Not sure what else to say about this other than Dallas Cowboys WR Dez Bryant ain't playin' on the Twitter thing.
This Twitter message has since been removed, but much respect to Dez.
Twitter is stuffed with keyboard cowards, and Dez - or really anyone - doesn't have to put up with this. So what better way then to hand it back to said fan.
Well played, sir.
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The NFL basically said Donovan McNabb retired two years ago, and he is making formal what the rest of us knew a long time ago. He last played a game on Oct. 16, 2011.
McNabb said he plans to officially retire as a Philadelphia Eagle. This is the type of player who should sign a one-day contract with a team. McNabb played elsewhere, but he is an Eagle; he was the face of a good franchise for nearly a decade.
Maybe he should have done more, but he did a lot. Three NFC title games and a Super Bowl, among many indvidual achievements.
It sounds as if McNabb will do a ceremony when the Eagles host the Kansas City Chiefs in Philly in Week 3 so he can be reunited with his former head coach, Andy Reid, who is now in KC.
When he was in his prime, and before he and Terrell Owens went through their lover's spat, McNabb kicked the living bleep out of the Dallas Cowboys.
In 20 games against the Cowboys, McNabb was 12-8 with 4,122 yards passing, 26 TDs and 13 Ints. Most of the positive numbers he amassed in the first few years of his career when the Eagles were one of the best teams in the NFL, and the Cowboys one of the worst.
Between 1999 and 2004, McNabb was 8-2 against the Cowboys. In this stretch is arguably the most famous play of McNabb's career: Monday night, November 15, 2004 at Texas Stadium.
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The Dallas Mavericks are weeks into their offseason, and now part of the water-cooler discussion of possibly landing Los Angeles Lakers free agent center Dwight Howard.
Sounds great. Hope it happens. Dwight's going to have to take $30 million less to leave the Lakers, but who knows? Right now he is stepping away from basketball and trying to figure out the "right to be happy" ... whatever the hell that means.
Plan on this - an additional $30 mil that he can get only from the Lakers is going to make him more happy.
From the Things I Can't Let Go Files: All the Mavs had to do was pay Tyson Chandler the four-year, $58 million deal two years ago and let everyone else other than Dirk Nowitzki go.
Jason Terry, Jason Kidd, DeShawn Stevenson, J.J. Barea all could have fallen off the books and while their absence would have been felt it's nothing like losing a competent 7-footer. These guys are impossible to find, and some take forever to develop.
Chandler may never be a scorer - the man has zero offensive game - what he does defensively remains a giant hole the Mavs have never come close to replacing since he left.
Chandler is currently getting his fanny kicked by Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and is calling out teammate Carmelo Anthony in the process. Even if the Knicks lose, and they will, and Chandler continues to get worked by Hibbert, he will, it does not diminish just how badly the Mavs miss him in the middle of the floor.
He was an All-Star for the Knicks last season and was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year. Yes, it helped he played in the East and in the New York market. He was recently named to second-team on the NBA's all-defensive team.
Two guards and small forwards come and go, but athletic big-men who can guard the rim, help on switches and provide as much positive denfensive energy and leadership such as Chandler are hard to find.
It took Chandler about nine years in the NBA before he fully developed into a major player. He is 30, and should be in this window for a few more seasons.
The Mavs could have two of those, but elected for financial flexibility instead.
If that flexibility can't lure Howard, what was the point?
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IRVING, Texas - Looking at Dallas Cowboys rookie running back Joseph Randle my first thought was, "Switch positions."
It is not his fault, or even any kind of indictment on his ability. Looking at any NFL running back these days is like the tired "dead man walking" cliche.
Randle is a fifth round pick out of Oklahoma State, which is just about the right place to draft a running back these days.
With the way running backs "die" these days, why would any kid willingly want to play the position?
"I like to run the rock," Randle told me.
Without any prompting he continued, "All of them (defensive backs) that were taken in the draft early. I thought about it. I was like, 'Man, I should have played defense.' I did think about that."
I don't have a son, but if I did and he wanted to play football I would tell him to play any position but running back.
With the pounding running backs take these days, and the way more teams both in college and in the pros rotate at least two of them, the "safer" long term plays seems to be something other than this position. Punter, perhaps.
Randle said he played running back, cornerback and safety in high school.
This draft was not running back heavy - the highest taken was North Carolina's Giovani Bernard. A total of six running backs were selected in the first three rounds. Sixteen cornerbacks were selected in the first three rounds.
ME: Running backs just seem to die out so fast.
Joseph Randle: Not my kind.
ME: What is your kind?
Joseph Randle: "I can do a lot. If you have more than one good back, like we do, that will help us. I'm a running back and that is the position I wanted to play. I wanted to score touchdown. It's more fun defense. I liked to tackle and hit people, but you can do that on defense. This is what I chose and I'm sticking with it."
Godspeed.
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IRVING, Texas - The first day of Dallas Cowboys' rookie mini-camp commenced on Friday, and here is what you need to know:
* Each rookie thinks he can start by Week 1.
* Each rookie is in awe of the chance to learn from Jason Witten, Dez Bryant, DeMarcus Ware, et all.
* Each rookie has a tremendous upside, but the speed of the NFL is much greater than college.
* The coaching staff is incredible.
* Each rookie impressed his respective position coach with knowledge that is far greater than his experience.
* It's a tremendous jump to play in the National Football League.
* This class is loaded with "steals" and "value picks".
* Each rookie just wants to do whatever it takes to help the team win because they are "team" guys.
* First round pick Travis Frederick's beard is better in real life, and is worth of a top 10 pick.
Look at that thing ... it's amazing.
Frederick can play center, and his beard will play right guard.
The Cowboys' first round pick out of the University of Wisconsin may be a complete bust, but that beard is headed for Canton and the Professional Football Hall of Fame.
He said that all o-linemen at the University of Wisconsin try to grow beards, and his obviously took. He said it's been growing for the last 10 months. The beard looks like it has its own cell phone.
"I cut it off a little bit and it started back," he said. "I'm attached to it."
He said babies are often scared of it, but "women obviously love it."
And men are in awe of it.
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This concept is going to need one more season before it becomes a reality, but do not be surprised if in about one year the Dallas Stars announce they will play a home game at Cowboys Stadium. With the roof open, preferably.
The outdoor NHL game has become one of the league's signature events, but mostly those games have been confined to cold weather cities. With the Los Angeles Kings scheduled to play a game at Dodgers Stadium against the Anaheim Ducks, an outdoor game in a non-traditional market may become more frequent.
Talked to Dallas Stars president Jim Lites this morning and he said it's a concept that he has kicked around and believes can happen. Which means it will happen.
"We could do it at the Cotton Bowl but Cowboys Stadium makes more sense because of the cache of the building," Lites said. "You would do it in January or February, and open the roof. You can turn down the temperature of the ice to zero degrees. What we have at the time of year is not really a temperature issue but it's the rain. It's seldom humid at that time of year but it does rain."
The roof must be open. If not, it's just another indoor hockey game only with a giant TV set on top of the ice.
"It would take a lot of advance planning and really we are not in a position to do it this year," Lites said.
Lites said the amount of planning would be akin to hosting an NHL All-Star game, and would require several months of detailed work.
"Two seasons," he said. "That would be about right."
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Just when you thought some of those God-awful Dallas Mavericks teams of the '90s were the very worst, the Houston Astros are in a serious battle of "we can be the worstest".
In their first year of the American League, the Astros are 8-25 for an impressive .250 "winning" percentage. The Astros did not play on Monday night, but still lost 5-3 in extra innings.
The Astros simply must lose more if they want any hope of challenging the 1899 Cleveland Spiders for the supremacy of crap. The Spiders were 20-134, a .120 winning percentage, the worst in pro baseball history. What the final record does not reflect is that the Spiders were in a lot of those games, and needed just a few calls and they could have won as many as 25 games.
At the very least, the Astros are hard at work trying to at least be "worser" than their garbage year of 2012, when they finished 55-107 (.340).
BTW - The worst season in the history of the Texas Rangers was their first in the state, 1972, when they finished 54-100.
The sad part is there is no way for the Astros to post a winning percentage bad enough to distinguish itself as the very worst in the history of pro sports in this great state.
The Dallas Cowboys were 0-11-1 in their first season. The Houston Oilers had a few one-win seasons.
The Astros can't challenge winning .000 percentages like that because they play too many games. But for sheer quality of badness, these Astros could challenge the 1992-'93 Dallas Mavericks (11-71, .134) as one of the worst in the history of the state.
The odd part is that normally teams that suffer through seasons such as the one by the Astros normally are in their early part of the existence. The Astros have been around since 1962.
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Hockey is likely the last thing on anyone's minds in these here parts, but if you are looking for a team to pull for during these 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs go hard for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Yes, you will no doubt smell like a weak front runner but this is not about the name on the front of the jersey as much as it is the name on the back.
That name is Morrow.
Long time Dallas Stars forward Brenden Morrow was traded to the Penguins in a pre-deadline deal because there was very little chance the team was going to re-sign him when he hit free agency this summer.
Yes, I agree it is weird to see him wearing a Penguins jersey.
He is one of the all-time good guys in the sport. With the Penguins in 15 games, he scored six goals with eight assists. In the Pens' Game 1 win against the New York Islanders on Wednesday night, he played just about 16 minutes and did not register a point.
Morrow has been in the league since the fall of 1999, and appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals with the Stars in the spring of '00. The Stars lost to the New Jersey Devils in six games, and never made it back. The team reached the Western Conference Finals in 2008, but lost against the Detroit Red Wings.
Morrow, 34, has won a gold medal for Team Canada and has been just about as good of a pro as a player can possibly be. It would be fun to see him get one more shot at the one thing missing from his resume - the Cup.
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Darren Hambrick: What do 'voluntary' mean?
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Former Dallas Mavericks reserve guard Anthony Johnson (pictured here during his days with the Hawks) played for two seasons with Jason Collins with the New Jersey Nets, and he admitted he didn't see it coming.
Johnson, who played for the Dallas Maverics in the '06-'07 season, was nice enough to call me back for this column I wrote on Collins' announcement that he is gay.
Johnson and Collins were teammates on the Nets in 2001 to '03, when the team reached the NBA Finals in each of those two season.
"I was surprised it was him," said Johnson, who is now a scout for the New Orleans Pelicans. "In the two years we played together, I had no inkling. He was a good teammate and helped us win a lot of games. As far as this situation, I applaud him to come out and let everyone know that he is gay. It takes a lot of courage in today's society and in sports to do what he did.
I asked Johnson if he thought today's current NBA locker room is ready for an openly gay player. He said absolutely.
"For people that would have an issue with it they have to mature a little bit and look themselves in the mirror," he said. "At the same time, you talk about going into battle and being physical and it's a war and all of that machiscmo stuff so it's one of those things that people might be slow to do. But everybody of all races and sexual orientations have to be accepted. It's part of life. Get on board."
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