I realize that the announcers are a necessary evil and when there is no sound it can be annoying.  I think it is the excessive talking that bothers me the most followed by the over hyping.  Every athlete is the best athlete in the world, be it Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps, the list goes on and on.  My favorite is when they will say not only is he the best in the world but he is the best in the universe.  Really?  How many athletes have you been able to cover outside of this little ball of soil and water that we call Earth?

After Michael Phelps won his fifth gold medal the announcer said, rather boldly I might add, “We have been reluctant to talk about the prospect of Michael Phelps winning eight gold medals, now that he has five we can.”  Really?  You have been reluctant to talk about it?  I can only imagine what the coverage would have been like if you had felt free to talk about.

Nothing against Michael Phelps, the four by 100 relay race and the 100 butterfly was nothing short of magical.  I have never been so excited about a race in my life and can not believe the amount of training and will power it must take to do that.  You can have 24 hours of Michael Phelps talk all you want, believe me, I understand.  But do not lie to me and tell me that you have been reluctant to talk about it.

The announcers that bother me the most, the gold medal of annoying in my humble opinion belong to the gymnastics announcers.  If I believed in a personalized hell, mine would be having those three follow me around and criticize my every move all the time and then shrieking with joy when I do something right.

It is always the same, one announcer is the voice of reason however they are ones most likely to say that so and so is the best athlete in the universe or mention how they are reluctant to talk about something that they have clearly been talking about.  One will be the ultra critical announcer that sounds like a parent that you just can not please no matter how well you do and the final announcer is the shrieking voice of excitement when things go right.

However, as exciting as watching the men’s four by one hundred swim relay was, the Olympics will never be able to achieve the dreams of French nobleman Pierre Fredy, Baron de Coubertin.  He had hoped that the spirit of unity would solve world problems such as hunger and war, sadly this will never be the case.  There was war before the Olympics began on 08/08/08 and there will be war after they end, ironically on the day of the best opening ceremony ever a new war started when Russia invaded Georgia.

Another ironic twist of the Olympics was the games that were supposed to bring peace brought about the epic clashes of the super powers during the cold war.  While the USA and USSR never meet each other in the battle field, they did meet each other at the Olympic Games and the competition was fierce.  I remember as a kid watching my first Olympic event in 1980 when team USA beat the Soviets in hockey, there is no event in 2008 that will ever be able to equal that accomplishment.

Personally I think the Olympics were better during the Cold War; I would become visibly shaken whenever the communist flag was waving higher then the good old red white and blue.  If the USA was not competing in an event I would then root for a fellow NATO member over the communist bloc.  Back then the games were good versus evil, now it is just a sporting event.

Even though the battles of the cold war are gone I still love the Olympics.  I love watching with fear as the women’s gymnastics teams do things that defy all common sense.  I love watching the records fall and the new heroes be born.  I love it when someone who should win fails because of their pride and someone who no one thought had a shot guts it out and surprises everyone but themselves.   I love the pageantry of the open ceremony and watching the athletes who know they will never win a medal enjoy that moment.

So while the Olympics are no longer good versus evil like during the cold war or going to bring about world peace as Baron Pierre had hoped, they are still the best sporting event in the world.

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. 

I’ll admit, it took me a good two years to get back into rabid fan mode.  I was ashamed to admit that I didn’t know half the players on the ice at the beginning of last season.  The fire that I had seen in the Stars’ eye seemed dimmer, and I wondered if the hockey heyday in Dallas had been lost forever.  The sheer excitement of the 98-99 and 99-00 seasons was still fresh in my mind, and I was missing that feeling.  

It’s been almost 10 years since the Stars brought home the Cup, but this is the first year I’ve felt a glimmer of that excitement again.  The players have changed, I’m not really used to the new blue line rule, and I absolutely hate the overtime shootout, but I’m seeing the kind of team on the ice that I remember.  

When I look down onto the ice, it’s still weird for me to see the big “C” on Brenden Morrow’s jersey.  Part of me still expects Darien Hatcher to be wearing it, skating along like a bouncer on ice, ready to plow Jeremy Roenick into the boards and lead the team to victory.  Part of me still expects Darryl Sydor to be working with Sergei Zubov to kill off power plays.  Part of me still expects Eddie Belfour to be in goal.

There are new players that stand out to me now: Ribeiro, Miettenen, Lundqvist, Grossman, Richards, Daley, Ott.  Brenden Morrow has turned into one hell of a hard-hitting captain; he may be feet shorter than Hatcher and pounds lighter, but he’s out there checking Roenick into the boards with the best of them.  With the kind of game he has played throughout the playoffs, it seemed fitting that he would score the final goal to clinch the semi-finals against the Sharks.  It was an answer—to the refs, who recalled two of his goals in Game 5 and turned the game into a stunning Sharks win; to the Sharks, who had rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to push the series from a possible Stars sweep all the way to a Game 6; and to the fans, who chanted his name and cheered him to win.  

Marty Turco has turned into quite the goalie since I first saw him start for Dallas.  It was a joy to see him shake off his tendency to choke in the playoffs and be unshakeable in the crease.  The man stopped 61 goals in a battle that lasted the length of two regulation games.  He was tired, he was dehydrated, but he didn’t give up.  He took IV fluids after the second OT period and went right back out onto the ice to protect our goal until we could win.

The rally cry for this season’s playoffs is I Believe.  It’s all over the American Airlines Center, it’s all over the playoff promos, and it’s on every fan’s lips—including mine.  I believe in my team.  I believe we can win.  And I believe that this year’s success is only the beginning of yet another hockey heyday for Dallas.

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.

Perhaps I should qualify my claim to “running”: I actually jog. What do you call a guy who runs 5K in 34 minutes and 10K in 73 minutes but a “jogger”?

I’m slow but steady. When I hit the road chugging, I turn into the Little Engine That Could.

Since I pretty much run the same 5K route for the last 6 or 7 years there are quite a few neighbors who know me by now. Sometimes I even get an encouraging word or two, especially when the weather is bad. They seem to take pity on the fool who keeps launching one attack after another in the Battle of the Bulge.

The most important thing to take care of in your running program is to have the right SHOES. No money spent is too much when it comes to having a pair of good fitting and light running shoes.

My preferred brand is New Balance. They are not only the lightest running shoes I’ve had but they are all made in the good’old USA as well. So by buying NB instead of Nike I know I’m helping some American worker somewhere take food to his or her home. That makes me feel even better as I enjoy the benefits of this fundamental exercise.

Rule of thumb: change your shoes every 500 miles of running. Flattened jogging shoes is another way to hurt your arches and ankles.

Second is SLEEP. If you are running you have to get your sleep. You can’t skimp on that. If you do, you may open yourself up for joint and cartilage injuries. I have no idea why but every time I try to run without enough sleep I get severe ankle and knee pains that take days to disappear.

Third is MODERATION. When I get into a regular schedule of running (say, 12 miles a week), the devil in me starts whispering into my ear: “Now that you can run this many miles, how about going a little FASTER? Surely you can go faster and impress whomever you’d like to impress, can’t you?”

Watch out for that voice because you can easily hurt yourself while trying to go faster.

If you’ve never run before, see your doctor first to make sure you do not have a medical condition that might be exacerbated by running.

If your doctor says “yes,” get out and run. You might find out it’s the best way to lose some weight and keep it off, as long as the Engine That Could keeps eating up those hills.

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:

“She'll need more than four years to shake off the impression she made in 2008. And this is how you'll know she's making another bid for the presidency. She will wear skirts. Gone will be the pantsuits that made her look like a small blond man with breasts. It's the new me, I wear skirts! Her first impulse is to think cosmetically. A long and weary life in politics has left her thinking this is the way to think.”

Rex Reed

Friends, Rex Reed can write movie reviews like nobody's business. His New York Observer columns are honest and generous in dishing out both praise and punishment.

If you are in the receiving end of his accolades, you don’t need to die to go to Heaven.

Just makes sure you don’t get caught behind that red cape of excuses as his thousand pounds of linguistic fury is launched against your latest movie fiasco or acting shame.

REED HEAVEN: “Without a stick of makeup, in off-the-rack clothes and hair that needs a steam iron, Halle Berry is still the epitome of beauty and grace. But it is Benicio Del Toro who shocks and enthralls. This character actor with pasty skin, bags under the eyes the size of teacups, and a face like a map of the San Jacinto Valley is always deeply committed, astonishing to look at and full of surprises, but in Things We Lost in the Fire he is a total revelation.”

REED HELL: “Everything seems designed to please and fascinate 10-to-12-year-old girls without encouraging stress or premature hormones, and I see no reason why this harmless trend should end now. But nothing I have come across even begins to sink to the amateurish, rock-bottom, brain-dead bilge Warners has dusted off in the corny, boring and sleep-inducing 2007-style escapades of Nancy Drew redux, called, unimaginatively enough, Nancy Drew. I know this junk is marketed for pulsating pubescents, but why? That’s the only mystery in it worth solving.” [Review of Nancy Drew]

Warren Brown

Warren Brown is proof positive that you can write about ANYTHING you want and can still bring beauty and grace to our lives IF, that is, you actually know how to write well.

Mr. Brown continues to brighten my days with his Washington Post automobile reviews; not that I’m a car nut. Far from it.

But I can’t help enjoying the obvious affection with which he approaches all devices reaching a hundred miles on four wheels, and the social and cultural layers with which he qualifies his reviews. He is a master wordsmith at work, worth emulating.

A sample:

[Describing the control buttons on a BMW 325Ci]: “The entire choreography — for it is nothing short of that — takes place in less than 60 seconds. It is technology as haiku, drudgery transformed into ballet.”

Continues: “The 325Ci thus is the perfect guilt-free car for enjoying and living contradictions — pursuing clear skies and fresh air in a gasoline-powered chariot, enjoying the open spaces paved with concrete and asphalt, and obeying posted speed limits in a car, even with its smallish 184-horsepower engine, designed to shatter them in seconds.

Life is good.”

Frank Deford

My favorite sports writer, hailing from Sports Illustrated and NPR every week.

Usually Deford is so right, so to the point, that I end up wondering how come I couldn’t think of such an “obvious” point myself, on my own.

If clarity of thought was his only strength, Deford could’ve been a mathematician too. But the man has his artistic side as well, as evidenced by his many best-seller novels.

Deford is one of my favorite writers for generating prose like the following:

[About Beijing Olympics]: “The reflected heat from the torch uproar will also help expose what a humbug the International Olympic Committee can be. This is the organization that loves to call itself a "movement." Come on, would we accept it at face value if Commissioner Bud Selig stood up and crowed about the "Major League Baseball Movement"? Would we bow our heads if Mayor Oscar Goodman asked us to pay homage to the "Las Vegas Strip Movement"? Get serious.”

[On Mixed Martial Arts]: “Boxing is the only major sport where the object is to hurt your opponent. Surely there can be no place for such an exercise in a more enlightened 21st century. But what has happened? Boxing has indeed lost favor, not because it's too violent for the modern civilized world, but because it's not violent enough.

Boxing is being superseded by what is called the mixed martial arts — emphasis on martial — which apparently is especially attractive because it's like a video game, only featuring flesh-and-blood human beings. Emphasis on blood.”

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.

Second, I believe that as long as China hosts this year’s Olympics she cannot eat her cake and have it too.

In return for the prestige and publicity of the Olympics she has to endure non-violent protests of her occupation of Tibet. What goes around comes around.

To those who say sports and politics should not be mixed, I say: what is being protested is neither the Olympics nor the Chinese people but the foreign policy of the Chinese Communist Party, and for a very legitimate reason at that.

But come to think of it, are we perhaps making too much of the Olympics itself?

What’s the big deal about track and field, anyways?

Don't get me wrong. I love track and field and I'm an amateur runner myself. I try to do my 8 to 10 miles every week.

But as Deford asks, “how many of you can even name a single American track athlete in this year's Games? How many of you can name a single track athlete from any nation?”

The International Olympics Committee can call the Olympics a “movement” or whatever it wants but we know what it is – it's a big fat commercial event, attended by all the semi-amateur athletes that under-the-table "incentives" can "motivate."

Is there anyone among you who still believes that our modern day Olympics has anything in common with the original Greek sport event of its day?

As a spectator event, Olympics is a great diversion. It's fun and entertaining.

But all this torch relay charade with the symbol of “supposedly-amateur spirit” jumping from one puzzling city to another and turning into a tug of war between the Chinese government and her detractors is a little bit too much for me.

Why don’t we just collect the billions of dollars spent on Olympics every four years across the globe and spend it on something truly worthwhile, like eradicating HIV/AIDS perhaps? Or bringing a laptop computer to every child in the world?

In the very least, can we please change the symbol of Olympics to something else? Honoring anything that was originally invented by Hitler’s crack troop of designers still rubs me the wrong way.

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. 

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.  

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.  

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! 

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.  

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.  

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.  

Two franchises in the West completely blew up their rosters and are rebuilding around younger talent, while Boston created a three-headed green machine in Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce. All three are notable All-Stars all who were the centers of attention on their former teams. While Boston fans have reason to hope for amazing things, the question remains: can these three super stars co-exist?

Absolutely. None of them have ever been in a situation where the pressure was shared by anyone else. I think that all three will thrive in this environment. All three are respected NBA vets, and at this point in their careers, they will set their egos aside and play fundamentally unselfish basketball.

The closest experience Allen, Garnett, and Pierce have ever had to this situation was during All-Star games. These NBA superstars are rejuvenated and ready to go. But wait! There is a downside for Boston: all three of these guys are in there thirties, so this is only a temporary quick fix. It's likely to be a 2 year window of opportunity, so they had better get it done in that time frame.

Who can compete w/ Boston in the East? Only a few teams have a chance. Detroit? Not likely. Their best chance at the title is over! Lebron and his JV squad are also not likely. Last year was a fluke. Chicago? They're a player and a younger less offensive Ben Wallace away from being a contender. Still, Chicago is a step above most teams in the East - mostly because of good hardnose coaching and young talent.

The only thing keeping Boston from winning a whole bunch of games and taking the weak East would be injuries. Hopefully I am not chewing my foot off come May.

Here is a look at there new rotation:

Point Guard – Rajon Rondo
Shooting Guard – Ray Allen
Small Forward – Paul Pierce
Power Forward – Kevin Garnett
Center – Olowokandi  
 
Look for Danny Ainge now that he has saved his job to sign some free agents if the cap allows it. THEY DESPERATELY NEED A POINT GUARD!
 
I also hear that Dale Harris is available and looking to come out of retirement early.
 

I don't have the benefit of a radio personality to push MavsUpdate, and the fact that I cover the Dallas Mavericks rather than all NBA news puts me at somewhat of a disadvantage to Mosley (beside the fact that I don't work for ESPN). So when I launched MavsUpdate.com this July, I had just missed out on the NBA Draft. I still got to talk free agency and trade rumors, but the offseason is a heck of a time to try to build sports blog momentum.

Some might argue that this slow start might work out to be a strength come game time. For example, if you've covered the Mavericks in the offseason, you already have some pages out there on Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ask for sports fans to find and visit. You might build a small fan base early on. But beyond that, you also come into the season having established yourself as a voice for the sport and/or team. You are no longer a newbie.

I would argue that I might find greater success long-term with MavsUpdate than Mosley has with Hashmarks, though I wish him all the best. Though he blogs several times a day about multiple teams and league issues, I have a niche audience - only Mavs fans need stop by. Perhaps my competitor websites are fewer and further between than his. If so, MavsUpdate can gain a greater percentage of the market share.

I am looking for additional bloggers for MavsUpdate, in case you are interested. I'm looking for five people to contribute at least one blog post per week. Five per week is ideal, but one per week is acceptable. The idea is to get different viewpoints on the news, the players, expectations, gossip, etc throughout the year. I have no illusions that everyone wants to hear my voice. This is your chance to be a Mavs commentator. Aaron Phillips has already contributed a column or two here on CultureFeast, and I expect to see him contribute more to MavsUpdate as the season approaches. A few other bloggers may stop by to contribute from time to time.

But you can be sure that if ever there was a time for blog networking, the offseason is it.