I sure hope they know what they are doing!

I guess I don’t quite understand football. When you cut Keyshawn Johnson with no alternative signed, it shows that I must have no idea what I am talking about. It wasn’t like he was expensive ($2.5 million), and it wasn’t like he hasn’t demonstrated he can still play.

He can play plenty. Two years with the Cowboys, 2 70-catch seasons for Key. I recognize the guy need a raise, because who doesn’t these days, but wasn’t there some level of supply/demand in this situation?

Couldn’t the case be made that the Cowboys needed to add another WR to the Glenn-Keyshawn duo for 2006? Now, they subtract him? So, anything short of the gamble that is Terrell Owens plus a fairly high draft prospect means the Cowboys will enter 2006 with a very thin, untested WR group. What else is new?

Keyshawn will be missed. There is still an outside chance the Cowboys could re-sign him, but without Owens replacing him, I am not sure who is going to make the tough catch on 3rd and 8 for this team going forward. Someone may have to explain this one to me…




Cavs the latest team to blow huge lead in Dallas …

The amazing turn of events transpired during a third quarter in which the Cavs were outscored, 27-8, and they shot a miserable 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from the field. The fewest points scored in a quarter by the Cavs were four against Boston on Nov. 28, 2000.

The Cavs (36-29) led by 19 early in the third, but a quick spurt by the Mavericks (50-14) cut the Cavs' lead to 12.

Erick Dampier provided the Mavericks with a huge spark when he blocked Drew Gooden's dunk. That sparked a 16-4 Mavericks run that tied it at 61-61 at the end of the quarter.

"They made their run, and we couldn't contain them," Ilgauskas said. "Their crowd got into it, and it just snowballed from there."

Dirk Nowitzki scored eight of his 30 points during the incredible third. Marquis Daniels also scored eight. The Mavericks made only one 3-pointer during the quarter. They scored 12 points in the paint, and they had 11 second-chance points.

QB’s on the move in NFL …

The league's off-season shuffling went into overdrive yesterday, when several marquee quarterbacks and other big-name players switched uniforms. The biggest deals involved Brees and Culpepper, former Pro Bowl quarterbacks who are recovering from operations to repair major injuries: Brees from a torn right labrum and Culpepper from three torn ligaments in his right knee.

The Cowboys intensified speculation that Terrell Owens could be headed to Dallas when they released Johnson, a veteran wide receiver who was seeking a bigger contract. As expected, Owens, the controversial wide receiver, was formally released yesterday by Philadelphia, making him a free agent.

In less than 15 months since the playoff win in Lambeau by the Vikes, Randy Moss, Mike Tice, and Daunte Cullpepper have all escaped from Minnesota against their will. Wow.

Perhaps at 3:00 yesterday, you heard the grand debate about talking about a story that we thought was garbage, but couldn’t prove it either way…Well, it was about the death of Will Ferrell which was garbage, but proves what kind of media world we live in…

It would appear that someone out there has a poor sense of humor. Apparently some internet lowlife seems to be spreading around a link to a fake and extremely poorly written press release claiming that Will Ferrell has died in a paragliding accident.

This is what the release says: 'Los Angeles -- Actor Will Ferrell accidentally died in a freak para-gliding accident yesterday in Torey Pines, Southern California. The accident apparently happened somewhere near the famed paragliding site after a freak wind gush basically blew Ferrell and his companion towards a wooded area where they lost control before crashing into the dense foilage.

Once again, to reiterate: Will Ferrell has NOT died.

According to 'Regret The Error,' reports: 'As of about 4:10 p.m. EST today Will Ferrell was on set at a movie he is shooting in Montreal. This was reported by a source who was standing just a few feet away from the not-dead actor. Ferrell apparently has all of his limbs and was not wearing paragliding equipment. All signs point to him being alive. Which means this mysterious press release was full of hooey.'

And like Defamer points out: '..fans of Ferrell might remember that his funeral-haunting character in Wedding Crashers mocks a hang-gliding accident, an irony that would be too obvious for even the most malevolent of gods to inflict on Hollywood.'
i-Newswire has since removed the release, and the story link on Google takes you to a page that reads, "The content of this press release was removed or moved to another location. Please use our search function to search for the new location or enter a search string to find similar items." A site search on Ferrell's name comes up with nada on the i-Newswire site.

I promised mock drafts so here is the latest from Don Banks:

Pick Team Pos. Player College Class Ht. Wt.

1 Houston RB Reggie Bush USC Jr. 6-0 200
The bottom 31 slots in this first round might wind up looking vastly different between now and the April 29 draft, but I'm convinced Bush and the Texans are a marriage that's going to last. At least until I start hearing that Houston is seriously entertaining offers to trade down.

2 Jets (trade) QB Matt Leinart USC Sr. 6-5 225
Now that the Saints have signed Drew Brees and don't need the best quarterback available at this spot, look for the Jets to move up and get the former Heisman Trophy winner. Although they did work out a deal with Chad Pennington, this is too good an opportunity to turn down.

3 Titans QB Jay Cutler Vanderbilt Sr. 6-4 228
Nobody had more buzz coming out of Indy than Cutler, and I'm sticking with the idea that the hometown Titans are intrigued with keeping the Vandy star in Nashville. But having Mario Williams sitting there for the taking is going to really test Tennessee's belief in Cutler.

4 Saints (trade) DE Mario Williams N.C. State Jr. 6-7 285
Since the quarterback spot seems to be settled, the Saints need to replace free-agent defensive end Darren Howard, who signed a big deal with the Eagles. Williams is a rare physical specimen who could be a matchup problem for opposing defenses.

5 Packers DT Haloti Ngata Oregon Jr. 6-5 345
With the Packers re-signing defensive end Aaron Kampman, they now turn their attention to the defensive interior, where the run-stuffing Ngata is the best the draft has to offer. Taking the draft's blue-chip offensive tackle, Virginia's D'Brickashaw Ferguson, would also be a sound top-five strategy.

6 49ers OT D'Brickashaw Ferguson Virginia Sr. 6-5 295
We can't think of a better way to aid in the development of second-year franchise quarterback Alex Smith than a cornerstone left tackle to protect his backside for the foreseeable future.

7 Raiders QB Vince Young Texas Jr. 6-5 235
Given that the Raiders have failed at landing Daunte Culpepper, this move makes too much sense. As crazy as it would have sounded on the morning of Jan. 5 after his Rose Bowl showing, if Young slips past the Raiders, it's possible he could fall entirely out of the top 10.

8 Bills LB A.J. Hawk Ohio State Sr. 6-1 240
In London Fletcher and Jeff Posey, the Bills have a couple of starting linebackers who are past their 30th birthdays. Hawk had great showings at both the combine and his pro day, and he's an impact addition for a defense that tumbled a long way in the league rankings in 2005.

9 Lions DB Michael Huff Texas Sr. 6-1 205
We're going to go out on a limb and predict that the Lions won't be taking a first-round receiver for the fourth consecutive year. Huff is a versatile talent who had a solid top 10 ranking coming out of the combine. If the Lions get tempted by anyone on offense, it'll be Maryland tight end Vernon Davis.

10 Cardinals TE Vernon Davis Maryland Jr. 6-3 250
The Cardinals didn't wait until the draft to land their No. 1 running back, splurging instead on Edgerrin James in free agency. So no DeAngelo Williams or LenDale White for them. Davis put on a virtuoso performance in Indy, and he'll give balance to an offense that already has a ridiculously potent passing game.

18 Dallas WR Chad Jackson Florida Jr. 6-1 205
Jackson's combine 40 time of 4.34 got everybody's attention, and it makes him one of the more obvious climbers in the bottom half of the first round. The Cowboys are old at receiver, but they also need help at offensive tackle, should Eric Winston linger or Auburn's Marcus McNeill tempt them.

If you want T.O., you must come to grips with this piece of history …and yes, we are trying to book George Teague…

Guerin will miss some time after all ….

Stars winger Bill Guerin is scheduled to have surgery Thursday for a fractured orbital bone and will probably be out for about a week, Stars coach Dave Tippett said Tuesday.

Guerin was high-sticked by Vancouver's Brendan Morrison in the first period of a 4-2 Stars victory Monday and left the game with a swollen eye. The injury was revealed when Guerin was examined by an eye doctor Tuesday.

"He'll get that taken care of and then take a little time to get it healed," Tippett said. "The good thing is, he's seeing clearly."

Josh Rupe bows out of the race for the 5th arm …

Rupe appeared to be the leader in a tight race for the fifth spot in the rotation. But Rupe's velocity dropped in his three innings against Seattle on Sunday, and on Monday he complained of elbow soreness, prompting the MRI.

That leaves Juan Dominguez, Edison Volquez and maybe knuckleballer R.A. Dickey and lefty C.J. Wilson as in-house contenders for the final rotation slot.

Dan Campbell signs 5 year deal in Detroit …hmmm….

And then, BaD Radio with some more indirect publicity in the form of reader email …in the Detroit paper this time…

From: longsuffer'n lionsfan
City: Dallas, Texas

Dan Campbell is a very good signing by the Lions. As y'all know I've been living down here in Dallas Cowboys Country these last 18 years (still a die hard Lions fan).

Campbell is not a great receiver but a pretty good blocker. Great, great locker room guy. So well respected by his Cowboy teammates that he was voted the Cowboys offensive captain. Real down to earth guy. The Lions will get their money's worth. Not flashy but a solid performer. This past year he had a regular spot on the local radio sports show. Funny as hell, and he's not afraid to give his opinion. If at all possible, I urge you Lions fans to get him to do a radio spot on one of the shows up there.

Here is a pretty cool hockey blog: Hockey Populace …And I am so into hockey right now…

Arrested Development Season 3 on DVD …

Here is a review of the Shield from last night ...A+++

And now, some television email:

Sports-

First of all, pardon the length of this e-mail, but I think you will find it to be worthwhile (or not....but I like it).

My theory on this Soprano thing is concurrent with yours - I think that they showed us the end first, and the remainder of the season will go back to show us how everything got to that point. Do remember when Carmela and Tony are eating out, and he mentions how hard this last year has been? Carmela agrees, and it's supposed to be a given that the last year has somehow been VERY stressful....but they never say why. There was never anything in the last season's "cliffhanger" that would show us why.

Also, I would encourage you to head on over to Hbo.com and check out the video for the "clips" trailer (under the "video" section of the Sopranos home page - entitled "The Sopranos: 2006 Clip Trailer"). HOWEVER, re-watch it keeping in mind everything that happened in this most recent episode (watch it as though Tony has just been killed). We haven't seen Pauly Walnuts yet - however, in the clip trailer, he is seen running for his life once, and also crying once. We also see Phil Leotardo tell Tony "Johnny wants 'him' gone. Does this mean that sometime in the last year (prior to Tony getting shot), Pauly has been whacked? Several other things - in the trailers, A.J. has relatively long hair, but in this first episode, his hair is VERY long....almost as if he's spent the last year growing his hair, and the product of that is the VERY long hair we see in episode 1 of Season 6. In this past episode, we also see a lot of people very "distraught" looking.....and an entire new character introduced AND killed in the same season? I don't buy that. My point is simple: I think we've seen the END, now we're going to see the MEANS to that end.

Of course, I could be completely wrong, and this theory could be completely irrelevant. Stranger things have happened.

P1 Adam

And then this one:

i was watching "The Sopranos" again trying to figure out what where they may be headed. I've got a couple observations

1. First scene of the show is the FBI agent in the car who says something to the effect of "The american public will buy anything if you dress it up" .Every other season has started with Tony picking up his paper.

2. Many of the characters were confronted with how their life would be better without Tony. Carmela meets with Big P's widow and notices how well she is doing...the guy who hung himself and his wife were discussing life without Tony. Vito openly discussing being the possibility of him being the future boss of the family.

3. Uncle Junior was crazy......or was he... yeah probably

Now onto the shield.
1. HOLY CRAP!!!!!!


Godspeed,


P1 Paul

Finally, this email of vindication from Matt with regards to the Rick Reilly column controversy:

I read the Wyoming State article and it didn’t even occur to me that it wasn’t real. You’re not the only moron.
Matt

In closing today, a good p1 sent me this picture from his buddies. I believe they are posing for this picture for comedy purposes, but nevertheless, the question GNG popped up…