SB Nation User Blog: Cal in DC

Romo vs. Woods vs. Boehner

Cal in DC — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:05:10 -0000

I'll be getting up early tomorrow to see the 0630 Tee Time with Tony Romo, Tiger Woods and Rep John Boehner at Congressional Country Club...Catch the latest info here: www.attnational.org. I expect there to be a lot of "boos" from the local deadskins, but I also want to see a lot of Cowboy Colors cheering him on - I think he can take Tiger in the first 15 holes...its the last 3 I worry about *(HA!)

Poll

What do you think Tony will shoot against Tiger Woods at the AT&T National Pro-Am?

2 Under Par - Great score for a single-digit handicapper like Tony

6 votes

Even Par - Solid round, unrattled by Deadskin Boos..

9 votes

2 Over Par - Not bad, but not going to make headlines

11 votes

10 over Par - Has a decent round until he crumbles under the pressure of the last 3 holes!

7 votes

33 votes | Poll has closed

Zorn having some trouble sleeping..wonder why? ""I think you could find me just doing this," he...

Cal in DC — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:11:58 -0000

Zorn having some trouble sleeping..wonder why?
""I think you could find me just doing this," he said, breaking off his news conference to stare blankly into space. "And then I can talk, and we can have a little conversation, and then all of the sudden you'll see me doing [this]," he said, again staring into space for several seconds. "You get caught just staring at the woodwork, thinking about what went on. That's what I was doing in bed last night, just looking up and staring, focusing up on some of those things that happened. It's hard. It's not, not fun."

Zorn said he got "a couple hours" of sleep, and his players agreed. Some, like Rabach, woke up before dawn to watch cartoons and drink hot cocoa with their kids. Others, like Wilson, said they're accustomed to not sleeping after games.

"That's the nature of the beast," he said. "That's just the minor toughness of this profession."

I asked him what the major toughness was. "Shoot, beating the Cowboys," Wilson said. "THAT's tough."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2008/11/redskins_have_trouble_sleeping.html

Did someone say Training Camp?

Cal in DC — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 01:55:53 -0000

That's right, word is we might be heading back to lovely southern Cal! Grizz gave me the inside scoop on all the ways to get autographs and good seats at last year's Training Camp, and now the Cowboys are considering using the River Ridge facility once again - For Free! (My favorite four letter F-word!) Apparently some real estate developers bought the land last year from the city, and are offering it to the Cowboys to use next year.

According to the Ventura County - Star:

Rich Dalrymple,director of public relations for the Cowboys, said Tuesday no decision has been made on whether the team will return to Oxnard for one year because of potential problems with its current training facilities in Texas.

Did anyone know about these problems? San Antonio's loss would be Ventura County's gain. That's a nice place to visit, especially when you frequent on Navy business trips!! Seriously, Santa Barbara, the beach and LA are great locations nearby that make for a nice trip with your family.

Oxnard Mayor Tom Holden confirmed Friday that officials with the Cowboys called about a month ago to see if holding camp at River Ridge would be possible if things couldn't be worked out in San Antonio, where the Cowboys moved their training camp in 2007.

I wonder if we make reservations at the Residence Inn at River Ridge now, will the management honor them during training camp?

Anyway, got me thinking...Take my poll to vote on where you would like the Cowboys to have training camp in 08!

Poll

Where should the Cowboys hold Training Camp in 2008?

Oxnard, CA ( River Ridge ) -- Return to a great spot

23 votes

Washington, DC ( FEDEX Field ) -- Show them how its done!

2 votes

San Antonio, TX ( Olmos Basin Park ) -- Because it worked well this year!

3 votes

Mexico City (American School Foundation Footbal lField) -- Viva El Romo!

2 votes

London, England ( Wembley Stadium ) -- To learn real FOOTBALL!

1 votes

Honolulu, HI (Hula Bowl) -- Since most of our players will be there anyway!

4 votes

Bristow, OK (Hafer Field) -- My hometown stadium (Awwwww)

3 votes

38 votes | Poll has closed

Georgia Tech's New Coach?

Cal in DC — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:37:15 -0000

Grizz,

I know how much you loved Chan Gailey, both as a Cowboys Coach and at G-Tech, but you may be in store for an amazing coach in Paul Johnson.

As a Navy alumni (BEAT ARMY! BEAT NOTRE DAME!), we have been ultra-blessed to have someone who won at Georgia Southern and applied that "win with what you got" attitude.

Everyone at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD are good, solid athletes. They are also smart. He takes these guys, trains them for 2-3 years in a system designed to maximize their limited ability, and creates winning programs that achieve Greatness.

This year's group of Seniors (we call them Firstie's) at Navy have won more games than any in academy history (even Roger Staubach's!). They have been nationally ranked, they have gone to 4 straight bowl games. They have beaten Army and Airforce 8 times, FINALLY beat Notre Dame (in South Bend) and Johnson has even garnered Coach of the Year.

Its tough to see him interview for a new job, but I figure if he leaves, he will have laid the groundwork for Navy to succeed in the future.

Need Redskins Jokes

Cal in DC — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:13:25 -0000

Don't know if we have a list of these or not, but I would love to have some ammo for the upcoming season.

Please post your favorite joke here....

Here's some good ideas:
Owner Dan Snyder just bought Six Flags and keeps buying Entertainment venues...

Coach Gibbs seems to only be successful when his team goes around in circles.

Lavar Arrington has to crash the party to get back into DC.

Did you notice the Skins drafted a guy named Landry and Dallas this year?

Ever watch a Skins game and notice the yellow streak of shame?

Pray for Darrent Williams family

Cal in DC — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 17:54:19 -0000

Hey all,

I just heard the terrible news that former Texas HS and Oklahoma State Cowboy was killed in a drive-by after the Broncos lost in OT to the 49ers.

Please pray for his family and lets remember that there is more to life than Football.

Here's a good post from O-State blog:
http://oklahomastate.scout.com/2/605658.html

And a good interview on how he had turned his life around:
http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_4753155

I wonder what the investigation will show, since it seems suspicious that he was shot in his limo.

Here's a wrap up with several links from the Denver Post:
http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4931937

RIP

What KFFL says about Giants Game

Cal in DC — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 00:00:37 -0000

I'm a Fantasy football fan, so here's what KFFL says about the Game:

They call for a Start'em for Jason Witten:

STRONG PLAY - TIGHT END
Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants

We probably don't need to provide you with a compelling argument to play a tight end that starts for one of the hottest offenses in the league. Witten should enjoy a solid game against an injury-plagued, faltering Giants' defense that has struggled against the tight end position. Looking at the last month, Witten has averaged four receptions and 41 receiving yards per game but hasn't scored. The team has targeted him an average of 5.3 times per contest (8 percent of the Cowboys' offense) overall, which includes an average of one target per game inside the red zone (8 percent of Dallas' red zone offense).

Since Week 9, the Giants' defense has yielded averages of 3.5 catches, 33 receiving yards and 0.5 touchdowns per contest to enemy tight ends. Since the Cowboys are loaded with playmakers in the passing game, you shouldn't automatically expect a huge game from Witten. He is a strong play as a borderline No. 1 fantasy tight end or injury replacement.

...and then call out these key matchups:

Cowboys LBs Akin Ayodele and Bradie James vs. Giants RB Tiki Barber
Barber ran for 114 yards against the Cowboys, the only rusher to go over 100 versus Dallas this season, and the Cowboys gave up a season-high 155 yards to the Giants in October. In four of his last five games versus Dallas, Barber has rushed for at least 95 yards. With the Giants wanting to take pressure off quarterback Eli Manning, Barber will likely be called on. The Cowboys have to do a better job versus the run in this game. Barber broke too many tackles in the first meeting. Ayodele and James have picked up their play in recent weeks. They are first and second on the team, respectively, in tackles. They must be able to prevent Barber from his cutbacks.

Giants TE Jeremy Shockey vs. Cowboys S Roy Williams
Shockey, who played the whole Tennessee game after dislocating his left ring finger in warmups, will face one of the hardest-hitting safeties in the league. But he had success against Williams the first time around, beating him for a touchdown reception. Shockey is second on the Giants with 44 receptions for 442 yards and five scores. Williams, meanwhile has shown himself as flawed in coverage as he is aggressive against the run. Still, he leads the Cowboys with five interceptions.

Cowboys WR Terrell Owens and WR Terry Glenn vs. Giants cornerbacks R.W. McQuarters
Cornerback R.W. McQuarters is tied for the team lead with two picks. Sam Madison (hamstring) may be healthy enough to start at right cornerback over McQuarters this week, however. With cornerback Corey Webster (toe) still suffering from a sprained toe, Frank Walker may again be starting at left cornerback. That's not good news, since Walker is one of the flakiest and most unpredictable players on the Giants' roster. He took a huge unnecessary roughness call last week when he forearmed Titans quarterback Vince Young at the end of a fourth-down scramble that would have fallen short of a first down. He's also good for the pass interference call, something that should be plentiful if he sees Owens enough. Owens appears to be a happier camper now that quarterback Tony Romo is at the controls and has responded well. Owens has eight touchdown catches to go along with 61 receptions for 831 yards. After sitting out Nov. 12 at Arizona with a knee injury, Glenn has caught 10 passes for 167 and two touchdowns in the last two games. He and Romo are starting to put together their own chemistry that is leading to big plays. Glenn had four catches for 41 yards in the first meeting with the Giants, with two catches coming from Romo in the second half when he took over for Drew Bledsoe. The Giants' aggressive corners may allow the Cowboys to try a double move with Glenn for the big play.

Cal's Take from FEDEX Field

Cal in DC — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 21:05:57 -0000

Ugh, here's my firsthand report, if any of you want to relive this fiasco....

We arrived 2 hours early for some great tailgating - there was a Cowboys tailgate for every 7 Redskins tailgaters....I can't complain - some Redskin co-workers had a nice setup with brauts and burgers and plenty of drinks to warm up with - the treated us well, as did most skin fans. The weather was fantastic, not the crisp autumn, but a mild comfortable sunny day, with a little hint of a breeze.

When we came into the stadium (which didn't fill up until the mid-first quarter - It always amazes me that people will spend hundreds of dollars to go to a game and then show up late), you could feel the definitive Cowboy fan presence. I estimate about 10-15,000 out of the 90,000 in the stadium were wearing Dallas colors. What I though was a good omen turned out not be....Four USAF F-22 Raptors did a smooth and impressive flyover after the National Anthem. I was hoping it was their way to honor Emmitt Smith's number (22).

The game started off as well as possible considering the circumstances. The Defensive stand really let the air out of the stadium - they recognized that if they spent all that time in the redzone and could only get 5 points, then they were in for a long day. Unfortunately, we didn't capitalize.

The mood of the stadium softened as Romo led the drive for the first TD, followed by a nice drive for 3. The Portis TD (which looked to me like a real hold on the left WR/CB) got the hometown riled up again. Even fans behind me were having their 8 year olds chant "Dallas Sucks, Dallas Sucks" - I commented to them that was a great thing to teach their children! ( I also hope we don't teach our Cowboy kids to cheer like that at Texas Stadium?) That seems to be the only thing the Skins fans can conjure up against us - whatever.

The last 3 pointer before the half really subdued the crowd. I'm convinced that when you end the half on a point, and begin the second half on a score, you really should win the game. The second half started off eerily quiet. The Cowboys got the ball and just came right down and scored - not only were people still getting beer and dogs, the fan base wasn't engaged, and we seemed to really be on the march. If TO catches that TD pass later in the 3rd, the crowd goes home, and the skins lose - I'm sure of it.

The 4th was a disaster. We couldn't stop the over the middle passes, and we couldn't seem to get the running game going again. Of course, Romo looked great and that pass/catch to Witten was beautiful. As we lined up to kick, the fans were lining up in the aisles. Then all hell broke loose - how can you lose the game with time up? and the facemask for 15? C'mon!

Going home, I was in a state of shock, as most of us Cowboy fans were dazed going back to our cars - there we were, moving the chains and putting ourselves into position to destroy the Skins season, earn bragging rights in DC the entire year, and it goes away in 3 seconds flat. The Skins fans were going crazy as we left the stadium, as they were just handed a "miracle" according to Gibbs.

3 Big issues that I saw cost us the game:
(1) Pressure - no pressure on Brunell meant that he could find the middle receiver slipping between the linebackers and the safety.

(2) Penalties - Crowd noise was most definitely a factor from the first play to the last. Even up in the nosebleeds it was deafening. The guys on the field must have really struggled to get used to Romo's voice in that noise.

(3) Position - From the start of the game, when V-jak bounced the kickoff, we seemed to be going uphill the entire time. The wind wasn't bad at all, so there shouldn't have been any reason why we couldn't kick off, punt off (safety) or punt better than we did. We also didn't have ANY return game - no holes for Skyler.

Bummer of a way to lose. We need to keep the positive vibes going here, guys, if we want to have some fun for the rest of the year. This one hurts, but we can still make it.

Lastly, it should be noted that during half-time, two heroes from Iraq were awarded the Purple Heart - to a standing ovation. Great to see!