My Dallas Cowboys sit at 2-2 going into their bye week. (Something I accurately predicted, by the way.) They are coming off a Monday Night Meltdown where Tony Romo was responsible for 5 turnovers. This was the latest bad performance in Blue Star-crossed career for #9. A career that has been mainly defined by such games. Romo is the guy capable of throwing 5 TD's in a game as he is thowing 5 picks. Dude's 49-32 as a starter with a 96% QB rating and a three-time pro-bowler. However, he also is only 1-3 in the postseason and that is the number everyone points to. Was it all Romo? Of course not but the average fan is too lazy and or stupid to take the time to get all the facts and Monday night was a microcosm of that.
Everyone hears "Romo had 5 interceptions". Technically that is correct, however, let's look at them:
INT#1....Romo makes a sight adjustment to the play called based on what Chicago's defense is showing him. This adjustment calls for Dez Bryant (another culprit in said meltdown) to break off his route early for a timing pattern from Romo. Bryant heads upfield instead of breaking off the route so when Romo throws it to the spot Bryant is supposed to be...he's not there and Charles Tillman was...boom, pick-six.
INT#2....Romo hits Kevin Ogletree in apparently the worst place you can...his hands....can't hold on to the ball, pops up into the air and Chicago grabs its.
INT#3....was actually a fumble on a great play by Henry Melton to knock it out of Romo's hands and into Lance Briggs'.
Romo wasn't blameless however. While his receivers were dropping sure catches, Romo zinged plenty over their heads and/or into the arms of the Bears. Yet he gets the brunt of criticism. And the reason why is two-fold.
Playing quarterback in the National Football League is the most visible and scrutinized position in all of pro sports. The only position in the NFL where individual wins and losses are counted? Quarterback. Add to that playing QB with a Star on your helmet makes it even more so especially when two of the guys who came before you have 5 rings and are considered as two of the best ever in the game.
Mystique, thy name is the Dallas Cowboys.
Love them or hate them, the Cowboys are still relevant despite not having a Super Bowl appearance in 16 years. Why is this? Dallas has arguably the biggest fan base in the NFL but almost as many fans tune in to see them lose as do to see them win.....but they all tune in. Don't like Dallas constantly being on TV?
Ignore them.
The TV people aren't stupid nor is there any grand conspiracy to help the Cowboys. They are on TV a lot because people...even the haters....will watch. Why else is the first stat all the media pundits go to is "Dallas has only one playoff win since 1996"? BTW, those same "experts" used to say "Dallas hasn't won a playoff game since 96 and said that once they got that first playoff win that comment would go away....wrong, it was just changed. Five NFL teams have one or no wins in the same time or longer (technically six but I am giving Houston a pass) Buffalo (last win 1995), Cincinnati (1990), Cleveland (1994) Detroit (1991...by the way...your "lookee..we made the playoffs" banner was soooo cute.)and Kansas City (1993) yet none of them is ever mentioned with the "Haven't won a playoff game since..."line. So again we ask....why? and again I say...
Mystique, thy name is the Dallas Cowboys.
Historically they are one of the most successful NFL franchises ever. The most wins in the Super Bowl era(425), tied for the most post-season wins in the same period(33) and having the best winning percentage of all time (.577) When you have that much success, it means other teams are not and after a while, it gets their fans cranky. Hey, in sports if someone hates you....you're usually doing something right.
That all being said......what do all those stats mean this season and going into the next game after the bye week in Baltimore?
Stay tuned.....
The two most over used words in sports are love and hate. If you truly hate a team or player, I mean actual hate, then you need to start watching QVC because you lack the mental strength to handle sports and you suck as a fan. By the same token, if you overly worship your team to a point where real life takes a back seat, you are also doing it wrong.
I have a few peeves when it comes to sports fans, I've shared some before but they bear repeating...
If you are ignorant enough to paint an entire fan base as being of one mindset due to the actions of a few idiots then you're a dumbass and too stupid to walk outside by yourself. For those of you who do this, I may have used too many big words so let me dumb it down for you...when you drop your "_____ fans are_____" card...pick it up and go back to your group home and hurry because you'll miss taco night.
Also (and its usually the same group of dipshits) when you insult, facebook bomb, commit vandalism or attack (verbally or otherwise) someone solely based on the college or pro team they root for....you should follow the same steps in the previous paragraph and add "driving off of a bridge" because frankly the world needs oxygen and you are wasting it.
Finally....when your only response to a loss by your team is "we got rings" again....you're a dumbass. First of all, "you" got nothing. All you did was drink beer and crush nachos while your team was winning that hardware. Which brings me back to those Dallas stats I mentioned earlier....what do all those stats mean this season and going into the next game after the bye week in Baltimore?
Not a damn thing.
Mystique doesn't win ball games...players do. Right now, the collection of players Dallas has is not getting it done. They have the talent to compete for championships on a consistent basis, however, talent alone does not win trophies. Dallas' biggest problem is a lack of discipline which has caused them to underachieve on a consistent basis. They have committed the second most penalties in the league, turned the ball over 11 times (third most) and has the second worst turnover differential at -7. They did not address the offensive line questions (with the exception of bringing in Bill Callahan as OL coach...now he needs better players) in the off season and the defense, while slightly improved, has still not lived up to the Rob Ryan hype. As much as I would love to drop it all at Romo's feet, I can't because its not solely him. I wish it were because then he could be moved. If Kyle Orton was the answer, he'd be starting despite Romo's contract. You think for a moment if he thought Orton was the better option, Jerry Jones wouldn't say something? JJ has been known to put his two cents in now and then. Besides Jerry has his own problems....Cowboys Stadium is the best venue in the NFL and possible the country. It has every bell and whistle anyone could want...there is just one thing he forgot to install......a home field advantage. Since Jerryworld opened in 2009, the Cowboys are only 15-12 at home. Opponents aren't intimidated....they are impressed and it gets them motivated to play better. I'm not suggesting that everyone go Philly fan and start lobbing things at players but something has to be done.
Dallas has the teeth of its schedule coming up. The next four games are at Baltimore, at Carolina, the Giants at home and at Atlanta. Baltimore, NY and Hotlanta are all division leaders and Carolina is young and unpredictable. If they can somehow survive this run and get two wins, (hell at this point I'd take one)..and that's a big if, five of the last eight are at home so the season is not lost. However, if they finish out of the playoffs again....look for a wholesale house cleaning at Valley Ranch where no one will be safe.
Stay tuned folks, because like your favorite soap opera, when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys....you never know what will happen next.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
I'ts the most wonderful time...of the year....
No....I haven't lost my senses....I know it's not Christmas...at least I think I know....wait, what month is it? :)
Hello again campers. Miss me? Thought i'd dust off the ol' blog and see if I can stay consistent this time. :)
It's the end of August and signs of the impending Autumn are appearing all around. Here in mid-Michigan, the first shades of Fall color are starting to make an appearance, back to school sales are in full swing and a certain craft store chain of which is similarly named as myself and that I have a close connection to is now selling Halloween candy. Oh yeah...there is one more portent of things to come....
Football.
Actually if you count the high schoolers, the season has already begun. The big boys start this thursday with the bigger boys starting next week. Cowboys, Longhorns and Spartans, Oh my!
Today we are focusing on the college kids. Last we saw the collegiate gridders, Tonyajune's Tide was finishing off LSU for their second title in 3 years which also marked the sixth in a row for the SEC. Sparty broke its bowl skid by beating UGa's troops in OT and the University of Texas, fresh off of a series ending upset in Aggieland took out Cal with a young defense with a bright future. (Something, BTW, yours truly predicted...see my previous blog entry.)
So what's going to happen this year? Well for one thing, its almost the end of the road for the BCS. It was voted over the summer that a four team playoff will decide the national champion starting in the 2014-15 season. Yayyyyy. One contrivesy replacing another. Don't get me wrong, I am all for a playoff system but only four teams? Weak. Needs to be at least eight....then come talk to me.
A lot of movement in the off season has changed the college football landscape with more on the horizon. Let's see who ended up where:
Mizzou and Texas A&M headed into the SEC with unbridled enthusiasm and high spirits! All of which will come crashing down when they have to line up against Bama, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina...well you get the idea. Welcome to the land of 6-6.
TCU and West Virginia shunned the Big East (the Frogs did so before they actually got there!) to join the Big 12. For TCU it finally made regional sense and reunites them with old Southwest Conference foes Baylor, Tech and Texas. The Mountaineers come in with a high powered offense that is used to feeding weak sisters. They will be good but trips to Austin and Lubbock will not make life easy.
Speaking of the Big East, Temple returns home to join the conference this year coming in from the MAC. The Big East will be going under the biggest upheaval in the coming months. Syracuse and Pitt, two of the founding members, will head to the ACC next season. However, they will be adding Boise State, Central Florida, Houston, Memphis, San Diego State and SMU as football-only members starting in 2013 and Navy joins in 2015. Apparently the "East" will now stand for anything east of Hawaii.
UTSA and Texas State leave 1-AA to move up to the big time. Well not really, they are going to the WAC and only for one year. OK, when two fledgling programs only want to stick around in your conference for a year....you just need to go away. Just merge with the Mountain West and be done with it. Texas State will go to the Sun Belt in 2013 while the Roadrunners will go to Conference USA.
Speaking of C-USA. They currently have 12 members but will be losing UCF, Houston, Memphis and SMU in 2013 but at the same time adding UTSA along with Louisiana Tech, Florida International, and North Texas...then in 2015 they will add Old Dominion and UNC-Charlotte. Their new motto can be "Just as many teams as the SEC and our tickets are cheaper"
Confused? Yeah me too but, it will shake itself out and no, its not over yet.
Now down to the games on the field. Will the SEC claim a seventh straight title? Can anyone stand in the way of the sweet tea fueled juggernaut that is the Southeastern Conference? No.
You heard it here.
The SEC does not get lucky number seven.
I know what you are thinking....."but who, O wise pigskin guru? who can unseat the SEC from their grits and gravy high throne?" Patience friends....patience. Actually, I also know what TJ is thinking "what the crap Mikey? you're not picking Bama?" No. And yet, you still love me. :)
Here are my picks for the BCS conference winners and BCS games:
ACC: Florida State
Big East: Pitt
Big 10+2: Michigan State
Big 12-2 Oklahoma
Pac 12: University of Spoiled Children
SEC: Alabama (there ya go TJ)
Now for the BCS Bowl games:
Fiesta: Michigan v. Pitt
The Maize and Blue make their second trip to the BCS under Brady Hoke and their second straight win. The Wolverines will face off against the Panthers who are the best of what is left of the Big East and, as per usual for the Big East champ, will provide easy pickin's for their opponent. Look for University of Phoenix stadium to become the Big House west as U-M dominates. The Big East is the single biggest reason we need a playoff....to avoid crappy bowl matchups.
Rose: Michigan State v. Oregon
Sparty gets over the hump by beating Wisconsin in a rematch of last year's Big 10 championship game and gets back to Pasadena for the first time in 25 years. Oregon goes back for the third time in five years and goes for back to back wins after dispatching the aforementioned Badgers last year. Oregon has sick, Nike-fueled speed but MSU defense will be better than any the Ducks will have faces all year. Should be a classic.
Orange: Florida State v. South Carolina
FSU has a lot of national title buzz this season. Jimbo Fisher has them playing well and it wouldn't shock me totally if they run the table....if they do, they could end in a higher ranking game. The Gamecocks, who will lose in the SEC title game to Bama, gets the Ol' Ball Coach back in the BCS and another crack at his old sunshine state rival.
Sugar: Alabama v. West Virginia.
The Tide could still make a run at the national championship but in a more even and tougher SEC, they will be headed to the Big Easy. WVa goes to New Orleans after their first Big 12 season and their only loss being to the Sooners. Classic speed(WVA) vs. power (Bama) matchup here. Problem is, Bama has speed to with that power. Still, a successful season in Morgantown.
and now the biggie:
USC over OU in the BCS title game.
USC proves that they are all the way back from the crippling sanctions imposed by them on the NCAA for the whole Reggie Bush fiasco. Matt Barkley becomes the third Trojan quarterback in 10 years to win the Heisman and will cap off his final year on campus with a national title. The Sooners will run the table in the Big 12 but will again fall short in a BCS game.
There you have it, folks....your 2012 College Football season. See you here again soon.
Peace.
Hello again campers. Miss me? Thought i'd dust off the ol' blog and see if I can stay consistent this time. :)
It's the end of August and signs of the impending Autumn are appearing all around. Here in mid-Michigan, the first shades of Fall color are starting to make an appearance, back to school sales are in full swing and a certain craft store chain of which is similarly named as myself and that I have a close connection to is now selling Halloween candy. Oh yeah...there is one more portent of things to come....
Football.
Actually if you count the high schoolers, the season has already begun. The big boys start this thursday with the bigger boys starting next week. Cowboys, Longhorns and Spartans, Oh my!
Today we are focusing on the college kids. Last we saw the collegiate gridders, Tonyajune's Tide was finishing off LSU for their second title in 3 years which also marked the sixth in a row for the SEC. Sparty broke its bowl skid by beating UGa's troops in OT and the University of Texas, fresh off of a series ending upset in Aggieland took out Cal with a young defense with a bright future. (Something, BTW, yours truly predicted...see my previous blog entry.)
So what's going to happen this year? Well for one thing, its almost the end of the road for the BCS. It was voted over the summer that a four team playoff will decide the national champion starting in the 2014-15 season. Yayyyyy. One contrivesy replacing another. Don't get me wrong, I am all for a playoff system but only four teams? Weak. Needs to be at least eight....then come talk to me.
A lot of movement in the off season has changed the college football landscape with more on the horizon. Let's see who ended up where:
Mizzou and Texas A&M headed into the SEC with unbridled enthusiasm and high spirits! All of which will come crashing down when they have to line up against Bama, LSU, Georgia, South Carolina...well you get the idea. Welcome to the land of 6-6.
TCU and West Virginia shunned the Big East (the Frogs did so before they actually got there!) to join the Big 12. For TCU it finally made regional sense and reunites them with old Southwest Conference foes Baylor, Tech and Texas. The Mountaineers come in with a high powered offense that is used to feeding weak sisters. They will be good but trips to Austin and Lubbock will not make life easy.
Speaking of the Big East, Temple returns home to join the conference this year coming in from the MAC. The Big East will be going under the biggest upheaval in the coming months. Syracuse and Pitt, two of the founding members, will head to the ACC next season. However, they will be adding Boise State, Central Florida, Houston, Memphis, San Diego State and SMU as football-only members starting in 2013 and Navy joins in 2015. Apparently the "East" will now stand for anything east of Hawaii.
UTSA and Texas State leave 1-AA to move up to the big time. Well not really, they are going to the WAC and only for one year. OK, when two fledgling programs only want to stick around in your conference for a year....you just need to go away. Just merge with the Mountain West and be done with it. Texas State will go to the Sun Belt in 2013 while the Roadrunners will go to Conference USA.
Speaking of C-USA. They currently have 12 members but will be losing UCF, Houston, Memphis and SMU in 2013 but at the same time adding UTSA along with Louisiana Tech, Florida International, and North Texas...then in 2015 they will add Old Dominion and UNC-Charlotte. Their new motto can be "Just as many teams as the SEC and our tickets are cheaper"
Confused? Yeah me too but, it will shake itself out and no, its not over yet.
Now down to the games on the field. Will the SEC claim a seventh straight title? Can anyone stand in the way of the sweet tea fueled juggernaut that is the Southeastern Conference? No.
You heard it here.
The SEC does not get lucky number seven.
I know what you are thinking....."but who, O wise pigskin guru? who can unseat the SEC from their grits and gravy high throne?" Patience friends....patience. Actually, I also know what TJ is thinking "what the crap Mikey? you're not picking Bama?" No. And yet, you still love me. :)
Here are my picks for the BCS conference winners and BCS games:
ACC: Florida State
Big East: Pitt
Big 10+2: Michigan State
Big 12-2 Oklahoma
Pac 12: University of Spoiled Children
SEC: Alabama (there ya go TJ)
Now for the BCS Bowl games:
Fiesta: Michigan v. Pitt
The Maize and Blue make their second trip to the BCS under Brady Hoke and their second straight win. The Wolverines will face off against the Panthers who are the best of what is left of the Big East and, as per usual for the Big East champ, will provide easy pickin's for their opponent. Look for University of Phoenix stadium to become the Big House west as U-M dominates. The Big East is the single biggest reason we need a playoff....to avoid crappy bowl matchups.
Rose: Michigan State v. Oregon
Sparty gets over the hump by beating Wisconsin in a rematch of last year's Big 10 championship game and gets back to Pasadena for the first time in 25 years. Oregon goes back for the third time in five years and goes for back to back wins after dispatching the aforementioned Badgers last year. Oregon has sick, Nike-fueled speed but MSU defense will be better than any the Ducks will have faces all year. Should be a classic.
Orange: Florida State v. South Carolina
FSU has a lot of national title buzz this season. Jimbo Fisher has them playing well and it wouldn't shock me totally if they run the table....if they do, they could end in a higher ranking game. The Gamecocks, who will lose in the SEC title game to Bama, gets the Ol' Ball Coach back in the BCS and another crack at his old sunshine state rival.
Sugar: Alabama v. West Virginia.
The Tide could still make a run at the national championship but in a more even and tougher SEC, they will be headed to the Big Easy. WVa goes to New Orleans after their first Big 12 season and their only loss being to the Sooners. Classic speed(WVA) vs. power (Bama) matchup here. Problem is, Bama has speed to with that power. Still, a successful season in Morgantown.
and now the biggie:
USC over OU in the BCS title game.
USC proves that they are all the way back from the crippling sanctions imposed by them on the NCAA for the whole Reggie Bush fiasco. Matt Barkley becomes the third Trojan quarterback in 10 years to win the Heisman and will cap off his final year on campus with a national title. The Sooners will run the table in the Big 12 but will again fall short in a BCS game.
There you have it, folks....your 2012 College Football season. See you here again soon.
Peace.
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