Full Friday Bag-O-Blog

The Dynamic Duo of Rosenhaus and Owens …

Consider the perfect pairings throughout sports history. Ruth-Gehrig, Chamberlain-Russell, Yankees-Red Sox, Connors-McEnroe, Ali-Frazier, Nicklaus-Palmer, Bird-Magic, baseball-steroids -- any pairing you like, moldy to modern.

Surely none of them is the made-for-each-other marriage, the quintessential coupling, to equal Terrell Owens and Drew Rosenhaus.

It calls to mind the shortest poem in history, attributed to Muhammad Ali in his preening prime: ``Me. Whee!''

Owens, the Philadelphia Eagles' booted-out-of-camp receiver, and Rosenhaus, his Miami-based agent, have reinvented self-promotion and made it a two-man cottage industry. Egos on parade. Co-grand marshals.

Tiger posts a 75, Phil leads tournament …Who will finish higher?



Doug Christie agrees to join Mavericks …Good move? Yes, if Christie can still play. In 2002, this is just what they need, but it appears he has lost quite a bit…Of course, in 2002, he wouldn’t sign for 1-year/$3 million deal…

Meanwhile With Steven Hunter off the board, the Mavericks scramble for a warm body …Beware, Evan Eschmeyer could be next…

Rangers Lose …Shock!

Good Essay on Athletes skipping college or not …



My former college professor, Dr. David Horton, alpha-male …

After 2,650 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail, Liberty University professor David Horton is one lean running machine.

Horton crossed over the Canadian border on Tuesday and completed one of the greatest adventures of his lifetime with a 34-mile trek. He was met by a large group of hikers and runners alike along the trail, who escorted him into Manning Provincial Park in British Columbia, site of the PCT's northern trailhead.

That marked the end of a record-setting 67-day journey that started June 4 at the Mexican border near Campo, Calif.

Horton, who is closing in on 100,000 miles logged in his running career, shattered the previous record of 83 days set in 2003 by Ray Greenlaw. Brian Robinson, who served as Horton's primary pace runner through much of California, had the second fastest time of just over 85 days. Both of those records, however, were set without the support of a crew - they carried backpacks and were not met at road crossings by a support team. Horton set his speed record in a supported fashion with a team meeting and crewing him at predetermined points along the trail.

Originally, his goal was to finish in 63 days, but he was slowed by record snowfall atop the Sierra-Nevada mountain range in central California. As it turned out, the delay may have helped him in the end. If he had arrived in northern Washington three days earlier, he would have been held up by forest fires that recently swept through that region.

Friday and Sunday were two of Horton's longest and toughest days on the trail. On Friday, after a 4 a.m. start, he completed 51.0 miles in a time of 18 hours, 19 minutes.

There was no day of rest for Horton on Sunday. He and Scott Jurek, who won his seventh straight Western States 100 ultramarathon in northern California this summer, started at 4:30 p.m. at the Trinity trailhead and traveled 56.3 miles in 19:36, finishing after midnight.

Throughout his two-month odyssey, Horton only had one day of rehabilitation, in Bridgeport, Calif., after he and Robinson starved for 26 hours before arriving at Sonora Pass.

Top that.

Galloway on Jones and Cuban …

The Roto Authority Claims a big story shall break today …

In case you didn't hear, a "young player" is likely to be identified by Major League Baseball Friday morning. This is supposedly a bigger name than Palmeiro.

Fun Game: Roid Roulette …

Tech chooses a QB, butchers a cliché …

Hodges is a fifth-year senior, like Tech's last two starters-in-waiting. But Harrell, a redshirt freshman from Ennis, thought the race was close until he missed the last week of spring practice with a broken ankle.

"He's obviously got an upper leg," Harrell said. "If I go out in these first few days of two-a-days and light it up, I think it's still wide open."

Jumping the Great Wall …

Warning: HBO CONTENT More Entourage Humor …featuring Jake the Snake Roberts…



Stewie Soundboard …

Good p1 Brian Moon has hot sauce for you at Locoluna.net…

To celebrate our triumphant return to Texas, here is some email:

Bob-
I know Cowboys camp and American Football has taken over your sports brain these last few weeks, but could we get a link on the blog to the FC Dallas Pizza Hut Park Opener story. Sorry you were not there, the pitch was awesome. Place still needs a little work but it's going to be an amazing place for the beautiful game when it's finished.

And by the way here's a funny link to Tony Meola's mortgage company. When he is not stopping Carlos Ruiz breakaways for the MetroStars, he's trying to get you into a 30-year fixed with no points in KC.

Link to Meola

Regards
P-1 Barry
Karesh Out

Guilty as charged. My FC Dallas linking has fallen on hard times. I will do better, and I think I am going to check out the new stadium tomorrow night.
Here is some football stuff:

Subject: No Mention of Dan this week
From: Hogan

Hey Bob,

I have been listening to you since you came here and was wondering why I have heard little about Marino since his induction last week. All we heard during your Aikman bashing start here was how great Marino was and was comparing his stats with Aikman's. (except of course number of titles or even playoff stats)

The truth be told, Marino was a very good quarterback and will be remembered much like some other Hall of Famer's with great stats like Tarkenton,Fouts and Kelly, to name a few. These names are remembered if you visit Canton, but forgotten quickly, so quickly that even you did.

Hogan-

I am not sure what you wanted this week from us. He hasn't played in years, and we are located at Cowboys Camp so a Marino tribute show seemed out of place. I never championed the career of Dan Marino with anyone but Dale Hansen who insists on claiming his career was a joke, and pales in comparison with Aikman. My Aikman "bashing" consists of 8 years of claiming he is a no brain HOF QB, so if that is bashing than so be it. You seem to misconstrue my debating Marino's credentials over Aikman if I could only choose one, but if your summary of my opinions of Aikman is nothing but bashing, than I suggest that perhaps you did not collect enough data from our shows.

Hansen just drove me crazy in his defense of Aikman for the hall of fame, but I didn't know how to contact him. He should understand that most people agree that Aikman is a hall of famer. But he loses credibility when he attempts to compare him with guys like Steve Young. I compared their stats and the only thing that Aikman did better than Young was attempt more passes (so much for that defense that the Cowboys did not rely on Aikman and that is why his numbers are down) and throw more interceptions. And remember, Young could run too and was one of the best rushing QBs of all time.

Stat---AIKMAN---YOUNG
ATTEMPTS--4715--4147
TOTAL YARDS-- 32942--33124
AVG PER ATTEMPT--7.0--7.98
COMPLETION %--61.5%-- 64.3%
QB RATING --81.6-- 96.8
TOUCHDOWNS-- 165-- 232
INTERCEPTIONS-- 141-- 107
TD TO INT RATIO-- 1 TO 1.17 --1 TO 2.16
RUSHING YDS-- 1016 -- 4239
RUSHING AVG-- 3.1 -- 5.9
RUSHING TDS-- 9 -- 43

Completion percentage and QB ratings for Young are best of all time.

The Young versus Aikman debate is one that is coming up quite a bit these days, but again, to suggest that Young is chopped liver is missing the point. It appears that some Cowboys fans feel the best way to debate their own guys is to act like Marino and Young were spares. I think this hurts the credibility of the Aikman supporters. If you want to say Namath wasn’t that great, the numbers back you up, but numbers don’t lie, and they suggest that Steve Young is in the discussion as the best QB of the era.

And then this one:

I am already sick of football announcers. I was working out while watching the Packers game last
night. The TV was across the room so I couldn't see the score. I started wasching the game in the 2nd quarter. After listening to the announcers kiss Favre's ass over and over again, he threw a TD pass.

They then said he was putting on a clinic for the San Diego defense. I assumed the score was 21-0 or something like that. When I got close enough to see the score, it was 7-0. Seven points in a quarter and a half constitutes putting on a clinic? I hate ESPN!

I also hate that good ol' boy veterans get their asses kissed just for being in the league and granting an interview. (regardless of race - I am a white guy).

I wrote this on the blog on November 30, 2004:

I might have said this before, but let me say it again. I am as big a fan of Brett Favre as there is. I don’t like to go to great lengths on the air about this, because some Cowboys fans develop an unhealthy hate for you if you let on that not all of your heroes have always been Cowboys. Having said where my loyalties lie, I must tell you that the adoration of Brett Favre recently has been too much for even me. Somehow, the networks in general, and the MNF crew specifically, now have their number 4 pom-poms out so much that it is almost enough to make me cringe. I love the guy, but I always try to imagine how annoying it would be if you were a fan of the other team and you just wanted to watch the game, not hear from Joe Namath and Cal Ripken, Jr., and see repeated camera shots of Deanna Favre. Maybe I am hyper-sensitive, but gee whiz. We get it. Brett loves football. And I am a guy with a 3 foot picture of Favre on my wall…

I am bracing for a full year of difficult-to-stomach Favre loving. The ESPN guys last night were so over-the-top that it is tough to watch. Again, I love this guy, and I can’t take it anymore!!!

First of all, I'm a die hard Redskin fan. Theres my disclosure.

What's going to hurt Mike is that Art Monk still has not been inducted, which is a huge joke. Top 5 in most career stats. He has more catches, yards and TD's than Irvin. He was on 2 Championship winning teams (he did not play in the Jan 83 game vs. the Dolphins, so we wont count that). And to the writers, Art was a class act thru and thru...no debate. By keeping him out, they can justify keeping Michael on the fence for a while.

Also, Joe Jacoby is as deserving of being in the Hall as any Cowbow lineman, and I know who you are speaking of!! Jacoby redefined the OT position as a guy to get and and run...to pull and lead block.

What do you guys think of those points?

David

I think that Monk needs to be in, and perhaps more than Irvin. Jacoby (and Otis Taylor) is a perfect example of other teams also having deserving people that belong in the Hall of Fame, too.

And finally, this one from Marshall (remember the Tiger e-mails from earlier in the week?

Good morning Bob,

First off, I'm not rehashing our previous train wreck, and I'm not bagging on you or tiger. This is a comment on the media. I just want to offer you proof of my frustration. As I'm writing this, in the PGA championship, several guys are hovering around -3 for the lead, including Phil Mickelson. But what's the story? I'll give you the Internet headlines for Golf this morning:


ESPN.com: "Tiger's Comeback Trail? Tigers worst first round in a major..."

MSN.com: "Tiger has horrid start at PGA"

CBSSportsline.com: "Leaderboard crowded - but minus Tiger - at PGA"


That's my frustration. He's not the only golfer in the world, but according to the Media he is.

out -

Marshall

I feel your pain. But, like Favre, Tiger Woods gets a lot of love. Even when they play bad. That is life.