Thud.

And just that quickly, all signs of life were snuffed out of the 2005 Dallas Cowboys season. The Carolina Panthers and Washington Redskins won games that they needed to win, and thereby killed the Cowboys chances of playing past Sunday. The Boys did it to themselves, and therefore had to hope Mike McMahon could bail them out. Right.

Talk about depressing. I don’t claim to be a life-long Cowboys homer, but once it became obvious that things weren’t going well in Philadelphia, it became pretty tough to finish the Cowboys pregame show with any amount of care. And evidently, the players felt about the same way about the game.

So, the Cowboys have a 9-7 season that was worth slightly more than the teams that finished with 3-13 records, because they will not play past January 1st. Really sucks.

By the way, looks like Leonard Little took some time off from his drunk driving career to terrorize the Cowboys OL and Drew Bledsoe. If you are serious about winning in 2006, you need a RT, and perhaps a C, LG, and a prayer that your RG isn't over the hill, too.

Rams 20, Cowboys 10 ...yuck.

Greg Ellis thinks he is done ...

Redskins earn their way into the playoffs …That smarts…

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Meanwhile, Richie Anderson was telling me on the pregame show that he is feeling like Parcells is likely done. He obviously knows the coach very well, and people around the coach, too. I don’t know what to think, because last week the “Parcells retirement” stories did not concern me at all, but when Richie says it, I start to wonder if I was wrong.

Here is what profootballtalk.com said:

In response to reports that Cowboys coach Bill Parcells has been offered a contract extension in Dallas and that he's thinking about retiring, we're hearing that Parcells is merely trying to sweeten the terms of the package that owner Jerry Jones has dropped onto the table.

Sure, there's still a chance that Parcells packs it in. But word is that, if he's going to stay in Dallas beyond 2006, it will be under a contract that pays him more than what Jones has offered.

Let’s hope that is all there is to this story.

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The Lions need a coach, the Packers may need a coach, The Vikings need a coach now …Who would have thought Lovie Smith would be the dean of the NFC North Coaches?

Awesome News here: Doug Flutie with the great drop kick! …wow.

Doug Flutie added another oddity to his football résumé when he converted a drop kick in the fourth quarter of the New England Patriots' game against the Miami Dolphins.

It was the league's first drop kick since the 1941 NFL championship game, according to the web site for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

According to the Hall of Fame site, Chicago's Ray "Scooter" McLean converted the last drop kick in the Bears' 37-9 victory against the New York Giants on Dec. 21, 1941.

From the World Juniors, Canadians beat Americans …hopefully, we will get another shot at them later in the week, but now there is plenty of work to do…

Canada (4-0-0) will play in a semifinal Tuesday (TV, 7 p.m. ET) against the winner of Mondays quarter-final between Sweden, second in Group B and Finland, third in Group A (TV, 11 p.m. ET).

The U.S. plays the Czech Republic, which finished third in Group B, in Monday's other quarter-final (TV, 7 p.m. ET). The winner of that game faces Group B winner Russia on Tuesday (TV, 11 p.m. ET).

Securing the bye to the semifinal is an major advantage. In addition to a day of rest and facing a semifinal opponent tired from the previous round, Canada avoids the danger of losing a player to injury in a sudden-death quarter-final.

BaD Radio buddy, Dan McGraw, rips the bowl system …

103 year old lady goes to 1st Packer game …

counterfeit tickets at Illinois …Always check the spelling…

About 10 bogus tickets were confiscated at the arena from people who were trying to find their seats, Illinois sports information director Kent Brown said.

"There was no seat location for the spot listed on the ticket," he said.

The tickets obviously are bogus. The word "Illinois" is misspelled "Illinios" twice and the tickets include a face price of $50.

Play the College basketball name game …

Ferris Bueller’s day off – Iraqi style as boy flies to Iraq …

McConaughey told to stay off the field …

The Rose Bowl, acting on a directive from bowl championship series administrators that also applies to the other three BCS bowl games, is cracking down on sideline access for Wednesday night's national championship showdown between top-ranked USC and second-ranked Texas, according to the LOS ANGELES TIMES.

BCS officials wanted a safer and more "collegiate" atmosphere to be presented, BCS administrator Bill Hancock said this week, and to ensure that the focus of the game stays on the athletes competing on the field rather than on "outsiders."

That means celebrities such as Matthew McConaughey, an actor and Texas graduate who prowled the Rose Bowl sideline a year ago wearing a burnt orange leather jacket, will have to sit with the masses.

"People there to watch," Hancock said, "should be in the stands."

U2 tires of Bono’s side jobs …

Conference records as of right now in the bowl games …

Pac 10: 3-1 USC still left.
Big 12: 4-2 Texas and Texas Tech still left.
ACC: 4-2 Florida St. and Virginia Tech still left.
SEC: 1-1 Florida, Alabama, Auburn, and Georgia still left.
Big East: 0-2 Louisville and West Virginia still left.
Big 10: 0-3 Iowa, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Penn State still left.

Go Red Raiders this morning. Don't embarrass the state like the Aggies did last year in this game.