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)

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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

This Is So Much More Fun

I originally started this blog so I would have a place to rant and rave about whatever was making me mad about the Dallas Cowboys.  Somewhere along the way I mellowed out ( I think it must have started right after Bill Parcells left, sorry but I just couldn’t bring myself to like him even though I respect his football credentials.)

It could also be that I have matured ( its possible !), I have not kicked a coffee table after a loss in many many years.  It might be that I realized that every week has the potential to be good or bad.

I don’t know for sure but its probably just because this team, this year just seems different.  I know there is one regular season game left and I could end up in here next Monday screaming my fool head off.  I just don’t think I will. 

I could be griping about Barber not gaining yards on short yardage, or Roy 11 dropping balls or trick plays that don’t trick.  I just decided I would judge on the season results and not be so fretful about every single play.  It seems to have increased my enjoyment of the Good Guys tremendously.

Awww who am I kidding, it’s because they have been winning and they are in the playoffs and have a chance to win the division and The Super Bowl.  Yep that’s it.  Man this introspective stuff really works. later Poke

I Hate Having To Be The Guy…

who reminds everybody that while the redskins look like they are going to implode, who looked so terribly bad against the gints, whose coach has resorted to trick plays , that they are the redskins and they would love nothing more than to make us Cowboys miserable by messing up our shot at the playoffs.

I have seen it too many times, when one of these teams is down they always seem to play up and throw a wrench in the other teams plans.

Sure they sent a star player home from practice this week.  Sure they hired a guy who was calling numbers at a BINGO game to call their plays.  There is a reason Cowboy fans hate the redskins.  They always seem to play us hard.  Sometimes they beat us, sometimes they beat us when we really can’t afford for them too.

This week we find out if they have anything left, we also find out if our Heroes can rise above it and build off last weeks great game.  Time for Coach Wade to show us he can get his team ready even though it was Christmas week.

Time for these players to show us they get it, that they understand that last weeks game was last weeks game.  I really like this group of guys, they seem to be a good bunch, a team.  This week we see if all that means anything or not.

I am expecting our guys to come out just like last week and score early while shutting down the redskins offense.  In reality it doesn’t matter what I think.  The only thing that matters is which version of the Dallas Cowboys 2009 shows up. 

I hope everybody had a Merry Christmas, now it’s up to the Boys to give us a Happy New Year. later Poke