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What ever happened to talking about football? Recently I have been reading a lot of Cowboys’ blogs in an attempt to find out information about Mike Jenkins’ transition into a more zone coverage type of scheme and how well Danny Amendola can perform against non-rookie corners. Instead all I find is a bunch of crap that the Cowboys’ elite players find themselves being a part of. I am tired of it. These guys are professionals and they need to become more focused. This team needs discipline and these things never happened when Parcells was in charge. I like Wade Phillips coaching style, but come on, crack the whip every now and again.

The first slap on the wrist goes out to Jerry Jones. I know he likes the spotlight and I know he loves players that like the spotlight. However, providing the Cowboys’ training camp for the HBO Hard Knocks show is a horrible more. With all this spygate crap going on, it is an awful idea to provide every team in the NFL a look inside training camp. This isn’t a total disappointment, because I think it will keep the players from doing stupid shit when people are taping them all the time. Although the majority of players have said that this program is more distracting then anything. I don’t think the Cowboys’ locker room needs any more distractions.

Now, I have to talk about Tony Romo. For crying out loud, please stay out of the public eye! I know for a fact that he works very hard and he is very focused on football, but he keeps giving people reasons to talk about other things besides football. Apparently he has broken up with Jessica Simpson and the press keeps hounding him about it. My question is how would people know this if he weren’t in Chicago butchering “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” and partying with a bunch of guys in a popular place. I am criticizing Tony because he seems to be getting frustrated with all this attention, yet he doesn’t put himself in a position to avoid it. However, what is even more appalling to me is when Cowboy beat writers ask him about this crap. These are guys who are supposed to fans of the team; shame on you for distracting the quarterback of “your” team. How about asking him if he has been working with the rookie receivers or if there are any new schemes that we can look for? This is a shame and it is even more disturbing that people that are supposed to be inside the organization are enabling it. On another note, I have no problem with his avid golf playing. He deserves to have a hobby, like everyone else, and I like hearing about how well he did in the US Open qualifier. Shame on anyone that says golfing is distracting to his football playing.

Next up is everyone’s favorite Terrell Owens. I actually don’t have a problem with his appearance on Flava Flave’s reality show. It really was benign and was actually funny. On the other hand he has been a major culprit in enabling the Tony Romo situation. In a recent interview he called Tony his boy, but poked fun at his expense. I believe he said something along the lines of leaving the singing to Jessica. While this is appropriate for the locker room it should not have been said publicly. This gives a perfect lead in to the next disturbing situation.

Greg Ellis recently went on air saying the Roy Williams told him that he is not playing in Wade Phillips scheme and he doesn’t think he will be able to fit in. This was a comment Roy made last year in training camp. Shame on you Greg for telling everyone this statement. He claims that Roy is his friend. Well friends don’t put their friends on the hot seat with the media. This is a different system and Roy needs time to adjust and having Dave Campo back this year should do wonders for his ability to adjust. Criticizing Roy for being under prepared for games is something that I want to hear about. I don’t want to hear about what Ellis has to say about what Williams said. I also don’t want to hear about how Roy’s breakup with Kelly Rowland and his recent “finding of God.”

Stop talking about this junk and let me know about what’s going on football wise. I am tired of these distractions. Let’s play football and stop being children gossiping in high school. Elite teams go out of their way to push the media away and stand up for each other. I am not seeing this here and something needs to be done right away limit the non-football related media exposure the Cowboys are getting.

Here’s something to think about.

Mike Pelfrey and Philip Humber are, or at least had been, touted as top prospects, front-line starter material, but I think it’s time to realize that neither is likely to be a difference-maker in the near future. We all know about Pelfrey’s struggles this season, and Humber has been having a rough year at AAA.

For instance, someone like Cole Hamels, who’s about a year younger than both Pelfrey and Humber, is currently succeeding on the big league level, with a sick change-up helping him become second in the league in K’s.

Also, Tim Lincecum, someone a few of us had the pleasure of watching, is six months older than Hamels, yet still younger than the two Mets’ prospects. He, too, is having success in the majors. His BAA is .212, and he has struck out 87 batters in 78.1 innings.

Now, some stats:

Hamels 2006 (AAA):
23 innings
10 hits
1 earned run
1 walk
36 strike outs
0.39 ERA
.130 BAA

Lincecum 2007 (AAA):
31 innings
12 hits
1 earned run
11 walks
46 strike outs
0.29 ERA
.119 BAA

Humber 2007 (AAA):
104 innings
105 hits
49 earned runs
26 walks
85 strike outs
4.24 ERA
.261 BAA

Pelfrey 2007 (AAA)
42.2 innings
41 hits
17 earned runs
15 walks
36 strike outs
3.59 ERA
.252 BAA

By the way, Brian Bannister has a 3.87 ERA for KC with a 1.21 WHIP and a .245 BAA. Maybe he could have been our fifth starter instead of Pelfrey, who, that’s right, didn’t win a single game in nine starts.

After having read an this article on ESPN.com, I think it is necessary to take the time to reflect on some of the things stated in that article. Athletes are human beings too and it would not kill us to treat them as such.

I don’t know if all of you have been following the breaking steroids news story, but Kirk Radomski, a former Mets clubhouse attendant was caught for selling all sorts of illegal performance enhancing drugs to baseball players. The court has seized documents from Radomski, including a client list that has dozens of players on it. Apparently Radomski also provided information that led to the raid of Jason Grimsley’s home. Grimsley then turned around and accused Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada, and Brain Roberts of being anabolic steroid users.

First off, as a Mets fan, it is important to talk about the implications of this situation for them. I don’t know of any Mets that are on steroids or that have been, but I am sure Radomski might have a good idea. When Radomski was a clubhouse attendant, he spent most of his time in the opposing team’s locker room. However, because his operations were out of his New York home, I would assume there are Mets players that are going to be involved. Radomski’s list of clients and purchase records has not been released and the only way to prove that those players actually took the drugs he sold would be a drug test. I am also sure that Radomski will implicate players, especially Mets that took steroids, even if they didn’t buy from him. This is a very dangerous situation for the Mets and opposing teams are going to look down upon them for letting someone like this leak out tons of information.

The major rumor that people are throwing around is the possibility of Barry Bonds being one of Radomski’s clients. Bonds, being a player that visits the Mets clubhouse at least once every year, most likely had some interaction with Radomski. However, being that Bonds is such a high profile guy, it is very doubtful that he partake in a steroid transaction with Radomski. I also think that if he did, we would definitely know about it already. Our government seems obsessed with finding Bonds guilty of purgery while major criminals run wild. I, for one of the first times, can legitimally say I am ashamed at how our government is treating Bonds. In the United States you are innocent until proven guilty, if Bonds said he didn’t do it then you should not be going crazy trying to turn him into a liar. If someone has that information and wants to come forward with it, they will. Until then sit back relax and stop claiming that a legally innocent man is guilty.

Radomski has the potential to change the history of major league baseball. Players are going to be arrested and possibly jailed for their alleged involvement with Radomski. There is already the pressing debate of putting an * in the record books next to all players that are linked to Radomski. Again, I have an issue with that. If that players drug test comes back positive or a federal court finds them guilty of taking steroids, then yeah, go crazy with the asterisks. Players that are implicated but currently innocent do not deserve to be degraded like that.

When reading a previous article about steroids in football the author claimed that NFL players are gladiators and willing to destroy their body to bring home the big bucks. The public looks down upon it because they are in essence cheating. I have to ask though, are you really cheating if everyone else is doing it? I know there is the age old saying If everyone jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge would you do it too? The answer is always no, but you know the answer is yes, especially when it comes to your career. Playing baseball or football is what these people do for a living. The second you see a drop in their performance all hell breaks loose and people demand for their removal from the team. If I could make $5 million dollars more a year and set my family up for life by taking steroids, I would without a doubt do it. In that article about steroids in football the author claim the Beatles and Bob Dylan were taking performance enhancing drugs by using marijuana and other assorted illegal drugs. So, just think for a second, if you are a baseball player starting the final year of his contract and you have the potential to get a guaranteed contract worth $60 million dollars, would you not take steroids and sign a contract worth $5 million instead. I have never used a drug in my entire life because I don’t want to destroy myself for no reason. However, if someone told me that there was something magical that would make me a better accountant and thus put me on the fast track to be a company leader and potentially make millions of dollars, it might just be something I would be willing to explore.

El Duque is out with shoulder bursitis. He should recover from the injury in about 2-8 weeks. Then he’ll have to begin a conditioning program, followed by simulated games/rehab starts. He’ll be out for a while. And this, folks, is why you shouldn’t depend on pitchers who are 50 years old as your #2 starters. Mike Pelfrey and Chan Ho Park in the same rotation??? They’re both going to have 5.00+ ERAs. It’s also worth noting that with Lasting Milledge’s recent injury, he probably won’t be available as trade bait unless the Mets really want to sell low with him.

Also, Jose Valentin tore his ACL, which means he’ll be out for a long time. Damion Easley as the starting second baseman? Ugh.

This season could get kind of ugly.

Chan Ho “I can’t keep the ball in the” Park starts tonight against the league’s best offense. Here’s something that I think is interesting:

David Wright (Mets 3B)
Age: 24
HR: 0
RBI: 6
AVG: .259
OBP: .388
SLG: .329

Miguel Cabrera (Marlins 3B)
Age: 24
HR: 7
RBI: 17
AVG: .358
OBP: .430
SLG: .679

Carlos Delgado (Mets 1B)
Age: 34
HR: 1
RBI: 12
AVG: .187
OBP: .265
SLG: .264
Salary: $14,500,000

Mike Jacobs (Marlins 1B)
Age: 26
HR: 3
RBI: 9
AVG: .319
OBP: .408
SLG: .561
Salary: $380,000

• Mike Jacobs was traded by the Mets to the Marlins.

I have decided that this is not the appropriate place to post my contantly running thoughts on the Dallas Cowboys. So, I now have a blog The Chronicles of America’s Team that is geared towards those thoughts. So, if you are every tempted to know what is going on in Cowboys country go check that site out.

In the recent turn of events Bill Parcells has once again retired from the game of football. There has been no conference, no statement from the Cowboys, and I much as I thought this should happen, it is definitely a surprise to everyone. Parcells worked from 8am to 5pm everyday for the last two weeks and he never indicated that retiring would be on his horizon. He also leaves the Cowboys without a head coach a week before the Senior Bowl, one of the biggest scouting weekends for professional football. There are many rumors behind this retirement already. It might have been because he couldn’t deal with TO, it might have been because Jerry Jones asked him to step down, but ultimately I think he came to his senses and realized that he has just plain lost it. At this juncture I feel it to be important to reflect back upon his tenure with the Dallas Cowboys and where I think the Cowboys should turn for their next head coach.

When Bill Parcells came to Dallas I was ecstatic. Having dealt with the Chan Gaily and Dave Campo the previous couple of years I would have been happy with any proven coach. Bill immediately retained Mike Zimmer from Campo’s staff as his defensive coordinator and did very little to shake up the offensive player personal. This proved to be his most successful season in Dallas winning ten games. The Cowboys had the number one ranked defense (a 4-3 I might add) and Quincy Carter of all people started all 16 games a quarterback. Over the next two seasons he cut Carter and turned to Vinnie Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe at quarterback, he switched the defensive scheme to a 3-4 and he temporarily plugged holes with players like Keyshawn Johnson and Richie Anderson while have consistently poor drafts and missing the playoffs twice. This past season it looked as if it was all going to unfold, but then Tony Romo (a player former assistant head coach Sean Peyton invited to try out three years earlier) stepped in and revamped an offense that Parcells seemed incapable of running. The end of the season was marked by defensive failures, Romo trying to be a hero and ultimately dropping a snap that cost the Cowboys their season. Now I don’t know how far the Cowboys could have gone in the playoffs this past season, but after four years in Dallas there was really no excuse that Parcells didn’t have at least one playoff victory under his belt with the Cowboys. Don’t get me wrong, the Cowboys are in better shape then they were before Parcells came in and there is a very good possibility that the next coach will lead this team to a Super Bowl.

So the burning question here is who is going to replace Bill. In a perfect world Jerry would confess his hidden love for Jimmy Johnson and beg the master to come back and lead America’s Team again. Jimmy would bring back Norv Turner, Dave Wannstedt, and Butch Davis on his staff. However, this is a silly dream and probably won’t happen. So, who are the real candidates? My first call would be to Urban Meyer. He just won a National Championship and he has turned around many a college program. I think he has a great football mind and that is really the kind of coach I would like to see in charge of the Cowboys. Aside from him other people I would interview would be Bob Stoops, Charlie Weiss, Mike Sherman, Steve Mariucci, Ron Rivera, Wade Phillips, Norv Turner, Tony Sparano, Rob Ryan, Jim Bates, and Dan Reeves. I know there are some defensive names there, but I think that the Cowboys should be turning to an offensive mind. I would also like to see a younger coach because that seems to working for a lot of other teams right now. Although my first pick was Meyer, I would also stay away from college coaches because they also have bad track records. Getting a players coach would be the biggest mistake the Cowboys could make, in fact no one should ever hire a players coach. So, if I had to pick one of those realistic candidates right now, I would pick Mariucci because he is offensive minded, young enough, and he has previous head coaching experience.

Update
Jason Garrett has been hired by the Dallas Cowboys. He is going to be the Offensive Coordinator, but he is still in contention for the Head Coach position. Personally I like this pick. Jason was the backup quarterback for Troy Aikman during the early 90s. I always remeber the sidelines during those days and seeing him with a head set on and constantly talking with Aikman. Jerry Jones tried to make Garrett a coach before, but Garrett went to the Giants to continue his playing career. Garrett spent the last two years in Miami coach the quarterbacks. This will be Garrett’s first time calling plays, but it seemed as if that was going to happen this year regarless of whether or not Parcells stayed. Jones had stated that he long wanted Garrett to be a part of the Cowboys staff and he believes that he is one of the better young offensive minds in football. While I don’t know much about his character, I like this pick because he is young, smart, and will bring back some of the early 90s flavor that the Cowboys have been missing.

Can anyone else feel Manning slowly moving into that “Marino in the mid-’90s” portion of his career? … We’re about 12 years away from Peyton working on one of the Sunday pregame shows and bristling every time some inferior ex-QB/co-host (like Pennington or Delhomme) busts his chops about never winning a Super Bowl. And frankly, I can’t wait.

The Jets are better than people think. The division race is not over.

(By the way, I’m serious. But the best part of the previous paragraph is telling it to a Jets fan, then having them pull the “Come on, stop pulling my chain” routine. The Jets could win the Super Bowl and their fans would still be conditioned to react by saying, “I’m not getting sucked in, I’m happy we’re winning but I’m not getting my hopes up, we’re not that good …”)

I’m not getting sucked in this year.

“You see, the worst thing that could happen is they throw an interception, and the best thing that could happen is they throw a touchdown. But a field goal, that’s the second best thing that could happen.”

“Well that’s what’s going to happen when you’re sweating in 31˚ weather. Steams going to be pouring out of your helmet.”

Genius. Pure genius.

“You know, winning is the best deoderant out there.”

“You know, losing is the worst feeling in the world. So I guess that means winning is the best feeling.”