Now, with all the drama around the Owens/Witten/Romo/Garrett stuff, this isn't the first time that the race card has come up. Stephen A. Smith said, apparently, that black players were supporting T.O. and mentioned white players were cheered before the Giants game while T.O. was booed.

Marshall Faulk also brought up race in regards to the Cowboys' turmoil. And the topic is getting a lot of run throughout the internet as people evaluate the reporting and presentation of the Cowboys' purported chemistry concerns.

Myself and Rafael, as well, just yesterday discussed the possible perception that there is a racial component to what is going on regarding the criticism of T.O. There really isn't any way around the issue, in my mind, and it is being brought up in a number of places.

Here's a new instance of the racial dimension surrounding these matters being raised, and one I was not aware of until I read the article that containted the information by FOX Sports' John Czarnecki:

During the search process, columnists and writers for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch started revealing flaws in Garrett's résumé — basically, that he's a very young coach who hasn't won a playoff game. But when the subject came to players, it was voiced that Garrett had a difficult time coaching black players. That is such a ridiculous assertion, but it gained so much steam in St. Louis that the fans accepted it as fact. On the day that Garrett thought he had a shot at becoming the head coach, the final paragraph in a Post-Dispatch news story was that hundreds of fans called the team's ticket office to complain about a Garrett hiring.

I could not find the original piece(s) that Czarnecki was referring to from the St. Louis paper. Perhaps someone else can help out with this.

Czarnecki says that, essentially, it's Owens' fault for what happened with the St. Louis writers and fans. That's absurd, in my opinion, unless Owens personally called those writers up himself and fed them lines.

Here's my take: When you have various media outlets taking what appear to be wanton rips at a black player, saying he's jealous of a white player and essentially questioning his basic sanity by putting out that the player feels two white players are designing plays to exclude him, and when things such as Cris Carter's saying that he would put a bullet in T.O. are barely even covered, you're likely to draw a healthy dose of scrutiny from people who feel Owens is being persecuted. That's the danger of going out of your way to pillory someone to the extent that T.O. is hounded by entities like ESPN.

Thus, even if your vitriol would be just as vile towards a white or Latino player, you end up being on the defensive and scheduling Stephen A. Smith to interview T.O. for your network (with an appearnace by Michael Irvin) so as to cool off the heat. We are in a new historical era here in America and there also exists a greater level of consciousness about, and intolerance towards, what is perceived to be racially-tainted bias against people. Ask incoming Illinois Senator Roland Burris, or President Barack Obama. People are not as willing to let things pass as they might once have been, and if groups such as ESPN go too far, in some people's minds, they will hear about it. I think that's a good thing.

That having been said, I think ESPN would dislike Owens no matter what the color of his skin was. I don't think they're racist, just vindictive towards T.O. I feel the same way about guys like Peter King regarding their statements on Terrell. There are cultural differences, to be sure, between many of the media that covers pro athletes and a number of those who compete in those endeavors, but I think that a good number of the people who dislike Owens (think Carter and Keyshawn) would find fault in him regardless of his heritage.

This information on Garrett and the St. Louis job is a bombshell to me. I hadn't heard about this at all, and I don't know what to say about how real or not the "can't coach black players" supposed label is as regards Jason. However, if people both within and without the organization feel that there is something to this story or perception, then Jason Garrett--the Red Headed Genius--may be in worse shape than I thought he was, and I thought he was on pretty shaky ground to begin with following his getting dinged by several teams for their head coaching spot and after his reported 'me-or-him' ultimatum to the Cowboys about Owens (this becomes more problematic now as Garrett, by being dinged on his head coaching search, has lost his negotiating leverage with Dallas). Not to mention Romo having basically called him out following the Philly debacle, to go along with others in the locker room who aren't RHG fans. All of this, taken together with the concept that the league caught up with Garrett this year, may be why, as Czarnecki mentions, rumors that Jerry Jones wouldn't be so unhappy if Garrett were to leave began in the first place.

What do you guys think? Has anyone seen this/these supposed story/stories in the St Louis Post-Dispatch or on St. Louis radio? I knew not a thing about any of this until like two hours ago.

Just in case you weren't sure if any more dirt could be placed on the grave:

Eli goofs on Tony

"I am just going to have a pretty relaxing week up here," said Manning, who quarterbacked the Giants to the NFC's top seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. "No plans to travel or do anything. My plans to Cabo fell through, so I am going to sit here. That is a joke, by the way."

Our next playoff win can not come soon enough.

Update #3:

Barry Horn of the DMN says our game is likely to be moved to the 4 PM slot. This would make the first part of Update #2 irrelevant (that is, that games can't be moved to a different time on the same network), and goes to the second point of my original post. Here are Horn's thoughts:

http://sportsmediablog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/12/cowboys-eagles-in-week-17-will.html

Hat tip to DC_fan (see his comment below) for this information.

One remark about this, however, per the second point of Update #2:

I think there is still a chance the game is kept at 1 PM because of the lure of Philly not being mathematically eliminated yet (provided Tampa and/or Chicago win next week {and that Chicago wins tomorrow night against GB} if they play at 1 PM and Philly plays at 4 PM). That is, if the game is shown later and Philly is mathematically out of the playoff running, fewer people could tune in.

If I had to guess, I would go with what Horn is saying. That was the original point of my first post. The Cowboys are such a draw that even if the game comes after Philly is eliminated earlier in the day, a large audience can still be expected to watch Dallas to see if they make or are eliminated from the playoffs, as well as to see the entire Philly-Terrell Owens-Donovan McNabb angle play out.

It also must be pointed out that Horn's thoughts on this matter came several days ago (his post is from Dec 18). Thus, considerations for playoff eligibility and the like regarding the Eagles for this game might not have entered into Horn's thoughts at the time. I hope Horn's right; that could make the Cowboys' task much easier if Philly knows their season is over right around tip off time of their game with Dallas.

 

*

 

Update #2:

DieSlowKeyshawn said over in the main blog post on this subject that the network/NFL can not change the time of the kickoff on the same network. That is, that the start time could not be moved from 1 PM to 4 PM. I don't know if this is correct or not, but I wanted to pass it along. If this is true, then all of my post should be ignored.

It seems that games have been moved in the past to maximize viewership for doubleheaders (both CBS and FOX have doubleheaders next week), but I don't know the rules. Also, the NFL may not want to move the Dallas-Philly game because if they make it later, fewer people may watch if they know that Philly has already been eliminated. That would make sense, and would argue for having the Denver-San Diego game in prime time Sunday night as nothing that happens earlier in the day can affect the importance of that game.

*

Update #1:

Here's the official clarification (my bad, Rafael and others who had this correct):

http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/12/16/clarification-of-rules-puts-cowboys-eagles-back-in-play-for-prime-time/

The rule, per NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, is that up to three teams may play up to six times in prime-time.

That is, even though we and the Eagles had 5 prime time appearances so far this year (the normal limit for NFL teams), this clarification makes it clear the Philly-Dallas game was still eligible to be flexed.

PFT had updated their info since I last took a look there. Sorry about that.

I'll keep what I wrote below, with the caveat that it appears as though we were not picked for the game, but we still might benefit from the 1 PM/4 PM scheduling with FOX for our tilt with Philly.

 

*

 

Ok, first things first.

I'm only writing this post to help let people know that Dallas wasn't "dissed" for the Sunday night spot, and to still give some hope for the scheduling of next week's games.

I am almost certain (actually now less certain; see Aussie Cowboy's first comment below, as well as my response) that the Dallas-Philly game was never eligible to be flexed into the Sunday night spot. Others have written comments saying that the San Diego-Denver game has been put in the time slot, which would make sense as it is a win-and-in for both teams.

The reason why the Dallas game could not be flexed to Sunday night was because the Cowboys and the Eagles have each participated in 5 prime time games this year, the maximum the NFL allows. Thus, this matchup was not permitted to be moved into a night spot.

However, what still could happen, and be in our favor, is if we are rescheduled to play at 4 PM instead of 1 PM and the Tampa and/or Chicago games (if Chicago wins tomorrow) are made/kept at 1 PM. That way, if either of those teams win (pending CHI wins tomorrow), then when our game is starting, or soon thereafter, PHI would know they are out of the playoffs even if they win. As you might imagine, that could be enormously beneficial to Dallas' chances in the contest.

I'm almost certain FOX can make this move, and I believe that they will make it. Of the various NFC teams still competing for a playoff spot, we (and the Eagles) are by far the 'sexiest' team still in the hunt. Especially considering both teams could go into the game mathematically alive for the final NFC playoff spot (the only NFC game next weekend with that possibility).

My guess is this move will be made, and you will see our game go to 4 PM and, at least, the Tampa game stays at 1 PM. If all works out as it should, Philly will know at kickoff or very shortly following it that they are done, and it's time to play Kolb, rest Westbrook, etc. Not saying that will happen, but it would be much more likely, even if Philly's staff won't say that publicly.

Keep your fingers crossed on the schedulemaking here.