Goodbye Greg Ellis posted by LXY

Most Cowboy fans have probably heard that Greg Ellis will either be traded or released before the upcoming season.  It what has been a turbulent past decade for the cowboys, Ellis provided solid performance at the DE and more recently at LB when the Boys shifted to the 3-4.  He was never a perenial All-Pro and maybe not worth a 1st Round pick, but he was a good solid player and a starter on most teams.  Minus his troubles converting to the 3-4 and contracts that go with it, it will feel strange not to see him in a Cowboys uniform.

 As for the upcoming season, will Victor Butler fill his void?  Ellis was good enough that offenses couldnt solely concentrate on DeMarcus Ware.  Will Jerry Jones try to get a free agent?  The cowboys defense will probably be alot younger this upcoming season.  How will this new Cowboy's team fare up this season?  I think the departure of Ellis makes this even more of a question 

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PETA manages to put it's foot in it's mouth yet again when it comes to rodeo. posted by Cory Collins

     Over the years PETA has made a huge production out of attacking rodeo and its participants but this is over the top. Below is a post released on FoxNews.com

     Exclusive: PETA Going After DWTS Bull-Rider Ty Murray

     When he’s done on "Dancing With the Stars" will Ty Murray be the next spokesman for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals? It seems unlikely given that he makes a living romping around rodeos, but the animal rights activists are already digging in their claws in the hope that Murray’s fellow fox trotters slap him around a bit.

     The animal-unfriendly cowboy might be breathing easier now that Belinda Carlisle, who starred in PETA’s first-ever "I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur" ad, has been eliminated— but the Go-Go was just one of several in the PETA posse on the show this season. Holly Madison and Steve-O have each starred in their own anti-fur ads, and Denise Richards once wrote to PETCO on PETA's urging the company to end its sales of live animals. Even judge Carrie Ann Inaba has stepped up to underscore the importance of spaying and neutering.

     "Maybe Murray should avoid mentioning the fact that he makes his living off the broken backs of animals— but then again, considering his history of eight-second rides, Murray might not have much more time left on the show to worry about it," a rep for PETA told Tarts in an exclusive statement on Thursday.

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Rodeo has always been America's first extreme sport posted by Cory Collins

Long before BMX racing, NASCAR, or UFC fights there were cowboys and rodeo. There have always been horses that couldn’t be rode and cowboys who knew they could ride them. From this cowboy pride rodeo was born. From rodeo America’s first extreme sport was born. No skate boards, no bikes, no cars. Just a man, an animal, and a shear determination to see who will win. Let’s see Tony Hawks ride a bull. I’d pay to see that.

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Bruins Cup could give Boston Most Dominant Decade Ever posted by D.M. Lannon

The American sports landscape has been continually tattooed with dynastic labels like “Team of the Year” or “Team of the Decade.”  The NFL in particular has been defined each decade by a juggernaut winning …. a lot.  The dominance of franchises like the 70’s Steelers, the 80’s Niners, the 90’s Cowboys, and the Patriots of the new millennium has immortalized the likes of Bradshaw, Aikman and Montana to deific status.  The NBA has also provided its share of dynastic runs from the Celtics to the Lakers to the Pistons to the Bulls, and examples abound exist in both hockey and baseball as well. 

With the Red Sox being two championships deep this decade, the Celtics with one themselves, and the Bruins…. well….I’ll stop right there for the sake of superstitious Bruin fans; but the current Boston run raises the question: Has any one city or major sports market ever experienced the perfect storm of dominance - that is - has any city with all 4 major professional sports ever won championships in each of the 4 sports in one calendar decade?  If the Bruins do hoist the cup this season, Boston would have championships in all four major sports since the Pats got the ball rolling in ’01.  But would it be the first time?    

And yes.  For the point of this research I am presuming (perhaps incorrectly, but that’s another debate) that hockey is still considered one of the four major sports.

With the help of my handy stat-geek (I call him Google) I decided to look into this question.  It’s important to note that there is a limited group of markets that have all four major sports; 13 in fact.  At least one of these markets won in 3 out of 3 sports in a decade, with the A’s, the Warriors, and the Raiders winning titles in the 70’s, prior to hockey arriving.  Furthermore, there are a number of markets with the advantage of having multiple teams in multiple sports.  New York, Chicago and the Bay Area jump to mind (and yes Bay folk, while you may not want to hear it, everybody else considers San Fran and Oakland the same market).  For the purpose of my research I did not count the New Jersey Nets or Devils as NY teams, but NY still has two teams in each sport except basketball (even though both football teams actually play in Jersey! Hugh?).

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Chicago Bears Draft Day Two: Angelo Finally Gets Busy posted by Joe Anello

With nine picks in the final six rounds, the Chicago Bears addressed their most pressing areas of need. Wide receiver, the defensive line, and safety were all points of focus for the Bears, who used six of their nine selections in those areas. It was a solid draft if nothing else, getting value late in the draft.

Round 3
Jarron Gilbert DT San Jose State 6’5” 288lbs
Gilbert projects to be an eventual starter at tackle for Chicago and could play on the outside, given that they could lose 3 ends in free agency this next off-season. This year he’ll see most of his use as a alongside Tommie Harris, threatening oft-injured Dusty Dvoracek’s roster spot. Gilbert is known for his “pool jump” found here, where he jumps from inside an in-ground pool to the surrounding pavement. Its impressive, to say the least, but he won’t be jumping any pools in the NFL.

Juaquin Iglesias WR Oklahoma 6’1” 210lbs
Iglesias is the most likely draftee to make an immediate impact this season. He is said to be a polished route-runner with great hands, so the Bears were smart in using their compensatory pick on him. Lose one wide receiver, use the pick gained from his loss on a wide receiver. That makes sense to me. Look for Iglesias to challenge for at least the third wide-out position.

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Ryan Moats, You Are a Better Man Than Me... posted by Tony Vandervort

By now we've all heard the story and probably seen the video. Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats was driving his family to the Baylor Regional Medical Center in the Dallas Suburb of Plano, to make it to see his mother-in-law as she was in critical condition. She was suffering from breast cancer, and they had been told she didn't have much time. Moats put on his hazards, and by his account rolled through a red light after making sure the way was clear. Officer Robert Powell was parked nearby and attempted to pull him over. Moats continued to drive a short distance to the hospital, as Powell pursued. As he pulled up near the entrance of the hospital, the family jumped out of the car. Officer Powell instructed them to get back in the car, but Moats wife Tamishia and another family member ran inside. Ryan Moats tried explaining the situation to Officer Powell, who over the course of the next thirteen minutes would not listen, and herein lies the controversy.

For about the first five minutes of the conversation, Mr. Moats tried in vain to explain what was going on. He could hardly get a word out, as Officer Powell told him more than once to keep his mouth shut. At one point he even told him, "I can screw you over". After a few minutes, Ryan seemed to realize that arguing was getting him nowhere, even slowing down the process. He asked that he be given his ticket so he could be on his way, which would not happen for approximately eight more minutes. As Officer Powell took his time writing the citation, Moats mother-in-law, 45 year old Jonetta Collinsworth, passed away with her daughter by her side.

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The Price of Peppers posted by Randolph Charlotin

Can Bill Belichick really swindle the Carolina Panthers into trading 4-time Pro Bowl DE Julius Peppers for just the 34th overall pick?

While I'm sure Peppers will stand by his word and push to play with a 3-4 defense, the Panthers know what they have and won't just trade him just to satisfy Peppers.

Of course for now 'Lina is denying the rumor because they can't trade a player that isn't under contract. But that doesn't mean they can't have secret discussions for Peppers compensation.

Nor will these discussions be exclusive. While there's plenty of 3-4 defenses that would love to have Peppers, Julius won't go anywhere. He has a short list of teams he'd like to play for, including the Dallas Cowboys. If there's a franchise that can find a way to make a trade for a player of Peppers' caliber, it would be the Cowboys.

But New England has an advantage over the 'Boys. Dallas doesn't have a first round pick and can't offer anything earlier that a mid-second round pick. It would take a healthy package and maybe a player or two if Dallas is to make it happen.

At the same time, is the 34th overall pick enough for a player that had 14.5 sacks last year? I wouldn't be surprised if the starting bid is the 34th with negotiations to follow. Maybe two second rounders or the first and a later second could pry away Peppers.

I'm all for this trade, though I am a little concerned whether Peppers can make a clean transition from DE to LB. At 280 pounds, will Peppers be fast and quick enough to play linebacker? He would have to drop into zone coverage a lot and stay with backs, receivers, and tight ends. I have a feeling he would need to drop some weight to improve his quickness and speed to be a OLB.

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Enough Is Enough, Already! posted by Michael Langston Moore

Haven't we all had enough of spygate, already?

 

I don't condone cheating, in sports or otherwise, but this is just getting ridiculous.

Doesn't Senator Specter have anything else to worry about?  While I do care about fair play in the NFL, I am much more concerned about some of the awful officiating this season than whether or not the Patriots may or may not have benefited from video taping signals.

What's lost in this "controversy" is that while the Patriots did indeed cheat, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has conceeded that opposing coaches are seen waving at the camera on these recently destroyed video tapes.  If this is indeed the case, then this means that coaches within the NFL knew that New England was video taping them.  If this was such a big deal, why wouldn't opposing teams blow the whistle on the Patriots before now?

The truth is that there is a very odd, anti-Patriots bias that has developed over the past year or so.  We know that in this country, people will build you up until you get to the top, and attempt to tear you back down.  With the Patriots, though, I don't get the hate.  It seems people loved the 2000 Baltimore Ravens more than the 2007 Patriots.  A Ravens team that, in the past decade, has been sued and lost over stealing the original helmet logo (the logo changed from the winged, shielded "B" emblem to a Raven head due to a court ruling). 

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Plenty of Options for Parcells; Miami posted by Jason Sarney

By: Jason Sarney

Now that Super Bowl XLII is in the books, thankfully, the fans of the other 30 NFL teams can finally put 100% of their attention on April’s College Draft.  For the Miami fans that are still pulling themselves out of the gutter, me included, we can look at 2007 in only one way…a blessing in disguise. 

Going 1-15 was excruciating, I know.  Losing seven games by three points tortured fans all season long.  At least they were kind enough to spread those nail bitters throughout the season.  There is no question that this was the most difficult season any Dolphin fan could endure.  So where was that blessing in disguise?  Well the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 Draft is a start. 

Updated mock drafts are coming out and with rumors flying the way they are at this point, we do know this - Miami VP of All Things Everything, Bill Parcells, has some decisions to make.  

I would be foolish to recommend what the Dolphins should do this off-season, now that competency has returned to their front office.  To suggest anything football related to Bill Parcells is almost like telling Wolfgang Puck how to properly flambé. 

 

I think they know their respective crafts well enough to ensure a perfect recipe for success.  That being said, I’ll still put my thoughts out there for what I would consider to be a successful off-season.

 

The first choice that needs to be made is what to do with that first pick.  Miami can go with Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan, who many have as this years’ top prospect.  If Parcells keeps the pick, and selects Ryan, that would mean clipboard duty for last season’s 2nd round pick John Beck. 

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The New England Patriots and Thier Failure At History posted by Patrick Sbordone

    When the Patriots picked up Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Donte Stallworth in the off-season I predicted 19-0. After the spy gate incident I felt even more confident about an undefeated season. What happened then? The Patriots steam rolled teams around the league on their way to smashing records including the first ever 16-0 regular season. 

    I may have been a little cocky in thinking this team could go undefeated after just signing a couple players in the off season, but I just had this feeling. This was a team who was controlling the NFL this decade and who came so close to a Super Bowl game last season. All they needed was weapons for Brady and that's what they got.

    When the playoffs finally arrived they were able to close out a tough win against a very hot Jaguars team. Then even in the AFC Championship against the Chargers when Tom Brady easily had his worst game of the year, the rest of the team still found a way to rally and beat a team in the Chargers. A team that in my mind should not have been in the AFC Championship game in the first place.        I myself as well as others I know here in Boston thought the Pats would face off against the Cowboys in the Super bowl, but we all hoped it was the Green Bay Packers who the Pats would play in Super Bowl XLII to gain revenge from the year that Bret Favre and the Pack got the best of The Bill Parcells lead Patriots in the Super Bowl. When I found out it was the Giants Continue reading "The New England Patriots and Thier ..."

Tiger takes money off Romo in pro-am round

It's not often that a player is bold enough to challenge Tiger Woods on the golf course. Rarer still is when it happens during a pro-am round from one of his amateur partners."That still puts me 1 up," Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said to him Wednesday morning."Does it, now?" Woods replied, not sounding the least bit concerned.The world's No. 1 player then smoked a fairway metal down the 17th at Congressional Country Club. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for Golf

Three Cowboy linemen sign heavy metal deal

NFL offensive linemen bang heads all the time. A trio of Dallas Cowboys linemen are now professional head-bangers, too.Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo and Cory Procter have signed a recording contract as part of a heavy metal band called Free Reign. Their debut album for Australia's Riot Entertainment will be released this fall.Considering all three players weigh over 300 pounds, it only makes sense they are being referred to as "heavier than metal. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NFL

3 Cowboys sign heavy metal record deal (AP)

NFL offensive linemen bang heads all the time. A trio of Dallas Cowboys linemen are now professional head-bangers, too. Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo and Cory Procter have signed a recording contract as part of a heavy metal band called Free Reign. Their debut album for Australia's Riot Entertainment will be released this fall. [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports

Romo takes new conditioning approach (AP)

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From Yahoo! Sports

Raiders sign DE Ellis

The Oakland Raiders signed defensive end Greg Ellis on Monday night, acquiring a veteran presence as they work to upgrade their defense.The 6-foot-6, 262-pound Ellis, who turns 34 on Aug. 14, was released earlier this month by the Dallas Cowboys - his team for all 11 of his NFL seasons. The sides completed the deal late Monday when he signed the contract, Raiders CEO Amy Trask said.Ellis has also played linebacker but will be a defensive end in the Raiders' 4-3 system. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for NFL