Post by scorpion42 on Jan 7, 2009 14:18:56 GMT -7
Negativity towards the Dallas Cowboys is at an all-time high
By CLARENCE E. HILL, JR.
chill@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH STAR TELEGRAM
Dallas Cowboys fans aren't happy with the direction the team is heading.
IRVING -- The negativity regarding the Dallas Cowboys is at an all-time high.
That disgruntled fan outside the Cowboys complex last week who was physically "de-signed" by linebacker Bradie James was just an example.
Romo Mania is all but dead. The Terrell Owens backers are conceding that even if he isn’t the problem, that many suggest he is, he might not be part of the solution. Disillusionment among even the diehard Cowboys faithful abounds.
Last season, the New York Giants snatched the Cowboys dream away from them. Could the Philadelphia Eagles
play the same role this year?
Bottom line: owner Jerry Jones needs to wake up and pay attention.
The Cowboys are moving into a new $1.2 billion stadium in Arlington next season.
There is still no title sponsor in this down economy. The seats are not yet sold out and there is no buzz surrounding the team.
But Jones believes the best way to move forward is stand pat and try to change from within.
He promises to examine the way he does things as does coach Wade Phillips.
Look for Phillips to practice the Cowboys longer and harder. Also look for him to fine players for mistakes and penalties.
But don’t look for him to change who he is and how he relates to his team.
Now if that doesn’t generate excitement and make you want to go out and spend a few grand on a PSL and pair of season tickets, I don’t know what does.
Part of the problem is simple economics.
Removing Phillips and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett would mean eating their salaries -- both get more than $3 million a year -- plus the cost of hiring a new coach.
The asking price names that have been bandied about -- Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren -- would start at $5 million.
The same is true regarding any thoughts of reshaping the Cowboys’ roster. Too many stars have been recently signed to long-term deals to truly overhaul the roster.
It’s one reason the talk of Shanahan coming to Dallas doesn’t make sense. His style of offense is based on smaller, quick offensive lineman for his zone-blocking scheme. That’s why Montrae Holland was traded from Denver to Dallas in August. He didn’t fit the Denver prototype and hews built more like the Dallas behemoths of Leonard Davis, Flozell Adams, Marc Colombo and Andre Gurode. The foursome has been locked up with new contracts and aren’t going anywhere. They are not going to change their body build and he’s not going to change his philosophy.
So why does it make sense for Shanahan to come?
But listening to Jones, that’s not an option anyway.
He’s standing pat and hoping continuity will finally take the Cowboys to the Promised Land.
On to your questions....
Why is Jason Witten not a popular guy among some Cowboys? Who is the coward in the locker room? -- Doug Vaughn
Witten is not popular among some players, and that would be a select few if at all, because he is considered one of the snitches who talked to ESPN regarding T.O. To that end, Terence Newman labeled the so called snitch or snitches cowards. But it’s not just about Witten. It’s problems among the players and coaches. There is too much backbiting among groups assembling to push their own agenda rather than that of the team. That is what Newman was talking about.
Tony Romo needs to go hang out with Tony Parker. Tony can show him on how to be a celebrity athlete who can win championships and date celebrity women. Jerry Jones needs to get Michael Vick. I pray to God that Jerry was putting money on that boy’s commissary. -- Mike Jones
You might have a point with Tony Parker. But the difference is that playing ball in San Antonio and dealing with Eva Longoria and facing the microscope that is the Cowboys to go along with the Jessica Simpson paparazzi is vast. You just need to stop regarding the Mike Vick angle. Adam “Pacman” Jones and Tank Johnson are enough. There are two many lightning rods in the locker room. No need to add another one. The Cowboys need more nose-to-grindstone players than guys who are going to have their own press corps following their every move.
This was the most embarrassing team in Cowboys history. It may be time to seriously think about blowing this team up and start over. To me, there are maybe 6-8 guys on this team that are untouchable. And some of those guys were rookies. This rookie class played pretty good in my book and it’s a shame if they have to continue to follow this lack of leadership from the guys who are getting all of the money. How soon can we expect to see any changes with the personnel on this team? -- Glenn Guillory
The problem with breaking up the Cowboys is salary cap. So many of the team’s stars and starters are signed to long-term contracts, making it hard to truly make wholesale changes in personnel without taking a huge salary cap hit. There has been a lot of talk about getting rid of Terrell Owens because it will only cost them roughly $680,000 more than it would to keep him. But keep in mind his cap number is still $9 million. That is a lot of money to eat to make someone go away. If he was here, at least you could get something for the $ 9 million. It might be easy for you to say it’s worth $9 million to get rid of him and that’s addition by subtraction. Jerry Jones’ accountant might think differently.
The Cowboys are very talented. However, their talent has been very overrated by the Dallas and national media. Their deceived failures are more of a function of being overrated and less of an issue of talent. Teams win as “teams” and lose as “teams”. The talent that was assembled to be the Dallas Cowboys was not assembled with a team in mind. Sometimes the sum of the parts does not equal the whole. Better luck next year, but I doubt it. -- Rudy Mikula
Talent is not the Cowboys’ problem. It’s chemistry. It’s execution. It’s finding a way to come through in the clutch. Some players have it. Some teams have it. The Cowboys don’t or at least they haven’t shown that they do. The Cowboys have good-to-great individual players. But together, they are not very good when it matters most.
Help me understand why most of these idiots are still trying to place blame on T.O for the Cowboys’ collapse. -- Michael Manual
Terrell Owens is not the blame for the Cowboys’ collapse. There are those who want to push an agenda against the T.O. because they don’t like him, the way he speaks his mind or how he goes about his business. But he is not the blame. The problem going forward as he turns 36 next season is whether he is part of the answer. The Cowboys did not win a playoff game with him. And they can do that without him. Father Time is going to come and wreak havoc on his body. It’s just a matter of when. At his age, it could happen overnight.
By CLARENCE E. HILL, JR.
chill@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH STAR TELEGRAM
Dallas Cowboys fans aren't happy with the direction the team is heading.
IRVING -- The negativity regarding the Dallas Cowboys is at an all-time high.
That disgruntled fan outside the Cowboys complex last week who was physically "de-signed" by linebacker Bradie James was just an example.
Romo Mania is all but dead. The Terrell Owens backers are conceding that even if he isn’t the problem, that many suggest he is, he might not be part of the solution. Disillusionment among even the diehard Cowboys faithful abounds.
Last season, the New York Giants snatched the Cowboys dream away from them. Could the Philadelphia Eagles
play the same role this year?
Bottom line: owner Jerry Jones needs to wake up and pay attention.
The Cowboys are moving into a new $1.2 billion stadium in Arlington next season.
There is still no title sponsor in this down economy. The seats are not yet sold out and there is no buzz surrounding the team.
But Jones believes the best way to move forward is stand pat and try to change from within.
He promises to examine the way he does things as does coach Wade Phillips.
Look for Phillips to practice the Cowboys longer and harder. Also look for him to fine players for mistakes and penalties.
But don’t look for him to change who he is and how he relates to his team.
Now if that doesn’t generate excitement and make you want to go out and spend a few grand on a PSL and pair of season tickets, I don’t know what does.
Part of the problem is simple economics.
Removing Phillips and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett would mean eating their salaries -- both get more than $3 million a year -- plus the cost of hiring a new coach.
The asking price names that have been bandied about -- Bill Cowher, Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren -- would start at $5 million.
The same is true regarding any thoughts of reshaping the Cowboys’ roster. Too many stars have been recently signed to long-term deals to truly overhaul the roster.
It’s one reason the talk of Shanahan coming to Dallas doesn’t make sense. His style of offense is based on smaller, quick offensive lineman for his zone-blocking scheme. That’s why Montrae Holland was traded from Denver to Dallas in August. He didn’t fit the Denver prototype and hews built more like the Dallas behemoths of Leonard Davis, Flozell Adams, Marc Colombo and Andre Gurode. The foursome has been locked up with new contracts and aren’t going anywhere. They are not going to change their body build and he’s not going to change his philosophy.
So why does it make sense for Shanahan to come?
But listening to Jones, that’s not an option anyway.
He’s standing pat and hoping continuity will finally take the Cowboys to the Promised Land.
On to your questions....
Why is Jason Witten not a popular guy among some Cowboys? Who is the coward in the locker room? -- Doug Vaughn
Witten is not popular among some players, and that would be a select few if at all, because he is considered one of the snitches who talked to ESPN regarding T.O. To that end, Terence Newman labeled the so called snitch or snitches cowards. But it’s not just about Witten. It’s problems among the players and coaches. There is too much backbiting among groups assembling to push their own agenda rather than that of the team. That is what Newman was talking about.
Tony Romo needs to go hang out with Tony Parker. Tony can show him on how to be a celebrity athlete who can win championships and date celebrity women. Jerry Jones needs to get Michael Vick. I pray to God that Jerry was putting money on that boy’s commissary. -- Mike Jones
You might have a point with Tony Parker. But the difference is that playing ball in San Antonio and dealing with Eva Longoria and facing the microscope that is the Cowboys to go along with the Jessica Simpson paparazzi is vast. You just need to stop regarding the Mike Vick angle. Adam “Pacman” Jones and Tank Johnson are enough. There are two many lightning rods in the locker room. No need to add another one. The Cowboys need more nose-to-grindstone players than guys who are going to have their own press corps following their every move.
This was the most embarrassing team in Cowboys history. It may be time to seriously think about blowing this team up and start over. To me, there are maybe 6-8 guys on this team that are untouchable. And some of those guys were rookies. This rookie class played pretty good in my book and it’s a shame if they have to continue to follow this lack of leadership from the guys who are getting all of the money. How soon can we expect to see any changes with the personnel on this team? -- Glenn Guillory
The problem with breaking up the Cowboys is salary cap. So many of the team’s stars and starters are signed to long-term contracts, making it hard to truly make wholesale changes in personnel without taking a huge salary cap hit. There has been a lot of talk about getting rid of Terrell Owens because it will only cost them roughly $680,000 more than it would to keep him. But keep in mind his cap number is still $9 million. That is a lot of money to eat to make someone go away. If he was here, at least you could get something for the $ 9 million. It might be easy for you to say it’s worth $9 million to get rid of him and that’s addition by subtraction. Jerry Jones’ accountant might think differently.
The Cowboys are very talented. However, their talent has been very overrated by the Dallas and national media. Their deceived failures are more of a function of being overrated and less of an issue of talent. Teams win as “teams” and lose as “teams”. The talent that was assembled to be the Dallas Cowboys was not assembled with a team in mind. Sometimes the sum of the parts does not equal the whole. Better luck next year, but I doubt it. -- Rudy Mikula
Talent is not the Cowboys’ problem. It’s chemistry. It’s execution. It’s finding a way to come through in the clutch. Some players have it. Some teams have it. The Cowboys don’t or at least they haven’t shown that they do. The Cowboys have good-to-great individual players. But together, they are not very good when it matters most.
Help me understand why most of these idiots are still trying to place blame on T.O for the Cowboys’ collapse. -- Michael Manual
Terrell Owens is not the blame for the Cowboys’ collapse. There are those who want to push an agenda against the T.O. because they don’t like him, the way he speaks his mind or how he goes about his business. But he is not the blame. The problem going forward as he turns 36 next season is whether he is part of the answer. The Cowboys did not win a playoff game with him. And they can do that without him. Father Time is going to come and wreak havoc on his body. It’s just a matter of when. At his age, it could happen overnight.