T.O.T.G.I.F.

That’s right! The Cowboys actually have a game this week …

Officially, Owens is listed as questionable on the injury report for Sunday's game at Tennessee. Parcells said a final decision on whether Owens will play will come Saturday night.

The Cowboys have contingencies in case Owens does not play. Sam Hurd, a rookie free agent, said he worked some with the first team Thursday, and Parcells added Patrick Crayton into the mix of possibly taking turns in Owens' spot.

"You wouldn't know he had a hand injury," said cornerback Nate Jones, who worked against Owens some in practice. "He was out there doing what he does."

What will Parcells have to see in today's practice and the Saturday walkthrough to make a decision on Owens?

"The same thing I need to see from every player – that he looks like he's functional and prepared with the game plan," Parcells said.

Owens politely declined comment Thursday. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was not made available for comment. And Owens' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, did not return phone calls.
As Owens sat alone on one of the blue couches in the center of the Cowboys' locker room, cameras filmed and clicked. He read a copy of Dallas Cowboys Weekly and wore a black t-shirt that read, "U big dummy," with a picture of comedian Redd Foxx.

Police Department drops “attempted suicide” label …which has really been my only beef with everything to begin with.

Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said that the incident had been reclassified as an accidental overdose Thursday – but he was emphatic that officers who initially responded to the call acted properly and correctly reported what they saw and heard.
"We have great confidence in the accuracy of the original officers' offense report," he said during a Thursday afternoon news conference where un-redacted copies of the original incident report were distributed, as well as a narrative detailing the follow-up investigation.

"We'd have to get inside Mr. Owens' head to know whether it was an attempted suicide or an accidental overdose," he said. "What I'm saying is, I don't know what happened."

Right. They don’t know what happened. I don’t know what happened. And you don’t know what happened.

So isn’t the issue here this: Why did the entire world label it as a suicide for the entire day on Wednesday? Owens will never live that down, and now all that happens is a small, qualified retraction?

I am not saying the officers did not report exactly what happened. What I am saying today is what I was saying on Wednesday. He wasn’t trying to kill himself. Now, let’s move on with our lives.

And his trainer is now available …

James "Buddy" Primm, Terrell Owens' personal trainer, said Thursday that the Cowboys wide receiver had relieved him of his services and was no longer speaking to him.
In a telephone conversation with The Dallas Morning News, Mr. Owens acknowledged as much and said Mr. Primm "had no business" discussing details of his private life with the news media.

Mr. Primm, 55, said Wednesday that Mr. Owens had been distraught over not being able to see his son, who celebrated his 7th birthday Monday. Hours later, he said, the receiver's fiancée, a woman he had dated for three years, ended their engagement.
"He shouldn't have been telling you anything about my personal life anyway," Mr. Owens said. "That's where it stops – right there. He should have never said anything remotely involving me or my personal life, especially my son or even my ex-girl."

LA Times looks at the media’s role, including Deion and Mike ….



Frogs, this is no way to act when you are on “elite probation”. Yet again, TCU whips the Big 12, then trips against others …BYU looks like a nice team, but you got to beat them in Fort Worth…

Losses always sting, and the soul searching that follows does, too.

TCU coach Gary Patterson said blame starts with him for the Horned Frogs' 31-17 loss Thursday night. Senior quarterback Jeff Ballard declined compliments for a 296-yard passing night, countering instead with instances when the offense failed.

BYU beat No. 17 TCU at Amon G. Carter Stadium on four days' rest, snapping the nation's longest winning streak at 13 games and putting in jeopardy the Frogs' goals of winning the Mountain West Conference and advancing to the BCS.

"I am a pretty good person to close the door and move on," Patterson said. "We've done it every time we ever played before. The bottom line to it is, you've got to go find a way to win."

The Frogs play again Thursday at Utah in another crucial conference game, and another loss would all but close the door on the Frogs defending their 2005 conference title. A BCS bowl would become a goal for next season's team.

Where it went wrong last night …

No, the rubble of this unexpected defeat showed evidence of missed tackles, of an offense that sputtered and of a pass defense that allowed too many BYU receivers to roam free.

"When you throw long balls, you've got to make plays," Patterson said of his defense.
"In the first three games, we made plays. Tonight, we didn't make plays."

TCU's freshman cornerbacks, for once, played like freshmen.

Shoddy tackling sometimes suggests an inattentive week of practice. Not so, Patterson said. He claimed to have seen no hangovers from the giddy 12-3 victory over Texas Tech.

"I didn't think so," Patterson said, when asked whether his team's thoughts were still stuck on the Tech game. "At least, we tried not to.

"Every time we seem to have a big win here in the last two years, we've followed with a loss."

No, this wasn't Texas Tech, a neighbor that needed no introduction. This was BYU, a
Mountain West Conference rival that was running a variant of Tech's offense.

And with one telling difference -- Tech's quarterback was inexperienced sophomore Graham Harrell. BYU's was senior John Beck, whose maturity and poise were apparent.

Jimmy Burch Big 12 Insider focuses on Aggie/Red Raider …

The Aggies head into Saturday's matchup (2:30 p.m., WFAA/8) against Tech (3-1) with a new defensive coordinator, a fresh scheme and some lingering nightmares about past matchups against the Red Raiders' pass-happy offense. They also enter with a fresh resolve.

Players have been pointing to this game for months, safety Melvin Bullitt said during Tuesday's news conference in College Station.

"Right now, this is our bowl game," Bullitt said. "We want to go out there, beat Tech and show everyone we're for real this year."

With a victory Saturday at Kyle Field, the Aggies build on their budding confidence and boost bowl hopes. Another loss reinforces the notion that little has changed since last year's 56-17 blowout in Lubbock, the Red Raiders' fourth victory in the past five meetings in this series.

Warren, a senior, understands Saturday's significance for players and coach Dennis Franchione, who is 20-19 overall and 10-14 in the Big 12 since taking over at A&M.
"We're four years into this program, and the sense of urgency right now is very high," Warren said. "People realize we've only had one winning season out of the last three. So, we really want to get back to a bowl game...and just be the old Texas A&M that used to be up there with Oklahoma and Texas."

That requires passing Tech in the South standings. To do that, A&M must contain Tech's passing game. That's been a daunting challenge for the Aggies, who have surrendered an average of 47 points per game in the past four matchups. Last year, 433 of the Raiders' 627 total yards came through the air.

Even though you are well aware of my inability to predict football results, here are my Predictions for this week:

Texas Tech 31, Texas A&M 24

Aggie is going to have to show me they are still capable of beating good programs. Tech is no world beater, but they were almost 6 Touchdowns better 11 months ago.

Dallas 21, Tennessee 17

The Titans have a lot of talent, and if Kerry Collins hits his open receivers, they can beat you. This is a very important focus point for the 2006 Cowboys.


Youtube:

In honor of playing the Titans, here is the Music City Miracle - 5:58



The Peter Crouch Bicycle kick



Steve Carrell learns to play goalie – 1:55