18 New Cowboy Hopefuls Are Chosen

The 2008 NFL draft is now over, and it looks like the Cowboys have at least done what they wanted to do. They wanted to plug holes at cornerback and running back and get players that can make an impact this next year.

In the first five picks, they chose two running backs (Felix Jones of Arkansas and Tashard Choice of Georgia Tech), two cornerbacks (Mike Jenkins of South Florida and Orlandro Scandrick of Boise State), and a tight end (Martellus Bennett of Texas A and M). These five players stand an excellent chance of both making the team and contributing this next season -- at least on special teams (which needed improvement).

The sixth draftee is a much longer shot to make the team. He is a defensive end who will probably be converted to an outside linebacker (Erik Walden of Middle Tennessee). The Cowboys like this guys work ethic, but they're pretty happy with the linebackers they already have. I guess it comes down to a question of whether he's better than Carpenter or not. I think that's who he's have to beat out to get a spot on the squad.

Yesterday, the Cowboys announced the acquisition of 12 free agents. These are the guys who are really a long-shot to make the team. But having said that, it is not unusual for a free agent or two to work their way onto the team. They are:

Danny Amendola (Texas Tech) wide receiver

Drew Atchison (William and Mary) tight end

Mark Bradford (Stanford) wide receiver

Andrew Brecher (Harvard) offensive tackle

Julius Crosslin (Oklahoma State) fullback

Dowayne Davis (Syracuse) safety

Keon Lattimore (Maryland) running back

Marcus Dixon (Hampton) defensive end

Brandon Hale (Sam Houston State) offensive tackle

Daniel Polk (Midwestern State) wide receiver

Jay Ottovegio (Stanford) punter/kicker

Darrell Robertson (Georgia Tech) defensive end

If I had to guess right now who might make the team out of this dozen, I'd have to put my money on Danny Amendola. He reminds me of a past Cowboy named Bill Bradley in that he's too small and too slow -- all he does is make great plays when his team needs it the most. The guy is just a player.

But this is all just guesswork right now. We really won't know anything until at least the pre-season games. But as a Cowboys "homer", I can always dream can't I?

Now I'm Getting Angry !

Most of you who have read this blog for a while know that I'm a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. The only thing that makes me happier than firing up the TV for a Cowboys game is attending the game in person (and that doesn't happen nearly enough now that I've moved away from the Metroplex).

This week, I learned that I will not be able to see the Cowboys play the Packers. It is arguably the biggest game of the year for the Cowboys -- and it will not be on my television. Why is this happening? Corporate greed!

The NFL and the cable companies are locked in a battle over who will get to make the most money off the normally unwatchable NFL channel. The NFL wants the channel to be on cable's basic tier of channels and they want to be paid 70 cents a subscriber for this privilege. Meanwhile, cable wants to be able to sell subscriptions to the channel so they can make more money themselves.

They have been arguing about this for a while now, with neither side wanting to give in -- after all, dollars are more important than fans or consumers. Both sides show this by holding my Cowboys game as a hostage this week.

I am not taking sides in this stupid argument. Personally, I think both sides already make far too much money. I'm just angry that they would deny me the right to see my Cowboys, so each side can try and pressure the other into giving in. A pox on both their houses!

Thank goodness radio is not involved in this grade-school style argument.

Cowboys Win A Big One

Alright, I'm a believer now. Being a die-hard Cowboys fan, I wanted to believe after the first two games against the Giants and the Dolphins. But after all, it was just the Giants and Dolphins. I doubt if either of those teams will make it to the playoffs.

But last night was different. Last night, it was the NFC Champion Chicago Bears. The Cowboys offense had looked unstoppable after the first two games, but the Bears have a much better defense than either of those teams. Last night was the real test for the Cowboys and their offense -- and they passed that test with flying colors.

Romo passed for 329 yards against the vaunted Bears defense. Owens and Whitten played like the all-stars they really are, and Barber ran like a man possessed. The offense struggled a bit in the first half, but then hung 27 points on the Bears defense. Frankly, if you can score 27 against the Bears, then you can score against anyone in the league.

The defense is still a work in progress, and at times gave the Bears quarterback far too much time to throw. But Ware and Spencer each got a sack, and they are starting to put a little more pressure on as a team. Spencer seems to be figuring out his new position, and I believe the defense will get a little better with each passing week.

The defense did take advantage of the opportunities they had. Henry got another two interceptions, and Williams got an interception and recovered a fumble.

The only real negative this week was the penalties. There were far too many. The Cowboys are just lucky that Romo was good enough to overcome the penalties, but we can't count on that every week. They're going to have to cut down on the penalties or it will eventually cost them a game.

But like I said, I'm now a believer. I believe the Cowboys are a playoff caliber team. If the defense keeps on improving and the offense keeps playing as well as it is, the Cowboys should do very well this year. In fact, it almost seems unfair to the rest of the league that we'll soon be getting Terry Glenn back on offense soon!

Next week it's the Rams. With a bit of luck, the Cowboys could be 4-0 this time next week.

Cowboys To Honor Their #1 Fan

You could probably ask most Cowboys fans who Wilford Jones was, and I doubt if 10% of them could tell you who he was. And yet, any Cowboys fan worth his salt knew who this gentleman was - they just knew him by another name.

As long as there's been a Dallas Cowboys franchise, "Crazy Ray" has been there, wearing his cowboy outfit and cheering his beloved Cowboys on to victory. He was not only generally recognized as the Cowboys number one fan, he was recognized and loved by millions of other Cowboys fans. For many of us, it just won't be the same without "Crazy Ray" on the sidelines next season.

Wilford "Crazy Ray" Jones has died. On Saturday at 10:00am at Texas Stadium, the Cowboys organization is holding a memorial service for Mr. Jones. All Cowboys fans are invited to come and honor this man. I hope thousands will attend.

The Cowboys will also honor "Crazy Ray" and his wife Mattie with an on-field ceremony during halftime of a regular season game this coming Fall. I'm glad the Cowboys are doing this. "Crazy Ray" was more than just a fan - he was an institution. He will be sorely missed.

Hard To Be A Cowboys Fan These Days

Last week, I said it was not yet time to hit the panic button if you're a Dallas Cowboys fan. But that was before they lost a home game to a 2-13 Detroit Lions team. This week, I'm pounding the hell out of that panic button.

I know some of you are going to say that they've made the playoffs, and that anything can happen in the playoffs. Granted. I, also, hope something magical will happen when the playoffs start, but I'm certainly not going to bet any of my hard-earned money on it.

Frankly, this team doesn't deserve to be in the playoffs. How can anyone believe in a team that loses a last game of the season at home to a 2-13 team? The only team the Cowboys have beaten in the last four weeks is a poor Atlanta Falcons team, and they were lucky to win that one.

Before the season started, it looked like they would have a great defense this year. But the last four weeks, they have given up an average of 33 points per game. Nobody will win very many games giving up that many points.

This is the first year for the Cowboys to play a 3-4 defense. I have to wonder if Zimmer, who has always coached the 4-3 defense before, really understands the 3-4 well enough to coach it. It seems like the Cowboys always seem to leave a receiver open. And the pass rush is non-existent.

But as bad as the defense is, the offense is equally bad. The turnovers, dropped passes and penalties have killed any chance they had for consistency. On paper, they Cowboys seem to have a lot of top talent, but it is not translating to the playing field.

I don't know what is wrong with this team. I just know they are entering the playoffs playing as poorly as any team in the league. Don't bet the rent money on any Cowboy playoff wins.

Cowboys Seem To Be Headed Downhill

A couple of weeks ago, I had such high hopes for the Dallas Cowboys. After installing Tony Romo at quarterback, they began to play better and were climbing that mountain to playoff success. But in the last three weeks, they've been sliding back downhill.

Three games ago, the Cowboys had their heads handed to them by the New Orleans Saints. Last week, they were barely able to beat the Atlanta Falcons [a team that is going nowhere this year]. Then, on Christmas day, the Philadelphia Eagles gave them a sound thrashing. The score in the Eagles game was only 23-7, but the game was not as close as the score might indicate. The Eagles controlled the game from start to finish.

I had hoped that the beating the Cowboys took from the Saints was an anomaly, but after the last couple of weeks I can no longer think that. This is simply not as good a team as I had thought it was -- how very depressing.

The Cowboys will still be in the playoffs -- mostly due to the poor play of some other teams. But I seriously doubt they will go very far in the playoffs [although I hope I'm wrong]. The offense is hit-and-miss at best, and the defense just doesn't seem to know what to do with a playoff-caliber team.

I'm not yet ready to hit the panic button, but my hand is hovering over it! If they don't improve their play quickly, we're just a couple of weeks away from talking about next year's draft.

Ex-Cowboy To Give Kidney To His Teammate

This is a story about true friendship. With all the bad news in the world today, it is good to see a story that highlights the good done by one human for another.

Ron Springs and Everson Walls were teammates on the Dallas Cowboys [and both are respected and loved by many Cowboy fans, including me]. During their stay with the Cowboys, they became very close friends. That friendship grew over the years and came to include their wives and children. The families have vacationed together, and Springs even spoke at the funeral of Wall's father-in-law.

But in recent years, Ron Springs has had some medical difficulties. He has diabetes, and has had to have his right foot and some toes on his left foot amputated. The disease has also attacked and destroyed his kidney. For the last two years, he has had to have dialysis treatment three times a week. The disease has also put him in a wheel chair.

But all that will soon change. Everson Walls is donating one of his kidneys to his friend. The transplant will allow Springs to return to a normal life, abandoning the wheel chair and the painful dialysis treatments. The operation will be performed next March.

Springs says, "This man has got to love me in order to give up something. He's taking some risk. It's something you can't explain, but something I will always think about every day for the rest of my life. It's like getting a new battery in a car. I'll be able to be back to basically almost 100% normal."

Walls counters, "A piece of me is going to be inside him and hopefully giving him a lot more life than he would've had otherwise. To me, friendship is unconditional."

Friendship is unconditional -- what beautiful words! And what a wonderful example of friendship these two men show the rest of us. I wish them both a speedy recovery from their coming operations, and a long and bountiful life. They deserve it.

Dallas Cowboys Win -- Quincy Carter Loses

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Atlanta Falcons last night 38-28, but it was not easy. The game was a real dogfight between two teams who both needed the win.

The Cowboys jumped out to a first quarter lead of 14-0, but the momentum switched to the Falcons in the second quarter. The defense didn't seem to know how to stop the Falcons in the second quarter. I think the Cowboys were lucky to go into halftime tied with the Falcons at 21-21.

Once again the Cowboys' weakness in coverage of passes by the safeties was exposed, as the Falcons burned them with several long passes last night. Roy Williams, know for his hard hitting and tackling, is not a great cover safety. On the other side, rookie Pat Watkins may someday be a good cover safety, but he is not there yet.

When the third quarter started, the Falcons scored again and it looked like their momentum would continue. But the defense of the Cowboys finally started shutting them down. They were not to score again in the game.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Cowboys, even though the game was still in doubt until they scored their final touchdown with less than 3 minutes left in the game. I hope the final two games are not as tough as this one turned out to be.

Last September 1st, I predicted the Cowboys would finish the season at 11-5. I'm usually very bad at predicting these sort of things, and after the first few games of the season, I was beginning to think I had been far too optimistic. But now they are 9-5. The final two games are against the Eagles and the Lions, and both are very winnable [and both are home games]. I may have accidently been right this time.

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On a sadder note, Quincy Carter was arrested a couple of days ago on a class B charge of possessing less that 2 ounces of marijuana in Irving, Texas.

He sat in jail for 12 hours without being bailed out, even though the bond was only $500. I don't guess he has any friends left on the Cowboys -- at least none who would post a small bond for him.

Finally, newspaper columnist and radio personality Randy Galloway, who has been very critical of Carter in the past, called a bondsman and said he would be responsible for the bail. In the end, Cowboy Bail Bonds in Garland posted the $500 and waived the fee.

Cowboys Take A Beating From The Saints

Well, this game was just awful. The New Orleans Saints gave the Cowboys a 42-17 beating, and it could have been even worse if Coach Payton hadn't shown a little mercy and had his quarterback "take the knee" instead of trying to score on the last drive.

The Saints racked up 535 offensive yards. This is the third most numbers of yards given up by a Cowboys defense in their entire history as a franchise in the NFL.

Quite frankly, it looked like the Cowboys just gave up in the fourth quarter. Every now and then in the NFL, a good team has one of those days when they just can't seem to do anything right [kind of an out-of-control anamoly]. I hope that's what this was.

The Cowboys are still 8-5, and in good position to make the playoffs. But they need to bear down and make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again. They have three very winnable games left on the schedule. Now they just need to make sure they win all three. Failure to do that will make what was looking like a great season into a very disappointing one.

The Atlanta Falcons are next. It is truly a "must win" game now.