Friday, March 17, 2006

Done Deal

It is done. Terrell Owens is in the fold. Book it. I am hearing from too many places that it is done, including a few that I determine to be reliable sources. Press Conference by Tuesday, I predict.

Cowlishaw seems less than impressed with the news


Word began leaking out of Valley Ranch last week that Owens would be a Cowboy in 2006. When Philadelphia released Owens and the Cowboys released Keyshawn Johnson – sort of a T.O. starter kit in every sense of the word – it all started to fall into place.

Makes too much sense in a Jerry sort of way, even if it makes no sense in a football or team chemistry sort of way.

Doesn't make any sense in a Parcells sort of way, though. You really think at age 64 he wants to coach this guy, regardless of talent?

Parcells thought Antonio Bryant was too much of a headache. That's the Bryant who, by the way, just signed a four-year, $15 million deal with the 49ers.

So after this move takes place, if anyone out there is still trying to sell the line that Parcells calls all the football shots for Dallas, consider that person either uninformed or insane.

You can expect Owens to be a Cowboy this season and you can expect Parcells to be an ex-Cowboys coach in 2007. The contract extension Jones gave him at the end of a failed 2005 season means nothing other than Parcells getting more money out of the owner, and the owner having no idea where to turn once Parcells heads for Saratoga.
The Cowboys apparently are not worried about competition for Owens' services.

Parcells met with Owens' lovable agent, Drew Rosenhaus, at the combine in Indianapolis, and it's likely that the Jones family has already worked out terms on a new deal that will keep T.O. happy until at least the third week of training camp in Oxnard.


First Lubbock says he is signed, now Rosenhaus is saying he is not


Despite Rosenhaus' denials however, a source close to Owens told FOXSports.com that the receiver has in fact agreed to a three-year deal with the Cowboys — a deal that likely won't be announced until the weekend in order for owner Jerry Jones to be available in Dallas to properly make the announcement.

And now the next 48 hours will tell who's telling the truth.

Owens was finally released by the Eagles on Tuesday, and his release was timed so that the Eagles could avoid paying him a $5 million roster bonus due Wednesday. In addition to Dallas, Denver, Kansas City and Miami were said to be interested.

But the Cowboys talk heated up when, soon after Owens was released, the Cowboys cut receiver Keyshawn Johnson to avoid a $1 million bonus. Johnson was scheduled to make only $1.5 million this season, but was seeking an extension and a raise.

Owens is two years younger than Johnson and more dynamic, with defenses fearing him deep and across the middle. He has also been disruptive to his own teams, leaving bad feelings in San Francisco and wearing out his welcome even more quickly in Philadelphia, albeit after helping the Eagles get to the Super Bowl.


Gramps tracks down Jimmy Johnson on the issue


"I don't mind a little tension on a good team," Johnson said. "But on a struggling team, it will destroy you. And in the long run on any kind of team, it's not good.

"With Terrell, he's going to be disruptive. He's going to be yelling at Drew [Bledsoe], he's going to divide your locker room. It may be sooner, it may be later, but it will be a negative for your team.
"If you want his talent, you've also got to be willing to accept that."




In non-T.O. news, The warm and fuzzy story of Aggies hoops marches on as they upset Sorrycuse


Chris Walker should've been intimidated. Two years ago, his basketball glory consisted of winning an intramural championship on a rec center court.

Every one of Texas A&M's players should've been intimidated. None of them had ever played in an NCAA Tournament game – or even a truly meaningful March matchup – until a couple of weeks ago.

So how do you explain Walker, the walk-on from Grapevine, fearlessly taking and making two early 3-pointers that forced Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim to call a timeout Thursday night?

How do you explain anything about this improbable season, which will last at least two more days after the Aggies, in their first NCAA Tournament since 1987, upset the 2003 national champion? A&M, the No. 12 seed, grinded past fifth seed Syracuse, 66-58, before a packed house at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.


You may know Chris Walker from that, but as we pointed out on March 1st, we know Chris for his singing and dancing:


What a Wonderful World

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Thug Luv

The Monster Mash
Til I collapse


Big day in Spring training?


If Juan Dominguez wants to be the Rangers' fifth starter, now is the time to show the club why.

The right-hander gets the start against the White Sox in Tucson today as the race for the final spot in the rotation enters the next phase. Less than two weeks of Cactus League games remain, meaning innings are difficult to come by and the evaluation period is shrinking. Pitchers must make the most of their opportunities, and that especially applies to Dominguez.

"He's got some things he's been working on," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said. "Hopefully it will come into play [today] if he's going to stay in this competition. It's that time of spring where a guy should start locking in on what they're able to show you. We're far enough along in this process that we need to see it in games."


Now is the time? What about last August and September when they handed him the ball repeatedly, and repeatedly he handed them quality starts? Look, it is no secret that Buck doesn’t care for this guy, and many of you agree with him. We all know that over-sleeping is a felony in most states, but if you are trying to convince us that a start on St Patrick’s Day against a line-up with many minor leaguers in it can tell you more than what you already know, I am not buying it.

You may remember this from the December 17th blog, where I calculated his work in 2005:


Dominguez 10 starts, 6 quality starts (8/24, 8/29, 9/3, 9/14, 9/20, 9/25)

Comments: 60% Quality Start Percentage??? If he isn’t in the opening day rotation, this team needs its head examined. Dominguez may have his warts, but he also has the ability to be a dominant starter.


Stackhouse has views on the Mavs priorities the rest of the regular season


"Yeah, it would be great to have the No. 1 seed and have home court throughout the playoffs," Jerry Stackhouse said. "But that could all be gone in one game. We got to worry about hopefully having our guys come back and trying to have enough games to get them in a good rhythm going into the playoffs with some continuity.


Stars put on a hockey clinic in Los Angeles, pound the Kings


"The goals came easy to them, and that is frustrating," Kings coach Andy Murray said. "You like to make it more difficult on your opponents. We need to simplify our game with the lineup we have right now and be grittier and a little tougher to play against."

Barnes, who replaced the injured Bill Guerin on Arnott's line with Brenden Morrow, ended a personal eight-game points drought. He assisted on both of Arnott's goals in addition to scoring his 14th of the season. But he was stopped on a penalty shot by Garon, depriving him of his second career four-point game.

"Playing on a line with them, I think the big thing is just making sure you stay out of their way and maybe try to create some turnovers for them and let them do their thing," Barnes said of Arnott and Morrow.

"They're not only big guys who not only can set up in front of the net, but they can work hard in the corners and they've got the hands and the skill to go along with it. So if they do get the opportunity on a puck in front, they can bury it in the net."


Barnes replaced Guerin, who was busy with his “just say no to visors” campaign. I kid, I kid….




The Patriots way is raising eyebrows again


Willie McGinest, gone. David Givens, gone. Christian Fauria, Matt Chatham and Andre Davis, gone, gone, gone. Adam Vinatieri? Going, going, almost gone.

What in the name of Tully Banta-Cain are the New England Patriots doing in free agency?

Pretty much what they always do, to no great surprise. Sticking to their plan amidst all the hand-wringing by fans and the media. Refusing to break their carefully crafted business model and overpay. Keeping emotion and nostalgia for past successes in check and out of the decision-making process.

Hey, one of these days that formula isn't going to work like it has in the past. Eventually New England's free-agent losses are going to turn into regular-season losses, and not even savvy mid-level signings, shrewd trades and consistently strong drafts are going to be enough to offset all the defections on both the personnel and coaching fronts. It's the law of the NFL jungle.

But until it does, it's hard to quibble with the results, no? Nobody ever said the Patriot Way didn't require a healthy dose of patience and perspective, especially when there's a gaudy $20 million to spend under the salary cap and New England has yet to make a free-agent addition to counterbalance its subtractions.


The Soap Opera that is Brett Favre’s future rolls on in Green Bay


Quarterback Brett Favre's $3 million roster bonus is due from the Green Bay Packers on Monday, but all indications are that the deadline for paying it will be pushed back while he considers whether to retire.

Under terms of the contract, Favre would become an unrestricted free agent if the Packers did not pay the bonus. But the sides have an understanding that the payment deadline will be pushed back if Favre needs more time to decide on his future.

According to a National Football League source with knowledge of the deal, the payment is due 10 days after the start of the new salary cap year, which began Saturday. It is unclear whether that was the date originally placed in the contract or an adjustment made later.

Packers officials have denied an ESPN report that Favre told them he would return if the club became more active in free agency and they have been adamant that they plan to attack the off-season in a way they think will best serve the long-term plans of the organization.


Finally, Just 2 Guys kick it Revolutionary War style ….

13 comments:

cracker1743 said...

Great A&M game last night. Can't say that I expected the outcome, but the way they played is making me quite enthused about the next round. But, even if LSU blows their doors off, it's been a very good season for them, and something to build on.

Maybe more recent A&M grads can enlighten me, but were those FEMALE cheerleaders for A&M last night? WTF? Lyrcra, pom poms, and boobies? That's not exactly Old Army.

Anonymous said...

Bob used to have it running continuously on the old BaD website. Maybe it's still there.

Anonymous said...

The Aggie Dance Team.

Best thing to happen to Aggie Athletics since Billy Clyde.

I thought the digital scrolling beltbuckles were a nice touch.

Anonymous said...

A&M has had the Aggie Dance Team for a while. I was there from 1997-2001 and they were there the whole time I was there, I think.

Something else is the band that was there. Last year they started a basketball band separate of the Fighting Texas Aggie Band. Used to be the FTAB would send a group to basketball games but if they had prior commitments there wouldn't be a band at all. Pretty lame atmosphere. Sometimes they would get the Prairie View band to fill in.

Things are changing down there for sure. The only player we're losing is the Dancing King himself. Just gotta keep Billy Clyde somehow.

Anonymous said...

Whoop! The only time of the year I actually root for other Texas teams, the whorns too...

Anonymous said...

"Whoop" is so f'ing GAY!

Way to go aggy on the win, even though it screwed my bracket. It is nice to see an upset of a damn North Eastern school by a school that doesn't even care about basketball.

Anonymous said...

Congrats to the Ags on screwing pretty much all of my brackets. I didn't realize MacNamara was nursing a pulled groin or I might have changed that. Still, they're definitely surpassing my expectations and Gillespie is proving that he's one of the better coaches in the game right now.

Anonymous said...

Bring on TO!

If he's on good behavior, he' the best receiver in the league. If he's not on good behavior, he's the best trainwreck in the league.

Either way he's going to be entertaining.

Prediction: 1st TD in Texas Stadium, he will go to midfield, kneel, and kiss the star logo.

Anonymous said...

I’ve seen the error of my ways. He will totally ruin the reputation the Cowboys have as do-gooding saints. Because we all know that no Cowboy receiver would EVER get caught with strippers doing coke. Or get involved in a murder-for-hire plot.

Oh wait somebody did do that. The guy everybody wants to put in the HoF now. Compared to the stuff Michael Irvin (and others) did while he was a Cowboy, T.O. ain’t nothing.

As I said, if (when) he does go nuts, it’s entertainment. I like the Cowboys and hope they do well, but if they don’t win (and they haven’t really won much lately), you gotta shake things up.

This may blow up in Jerry’s face, like the Rodman deal did with Cuban, but really what will they be out? Unless the money is guaranteed for the life of the contract (and it’s not) every NFL player is on a 1 year deal.

If T.O. loses it, in 2007, you cut him and you go about your business doing something else. If he doesn’t lose it, he’s an impact player who can give a team confidence to get over the hump. I’ll take that risk because the Boys have dropped in the NFC since the season ended. This will put them right in the middle of the pack again.

Anonymous said...

If a contract has been agreed upon, the REAL reason that it has not been announced is that it would not be the top story............NCAA HOOPS would top it in media hype, and Jerry is not that dumb to not get every bang for his buck.

Anonymous said...

69

WCharles said...

The Cowboys are dead to me as long that sorry punk t.o. is on the team.

And to Jerry, baby arm--with a huge middle finger.

Anonymous said...

^ I'm sure the Cowboys will really miss you too!