Yeah, you read it right.

While the media is focused on reminding the free world that Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys have an abysmal record in December - you know, the month that sees them slide - nobody else gets that treatment.

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Since it's Rivalry week, I wanted to reintroduce one of PegLeg's (a.k.a., #7 for that other team) most insightful interviews ... This occurred in 2006 after the melee between the University of Miami and Florida International. Now, we all know that the Hurricanes say they're from the "U" ... Apparently, this professional broadcaster missed that ...

You can't make this stuff up ...

With the confirmation of DeMarcus Ware's contract extension, a question was posed as to how the salary cap works. A complete answer, with all of the legal terminology and cross-references to sections, items and subsections, could put grown men into the fetal position for an extended period of time.

So in an effort to convey some of the basics, I can only impart what I understand to be the essential concepts of the Salary Cap. For those who want to be brave, you can read the Collective Bargaining Agreement at the NFL Players website. Good luck with that!

To start, you will have to know what specific terms mean, such as Paragraph 5 Salary, Rule of 51, Proration and the like.

So let's get started.

More after the jump ...

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Sloppy play has once again dominated the discussion about the Cowboy’s performance. And once again, the mental mistakes andlack of execution made this team look horrible. There were a total of 15 penalties, however two were not taken, both of which occurred on the Chiefs' eighth drive, which netted them 3 points:

On 2nd and 3 from the Dallas 49, Igor Olshansky was called for offsides (an epidemic on this drive), but the Chiefs took the gain on the play for a first down.

On 2nd and 6 from the Dallas 37, Jay Ratliff was called for, you guessed it, offsides. However, Kansas City was called for holding and the penalties offset. Ironically, the holding was on the lineman who was trying to keep Ratliff out of the backfield because, well, he was offsides.

Here’s a summary of the penalties and mistakes:

7 Offensive penalties:

• Ineligible Downfield: 1
• False Start: 3
• Offensive Holding: 2
• Illegal Formation: 1

6 Defensive penalties

• Defensive Holding: 1
• Offsides: 3
• Pass Interference: 1
• Unnecessary Roughness: 1

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The National Institute of Standards and Technology released a draft report today for public comment which identified design flaws in the structure as causing the collapse on May 2 of this year.

Specifically, the wind loads caused by the storm were greater than the capacity of the frame, which eventually led to structural failure of the building.

A total of 12 people were injured, 1 seriously.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recommend a load capacity of 90 mph for this area, yet the report indicates that speeds were in the range of  55-60 mph during the wind event.

"Our investigation found that the facility collapsed under a wind load that a building of this type would be expected to withstand," said John Gross, the head of the study.

The report details a possible sequence of events that led to the collapse:

• Buckling of the inner chord, or inner side of the roof truss, of a frame in a section of the roof on the east side resulted in a kink in the frame.
• Failures of the east and west connections between the side walls and the roof allowed the frame to sway eastward with the wind.
• Compressive failure of the east side at the roof’s ridge led to fractures of the nearby inner and outer chords in the vicinity of the ridge.
• A progression of frame failures throughout the structure resulted in total structural collapse.

Cowboys scout Rich Behm was seriously injured in the accident and is paralyzed below the waist. Special teams coach Joe DeCamillis was also injured, sustaining a neck injury, and is recovering.

Giants vs Cowboys coverage

Home opener in the new stadium - big events are probably planned. Shout out if you will be at the game ...

No, it's not a throw-back doo-wop band ... I wanted to give everyone an update on where we stand on the preseason game against the Tennessee Titans on August 21st.

If you are not sure what I'm referring to, you can check out Paul's post on the tragedy that his family has had to deal with. 

BTB Bloggers have shown a generosity that makes me proud of this community. At this point, we have had one blogger step up and donate frequent flyer miles to take care of the flight and another use Marriott points to take care of the hotel room. Donations are going to a VISA gift card that will be at the check-in counter when Paul and Tammy arrive. I've given the hotel an authorization form to be used  to cover room taxes and other fees that Marriott points do not cover - they tell me that should be about $50. That keeps Paul and Tammy from having to deal with any out of pocket expenses.

I'm also working on transportation to and from the airport since there is no shuttle to the hotel. I'll be sending Paul those arrangements once completed. Other than that, everything is in place.

I'm going to keep the link up through the end of Friday, in case anyone wants to contribute. That gives me enough time to get the VISA card and mail it to the hotel to be waiting for check-in. A huge thank you to those who have donated.

Again, thanks to everyone.

UPDATE: I've removed the donations button as I've sent the gift cards out. Thanks to everyone who donated.

OK, so I'm no technician for the crime lab. And I don't claim to be an expert in handwriting (just ask my wife). But peering into the deep crevace that is all of the he-said, she-said of whether Lucille Hester is truly the sister, half-sister or play-sister [sic] of Bob Hayes, I start to feel like I'm watching a cross between episodes of CSI and The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.

So let's look at something that cannot, or at least would be difficult to, lie - the autograph. This could let me know whether what was read truly came from Bob Hayes.

The good folks over at DallasBasketball.com have continually harped on one piece of evidence, and that is the differences between the autograph on Bob Hayes' player card and the Hayes autograph on the letter that Hester read after the announcement of his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

So I decided to take a closer look. Again, I'm no expert but some differences are clearly obvious.

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OK, for those who are curious, we've heard $12 million, $9 million, $680,000, both $12 million plus $9 million.

What's a fan to believe??

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This week's look at The Leon award is about the Offensive MVP. While we may joke and guffaw that it was, well, offensive, we none the less have candidates on this side of the ball that are deserving when looking at the entire season.

The 2008 Leons

Offensive MVP

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Welcome to this new feature at Blogging The Boys, where we vote and hand out The Leon, a soon-to-be prestigious award for members of the Dallas Cowboys. What we want to do is have our own vote for most valuable players for the Cowboys and get your opinion on who you voted for and why.

This week we are looking at the defense.

The 2008 Leons

Defensive MVP

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This was at KissingSuzyKolber.com and, after deciding I'm "over it", O kinda got a good chuckle out of it ...

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Yesterday former Vikings wide receiver and current NFL analyst Cris Carter made the comment that if the Cowboys made a playoff run it would be a disgrace.

While on ESPN radio, Carter made the following quote:

"I mean, it's a discredit to all the things that we sacrifice when we put together a football team. I would be surprised. If you can do that, I would be shocked. I've been around the league a long time. I'd be shocked. Because the NFL, part of the story is talent. There are other stories, and they do have the talent thing, but they also have the dysfunction thing down pat, too."

Unfortunately, Carter seems to have forgotten his own history, where he and teammate Randy Moss repeatedly tossed quarterback Daunte Culpepper under the bus when things didn't go their way.

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The Dallas Cowboys official website is reporting that RB Marion Barber is out for this week's game against the Steelers. Barber didn't make the trip.

Barber was held out of practice all week with a dislocated toe. The Cowboys will turn to rookie Tashard Choice and signed Alonzo Coleman from the practice squad as a backup.

Yes, it's that time of year again, when the long list of names gets thrown into a large pile and slowly the names get whittled down to the fortunate few who are selected for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And, once again, the discussion eventually gets around to those poor souls who have been overlooked. The past few years, the name that was continually brought up was Art Monk, who was inducted this past year with Michael Irvin.

But the poster-child for snubs, in my not-so-unbiased opinion, is the Cowboys' own "Bullet" Bob Hayes.

That Hayes revolutionized the game is not in dispute. He and he alone is the reason that the zone defense was invented. With his speed, he would simply outrun other defenders.

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With all due respect to Manfred Mann and Bob Dylan:

Come all without, come all within
You'll not see playing from the mightly Quinn

When Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo fractured his 5th metacarpal in overtime against the Arizona Cardinals in October, he received a phone call from his childhood hero, Brett Favre, who told him that if he could play through the pain, he should.

Everyone made light of it, saying that Romo needed shouldn't have needed to be pushed to play, that he should suck it up and play. It was, after all, "only a pinkie."

After trying during the week of practice, Romo and the team determined he couldn't go. That decision was applauded by Capt. Comeback himself.

Last week, Browns once-back-up-now starting quarterback Brady Quinn reported that he broke the tip of his index finger but would play against the Houston Texans last Sunday night. He did, and promptly was ushered back to the location where he started the season - the bench.

Now, according to Jay Glaser at Fox Sports, Quinn is being placed on injured reserve and will miss the rest of the season.

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