SBNation.com User Blog: tanstaafl

Near-Ultimate Cap Hit info site - NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA

tanstaafl — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:56:11 -0000

Near-Ultimate Cap Hit info site - NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA

Sortable listing of Cap hits, salaries (base and average), by year, position and team (or league-wide) for NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA. Detailed per-player contract information (click player name to view) including prior and current contracts.

Also includes Team contract info, Trade Tracking, Free Agent tracking and Draft Tracking (signings, contract info).

For example:
NFL 2012 Cap hit - QBs

NFL Free Agents

NFL Trade Tracker

NFL Draft Signings Tracker

Seems like it may be useful and of interest to some here.

The Audacity of Hope

tanstaafl — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 02:39:04 -0000

Audacity. An interesting word. To dare, fearlessly. So imbued with brash, even insolent, temerity it might seem an arrogant impertinence to some, a presumptive affront to others. While, to some, it is nothing more than bold hardiness, a dauntless will to achieve. Nothing less than an intrepid chutzpah in attainment of an objective, a goal, an ultimate end or prize. A Super Bowl. A win.

Hope. As 2010 ran its course, the word was bandied about, just as it was coming into 2011's season. Just as it has been and will be every season, every off-season. Just as it is coming into our beloved Cowboys' first regular season tilt. Coming into that teeter-tottering 60 minutes that hold rapt attention and inspire the debate during and between games and seasons. As it always is when it comes to football, to this sport that gives it and seemingly takes it away. In fingertipped snags and picks. In touchdowns and field goals. In fumbles and recoveries and turnovers and toss-ups. In wins and losses. In points after, both gametime and afterwards, made and missed.

Never in injury.

Where might the Cowboys' audacity reside?

In a fearless, fresh-faced puzzle of a Head Coach, whose past as both player and subordinated coach may hint at some possibilities, yet abounds with questions as to his abilities to handle the responsiblilites? Questions, if you notice, he'll not voice answers to directly, letting actions speak louder than words. In his seemingly diametrically-opposed choice in a defensive coordinator? In his retaining offensive coordinator duties, perhaps indicating his plans have not yet come to fruition in that regard? Is there evidenced in that an unwillingness due his view his task there is not yet completed? That there may yet be an attempt to introduce innovations he sees in no other OC candidate's mindset, at present? Or is it simply in his selection by that once-upon-a-time brash outsider who anted up and staked his future on a team he loved?

In jettisoning big-name, big contract mainstays, supposed core players, whether they be at "skill" positions or not? In slipping 2 rooks and a 1-start 2nd-year vet into a football team's unit stereotypically known for a quiet, unassuming manner in an attention-garnering move (to the dedicated fanbase, that is)? In risking chaos or instability in said unit, one in which stability and internal cohesiveness are essentially dictums of the sport? In throwing a 7th-round rookie into that mix to protect the man who touches the ball most often, the man who's often considered the face of the franchise regardless of team, the man who helms the Cowboys offense on-field? In possibly throwing a monkey-wrench into the concept of a defensive philosophy such that perhaps often neither 3-4 nor even 4-3 may apply? In juggling contracts, awarding numbers to aging players in defiance of some team-constructing strategies? Rewarding? Does it defy team-building or is it another way, another take on it, another perspective? An audacious one?

Maybe it's simply in the fans. As much as the team, the players, coaches, front office, the works. Maybe moreso. Maybe the audacity resides, first and foremost and deepest, within the hearts of the fans. Most dependably there. Right alongside Hope.

Towards the end of last season, while many looked to draft positionings, to next-year country, I'd posted an article, since deleted. It was for die-hards or any interested in those last, faint shreds of playoff-bound possibility. Playoff possibility that did not, in fact, end until game's end, late night on Sunday, December 12, 2010 (Week 14). The Lions had given us a helping hand and it was on us, on our Cowboys, to earn their Star. To pull their own, and our, weight against a division rival and keep the possibility of the crown alive even at that late date in the season. Hope you realize that fact, otherwise you're ignoring them. Selectively perhaps, but still ignorance of reality.

Now, I'll say this, those that used the word hope in reference to calling for losses to bring about a rise in the Cowboys' 2011 draft slotting were mistaken. I understood then and still understand that position. In the light of cold analysis or the heat of the moment, sometimes the immediate gain seems to outweigh the subtler nuances of this game. Even sports. Even Life. Nonetheless, the choice can go either way, better or worse than imagined in making it. Than hoped in making it. That's where the hope comes in, in making the choice, not scheming in some human-conscious, ultimately vain attempt to be in a "better" position to make a decision. Decision's, thus choices, are made in a moment, in a circumstance and relative to the context of their circumstance. Plans are made to perhaps improve those circumstances. So I'll concede the attempted planning, despite seeing erroneous consideration therein. But what's that axiom concerning plans? And men? And mice? Who's to say what choice'd be made, what outcome would come of it, advantageously or not? Plain and simple fact of the matter is "who knows". You don't. And I most certainly don't. Either way, for either side. I hope you can understand why I'll dispute to my dying day the use of the word hope in such a context. It ain't. It's Desire. Or Want. But it ain't Hope.

There's no Hope in surrendering to loss, in conceding defeat, in "hoping" to lose.

Back then, I'd said:

This is one bandwagon a Cowboys fan needn't feel shame about jumping on. In fact, it's not a bandwagon at all. It's merely holding to the facts, the Math. Anyone who's read this post, even out of the remotest curiousity, is die-hard. Some fan the spark to keep it alive, some shelter theirs by shifting focus to the off-season improvements, draft talk and all the rest. If you're reading this, no matter how you may have chosen to go with the higher probabilities, no matter how discouraged you are or may have been, you have an ember deep inside you that fires a Cowboys fan. I understand many are so disheartened their outward persona discounts the possibility, they shelter their spark to keep it alive. But it's there.

And the mark of a true Cowboys fan, an in-the-blood, bleeding-blue die-hard is that it will remain alive, regardless of outcome.

If you felt something good inside, had a thought of what-if, if-only or whatever, you don't even have to admit it to anyone but yourself.

So, when the numbers finally say otherwise, when the facts of the matter bring a loss or even Loss into this passion we share, be it football or Life itself, I'll stand by what I'd said when them pesky Eagles took one and maintain it was as much our guys not finding a way to change the conditions of the test, to best circumstance till the lights are turned out that final time. Same way I felt it and believed it one Sunday up in the old Vet, listening to people in the stadium cheer a downed player. Yep, the "Look up, get up and don't ever give up" guy. I'll not call them Eagles fans, nor even football fans, for they were not and are not. I'll not tar even an Eagles fan with that brush, though they've already the feathers, silly birds. Those others, they're sports' equivalent of, well, let's just say extremists, not fanatics, for that implies fans. Don't want to get into it, the images, both ways, are heart-wounds that'll never really heal. Both for having diminished my tenuous-at-times belief in my fellow human beings, one far moreso than the other. Anyways, back on topic...

Same way I felt it one Sunday watching an intro to a certain football game. Same way I felt watching Roger take the field, a score down with under 2 to go. Or Don, Danny, Troy, Tony, or any of 'em. Yes, even him. Same way I feel each and every time this team takes the field, sets for the play, leaves the field to prepare for the next day, the next foe, the next game. The next season. Same way I feel today. Same way I feel after things happen in a New York minute. Or sixty of them. In fact, here, I'll make a prediction. Yep, a guy that makes light of the predictors, jests and tries to make a point that predictions are as uncertain in this sport as they are in Life and therefore not predictive, not certainty. Thank the stars. Here's my prediction: Same way I'll feel tomorrow. Certainty doesn't get any more certain than that.

Regardless of the outcome of this or any other game. Anytime. Regardless of anything, no matter how much I feel I've lost it, no matter how long the feeling lasts, no matter nuthin'. Felt the loss, been through it. Last year. Times in the past before that. Times that made last year a cakewalk in comparison, as bad as it was. And as good. And all those times are in the Past. Yep, gamewise and otherwise. Like I said elsewhere, my eyes are on the horizon we're headed towards, with wistful, sometimes sorrowful or melancholy, sometimes analytical and hopefully learning, glances at the one we've come from. Where we've been makes us who we are. Cowboys. And there ain't nuthin' beats down a cowboy, 'cept maybe a cowgirl. But ya know, when I've met what some would call a cowgirl, they're cowboys, just prettier. Same heart, same attitude, same tenacity.

But oh so much easier on the eyes.

So what was it I'd said when the numbers dashed that playoff possibility:

Update: Week 14 - Sunday December 12, 2010 (late night)
We just lost the playoffs.
The math now says we are officially eliminated.
I stand by what I said above: You Gotta Believe. In Hope.
For the rest of the season, I'll hope for wins, as always.
For next season, a shot at the big prize, as always.

That ember? It's Hope. And it goes far beyond being a Cowboys fan, a football fan, even a sports fan. Don't believe me? Ask Pandora.

I know, for a fact, others had it and an eye to the numbers (yep, eyeballing you, hookerhome, if you're reading this). As surely as I know some have it this year, have reasoned the audacity to hope, though they too may be a kegful into their cups. Know as surely as I breathe you each have it, else why would you even be a Cowboys fan, care one way or the other, no matter how Jerry-blaming, team-bashing, player-blaming weep-and-wailingly you get or outwardly display. Care for some cheese with that whine? Sounds like a squeaky wheel. No wonder the mouse keeps jumping off.

It's neither blindly gulping kool-aid nor surrendering utterly to cynicism. Neither blamingly bashing nor delusionally deifying. Neither goose-stepping to the strict regimentation of numbers nor flitting about like an emotionally misguided and deranged butterfly. It's Balance.

Anyhow, back when the HC selection talk was going strong, when Garrett was yet-to-be-named, someone suggested they'd hope in the man, in change he might bring. Gave me mind to illustrate it for those that did or yet do. When he was tasked with being the 8th Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys, someone asked about an article (yep, eyeballing you, Rat-Pack, if you caught your words), maybe implying reference to an earlier one, maybe not. I'd said "Mission Accomplished." All in the lighthearted, lightheaded surge of shared Hope that day. I was wrong. Just. Plain. Wrong. Just like another speaker of said words, not to bash, merely to point out that the trial, the test, never ends. The struggle never ends. But, there's that eternal but, remember, in a Cowboy's heart, he knows...

Adversity's a bitterly tenacious foe. But ya know what? That ember, that Hope you have, it's even more so.

Dare to be great. To persevere. Beyond what you feel, what you believe your strength, even your will, is capable of. In those darkest days and hours, when all else has seemingly departed, when you are utterly and most completely destitute, there is... - something.

There is your greatest greatness. Survival. The audacity to overcome Adversity. Perseverance. Tenaciously defiant and ultimately victorious.

Sooo, the Audacity of Hope, eh? What? You expected rashness, presumptuousness, temerity when you read the title and figured on a look-see? Done some of that before this Wild Bunch even had a head honcho. Not as brash as some, but I'm not asking for the moon and stars. Just one. One star, that'll do. A wishing one. The aiming one, there, just to the right about daybreak. Here's about the best I dare do in being audacious, especially on so solemnly honorable an occasion:

So you just believe in Hope, no matter what. I dare ya. No, I double-dawg dare ya. I don't know if ya got it in ya, cowboy. So there.

But I hope you do.

Garrett's Ghosts Minus One

tanstaafl — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 00:15:07 -0000

What do these men have in common?

Minus One's Ernie, second in from the right and extreme right in rightmost photo. Long life, interest in it and happiness to ya, Ernie. Thanks for the memories.

What do these men have in common?

Minus One's Ernie, second in from the right and extreme right in rightmost photo. Long life, interest in it and happiness to ya, Ernie. Thanks for the memories.

Without being able to read rab's full article (only the excerpt here), which I should before saying any of this as I'm not fully informed otherwise, and without getting into the fullness of something bouncing around my bent and demented skull, something I've been hinting at in various article's comment threads, did you trace the tree to it's roots? Look at the intertwined branchings? Fully consider what this implies in terms of the offensive philosophy debate or points that are discussed hereabouts?

Geez, don't want to do this without reading rab's article, but things being as they are it's unavoidable, and this should be a fuller, more fleshed out and completely researched post. Hell, this started out as a comment in a thread, but got too longwinded, fulla-hot-air ranty. Besides, it'd be an unread tome buried in a dusty cellar. Something fleshed out and making sense more like the quality analysis folks around here do, with charts and play diagrams, freeze-framed screen caps illustrating play details, X/O's, even stats, the works. A reasoned, logical argument proving a point or making a case, but I wearied of that sort of work long ago. Besides, I'm too lazy to go through everything to do that and prefer discussion, give-and-take, the development and correction of individual thoughts to arrive at a sound reasoned supposition or conclusion, find the brainstorming, speak-up-and-be-ready-to-be-hammered-down open free-for-all more advantageous and interesting, even accurate, than one person calling the shots, till it needs to be the one-person-making-the-call time.

Not just the direct HC coaching tree should be considered. And not just Jason Garrett's, but his key subordinates as well. The context here is offensive philosophy, the influences, what it may reveal or indicate with respect to the Cowboys' gameplan, scheming and the like. The Defensive side of the ball is another thing, ancillary yet cooperatively co-existing (when they mesh properly), something on the order of co-joined twins, though ours are of two different personalities, yin-and-yang, emotional and logical, overtly brash and overtly icy calm, and so on. Ahhh, balance. Gotta love it.

Some have mentioned Garrett being influenced by Johnson, Saban, Payton, Turner, et al plus extraneous, even non-football coaching influences, which I'm not nay-saying completely. One thing though, Garrett was here under Johnson for how long? Turner for how long? Saban for how long? Now lets go another route, the Giants years. Fassel, for how long? Where's Fassel fit, given the Denny Green influence and Green back through Walsh? Hmmm, notice anything? Walsh, there's a name I've seen before a time or two. Kinda like this Coryell guy that JG's offense is picking up this "Air Garrett" label with deference to. They ring bells. Great big Liberty-Bell-sized alarm bells. Regular Starship klaxons, if you will.

However, there's 4 years under one Ernie Zampese. Zampese, not Turner, would've been more influential in the nurturing of a budding coaching talent, I'd say. Zampese was one of, and likely the primary, of Norv's tutors with respect to the Gillman offensive philosophy and its Coryell variant. Yep, sure he retained Norv's variant when he took over from his pupil. Why change what's working? Besides, I'd wager he was pleased, maybe even proud, of what his former protégé had accomplished. Trace the tree's branches. Consider the key subordinates. Including, no especially, Garrett's, since he's the HC. Wait a sec, wasn't Houck with the Rams when Zampese... - ehhh, whatever. Notice anything?

Not that I'm saying length of time equates to predominance of influence. I'm not.

Oh, and by the way, who was it that snapped Houck up so quick after the Miami mess? Mighta been after words with this young fella on his staff, but who did it?

Now, relative to Johnson, I'd made the statement "Compared to the withered-branched stunted sapling that is the Jimmy Johnson coaching tree, Jason Garrett’s a leaf on the intertwined and mingled branches of two sequoias." Before jumping, if you're so inclined, read the link, get the context. And I should have said "bud", not "leaf", and possibly made it 3 sequoias. Tripods are stable. And understand, the only reason a certain somebody's not included in that mention of sequoias is he's a unique case (as yet), whose influence and innovation spanned both sides of the ball, blending and influencing the game and having been part of a coaching/management team and, despite the historical classically-defined coaching tree having him suborned within the Owen hierarchy, I have issues (and not) with the classification. It's difficult to slot the man, to ensure biases are not influencing the decision and such. I just leave him as "unto himself", to keep it simple for now. I shouldn't. It's biased and simple laziness avoiding revising coaching trees.

Could this "Air Garrett" offense people refer to be not so much an Air Coryell variant as it is an original West Coast Offense variant? Hmmm... Not the misnomered WCO of Walsh's devising, which was Gillman's WCO with Walsh's twists (I tend to refer to it as WCO (Walsh or Ohio variant)), just as Air Coryell was the original WCO with Coryell's preponderance of passing emphasis, even beyond Gillman. For those that may think Coryell doesn't belong in the Gillman coaching tree due to not professionally coaching under him, I'd suggest looking at Don's days coaching the Aztecs and where he'd go to study up and pick up pointers.

Oh wait, this name. This Gillman guy. Some may not know him as readily as they know the name Lombardi. Or Landry. One Tom Landry. Maybe look into it a bit, if you don't. Where this Gillman fella's travels took him. Whose respect he had and has. Even the guy's personality, see if it reminds you of anyone, see if it contrasts with anyone, see if... - well, there just might be something there worth thinking about. Including who he recommended to Blaik as his replacement at Army, and why. Where that guy's path took him. Who he ran into along the way. Hey, hang on a sec, this Gillman guy, back about '71-'72, wasn't he...? Wasn't that about the time the hump, as in "getting over the", started being beaten level?

Did you know, realize, that Sid influenced Lombardi's "run to daylight" offensive philosophy and thus lead to Tom's development of the Flex D to counter the concept. Intertwined branches, lives, up and down the trees, all along the forest's paths.

Anyways, back to our ~~story~~ ranting lunacy...

This OLine revision, this Garrett/Houck transformation, this single off-season shift (how many expected it to happen, this year, this extensively, how many made that call, down to the names, the changes, each and every one? Beforehand. Last year beforehand, not post-draft.), how significant might it be? Not just in terms of the playing caliber, which has it's own share of debate and rightly so, but in terms of what JG's overall philosophy is. Even just his offensive philosophy, as we're trying to restrict our context, for now.

Where have I seen similar OLines? Coryell's Chargers? Nope, that wasn't it. They were... - different, bigger (before ya jump, remember, be era-relative and know I generalize some when playing free-and-easy), tasked a bit differently. Some place, some Time, where and when agility was a more dominant feature than size with respect to offensive linemen. When they were tasked more with pulling on sweeps, executing cut blocks. Where the RB was often employed as a receiver. Where a mobile QB mattered more than the pure pocket-passer? Hmmm, where was that? Wait a sec, wasn't that something that guy that used to befuddle and irk us through the '80's came up with? That we didn't quite solve till a certain Sunday following the '92 season? Look at the coaches and assistants there, maybe. Notice anything?

Now, don't get all bent outta shape at the terminology I'm going to use here. I'm playing fast and loose. I don't, and in some ways do, mean it specifically and with respect to certain definitions.

If you put all that together, from the coaching philosophy possibilities through the influences, from the line discipline through the gameplan and schemes, from the coaching side of the team to the player side of the team, from Tony being "coached" to being less Favrish, less run-and-shootish (no, I'm not saying Run-and-Shoot, only implying a free-wheeling element of it in his broken-play improvisation that's saved the play more often than not) to more the classic pocket QB (though, he'll always be Tony, thank the stars, he'll always be able to scramble, pull off the pressure-defying plays and stats, maybe even... - well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, just yet), from the way the backfield's tended to be employed to the blend of talent at the remaining "skill" positions on the Offensive side of the ball, doesn't it siren like a Lorelei to you? Doesn't it ring out, shining, loud and clear, like a trumpet's note, "possibility", "Hope". And yep, I am well aware of the dangers of the Lorelei.

By the way, you want to see a technically ideal QB, in the mold Gillman, Coryell and such prefered, look to Boomer. You want to see the R&S ideal QB, look to Moon.

Yep, all this despite a quote by Aikman about Norv being so influential to Garrett. Despite a quote by Garrett about Coryell being able to recognize elements of the current playbook (naturally, who'd've thought otherwise looking at the influences, at the coaching lineages involved).

Let's see. Gillman, Coryell, Zampese, Turner, Garrett. Gillman, Walsh, Green, Fassel, Garrett. Gillman, Coryell, Zampese, Houck. Keep running with that. Then go for some balanced attack. Who's this Landry guy whose name popped up? The one guy, this exceptional exception, Gillman's quote below sure doesn't apply to. And does. The Chairman of the Board Innovator. Oops, wait, let's save that for the defensive context of this discussion. Nahhh, seems the man had a touch of talented insight on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Now that's being on the ball.

Could it be there's some blending, some unification or splicing of the varied branches of these sequoias, these forest giants, happening right under our noses? Right before our eyes? Could Sid's brash blunt-spokenness and Tom's internally-boiling cool be akin to what we see in our current OC and DC? Could the meticulous preparation and research of those two giants be evidenced in this HC we now have? In any of his subordinates? Could it be formally subordinates, but more behaving like a team informally? Could this DC's defense prove as irksome to opposing OC's as a Flexed dare ya? Could this OC's maybe-blending of fundamental offshoots of a significantly landscape-altering offensive philosophy prove as problematic to opposing DC's? Time'll tell.

Could, overall, when both sides of the ball are considered, when the quality and experience and variety and such of the subordinate staff are considered, when Time has given us evidence, could we be witnessing something, not necessarily in longevity terms (times have changed, the landscape's different and so much more), but in Grand Unification theoretical terms, could we be witnessing something along the lines of Landryesque? Comparable to Walsh spanning the Gillman/Brown trees? Only Time'll tell. And for cripes sake, I am not making that comparison, either of them. Not by a long shot. Merely suggesting a possibility to keep an eye on.

And for the sake of the Hall of Fame's integrity, get those last two guys in the photos above inducted. Yeah, those two, third from the right, second from the right and then together (center and right) in the final photo.

So, because I'm too lazy to spell it out, to waste more time in being quite possibly so very very Just Plain Wrong or to simply give you some research material, I'll leave you with some quotes to key the research on (if you're so inclined, want to learn, want to read interesting stuff and the like).

"There are two types of coaches, the Innovator and the Chairman of the Board. The Chairman of the Board stands on the sidelines with his arms folded. He knows nothing about what's going on, on the field. If the offensive coordinator left him, he wouldn't know which way to turn. He doesn't wear a headset. Without a headset a coach doesn't know borscht. He'll never make a decision, except maybe whether to go for it on fourth-and-one.

The other guy, the Innovator, has a headset on and a chart in front of him. He's constantly looking at his chart. He's got everything calculated because he's the guy who has put everything together. He calls everything."
- Sid Gillman

"Much of what I did I got from Sid Gillman 20 years ago." - Bill Walsh

And some charts: (warning: they're large)
Not that I agree completely with these, but they are interesting, reasonably accurate, though primarily direct-subordinate-based rather than "influences".
The Forest (circa 2008)
Gillman coaching tree
Brown coaching tree
Owen coaching tree

And some articles:
NFL Coaching Tree pt. 1 (2008)
NFL Coaching Tree pt. 2 (2008)

WCO: don't assume and primarily college-based, but recommended reading
West Coast Offense
West Coast Offense - The Naked Bootleg
A non-Walsh WCO coming to SF (light reading comparison article)

You may find the results, if not the investigation, interesting. Keep going, There's more, much more to the story. Always is.

Ya know, I'm not one for buying into mystical mumbo-jumbo. Used to be a pretty hardcore "just the facts, Ma'am", by-the-numbers kinda guy. Still am. Somewhat. Suspicious. Cynical. Show me. The works. Yeah, despite how you might preceive me here, despite how I give the stats guys a poke now and again, despite how I flip and nay-say the blindly optimisitic homers. But I just got this feeling I can't shake...

Maybe Time and experience clued me into just paying a bit more mind to the Bard's "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy" wisdom. What little I've left, that is. Mind, I mean.

Must be a symptom of Hope. Maybe Love. Maybe both. Feelings? How do you feel? Illogical, like me?

Lieutenant, have you ever piloted a Starship out of space dock?
Never, sir.
Take her out, Mr. ~~Saavik~~ Garrett.
Yes, sir.
For everything there is a first time, Lieutenant. Don't you agree, ~~Admiral~~ Jerry?

One thing I'm big on is first times. Big on preparing the next wave to take the reins. To assume the center seat. To grow.

Anyways, back to the point, if there is one. Not much for telling folks what's what. Who am I to say, to judge? Plus, learning's best done by experience, by running with the ball, so to speak. By researching it, looking into it, studying. For yourself. By doing. We learn by doing. Something else I'm real big on. By making mistakes. Something I'm real good at. Plenty of practice. So there's your hints. There's a glimpse at the rattles in my skull. The loose gears. The mouse running off the wheel.

Because all this, the coaching tree/influences thing this started off concerning, the philosophy part of it, the history, the blending or coming together of so many aspects of what we witness going on in front of us today, it's too complicated for a simpleton like me. I need help. In more senses than one.

Because I learn from others. Even ~~some of~~ you. All of you. Some more, some less. And maybe, just maybe, if I'm lucky, I might even play a part in... - Nah, that's just lunacy.

So please, if ya see this whole coaching/philosophy/gameplan/influences thing is Just Plain Wrong, hammer me down. Have at 'er. If ya see some part of the fleshing out and wanna teach me, contribute, partake in teamwork, whatever, please do. I welcome the mouse-resetting smack upside the head. If ya just want to have your say, likewise. Just please, be prepared to be set straight, or not, by others.

Yep, no telling where, with a little enterprise, a smidgen of hope, a pile of hard work, one might end up. Perhaps Indianapolis. Perhaps the future. No, not right, definitely the Future. No telling what those things might garner ya, what ya might earn, what ya might achieve.

Seems to have cleared a bit, this storm, this tempest. Might just be the eye (which? the storm's or the one ya see with? the outer or the inner? the "I", perhaps? the wee ("We"?) eye?). Maybe weather's clearing some. Maybe not. One thing's for sure though, wait a bit, it'll ebb and flow, clear and cloud over, come and go, just as it always has, always does. Simply the nature of Balance and the balance of Nature.

Hooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

But me, being as I can see up there, see the dim light of a star glinting (what is it they call stars again, something different yet the same, something brighter, more blindingly powerful if ya look closer or from a different perspective? Oh yeah. Suns. Brilliant.):

Star light, star bright,
First star I see tonight;
I wish I may, I wish I might,
Have the wish I wish tonight.

What's that tune I hear whispered on the wind?

Mephistopheles' Tempest

tanstaafl — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:49:28 -0000

Recent focus by some fellow Cowboys fans on the whole Jerry Jones ownership of the Cowboys "issue" reminded me of an old post and made me reconsider having deleted it.

Then along comes a question "What's a Cowboy?". Then another, "Why now?". Then being cast as a blind Jerry-defender, someone who isn't as "smart" as BTB's Mensa members. Well, I'm not that smart, I accepted that fact in life long ago and just have my take on things.

Griping's never solved a ~~problem~~ challenge. Never answered a question. Alleviates some inner turmoil, at best. Fixes it? Nope. I don't like the word "problem". They're challenges. Challenges awaiting a solution. Questions awaiting answers. Problems are troubles we just gripe about. That's a problem.

It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. And no, that's not a shot at anyone. Even a fool like me can see the solution. Us simpletons like simple, so 3-word answers, solutions, keep the brainwork from hurting too much.

For my fellow realists: Yep, I used a percentage exceeding 100 to make a point. Not everyone gets the magnitude of "an order of magnitude". But feel free to reset the mouse on the wheel. Just take off my dunce cap first so the point's (points're?) not lost.

Given Jerry's fondness for "the guy above" kind of thinking, the misguided sense of direction at times, the inner turmoil devil's storm he must've been going through inside watching last season unfold when he'd such hopes, dreams, aspirations for showcasing an extravaganza P.T. Barnum would've admired and paid to see, the title was a simple solution. Yep, the perfect storm of last season's events, the devil's storm (there's that term again, wonder why, and not just titularly) it put every fan through, from you all the way down (up?) to the buck-stops-here guy, the fan that anted up the most coin of any of us, that put and puts his money where his mouth is and heart is. Yep, sure been one helluva tempest, all the way back to September '95, even March '94. May all be part of the solution too. Lessons learned and all that.

Maybe Jerry's realized an "out" exists to the troubles that've beset him and his responsibility, that which he holds in trust, not his possession. Maybe he's figured it out. His stewardship of something he can't take with him. That there're solutions to everything you point out, question, complain about, whatever you want to call it. Maybe not.

Me, I'm an old dog, not prone to learning new tricks and about as suspiciously cynical and ornery as they come, so I'm waiting on evidence either way with respect to that old dog.

But, I've hope for both of us, that we can change our ways. More for him, truth be told.

Then again, it could simply be the eye of the storm.

So, are the Cowboys further along the road to a solution than going into 2010? Than coming out of 2010? Are "We"?

We'll see. My eyes are on the horizon. Yours?

btw, I'll stand by my answer to "What's a Cowboy?", 'cuz a Cowboys fan's a cowboy. Is the Cowboys, in the most important, the most worthwhile, sense.

[Ed. note: Originally posted Dec 17, 2010. Intended as a seasonal gift, football or Christmas or whatever, to my fellow fans at a time of a loss of Hope. Now, coming into 2011, the "best of the season" wishes take on a whole new meaning. And I apologize for subjecting you to my regurgitated BS.]

Recent focus by some fellow Cowboys fans on the whole Jerry Jones ownership of the Cowboys "issue" reminded me of an old post and made me reconsider having deleted it.

Then again, it could simply be the eye of the storm.

So, are the Cowboys further along the road to a solution than going into 2010? Than coming out of 2010? Are "We"?

We'll see. My eyes are on the horizon. Yours?

btw, I'll stand by my answer to "What's a Cowboy?", 'cuz a Cowboys fan's a cowboy. Is the Cowboys, in the most important, the most worthwhile, sense.

There's a storm on the horizon. I feel it in the air. The first shifts in the weather send shivers through me and bring ache to my bones, even my heart. It could be only a minor gale. Then again, it could be a hurricane. But it's out there, waiting to happen, building strength. Perhaps beyond being able to dissipate. The thing about this storm is that the actions of Man, a man in particular, may be able to change the outlook. For better or worse? Well, that remains to be seen.

It's a tempest which would dwarf the pretentious majesty of Cowboys Stadium and all that happens therein. It may even hold power to lay ruin upon the insignificant works of a man. Of men. On the other hand, it could become a welcomed spring rain providing nourishment for a blossoming leading towards a bountiful harvest. Even if it should hold to its initial storm-like pattern, I doubt it has the power to lay utter waste upon the foundations upon which those works are built or the fields of men's play and nourishing bounty. Regardless, I know it won't wash away the indomitable spirit and hope of the fans of what was once the unquestioned most-successful franchise in the NFL.

We must look to to the environment to see what, if any, conditions exist to allow for an anticipatory preparation for either the chaotic violence of a storm or the leisurely pleasures of a sunnier day.

The Franchise
The Dallas Cowboys. Birthed on January 28, 1960. A child of parents who held hopes for a better life for their offspring and themselves. It was a difficult delivery. Were it not for the tenacity of both the child and some of its family, I've little doubt we would not be Cowboys fans. For there would be no Cowboys. Not this franchise. Not this team nor any of its predecessors. Had one George Preston Marshall held sway, Dallas may well be devoid of the franchise we see before us today and these past many years. Oh, there would almost certainly be an NFL franchise in Dallas, perhaps even called the Cowboys. But would it be this franchise? Most definitely not. The history, for one, would not be there. Would it be better, worse or about the same? Who's to say? One thing's for sure, I'd not give up the history of this franchise even for a more successful one at this specific point in time. Would you? For everything there is a season. Both failure and success. Both heartache and joy. Cynical depression and optimistic exultation. Some of us have been fortunate enough to have witnessed it all over a long enough period of time that the vagaries of a moment or period are but a part of the whole. Annoyingly frustrating at times. Filled with joys and memories I could not see myself ever being willing to trade away. I'll live with the ups and downs of it. Can you? Well, you are, like it or not. Even if you've only witnessed the post-1990's.

Considering recent events, gratitude must be given to a benevolent uncle, for without his intercession and foresight, we may have had neither the league, the franchise nor the first of our favorite sons. Thank you, Papa Bear, for thinking football and not Bears in supporting the birth and for making that pick in late 1959 for your unborn nephew. If there's something beyond this life, here's hoping you two are having a chat about the game.

Major league sports has two sides. A bipolar nature necessary to allow it to exist within its environment, our times and culture. On one side, the sport, pure in its attempt to harness mankind's competitive traits on the field of play. More akin to the values and virtues instilled in youth, to the playing childhood held than to its more grown-up sibling, the business side. When 6-year-olds played the pickup game on a field only loosely bound to regulation but more on agreed fairness purely for the love of the sport. But is that other sibling more grown-up, more matured? Is it truly of more worth than the sport itself? I think not. Perhaps in a material sense, in the temporary artificiality of a monetary system or Man's attempt to quantify value. Is that how worth should be determined? I'll opt out if it is.

If we look at the business side of this franchise, is it successful? Discounting inflation and other such statistics, I'd say yes. From an initial franchise fee of $1 million in 1960 through the associated startup investments and on-going costs to a current estimated gross valuation of $1.65 billion, I'd say that qualifies it as successful business-wise. Can it remain successful? That's yet to be seen, even in the case of an organization barely supplanted by one in the entire global major league sports fraternity. Restricting the scope to the NFL fraternity, I'd be tempted to say there's currently a rival, if you're one that defines worth beyond the monetary. And if you define worth as money, the future may hold a surprise for you if this ship isn't righted. Is material value how we're going to define worth going forward? If it is, be careful about knocking the current ownership unless the winds of change erase an order of magnitude increase in the financial value of this franchise under Jerry's reign. Gets my attention when you start talking orders of magnitude, even one. From $150 million to $1.65 billion in 21 years, that's in the range of a 1000% return. Slightly more than a ten-fold increase. But it's business so let's clear this nasty debt thing out of the way and look at the net. Whoa, still an 865% net increase in valuation. Rivaled in Cowboys history by only Clint's $1.5 million investment (franchise fee plus team purchase price) becoming $80 million over a comparable period. You might not take it, but me, I would. That's generational wealth we're talking. Can I invest more, please? At the cost of my integrity, dignity and reputation, you say? Maybe health too? My soul? Sorry, deal's off. A little something for you to consider there, Mr. Owner.

Can the current ownership compare to the business savvy, even the craftiness, of Murchison's day? Ask George Preston about that one. He'd be likely to tell you a story or two about the dangers of neglecting to notice details that can come back to bite you when doing business. I'm sure one haunted him to his dying day. Payback, Mr. Marshall, it's a bitch, ain't it? It's business. The devil's in the details. There's an interesting lesson there for those that have never heard the tale.

It's business. Put aside the sports aspects. Ok, what's the debt load on the pretentious palace? Impressive place? Sure is. A jewel in the sports world's entertainment crown? Yup. The jewel? Sure has a valid claim to be. I can only think of one to rival it. But it's still a display of irrelevant excess that has nothing to do with the product's worth. Designed to appeal to gullible innocents and the vanities of ego as much as to generate financial value. What do you have to average out in terms of paying, filled seats to keep that revenue stream flowing enough to keep the creditors at bay? In terms of ancillary brooks, the concessions (a river there, perhaps, they usually are), parking, memorabilia sold? Even at $5 million a pop for one of them fancy luxury suites there aren't enough of them to pay the tab, now are there? I'll tell you this, Mr. Owner, my buddies and me are going to be putting one helluva dent in the profit margin on ours since the booze is included. Seeing what you're fielding in terms of product, we're going to be going through some high-priced stuff in quantities that'd put an alcoholic to shame. How long are you going to be able to sustain that debt load? Even though you don't split the take on that one-quarter of total licensed NFL merchandise with your partners in crime anymore, does that detract from the fact you could make more if only the product were more appealing to a broader audience? How are your fraternity brothers going to react if the TV revenues should take a dip? Forget about your reputation with them. You ever think about how that affects the bottom line, theirs and yours? That $200 million stadium debt on your mind? How's the marketing going? The promotional deals? Ever get concerned about what their future might be? Once, the franchise was in a position to be able to consider naming the palace without regard for corporate sponsorship. Sure, it's likely not the most financially advantageous thing to do, but the franchise ownership had the ability to withstand the want at the time. It was not a need. I like it being Cowboys Stadium, without the corporate branding. The Cowboys are their own brand, now aren't they? Irrelevant, since it's not my decision. So how's that going? Still able to withstand the want? Or is it slipping towards need? All-in-all, revenues are up, the cash's coming in. Yep, value-wise, pretty successful. Worth? Well, I have issues there.

Is there any real danger of your financial viability being significantly impacted, Mr. Owner? What's the business model? Are you and yours at risk? Or is it merely business in the mold of an Enron, a Lehman Brothers or an AIG? Does it remind you of the shows in the grocery, but on a grander scale? Is it the smoke-and-mirrors of a magician's stage show? An extravaganza that's all-show, no-go? Or something more suited to the new frontier of globalization yet hearkening back to the Wild Wild West. Is that the creak of the snake-oil salesman's wagon I hear rolling through town? Shall we remember this ownership as a Bernie Madoff or a Warren Buffett? Which side of that comparison would you prefer being associated with for all eternity, Mr. Owner? Perhaps business model doesn't define the proper context. Should we be talking Fuhrerprinzip sans the hierarchy?

Organizational structure and operational model? See any problems there, Mr. Owner? Ever separate yourself from the emotional aspect and examine it critically? A good long hard look, devoid of personal feelings, ego and the flawed, sometimes contradictory, reasoning. Sure there's been some success sprinkled in along the way, but enough to justify maintaining the status quo? All deference to the supreme leader? Blind faith in the rightness of one man? All authority vested in one individual? Notice a lack of checks and balances that, while sometimes less efficient, strengthens the state of the organization and steers the ship through rough waters? Seems to me I've seen similar qualities before. Didn't work out all that well that time, now did it?

Now remember, the landscape's changed since you first stepped on the stage. You can't operate the same way now as then and expect SuperBowl titles or even Conference Championships. Success doesn't come that easy anymore. It's a more complicated league, what with free agency, regulations and the myriad other considerations to achieving success within the context of the times. But we're back to how the owner, the supreme franchise decision-maker, defines success, now aren't we?

The Owner
Jerral Wayne Jones. Nope, you can't talk Cowboys nowadays without talking Jerry Jones. The owner. The buck-stops-here man. Well, Mr. Owner, you got your wish. You got the Cowboys. You got the power to be all-things-Cowboys. All, that is, except the absolute power over other people's hearts and wills. That's never part of the deal. Nope, you can influence them, sway their wills, but their hearts and passions are theirs to give to whom or what they choose. You got the celebrity recognition. You got the material wealth. You got the success you bargained for. Sure you had to work for it. That's part of the deal. Makes you cherish it all the more. To the point of a destructive obsession mistaken for love.

Though, I'll hand it to you, you staked your worth in anteing up to own the franchise, the team. Put it all on the line. And more. You staked your future. Look at it now.

So when you sit perched in your owner's box, your Eagle's Nest, surveying your world, ever wonder if it's worth it? At what cost have you purchased your heart's desire? Alienation of past friends and perhaps to some extent family? Don't you see the celebrity tarnished by it's attendant mockery and inevitable fall from grace? Hold on, those nuisance lawsuits come with the territory. Sure, the fools territory. Right alongside the drunken rantings displayed to the world. They go hand-in-hand. Maybe lack of foolishness should have been one of the conditions of that deal, but it appears to have been overlooked. It's ok, you and George Preston can have a chat down the road a ways. Peer out there, into the future as best you're able. Those empty seats may just forebode a more significant drying up of the revenue streams, mightn't they? Enough to hurt? Well, we'll just have to see. That's what the future's all about, isn't it? Had much success lately? Not the teasing, tempting kind, but the kind you envisioned. Maybe so, it depends how you define success, now doesn't it?

Tell me, that night you first owned the Cowboys, laying on that mid-field star staring up, what thoughts flitted through your mind? Were they of awed responsibility and opportunity? Or egotistical, bordering on megalomania? What feelings? Gratitude or vanity? When you'd sit in the parking lot at night gazing at the lit empty stadium thinking you couldn't believe you'd "gotten the chance to call the shots", what feeling filled you? Was a thought of responsibility to the history and fans there? If so, what was your response to it?

There, in the solitary silence of your grand hall, don't you hear it? Maybe it's just the whisper of a wee draft. Is it strains of harp or flute? That melody, is it more of a "Ride of the Valkyries" or a "Götterdämmerung"? Sounds more to me like a blend of Simon and Sondheim. A little "You're so Vain" woven with "Send In The Clowns", no? Foolish vanity mean anything to you? Might be getting breezy in there, despite the design.

Success. Yeah, there comes a time when a man might look at it differently. It depends on your definition, doesn't it? You've all the material success you bargained for. Materially. Ever consider it beyond yourself, beyond your brief time here? What will be remembered when your time is Past? Not Present. Past. You've still the opportunity to possibly be remembered with the Halas's, the Hunt's, Brown's, even Schramm's of the game. But will you be? Will you seize the chance? Only Time will tell.

Maybe it's time to have a chat with that friend of yours up New England way, no? Seems he's running a fairly successful, comparable operation, doesn't it? Perhaps during the SuperBowl you're hosting. No, not during the game, he may be preoccupied. You won't be, not the way you'd envisioned, now will you? During the week sometime or afterwards. Sit down, have a few drinks together, share some owner-talk. Maybe a drink for you. One. We wouldn't want another of those drunken rantings, now would we? And it would defeat the whole purpose if you weren't paying attention.

Yep, if I were a child nowadays my budding passions would sure be swayed by what's going on up there. Kind of comparable to the 60's-70's Cowboys with a touch of the 90's thrown in. And those little hearts grow up to be paying fans, right?

Yep, there's always next year, you're right. But aren't you tired of saying it? Of waiting for it to come true the way you envision? Maybe it's time to prepare to make it come true for a change, yes?

Nope. No renegotiating. Deal's a deal. And a man never knows when that final payment's due, now does he? Are you sure you've got your sense of direction straight? That when you implied up in your cutting a deal comment it wasn't, in reality, a deal down? You don't see the almost Pan-like mischievousness going on in your affairs? Perhaps a Loki-like diabolism?

Being as it's the season, perhaps you'd like a book in front of the fire to relax. I'd suggest Faust, though that's not light, relaxing reading (though you may want to look it over sometime soon). Ahhh, here we go, "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant". Perfect. And if you're not a reading man, perhaps Angel Heart. Lesson's essentially similar.

It's business. Just business. One thing I've noticed is there's an out to every contract, signed in blood or implied. Never on the handshake or word-given, but all others, sure as hell it's there. And you never shook hands or gave your word, now did you? Thus, you've an out. The trick is finding it.

The Out
So, where are the problems organization-wise and operationally, yourself excepted? Not problems, rather challenges or opportunities for improvement. Business-wise, in terms of marketing and revenue, we can leave that as a low-priority, yes? Front office, GM through scouting? Though maybe the scouting provides competent assessments and it's the GM choices that make it often seem otherwise. Regardless, we'd still want to look at that and ensure the the structure and operation there percolated valid information up the line, wouldn't we? Might still want to revise some of the personnel decisions, but that's always doable. Coaching, the same story. Competence absolutely required. Information flow up the line essential to giving the GM what he needs come free agency and draft day decision-times. And laterally, to give the player personnel side the input required to focus on the appropriate human resources aspects. It's all inter-related. A real neural-net is what you might want to consider. For reference, see Schramm/Brandt/Landry. We'll leave the owner aside, for now, other than to say none of the three were the owner. Maybe bring it up in your chat with Bob. Just a suggestion or two.

Seems like we might want an organizational structure that embodies an operational methodology based on effective utilization of resources coupled with a valid information flow downwards, laterally and upwards. One thing that does require is a delegation of responsibility and authority across a group of individuals, not vested in one. Isn't that part of what instills a winning culture within an organization, top to bottom? And supports an off-shoot emotional and psychological culture founded in believing you can succeed, believing you can win? Brings us back to the whole sum-of-all-parts and checks-and-balances ideas, doesn't it? Sounds like a collaborative effort to me. You know what they call that, don't you? A team.

Maybe it was a missed opportunity to not convince Bill to let you hand over the GM title, responsibility and authority to him a few years back. Retain Payton perhaps as part of the deal. How might that have worked out? Sure, I know, Bill rubbed you the wrong way and maybe you had feelings of being threatened. Comes from two abrasive, stubborn personalities head-butting. So we need to find a way to keep it all-in-the-family (since this is a family outfit, right?) coupled with a non-threatening, collaborative set of individuals in key positions, don't we? You'd still remain, as Owner, the supreme authority and arbiter of all things Cowboys. All, that is, but the hearts of the fans, remember. Though they too might yet be turned around once again.

That boy of yours shows some promise, yes? He's matured some since you first bought the franchise, even shown some inkling of competence, yes? Sure he's a busy man with all those titles and responsibilities, Cowboys- and league-related. He might fit in as part of the solution. Might not be, but we'll never really know unless we try, right?

Another young lad immediately at hand and that might be considered part of the family has displayed some talent too, yes? Seems to have stepped up to opportunities, to have prepared for them throughout his professional life so far, yes? Looking at his resume, I'd at least sit the boy down for a talk about his and the team's future and where he might fit in. But, that's just me.

Player personnel and the rest I'd only suggest ensuring they're competent at their positions, with authority to fulfill their responsibilities. It's in your hands.

Hmmm, if things turned a corner and proved themselves beyond the wildest expectations, you may just find yourself looking back, seeing your first-born son step up on the long road to assuming the ownership beyond your time here, perhaps even handing over the reins of one of his many positions to that young fella you've kept hanging around these many years. There's longevity there, even a brief glimpse of Halas-like immortality. Wouldn't that qualify as success? Fans might even not lynch you if you wanted to listen to a little William Tell Overture when accepting another Lombardi or two or...

Sure, it's a dream. But that's what inspires us to achieve the Future, isn't it?

It's not "the" solution. Just an alternative for your consideration. To get you thinking about what might be possible.

It'd also let you say "See, I was right. I made mistakes, sure. But I learned from them. Surprised you, didn't I?". Wouldn't it, Mr. Owner? Wouldn't it satisfy the ego? Would it let you do what you've proven proficient at, marketing, and free up some time to focus on owner-level responsibilities? Wouldn't it make you part of the team, our beloved Cowboys, and let you contribute more meaningfully and constructively to the team? Achieve the success you may have re-evaluated the definition of? Perhaps even helped out on the Value versus Worth conundrum?

Your out? Why, it's simple. Void the "me" clause. That verbal "if he gave me that third one I'd never ask again", whether it was a deal with "the guy above" or your sense of direction all this time's been wrong and it was a deal down, in both senses. Make it about the Team, not you. Don't ask for more success, simply put changes in place that work towards it. It's not renegotiating the deal, it's voiding it. Allows you to retain the material value and maybe, just maybe, you've learned something of Worth along the way.

Make "me" "We".

Me, I'd pay to see all that. Cold hard cash. And plenty of it.

The Fan
We Cowboys fans cover a broad spectrum, don't we? For every one of us that might hold out, use our dollars to send a message, there are more who will contribute to the revenue stream. We'll shell out the cash to display our support for our team. Not the product you offer up, but the team. The history behind it and down the road, when you're long gone. We've held true beyond your tenure and that's not likely to change. You know it. You bank on it. I know, because I'm one. I've paid my cash and will likely again. Maybe not soon, maybe not in your time, but it'll happen. It's hard to resist when passion has a hold on you, as it does me. And I'm not going anywhere. Health willing, I'll be here after you've had your day. For better or worse, till death do we part. Are you fulfilling your side of our implied contract, our handshake deal? Have you behaved responsibly towards us? Fulfilled the contractual obligations we entrusted you with and provided the dividends our loyalty deserves? Sure they're only implied, but what's the right thing to do? The decent, honorable thing?

The thing that may be your trump card when the accounting's done at heaven's door. Or hell's gate.

What, who me? Nope, nothing like that. I'm just a Cowboys fan. We tend to help a fella out when we see him in a jam. It's our way is all.

Yep, best of the season to you, Jerral. More importantly, Best of the Season to all those fans of dem Cowboys.

Yup, that's it. There's the tune I hear whispered in the wind. It's not a lonesome Cowboy warbling "Turn Out The Lights". More like strains of Dylan's "The Times They are A-Changin' ".

Breeze seems to be picking up a mite. Best watch the horizon. And prepare.

CBA details: July 21, 2011

tanstaafl — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 14:32:30 -0000

CBA details: July 21, 2011

Simple summary of the CBA deal owners approved and presented to players. Decent writeup in 9ers nation article with a link to Mortensen's 25-page pdf used as source (see here also).

In case anyone gives a damn.