Radio Free Texas

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

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.

Monday, October 18, 2010

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.

Monday, October 11, 2010

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

Thursday, October 07, 2010

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.

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

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Start with his high school football letter.

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

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

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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.

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Game Ball, 1st career victory Sept 17, 1961

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1st Super Bowl win

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Coat and hat from the Ice Bowl game
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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

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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".

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Boots given to Landry by fans

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Hand carved door given to Landry.

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Hall of Fame jacket

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

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The Hat of a Man

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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.