Whitt's End: 11.2.12
Whether you've reached the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End:
*We worship our athletes. We sometimes boo our athletes. And often we forget that under the helmet or behind the uniform our athletes are human beings as well. Reminded of this again this week via the saga of Cowboys' offensive lineman Tyron Smith. After blowing through the $2 million given them by their son, his family - 2 of his sisters - showed up at his north Dallas home demanding more money. His parents are basically trying to extort money from their son, whom they view as a cash-cow ATM. It's sickening. Despicable. We haven't heard Tyron's truth about the tale yet. But we will. I'm gonna sit down with him soon, perhaps tonight. Can't wait for his deadbeat family to be fully exposed. Stay tuned for the truth right here on Sportatorium and on 105.3 The Fan.
*Seems nuts for New York to attempt to run its marathon this weekend. That's not resiliency, it's simply a gross misuse of assets at a time when citizens need food, water and power.
*Broke down all 13 of Tony Romo's league-leading interceptions. 6 of them aren't his fault. I mean, yeah, the ball left his hand was caught by the wrong team. But whether it was wrong routes, deflections or ridiculous early pressure, almost half his picks could've been avoided by competent teammates. For what it's worth, 5 of his interceptions were throws intended for Kevin Ogletree. Only 2 for Dez Bryant.
*Funny how in times of crisis suddenly socialism isn't such a bad idea after all. Obamacare is panned by Republicans and right-wingers. But why isn't FEMA's aid to states in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy as well? It is, after all, the government helping its citizens from a big pool of shared money.
*Most maddening about being a Cowboys fan: Dallas has the 7th-ranked offense and 4th-ranked defense; Atlanta's offense is 13th and defense is 20th. Yet the Cowboys score 9 points less per game than the Falcons and allow 5 points more. How? Turnovers, plain and simple. Atlanta's turnover margin is +10. The Cowboys are -11. Falcons are 7-0; Cowboys 3-4. Maddening.
*HOT
*NOT
*News this week "broke" that – whatdya know? – domestic family violence charges against Dez Bryant won't be dropped after all. Surprising. Unless, that is, you remember this blog from September.
*Yeah, the Falcons are only the 6th NFL team to start 7-0 and score at least 23 points in every game, but there's hope for the Cowboys Sunday. Atlanta's leading tackler linebacker Sean Weatherspoon is out with an ankle injury. And then there's … um, nope, that's about it.
*Rapper 50 Cent has cut ties with boxer Floyd Mayweather. Seems their joint "TMT (The Money Team) Promotions" wasn't working because, according to Fiddy, Mayweather's side wasn't kicking in its half of promised money. The more you know about Mayweather the less you like him.
*Sports Illustrated/NBC NFL "expert" Peter King picked the Chiefs to win the AFC West. They are 1-7 with a -20 turnover margin. Just sayin'.
*Got pulled over in Addison on Halloween night for an illegal U-turn. Busted. Totally saw the sign and said "screw it." Female cop says "I don't know if you saw the sign …" I answered flatly, "Yeah, I saw it." She kinda tilted her head to the side, handed me my license, said "Be careful tonight" and let me go. It was like an episode of The Twilight Zone. I didn't even have to flash my cleavage.
*We dig Faith Hill. And Cris Collinsworth is the best analyst in the NFL business. But there's something crappy about NBC's Sunday Night Football. The Cowboys haven't won on Sunday night since '09 and have lost their last 7 appearances. In their last 6 games they've allowed 31, 37, 34, 27, 30 and 45 points.
*With the Sean Lee Show placed on injured reserve, RAGE debuted the Brandon Carr Show on Thursday. His hand-picked intro music: Jay-Z & Kanye's "Who Gon Stop Me." Carr admits now that yes, actually, playing for the Cowboys and being a "$50 million man" put uncomfortable pressure on him. "At first I tried to act like it was no big deal," he said. "But the more I dealt with it, yeah, there's a lot of pressure. I had to get away from it all and just get back to being me and playing fundamental football. Now that I've done that, I've got my swag back." Carr is still waiting for his 1st interception as a Cowboy.
*Counting preseason the Lakers are 0-10. I dare you to read that without smiling.
*Stat that will make your NFL brain cramp: Future Hall-of-Fame tight ends Jason Witten and Tony Gonzalez have combined for 1,942 catches for 22,193 yards and 141 touchdowns over 26 seasons. And together, they've won 1 playoff game. One. With his 4th catch Sunday Witten will pass Michael Irvin as the all-time leading Cowboys' receiver. Still, with the game on the line if I could pick any Cowboy to throw the ball to it'd be … Drew Pearson.
*Still mystified by Dave Barnett's plight. Last season he had the brief incident where during a game he went all "botched robbery" and "henchmen" and "5th base." But he's better now, calling North Texas football games and whatnot. Why then, didn't the Rangers bring him back? Instead, Texas will go with Steve Busby and Tom Grieve on TV and Eric Nadel and Matt Hicks on radio in 2013.
*Since the Cowboys beat the Dolphins last Thanksgiving they are 4-8.
*With the World Series over it's free-agent season in baseball, so the Rangers are inside their 30-day exclusive negotiating window with Josh Hamilton. Doesn't seem like they're even going make him an offer does it?
*This weekend? Saturday morning it's tennis, followed by Tech-Texas and then the latest reincarnation of the Dallas Sidekicks up in Allen. Sunday we're taking a bus load of FanFans to Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500. We'll do the Cowboys-Falcons Official Pre-Game Show from TMS as well. Don't be stranger.
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