pick Washington-Miami. So here goes:

Pittsburgh over Buffalo
Jacksonville over Atlanta
Indianapolis over Tennessee
Green Bay over NY Giants
Carolina over Houston
San Francisco over St louis
Cincinnati over Cleveland
New Orleans over Tampa Bay
Dallas over Miami
Detroit over Minnesota
Seattle over Arizona
Chicago over Kansas City
Baltimore over NY Jets
Denver over OAkland
New England over San Diego
Philadelphia over Washington

A lot to get to this week so here it goes.

1. I remember back in 1997, the Cowboys opened the season by tearing up the Pittsburgh STeelers 37-7 I believe. This was Barry Switzer's last year as coach and Steelers QB Kordell Stewart first ever start after the "Slash" experiment. The Bucs later that day beat the SF 49ers 10-6 and Steve Young was knocked out of the game with a concussion and Jerry Rice was knocked out with a knee injury. So what as a fan was I to think? Stewart would not pan out as a starter in this league and the 49ers would finally dwindle to the cellar of the NFC West division, and plus the Cowboys would have another Super Bowl run. Well, Stewart turned out to be a decent starter that year and led the Steelers to the AFC title game and the 49ers overcame Rice's injury and Young did not miss a game the rest of the year and mad the Pro Bowl. The Cowboys? They wound up struggling on both sides of the ball that year, Emmitt Smith scored a season low 4 touchdowns and the Cowboys finished 6-10. This would lead to Switzers' firing. So what point am I making? It is only 1 game folks. You can't put a lot of merit into it. After a month into the season, I think you can start separating the playoff contenders and the pretenders. A lot of media are picking at the collapse of the defense and the performance of Tony Romo and making their season predictions. Back off people and just save it for when it really counts.

2. So let me give you my analysis of the game. The offense was spectacular and I see a lot of flashes of Romo as a born leader. Early in the game there seemed to be miscommunication between him and TO on some passing plays intended for him and he made was the interception but he was able to comeback from that and finish the game off. It seems like the Cowboys can I feel he put the botched snap behind him and he is ready to lead this team. The only thing is that off. coordinator Jason Garrett must be going through his playbook and mix up the schemes and plays a lot because that is what I felt ultimately crippled the Cowboys last year. They became too predictable. Garrett showed he could call a game and without QB coach Wade Wilson, he seemed to do fine. Let us see though if he is able to make adjustments as the games go on.

3. Terry Glenn's injury does not concern me as much. I remember the 1995 season where Kevin Williams lined up opposite Michael Irvin and Irvin caught a Cowboy record number of catches. But I saw how the Cowboys were making adjustments to get TO open and whenever they sent that safety to double him, TE Jason Witten was on single coverage and able to move the ball downfield as a result. So when the Giants adjusted, TO wound up on single coverage in the second half and burned the Giants. I am not saying we would not be better off without Glenn, we need him to make matchups difficult. What I am saying is, it is not a cause for concern. Besides, Patrick Crayton has worked mostly with the first team since Glenn went out with an injury and has a better chemistry, at least at the moment with Tony Romo.

4. Was the Cowboys offense that good or the Giants defense that bad? I can't say. Michael Strahan, unlike others who missed training camp, looked rusty. Plus it seemed like all the Giant players kept getting hurt to the poitn I think the Cowboys injuries look not nearly as bad.

5. The Cowboys injury that concerns me is Jason Ferguson and of course Terence Newman. There are just not a lot of backup NTs out there to get picked up. Jay Ratliff filled in okay and will probably be there most of this year but he is not a nose tackle and will eventually show as the season goes on. I felt that Newman should not have played and glad he did not. He will be bothered by that heel injury all season until he has surgery or rests it in the offseaon. But it was not worth him coming back so soon and risking damaging it further by playing him too early. I have already said that I never believed Greg Ellis was going to play this year so I have moved on as far as Greg Ellis is concerned.

6. Well what about that defense? Again just like the offense, it was just one game. I mean most people do not believe that the Cowboys will score 45 per game, so I don't expect the Boys to give up 35 a game over the season as well. They will have to make adjustments and figure out a way to disrupt a QB. The Giants pretty much kept picking up the blitz and no one could really get to Eli Manning. Plus even though I don't feel he did as bad as people say, Jacques Reeves will be picked on especially when he is lined up with Roy Williams as a double team coverage. There is no way. That is why Newman needs to come back, because a hurt Newman will still be better than a healthy Jacques Reeves. I think Reeves will be a fine nickel back but he is not cut to be a starter. And of course wit is no secret Williams cannot do squat on pass coverage.

7. Just a fact that will probably only interest me. Wade Phillips wherever he was a coach, had great or good offenses but the defense always seemed to struggle. I think that Phillips did not have the players that he has on this Cowboys defense and with time, the defense will develop and play better. Just give it time. It was the first game.

8. At least the Cowboys can rest easy on the kicker situation. Nick Folk did a decent job.

9. No TO drama. I about expected an outburst because he did not have a catch in the first half but he seemed like a boy scout at the press conference. And also something John Madden said about you need to get TO involved early in the game or else he is not as good a player. I am sorry but if this is the case, then TO needs to grow up and just respect the fact that they are trying to give him the ball.

10. Well the rest of the NFL was pretty interesting. I think the Browns should just take their lumps with Brady Quinn. I know they are scared becasue of what happened to Tim Couch but you are not going to win with your current starters, so play him. He is going to struggle but Aikman and MAnning both did it and it had no ill effects.

11. Shame on you Jets fans. Fans never ever cheer when a player is injured. It is despicable and disheartening. Chad Pennington has done nothing but rehab and work hard to make sure he plays in most of the games and I don't care if Kellen Clemens is the next great wonder, you don't cheer an injury.

12. You know with all the advances in science, technology and medicine, you would think that someone would come up with a helmet or protection to prevent the injuries suffered by Bills player Kevin Everett. By the looks of things, this is a very ugly injury. He may never walk again and it just saddens me. This Jets fans is why you do not cheer an injury.

13. Randy Moss looked like the old Randy Moss and considereing he missed most of preseaon, this was pretty good and right now I see the Patriots, if they keep this up as a Super Bowl contender.

14. Did anyone want to score in the Packers-Eagles game? Sure did not look like it.

15. Gee you think the Falcons regret trading Matt Schaub?

16. Kudos to Mario Williams. I gave him a hard time last year and the Texans but he had a brilliant game.

17. The Chargers offense looked bad for most of the game and the Bears stunk it up as well. If this is a preview to the Super Bowl, than YAWN.........

18. This HGH scandal has hit hard in baseball. Rick Ankiel, the disgraced Cardinals pitcher who was making a nice comeback with the Cardinals is now been linked to getting a 12 month supply of HGH. Just when I thought this was a great story for MLB, this goes and shatters it. This proves that the whole era the last 20 years or so is tainted. Now John Gibbons and Troy Glaus have been implicated. MAybe it was an even playing field when Bonds broke the record.

19. A-Rod is the MVP from where I am standing.

20. The Rangers are only 6 back of .500 and now have a chance to pass the A's for third place. I remember when the team was 20 games below .500. A strong finish would send some optimism for next season.

21. Roger Federer won another Grand Slam. I think the comparisons to Tiger Woods are not to be taken lightly. Woods has more competition in the golfing world and has to play everyone at a tournament. Federer has to play the next matchup, an individual and the competition is not as steep. Other than Rafael Nadal, there is no competition. Woods is more dominant.

22. The fact that the Raiders cannot sign the #1 pick in the draft after the seaon opener is a joke. They should have had him signed on day 1 of the draft.

23. I think JAck Del Rio made the right decision to put in David Gerrard in as QB.

24. Wow. Notre Dame and Michigan are going to meet and both are 0-2.

25. You know, now I do not know whether to call App. States victory an upset. I am jumping on the PEter King bandwagon here and say why do a bumch of sportswriters gather and just decide to rank a team like Michigan number 5? The bottom line is that Michigan stinks and the better did win both games.

26. Texas will not win the big 12 or the national championship this year. They just do not look dominant.

Time is up, gotta go.

The first week is always the hardest to pcik but I am going to try:

Indianapolis over New Orleans
Houston over Kansas City
Buffalo over Denver
St Louis over Carolina
Pittsburgh over Cleveland
Atlanta over Minnesota
Jacksonvilloe over Tennessee
New England over NY Jets
Philadephia over Green Bay
Detroit over OAkland
San Diego over Chicago
Seattle over Tampa Bay
Dallas over NY Giants
Cincinnati over Baltimore
San Francisco over Arizona

Well I said no more two month hiatuses but I failed you. Sorry about that. With football season starting and the baseball season wrapping up, I should be able to do this on a weekly basis. SO here it goes:

1. Well the Cowboys preseason wrapped up to a 2-2 finish. Well listen, I am not one to put much merit into preseason. The Colts went 1-3 last preseason and the Raiders went 3-1. And the Cowboys team I think was the greatest ever, the 1992 team, went 1-4. So you cannot put much into the wins and losses. The preseason's main purpose is to look and evaluate players and and make sure the coaching staff is communicating with each other and the players on the level they want. Plus it gets the players getting into the football sync. Players though do not go all out and for this you cannot really judge how the team will be in the season because the mindset is to different. The only thing it does is it gives the Cowboys a good sense of feeling good about themselves in terms of the wins and not to get completely complacent with the losses.

2. It puzzles me that the Dallas media answer fans emails about not to jump on the Super Bowl bandwagon after the 2 preseason wins and say it is only exhibition football and you can't put much merit into it. As I stated in my previous point I agree, but when the Cowboys lost the game against the Texans, guys like Jacques Taylor and Randy Galloway say don't count on the Super Bowl if they play this way. Well does this mean the losses have more merit than the wins? Yeah right. IF the sins have no merit the losses should to. Be consistent media.

3. Another thing that puzzled me during the training camp was the Camp Cupcake story. I mean you look around the league and some camps are run even more softer than what the Cowboys have run. The fact that the Cowboys are the Cowboys mean that whatever happens will be magnified three times over. A softer camp could also mean the team will not wear down in the final month of the regular season like last year.

4. Amazing how nothing has been made of TO this year. Probably because Phillips , Tony Romo, receivers coach Ray Sherman have a good relationship. I am not saying TO will not have a distraction. There will be one, I don't what it will be but it will happen, just watch. But when we look back on this distraction, it will be nothing. I don't hear anymore overdosing pill jokes anymore.

5. Terance Newmans' injury scares me. I would rather him miss the first game in order for him to be close to 100% for the season then to play in the opener and for him aggravate the injury and be hampered with it all season long. All I know is that if I am the Giants, I would go for Newman and test the injury out.

6. Puzzles me that with Newman's injury and the lack of quality depth at corner that the Cowboys would cut Aaron Glenn. We not only loss a good third corner but the locker room leadership the team will need.

7. I was never worried with Greg Ellis' injury because I felt he was not really going to be a factor this season. I fact, I am surprised he lasted this long. Anthony Spencer I think will be fine this year but he is a rookie and will make rookie mistakes and we better remember that.

8. I was one of those that worried about Tony Romo's brush with celebrity would cause not for him to be distracted and lose sight or priorities but that it would get to his head and become arrogant and have a bad year. Obviously this does not look like the case and he seems to be handling it fine. Great. I feel too much is being made by the missed snap last year and he will be fine. He now has a whole training camp with a new offense and head coach with him as the starting QB in mind. He will probably not be the second coming of Staubach or Aikman but he will be a good QB for many years to come and I feel he will lead the Cowboys to a Super Bowl or two.

9. I am excited about this new 3-4 defense and am glad that the scheme will not be a predictable as last year where Demarcus Ware was the only one rushing the passer.

10. Overall I feel the Cowboys will finish 11-5 and win the NFC East this year.

11. You know with Wade Wilson being suspended for 5 games for using HGH, don't be surprised if we find some other instances of HGH being used this year. I am just surprised they suspended a coach for this. I did not even know they tested these guys.

12. Also enough with how the Browns will do this year. Yeah we have their number 1 pick and it fill probably be a high pick also. But lets not jump the gun and think the Cowboys are going to draft Arkansas RB Darren McFadden. Remember a few years ago the Buffalo Bills pick was supposed to be a top 5 pick? Well it was closer to number 20. So even though I am picking the Browns to go 6-10 this year because the division is just too strong with Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Baltimore in it, I am not going to be making weekly visits to see how the Browns have tanked. Ask me in December and then I will look.

13. This is late I know but Michael Irvin's speech at the Hall of Fame was great. OF course I loved and hated Irvin when he was in the boys, because of his great play and work ethic on the field and because of the off-field trouble and arrogance and still have not forgiven him for asking for a trade before the 1997 season. But I have never seen someone seem so apologetic for receiving an award. I mean, you should not have to apologize for receiving a high honor but he chose to live that lifestyle and I am glad that he apologized for this and maybe now I and he can move on.

14. I have already jumped on the bandwagon from Peter King on SI.com, on the prices of preseason game. Why must the NFL charge full price for these games when the players you want to see don't play and and the ones you do want to see play only do so for a series or a quarter? Or some teams force you to buy preseason tickets before you can buy regular season tickets. It is a rip off.

15. I have been looking at Norm Hitzges book Greatest Team Ever. It has a lot of interesting stories behind the scenes about the Cowboys teams of the 90's. The main point about the team is that we were surrounded by greatness. I know at the time I knew the team was on its way to establish themselved as the team of the ninties and was a great team and it kind of took its own turn at that after they won the third Super Bowl of that decade. But now after looking at the book and thinking back, it was one of the greatest teams ever and we were all a witness to it. For good and bad, that circus was perhaps the greatest ever. Brings back many good memories.

15. Here is my take on the Michael Vick situation. What he did was disturbing and disgusting and he should be punished for it. I would recommend a 2 year ban from the NFL. What I do have a problem with is the outrage over this. Why is there outrage over Vick and what he has done but none over the DUIs, domestic abusers, drug useres and criminals that already infest the NFL. Leonard Little killed someone and still plays in the NFL. I just don't get why there should be more outrage for Vick when there should be outrage for every criminal act these thugs that infect our favorite pastime are allowed to comeback without any problems. I want every DUI, spousal abuser, steroid abuser, drug user, dog fighter, strip club attender and gambling addict out of the league. I love Roger Goodell and he seems to be my kind of guy dishing out the harsh punishments. I hope this league will crack down on all the thugs and criminals in our league, even my favorite team the Cowboys because after mentioning the headache Micahel Irvin and others put me through in the nineties. Way to go commish. When you got gangrene in the system, cut it out.

16. If Vick serves his prison time, community service ( which should include working at animal shelters, particular for abused and neglected animals) and he is contrite and truly sorry about what he has done (unlike Pac-Man Jones), he should be allowed back in the league in 2009 at the earliest. But what a waste, When I first got a look at Vick in the BCS championship in 2000 against Florida State, I thought taht we were looking at at future all -world in the NFL. MAn what a waste. All for a sick kick in dogfighting.

17. HEre are my predicitions for the NFL this year:

AFC EAST
New ENgland 13-3
NY Jets 11-5
Buffalo 9-7
Miami 6-10

AFC North
Baltimore 12-4
Cincinatti 10-6
Pittsburgh 7-9
Cleveland 6-10

AFC South
Indianapolis 12-4
JAcksonville 9-7
Tennessee 7-9
Houston 6-10

AFC West
San Diego 11-5
Denver 8-8
Kansas City 8-8
OAkland 4-12

NFC East
Dallas 11-5
Philadelphia 11-5
NY Giants 7-9
Washington 5-11

NFC North
Chicago 12-4
Green Bay 10-6
Detroit 9-7
Minnestoa 6-10

NFC South
New Orleans 11-5
Carolina 9-7
Tampa Bay 5-11
Atlanta 5-11

NFC West
Seattle 10-6
San Francsico 10-6
ST Louis 9-7
Arizona 6-10

18. I agree with ESPN's PEter Gammons that whoever sent that MLB official to check out Red Sox Terry Francona's uniform during the Red Sox-Yankees game should be fired. Please what is it with leagues like MLB and NFL getting all nit-picky on the uniforms. If they enforeced important rules like the uniform policy, maybe we would see a better league. Why are the coaches even wearing uniforms?

19. The only regret I have on the Michael Vick situation is that the situation did not happen to a baseball player. Can you imagine PETA picketing outside of Donald Fehr's office becaue you know he would have defended Vick to the end. The PR that baseball would get would be bad.

20. Mark Teixeira is an Atlanta Brave. Well he seems to be happy even though as I write this his Braves are losing to the Mets. and are only 2 game abouve .500 and are about 6.5 games back of the division and the wild card. So it seems he will be spending tehe offseason the same way his former Rangers teammates will be. And the Braves can sing that Maark Teixeira song all they want. It won't win you a World Series and plus Mark will bolt after next season going to the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels or Orioles, who will pay him over $20 million a year for his services.

21. ERic Gagne sure has lived up to the hype huh?

22. Rangers have been more exciting since they switched to his new group of young stars.

23. Why was Chamberlain headhunting in that Yankees-Red Sox game> I still cannot figure it out.

24. Michigan Fan is upset and you can be sure Lloyd Carr will be gone after this season. I don't think he will be fired but he will resign.

25. Let us not take away from what Appalachian State did. They are on a hot win streak and have won the championship in a division of NCAA football that actually has a playoff!

26. But still you have to not just win but to destroy the teams that you play in the beginning. I am talking about you Texas Longhorns. You kkep Arkansas State in the whole game? TCU will not be any easier and I fear an upset coming.

27. Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis can put his arrogance on the shelf for now. Being so cocky about shielding your starting QB from the media and then getting run over by Georgia Tech in your own home? It will be a long year for the Irish.

28. Fantasy Football moment: My starting QB Jon Kitna RB LArry Johnson, Rudi Johnson, WR Tory Holt, TJ Houshmandzadah, TE Dallas Clark, K Robbie Gould, Defense Eagles. I think it will be a good fantasy year.

29. The David Beckman experiment is a failure. I don't care about soccer and no one in this country will ever care about it.

Time is up and I will try to be back next week!