The Sports Rumors

You Might Not Want to Read This if You’re a Dallas Fan

My intentions were to write this piece yesterday, but I obviously didn’t get around to doing so. I wanted to hit on a few topics and throw my valuable two cents out there, starting with this past weekend’s dvisional round of the playoffs.

The Patriots won’t, can’t, be stopped. The Jaguars put everything they had out there and Tom Brady responded by going a nearly perfect 26-28. I’m not going to harp on this too long and I’ll leave it at this; The Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl by double figures.

For all the love Ladanian Tomlinson gets for being a team player and being focused and devoted to the success of the team, he sure didn’t look like he was really interested in what was going on in the third quarter when he was seeing laughing and joking with a buddy on the sideline. I would have much rather seen him hanging around the coaches and watching the game with some interest. His team was losing at that point; it wasn’t like they were up 20.

While I’m on the topic of LT, I wanted to get another thing off my chest. Last year, he whined like a pansy about how the Patriots showed “no class” by dancing on the field after beating the Chargers. He went on to say that it was a reflection of their head coach. Well, LT, your team puts itself out there to be ridiculed and mocked the way they dance and celebrate after every god damned play, including yourself at times. Luis Castillo and Shaun Phillips go out of their way to do ridiculous, and unpleasant to the eye, dances. No one wants to see two fat asses dancing jiggling on the field after stopping a runningback for a one yard gain. And don’t get me started on Philip Rivers and the amount of trash talking he does considering he’s an average, at best, quarterback. If you’re going to go out there and dance and celebrate like idiots after every play, then don’t whine to the media when you get stomped by New England next week and they mock your absurd and unnecessary shows of celebration.

The legend of Brett Favre continues. I can sit here today and admit that I was 100% wrong in the offseason to say that he should have retired. I now have come around to agree that Brett should retire whenever he wants to. He has earned it. The level he has that young team playing at, along with himself, is nothing short of remarkable. I don’t think the game against the Giants next weekend will be close, despite the Giants amazing road record. I have the Packers winning by a landslide, only to go on to lose to the Patriots. But if there is anything I’ve learned this season, it’s that you never know with Brett Favre. I wouldn’t be shocked if he somehow pulled the miraculous upset. I really wouldn’t.

Now to “America’s Team”. For a second straight year, the Dallas Cowboys choked in the playoffs. It would take an entire page to cover all of the subplots associated with this team, so I’ll just hit on the main ones. Tony Romo brought this on himself. Yes, he has the right to do whatever it is that he wants to do in his free time. Yes, he’s a grown man who can choose to spend time with whomever he pleases. But there are times where you have to look at all of the possible outcomes of your actions when you are affecting as many people as he does. You have to realize that fans have invested millions of dollars all season long for tickets, merchandise and other things related to the Cowboys. You have coaches, players, an owner, that have all put years worth of work in to get to this point. Your team is in the best position to get to the Super Bowl. Now, that being said, you know that your team struggled its final month going into the playoffs. You know that there are things that you need to improve on in order to ensure a successful run. A trip to F’ing Mexico can wait! A trip with a celebrity girlfriend who notifies all the tabloid magazines about her whereabouts before she even reaches there, CAN WAIT. Spending time with Joe Simpson and the rest of the strange Simpson family, CAN WAIT. You have an obligation to a team and a city that is paying you millions of dollars to win in the playoffs, not just the regular season. Make a wise decision, especially knowing how last year ended, and spend your free time studying a little harder so that you don’t play as terrible as you did on Sunday in the most important game of your career up to this point. Using your free time to better yourself shows maturity and devotion. Well, Tony Romo dug his own grave and now he can go party the rest of the damn year with whoever he wants. You know what separates the great ones from the fads? Dedication 365 days a year. You can’t convince me that Tony Romo is as dedicated to the Cowboys as he should be in order for them to win a title, even if you cry in a press conference about it.

Which leads me to Terrell Owens. I saw right through that press conference and you should too. I’m not buying this, “that’s my quarterback, that’s my teammate” garbage. If this was Chad Johnson or Reggie Wayne or someone, then yes. But I’m supposed to believe the words of a guy who has publically humiliated every single quarterback that he has played with since becoming a star? I’m supposed to believe the guy who upset Jerry Rice, the best receiver to play the game, because he ran his mouth too much and showed no respect for anyone…not even Rice himself?! Now he’s crying for Tony Romo?! Get the hell out of here. If there is a master of publicity stunts in this world, it’s Terrell Owens. No one even brought up Romo at that point in the press conference. He wasn’t even mentioned! And Owens just goes into this highly emotional state of defending his quarterback?! Please. You should cry about how you had zero second half catches and couldn’t shake single coverage instead of shedding tears and defending your Joe Namath-wannabe quarterback who was partying in Mexico when he should have been partying with his playbook.

One more thing I wanted to throw out about TO that I just remembered. He was talking about “losing as a team” after having a bad game himself. Funny that when he had that hell of a performance in the Super Bowl in which he caught 9 catches for 100 plus yards and lost, he didn’t find that the Eagles lost as a team. He found it necessary to call out McNabb for being tired. You think if he had 10 catches for 145 yards and 2 TD’s against New York and the Cowboys lost, he would still say “we lost as a team” with tears streaming down his face? I think not. I know not.

Retirement Drama

Remember the days when athletes would announce their retirement at the right time? Remember when an athlete said, “This is my last season” and actually meant it? The farewell tours were so much better and more meaningful then. Now, a player retiring doesn’t mean much because people feel he’ll be back in a season, sometimes even less. When a star player used to retire, it was news. Now when a star player talks about retiring, it’s a soap opera.

Take Michael Strahan for example. He couldn’t make up his mind about whether he had enough “passion” to come back for another season at the conclusion of last season. The Giants organization respected him enough to give him the entire summer to think about it. Now we’re into training camp and he still hasn’t decided whether he wants to play or not. The Giants went out and got Simeon Rice to replace him, in the event Strahan retires. What were they supposed to do? Leave a gap at defensive end? I don’t think so. Consequently, Strahan goes on this baby act, whining about how he feels betrayed by the Giants. Meanwhile, reports came out that his agent was guaging teams around the league to see what kind of interest they showed. Apparently, no one was really interested because of his salary. But my point is, he’s checking out other teams while keeping the Giants on hold, and then complains about being betrayed? Give me a break.

I realize that Strahan has been a great defensive end for the Giants and I’m sure he gave them his all when he played. But I can’t stand when old, over the hill athletes feel its their right to take as long as they want to decide what they want to do or whether they have enough “passion” or “love for the game” to come back another season. Brett Favre has tarnished his legacy in my eyes by holding the Packers hostage with his soap opera the past two seasons. Brett has hurt the Packers and stunted their growth and development the past two years more than anything. 20 touchdowns and 29 interceptions followed by 18 touchdowns and 18 interceptions the past two years. That’s not helping your team. You have to learn to let the game go when the game has let you go. I got so sick of turning on the tv or radio and hearing about whether Favre is coming back or retiring. Who the hell really cares at this point? He’s washed up. He’s an average quarterback. That’s it. It’s pretty much the same for Strahan, although he still has a bit more left to give than Favre does.

When an organization gives you an entire summer or offseason to decide what you want to do, be respectful and make a decision in a timely manner. The fact that they gave you that period of time to decide is them showing you the respect you deserve for loyalty. However, when you drag a team into training camp without making a decision, you’ve gone overboard. Doesn’t matter who you are.

(You have to know when to say when)