brighter than sunshine

They say when it rains it pours, and that seems to be the case with my football season this year, due to the fact that the Cowboys have dwindled into a leaderless and unprofessional organization. Never thought I'd say that one.. yep... it's a dark day. 

But as a kid who grew up visiting her grandparents in New Orleans every summer, I know the rain doesn't last forever. This was different from the tornado dropping storms I endured in West Texas. I remember as a kid how the sun seemed to shine simultaneously with the rain and thunder that rumbled from the sky. So what's the sunshine during this stormy time of my life? 

The number 14 team in the nation. That's right folks, the TCU Horned Frogs. 

As I watched the worst team in the NFL pound my favorite team of worthless superstars, I had the pleasure of reading the first week rankings in the BCS poll. After TCU silenced Mormons and BCS voters alike on Thursday night who regarded BYU as the BSC Buster this year, I figured TCU would at best be 17.... and hey, I'd be pretty thrilled about that. We're in the Mountain West, I know how the rankings work and I completely understand why. But fourteenth in the nation?? Just one behind the reigning national champs, LSU? Awesome. 

And after last week's performance, why shouldn't they be 14th? Any critic can say BYU didn't show up prepared, and that's why they lost the game. But any critic can also say that TCU showed up prepared and showed up the Cougars. Why? Because, they were the better team. I think even if BYU had played their best football yet, the Frogs would've come out with a win. And honestly, I'm still shocked by TCU's performance. Not so much by Jerry Hughes and the defense (6 sacks... just a walk in the park for these guys), but by the other side of the ball. 

For the past two years, my fellow TCU students and I have found games rather... well, boring as all get out. While TCU's defense has reigned best in the country for two years now, their offense has been less then dazzling. Even with TCU officials demolishing all student tailgates this past season, it's been hard to even get the student section half full. This is because, like I said, games have been excruciatingly boring.  Grass growing has been more thrilling. However, that's still NO excuse for students not to support their team. But I digress. 

Since I've been a student here, TCU has yet to have a really exciting QB. Don't get me wrong, Andy Dalton is good... but that's about it. I can't say it's all his fault. He doesn't call the plays. All fans wanted was a little excitement. Throw a deep a ball down the sideline... hell throw a ball past the first down marker. Watching running back Ryan Christian run the ball for a few yards gets a little repetitive after a while. And I think opposing defenses were starting to get the point. According to the Horned Frog radio broadcast on ESPN, a BYU player was credited of saying the team was prepared for the game, because they had studied every play TCU had run this season. 

Too bad that wasn't enough...

Before the game, I had received some inside information from someone close to the team that former high school quarterback and now receiver Jeremy Kerley would take a few snaps during the game. Feeling pretty important that I had the "inside scoop," I told surrounding fans at the game my breaking news. Few believed me, and of the one or two who did, they weren't too optimistic. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I definitely didn't expect a rerun of the Miami Dolphins pounding of Ronnie Brown against the Patriots. But that's exactly what the nation got. 

Kerley finished with 77 yards... rushing yards that is. By adding a little kick to the playbook, TCU was able to dominate a team with talent (No, San Diego State doesn't count). Isn't that groundbreaking??? Seems like it since it took the coaches long enough to figure it out. 

If the Frogs can get past Wyoming and UNLV (which they easily should), their biggest test will be against a Utah team with an explosive offense and just as dominating defense. It doesn't help that TCU will be facing the currently 11th ranked Utes on their own turf. 

Will the Frogs continue this "wildcat" formation? And if they do, will it work? Hell, they might as well try and I think they will. It worked in the Dolphins' following game against San Diego. I know college ball isn't the same as pro ball, but I can't help but look at that and be just a tad optimistic. Who knows what else Coach P. has up his sleeves?

After two years of watching the state of Utah dominate the Mountain West, it's time for TCU to step up and reclaim their conference title. And as long as the Frogs play with the same heart, attitude, and explosion they did against BYU, and as long as they stay healthy, the Frogs should outshine the rest. 

They giveth, and they taketh away...

I remember one Christmas morning when I ran down the stairs anxious to see the display of gifts Santa always left for me, when my feet came to a screeching halt. My gifts were gone. There were no gifts to begin with. "Oh you didn't know?" my sister said to me. "Santa didn't come this year."

Flash forward a few years and the feeling returns. It was around 2 p.m. on Tuesday when I heard Pacman (Even though he prefers "Adam," I will continue to call him as his old image, because we all know he hasn't changed) has been suspended for at least 4 weeks. Wow just pile it on. Here I am, promised a Super Bowl win at the beginning of the year to have two losses, Romo gone, and now Pac gone after just six games. It was that horrible Christmas feeling all over again.

My misery didn't last too long however.

As I drew my shades, crawled into bed (yeah at 4 p.m.) and began to sink into a deep and dark depression, I got a phone call from my friend JB (Your welcome, JB) . Turns out Santa has brought one gift. BREAKING NEWS: ROY WILLIAMS IS A COWBOY.

HALLE freakin LUJAH.

Are you kidding me? Owens, Witten, Barber, AND Roy Williams on one offense?? It's a dream come true! Without a secondary, our key to winning will be to outscore the opponent, so this will be easy; even with a statue like Brad Johnson as our quarterback. What did we trade him for? Which draft pick did we lose?

Slam the breaks right about now...

A 1st, 3rd and 6th round pick in the 09 Draft.... seriously? The Patriots get Randy Moss for a 4th rounder and we trade 3 picks for a receiver who hasn't done anything since he's been in the league? Looks like that gift Santa left was meant for some one else... the Detroit Lions. Don't get me wrong, I think Williams is a monster in waiting who just needs to be on the right team, and I think Dallas fits the bill. But is he really worth 3 draft picks? The Lions made out like bandits in this one
... that is of course if they can actually make a decent draft choice for once in their lives. But hey, this could be the turn around of a deflated organization. With Matt Millen gone, and now three extra picks.... ok I'm getting ahead of myself.

Am I devastated? No, but I'm not completely optimistic. As a Texas native, Roy Williams has made it no secret he wanted to get out of a gimpy Detroit organization at any cost. But it was specifically Big D where he wanted to have his locker. So we know he' s happy, but what about T.O.? Oh, I think we'll find out soon enough.

It's not this year I'm too worried about. It's that ripple affect that can always come back and bite you in the rear. Will the loss of three picks become our grave digger? Let's hope not, but only time will tell.

Oh and at least there's one more piece of good news. We get a draft pick from the Titans thanks to our boy Pacman.

Thank you Pac, for just being yourself.

Repeat? Who the heck knows...

The sweetest song I've heard this season is the chanting of the Cleveland Browns crowd yelling "OVERRATED! clap clap OVERRATED!" to an undefeated Giants team with 4 minutes left in the game. And no Picasso painting is more masterful than the view of Eli Manning's hanging head mixed with Tom Coughlin's famous scowling face that screams "HUH??" 

I'm a die hard Cowboys fan, so after their performance against the Cardinals (and the Bengals... and the Redskins) I'm relieved to see the 'Skins and now the G-Men fall in the same week. But this just shows one real thing. 

Hype sucks. 

The NFC BEAST... really? I want to regurgitate every time I hear that phrase. Interesting enough however, the so called "experts" have become a little more conservative on throwing out that description. And thank God for that. Being reminded you're the best doesn't help you be the best, and that was apparent with the collapse of the 3 "best" teams in the division. Since the NFC Beast has become the NFC least, who's the best team in the NFL now? 

It used to be the Cowboys, until they turned into the Yankees of the NFL. It is beyond me why Superstars can't play... oh wait there it is again... the hype. There was an argument for the Redskins, but nope they screwed it up. Oh yeah and the reigning / already crowned by many 2009 champs looked no better than a powder puff football team. (Sorry ladies, we're level with men on many things, but our play on the gird iron isn't one of them.)

The same thing happened to the Patriots last year and it's happening again. You're crowned the best and BAM - out of no where you're kicked in the gut by a bunch of nobodies. 

But hold up a second? What about that undefeated team? Who? You don't know? The Titans... who are they?? You wouldn't know, because no one seems to talk about them. But I've yet to tune into the NFL Network since Sunday, so we'll see who the royalty of the league is. If it is the Titans, then odds are things many not bode too well next week... even though they face the lowly Chiefs. 

And as for my Cowboys... for a lack of a better term... they stink. And I hope they pick up a paper and read about it soon. Because right now, they're the cockiest third place team I've ever seen. They should be sent to the grave yard by everyone now with Romo and Felix out. But maybe, just maybe, with the media counting them out, Big D can manage to (for once) put away a team this year (even if it's with a 56 year old QB). 

Dallas travels to the STL to face a 1-5 Rams team... a Rams team that just beat who?? That's right, the Washington Redskins. Not the match up you thought it'd be, eh? It should turn out to be another interesting week in the National Football League. 

Should be committed...

What's the difference between Fidel Castro and Al Davis? They're both stubborn/crazy dictators who seem to defy human nature by avoiding death and reigning in positions of extreme power for all eternity. Yeah... I'm not seeing much of a difference. 

As harsh as this sounds, there's no stopping crazy Al Davis until well... he has a nice little visit with St. Peter. It seems like there should be someone (ANYONE) who can stop the antics of the craziest old man in professional sports. Al Davis is out of his rocker. 

First of all, some one needs to let Al realize that he's not a coach. He shouldn't have the authority to decide what plays are made, how they're made, and who makes them. Of course yeah, he hires the coaches. But it's the job of the head coach to be the king of the team. Whenever a coach is brought in, 9.5 times out of 10, it is the head coach that chooses his coaching staff. Unfortunately for Lane Kiffin, he falls in that .5%. He didn't get that option, and now it's costing him his job. 

Everyone in the world thought Ol' Al was crazy when he hired a seemingly inexperienced guy in his early 30s to take over one of the most storied franchises in the NFL. And now we think he's crazy to fire him. Yeah, so the Raiders look as good as a Bill Parcells in a swimsuit (eek), but hell, they do have a win on the season. That's more than what the Chargers could say after two weeks. Da' Raidas did beat a lousy KC team, but they played what appears to be a pretty good Buffalo team down to the wire. Look at their roster for heaven's sakes. They have basically a rookie qb and a true rookie rb. They're young and still in the process of rebuilding. And the players respect this "kid" they call "Coach."  They want to play for him.  

But Noooo, Al Davis gets in one little tiff and the noose is tied. It's only a matter of time before the floor comes out from undeneath Kiffin.  Until Davis realizes this is not the same team (or the same game for that matter) the Raiders of the 1970s and 1980s played in, Raider Nation has little hope for a story that has a happy ending. 

Davis hasn't been all so bad to Kiffin... at least in the past he wasn't.  It was in fact Al who established Kiffin's career by hiring him as a no name. And now he'll do Kiffin a favor by firing him. When (it better happen soon, I'm sick of hearing it everyday on every radio/TV sports broadcast) Kiffin is fired, he'll leave the Al Davis regime a rich and relieved man. And believe you me, he will have a job. 

And as for the poor bastard who takes Kiffin's spot, he and the city of Oakland will have little hope until Davis croaks. 

... and the same goes for Cuba. 

lucy, you have some 'splainin' to do...

When you hear catfish, you think sports of course. Yeah ok, so it makes absolutely no sense and it's kinda strange... but so am I so it all works. I was given the odd nickname (including many others) by my father as a kid, and it just stuck (only in my family that is... let's keep it that way.) I just figured that unless a person was writing a blog on fishing or spearing, I'd have a pretty unique name that's pretty easy to remember. I think it's a little better than "Caroline's Sports Blog." 

caught in the act

A good chunk of the media is liberal. It's just something that seems only natural these days. The idea of fair and balanced news is a sick joke, we all know that. But I've always said I wanted to do sports, because yes, politics are still involved, but not in the cruel and vicious way the big networks of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdock handle it. Unfortunately, that wonderful four letter sports organization we know too well, as shown their true colors. 

A few weeks ago, they aired an interview with presidential hopeful Barack Obama. In the interview, he is shown shooting hoops with Stuart Scott; one of the most famous and most recognized (not just because of that lazy eye) personalities. It proved to be an interview that would sure enough grab the viewer, whether or not you liked the guy or not. 

So tonight, I'm in my nightly routine of getting ready for bed/watching SportsCenter, the McCain interview airs. What does it consist of? One shot. No variety. Just McCain sitting, talking, and boring the audience, as Bob Ley (oh, what an attention getter!) asks him dry questions about boxing, steroids, and Palin. There's no other action, no excitement, no nothing. Now yes, I know McCain has quite a few years on Obama, and he probably couldn't handle getting in the ring to show off his favorite sport, but hell, at least let him walk in the park or something! And yeah, Obama is naturally more exciting than McCain, but they went ahead and let Obama do exciting things. I don't care if you're conservative, liberal, black, white, or purple... something just seems fishy.  

Now am I going to boycott practically the only television news I watch? Well of course not. The network is what it is for a reason, and it's still the place I want to end up some day. (Yeah I dream big, so what?) I can't help but wonder though if these packages were filmed/arranged/edited the way they were for a specific reason... just a thought. Blame my professors for my cynicism. I guess it's the journalist in me.