Soft Knocks?

Ok, 2 things on Hard Knocks-

1) It is just a TV show that can be edited in anyway. It should not be confused with a complete reflection of reality.

2) If that is anywhere close to the business-like atmosphere that Wade Phillips is conducting, I don’t blame you for being a little concerned.

Wow. Talk about the Anti-Parcells. Funny thing is, I was there for 2 weeks and I am wondering if it was as casual and easy as it looked last night.

But seriously, let’s all remember that it is in the eye of the beholder and more importantly the creator. If they wanted, they could have focused on the tougher elements of camp instead of Jamie Foxx, Dennis Miller, Jerry’s Grandkids and the dude who thought he should shove a soda bottle into his spandex.

I am guessing the enemies of the Cowboys are having a good time this morning with that episode.

This Cowboys blogger was extra disturbed by the Martellus Bennett stuff …and I cannot say I disagree completely.

That laugh was so bad.

All John Garrett is trying to do is coach up this guy so he can become a professional football player.

If the entire staff and owner and anyone else under the sun has to constantly give the kid good feedback when he does what he's supposed to do then this kid will never make it.

Magic Johnson was trying to talk to the kid, then Jerry was trying to talk to him and still he's looking past them at some BS going on across the field.

In the end the only person who is going to turn Martellus Bennett into an NFL player is Martellus Bennett. Right now for anyone to say they have seen anything that leads you to believe he has what it takes is just being a homer for the Dallas Cowboys.

Cut him? Of course not. Expect him to be a big part of what this team does in 2008?
Heck no. He isn't interested in blocking right now.

When Shaun Phillips runs by him like he's standing still I was cringing. That's a guy you want on the field when Tony Romo is out there playing QB? No way in the world would I trust him in that spot. And it's not like he was giving a full effort and just got beat, he just stuck his arms out and then gave up. T me that's worse than the dropped pass because it could mean we lose our star QB to an injury.

What has to be done?

For starters I bring him into a room with the entire team and the coaching staff. I throw on that clip of him laughing at Coach Garrett and embarrass him. Let him own that moment in time where he thought it was funny to laugh at a grown man who is trying to help you become a professional football player.

Then Wade Phillips has to take over from there. He's the head coach so it's up to him to deal with this how he sees fit. If he wants to let some of the veterans get up and speak to the kid then so be it. If he wants to let his coaches, John Garrett in particular, let this kid have a piece of his mind then that's fine as well.

The point of doing this? Because the last thing you want to do here is sweep it under the rug as if it never happened or as if it's not a big deal. That will only lead to more problems down the road for Bennett and maybe for the other players who think similiar behavior is acceptable.

Meanwhile, Mickey defends Brad Johnson a bit much …

Think back to when Garrett arrived last year, back to when the Cowboys had committed to Romo becoming their starting quarterback. They were in need of a backup then, and at the time Joey Harrington was available. Many bemoaned the Cowboys passing him.

Did it ever cross your mind Garrett knew all there was to know about the Atlanta quarterback, having served as the Miami quarterbacks coach when Harrington was there the previous year? Surely if the Cowboys trust Garrett's judgment to sway the decision on their first draft choice they must trust his judgment on the backup quarterback.

The Cowboys signed Johnson.

Then even more of you began stumping, and might still be, for the Cowboys to sign Daunte Culpepper. Again, Garrett knew intimate details of Culpepper's knee
rehabilitation since the two also crossed paths in Miami.

Yet the Cowboys signed Johnson.

Then this off-season Culpepper was available again. The Cowboys passed.

Cleon Lemon was available. The Cowboys passed.

Josh McCown was available, the Cowboys passed, and then so did the Dolphins after signing him and naming him their starter, backtracking to instead sign Chad
Pennington once he was released.

Kelly Holcomb was available, and still is. The Cowboys passed.

And on top of all that, Byron Leftwich was available, and still was until the other day, but it took the great Charlie Batch to suffer a broken collarbone in Pittsburgh for Leftwich to find a job. Yes, the Cowboys had been passing on him.

The Cowboys have stood pat with Brad Johnson, who turns 40 in September, evidently the magic number for all good quarterbacks to lose their arms, or at least what many would have you believe.

And then this: That confirms Spears is now running with the 2’s ….B-U-S-T

Tank Johnson was getting first-team reps at nose tackle. Marcus Spears was getting second-team reps at nose tackle. Jay Ratliff was first-team defensive end.

Michael Phelps likes to eat …

By comparison, the average man of the same age needs to ingest about 2,000 calories a day.

Phelps, 23, will swim 17 times over nine days of competition at the Beijing Games - meaning that he will need all the calories he can shovel in his mouth in order to keep his energy levels high.

Phelps' diet - which involves ingesting 4,000 calories every time he sits down for a meal - resembles that of a reckless overeater rather than an Olympian.

Phelps lends a new spin to the phrase "Breakfast of Champions" by starting off his day by eating three fried-egg sandwiches loaded with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

He follows that up with two cups of coffee, a five-egg omelet, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast topped with powdered sugar and three chocolate-chip pancakes.

At lunch, Phelps gobbles up a pound of enriched pasta and two large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered with mayo on white bread - capping off the meal by chugging about 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

For dinner, Phelps really loads up on the carbs - what he needs to give him plenty of energy for his five-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week regimen - with a pound of pasta and an entire pizza.

He washes all that down with another 1,000 calories worth of energy drinks.

Reminds me of Tony Mandarich’s diet …

The Olympics have some announcers in China, most others in New York …

The announcers are at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, nearly 7,000 miles from Beijing, sitting inside 14-foot-wide booths that are equipped with 24-inch HD monitors and headsets that pipe in the ambient sounds from the game sites in China. Every bit of 13 sports, and some of basketball, is called in this fashion on MSNBC, USA and CNBC.
The announcers never see anything more than what the viewers see.

There is no deception afoot here. The announcers make it clear that they are in New York, as do the studio hosts Bill Patrick, Melissa Stark and Matt Vasgersian, who is taking a break from the dismal fortunes of his usual employer, the San Diego Padres.
This sportscasting from afar is an odd yet modern spin on the nearly ancient practice of baseball games called by radio announcers who read off ticker tape.
Games are supposed to be called from arenas and stadiums, not in booths far from the action.

But NBC’s arrangement is not unique. ESPN has shown World Cup games that were being called by announcers at its Bristol, Conn., headquarters, and NBC called some Olympic events in Athens off monitors at the international broadcast center. The New York Times sometimes blogs about live events from its offices.

But an agreement by NBC in 2003 with the International Olympic Committee to cut the size of its Olympic contingent, combined with the technology to send all high definition signals from Beijing, led to the Studio 8H operation.

So, live from New York, it’s archery, badminton, baseball, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, handball, shooting, soccer, softball, table tennis, tennis and weight lifting (none of which matters a whole lot to NBC’s prime-time strategy).

Barry Horn’s Hard Knocks take …

If rookie Danny Amendola is a long shot to make the Cowboys as a wide receiver, Todd Lowber is a no shot. That's what makes him so appealing to the Hard Knocks story tellers.

The second installment of HBO's preseason with the Dallas Cowboys spent as much time focusing on Lowber, a free agent who played basketball in college, as anyone. Forget the sagacious Jim (father of Jason) Garrett's endorsement. Any episode now the Cowboys are going to lower the boom on Lowber, and you will be there to eyeball it.
That's football. That's what training camp is for. That's why Lowber has gotten more play than Tony Romo. That's the genius of Hard Knocks.

If last week's season debut was slow coming off the line, Week II picked up steam. We learned second-round pick Martellus Bennett is wowing no one while top pick Felix Jones has the Cowboys brass patting itself on the back. Amendola? Impressed in practice, depressed in the exhibition opener.

The filmmakers took a page from The Godfather trilogy and focused on family – Jerry Jones', Wade Phillips' and Jason Garrett's. Who would have guessed the only Hollywood ingénue to get face time would be Wade's daughter, Tracy, who could teach the Cowboys cheerleaders a thing or two about belly dancing?

Romo continues to be a bit player while the cameras appear to love Terrell Owens almost as much as he loves himself.

Almost halfway through the series and not a single tense moment. Things will heat up just as they did in The Godfather. They have to. Or else they'll have to change the series name to Soft Knocks.

I need some of these: Michael Phelps Speedo Goggles …

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Chris Chambers