Fan or Fanatic ??

I'm a FAN of the Dallas Cowboys...lot of us out there claim that, proudly too.
I'm not a FANATIC....or at least I try not to be.
Whats the difference you ask ? I'm sure a lot of ya'll have heard that "fan"
is just a short way to say "fanatic". I have been told that so I cracked open
the trusty old dictionary to see what Mr. Webster said about the 2 words.

fan: an ardent admirer or enthusiast (as of a celebrity or a pursuit) (science-fiction fans)

fanatic : marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion ex.(they're fanatic about politics)

Hmmm..okay according to Webster, maybe I'm more of a fanatic than I thought, I do
display exceesive enthusiasm and try hard not to be critical about The Boys.
Which brings me to my point in this well thought out, and professionally crafted
piece of blogalism.
For those of you who missed this weeks game and haven't heard the score yet, but
keep hearing on all the local radio talk shows and reading the message boards and fan
forums how poor the Cowboys defense played, here is a NEWS FLASH !!
THE DALLAS COWBOYS WON THE FOOTBALL GAME SUNDAY NIGHT !!

It was a great game to watch, fun from the first quarter to the last. Lots of points,
great plays, some good hits, enough nail biting flows of momentum to keep me happy.
Some bad things happened, players got hurt, balls were dropped, mistakes were made.
Hey its football, and there were 2 teams out there, each trying to make the other
do things they didn't want to do. And yeah, our Defense did give up a lot of points,
and too many big plays. BUT, the COWBOYS WON THE GAME.

So before you fall into the woe is me, life sucks, we don't have a chance this year
syndrome just take a deep breath, relax and chalk up a W in the win column.

I don't mind being a fan but after reading what Winston Churchill said about fanaticism I would rather not be called one, "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject".

So bring on the Dolphins, buckle up them chinstraps and maybe this week we win 3 to 0. of course i could be wrong.....later Poke

Gotta Deal With It

injuries........ya gotta hate em, worry about em, dread em
and wish they never happened. to anybody. our team, the other
team, any team. you would get a much better game to watch no
matter what sport or event you are looking at.
but hey, life happens and injuries are a part of it.
every year somebody gets hurt, on every team, in every sport.
so what do you do ?? quit ? cry ? wail and gnash your teeth ?
sure go ahead if any of that makes you feel better, doesn't
change anything but go right ahead.
The Boys dont have any choices, you dont cancel the season..
I promise you ol Jerruh aint giving no money back and I am not asking anyway.
Nows the time ...some lesser known and maybe even some almost unknowns
are going to have to step in there and show us what they got.
Hopefully its enough, I feel certain at least one good surprise will come out
of these injuries...I'm just not sure who its going to be.
I will say this, Im sure gonna miss Terry Glenn if he is out for the season,
and I am also gonna miss Greg Ellis. I know a lot of folks are down on him now
but I have always liked his ability and how he played.
Newman being out any at all is gonna hurt too, but hey if Reeves and Jones have what it takes nows their time to show us all.
I am still excited and Optimistic about this season, I'm just waiting for Sunday night...bring on them Giants...i gotta go get my tailgating stuff packed up.
later Poke

Looking Back while Looking ahead

okay so i was thinking about what to say about this years training camp and i
remembered thinking the same things i had thought before. so i went back, dug out this blog and figured that if you changed the dates, removed the parcells reference,
it applied to this year ( and pretty much every year). so i decided to re-post it.
aaron glenn getting cut definitely surprised me, newman being hurt fits in, everybody has their own surprise player that made the team and in the end none of it matters
because starting sept 9...........only the won-loss column matters. later Poke


Monday, August 01, 2005
Training Camp Predictions

ok here goes nothing. this year i predict : at least one player we are counting on will get hurt. at least one player will get released that surprises us. at least one player will make the team that didnt have much of a chance at the beginning. bill parcells will throw a fit at least once a day. jerry jones will get on TV at least once a day. the 4 networks and 2 newspapers from the DFW metroplex will barrage us with insights that aren't insightful . players will have ups and downs throughout camp and us fans will freak out or jump up and down when each event is reported. none of it will matter when the first play comes in the regular season because then it all boils down to each player whipping the opposite player on the other team . i keep telling myself this so i dont get too crazy waiting for 9-11.....when once again we get to watch football on TV . ( i dont count preseason games as "real " football. if this is helpful to your mental state make a donation to something in my honor. later Poke

Finally

Okay the preseason, exhibition, games are over. I did watch tonights game, at least
parts of it. Officially the Boys were 2-2 this year. Since I only count the the
parts of the game where people who will actually be playing when the season starts
I am gonna call it 2-1-1. I just write the last game off as a tie since neither
team ever looks like they will just a week later.
Im still optimistic about the Good Guys this year. A little concerned over injuries
that seem to be hanging on to some of our starters but hey it happens every year to
every team. The winners find a way around it.
As much as I gripe about the preseason i kind of like it. Its the only time you probably get to see a lot of these guys, and these guys are the ones giving your
starters the looks during the week as they practice, so the better they are the better
your team should be.
Anyway, strap on the helmets, get the chips and hot sauce ready...ice down a beer
if you want and lets get ready for some FOOTBALL !!
later Poke

Confession is good for what ail's ya

confession time...........i didnt watch tonights preseason game.
apparently i had as much interest in it as our players.
now i have to decide if the sky is falling or was it just a preseason game
and isn't that big a deal. feel free worldwide readers to let me know which
way i should go. i did see the td to owens, looked pretty sweet. i promise
to do better next week.

WHO ya Gonna Call..........with the game on the Line ??

i actually like Gramatica but this was too funny not to post.
Its from training camp. Enjoy

A quiet optimism

A new head coach, a few new players, new coaches on both sides of the ball.
It could be, and for most teams and in most places it would mean a not so great
season. But i just have a feeling that this is gonna be a good year for us Cowboys
fans. Now dont ask me to tell you why, X's and O's and stuff isn't my strong suit
and there are plenty of experts out there to explain all of that. Nope I am just
being a fan, a homer even, I am just liking the way this team looks put together.
I went and saw 3 training camp practices, watched the first preseason game on TV
since i was on the road that day. And i liked it, liked the overall feeling I had
while watching them. The offense looks exciting, not quite so predictable and you
have to expect Romo to be even better this year than last. The defense should be
in good hands, Wade Phillips may not be the most quotable person ( some people say
that but I enjoyed listening to him at his press confernces in San Antonio,
especially when he told us (the fans) to boo the reporters if they asked any
questions we didnt like.)but nobody can question his defensive expertise. The kicking
game should be solid if not spectacular and we just looked fast, so I am expecting
special teams to play a large role in our games this year. Anyway it feels like
spring training to me, Opening Day if you will and my optimism is growing daily.
How will it turn out ? Heck if I know, my name isn't Nostradamus. For now put me down
at 11-5 and a trip to the NFC Championship game......I will predict later how that
will turn out. Course this is all just my opinion, I could be wrong. Later Poke

staying calm before the storm

okay, the light is at the end of the tunnel. hopefully its not a train coming
straight at me. we have made it thru the dreaded off-season, with all the non football
related stories (which i refuse to even list here).
next week is the start of training camp and the week after that i am slipping off
to san antonio to take a look at this years Boyz myself. (luckily my wife needed to be
in san antonio or i doubt i would be going).
soon we get to see if Romo is the real deal, if our # 1 pick Spencer is what we need him to be ( uhh like somebody to help Ware GET TO THE QB !!), IF Greg Ellis can
make it back from his injury ( dont discount the importance of this casual fans),
if our duo of running backs can carry the load, if our great but aging receivers can
do it for one more year, and ....to me the most important IF....if our Offensive
line is as good or BETTER than last year. ohhh wait, maybe the most important IF, is
if our Secondary can stop the DEEP passes, or maybe IF our head coach does a better
job of motivating the team to play ALL 16 games, including the last 4 of the season.
Of course we do need to see IF our kicker can make more than he misses, and IF our
new holder can hold the ball while our kicker kicks.
So strap on the ol helmets, sit back and enjoy......it oughta be a great ride .

change is good

okay..how bout some changes. wow...thats a bunch of changes.
im good with wade phillips as coach, like jason garret in whatever capacity,
love hiring dat to coach the backers, so far ive seen nothing i didnt like
about the new staff. not gonna worry about who we sign in free agency, who we draft,
or who we bring back. no worries mon ( sorry that cruise i took hasnt worn off yet).
gonna take some time off from football, the sun is shining, its warm and the
pitchers and catchers have reported to SPRING TRAINING !! made it thru that dead space between football and baseball. so until something happens i wont be here
blogging about the boys...enjoy the silence cuz i will be back.
hopefully i will see minute maid park again this year because i really dont like
the rangers and i dont like the ballpark in arlington after about june 1. tell
me again why there isnt a roof on that thing ??
later Poke

round and round and round we go....

and where we stop nobody knows. least of all the talking heads on sports talk
radio, espn, sirius, local newspapers, message boards. be real. WE DONT KNOW !!
does anybody really think they have an answer for WHO IS JERRY GONNA HIRE TO BE THE NEXT HEAD COACH OF THE DALLAS COWBOYS ????????
okay jason garret is hired in some capacity, im all for that. but lets get real,
it could be wade phillips, norv turner, gary gibbs OR ANYBODY ELSE HE WANTS.
maybe he hires Dan Reeves...i could live with that, lotta history with Reeves.
but to be honest im so HAPPY that the TUNA is gone...all i can say is i dont care who the next coach is...just please let it be somebody who embraces the Cowboys
rich history not the New York Football Giants history.
please let it be someone who, when they talk, i am not reminded of that movie,
The Lords Of Flatbush. Let it be someone who does more than stare at a player when he screws up...and never utters the words..you are what you are. thats not the way a
coach talks ! a coach is guy who is convinced he can make you better than what "you are', thats his job.
and i know jerry jones would have to be hard to work for as a coach. thats why
when we were struggling finding a coach who would even come to dallas i thought
jerry should hire a great offensive coordinator and a great defensive coordinator
and just appoint HIMSELF...HEAD COACH. try it, find out if he can or cant do it.
get it out of his system. then move on.
so lets all sit back and just wait...i know thats a hard thing to do nowdays, but lets try. see who he hires, give the new guy a chance to prove himself and then
if it doesnt work...run him out of town and talk bad about him. its the american way!
later Poke