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The answer, really bad. For Jerry Jones to cut Terrell Owens, things at Valley Ranch must have been horrible. The fact that Jones has to eating a ton of crow hurts him more than the $9.6 million salary cap hit the Cowboys will take in 2009.
Look at the players the Cowboys have let go Owens, Adam 'Pacman' Jones, Roy Williams (the bad one) and Tank Johnson are now gone. There are no more locker room distractions for the Cowboys.
The fighting in the locker room must have been much worse than what Ed Werder reported last season.
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Okay, this is a call for help to anyone who remembers a San Antonio Spurs version of Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It" that got local radio airplay back in 1995. Now, I'm not sure if it was actually Montell Jordan performing the song, but that really doesn't matter. I just need to hear that song again, and if you've got it somewhere and are willing to share it in some sort of format, you would be my hero. So...let me know.
Best line of the song, hands down: "Terry Cummings got a foot in yo neck!"
Please deliver, San Antonio!
-Jerrod
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We're all doing it, right? Every night, we can't wait to check the western conference standings and find out who's on top, who's slipped a few spots, and just how far the Mavericks have fallen.
10 games, 2 weeks, and the REAL season begins. So who's going to win the West? Hard to predict, but a long look at the schedule might shed some light.
For starters--let's admit that REALISTICALLY only 6 of the 9 teams in playoff contention have a legit shot to be #1 at the end of the regular season. That's right--I said 9 playoff teams. For now, we are going to consider both Golden State and Dallas as the 8th seed because the race is so tight.
Who are the 6 teams? Lakers, Hornets, Spurs, Rockets, Suns, Jazz. What do they have left? Let's find out. Bold teams are playoff teams.
Lakers: 10 games remaining (8 home, 2 away--we count the "visitor" tag against the Clippers as a home game). Home opponents: Memphis, Washington, Portland, Dallas, New Orleans, San Antonio, Sacramento. Away opponents: Sacramento, Portland, LA Clippers. Back to Backs: 1
Hornets: 11 games remaining (3 home, 8 away). Home opponents: New York, Golden State, LA Clippers. Away opponents: Boston, Toronto, Orlando, Miami, LA Lakers, Sacramento, Dallas. Back to Backs: 4
Spurs: 10 games remaining (6 home, 4 away). Home opponents: Minnesota, Houston, Golden State, Phoenix, Seattle, Utah. Away opponents: Utah, Portland, LA Lakers, Sacramento. Back to Backs: 1
Rockets: 10 games remaining (3 home, 7 away). Home opponents: Seattle, Phoenix, LA Clippers. Away opponents: San Antonio, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle, LA Clippers, Denver, Utah. Back to Backs: 2
Suns: 11 games remaining (5 home, 6 away). Home opponents: Denver, Minnesota, Dallas, Golden State, Portland. Away opponents: Philadelphia, New Jersey, Denver, Memphis, San Antonio, Houston. Back to Backs: 3
Jazz: 10 games remaining (6 home, 4 away). Home opponents: LA Clippers, Washington, Minnesota, San Antonio, Denver, Houston. Away opponents: Minnesota, New Orleans, Dallas, San Antonio. Back to Backs: 1
So what do ya think? What jumps out at ya?
1. Lakers have the easiest schedule by far. 8 games at home, and only 2 of 10 are against playoff teams.
2. New Orleans seems to have the worst schedule, but don't judge those 8 road games. The Hornets have one of the best road records in the NBA (22-11).
3. Utah stands the most to gain, if they win the right games. Two against the Spurs, and 1 game against Houston could push them up the standings. The Jazz do play 7 games against playoff teams.
4. Spurs appear to be the team to beat in the Southwest Division. Look at the Rockets, look at the Hornets. The Spurs, with their experience, seem best set "schedule-wise" to lock up a top 4 seed.
If all of this comes true...that April 13th showdown between Spurs and Lakers could be for the #1 seed in the West.
Enjoy the race! DC
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I get phone calls. I get emails. Why are the Spurs listed behind the Lakers and Rockets in the standings when they have the same record? Why is Utah 4th despite being three games back? Some explanations.
At this writing the Spurs, Rockets and Lakers are all 49-23. The Rockets are 2nd, The Lakers 3rd, and the Spurs 5th. The reason: The Rockets own the tie breaker over the Spurs having a 2-1 edge in their head to head meetings. The Spurs can even that up this Sunday.
The Lakers are guaranteed one of the top 4 spots because they are a division leader. It's the same reason the Jazz are 4th. So L.A. is automatcially 3rd right now because they are a division leader.
The Lakers and Jazz are GUARANTEED 2 of the top 4 spots. The Spurs are really then fighting the Rockets and Hornets for the other two.
The Spurs still have a great shot at one of the top 2 spots in the West. However, even if they are 5th they would have the homecourt advantage on the 4th seeded Jazz because of a better record. It appears that in the 4-5 matchup, the 5 seed will likely have homecourt over Utah.
Bottom line, it's too confusing to try and figure our with 10 games left. It's going down to the final day. Just win and don't worry. That's how all these teams must approach the final stretch in the Wild Wild West.
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I've heard from a lot of people bummed out that Brent Barry is leaving San Antonio. Count me along with them, since he was always funny and good to run soundbites from. But given the potential risk/reward factor, the Spurs had to do this deal.
The Spurs are giving up 3 point shooting with Brent, but not much else. Thomas is clearly better than Elson, and they have other sources with which to fill in the 3 point void (Udoka, Finley, Bowen, Manu, Bonner, Big Shot). And, according to reports, with this deal, they go under the luxury tax. I see no downside to it at all.
Is this reactionary to Gasol and Shaq now being in the West? Of course. Is that a problem? I don't really think so. The reactions were because the Spurs were so good that the rest of felt they need to catch up. Now that they did, the Spurs were able to take an extra step ahead.
So don't be curt to Kurt when he comes to town. He could just be the reason for a successful "Drive 4 Five."
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Dwight Howard and Gerald Green did what I thought was impossible. They turned the dunk contest into something worth watching on Saturday night.
I wrote last week that I get more excited about the 3 point competition than I do about the Slam Dunk Contest. And I don't think I would have watched it had it not been something we needed to get in the show Saturday night. But, after all I saw, I was glad that I was working and forced to watch it.
It started...STARTED...with Dwight Howard making an impossible dunk from behind the basket. How can a man catch the ball off the back of the backboard, somehow get the ball to the front, avoided hitting his head and threw it down is beyond me.
The most under-rated dunk of the evening was Gerald Green's "Birthday-Cake" Dunk where he blew out a lit candle on a cupcake that was resting on the rim while dunking. Simply stunning not only for it's athletic ability but also it's creativity.
Speaking of creativity....Dwight Howard has created a new nickname for himself...Superman. Sure props can sometimes be a little bit hokey, but this one worked to get the crowd amped up and the dunk (while not technically a dunk, still an athletic feat) topped off the performance.
It didn't even matter what Howard did in the Finals (even though he had two more creative dunks that we hadn't seen before). He was clearly the champion, and clearly the man who had single-handedly brought the dunk contest back from the land of ideas that fizzled out (you know: clear Pepsi, Olestra, Who Wants to be a Millionaire)
Watching the post-competition comments, Howard hinted that he was probably going to not return to defend his crown.
I hope he reconsiders we can see many more Superman Returns (the basketball player, not the movie) at the dunk competition in the coming years.
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This Jason Kidd trade has devolved quicker than a house party without adult beverages. First Devean George sabatoged it, then Jerry Stackhouse just absolutely killed it.
The story goes like this. Wednesday, the Nets and Mavericks agreed to a trade that would send Jason Kidd to the Mavericks for basically half of Dallas' team: Devin Harris, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, Devean George, Maurice Ager, $3 million, 2 first round picks, and any leftover barbecue from the team's All-Star break function (I was kidding about that last one.)
Wednesday night, the story came out that George, a role player at best, was blocking the trade as part of his early-Larry-Bird free agent rights. Devean George's name being even uttered in the same sentence as Larry Bird is disturbing. But here's what the worst part is: George is right in sticking up for himself. How often have we seen organizations cutting players for no reason, and those players quietly going away? I'm not sure Devean George is going to have too many more contracts after this one, nor am I sure that he will find another job to pay him millions for a fiscal year. So as much as us fans hate it, George is right.
But the one person who may have single-handedly blew this trade is Jerry Stackhouse. It appears that the Nets had agreed to buy out Stack, and the Mavs planned to re-sign him after the 30-day period in which he could not return to the team that traded him.
Stackhouse, in his infinite wisdom, was quoted as saying this Wednesday night: "I get 30 days to rest, then I'll be right back. I ain't going nowhere."
Well it appears as though Gregg Popovich's trade commission and other Western Conference General Managers had a problem with this. It's now being reported that the NBA will not allow Jerry Stackhouse to be a part of any Jason Kidd deal between the Mavericks and the Nets. Nice going Stack. Though, as we've seen before, Stackhouse is no rocket surgeon (intentionally mixed metaphor). I guess 60% of the time, it doesn't work every time.
So how do the Mavericks get better? Well, it won't be with the best pure point guard left on the market. No Kidding!
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It's the NBA All-Star break, and we have a weekend filled with various games and skills competitions. To me, the weekend is one big over-produced bunch of garbage...save for one event in particular....the 3-point competition.
To me the 3 point competition is basketball at it's purest. There's a defined winner and loser, it's not left up to subjectivity (slam dunk). It's a skill that's actually useful in most games, unlike that skills competition where they make them throw basketballs into random hoops.
And it's not the All-Star game. I hate the All-Star game. It's fun to watch for like 10 minutes. And after that, it's a bunch of turnovers, one-upsmanship, and clanking outside shots. Sure, there are some highlight reel dunks, but over 48 minutes of basketball, most of the game is not all that entertaining.
So give me the 3 point competition, a skill that can decide championships for teams with dominant low post players. A competition that the players are going all out for, and not going half speed. And a competition for some players who might not otherwise be invited to be in New Orleans.
What should you watch during All-Star Weekend? Go for 3!
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Other than faking an entire signing day ceremony, the strangest story of the week I've found has to deal with Curt Schilling and the Boston Red Sox.
Curt is hurt. How hurt is anybody's guess. Schilling's shoulder is torn to the point that Curt's doctor says it looks like spaghetti. The only way to fix it: Sugery.
The Red Sox doctor says not so fast. He believes the shoulder is merely damaged, and not torn, and that rehab is the way to go (though if you listen to Amy Winehouse, she would definitely disagree).
And believe it or not, baseball has a solution for these kind of disagreements. When there's a disagreement between a team doctor and a personal doctor, they go to an impartial 3rd source: a different team's doctor.
And the Mets team doctor says that Schilling probably should have surgery, but that would sideline him for the season. So Schilling decided to go against his own doctor's suggestion and try the rest and rehab.
Ridiculous enough yet? Wait, it gets better. The reason Schilling decided against surgery was because if he didn't do what the Red Sox said, they could nullify his $8 million contract.
So forget health, forget well being, and even I guess forget what your doctor says. If your employer has a say, I guess you have to forget it all for the almighty dollar.
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Happy Signing Day everybody. Here is our list of San Antonio area high school players and where they signed their letters of intent today. With the all the calls we put in and all the resources we use, we still sometimes miss a few, and would like your help to make sure we have the most complete list in all of San Antonio. Please click here to add to the list.
Kerrville Tivy
- Kyle Prater - Louisiana State
Reagan
- Marcus Wright - Georgia Tech
- Patrick Martinez - Incarnate Word
- Jaime Villafuerte - Eastern New Mexico
Marshall
- Trey Anderson - Angelo State
Stevens
- Chad Miles - Incarnate Word
- Norman King- West Texas
- Royce Egelou - Dartmouth
Madison
- Devin Thomas - Ole Miss
- Brandon Breiten - Mary-Hardin Baylor
- Josh Corby - Naval Academy
- Bryan Erlich - Newberry College
- Jason McLean - Texas State
- Aaron Miller - Texas Lutheran
- Mario Wiggins - Texas State
- Michael Williams - West Texas A&M
O'Connor
- T.J. Nielsen - Texas A&M Commerce
Lee
- Jerome Tiller - Iowa State
Warren
- Darryl Morris - Texas State
- Marcus Waddell - Tarleton State
Smithson Valley
- Tommy Parsons - Louisiana State
- Trent Rios - Incarnate Word
- James Fry - TCU
- Shawn Wyatt - Blinn JC
- Dakota Mawyer - Incarnate Word
- Cody Renken - Colorado School of the Mines
Judson
- Caleb Kocian - University of the Incarnate Word
- Dominick Maddox - Texas State University
- Mitchell Swan - TAMUK
- Austin Quinney - University of the Incarnate Word
- Matt Atwell - Ottawa University
- Albert Cardenas - track/cross country, UTSA
Southwest
- Tyler Fields - Incarnate Word
La Vernia
Medina Valley
- Patrick Hoog - Oklahoma State
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We want to hear what you think...What was your favorite commercial of the Super Bowl? What commercials didn't work at all? Click here to tell us what you think...
Here are some of our favorites:
1st half
- Fire Breathing-Bud Light commercial. Any commercial where a cat gets set on fire, I'm in favor of. I'm a dog person.
- Glamdoor- cars.com commercial. I think I'm the only one that found this one funny, but something about the dry "You might want to step outside the ring of fire" delivery I liked.
- Stain Talking-Tide. A guy on an interview being interrupted by the stain on his shirt. The best one of the first half.
- Unibrow-Planters. "Hideous" (my co-workers words, not mine) walks around, and all the guys check her out. Why? Peanut perfume. Does that really work.
More to come in the 2nd half...
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I was asked this question by someone at work today: Are you excited about the Super Bowl?
And my honest response: No.
Why?
- I've having a hard time getting excited for a game we all saw about a month ago.
- I'm having a hard time re-living the Boston vs New York angle for the one millionth time.
- I'm not nearly as excited about a team on the verge of perfection as I thought I would be.
- No one is left on my fantasy team.
The last one was clearly a joke. My fantasy team was far from the playoffs.
But this is the first Super Bowl I can remember since Baltimore played the Giants that I haven't been able to find a rooting interest. And even though the teams I was rooting for often lost, it was still fun and I was still excited for the game.
This year, it's easy to root against the Patriots. And that's why I do it, it's easy. But for me, it's hard to root for the Giants, a team who ruined two potentially great playoff match-ups. If it weren't for New York, we'd know who the real best team in the NFC was: Dallas or Green Bay. And if it weren't for the Giants, we'd also get Brett Favre vs the undefeated Patriots.
So what will I be watching the Super Bowl for this year?:
- Tom Petty's singing of "Freefalling"
- The Commercials
- To see if Tom Brady will get attacked by one of his many "man-crushes" (not to mention any names of course, Dale Blasingame)
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Bull riding. Steer walking through downtown. More 10-gallon hats than cartons of milk at a dairy.
This is not what I think about when I think about the San Antonio Rodeo. I think of the Spurs so-called "Rodeo Road Trip."
I learned today that this annual trip only started when the Spurs moved into the ATT Center 6 years ago. And while this is the trip where most fans say the Spurs "flip the switch" so to speak, that wasn't true last year. They went 4-4 on the much balleyhooed road trip, but it was good enough to propel them to championship #4.
So they've got 9 games this year, and I've heard everything from skepticism to optimism. Of the games at Utah, Seattle, Phoenix, Indiana, Washington, New York, Boston, Toronto, and Cleveland, I see 6 wins, 3 losses. But most I've talked to around the station don't see them going any better than 5-4.
So prediction time. Click here to tell us how many the Spurs will win and why.
Yee-Haw.
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How'd you like to be Gregg Williams tonight?
The Redskins defensive coordinator was the players choice to replace Joe Gibbs after Gibbs retired a few weeks ago. Every player that spoke publicly wanted Williams as their head coach.
So over those ensuing weeks, Williams has joined owner Daniel Snyder for four separate interviews. 4! And remember, this is no slouch of a coach, he was head coach in Buffalo for a few years.
Alas, out comes the news today that Williams will not only reportedly NOT be the head coach, but he also has been fired from his defensive coordinator job as well. So instead of moving up, Williams is moving out of Washington. (You'd think the Redskins would be smart enough to give 3-g Gregg Williams a shot since it's worked out so well here in San Antonio, but I guess that's neither here nor there with them.)
And this comes on the heels of the Al Davis/Lane Kiffin scenario, where Davis has gone so far as to draft a letter of resignation for Kiffin to sign, but the former USC coordinator has refused.
How'd you like to be in that meeting?
"Lane, sure, you've done better than anyone can really expect with a bunch of misfits and rookies, but we've got this letter that we'd like you to sign."
What is wrong with these owners? Lane Kiffin has had 1 season to prove himself. Who can really prove their worth in 1 NFL season? Bill Cowher's team didn't make the playoffs in his first season with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But the Steelers were smart enough to stay the course.
The Redskins finally picked it up at the end of the season, and it looked like they were finally all on the same page. The easiest way to get everyone no different pages? Change to a completely different coaching staff yet again. Which is what Dan Snyder is doing.
Look at some of the most successful teams over the last few years, and figure out the constant. New England, Seattle, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Dallas. They've all been patient with their head coaches...even in ***gasp*** non-playoff seasons.
So as teams continue to ride the coaching carousel, remember this: The most successful teams ride the roller coaster instead.
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I know, 2 posts in 1 day, right? But "F*** Jesus?"....this one had to be addressed.
Dana Jacobson, co-host of ESPN's First Take, has been suspended a week by ESPN for inappropriate comments she made at the roast of Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic a few weeks ago.
ESPN didn't release the comments she made, but they're readily available from internet accounts and the Catholic League who, from what I can gather, brought the comments to the forefront.
Jacobson reportedly said "F*** Notre Dame. F*** Touchdown Jesus. F*** Jesus."
She may not have had all her faculties about her as most reports say she was drunk, and one report from the Press of Atlantic City goes as far to say she was "swilling vodka from a Belvedere bottle." Nice.
It's hard to get over what she said. Clearly you shouldn't defame Jesus regardless of your faith or religion. We've all said stupid things when we're drunk, but most of us aren't in a position where that makes national news.
And that's where this comes in. Sports has turned from being solely about the games to being somewhat about the games and more about who said the latest stupid thing and what everyone thinks about it. And coincidently enough, that's a major part of Jacobson's job, as 3/4 of the show she hosts is about what people in sports are saying.
So should Dana get fired for her clearly off-color comments? It would be one thing if she said them on the air while working for ESPN. But she made them a roast where pushing the envelope is what you have to do. A week suspension seems about right. But, hopefully, she realizes that while spending her days talking about what athletes are saying, she needs to be careful about what she's saying herself.
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