On Sale Now:

Nick Van Exel. John Rocker. Hideki Irabu. Keyshawn Johnson. Claude Lemieux. Vernon Maxwell. Dennis Rodman. Carl Everett. Terry Glenn. Alonzo Spellman. Brett Hull.

Off the top of my head, this is a list (since 1998 when I arrived in Dallas) of players acquired by Dallas who were thought of as trouble-makers, selfish, or bad humans. Some were thought of as all 3. On the airwaves and in the newspapers the righteous media told us that they will destroy our teams and we will never forgive ourselves for allowing these guys into our town.

Well, with the exception of them not being very good players in most cases (except Nick, Keyshawn, Glenn, and Hull) they all came and left without much of an impact. But none of them brought this city to its knees with regret.

Do you know why? Because even the worst guy in the world realizes that he has to act better or he will never earn again. I said Saturday that every batter acts differently with 2 strikes against him. I think that sums up my prediction for Terrell. He will behave (by his standards) and the Cowboys will be a better team. In fact, if he doesn’t, he won’t get 80% of his money. Good times.


Screaming A Smith Has some good questions from a Philly perspective …

Perhaps someday the Eagles will find a way to explain how they allowed Owens to land in their own division, scheduled to go against them twice a season, perfectly positioned to prevent them from advancing to the postseason. Perhaps someday they'll favor us with an explanation.

Out of respect for their four consecutive trips to the NFC championship game, one trip to the Super Bowl, and years of quality play and decision-making, the temptation was to give the Eagles the benefit of the doubt by saying nothing until they did something and told us about it.

Time's up!

It's March. T.O. is gone. And all we see is Reggie Brown, Greg Lewis and a franchise player in quarterback Donovan McNabb, still injured by the way.
Physical? Psychological? It remains to be seen.

So it's time to see some action. Or get some kind of explanation.

What have the Eagles been doing all these months anyway? Did Joe Banner and Andy Reid go on vacation and forget to tell everybody? Or did they just forget that their 6-10 finish last season put them in last place in the NFC East, mired in mediocrity for the first time since Reid took over this franchise, forced to rebuild their identity now, not just their roster?

No one can legitimately say they have confidence in this team right now. Not while the Washington Redskins added receivers Brandon Lloyd (from the 49ers) and Antwaan Randle El (Steelers) to their roster before T.O. arrived in Dallas on Saturday. And now that T.O. is a Cowboy - essentially for a one-year, $10 million deal, bloated with future incentives - the Cowboys, Redskins and divisional champion New York Giants are all better.

Owens' temperamental behavior aside, the Eagles are actually worse.
"I'm a star among stars now," Owens said, gleaming while sitting beside Cowboys owner Jerry Jones during a news conference. "I'm going to put [problems of the past] behind me. They can only make a man stronger, wiser. For me, that's what it's done. I'll be a better teammate, a better person, a better man in life. I'm looking forward to this opportunity."

No one in Philadelphia should be happy about this.

We can't reasonably expect Roderick Hood or Sheldon Brown to stop Owens, any more than we can expect Reggie Brown, Lewis or Darnerien McCants to replace him. And there were too many occasions last season when the Eagles' defense - dare we say it? - was less than reliable.

It's bad enough this is not the same team it was two years ago, but when you consider the noticeable regression coupled with improvements everywhere within the division - plus the fact that Owens, with this new contract, has the potential to earn $5 million more in Dallas over the next three years than he would have made in Philadelphia through 2008 - the Eagles lost out in a variety of ways.

They lost out in talent, certainly in execution, and now a legitimate argument can be made that their image took a hit.

Jones may be desperate, having won just one playoff game since 1995, but, unlike the Eagles, he wasn't responsible for T.O.'s dirty laundry being aired in public. That's never been his style. He's the guy willing to take a chance and surrender some dollars.

The word may be out on T.O., but it's also out on the Eagles. While proudly and effectively frugal, they also have shown a tendency to be spiteful.

Once upon a time, we all thought it would catch up with them via free agency, attrition or just plain bad luck.

With T.O. in Dallas, a more direct approach has been adopted.

"Seven teams aggressively pursued T.O.," Owens' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, quipped.

Yet Owens is in Dallas now.

I wonder why!

I pretty much posted the whole column, but I thought it was worth your time. Reggie Brown and Greg Lewis? I am so afraid…


Meanwhile, over at the Eagles website ….

Dallas took the risk. Jerry Jones said so as he sat next to wide receiver Terrell Owens during Saturday's lovefest of a press conference as the Cowboys officially introduced Owens as a member of that team, as the intensity of the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry raised a full notch, as the news that everybody expected once Owens was released here came down.

Talk about great theater. Eagles fans, frothing at the mouth I'm sure, now have even more reason to dislike everything about the Cowboys now.

As Dallas begins its relationship with Owens and makes one of the most ironic moves in the history of this game, you have to understand what it means to the Eagles. He certainly makes Dallas' offense a more lethal attack in the air. Owens is a great talent, no question about it. He'll be fueled with fire.

So on the surface, on paper, Owens makes Dallas a better team. We'll see how the players and the organization react to the constant circus -- did Owens really say, "I've always been a good teammate" during his press conference? -- and the things he says and the way he works with people.

From a pure football standpoint, hey, Owens is another weapon to contend with in the NFC East. Jim Johnson has seen him in the passt, has schemed against him, knows that he will have to give a cornerback help against Owens' size, strength and speed.
From a pure drama standpoint, it doesn't get much better than Owens playing for Dallas, in the NFC East. I imagine the Cowboys' trip to Lincoln Financial Field in 2006 will be one of the hottest regular-season tickets ever (the schedule should be out in the next couple of weeks) and the shadow of Owens will loom large nationally.

But I can also tell you that Owens to Dallas will have no other impact for the Eagles. From an on-field football sense, yes, of course. The Eagles defense has two meetings with the Dallas offense.

I figured you are beaten down with all of the Dallas papers’ stuff. So, there is some Philly thoughts. Enjoy.

Meanwhile, here is some email that was good strong:

I just had to comment again after hearing your post conference comments. 'Surreal' totally sums this up!

This is like Charles Haley, but bigger. This is like Deion, but different. All came from our arch nemesis, S.F.. Owens had to pay a higher price to the football gods for his disrespect to the star (no shit, I believe it for real). His penance was a promise of gold and riches and a Super Bowl win. What could be worse than leading in a Super Bowl and then lose it, and then called selfish for playing on the injured leg, while taking a pay-cut and the loser QB who blew it in the Super Bowl gets a raise and the glory? It was a punishment.

Now he is where he was always meant to be. Where all great 49ers come to become even greater. The biggest show on earth. And he is now hardened even more than those others, with his trip to purgatory in Philly.

This will probably be good.

Dave in Dallas

Texas pretty much untested into the Sweet 16 …

Mavs finally lose on the road trip with half their team …

The New Jersey Nets jumped on the Mavericks early and didn't stop stomping until a 100-89 victory was secure at Continental Airlines Arena. The Mavericks finished the road trip 2-1 – good, but not good enough to keep pace with San Antonio, which
continues to win and owns the best record in the West.

The Mavericks had won 11 consecutive games against the Nets, but they never were in it Sunday.

"We were climbing uphill from the start," coach Avery Johnson said. "We didn't have it. They did have it."

The Nets won their fifth game in a row in spite of a 37-point effort by Dirk Nowitzki. It was a performance you'd never have seen coming if all you watched was the first half.

You know it's a bad day for the Mavericks when Nowitzki isn't the best 7-foot international player on the court. That honor -in the first half, anyway – went to Nenad Krstic, the Nets center from Serbia-Montenegro who needs to buy a vowel but didn't need anything added to his game. He had a double-double early in the second half and finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Liverpool 3, Newcastle 1 …

And in other news, Liverpool apologizes for that little “human excrement” situation …Our bad…

Liverpool have apologised to Manchester United for the behaviour of their supporters during last month's FA Cup fifth-round tie at Anfield.

The club and Merseyside police conducted an investigation into disturbances, during which objects, including human excrement, coins and food, were thrown at United supporters in the Anfield Road stand. Liverpool's stadium and operations manager Ged Poynton has written to United admitting standards had "fallen short".

He said: "We deplore what certain fans have done. I class anyone who wants to throw a coin or something else when they are leaving as cowards. I am ashamed to admit in one case excrement was thrown. How low can you get? We did what we could, we tried to brush people down and compensated those involved. But I have never seen anything like it before."

No hard feelings, Manchester United, right? By the way, good luck in the FA Cup…Oh, sorry…I forgot you got eliminated. Well, then good luck in the Champions League…Oh sorry again…Well, good luck in winning the premiership….Oops…

Eyes popping out of his head ….

High Score – The Movie ….

Somehow, this implosion in Fort Worth was off my radar until it was too late. I swear I would have been there had I known they were taking down a 38 story building…. Video 1 of Landmark …

Video 2 of Landmark ….

It is up to you, the reader of this blog, to make me aware of news stories I might care about…
Spike TV syndicates the Shield starting this week! …So, if you have always wanted to catch up, here is your chance!
Remember on Friday when we called Ireland and found Lauren? she plugged Copper Face Jacks …apparently the finest place to party in Dublin….

In closing, perhaps, I should congratulate myself on predicting the dreaded and feared "Tony dream sequence" episode from last night's Sopranos. The Shield would never pull this garbage...