Quote of the day

Doc Holliday: It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Fear not, Cowboys fans, Chicago Bears returner Devin Hester is done

No, Chicago Bears returner Devin Hester is not out for the year, retired or injured. He is scheduled to play for the Bears against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday night.

I am calling my shot - Hester's days as the most dominant returner in NFL history are over.

He still may be effective, but the man who scored 18 touchdowns on returns from 2006 to 2011 is no longer. 

He has returned six punts for 70 yards this season and seven kicks for an average of 27.3 yards per return. Hester is in his seventh NFL season, and he is 29.

Bears coach Love Smith does not agree.

"As a returner it's hard to be speical and have a touchdown on returns every game. You go through spells where it doesn't happen," Smith said on Wednesday during a conference call with reporters.

I asked him the rather loaded question if he sees any signs of declining skills on Hester's part because dominant returners, historically, have a tendency to just fall off.

"Not scoring right now. I can see why you would question where Devin is right now. He is a young player, still. I still believe his best returns are ahead of him."

What is Lovie going to say? "Yeah - you're right - this guy is toast and we're in denial."

Hester should still be considered for the Hall of Fame based on his ability as a returner, but he is nearing that point when he no longer is the fastest guy with the best moves.

 

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Bears & Cowboys QB in a cute baby, hot significant other battle

Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler continues to win the Jeff George Body Language Award, and he really does not compare too much with Cowboys QB Tony Romo but the two have a few things in common.

The two have cute baby boys.  And the two have what some may call attractive blonde B-list celeb significant others. This is what we call "hard hitting sports news analysis".

Romo is married to Candice Crawford, who was once a Miss USA contestant. Her brother, Chace, is an actor who had a role on Gossip Girl. Romo and Candice married a while back, and now have a baby son, Hawkins.

Cutler had an on/off relationship with reality TV personality Kristin Cavallari. They were engaged. Then they weren't. Now they are engaged again. Now they have a 7-week-old son, Camden Jack.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jason Garrett is describing a .500 team

IRVING, Texas - Since becoming head coach of the Dallas Cowboys Jason Garrett has gone out of his way to say very little. He is a politician's man using lots of words to say very little. He is not the type of coach to call out a player, or to talk to his team through the media, the way Bill Parcells would.

But in Red's attempt to say very little there are actual answers.

"At times it was good and other times it wasn't," is the way Coach Process is answering a lot of questions these days to decribe any number of players or areas of his team.

His Cowboys are 2-1, so the world is not ending. There are issues - offensive line, penalties, etc. I asked him if he thought his team had been consistent (loaded question).

"I was going to say I think we have been consistent at times and at times we haven't been consistent," he said.

I followed with by asking, "Every answer is 'good, and not good' - so how do you fix it?"

He answered: "I think it's the nature of the NFL. If you look around the league, it's hard to be good every down. It's hard to be good every series. It's hard to be good every game. The guy on the other side is pretty good, too. You see that when you look at this league. Have we been as consistent as we want to be? Absolutely not. Certainly not as consistently as good as we want to be. People talk about consistency - well, if you are consistently bad that's not real good. We want to play at a high level all the time. We aren't close to being there. That is the process you go through."

Has he seen consistent effort? 

"Absolutely," he said. "The effort of this team is off the charts. There is a relentless spirit. The issue is consistent execution."

Even though effort should never be questioned, as long as that concern is off the table is a great starting point. Eventually it comes down to whether the team is actually any good.

Right now, according to the answers given by the head coach, the Dallas Cowbys are good. And sometimes they're bad. 

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Time to find out about Texas Tech & Baylor

Baylor and Texas Tech are 3-0, and despite their combined perfect records exactly no one is quite sure how legit the Bears and Red Raiders are. This is the weekend we get an idea of where these two teams are, and where they are going.

No. 25 Baylor plays at No. 9 West Virginia at 11 a.m. CT on Saturday. West Virginia is favored by 12.5 points.
Texas Tech plays at Iowa State at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Red Raiders are favored by 2.5 points.

All four teams are 3-0.

Both games feel pivotal to the respective seasons for both Baylor and Tech. Win, and a winning season should be expected and a bowl invitation.

 The last time Texas Tech played Iowa State the game was in Lubbock, one week after the Red Raiders pulled off one of the great upsets of the 2011 season when they won in Norman against Oklahoma.

They followed that win against OU with a 41-7 home loss against the Cyclones that started a season-ending, five-game losing streak.

The Red Raiders are 3-0 having gotten fat against Northwestern State, Texas State and New Mexico. A 4-0 start would really help soften the incoming punch that is coming with the following five games, all against ranked teams.

No one doubts whether Texas Tech is improved from last season, but the degree. Are they good enough to go on the road and defeat an underrated Iowa State team? The defense has allowed a total of 30 points in three games, but can they stop the "real" teams?

Similar concerns exist for Baylor, which is 3-0 despite no longer having Robert Griffin III to play QB. The Bears are scoring - 51 points per game - but can they score against the "real" teams?

A win, or even a close game, for either will validate their respective 3-0 records.
A loss, especially a blowout, will indicate more losses are coming. 

 

 

 

 

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Now what are we going to whine about? Refs & NFL close to a deal

It looks as if The Replacement Era of NFL football is just about over.  ESPN NFL reporter Chris Mortensen is reporting that an agreement in principle is here. The regular crews could be back at work this weekend.

How sad. Scab Refs have provided a constant source of entertainment and suspense.

So now a business that was created to make money no longer has to worry about the "integrity" of its product. Whew.

Unfortunately, this sets up the expectation that the "real" referees who will return to work will now do something they have never been before: been perfect.

Please do not forget that referees inherently suck and that this is a no-win job. Sometimes a game is going to be lost because of a bad call. They are going to whiff on calls and not see everything just like the replacement guys. 

It is better to have the "real" ones back to work, but they are going to screw up, too. 

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Quote of the day

Kyle Reese: Come with me if you want to live.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Read more here: http://sportsblogs.star-telegram.com/mac-engel/#storylink=cpy

 

Video: Big Mac & Galloway (fill in) zero in on NFL refs; Cowboys v. Bears

 

Gary Patterson refines his message for SMU but won't commit to extending the series

FORT WORTH, Texas – One year after carefully calculating and crafting his comments towards SMU and coach June Jones a few days after an overtime loss in Fort Worth, TCU head coach Gary Patterson was a changed man on Tuesday afternoon. 

“If I was going to do the press conference over again last year, what I would tell you after watching film is SMU kicked our butts. Both sides of the ball,” GP said. "One thing I wouldn't take back is the (comments) on the officiating. After that whole situation I don’t think I ever got an apology or (they’d) said they didn’t do a very good job. We will leave it at that."

TCU plays at SMU at 6 p.m. in Dallas on Saturday night.

Patterson is specifically talking about the Conference USA officiating crew that worked the 40-33 OT SMU win against TCU. As for the rest of those pointed words GP had for SMU one year ago, he sounds like a man who realizes he did not mean it. He was just mad his team had lost.

Click here to re-visit Gary's words from last year. 

Basically, take the comments off the board. He doesn't hate June Jones. He sounds like a guy who would help out SMU if asked.

"In this world, wins and losses is what keep our jobs, but in the end it's what kind of person you are," GP said. "For us, there are a lot of Dallas and SMU people that have been good to us here. I've talked to a lot of them in the last 365 days. No matter what they say or how they do it, I'm in a position where you are supposed to act better. At least for three hours on game day. I can't make any promises on game day."

He also added: "If I'm going to be the person I'm going to be and I'm going to teach young people I have to act right, too. It's as simple as that. I'm still not taking back what I said about the officials."

Despite the calm feelings, GP does not sound like a guy who is just dying to play SMU in the future. TCU lists SMU as a future opponent through 2016, but one source said this series is contractually signed for eight more seasons. That's the way it should be.

Unless a school breaks a contract it's not as if the Iron Skillet series is going to go away any time soon. Gary said he did not know the particulars of the contract.

"I don't know," GP said when I asked him if he wants to continue the series. "You have to sit down and look at how you do your whole non-conference schedule, not just SMU. How are you going to adjust your whole non-conference schedule."

 

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David Feherty weighs in on Tiger & the Ryder Cup

Don't get enough chances to talk to David Feherty, but he was available today on a conference call to preview the Ryder Cup, which begins this weekend, as well as to promote a new episode of his TV show.

"Feherty Live" airs on The Golf Channel on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. CT. His guests on Wednesday include Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps.

Feherty has been a tireless supporter of Tiger Woods, and he told me last year he believed once Tiger was healthy he would return to form.

The Big Mac Blog: Do you still believe Tiger is healthy & he will return to that 'old Tiger' form?
David Feherty: I think he is as healthy as he is going to be. I'm not sure he will be back to the 100 percent of the physical condition he was at the turn of the century when we saw him go on that amazing tear.
I don't think we have seen the end of that sort of golf. You have to remember we haven't seen him play well yet. He is back to two or three in the world and he has done it with what seems like mediocre golf. You have to remember when Tiger Woods plays well, and he will play well again. 

The Big Mac Blog: Would you say right now Rory is better than Tiger?
David Feherty: At the minute I would think so, yes.

The Big Mac Blog: Who will win the Ryder Cup?
David Feherty: This is as hard of a Ryder Cup to pick as I can remember in recent years. I think you have to give the edge to the Americans because it's on American soil. But then there is the clubhouse at Medina which makes them feel like they could be hostages at any moment.
It's sort of a pick 'em. It may well boil down to captain's picks and rookies and not so much the established players. I think it's a fascinating contest this week. You are seeing more younger faces coming up and contending. ... On paper, you give the edge to the Americans. They play on grass. So, as far as I know ... I'm not sure.

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