SB Nation User Blog: ibleed blue

No where near the ledge.

ibleed blue — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 03:06:11 -0000

I am needing to vent - so I'll take the plunge and do it through a diary. I'm still a little numb - but I'll try to get past the emotions of the exit tonight and actually write something that is coherent.

The loss tonight did not surprise me. I am not like some of the guys that post on BTB that said our woes the last month of the season were not that big a deal because they did not mean as much.

EVERY game means something in the NFL. If you can't get up for a season finale against a division rival, there is a bigger problem. If your not playing for the win - at least play for some pride. That is a reflection on the coaching. And for that matter - so were all the penalties tonight. We have finished poorly the past 3 seasons and that is a BIG deal.

As for Tony - let me say first that he IS our QB of the future. I think he has shown promise and he is a good guy. He had a great year - and deserves the recognition from such a season. Now here's what dissapoints me about him. He lost his composure tonight. He was not a leader on the field. Yeah, he had guys in his face all night - but he also made some silly mistakes. I can forgive the mistakes - he earned that. What I can't stand is that he loses his cool in the same 2 week period that he took a vacation to mexico. I know..... a bunch of you think it was no big deal. But at the end of the day, I feel the same way about that as I do all of his celebrity crap - it just does not sit right. Listen to what the ex-player commentaters said - the ones we respect. They said they would not have gone on vacation. I'm just fed up with all the celebrity crap - and nobody can deny that Tony completely embraces it. i still say - make your news on the field, not off of it.

I started this diary wanting to put down several more thoughts - but I am mentally drained and feeling better now that I vented about Tony Romeo.

Grizz - it seems like yesterday that I was reading all your training camp postings. Thanks for staying solid all season and giving us a place to find centralized coverage.

Ingrediants for Success

ibleed blue — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 14:56:54 -0000

Why the Cowboys are primed for an NFL record 9th Super Bowl appearance (in order):

Tony Romo - a top 3 candidate for League MVP

1a. Offensive Line - a top 3 OL in NFL

Demarcus Ware - a top 3 candidate for Def. Player of the Year. Plays the run, pass rush and pass coverage combined as good as anyone in the league.

Pass Rush - 2nd in the league. Ware (13.5) and Ellis (12) make up over half of our total - 43. They are both in the top 5 for sacks in the league.

Receiving Corps - Witten is the NFL's best TE and only Randy Moss has more TDs than TO.

One of the best tandems of young coordinators in the league: Jason Garrett will be highly coveted after this season due to his play calling and his ability to unify the offensive unit. Brian Stewart has us in the top 10 in almost every defensive category.

Special Teams - Folk, McBriar, and Keith Davis

Head Coach - Infused much needed personality and trust in his players to get the job done. He took the team that Parcells built - to the next level.

Front Office - Jerry benefitted from watching Parcells over the past few years and had a GREAT off-season in Free Agency.

One of the best young RBs in the league - Marion Barber.

This team is built to be good for several years to come. We are locking up some key pieces and have some guys "waiting in the wings" that will be contributing more in the near future:
Isaiah Stanback
Pat Watkins
Anthony Spencer
Pat McQuistan
Sam Hurd
Jason Hatcher
Doug Free
Tony Fasano
Miles Austin

Unbelievable

ibleed blue — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 05:05:22 -0000

Home field advantage baby.....

OK - I have not posted in a while - but I read every day. I just got back from a sports bar in Holland, MI - I am up here on business.

I could not believe all the Lions fans rooting for the Packers - their division rival. It just goes to show the jealousy that the country feels towards our Boys. I did however get a couple of beers paid for by the few Cowboys fans in the bar.

I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed Al Harris getting beat all night.

11-1. We are for real.

Romo & Newman Interviews

ibleed blue — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 16:48:44 -0000

I am not sure if anyon has posted these comments before - but I received the latest copy of the Dallas Cowboy Star, and it included an article on Romo by Kristi Scales.

Talking about escorting Carrie to the CMAs:

"....I might have gone to awards shows before, but I didn't sit on the third row. All of a sudden, you guys (the media)know about it now. But my life hasn't changed.
Here's the thing, anyone who knows me knows how much I'm up here (at Valley Ranch)and how much I work. To the average person though, whether I play in a golf tournament or talk to a girl, all of a sudden it's like 'Oh, he's never talked to a girl before! He must be thinking about girls.' It just kind of cracks me up the way people care about that stuff and assume that it's taking your mind away from football."

Good point.

Then talking about walking the line between committing to too much off the field:

"....It's a fine line you have there. I've probably turned down 90-95% of the things I get......It probably helps me to stay here. I live here year-round and I'm here at Valley Ranch all the time. I might get away for a weekend or something because sometimes it's good to get your buddies together and get away for two or three days.....So I'll get a couple of buddies together and get away a little bit, then come back to Dallas and get to work."

Just what I needed to hear. I have been iffy on all of his adventures this off-season - not because I don't think he should not have a life, but because I prefer my QB's to be making more news on the field than off. Thank goodness that training camp is right around the corner.

Terence Newman also talks about goals for this year:

"The biggest goal is the Super Bowl, but the Pro Bowl is one of my goals. That's being recognized as the best CB in the league. To do that, obviously, I'd get to the Pro Bowl."

He has another goal in sight. When Nate Clements 8 year, $80 million contract is brought up:

"I was in awe when Nate Clements signed that contract."

Thats right Terence - you shoot for those first two goals and the contract will happen.

Calvin Johnson - A Sure Thing

ibleed blue — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:19:44 -0000

Last year, everyone was saying that Reggie Bush was a "sure thing" and had to be taken with the first pick. They said that players like Bush only come around every once in a great while- and that when they do, you have to go get him no matter what your needs are. He was dubbed a potential all-time great at his position.

With all of the material I have read about Calvin Johnson (and watching him play last year), I am inclined to believe that he is even more of a sure thing at his position than Bush was at his. I'm just curious as to why we are not hearing more of an outcry about Johnson having to be picked #1 regardless of what team it is or what their needs are. Is it because Bush is a RB? I would argue that it is easier to find an excellent RB and that the RB position is much more dependant on the immediate players around them.

Calvin excels at every attribute that is needed to be a great receiver- including blocking and route running (not to mention blazing speed, size, and phenominal hands).

I guess I am saying that the Raiders are crazy if they don't take the most sure thing this draft has to offer and a player that I feel has a legitimate shot at becoming an all-time great at his position. I know that 1) he has to have someone to throw to him, 2) Jamarcus Russell is pretty darn good (even though nobody will argue that he is a sure thing) and 3) they have Randy Moss.

Now I hate the Raiders- and I would hate to make a suggestion that they might find on this blog and use to improve their team- but, I say trade Moss for a servicable QB and take the sure thing. Moss does not want to be there and they can always go after a QB again next year since they will be in the top 5 picks again.

Anybody else out there think that Calvin's not getting the love that Reggie did last year?

Note: I actually thought the Texans made the right choice last year, even though it did not look that way after Davis got hurt.

Favorite Cowboys of All-Time

ibleed blue — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 13:41:37 -0000

I'm sure this has been done here before- but considering I just discoved this blog a couple of months ago, I thought this might be a topic that would get some response.

I have my favorite Cowboys of all-time listed below. I was born in 1976, so some of the greats that are missing here are due to that. Its funny how my dad's list differs so greatly from mine.

Darren Woodson
Michael Irvin
Ed "Too Tall" Jones
Bill Bates
Troy Aikman
Tony Dorsett
Emmitt Smith
Jay Novacek
Danny White

10.Jim Jeffcoat
11.Jay Novacek
12.Charles Haley

The story about Irvin got me thinking. I would love to see some of your lists.

CB Possibilities

ibleed blue — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:00:43 -0000

Anybody have any thoughts on this Tarell Brown kid?

I have seen his name floating around. Would it not be nice to see us get a CB in the 3rd round freeing us to go after a pass rusher and a WR in the first 2 rounds (assuming we can get a guy like Hamlin)?

Proposed Draft:
1st round: Bowe WR - LSU
2nd round: Woodley OLB - Michigan
3rd round: Brown CB - Texas
4th round: Alleman G - Akron

[JOKE]:Breaking Trade News

ibleed blue — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 01:42:05 -0000

Amidst swirling trade rumors over the last 2 weeks, Cowboy's owner Jerry Jones has pulled the trigger on a deal reminiscent of the Herschel Walker deal October 12, 1989. Below are the details:

Cowboy's trade Miami:

conditional 1st and 2nd round picks for 2008
conditional 1st and 2nd round picks for 2009
1st round and conditional 3rd in 2010
and
6 additional players:
LB - Al Singleton
DB - Pat Watkins
RB - Julius Jones
LB - Oliver Hoyte
DB - Jacques Reeves

Dolphins trade Cowboys:

3rd and 10th round picks for 2008
3rd round pick for 2009
rights to Ricky Williams of the Toronto Argonauts

They just don't make trades like they used to.

Extra Picks

ibleed blue — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 00:30:18 -0000

2007 Traded Picks

1st Round
New England fron Seattle

2nd Round
NY Jets from Washington
Tampa Bay from Indianapolis

3rd Round
Cincinnati forfeits its 3rd round pick (used in the 2006 supplemental draft)
Denver from Washington

4th Round
San Francisco from Washington
San Francisco from the Jets (conditional)
Atlanta from Denver
Tennessee from Baltimore
New Orleans from Kansas City
New Orleans from Philadelphia (conditional)

5th Round
Oakland from New England
St. Louis from Buffalo
Detroit from Miami

6th Round
Dallas from NY Jets
Kansas City from Dallas
Tennessee from Indianapolis
Tennessee from San Diego (conditional)

7th Round
Dallas from New Orleans
Green Bay from NY Jets
NY Jets from Detroit (conditional)
Cleveland from San Francisco
New England from Arizona (conditional)
Chicago from Cleveland (conditional)
Dallas from NY Jets

From James Adler @ football.about.com

I was just thinking about how nice it might be to give up our extra 6th round pick and one of the extra 7th round picks for say an extra 3rd rounder. And if the buzz turns into reality concerning JJ - oh, what a first day it could be having 5 picks in the first 3 rounds.

But then again - it might just be more opportunity for Mr. Jones to make a mistake.

Is anyone else afraid of Gramatica

ibleed blue — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 01:57:19 -0000

He did OK at the end of last year - but about 2-3 games come down to the kicker each year. I'm not a proponent of going out and spending big money on a free agent, but.... What do we know about the Desperado kicker?

We broke form last year going after a big name - mistake. I guess we are getting back closer to form.