Cowboys bringing back Dallas Soap Opera

by | Dec 12, 2008 | NFL Random Thoughts

A week and change ago Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had the cajones to question Marion Barber’s toughness after he sat out of last week’s game against Pittsburgh with a dislocated toe.

Jones has had a knack for occasionally putting his foot in his mouth since buying the team in 1989 and soon after announcing that his then-rookie quarterback Troy Aikman looked great in the shower.

This week the soap opera had another predictable participant. Terrell Owens is apparently down on quarterback Tony Romo because of a perceived preference for throwing the ball to tight end Jason Witten.

Owens denies it but he’s had a history of being a jagoff and his quarterbacks are generally the victim of choice. Owens was a douchbag to Jeff Garcia when both were in San Francisco. And he was an assclown to Donovan McNabb the year after the duo helped lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl.

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Fairness IS key … but college rules are not

by | Dec 12, 2008 | NFL Random Thoughts

On NFL Network tonight, following the Chicago Bears’ overtime win over New Orleans, Steve Mariucci said the NFL should change its overtime rules.

He said “fairness is key” when questioned over whether or not the NFL should change its overtime rules to match those of the college game.

The NFL’s Sudden Death rules have come under a lot of scrutiny lately with high profile overtime games between the Bears and Saints tonight and the tie between Philadelphia and Cincinnati a few weeks ago.

And maybe Mariucci is right – maybe the rules do need to be changed. After a questionable pass interference call tonight gave the Bears the field position needed to kick a field goal on their first possession to win the game, it does feel a bit as though the Saints got screwed tonight.

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Congratulations, 1977 Tampa Bay Bucs

by | Dec 11, 2008 | NFL Random Thoughts

Old Bucs Logo

Buccaneers Logo

As the Detroit Lions chase infamy as possibly the first team since the NFL expanded to a 16 game schedule to lose them all, it’s time to recognize an era gone by when last year’s lovable losers got their first franchise win.

Yes, it’s been 31 years to the day since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, losers of the franchise’s first 26 games, finally got off the schneid with a win over – you probably guessed it – the New Orleans Saints.

Dave Green kicked two field goals and three extra points and the Tampa defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns in knocking off the Saints, better known during that era as the Aints.

Archie Manning did the best he could to keep New Orleans in the game, running for one score and tossing another to John Gilliam, but it wasn’t enough. The Saints, under Hank Stram, would finish 3-11 that season while Tampa would win its final two games and go 2-12.

By 1979, Tampa would be 10-6 and in the NFC Championship game. New Orleans, meanwhile, would languish around .500 for two more seasons before bottoming out at 1-15 in 1980.

At least the expansion Bucs had an excuse – and seemingly a plan. What has happened in Detroit?

Congressman proposes bill ending BCS

by | Dec 10, 2008 | Business of Football, College Football

Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, believes the Bowl Championship Series “consistently misfires” and plans to do something about it, according to the Associated Press.

Barton, the ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, plans to produce legislation that would force college football to adopt a playoff system to determine its national champion.

The bill, which amazingly has co-sponsors in Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill. and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, “will prohibit the marketing, promotion and advertising of a postseason game as a ‘national championship’ football game, unless it is the result of a playoff system,” according to the AP.

Do we have two wars going on? Is the country deeply in debt? Are we trying to discover alternative fuels and restore some resepect in the world?

Granted, President-elect Barack Obama went on 60 Minutes and announced that he would add a National Championship playoff if given the opportunity to run college football.

And also granted, I’d love to see a college football playoff replace the hopelessly flawed BCS system. But enough to watch elected officials propose bills and push legislation?

Please tell me these people have more important things to do.

NFL policy on fines is a fraud

by | Dec 5, 2008 | NFL Random Thoughts, No Fun League

Per KFAN-AM radio this evening:

Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen fined $10,000 for using the ball as a prop during a celebration during Sunday night’s game against Chicago.

Chicago Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye fined $0 for his unpenalized late hit on Gus Frerotte.

Yes, Frerotte flopped a bit. But that hit was still about eight minutes after Frerotte threw the ball. The big money fines being handed out all season have been under the guise of “protecting defenseless players.” Which of these incidents carried more danger to any of the players in question?

NFL Director of Officiating Mike Pereira, this is a joke. If this information is accurate and this is how you are handing out fines, you and your policies are absolutely defenseless and fraudulent.