The Dallas Stars have changed a lot since the last time their name and roster were inscribed onto the Stanley Cup.

I had a more difficult time than I anticipated getting back into hockey after the lockout.  The few seasons before that had been hard—the Cup had been snatched from our collective grasp by the New Jersey Devils, and the team never seemed to really recover after that.  The Stars racked up a few more division championships, but just couldn’t get past the conference semi-finals and go all the way. 

When the lockout happened and the season got canceled, I was so disappointed with the NHL in general I almost gave up.  But when the new season dawned, I just couldn’t help myself.  I couldn’t turn away from my team. 

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(President Jimmy Carter jogging. Public Domain Photo, courtesy of Wikipedia.)

My mom keeps telling me to “walk, don’t run” (which is, by the way, the title of Cary Grant’s very last movie shot in 1966).

I love my mom. But what she doesn’t know is, walking and running are like water and gasoline. They are two totally different categories of metabolic burn. Walking simply does nothing for me in terms of weight loss.

In my decade-long battle with fat, it always comes to this: I either get out and hit the pavement or watch myself turn into the Goodyear blimp, real fast.

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(Photo: Peggy Noonan)

Here are some my favorite American journalists who rarely fail to amaze me with their wit and erudition, powerful prose, and clarity of thought.

Peggy Noonan

She writes for the Wall Street Journal. Her Friday columns is a must reading for me. She used to be Ronald Reagan’s speechwriter. A devout Catholic and a committed Republican that I trust, despite the fact that I’m neither.

Her recent comments on Hillary Clinton’s turbulent candidacy should be enough to give you a sense of her depth and brilliance as a political commentator:

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SI’s senior columnist Frank Deford is one of my favorite writers. Not only he knows sports inside out but he is a terrific writer as well.

It’s always a pleasure to read what he thinks on any topic.

Deford’s recent column on Olympics again got me thinking about the whole hoopla around the Olympic torch, the Tibet issue, etc.

First off, did you know that the Olympic torch itself was invented by the Nazis, in 1936?! I certainly did not know that.

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Mike and Mike in the Morning spoke with NFL quarterback Trent Green this morning on ESPN Radio about concussions and the affects of head injuries. Despite his horrendous performance this year as the Miami Dolphins starting quarterback, Green is an accomplished quarterback and quite the speaker. You can hear the interview via podcast here.

Golic asked Green about the most recent concussion he suffered and whether he was suffering any post trauma effects from the blow. Green claims he is fine, with no noticeable after effects, which may or may not be true. Keep in mind that a professional athlete, especially an NFL quarterback, is more vulnerable to replacement today than ever before. Now, I don't know what kind of quality replacement Miami has at the QB position right now, but it's still in the best interests of an athlete intent on starting next year to put on his best face in public to avoid any speculation on the need to replace him with a healthier version. 

Despite the possible threat to his career, Green sounds confident about the prospect of returning next season. And why shouldn't he? Even if he doesn't play again, he has a promising career ahead of him as an NFL analyst. 

Based on this one radio spot, I like Trent Green. He sounds intelligent, informed, and responsible. He's talked with a lot of veteran quarterbacks including Steve Young about their experiences with concussions. He's researched the latest developments in brain trauma treatment and sounds like a man confident in his ability to recover. 

One avenue of brain trauma treatment/recovery Trent Green may not have investigated yet is neuro-feedback. The Sams Center in Plano handles cases from coast to coast. Success rates with various types of brain trauma are better than anyone would have expected 20 years ago. Check them out online if you have a similar issue: brain trauma, ADHD, ADD, bipolar, depression, etc. The treatments seem laughable, but they work. Sometimes, you'll try anything once you've exhausted the more traditional treatments. A lifetime of medicating yourself is no way to live if there's a better way. 

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That's the million dollar question. Just minutes ago, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones held a press conference on ESPN Radio where he urged football fans nationwide to switch to satellite. Two days from now, the Dallas Cowboys will face the Green Bay Packers on NFL Network. 

I was livid until I heard Jones say that fans in both the DFW region and Green Bay will both be able to watch the game on a regular broadcast channel. If you live in the Dallas area, tune in to Channel 27 KDFI at 7pm. So crisis #1 solved. I get to watch the game.

The truth remains, however, that Dallas and Green Bay are the two most popular teams for nationwide televising. That means that millions of people nationwide will be looking for a place that has Dish Network or DIRECTV or making the switch themselves from cable in order to watch this game.

But answer me this: are you hardcore enough that a football game will make you switch providers? Will you switch from cable to satellite just to watch more football? Drop me a comment with a yea or nay. I really want to know. Because honestly, I'm cheap. I don't have cable OR satellite. I get enough shows that I want to watch on prime time broadcast. Of course, that may change with the writer's guild strike. But there is NO WAY that I'm signing up for satellite tv just to watch the Dallas Cowboys, and I love my Cowboys.

I would have searched high and low for somewhere to watch the game. There is a movie grill not too far away that usually puts the Cowboys game on a theater sized screen, and I've watched there once. That wasn't bad at all. I could do it again. But it's the principle of the thing. Don't take away my team just to sell me on satellite tv. Seriously.

So I'm glad that as a local Dallas fan, I'll get to watch the game as usual from the comfort of my own home. I'll be cheering on my Boys while my wife watches on with dismay over the loss of an evening.  

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As much as I wanted to be able to say something else, it is true: the superhype is over. I had a dream. In that dream, Dallas defeated New England and steamrolled the rest of the competition to lose only two games this season. The Cowboys are still a good team. They're probably still the best in the NFC. But there's something about losing the respect of the nation and falling back into that category as a "second rate NFC team" that completely stole my thunder. 

The fairy tale died. Dallas was on the receiving end of the steamroll last week, and this week they barely squeezed out a victory against Adrian Peterson's Vikings (yes, they are HIS team now). Such a mediocre performance this week yanks me back to reality. Wake up, Daniel! The Cowboys are still the Cowboys! Which means that they are fun to watch but not superhuman (unlike stupid baby making Tom Brady and his Pats).  

So the season continues, but with much less glitz and suspense than before. My Cowboys are human after all, and have not reached Aikman-age superiority. Romo's minor hamstring injury after slide tackling a couple Vikings (nice move, but really stupid) knocked the breath out of me. If he were to sit, it's all over. Pack it up and wait until next season. So let's hope he heals up nice and quick!

Is anyone else desperately anticipating the intro of Tank Johnson and the glorious return of injured cornerback Anthony Henry? I won't even mention Terry Glenn except in passing because missing him is just too painful.

Well, Romo, you better stay healthy! A franchise is counting on you. No more stupid stunts like that. One touchdown versus injury should not be a difficult decision to make. So cut that stupid sh*t out!

I'll keep watching, but I have no illusions about a fantasy-like season. Dallas would have to go undefeated until the last two games to rebuild the frenzied excitement they built up before the Patriots game. Here's hoping they pull off some magic. But I won't keep my fingers crossed.  

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It is being touted as the most exciting game of the year thus far. Dallas nearly forfeited an easy game to the Buffalo Bills on the national stage. Romo, my personal hero, threw five interceptions and had a significantly sub par game. Not to be outdone, Terrell Owens performed significantly poorer than any other game this year as well. 

It was Nick Folk, Cowboys field goal kicker, who owns the rights to the title of "game winning savior." With two seconds on the clock, Folk kicked a winning field goal as the Cowboys narrowly defeated the Bills.

I am glad to have missed the performance, as the sheer nervous tension of losing to the Bills would have made me an emotional wreck (well, perhaps a slight exaggeration).

Had the Cowboys utterly destroyed Buffalo, they would have earned national recognition as a legitimate contender for the NFC championship. As it stands now, Dallas needs to play exceptionally well this coming Sunday against AFC powerhouse New England in order to gain the respect they deserve.

No one really knows how good the Cowboys are. Let's face it: they've defeated a bunch of sorry teams. And as much as I want the Cowboys to be the real deal, they NEED to play several good teams for the challenge, the practice, and the sense of true accomplishment. You can be a talented team with the potential for greatness and still be unprepared for the big dance. This coming week will tell us a lot about the Cowboys.  

On an interesting side note, Terrell Owens has secluded himself from the media for this week preceding the Patriots game. He posted a giant sign near his locker essentially telling the media that the REAL #81 will prove his worth during the game. Is it safe to assume that Owens resents the attention that Randy Moss has received this year? I remember when Owens and Moss were considered the best two receivers in the league, and then both seemed to fade from view and guys like Steve Smith and Marvin Harrison stole the spotlight. 

Randy Moss and Terrell Owens both started this season on fire, apparently determined to prove their worth. Moss has gained more national attention than Owens, probably due to the fact that he moved from one team to another, which already meant the press would watch to see if anything is different. Owens got this same attention when he moved to Dallas. 

So is Terrell keeping out of the spotlight this week to work on his game and focus on the task at hand? Or is he simply unwilling to be compared to the red hot Randy Moss and risk embarrassing comments before the game? Whatever the case, it's got to be a good thing that he's keeping himself out of the press. If nothing else, the Cowboys desperately need Owens to show up big in this game against a superior Patriots defense.

Do the Cowboys have a shot at winning this game?

Of course they do. In this league, everyone has a chance on any given Sunday. The Cowboys defeated a monster Indianapolis Colts team at home last year, surprising most of the league. The Patriots CAN be defeated. But everyone on the Cowboys' roster has to show up for them to have a chance. We'll need Romo to scramble in the pocket (because he WILL be chased) and throw out to Barber and Witten in a hurry. We'll need Owens to get the 15 yard quick receptions and a break a few tackles for major yards. Barber has to pound the Patriots and show them that he's going to make a hole when there isn't one.

Julius Jones needs to step it up and force a couple extra yards per carry rather than falling down after contact. Crayton needs to come up big for a couple long yardage passes. Folk will need to be ready to kick a few 45+ yarders in case the Cowboys get stuck. And the defense? Pray for the defense. They'll need it. Someone has to cover all four wide outs when the Patriots clear the backfield and go deep. The Cowboys do not have enough guys to cover the receivers New England will throw at them. Look for the Cowboys defensive approach to be the deciding factor in the game.

I won't predict a winner, but we all know I'm rootin' for my Boys! 

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It is a father's natural responsibility to affirm and approve of his son. It doesn't matter whether you intended to be a father or not. It doesn't matter how absent your father was. Too many men apparently don't want to know that they have the power of assigning value and worth to a child. It's not a sexist statement. Fathers and mothers impart different things to their children. 

I am saddened when I hear about Prince Fielder, a consideration for Major League Baseball's NL MVP award, say that he doesn't care about awards except insofar as his father (Cecil Fielder) never won one and to do what his father hasn't done is to finally shut him up.  

What happened here, Cecil? I'm hearing on the radio that you made asinine statements about your own son to the public. What the hell is the matter with you? He's YOUR SON. 

Prince has 50 home runs, but doesn't care about any of it until he supercedes his father with number 52. The comments I heard on ESPN radio yesterday indicate that Cecil Fielder (the father) once commented publicly that the main reason his son Prince received so much attention as a newcomer to the league was because of the family name.

There's also the whole divorce and family issues. Apparently, Cecil dropped his wife and his son Prince like a hot potato earlier in his career. Prince is on the cusp of accomplishing things his father never did, and his wounds are starting to show through.

I don't want to see anyone writing about how Prince needs to stop complaining about the old man. Give him a break. It's hard enough to grow up and mature WITH a functional family. Without one, there are always emotional casualties. Cecil wasn't around to father. He's said things that demean his son's abilities in front of the national media. In essence, he has not affirmed his son. I applaud Prince's drive to overcome the insults heaved toward him. He's attempting to be the overcomer.

Once he's accomplished what his father could not, Prince Fielder will stand on his own two feet as an accomplished athlete. No one will talk to him like he's in his deadbeat dad's shadow. Forgive me for judging, because we're all imperfect and wonderfully flawed. But give this guy a break. He should be applauded by his father. Cecil Fielder should be going on the record saying how much he hopes and expects his son to surpass his own accomplishments. That's what a father's heart does. It longs for more for the son that the father himself could have.

I'm looking for prominent men in all walks of life who truly father their children. I want to applaud them for raising up a generation of sons who will know their value and will believe in themselves and stand firmly for what they believe in. In the meantime, we must call a spade a spade and not condone poor fathering on the grounds of stardom.  

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It's an understatement to say that my first experience with fantasy football began with a whimper, not a bang. One week into the 2007-2008 NFL season, Aaron asks me to fill in the last slot in their fantasy football league. Fantasy leagues have been a sort of mystery to me. I've known about them for the past five years, but never cared to learn more. 

I've been a little curious, though, so I agreed to give this a shot. I followed the email link to Yahoo! Sports and created my team - the DoubleDs. Learning as I went, I set up my personal preferences for my team's draft order. I ranked quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, and team defenses (forgetting all about kickers). I had my preferences set for the automatic draft, only to find out that some guys can't be present for the draft and apparently can't figure out that an automatic draft means that they don't actually have to be there. So I get the news that we're postponing the fantasy league draft another week.

Two days ago, I hear from Aaron that there are "technical difficulties" with Yahoo! that will require us to join a chat room and do a manual draft. Technical difficulties in this instance means that someone doesn't understand the Internet and how to use it. 

The end result is that I, the guy who had his players ranked for the automatic draft, end up being the only guy who gets screwed. I couldn't make it to the manual draft because my wife and I have a pregnancy class to attend on Saturday afternoons.

THE RESULT:

I get home on Saturday evening to find that I am stuck with Matt L., Matt H. and Matt S. as my quarterbacks. I have no decent wide receivers. My tight end is a loser. The only plus is that I have Adrian Peterson, Clinton Portis, and the Steelers defense. Luckily, I managed to find Dallas Clark available and picked him up as my starting tight end. 

In the end, I have a 5 or 6 out of 10 while at least two other teams in my fantasy league are 8s. It doesn't matter much to me, except that I now see how Fantasy Football COULD be fun (assuming you actually get to pick your players).

A word of advice: don't join a league where the other guys don't know how to use the Internet. Other people's lack of expertise could bite you in the ass.  

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Despite what some naysayers have said recently about Tony Romo, those of us enlightened individuals know better. He is no Jake Delhomme. He is the great Tony Romo, and I'd buy TeamRomo.com and start a Dallas Cowboy's blog if I could (tonyromo.net IS apparently for sale for $500, but i hate .nets). 

Some will say he hasn't proven himself yet. Fine. But I happen to respect Joe Theismann and Joe says that Dallas has found a gem in Tony Romo. He likes what he sees out of his ability to throw and run and make things happen for this team. Joe Theismann just happens to be one of the most hallowed quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. He's been analyzing quarterbacks for decades. I think he knows what he's talking about. And when he took the initiative to point out to Randy Galloway yesterday on ESPN Radio that Dallas has a gem in Romo, people should listen. 

Of course, Romo hasn't won a playoff game yet. He HAS rebounded from intense criticism and failure thus far. That dropped snap was bad last year, even though it didn't actually cost Dallas the game. According to Bill Parcells, in his recent interview with Babe Laufenberg, the team had one more chance to stop Seattle in that game and get the win. So even Parcells post-Cowboys doesn't think Romo cost Dallas the game. He could easily have thrown Tony under the bus without directly insulting him. 

Granted, Romo can't run like Vince Young. Maybe he can't pass like Tom Brady (though I'll never admit it). But he is a total package thus far. He has shown us no reason to doubt him. One dropped snap last year and a few less productive games under Parcells is no indictment against him.

Tony has made it through the first two weeks relatively unscathed without wide receiver Terry Glenn. As soon as Glenn comes back, assuming he's healthy, there's no reason why Romo can't keep this up. In fact, we might be seeing success thus far as a result of Glenn's injury. Don't get me wrong. Terry Glenn is DEFINITELY an asset. But Terrell Owens wants the ball. He wants his stats. With fewer stars, Owens is happier because he gets more of the spotlight. And as long as he produces like he has these first two games, that works out just fine. 

It's true that we haven't seen Romo in enough games to claim he's the best in the league. Even I won't make that statement YET. He'd have to have two solid seasons before he can be compared with the best in the league. I WILL say that Romo is my favorite quarterback to watch (which is only slightly affected by my geographic location).  

There is a difference between talent and greatness. We have seen Tony's talent. That much is certain. It will take time and some serious winning to prove greatness. But don't you worry. Tony Romo looks like the real deal.  

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