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