 |
 |
|
|
WFAA Sports BLOG sponsored by: |
|
November 2009
Categories
More WFAA Blogs
|
January 2009 ArchivesI'm not big on those e-mail forwards, but there is one that my best friend sent me several years ago that I try to send out before the Super Bowl each year. I usually forget. People who know me think this could be me one day. I apologize for not being able to give credit to the author. Enjoy and enjoy the game: Bob received a free ticket to the SuperBowl from his company. This won't exactly be a watershed moment in sports broadcasting, but very lucky viewers of tonight's Tylock Lasik Sportstalk (6:30 PM on KFWD Channel 52) will hear my own "apology rap" in response to Martellus Bennett's famous YouTube ditty. It will be up to you to decide which rap is better. This could be quite shameful. Also, tonight is our interview with Jason Witten from Tampa. He had interesting things to say about Tony R...
I'd like to see the Arizona Cardinals win the Super Bowl. They have a great story: A hapless franchise makes good and does it in year where they clinched their division in early December, then proceeded to fall apart before going an uncanny playoff run. The franchise hasn't won a title since it played in Chicago in 1947 and the team has never played in a Super Bowl. But what do I know? Our game forecast simulator is p...
I was mildly amused to witness Martellus Bennett's cringe-inducing attempts at a rap video this week, posted on YouTube. Both the original rap and the ensuing "apology rap" were hideous creations, sore on the ears, and not particularly inventive. But the most interesting part of all this is when Martellus blamed the media in his apology. Martellus blaming the media? He picked up a camera, set it on top of his laptop and talked into it....
I didn't hear the first one, the first YouTube rap that cost Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett a game check ($22,000), but I did get an earful of this one: Bennett's YouTube apology Really, Bennett's YouTube rap doesn't bother me one way or the other; I didn't hear the first one, but I doubt it would have "offended" me in any way. What does bother me is h...
Be sure to watch Tylock Lasik SportsTalk this Friday at 6:30 PM on KFWD, Channel 52. We will have an interview with Cowboys Tight End Jason Witten, believed to be among the first he has given since the end of the season. Witten spoke about Tony Romo's desire to be a more vocal leader next season, the strife in the locker room towards the end of the season, and how the receivers feel about sharing the ball in that offense. ...Ok, so the Cardinals and Steelers aren't the most glamorous teams to ever play in a Super Bowl. In fact, some are calling it "Super Bore 43". Nothing could be further from the truth. Year after year, the Super Bowl gives us the most unlikely matchups, with cinderella stories and teams that scratched their way to the big game. When was the last time the two "best" teams in the NFC and AFC made it all the way? Perhaps Su...
Dan Reeves could be coming back to the Dallas Cowboys. He was a running back and assistant coach under Tom Landry and now may be returning as a consultant, according to an ESPN report. There are more connections. Reeves' son-in-law is the Cowboys new special teams coach and he was Wade Phillips boss in Atlanta and Denver. Last week, there were wide-spread reports Reeves was heading to San Francisco to be the 49ers offensive co...
We interviewed both Hall of Fame coach Don Shula and former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann tonight on Tylock Lasik SportsTalk (6:30 PM, M-F, KFWD, Channel 52). I asked Shula if he believed Wade Phillips could indeed make the transition from softie to meanie next season. Shula said he thought Wade should just be himself and continue to exhibit the traits that brought him this far in his career. That would seem to indicate ...
The Dallas Cowboys signed defensive tackle Tim Anderson and cornerback Michael Hawkins today. Anderson was a third round (74th overall) draft pick in 2004 by the Buffalo Bills and spent the past two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. He has played in 43 games with 17 starts and recorded 52 tackles, one sack and two pass breakups. Hawkins played one season with the Dallas Desperados before being drafted in the fifth rou...
Now Terrell Owens will get to see if TV viewers love him. Last week former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin announced he was going to have a reality TV show in which the winner will earn a spot on the Cowboys training camp roster. Today, the music channel VH1 announced it has teamed up Owens for his own reality show. It's slated to premiere this summer on VH1. The news release is pretty good too: "The series f...
Pro Football Hall of Fame voters like to say their is a bias against certain positions. There's not a punter in the Hall and there are few safeties. The most recent safety to play in the NFL is the great Ronnie Lott. He defined the position. So he got in. He last played in 1994. The most recent safety before Lott is all-time great Ken Houston, who played for the Oilers (1967-72) and Redskins (1973-80). He was inducted in 1986...
If you're interested in hearing what Hall of Fame Coach Don Shula has to say about whether Wade Phillips can make the transition from a softie to a meanie, tune in to Tylock Lasik SportsTalk tonight at 6:30 PM on KFWD, Channel 52. I also asked Coach Shula, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, whether he'd be interested in coaching the Cowboys next season. The results, are amusing. We also have an inter...
The Texas Rangers held their annual awards banquet in downtown Dallas tonight. That's where Michael Young talked publicly for the first time about his move from shortstop to third base. "As far as knowing the game, having knowledge, having experience, knowing players and knowing the smaller and finer points of the game, I wasn't one to give that to someone else," he said. "That's responsibility that I want." By reluctantly moving to th...
The Rangers have made half-hearted efforts for years to sign that big ace on the mound. The club really hasn't been able to do that since landing Nolan Ryan in 1989. It's been pretty slim pickings since then. Ironically, Nolan could help turn the tide again, this time from the front office. Signing Ben Sheets would do a lot for this organization. The skeptics will say that Sheets is injured too often and won't be a reliable guy...
Former Dallas Cowboys running back and assistant coach Dan Reeves, who was the head coach of three NFL teams, may be the offensive coordinator for Mike Singletary. Reeves is one of six coaches to interview for the job. It would be a weird move for the coach who hit retirement age this week, turning 65 Monday. Maybe he really wants to coach again, but after being a very successful NFL head coach for the better part of...
The Dallas Cowboys aren't just getting a new home in Arlington, they'll also be getting a new radio home. Sportsradio 1310 The Ticket-KTCK/93.3 The Bone-KDBN and the Dallas Cowboys announced today that they have ended their three-year partnership to carry the team's play-by-play broadcasts. The agreement began in 2006. "This was a successful partnership for Cumulus over the past three seasons, and we look forward to ...
We've done a lot of bashing of an ESPN report recently that used anonymous sources to accuse former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones of threatening to shoot them. Well now the The DeKalb district attorney's office has reopened its investigation into Jones' involvement in a June 18, 2007 incident, according to a report by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The DeKalb district attorney's office recently received an a...
I did a story last night on the Mavs, who had played 41 games before last night's Milwaukee massacre. There were some interesting numbers that came out of the first half of the season: Mavs record against.... ... teams with winning records: 6-12 These records reve...
Really the Dallas Cowboys aren't a big enough circus. So it makes perfect sense that a Hall of Fame former Cowboys player should have a reality TV show to pick someone who will make the team's 80-man training camp roster. The best wide receiver in team history, Michael Irvin, loves the TV show American Idol and wants to do a similar type reality show for football hopefuls. Irvin said 12 "football neophytes" will compe...
I'm sticking with my thesis statement that no matter if the Cowboys lose in the first round of the playoffs or simply don't even qualify, there really is not an off-season for this team. At almost the exact same time, Tony Romo spoke publicly for the first time since his post game comments after the season-ending loss the the Eagles when he said, "If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me then I'll have lived a pretty good lif...
I checked out one of the Cowboys online chats on the Dallas Morning News website this week and I was struck by something one fan wrote. "We're as angry as we've ever been," the fan wrote. Interesting. But I started to wonder, what difference does that really make? Jerry Jones' beautiful new stadium is apparently at 85% capacity in terms of seating commitments for 2009 and team officials expect to be fully sold...
Although the last local professional sports championship win was a decade ago when the Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup, it has been about two decades since all of our area teams missed the post-season in the same season. I know it's been rough with the Cowboys not winning a playoff game since 1996, but at least all of the teams from the four major sports (well, I'm counting the NHL as major) have made the playoffs since then. It is h...
Today's online report in The Dallas Morning News by Calvin Watkins simply states what many of us suspected all along: the Cowboys are a captainless ship, completely undisciplined, filled with unaccountability, and diminishing communication between coaches and players. Jerry Jones, you still want "continuity" for this garbage? Something came up on my radio show on ESPN Radio that I wanted to talk about here. In my continuing defense of Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and his play calling, a caller pointed out that Baltimore's Ed Reed and linebacker Ray Lewis said it was an incredibly simple offense and they were surprised at how simple it was. Let's review shall we. The Cowboys scored 24 points in that December game -- 24 points -- and E...
If you're friends with Robert Henson on Facebook, you know one thing; most of his posts are about working hard. That is what the graduating TCU senior linebacker is doing these days. Labeled by some NFL scouts as only a special teams guy, Henson is currently working six to seven hours a day to prove them wrong. "I really feel like I'm an every down linebacker," Henson stated. "I'm not saying that to be conceited or cocky, but I really ...
The Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl punches some holes in the arguments so many football fans make: if you don't win in December you can't possibly win in January. Well the cardinals were 2-2 in December, lost one by 21 and the other by 40. The two teams they beat -- the Rams and Seahawks -- were not very good. The Cardinals lost four of their last six games and all four by double digits. And now we're to believe th...
It's a question that seems to be popping up more and more these days. The answer is yes. Even before yesterday's performance the answer was yes. People are quick to judge Warner stating, "he only had two good years in St....
I didn't think so. But Philly can't catch a break. For the second straight day, they see one of their beloved teams fall in the final minutes. On Sunday, it was the Eagles. On Monday, their Sixers lose at the buzzer to the Mavs. Granted, Monday's game was far less important to the average Philly fan, but can you imagine the talk radio that will inflict that city this week? This is not a town that takes losing very well. Of cour...
I have had this discussion many times with friends and others throughout my life and I want to present it to everyone else. Once again, I was thinking about this same thing the other day while watching LeBron James work in his majesty. Bob Knight has said basketball players are the best athletes in the world. They are fast, quick, they can jump, for the most part they have great coordination, they work on the art of shooting constantl...
The Mavericks just completed their last second buzzer-beating victory over the Sixers in Philadelphia on the MLK holiday. The key play: Obviously, it was Dirk's game-winning fade away from the top of the key. But, lost in the last-second heroics by Dirk, were the new exploits of Ryan Hollins and Matt Carroll, who were recently acquired in the Diop trade. Both players entered late in the first quarter. What should Mavs fans ex...
The Dallas Mavericks are lucky. They have Dirk Nowitzki. The were not so lucky when they were up 12 with a little more than two minutes left and let the .500 Philadelphia 76ers come back to tie the game at 93-93. That's where Dirk comes in. He gets the in-bound pass with a just a couple seconds left dribbles around and hits a 20-foot fade-away jumper just before the buzzer to give the Mavs a 95-93 win. Dirk fi...
Many Cowboy fans had to be shaking their heads Sunday, watching the once-woeful Arizona Cardinals secure their place in Super Bowl XLIII. A team the Cowboys could/should have beaten during the season, suddenly on their way to completing an improbable story. And a team, like the Cowboys, that finished 9-7. The Cardinals, however, had the luck of being in football's worst division, outside of the AFC West. What do the Cardinals ...
Earlier this week I had a chance to catch up with graduating TCU senior linebacker Robert Henson. Henson accumulated over 270 tackles and 4 interceptions in his four-years with the Frogs. This April he will be anxiously watching to see if he is taken in the NFL draft.
The Dallas Cowboys released defensive coordinator Brian Stewart today. Stewart spent two years on the Cowboys staff, after coming to Dallas from the San Diego Chargers in 2007. Stewart's previous NFL coaching stops included three years in San Diego (2004-2006) and two seasons with the Houston Texans. The Dallas defense finished the regular season ranked 8th in the NFL. The Dallas Stars' radio broadcasts are moving down the dial. Starting next season, the play-by-play team of Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh will be calling the games on KTCK SportsRadio 1310 The Ticket. The NHL team and The Ticket today announced a five-year deal under which all regular season games will be carried on KTCK's three frequencies (1310 and 1700 AM and 104.1 FM). The Ticket will also broadcast pre-and post-game sho...
After going back to my DVR and watching the final couple minutes of the Mavs game last night, I couldn't take it anymore. I did the only thing I could think of. I got onto my XBOX 360, put in NBA 2k9, and blew up the franchise. I decided that I was sick of Dirk, Dampier, and Stackhouse. The only reason I kept Kidd was because his contract was going to be off the books at the end of the year. Here is my trade.
There's no question that T.O. is not the player he once was. But he still has the ability to change a game, provided he's on the same page as his quarterback and his coaches. Sadly, that was not the case much of last season. As soon as Roy Williams arrived on the scene from Detroit, it seemed like Jason Garrett tried too hard to get all his receivers involved and the Cowboys offense seemed watered down. Losing Marion Barber as ...
I did a story last night on the Dallas Stars hitting the midpoint of their season, and one part of it showed the team's record when Sean Avery was on the team, and since he's been gone (8-11-4 with him, 10-6-2 without). One other thing I looked at, but didn't get into for the story, was what the Stars' record will be at the end of the year if they stay on the current pace of winning/losing, since the Avery suspension. Of course, I didn...
Slow down pardners. Terrell Owens is still a member of the Dallas Cowboys and he very well could be next season. I never like stories like ESPN is reporting where "sources" say some members of the organization, namely V.P. Stephen Jones, may not want T.O. back. A little vague? Yeah, just a bit. You could say that about just about any player on the team. The team is looking at how to improve. A ...
Is anyone else sick of hearing about the year 2010? I'm tired of all the sports teams and media in Dallas focusing on that year. Cowboys- this is the season the Cowboys have to be good. The Super Bowl is coming to Jerryland and if the Boys don't make a run, it will be very disappointing. Before we worry about 2010, can we just make the playoffs and not be the most disappointing team in the league for 2009. Mavericks- will 201...
Dallas Cowboys tackle Flozell Adams has been added to the NFC Pro Bowl roster. Say what? He'll be making his fifth appearance in 11 season and is a replacement for Seattle's Walter Jones. This is one of the reason so many people hate the Pro Bowl so much. A guy like Adams gets to go to Hawaii based on reputation, not what he's done lately. ...1 (22) Felix Jones RB This was the Cowboys 2008 draft class. Not a horrible class. Someday it might be argued that it's one of Jerry Jones' best classes, but today I'm going to play arm-chair quarterback. This is who the Cowboys could have had instead.
TCU kicker Drew Combs is an inspiration. Now he has received an honor from another inspirational football player. Combs was born with a left arm that ends just below the elbow. But he story is deeper. Combs planned to play at Arkansas, where he his dad was also a walk-on. There, though, he was referred to as a "handicap kicker" and wasn't given a shot to really contribute. He transferred to TCU and s...
Over the last decade of losing Rangers baseball, Michael Young has been one of the only constants...a beacon of light in a world of darkness. And now, the Rangers are asking him to take one for the team again, and make his second position switch in four years. All to accomodate a 20-year-old rookie, Elvis Andrus, who may or may not be the next coming of baseball immortality on the infield. Is there no other way to fit Andrus i...
The Dallas Cowboys have signed three players to their future list: Since the NFL is still in the 2008 season, the players are technically not on the roster, so they get the designation of being on the future list, or players to be on the 2009 roster. Carter was released by the St. Louis Rams Aug. 29 and was o...
There is another Dallas Cowboys player in trouble now. Linebacker Anthony Spencer was arrested early Sunday in Indianapolis. Police say he tried to pay a bar to stay open after hours, when they wouldn't he threw punches at the bouncers and argued with police when they tried to get him to leave. Now he's facing chargers of public intoxication and disorderly conduct. It's gonna be a long off season. ...Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware is a first-team All-Pro linebacker and tight end Jason Witten is on the second team. Here is the full roster of The Associated Press 2008 NFL All-Pro Team selected by a national panel of media members: OFFENSE I don't think I've ever seen a college football player I enjoy watching more than Tim Tebow. I could care less about the Florida Gators, but I found myself cheering loudly for them last night. To see Tebow orchestrate that fourth quarter, game-sealing touchdown drive was something special. He defined being in the zone. He drilled pass after pass down field. He would not allow his team to lose. What I like most...
Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback "Pacman" Jones was released Wednesday and ESPN says it was because he tried to kill some guys in Atlanta. They're doing a big story on it Sunday morning on their program "Outside the Lines." They have three guys in silhouette, all friends, who didn't file any police report saying Jones threatened to shoot 'em, then have somebody else shoot 'em. We called ESPN thinking there had to be more to the...
I love watching Gary Patterson during TCU games. If nothing, he is entertaining. It's also part of why he is such a good fit at TCU. He's a David going up against Goliath. Patterson likes to say he takes young men other schools don't want, coaches 'em up and beats the team that thought the kids were too small and too slow. TCU signed Patterson to a 5-year extension today. He'll make a reported $1.7 millions a ...
Just a few hours before kickoff, I had a few thoughts about the game... Normally, when a great offense plays a great defense, the defensive team wins. It's like baseball -- good pitching almost always beats good hitting. Florida's defense ranks 7th in the nation; Oklahoma's is 62nd. The disparity between offenses isn't nearly as much: the Gators are rank 19th in total offense, while OU is third. But by far the ...
One team virus down, several more to go. Jerry Jones didn't say a word Wednesday, but by releasing troubled corner Pacman Jones, he spoke volumes. The acquisition of Pac was a mistake from the beginning, and his release admitted as much. Jones was as much a disappointment on the field as he was off it. We never saw the player who showed so much brilliance as a special teams returns monster for the Tennessee Titans. We ...
The potential law suit by Utah's Attorney General against the BCS seems a little far fetched, especially since all eleven conferences are really part of the BCS already. The only trouble for TCU and teams in the conferences which don't have automatic berths is that it's tough to ever play for a championship, but it is possible. TCU Athletic Director Dr Daniel Morrison Junior says the conferences are basically restacked or prioritized...
The Dallas Cowboys have decided to give up on Pacman Jones. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said just the other day he wanted him back for another year, now he's decided that he doesn't. It was a dumb thing to do when they signed him, but at least they're making the right decision now. ...The Dallas Cowboys announced they will release cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones. The transaction will be made official on Feb. 9, which is the first day that NFL clubs are allowed to make waiver requests, according to a team news release. Jones, who also returned punts and kickoffs, played just nine games in his lone season with the Cowboys. The team traded for him in April. When owner Jerry Jones made the move he knew ...
Jason Garrett isn't making many friends, both on the Cowboys roster and around the NFL. Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed came out today and blasted Garrett for having a simplistic game plan when the two teams played in the final game at Texas Stadium back in December. These echo similar comments made by linebacker Ray Lewis following the ...
Former Baylor head football coach and TCU alum Guy Morriss is now the head football coach at Texas A&M Commerce. Since his firing at Baylor the former Kentucky head coach has been the associate head coach at Kentucky State. I don't know much about the A&M Commerce program, but the football program has produced at least a couple former Dallas Cowboys: Harvey Martin and Wade Wilson, now the Cowboys' quarterbacks coach. Dallas Stars center Mike Modano is an All-Star for the 7th time. The National Hockey League announced today that he will be a member of the Western Conference roster for the 57th NHL All-Star Game. He'll be the only Stars representative. The game is Sunday, Jan. 25 at Bell Centre in Montreal. Modano, 38, has skated in All-Star Games in 1993 (Montreal), 1998 (Vancouver), 1999 (Tampa Bay), 2000 (Toronto), 2003 (Florida)...
The Dallas Cowboys have hired a replacement for fired special teams coach Bruce Read, at least according to reports. I just got off the phone with the Cowboys public relations staff and they aren't quite ready to confirm the addition of Joe DeCamillis as special teams coach, which has been widely reported. Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips worked with DeCamillis in Denver and Atlanta. DeCamillis spent the last two year...
We already knew former Cowboys wide receiver "Bullet" Bob Hayes would be a finalist this year for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, know we know the rest of the finalists. Here is the full news release from the NFL: Four first-year eligible players, John Randle, Shannon Sharpe, Bruce Smith, and Rod Woodson, are among the 17 finalists who will be considered for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame when the Hall's Board of Se...
At least, that's what many Cowboy fans would like to be saying, in the hopes that Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett does indeed leave to become new Head Coach of the Denver Broncos. You also have to be thinking that, privately, Jerry Jones is hoping the same thing. Just like he's hoping Wade Phillips will walk into his office and announce his resignation as Cowboys Head Coach. Will either happen? The likelies...
This is one of those really neat honors for Jason Witten and DeMarcus Ware. The two Dallas Cowboys were among 10 current stars voted by former players as NFL Alumni 2008 Player of the Year honorees. Former Cowboys assistant coach Tony Sparano was voted top coach in his first year as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. What makes this honor so special is that the players were honored by a voting process in which forme...
The Dallas Cowboys signed fullback Julius Crosslin. He spent the entire 2008 season on the team's practice squad. Crosslin joins Marcus Dixon, Ryan Gibbons and Travis Wilson as other recently signed practice players.
I'm heading out to the AAC in about 15 minutes to get some Maverick interveiws. I know that the ugly loss in Memphis last night is still fresh on everyone's mind, but I'm interested in doing a story on Jason Terry, who is having the best season of his career. That story will air tonight at 10. I was looking at his stats this year compared to previous years, and it's apparent that new head coach Rick Carlisle has made a concerted effort...
Do you know any other sport where a team that plays in a non-championship game can still win the championship? Welcome to the wonderful world of the BCS. The Texas Longhorns will face Ohio State tonight, knowing if they happen to win big and the Sooners and Gators are less than spectacular in the BCS Title Game, they could finish number-1 in the Associated Press. But what good is this, really? They're bragging...
In case you missed it, New York Jets running back Thomas Jones decided to run his mouth earlier this week. "The other day, the three interceptions really hurt us. I mean, that's just reality," Jones told radio station Hot 97 FM. "If I were to sit here and say, 'Oh, man, it's OK,' that's not reality. I don't like it, I know everybody else on the team doesn't like it. If somebody is not playing well, they need to come out of the game."<...
|
|
|
|
|
|
