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Posted on 03/24/2006 10:33:19 AM PST by cgk
This column is dedicated to all Cowboy sheep, aka those who faithfully follow the football command of the Valley Ranch herders.
By the way, the same herders who have led the flock to a 25-23 record the last three seasons, with one quick playoff exit in the 2003 season.
It's OK to be sheep, but do understand that the ultimate destination is either a shearing or a slaughter.
Meanwhile, at least get your Terrell Owens love notes in order.
About half of 832 e-mails (as of Wednesday) on this subject have been sheep droppings, which makes the Owens acquisition the best jock kingdom debate we've had around here in forever.
This move has totally polarized the Cowboys' fan base. Based on your opinions, I sense very little middle ground. The Owens addition is either good/great or a total disgrace.
This is perfect. The perfect storm for us media mudslingers.
But being helpful, here's a quick primer for the sheep element because, frankly, you seem to be wandering a bit.
Be careful with the following Owens arguments:
Sheep: Give the man a chance because he has changed, or will change. He has learned much from the past, and he's also now happy with his money.
Oh, really. Well, go back to Saturday and the Owens' introduction at a strange Valley Ranch media conference.
"I'll be a better teammate, a better person, a better man in life," Owens said. "I have learned from the past. I am looking ahead. I don't want to discuss the past."
Two days later, we found out Terrell lied. Shocking.
His new book, it was announced Monday, is coming out in July, just in time for the opening of training camp.
In a media release from the New York publishing house, the new book was described this way:
"Bad Boy Terrell Owens to hate on the Eagles in football tell-all."
This man wouldn't discuss the past. Instead, he will sell the past.
In two weeks of negotiations, you would think someone -- Owens or agent Drew Rosenhaus -- would have mentioned the new book to the Cowboys.
Did you notice Saturday how eager Rosenhaus was to answer questions even when he wasn't being asked? Funny, but he never told us about the book.
If there is going to be even more training-camp fuel on the Owens fire, shouldn't Jerry Jones or Bill Parcells have heard it from their new best friends?
Not a word, however, from Owens or the talkative agent. The Cowboys found out about the new book on Monday, like the rest of us.
That's not being honest with your new team. And you're surprised?
Good luck, Big Bill, with the training-camp circus and distractions that you hate so much.
Sheep: Owens is no more of a bad guy than Michael Irvin.
Not even close, sheep people.
Michael disgraced the franchise with off-the-field criminal escapades. Meanwhile, Irvin was the ultimate teammate and locker-room leader. He attempted to hold a team together, not wreck it.
If you want to compare Owens with a former controversial Cowboy, get off the Michael kick and go immediately to Deion Sanders.
Now there was a guy with many off-the-field adventures (including an interesting religious conversion), but nothing criminal.
It was criminal, however, the way me-me-me Nine-Toed became a locker-room Judas, attempting to divide the team.
Plus, the same way there are Eagles players who still fawn over Owens, there are former Cowboys, and at least one respected (by me) assistant coach, who will speak favorably of Deion.
Overall, the Jones signing of Sanders was a costly mistake.
But if you want Owens comparisons, Deion is your crutch, not Michael.
Sheep: Owens' presence will make everyone on offense better -- Julius, Witten, Barber, Glenn, Bledsoe, etc.
Sheep, sheep. sheep. Do you really think this is the Owens objective?
Since when has he been happy "making other players better?"
This is not even a debate. Owens wants the ball and the glory, period.
Sheep: Drew Bledsoe said he's "excited, truly excited" about the arrival of Owens.
Along with drug testing, the NFL should also have polygraph testing for statements like that.
Think of it this way:
Owens publicly trashed and attempted to destroy an excellent quarterback in Donovan McNabb.
And now he's going to be happy with Drew Bledsoe?
Dream on, sheepsters.
Sheep: The Owens move is the Charles Haley move from the early '90s.
Don't try to revise history on me. Been around too long for that.
As controversial as Haley was, he at least represented the true "final piece" to a team that would become a dynasty.
These Cowboys have multiple missing pieces.
Take the three most vital off-season objectives:
(1) Total upgrade of offensive line.
(2) Kicker.
(3) Safety.
Only in the OL have there been changes, but is anyone ready to say it's an upgrade?
For a team in desperate need of a kicker, the Cowboys at least were moving in the right direction Wednesday, when Mike Vanderjagt paid a visit to Valley Ranch.
Not from the sheep, but my favorite media conference quote on Saturday came from Rosenhaus:
"These guys have fallen in love already. On the jet here, the bond that they've established, and I'm referring to Terrell and Jerry Jones, was moving. Moving."
You probably think I'm going to throw in a Brokeback Mountain reference here, but actually, I'm taking the high road and sticking with sheep.
Randy Galloway's Galloway & Co. can be heard weekdays 3-6 p.m. on ESPN/103.3 FM.
We might have figured out why Paul Tagliabue is really retiring in July.
It’s not because, at the age of 65, the time is right and, besides, what more can he achieve as commissioner of the most successful sports league in North America?
On the surface, it looks as if Tagliabue gets to take a final bow after brokering peace in our time between the NFL owners and players.
It doesn’t get any better than that.
But Tags isn’t fooling the Monday Morning Quarterback. We have a suspicion that he is stepping aside at about the same time that “The Book” hits the fan.
You’ve heard, of course, haven’t you? Terrell Owens of the Cowboys (and that does still sound strange) is writing a book – oddly enough it will be published in July just in time for training camp – that his editor calls “one of the most candid ever written about professional football, and perhaps any other sport.”
David Rosenthal, an executive with Simon & Schuster, released a statement that said in part, “It’s an important chapter in the long-term struggle for players’ rights in the NFL.”
Life sure is a struggle when one team fires you and you sign a three-year contract with another suitor that can potentially net you $25 million.
Someone please pass the Advil to Bill Parcells. He may have coached his share of bad apples and renegades in his day, but it’s already beginning to look as if T.O. will go to the top of the list before he plays even his first exhibition game in a Cowboys uniform.
Speaking of which, the Cowboys reported that 1,500 Owens jerseys were sold online in a 48-hour period after the signing was announced.
So, even though the MMQB has gotten e-mail from folks who say they are washing their hands of the Cowboys, they appear to be in the minority.
The Cowboys are also reporting healthy ticket sales. Given all this positive marketing news, T.O. and Simon and Schuster must be rubbing their hands together in gleeful anticipation of a best seller.
How ironic would it be if Owens’ book, currently titled Ineligible Receiver: The Real Story of My Journey from the Super Bowl to the Sidelines, combined with his $10 million salary for this coming season, makes him significantly wealthier than if he had remained a good soldier and stayed with the Eagles?
Oh, and don’t forget that Owens has reached agreement to star in his own reality TV series as well. He’s becoming a cottage industry by being the worst team player perhaps in NFL history.
This is the part of being commissioner that Tagliabue probably isn’t going to miss.
The reality, though, is that every league is a player’s league.
It’s like Hollywood. There are producers and directors, screenwriters and cinematographers, but it’s the actors and actresses in front of the camera who, as a rule, cash in the most and get all the glory.
You can talk about you want about clichés like “There’s no I in team,” and “No one is bigger than the team,” but look where that got the Eagles.
Cowboys fans may hate their division rivals and revel in this turn of events, but remember another cliché, “What goes around, comes around.”
Owens’ book will be a distraction in Cowboys training camp. That’s a given.
The revelations (and this can’t be good for Donovan McNabb) will be the talk of the league.
Can Parcells do anything about it? Can he take Owens aside now and ask him what the book will reveal?
Can he devise a game plan to minimize the impact on training camp?
Owens is supposed to take part in off-season conditioning drills at Valley Ranch this week. It’s a good time for him to sit down with his new coach and owner and figure this out.
Morals and ethics aside, Owens makes the Cowboys better as long as his focus is on the field.
Books and TV reality shows are another matter.
It’s funny how Cowboys fans are anticipating the two games against the Eagles this season.
Revenge would be sweet for T.O.
But, remember, that book may also give the Eagles all the incentive they need, too.
Pass another Advil to Parcells, won’t you?
Pete Alfano, a senior writer at the Star-Telegram, has been covering sports for 37 years.
The rap song posted on his website hours after the signing, now a "tell-all book" just in time for summer camp, and a reality show. T.O. doesn't want to talk about the past... (until his book comes out, anyway)...he's a changed man!
Has Parcells said anything about T.O. yet, one way or another?
Thanks for taking TO off our hands. Best of luck to you. < guffaw >
Signed,
Andy Reid
It's going to be fun to watch as a Giants fan. And at least we dodged the Keyshawn bullet.
I'd say it's going to be fun to watch as an Eagles fan too, but I have questionable faith in McNabb's ability to let things slide off his back. That book is sure to be a doozy. I hope he just "no comment"'s through all the media questions we know are coming his way.
Just another explosion witing to happen. T.O is selfish and he is gonna start looking at Drew Bledsomuch the second he is open and is not thrown a pass.
GUARANTEED!
• If T.O. signing with Dallas surprised you, Mr. Idealistic Sports Fan Who Didn't Think Money Could Make Everyone Forget That Whole Thing With The Dance On The Star, bettors saw it coming. In January, the Cowboys opened at 25-1 to win next year's Super Bowl; as of last Monday, they were 8-1 at Caesars. Only New England, Indianapolis and Seattle have shorter odds.
There are still Cowboy fans? Who knew?
I wonder who the real sheep are--the people who are giving Owens a chance, or the people who keep on talking about him for the sake of readership?
This Bucs fan can tell you that Keyshawn is a choir boy compared to T.O. That guy is a cancer.
Randy Galloway is a Democrat. 'Nuff said.
Signed, an Iggle fan.
Me too, and I'm a Cowboys fan. I can't wait until we play the Beagles next season with T.O. in the lineup. I HATE the friggin' Beagles!
I really enjoy the idea of TO going to Dallas. I've hated Jerry Jones since he fired Landry, hated Parcells since he bailed on the Pats in such a pathetic way, hated TO since he started bad mouthing Garcia (not that I dig Garcia it was just a pathetic display of childishness that reflected poorly on the sport), and they're building a dome. If I sat down to design a team that existed for the sole purpose of me hating them I couldn't have done as thurough a job as Jones has.
A quick NFC East ping.
It seems as though T.O.'s fitting in just fine. (wink wink)
I have always, um er, disliked the Cowboys with a passion.
May they lose and lose often.
Tough Odor just reinforces my dislike.
It's not a Texas thing because I was fine with the Oilers and I'm fine with the Texans.
But dem Cowboys are not America's team and Jerry Jones, bleech.
(but I have to admit I do like Dandy Don Meredith and always will.)
I like pre-Jones Dallas, though I was never into the "America's Team" label. But since Jones they just keep collecting reasons to hate them.
PING A DING
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