Still Not Convinced

that Garrett is the coach the Good Guys need.  that is all I have to say.

later,Poke

Thanksgiving Day Photos

 

It seems like most Thanksgiving Day games bring cold weather.  It started cloudy , had some small sleet, wind blew a gajillion MPH.

Luckily our canopy wall blocked the North wind.  The food (steaks, potato casserole, turkey, cajun dressing ) was all good but before you could eat it, it got cold.

Santa was a Saints fan but I do like the fedora on the Cowboy fan.

You can feel the heat from those all the way across the field.

Funny sign but it didn’t help.

Tashard just before he scored the go ahead touchdown, before our hearts were ripped out by the Roy11 fumble and subsequent collapse of our defense.

Happy Holidays from us to you.

If It Weren’t For Bad Luck, We’d Have No Luck At All, Gloom, Despair and Agony, Oh Me

Wow, I have never taken a nearly a month between posts here during the season.  Why this time ?  Plenty of reasons to be honest.  Laziness on my part, disgust at the way the season has turned out, anger at the team of quitters, I got a new laptop and have spent way too much time getting it the way I like it, ( ironically I wanted it to be set up just like my OLD laptop.

Anyway, a lot has happened since my last diatribe.  Wade is gone.  I am a bit sad about that since I liked him, but I totally see and understand why he had to go.

Jason Garrett is the new coach.  Odd that one of the key members of this disaster is now looked at to lead them out of it.  I understand that for now it’s for the best.  No way a new coach comes in at this point .  Throw in the fact there may not be a season next year and I can see not hiring a coach to not coach. 

I could be like a lot of fans and be all giddy that JG is now the man.  They point to the 2 wins and the fact that the Boys didn’t quit on Turkey Day as proof that JG has it figured out.  I am not so sure.  Looked like the same Cowboys we have seen all year in the opening quarter.  Looked a lot like the same Cowboys on all the fumbles, bad snaps, no snaps and giving up crucial 3rd down plays.

I guess what I am trying to say is, Hold On.  Lets wait and see.  I still think it’s our players more than it’s the coaches.  I think the players are only playing harder now because they have seen the axe fall and don’t want to be the next one to go.  To me there is no reason to lock onto JG as the future answer right away. 

As for yesterdays game, if you are being honest, it probably was a lot closer than you expected.  It still broke my heart to see them come all the way back, take the lead late and then lose it again.  I felt so bad for Roy 11, but at the same time I was so mad at him for not holding onto that ball.  It seems to be just one of those years where nothing seems to go right. 

Anyway, stick around, it should be interesting and sooner or later I am sure I will go off on a rant.  For now I am just bewildered.

later Poke

the other shoe dropped

So we were already faced with being 1-4 going into Mondays game and knowing we were running out of wiggle room if this season was going to end up anywhere near the playoffs.

This was definitely a must win, against a divisional opponent, fighting for our lives kind of scenario.  The thought of being 1-5 was a horrible, gut wrenching thought that couldn’t get any worse.

Except it did.  Romo got hurt.  8 weeks worth of hurt. Ouch.

For all of you who like to blame the bad stuff on one guy, if Romo was your scapegoat get ready to enjoy his absence.   Kitna may give us all he has but realistically what does he have ?  Do you think he will even survive the pounding he is certain to take with our o-line ?

Last week I conceded that Wade has to go.  I hate that.  He is a better coach than what his players have shown us.  You can’t fire 53 players though and you sure can’t fire an owner. 

Now we get to see which players have the “ want to”. It’s not going to be fun or exciting but it should educational.

For those of you wanting to fire Wade now, not a good idea and here is one reason why.  There is NO COACH IN THE WORLD who could turn this thing around right now.  2 starting O-linemen out hurt on a line that was already sad.  Newman is hurt, Hatcher is hurt.  The Dallas media and fanbase would start hating the new coach before he ever lost 3 games even though he would have no starting QB.

So suck it up Cowboy fans.  A year like this happens sometimes.  I would advise you not to make any bold, rash statements about “never rooting for them @@#!% ….” again.  Next year will come.  I expect to see new faces then, it would be nice to see some old ones too.

later Poke

ps. prayers for Jon Kitna would be appropriate.

Sorry It Comes To This Wade

The reasons the Cowboys are losing was posted in last weeks blog.

They haven’t changed since then.  The question is, what the heck needs to be done to fix the problems.

The #1 response seems to be fire Wade Phillips.  I have been opposed to that idea because I like Wade.  I like that he was a Texas High School football player and coach.  I like that he comes from a football family.  His dad, Bum, was always one of my favorite coaches.  I like that he doesn’t bad mouth his players to the stupid media after a game when they are looking to cause problems.  I know that Wade could forget half of what he knows about football and still know twice as much about it as all the idiots calling for him to be fired.  I think I have just become one of those idiots.

Actually the #1 response is to fire Jerry Jones but we all know that can’t happen so I won’t bother going there.

So what else can you do ?  Fire some assistant coaches ?  The aforementioned owner hired most of them so that’s probably not gonna happen.

Fire Jason Garrett ?  The hand picked future leader definitely deserves some of the blame but Jerry didn’t put him where he is and pay him the big bucks to run him off before he ever gets a chance to be the lead dog.

Fire 53 players ?  Right now this has my vote but I know it can’t happen.  A few of the players are actually performing well as individuals but this is a team game.  The QB that has been throwing costly interceptions may one day again be throwing game winning touchdowns.  The high priced WR you traded for is just now starting to play like we all hoped he would.  You could get rid of some to send a message but would that help or hurt at this point in the season.

The reality of the situation says nobody is getting fired, yet. 

But look out come January 2, shortly after 4:00 pm.  Heads will roll, I just don’t know which ones.  later Poke

ps.  I have to admit I didn’t watch the game live.  I had a chance to go golfing with old friends and to be honest it looks like I made the right choice.  I am pretty sure the memories of our poorly played golf game will stick with me longer than that poorly played football game.

pss.  Oh yeah, the team could have a come to Jesus meeting, practice really hard, work on NOT making penalties and turnovers and mistakes, learn how to cover kickoff returns, quit celebrating anything until the game is over and win the next 11 games and I could sneak back in here and delete this post.

psss.  You know back when I played, leather helmets and all, when we lost a game we hated it because we knew practice was going to be extra hard, extra sprints were going to be ran, you weren’t allowed to talk on the old stinky school bus on the way back home and none of the pretty girls would let you kiss them.  Maybe Wade could try some of those highly motivational, well thought out psychological techniques.

Here’s Why Cowboy Fans

4 games played . 1 win and 3 losses.

If you looked at the stats from the 3 games lost you might scratch your head and wonder how the Heroes lost those 3 games.

Here is what it looked like according to the Box Score

                      Cowboys    Opponent

First Downs      24              17

                       23              14

                       25              17

 

Total Yards      380            250

                       410           308

                       511           321

 

Time of Poss.    34:03       25:57

                        33:40       26:20

                        36:44       23:16

 

Plays                  71            56

                         71            49

                         75            55

I gotta tell you if I was a coach and my team had those kind of numbers I would probably be feeling pretty good about my team.

Yet leave it to the Boys of the Blue Star to manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and let all that good work go to waste.

What you ask, could have happened ?  How can a team produce more offense than the other team in 3 games and still lose all 3 games ?

A closer look at those box scores tell “the rest of the story”.

In all 3 games the Good Guys also led in 2 other catagories.

                TURNOVERS

       Cowboys    Opponents

           1               0

           3               0

           3               0

                PENALTIES/YARDS

      Cowboy           Opponents

      12 for 91           5 for 42

      6  for  50           2 for 10

     12 for 133          4 for 40

And that my fellow lovers of Blue Stars on Helmets is how to lose 3 football games .

It doesn’t make me feel any better. later Poke

Remembering Tom Landry, The Personal Collection

at this years State Fair of Texas there is an exhibit called
"Remembering Tom Landry, The Personal Collection"

it is located in the Hall of State, which houses statues of Texas heroes like Stephen F Austin, Sam Houston, and William Travis.

The items on display are from Alicia Landry (Toms wife).
Landry hasn't coached the Cowboys since 1988 and he died in 2000.
I was amazed at the number of people waiting in line to view this exhibit.
There are so many things to see and do at the Fair so to me it was very impressive to see how many people are still interested in Tom Landry.
It was hard to get good pictures because everything is behind Plexiglas and the crowd kind of hinders taking a lot of time to snap a photo.
Here are some of items.
First off, the building itself is impressive, built in 1936.

The Official Sign, i just like the silhouette and thought some of the photoshop guys here could do something with it.

Start with his high school football letter.

 

Military service. His wings and air medal and a photo. Landry is 3rd from left on the top row.

 

College Football. Plaque from 1949 Orange Bowl. Landry led all rushes with 117 yards on 17 carries in Texas' win over Georgia 41-28.

New York Football Giants. This trophy was bought and given to Landry by the members of the defense he coached after his last season there. Pat Summerall ( Giants kicker) liked Landry so much he insisted on being included in buying and giving this to Landry.

Game Ball, 1st career victory Sept 17, 1961

1st Super Bowl win

Coat and hat from the Ice Bowl game

Duster worn for filming of Landrys American Express commercial. They had the commercial playing on a loop as you waited in line, people were loving it

Blue Ultra Suede Sports Jacket. Given to Landry by Rev. Billy Graham. Alicia Landry wrote that it was one of Toms favorites and often wore for "games that had to be won".

Boots given to Landry by fans

Hand carved door given to Landry.

Hall of Fame jacket

Golf clubs used by Landry at Byron Nelson Classic Pro-Am where Tom recorded a hole in one.

The Hat of a Man

They had a video showing a part of Landrys funeral service,with Amazing Grace playing quietly. It felt like a "lying in state" sort of moment.
If you get a chance to go I promise you will enjoy this display. For those of you coming to town for the Titans game you might want to consider it.
The State Fair runs through Oct. 17.

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough…

give up ?

That’s not the way the old saying was taught to me.  I must have missed the memo that changed it.

The general consensus seems to be that the Boys of the Blue Star Commune have blown the season already.  Two games into a 16 game season all I hear is that our Cowboys are out of it. 

I don’t buy that.  Not yet.  Not even if they lose this week to the Texans.  If this was a love story you would call me a hopeless romantic.  I guess in a way it is a love story.

I just don’t understand how a fan can look forward for 8 months to a season of football and then 2 or 3 weeks into it just throw their hands up and declare it over.

If the Good Guys can get the O-line to solidify and quit making mistakes (penalties, fumbles and interceptions) this team could get on a roll.  It happens.  That's why they make them play the games on the field.

So far this edition of the team has played bad, very bad.  When you look at the stats though, the Boys have outgained their opponents in both games.  They have lost by 6 points and 7 points.  In each game there was one play that made the difference in the final score.  The fumble at Washington that got ran in for a TD and the holding call that wiped out a TD versus Chicago are what stands between being 0-2 and 2-0.

I feel like if, and that’s a mighty big IF, the Boys just start playing a little better, a little smarter the wins are going to come.  It can’t come soon enough.

Look for the team from Arlington to win at Houston this week.  I don’t predict scores but i expect to walk out of Reliant Stadium this Sunday trying to avoid getting beat up by mad Texan fans.

later, poke

I Was Going to Call This I Hate Cowboys Fans But Changed My MInd

what a week.

my head almost exploded sunday night as i watched our Heroes flail helplessly for most of that game only to have a chance to win it on the last play only to then see defeat snatched from the jaws of victory by a penalty.

team game. team loss. blame them all. not just one or two. ALL.

call it first game woes. call it the curse of playing the redskins. call it any number of things if you must. it was not good football.

having said that, don’t call it the end of the season. don’t call it a trend. i have seen more doom and gloom from Cowboy fans after this one opening game loss than i can ever remember.

i read way too much about the Cowboys. newspapers, blogs, message board forums. i should stop before i quit liking Cowboy fans.

i have seen fans this week who: want to cut Tashard Choice, fire Wade , fire Jason Garrett, fire Jerry Jones (can you fire an owner ? ), immediately bench a player who commits a penalty (who cares if his replacement gets your star QB killed), and generally just blow up the Team and start over. after one game.

i have, and i am not making this stuff up, seen a fan ask if now is the right time to trade…DeMarcus Ware !!!!  uhh yeah, sure, lets go ahead and get rid of one of our future Hall of Famers because we lost our first game and must be doomed.

i fully expect our glorious Boys of the Blue Star to come back and play much better this week. i just hope i can remember who all the idiot fans were so i can go back and see how they then proclaim how they knew the Boys were so great. like i said i need to stop reading so much about the Boys.

so take a deep breath, it’s gonna be alright.  later poke 

TGIFS

I can wait no more.  I have purposely avoided coming here and putting thoughts down about the upcoming season.  Like a teenage kid about to get his drivers license my nerves are tingling with anticipation but much like the teenagers parents I look forward to the event with some trepidation.

I have never seen the Cowboys fan base so excited about a rookie player.  It almost feels like they are putting all their proverbial eggs in one basket named Dez Bryant.  Not me.  Sorry.  This is the NFL and until you show you can do it on the field against another team I ain’t buying in. 

The Heroes of Our Misspent Youth have made a lot of changes.  10 rookies made the team.  Familiar faces like Crayton and Flozell are gone.  Last years team is just that, last years team.

As always, the most important piece of your offense are the Big Uglies. Those anonymous brawlers up front who keep the opponents away while the glamour guys run, throw or catch their way into stardom.  The Boys in Blue have a lot of question marks going into this weeks game.  2 starters from last year are hurt, I feel like only one of those 2 will play, Colombo.  How good will he be coming off a surgery ?  Flozell is gone and his replacement is going to have to prove that he can handle his starting left tackle spot.

Can Miles repeat his performance from last year ?  Can Roy Williams finally get in a good rhythm with Romo ?  Can Dez do here what he did for Okla. St ? 

Will our 3 headed running back named Barber-Jones-Choice be effective ?  I am ready to see less of Barber early and more of Barber late in the game.

Who ever really knows how a kicker is going to perform ?  They are all flakier than Lady GaGa.

The defense has had a smaller turnover of players but only at the starting level.  Our backups still have to prove the coaches right for keeping them around.

So yeah I am nervous as a lady of the night in Church but I can’t stand the waiting.  Hurry up Sunday Night !

Oh yeah and it’s against the dadgum Redskins, at their place, first game of the season…apparently I can get a little more nervous than when I started. 

later poke

Self Induced Coma Please

I hate pre-season.  Not a big fan of extended training camp either.

Dez Bryant was the first casualty.  Sean Lee never got started before he got shut down.  Those are just rookies so I didn’t scream too loudly.  Marty B also missed the starting bell but it really sucked when John Phillips went down in the HOF game.

Marc Colombo needing surgery hit me like a fork in the eye.  I calmed myself down by telling myself he would be back before the “real” games started. 

Today we hear that Kyle Kosier hurt his MCL.  Out 4-6 weeks maybe.  That is bad news.  If you don’t think so remember back to when he went out 2 years ago.  Our O-line was horrible without him.

So somebody slap a needle in my arm and just knock me out until Sept 12 when the games start counting.  I will gladly let the 963 media types covering the Boys worry about them until then.

later poke

Dallas Cowboy's Promo 2010

time to get ready Cowboy fans !!!!

Tired Of Waiting For Next Year

Trying real hard to not let my expectations run sky high.  Trying not to get plumb giddy thinking about Romo throwing balls to Austin and Witten and Williams AND Dez Bryant.  Trying but failing.  I cannot wait to see what the red headed genius (Coach Garrett for those of you still watching on black and white TV) comes up with this year.

I am also convinced that the defense will be better this year.  The players have got to be more familiar with what the plan is and anytime you get players reacting without having to think about what they are supposed to do they are gonna be quicker.  The D needs to force more turnovers and if they do that this should be a fun year.

What some see as a problem I see as a plus.  That would be having 3 running backs who are all capable of starting.  I like them all !  I am hoping Barber gets back to running like a crazy man.  If he does and Felix improves any at all and Choice stays steady then I see this team pounding the ball late in games to finish teams off.

I may be one of the few who think our O-line is going to be better this year.  I loved Flozell but every player reaches that point where they aren’t as good as they were and it was time to make that move. The coaches must have seen enough of Free to think he can handle the job and since they get paid to make that decision I am going to trust them.  At least until somebody comes around that end and kills Romo.

So today is the day it starts.  Big party in San Antonio tonight then start practicing tomorrow.  I may try to see a practice or two.

This needs to be the year.  later Poke

A Quick Peek at The New Boys

So it’s nearly 100 degrees, middle of summer, the baseball pennant races are shaping up…and my mind turns to football ?

Not so much football as your Dallas Cowboys.  The Good Guys in silver and blue. 

I know it may seem a lil early but gee whiz in less than 2 weeks the Pokes open up training camp. We gotta get started worrying about the Heroes of our Youth.

I have said before I am not a big draft freak.  Too many players spread around the country for me to keep up with.  My theory is the Cowboys have the time, money and resources to do a much better job than I could ever do.

As a Public Service though I will list the Boys choices this year so if you are interested you can research (Google) them yourself.

1st Round, 24th Pick (24th Overall)
WR Dez Bryant, Oklahoma St

 

2nd Round, 23rd Pick (55th Overall)
LB Sean Lee, Penn St

 

4th Round, 28th Pick (126th Overall)
S Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, IUP

 

6th Round, 10th Pick (179 Overall)
OT Sam Young, Notre Dame

 

6th Round, 27th Pick (196th Overall)
CB Jamar Wall, Texas Tech

 

7th Round, 27th Pick (234th Overall)
DE Sean Lissemore, W & Mary

 

No matter what the experts say it is way way way too early to pencil in any of these guys.  Everybody at this level looks good in shorts and t-shirts during practice.  Make your own mind up or have a little patience and decide later.

Don’t forget the Cowboys play 5 preseason games this year due to being selected to play in the HOF game, where Emmitt will be inducted into the HOF.

Until then fellow members of the Blue Star Cult enjoy your summer.

Wait Till Next Year !

I knew this day was coming.  I knew I was going to have to write one last blog about the 2009 NFL season.  I have been putting it off because I can’t stand to think about the next few months of Sundays without football.

The Super Bowl surprised me.  I thought Peyton Manning would win and the Saints would lose.  That’s why I don’t bet on the games.

What a year for the Cowboys.  The new stadium was more amazing than I thought it would be.  Looking forward to next season already because it’s just so much fun out there tailgating.

Glad to see Owner Jones didn’t blow up the coaching staff.  Continuity is way underrated nowadays.  I just think sticking with Wade was the right thing to do. 

Not sure but drafting some young, strong offensive linemen is probably what the Boys need to do.  I am not a draft expert so don’t look here for any hint of who it might be.  Somehow I figure the paid staff the Boys have can do a better job of studying the hundreds of players available than I can.

I am not willing to say this season was a success since our Heroes didn’t win it all but they did have a good year.  Next season I expect them to win it all.  I’ve been wrong before. later Poke

well that hurt

aww Cowboys.  did you have to pick today to have a game like this ?
actually i should just say congratulations to the vikings, they played a great game.  they played hard,fast and inspired.  their guys beat our guys..
you cant blame just one guy when you get beat like this.  its a team sport and this was a team loss.
i may or may not be back with a more detailed description of this butt-kicking but for now butt-kicking says it good enough.
thanks Cowboys for a good year.  i really like this team, its players and coaches and yes even the owner.  it was a pretty good run at the end of the year.  next year a more consistent showing would be nice.
okay Brett i dont blame you a bit for throwing a TD pass ahead by 24 points.  now i hope you dont blame me for hoping the saints rip your lowlife classless head off your body.  later Poke

Can we just play the Game ?

I feel a bit like Wade Phillips this morning.  After practicing this week with crowd noise pumping at the Cowboys Wade said his ears were ringing.  Mine are too but its not from crowd noise.  It’s from listening to all the sports radio and television “experts” scream why team A will beat team B.  My eyes are burning too from reading all the print medias opinions and analysis on the same subject.

Can Ware beat the Vikes tackles and get to Favre ?  Can the Good Guys secondary cover the Vikes speedy receivers ?  Can Jared Allen get past Flo and sack Romo ?  Can the trio of running backs our Heroes use gain yardage against the Vikes defensive line ?  Will Favre or Romo play the best at QB ?  On and on the questions go with so many different opinions screaming at us.

This is football not math or chemistry.  There are no absolute formulas.  No set predictable reactions to constant effects.  This is about one on one contests that will be decided by how each player performs today, not how he did in week 4 against a totally different player.  This is about how a team reacts to losing some of those contests and then either finding a way to overcome those individual defeats or falling behind in their quest to advance.

On film maybe Flo looks too slow, too old or too weak to keep up with the faster, younger and strong Jared Allen.  That doesn’t mean that come game time Flo can’t find a way to stop him.  Effort, desire, experience, HEART all find a way to become more than words on a football field. 

After watching the Good Guys all year, after seeing how every week a player with a Star on his helmet surprise me with a play I wasn’t expecting them to make I feel like this game is going to be one of those games that go to the end.  The crowd noise, the overall quality of the Vikes, and the fact that Favre is their QB make me think this will be a hard fought, back and forth kind of game. 

At the end I feel like the Heroes of Our Youth pull it out and leave the big blow up stadium headed for home with a Win.  Maybe then my ears will quit ringing.  later Poke

Legends of the Fall (SB 45 Event)

---

warning: this is long
So everybody knows SB 45 will be at Cowboys Stadium. To ramp up fundraising and awareness there are going to be a lot of events in the DFW area.
Today they had one called Legends of the Fall, to honor all the great football played in North Texas over the last 100 years.
They are going to pick the Top 100 moments in football, high school, college and pro for the North Texas Area by letting people vote out of 250 moments assembled by a panel.

I went primarily just to see the Cowboy greats of old but was interested in the other former players of this area. The event was held at Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, the only public high school in the country that can boast of having 2 Heisman Trophy winners, Tim Brown and Davey O'Brien.
Brad Sham was the MC so you already know it was great.

They had some true greats on the stage and they discussed their memories of playing football in this area.
There was Mean Joe Greene representing the University of North Texas; Sooner legend Billy Sims, whose exploits in the Texas-OU rivalry cemented his legacy; Abner Haynes of the AFL’s Dallas Texans, by way of UNT; One half of the Pony Express, Craig James of SMU; Woodrow alum Tim Brown representing North Texas high school football; and Davey O'Briens son.

The Cowboys who were there were Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Tony Dorsett, Michael Irvin and Daryl Johnston.
All-in-all, that group tallies 16 Super Bowl rings, four Heisman Trophies and five Hall of Fame busts (with Tim Brown eligible to join that HOF group for the first time this year).
Abner Haynes talked about the racial struggles he faced playing football in that era and said how it made their UNT team closer. His was the most serious talk of the day and was very good.
Brad Sham asked Tim Brown of his memories of playing football at Woodrow Wilson and the crowd cracked up when he said they were horrible, 4-25-1.
Brad Sham who had been talking about the 1912 UT-OU game being the first of those played in Dallas, was teasing Staubach about the 1964 Cotton Bowl, which Navy lost to Texas and Staubach joked back at Sham, " how did you like that 1912 game". There was great banter between the two of them and you could tell they were comfortable with each other.
Another interesting note, Mean Joe Greene who grew up in Texas said he grew up a Cowboy fan ! I never knew that. Brad Sham said in spite of his nickname Joe was a great guy and Tony Dorsett stated "sure he was, he gave that kid his jersey" in reference to the famous Coke commercial.
Mean Joe told a story about how he once creamed Fran Tarkenton after chasing him all day along the sidelines and then said something like (how do you like me now) and Fran just replied back, " Look where we are Joe" (out of bounds) and then Joe saw the flag flying.
Moose Johnston got his "moose" call when he was announced.
Troy said the first Super Bowl win was his favorite because of how far down they had been and then won it all. He also said it was a huge advantage for him for the Cowboys to practice at UCLA and then play at the Rose Bowl because he was already comfortable with both places having played a lot of his college games at those stadiums.

The event was held in the high school auditorium which of course had those hard wood back folding seats. This created my best moment of the day.
I was seated across the aisle from Rayfield Wright. After Brad Sham introduced him he had to work really hard to get back into that little folding seat and as he was sitting down he looked at me and shook his head and laughed. When the event was over I said " Mr. Wright they shouldn't make grown ups sit in these", he started laughing and said " Nate Newton wouldn't ever fit in there". I was cracking up.

It was a great thing to be at. There were a lot more stories told by each of the players and it was almost like sitting in a living room and listening to the greats I watched on TV just talk and cut up. If you are a football fan it was heaven on earth.
All those guys looked great and seemed happy. Sorry this was so long but trust me it could have been even longer.

Here is what Tim Brown and his Heisman arrived in

The group representing the various categories of the greatest moments
bottom row, left to right : Tony Dorsett, Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, Tim Brown and Davey O'Briens son.
top row left to right : Billy Sims, Joe Greene, Daryl Johnston, Michael Irvin, Craig James and Abner Haynes

A plaque presented to the school by the committee honoring their 2 Heisman winners.

Troy, Joe, Moose and Roger are listening to Tony Dorsett talk about going to the Super Bowl as a rookie.

Brad Sham talking with Charean Williams and Rich Gosselin about how the 250 moments were chosen, Sham also managed to put in a plug to get Charles Haley into the HOF. They are both voters. Sham is a very funny guy and a great MC.

The 2 great Cowboy quarterbacks were so relaxed I had to include this shot. Thats pretty much how it felt there and I loved every second of it.

Sorry this was so long winded but I had to share this with other football fans.
For the official version of the event go here http://www.northtexassuperbowl.com/news/legends-fall

It Got Better

So last weeks game wasn’t good enough for ya huh ?  I gotta tell you that was impressive.  It’s hard enough to beat a team twice in a season much less 3 times.  In back to back weeks makes it even more amazing. 

Sure I always pick the Cowboys to win but I would be lying if I said I never had any doubts this past week.  I knew The Heroes of Our Youth were good enough, talented enough and coached well enough to win 3 against the iggles.  I am also smart enough to know that it’s football.  That whole “any given Sunday” deal may be trite but it’s true. 

The Good Guys went a long way toward erasing that bitter taste that still lingered from the 2007 season that ended in a loss to the giants in january of 2008.  That as you well know was another time we had already beaten a team twice in one year.

I also still suffered occasional nightmares from the finale of last season where we went to filthydelphia and got our butts handed to us in a game that could have put is into the playoffs.  Beating the iggles last week was good but since it didn’t knock them out it didnt quite wipe out that bad feeling.  This week took care of that.

I was so sick of hearing that Romo and Wade couldn’t/hadn’t won a playoff game I quit listening to national sports talk on that 4 letter station from up north.  Now those guys can brush that off and concentrate on just winning the next game.

That brings me to here, plug your ears, unplug your TV or be prepared for all the Lord Favre talk I am sure we will hear from the people who get paid to talk about that stuff.  You have been warned.

So stay tuned, buckle them chin straps and I will be back later, until then, in the immortal words of Jimmy, “ how bout them Cowboys “ !

later, Poke

Close Enough to Perfect for Me

What a day.  From setting up for the tailgate to walking out of the Crystal Cathedral things just couldn’t have been much better. 

Sure it could have been warmer, but then I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy standing by a fire and warming my hands.

And of course I would love to have this scooter but then I think of how many games I would miss when I wreck it and break bones.

I always seem to “almost” get a great action shot, I will have to settle for good on this one.  You can’t blame people for jumping up and waving their arms when the Good Guys score !

Even on good days, “stuff” happens.  The big screen went dark late in the game for about 45 seconds but hey if it hadn’t I would have never seen what it looks like.

This next picture sums it up, it is a little blurry but you gotta love the score.  Like I said , close enough to perfect for me.

So next Saturday the heroes of our youth have to play with even more intensity because the iggles just might not drop as many passes or overthrow some open receivers.  They may not fumble a snap or miss a 53 yard field goal.

The Boys need to score early and often just like this game and then start beating on McNabb.  The difference between this years team and the ones in the past will become more evident after they take care of business Saturday.  later Poke