Christmas Wish List # 2

Okay, so wish list # 1 didn't work out so well.
That doesn't mean I don't still believe in miracles, and a miracle
is what it is going to take for our beloved Cowboys to get into the playoffs now.
Well not a miracle really but a lot of things are going to have to happen
for this season to not end on New Years Night against St. Louis.
For an extremely well researched explanation of the NFL playoff system
and all the tie-breakers and strength of victory calculations and possible
scenarios I suggest you click to this link and read until your head spins
and your eyes burn while your stomach twists into tight knots.

CowboysZone

Start with post # 1 and go until you get tired of it. Post # 1 has been written,
edited, proofed, cussed and discussed. I am pretty sure it is correct because
there are some very sharp folks on that message board who spend a lot of time
making sure the info posted is correct. I say I am pretty sure because I am not
smart enough to know 100% that all their info is correct.

OR....you can not go there and just read my Christmas Wish List # 2 ( which is actually going to end up being # 2 of a 3 part series...which I guess comes from
me listening to sooo many Baptist preachers ) anyway I digress.

Here I go..List 2.

1. Dallas beats Carolina..without this one , the rest lose a lot of significance.
2. Atlanta beats Tampa Bay...this may be disputed by some but bear with me, remember
I intend on using my 3 wishes in list form.
3. New York Giants beat Washington....and no this isn't only because the redskins
beat us so bad last week.
4. Baltimore beats Minnesota...believe me, any other time I wouldn't care what
Baltimore does.
See, its a short, easy to remember, very possible list.
This week we all have to be Cowboy-Falcons-Giants-Ravens Fans.Heck if I had the money
I would go buy those 3 teams jerseys and wear them under my Cowboys stuff.(turned
inside out of course cuz I really don't like any of them but I would wear them.)

If this list works out, Dallas would be 9-6, Carolina 10-5, Atlanta 9-6, Tampa Bay
9-6, New York 11-4 , Washington 8-7, Baltimore WHO-CARES, and Minnesota 8-7.
At this point I am conceding the NFC East to NY Giants, the NFC North to Chicago,
the NFC West to Seattle and trying to set Carolina up to win the NFC South while
still keeping the Pokes in good shape for a wild-card spot.

There are still a few details that will need to be taken care of in the last week
of the season of course but lets take this one week at a time to avoid confusion.
I don't multi-task well so I limit my worries to one week at a time. Stay Tuned.
later.........poke

Verbal Valium

This is for all the people who cant get their prescriptions refilled quick enough.
I have read the papers, all the dfw area columnists are writing the Boys off.
I have watched the sports shows, all the TV guys are writing the Boys off.
I have visited the "message boards" ( which is where the supposedly really good fans
go to spout their wisdom of all things football) and the reactions there amaze me.
from all I have read, seen, and heard the Cowboys now need to : FIRE PARCELLS,
re-do the whole offensive line, bench Jones for Barber, put Romo in, cut the kicker,
release the punter, ditch the long snapper, play the rookies more, bench the rookies,
get a real General Manager, play more wide open , be more conservative, switch back to the 4-3, stay in the 3-4, re-hire the kicking coach, fire the Def. Coordinator Zimmer, quit using Aaron Glenn to cover the best receiver, play Roy Williams closer
to the line, move Roy Williams back into coverage, RE-HIRE Jimmy Johnson, change
our draft pick and take Merriman instead of Ware ( who was much loved earlier this year ), ohh and the most analytical of all...QUIT WEARING THE BLUE JERSEYS.
I HATED seeing us lose Sunday. But what I really hate is seeing "fans" give up on
a team. Last time I looked its a "16 game " season. there are still multiple
scenarios where the Cowboys can get into the playoffs. Then its a whole new season.
35-7, that's a butt whipping. Anybody who has ever played sports has had games like
that happen. Nothing works right, just cant seem to get things going. Its not fun.
nobody planned it that way. The redskins just plain whipped us, beat our tails,
and turned us every which way but loose. Okay, it happens, its over, move on.
if you have been paying attention this year every week a team wins that wasn't
supposed to. there are 2 games left, time to start thinking about the next one not the last one. Get Carolina on our minds, take care of winning it and hope the right
teams get beat to help us out. We don't have time to moan and complain , that's what
the off-season is for. Regroup, gather your wits, work harder, stay focused.
these are pretty much the same guys who had a 7-3 record not that long ago.
sure we have had injuries, so has every other team so that's not an excuse .
anyway I had to rant...the attitude of the Cowboy Kingdom is disturbing right now.
reminds me way too much of the old Oiler fans. Me I am going to start working
on my Christmas Wish List # 2 since #1 didn't work out too well. later Poke

Christmas Wish List # 1

Okay I said I would look at the other games this week and let everybody
know who needs to beat who to help the Boys out. I did look. I am now
confused. Way too many "ifs" and "buts". I never did learn how to use a
slide rule and I never trusted anybody that ever did learn so I am
just going to ignore all those guys. Take it one week at a time. No big picture
for me. Tunnel vision. Besides its Christmas so a lot of time usually spent pondering the Good Guys has to go to getting to a mall, dodging the crowds and
just being festive. So here's what I want to happen this week in the NFL.

New England beats Tampa Bay ( I hate NE but TB is in our conference).
Kansas City beats New York Giants ( no brainer..duhh).
New Orleans beats Carolina (anybody that may keep us out of the playoffs needs to lose)
Tennessee beats Seattle (this one probably doesn't matter but you never know it
might keep us from going to the Northwest in the playoffs)
Chicago beats Atlanta ( I say let Chicago go ahead, win their division, beat out
our wild-card competition , surely we could beat Kyle Orton).
DALLAS beats washington.....cuz we need to plus its washington.
oh yeah and philthydelphia loses .....just cause I don't like them.( no playoff implications at all just a healthy dose of meanness, spite and pettiness on my part.)
if I missed a game sorry, I'm no expert, besides its like you have been told
all your life....you get what you pay for and this only costs a little time.
later.........poke

Looks Like We Are Not Just Americas Team

What a game !! That was sooo intense that it was almost hard to enjoy. It was
actually Monday morning before I stopped being nervous about that game. ( and that
was only after I watched it on TV again to make sure it wasn't a dream.)

5 lead changes, an opposing runner who had 3 TD's against our great defense,
a wide open Dante Hall getting the pass on the 24 yard line WITH enough time
for the Chiefs to kick a field goal to tie the game. I was as nervous as a
long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.( I had to work in at least one old timers saying, and that ones nicer than the other one I know about a "lady" in church.)

Not to mention that there were about 15,000 Chiefs fans there doing their best
to pretend it was their Home field. Every time the Boys had the ball at one end of
the field they made way too much noise. Especially the one sitting right in front
of me. He was a nice guy and all that. He just didn't realize that I didn't want to be
friends with a Chiefs fan for those 3 1/2 hours. I admit it. I am a bad sport.
Always have been, I try not to be, but it doesn't look like I am going to outgrow
that bad habit anytime soon. I couldn't stand the idea of having to tell him good game if the Cowboys had lost. I would have done it but I wouldn't have enjoyed it.
(okay maybe I wouldn't have done it but I like to think I might have).

Anyway, it was an awesome place to be Sunday afternoon. Fun game to watch.
Even the halftime show was cool with kids and dancers and fireworks and THE
CHEERLEADERS dressed like Santas helpers. Fireworks. LOUD , OBNOXIOUS FANS, (ours mainly ), crowded parking lots, cool enough to feel like football weather.
AND...some fat guy with a white beard who apparently likes the Cowboys better than
the Chiefs and gave us all an early Christmas present when he H0-HO-Ho'ed so loud
that it blew that last second field goal attempt.....WIDE RIGHT.

Later this week i will look at who needs to beat who to help us out the most in the playoff race but for now I am just beginning to really enjoy Sundays game.

ITS beginning to look a lot like Christmas..........later Poke

Its all my fault

Well I feel terrible. The Boys lost, and they played terrible on
offense. Our defense keeps putting up good games but the offense
is killing them ( and me ).
anyway due to some travel plans and some Holiday festivities
I only watched 4 plays of the whole game. Gasp..Cough..I know
hard to believe isn't it ?? I saw the first 4 plays of the game before
getting on the road. So don't blame Bledsoe...Don't blame our offensive
tackles, our weak guards or our center (who cant keep his guy blocked
long enough for Bledsoe to even hand the ball off to JJ.
NOPE...BLAME ME. Its all my fault, I wasn't glued in front of the TV.
I couldn't call 1-800-BILL and rush in some plays or strategy.
I did listen to the game on the radio in the car. Its been a while
since I have done that.
Here's a warning.....don't be anywhere near me while I am listening to
the Cowboys while trying to drive. Those people with cell phones or putting
on their make-up couldn't have driven worse than I was when I was listening
as the Boys . Its hard to drive when you are pounding the steering wheel,
turning the volume up ( or down when you get really mad ) and screaming at the top
of your lungs. I bet it looked pretty weird too since I was alone in the car.
anyway...All is not lost in spite of what the experts say. Just gotta take care
of the rest of the games now and maybe hope for some help along the way.
keep the faith......BEAT the Chiefs...and all will be well in my world again.
later Poke

If We Make it Through December.........

Everythings gonna be alright I know, its the toughest part of our schedule
and I shiver when I think of where we have to go..... Okay my apologies to Merle
Haggard for changing the words to his classic song around but it sure applies to the
Cowboys.
4 games this month, played in 21 days, 3 on the road, 1 at home.
First game is the New York Football Giants ( the reason us old timers say that is because at one time there were also the New York Baseball Giants but they moved to San Francisco ).
The Giants have the same record we do, 7-4. THEY are 5-1 at home so far this season.
We did beat them at home but it was tough and it took OverTime to do it. What we do
against them may be a good indicator of how the month is going to go for US.
Secong game is the Kansas City Chiefs. They also have the same record as the Boys. BUT...This game at least is played at Texas Stadium. The Chiefs
are 3-3 on the road but as the UnderArmour commercial says.."We must protect this house !!! ". That becomes even more true since this is the ONLY HOME game this month.
Third game is against the hated DEADSKINS in Washington. They are
5-6 right now. Ignore that. They are 4-2 at home. They have already beaten us once, at our own place. They were down 13-0 late in the game. It was Monday night.
It was a game that the Cowboys should have and could have won but we didn't.
That makes this game even more important. Division records and all that stuff.
So now its payback time.
BUT...Don't let their record lull you to sleep. Its Washington, they hate US
and its at their place...ain't gonna be no walk in the park.
Fourth gameis the Carolina Panthers. They have an 8-4 record.
They are 4-1 at Home. They have the "great Jake", and a good defense. Its the day
before Christmas...maybe the Cowboys will be ticked off at being away from home.
Hopefully when we get to this game our record will have 3 more wins added to it.
It's real hard to predict this far ahead of time what is going to happen or how.
Too many things can change, injuries, losing streaks that take you out of contention,
winning streaks that build your confidence. Me, I'm betting that this game has huge
implications for if, when and where the Cowboys play in the postseason.

4 games, 21 days apart, against teams that have a combined 27-17 record. One of whom
(and it happens to be the only one with a losing record )has already beaten us AT HOME.

So...just like the great Merle, and also my brother and I always say.
If WE Make it Through December.......I am sure looking forward to it.
I will worry later about the games in January and who knows, maybe February.
For now, DECEMBER presents a big enough headache..and I am not even talking about
Christmas shopping. later Poke

too much to think about

first off, i gotta say i am sorry for not posting in 11 days.
i was concentrating so hard on what the Boys needed to do and the best
way for them to do it i just couldnt get loose to actually type anything.
well..that , and putting up the outside Christmas lights, practicing a Christmas
play, and the other 2 million things going on this time of year.
I hope everybody had a Happy Thanksgiving....i did until about 6:30 when that
guy from the Broncos , who had been released by the Giants, all of a sudden
turned into Superman and and just ripped my heart out in over-time at the Tabernacle.
It was a great day for Thanksgiving at Texas Stadium, not hot, not cold, plenty
of good food (cooked by my wonderful wife ), steaks, sausages, brocoli-rice casserole, jalepeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon.
You know..traditional Thanksgiving food ( for me anyway..i hate turkey.)
I'm sure if you told me on Nov. 13th that the Boys would win 2 of 3 games
played in 11 days i would have been very happy knowing that.
BUT...when we won AT Philly, then beat Detroit in a sloppy manner I guess I
let my hopes get too high. I got greedy. I wanted that 3rd win !!!!!!!
It was a great game to watch, they score, we score, they score, we score,
they score, we score. ( 21-21 at this point for all ya'll to lazy to do the math)
Then the sun peeked out from behind the clouds....the throwback uniforms were
beautiful....we had a chance to get a field goal and go ahead for the first time.
And we had Billy the Kid back..fresh off a 56 yard kick last week. This 34 yard
kick was gonna clinch the Happy Thanksgiving part.
But not Thursday, it wasnt gonna happen. Billy missed, wide left , not by much
but does that really matter ? He missed. It was at that point that i got a real
bad feeling in my stomach. ( and it wasnt the aforementioned menu items either)
The rest is just bad news and a couple days late so no sense in mentioning what took
place after that. Time to lick our wounds, and get ready to beat the New York
football Giants. ohhh yeah and finish getting those Christmas decorations up.
i will return with much more enthusiasm but that was just a tough loss to take.
later Poke

Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus...Christmas in November

i so wanted to write this last night. i was just so wound up i couldn't figure out
how to do it without just rambling and ranting and raving about last nights game.
WHAT an ending to a big BIG game.
First off, our Boys came out flat, played uninspired, sloppy and weak football.
We were lucky to only be behind 14-7 at the half. That mistake by Bledsoe where
he tried to Brett Favre a dump pass to Barber when Barber was busy blocking could have been the end of our hopes to keep the Philly crowd out of the game.
Then we came out for the second half and it seemed we had made no adjustments to
Phillys newfound ability to run the football.
Like Madden said, and i paraphrase because i cant be expected to accurately quote
someone.......when the green shirts are pushing the white shirts backwards on both sides of the ball your team isnt doing good. And thats what was happening. Our lines
were getting whipped. Bledsoe was hurried, hit, harassed, harried and basically
not getting much time to throw. As i watched the game i felt like Drew just wasnt
"on " his throws. Then when i looked at the stats i see Drew was 17 for 24 for 196
yards with a 91.7 QB rating. I guess my eyes were playing tricks on me. I am not
an expert, i go with my gut feeling. Luckily i waited until i could check the stats
before i started writing this thing.
I was starting to think our defense would never stop the Eagles, then we make a
good stop at the goal line and hold Philly to a field goal . That turns out to be a huge difference.
All of a sudden, with only 3:44 left and the good guys losing 20-7 that same listless, uninspired bunch of players start to do something..away from home, at a field known for its "home field advantage ". A 20 something yard run from an offense
that only had 58 yards running the whole game. Then good old Terry Glenn ( not Aaron
like Madden kept saying ) slips past the Eagles and scores on a 20 yard pass.
Okay, cool..showing a little life. Too little too late probably but hey hold your heads up and play hard. Good to see even if you dont win the game.
Then a short kickoff and the Eagles have the ball on the 35, all they need is to get
a couple of first downs and we are finished, through ,kaput, finito.
2nd and seven, we havent really stopped them rushing the ball very good all night.

This is where Santa Claus comes to the rescue, in NOVEMBER!!!!!



The Eagles do the unexpected..a short pass, to the outside. To a WIDE-OPEN ROY WILLIAMS !! a 46 yard interception return for a TOUCHDOWN !! throw in a block
by Bradie James # 56 ( not scott shanle # 58 like Madden and Michaels announced )
---side note here----the players have numbers and their NAMES on their jerseys
so it shouldnt be that hard to get it right John and AL.
and oh yeah, also James is black, Shanle is white so if the
names and numbers dont help use that information to help.

sorry...i just get tired of those guys. i realize the play on the field was interfering with their ongoing diatribe about the " T.O. thing ", but try and give
us accurate info if you do talk about the play.

Anyway, thank you Santa McNabb. i now do believe in miracles.
Congrats to the Cowboys who didnt play their best but never quit and found a way
to win, on the road, from behind. Thats a good sign.
Man arent ya'll glad i didnt rant and ramble ?? later Poke

Is this Heaven or What ??

WOW...15 days since the Boys played a football game. Thats a long time,
too long. I have been going thru major withdrawals. I enjoy watching other
teams, high school, college, pros, but come on now. It's time to get cranking
again on the way to SUPER BOWL XL (40 for those who don't know their Roman numerals.)
Sure i enjoyed watching the Colts beat the Pats Monday night. Seeing Texas beat Baylor saturday filled an hour or so of my time. Watching the Eagles and Redskins
play was torture...how can you enjoy a game when you hate both teams ?
The TO fiasco was interesting for about..ohhh 20 seconds but its not like it
was anything unexpected.
But now.....the wait is nearly over. This is fixin to get good..really good.
The Cowboys play 3 games in 11 days !!!!!!! I may OD from all the excitement.
November should show us what to expect from our beloved team. It's not an easy
task playing 3 games in 11 days. Most coaches would never choose to do it if they didn't have to. But...BUT...if we can get thru this trial with some good wins(plural)
it puts in a good spot to do something this year.
Those 3 games in 11 days are the only games we play in a 34 day span. That should give the Boys time to regroup, re-energize, repair and get ready to finish the season
strong. Coach Landry always seemed to get the Boys peaking at the end of the season,
it sure would be nice to see it happen again.
So i am getting ready, got the yard cleaned up, havent started the Christmas decorating yet...got those 11 days penciled in for nothing but worrying and
writing about the Cowboys. now...lemme make sure i got the number for 911
just in case. later Poke

No Bye Weeks for Bloggers

aahhh, the Cowboys bye week. i can relax, take it easy and clear my head
for the big push to the playoffs. NOT !!!!
nope i have discovered that there is no bye week for us creative writer types.
the ideas just cant be bottled up. its like trying to stop the waters of Lake
Ponchatrain from spilling over the levees of New Orleans.

I like football fans in general, Cowboy football fans in particular but I have a
huge gripe with a lot of them. They tend to think that THEY could do what the players
do, and do it sooo much better. They think that there should never be any mistakes,
no fumbles, nary an interception, no one should ever complete a pass against their
team and when the other team scores its just totally unacceptable. so in order to
teach a lesson in reality i have come up with a plan.

This week i want any of you who think this football stuff is so easy to try some things for me.
Go outside..i know this means getting out of the recliner but hey work with me here.
Get a football, a real football not one of those tiny, soft, easy to grip ones your
kids have but a real one. Now pace off about 15 yards from the tree in your yard.
Now, with no one chasing you or trying to tear your head from your body throw the
football at the tree. See how many times you actually hit the tree. Now move back
10 more yards, try it again...and be honest about how many times you hit the tree.
If your percentage equals your favorite QB's completion percentage i will be greatly
surprised, but remember nobody is trying to keep you from throwing the ball either.

Next step..go back to where you started throwing ( 15 yards or so ). Now, turn around
facing the opposite direction from your tree, bend over and try snapping the ball
at the tree. Okay now wipe the dirt from your face from where your head hit the ground when you tried this and record your results. Did you even come close to the tree ??

For our next experiment you may want to go the park. Lots of room to run there you
know. Okay..take off running as fast as you can....after 20 yards while still running
as fast as you can just turn your head around and look up just like you are looking
for a football..did that slow you down any at all ?? did it make you a little uncomfortable ?? were you at least a little worried about running into something ?

Now this next test may get you into a little trouble with the wife so wait till she
has gone to work or something. Move that big recliner into the middle of the living
room floor. Put all your kids in it, or the dog or something really heavy. About
300 pounds worth of heavy. Now get into a 3 point stance..say " HUT HUT " really
loud ( the snap was on 2 ) and charge into that chair. Push it around as much as you
want to. Drive it back..cmon..harder..faster. Now, do that 50 or 60 times. are you tired yet ?? arent you glad it wasnt pushing you back ?? now remember..a real
defensive lineman isnt going to just passively let you do that but maybe now you
have a sense of what those big uglies (offensive lineman ) do for a living.

Lets see...we have been a QB, a long snapper ( without the 2 big mean guys hitting us), a Defensive back, an offensive lineman..whats next ??

Oh yeah..field goal kickers. Nahhh if you arent convinced by now there is no sense
in embarassing ourselves any further.

Anyway i hope this helps. Now maybe next game you will be a little less critical
of your team. If you still think you could do it as good or better please contact
your local mental health professional. mention the words " delusions of grandeur".
also mention you read it here for 25% off. plus maybe i will get a referral fee or something. later Poke