Amari Harris's Dallas Cowboys fan blog

Friends and Countrymen,

I know that you have missed me so much over the last month or so and I want to apologize for my extended absence.  I have several ready made excuses for why I haven’t been actively blogging and I am sure that you will accept all of them at face value.  For one thing, there hasn’t been anything going on in the world of sports.  I mean other than the NBA playoffs, the NHL playoffs, the start of the MLB season, the return of Tiger Woods, the transgressions and subsequent suspension of Ben Roethlisberger (I did it! I spelled the damn thing), etc. 

But screw all of that.  I’m ready to talk about this NFL draft coming up tonight at 7: 27 on ESPN and NFL Network (shameless plug).  I’ve probably seen just about every mock draft scenario on the internet and to be honest I am not that impressed.  Not because I don’t think these guys have studied the players and don’t have inside knowledge of what these teams are thinking but simply because they are so wrong every year.  Nobody can accurately predict the first round.  For one, there are many trades and it is impossible to predict the trade possibilities in the 1st round.  And once a trade goes down the whole thing goes haywire.  Even if you negate the trade factor, these so-called “experts” still miss the mark by a mile. 

Continue reading "The NFL Rock Draft!"

Shopping for free agents in the NFL is not much different from shopping for groceries at the grocery store.  You must make your grocery list based on what you need, while keeping an eye out for great deals.  You want to avoid overpaying for something that you either don’t need or won’t be satisfied with.  You need to keep you eye out for dropping prices.  It is also essential that you stay away from flawed products that have disappointed in the past.  These are all keys to being a smart shopper in the NFL free agent market. 

So who in the league is getting the best bargains, and who is pulling a “Dan Snyder” and just buying  the shiniest new toy?  Well, that is a much more difficult question in the 2010 off-season than it has been in the past.  Even Dan Snyder has reeled it in a bit, and hired some expert shoppers in Bruce Allen and Mike Shannahan.  Despite speculation that an uncapped season would bring on a spending frenzy the likes we have never seen, NFL ball clubs are actually being more cautious with their financial decisions. 

Continue reading "Let's Go (Free Agent) Shopping!"

Okay, so I’m not reallyat the 28th annual NFL scouting combine but it sure feels like I am.  With the great live coverage of the event on NFL.com as well as the NFL network, I feel like a real pro scout.  I’ve also been very impressed with my ability to predict the unofficial 40 times of the athletes as they cross the finish line, but that is neither here nor there.  You want to know what can really be taken away from this year’s pre-draft extravaganza, don’t you?  Well let me give you my take on a few of the happenings over the last few days. 

Day 1

The star of this group was OT Bruce Campbell from Maryland.  He was considered a first rounder prior to the combine, but his physical attributes and athleticism definitely improved his stock.  Unlike most offensive lineman, he doesn’t look like a bag of doughnuts (no offense big boys) and he has the figure of someone who descended from Mt. Olympus.  He did 34 reps in the bench press and ran a blazing 4.85 in the 40 yard dash.  By comparison, the oft talked about Myron Rolle out of Florida State ran a 4.70 and he plays safety! 

Continue reading "Observations from the Combie"

I’ve been extremely busy lately so I haven’t had as much time to write, but I have wanted to weigh in on a few topics before the week is over and hopefully I can come through with a column for tomorrow.  Let’s be random…

Did I hear that correctly?  Appartently the Golden State Warriors turned down a trade that would have netted them O.J. Mayo and Nasheen Thabeet for Monta Ellis…craziness

There are a lot of interesting rumblings coming out of the 2010 Draft/Combine.  Tim Tebow is working on changing his throwing motion.  This is one of the more intriguing stories of the draft.  It is easy to root for Tebow because of his faith and his character but I just don’t see him being an effective NFL quarterback.  NFL defenses are too fast, too smart and too powerful for a guy who dominated the college ranks with those same traits.  His passing ability is very suspect because of that long wind-up release.  The transformation that he’s attempting will be very difficult as he has thrown with the same motion for the last 20 years.  Some people try to compare Tebow to Vince Young, but VY has demonstrated the tools and ability to excel on the NFL level.  Young does everything Tebow does, but way better.  This should be an interesting development and I’m sure there are GMs and teams out there that can make this marriage work, but I would stay away from this guy for the most part.

Continue reading "Humpday Huddle"

It has been a while and I don’t really have an excuse for not posting anything the last couple weeks.  I guess since the Cowboys got trounced by the Minnesota Vikings I just haven’t had much inspiration.  But I’ve come out of my temporary depression and have officially transitioned to the off-season.  In between cartons of Ben & Jerry’s and episodes of Cash Cab I have thought long and hard about what the Cowboys need to do over the  next 6-7 months in order to take the next step from playoff team to Super Bowl contender.

The good thing about getting beat up on in the playoffs is that your flaws get exposed.  You definitely don’t leave with the feeling that you are one of the elite teams when you get beat 34-3.  For one, it would certainly help to secure one of those top seeds.  Having homefield advantage was huge in this years playoffs (unless you were the Jets) and the Cowboys could literally have

Continue reading "Back to the Drawing Board"

This year’s Pro Bowl has sparked more controversy and debate than any Pro Bowl in history.  For one, the game is not being played in Hawaii. This year it has been moved to the Super Bowl site in Miami.  The game is also being played the week before the Super Bowl which eliminates any of the Super Bowl participants from the game.  This year has also seen an astounding number of opt-outs for the Pro Bowl which has resulted in an astounding number of Pro Bowl alternates.  Some of the positions are going as far as seven deep.  To give you an idea of how ridiculous this situation has gotten, Vince Young  and David Garrard are going to the Pro Bowl this year.  They both had okay seasons but not Pro Bowl seasons.  Vince Young didn’t even start until week 6.  Garrard had one of his worst seasons statistically, but when 5 people in front of you pull out of the game then it shows you how watered down the quarterback position is.  On the other side of the coin, well deserving players like

Continue reading "From Pro Bowl to Blow Bowl? (It's a tounge twister)"

Whenever I think back to this past Sunday’s game against the Vikings, everything just seems blurred.  Although the final score read 34-3, I just can’t imagine how things got out of control so quickly.  The Cowboys were moving the ball well and playing pretty well on defense initially.  Then suddenly, they were getting stampeded.  Not by Adrian Peterson.  Not even by Chester Taylor.  They weren’t even being mauled by Minnesota’s Pro Bowl laden offensive line.  So what the hell happened?!  Well in review, it was a lot of things but at the same time it was one thing:  respect.  The Cowboys underestimated and undervalued players on the Vikings and players on their own team.  They underestimated the effect of a home field advantage in Minnesota.  They also under estimated the amount of desperation that needs to be displayed in every playoff game.  Somewhere between beating the Eagles twice and getting demolished by the Vikings, the Cowboys forgot that they were playing the one of the top 2 teams in the conference.

Continue reading "The Underestimated"

Well, the playoffs are in full swing and many of the end of season awards are settled.  My prior predictions were a bit off as Peyton Manning received the MVP and Charles Woodson received the DPOY award.  It's hard to argue with those choices, but I like arguing so I'm going to do it anyway.

 The same flaws that I pointed out in my previous post surfaced with Woodson in their wildcard game against the Cardinals.  Woodson got burned a lot in that Wildcard game, but he made some plays too (just not enough).    His aggressiveness killed him a couple times in the game…but at least he’s got a trophy.  Revis got flagged a couple times, but shut down Chad Ochocinco and grabbed a pick in the process.  The Jets pulled the upset with a dominating performance and if they continue to advance everyone will question whether Woodson was the right choice.  

Continue reading "The Amari Awards Revisited"

Continue reading "Are the Browns Playoof Bound?"

The Cowboys have a huge match-up this week against the #2 seed Minnesota Vikings.  But, I don’t think that will keep any Cowboys fan from relishing in what has transpired over the last month.  Over these last 4 weeks the Cowboys have exercised all of their “demons” and now simply have to go into the Metrodome and take on the 12-4 Minnesota Vikings led by Brett Favre to advance to the NFC championsip.  Piece of cake, right?  Well before we stuff ourselves, let’s digest the last month of the season and see what the Cowboys were able to stomach (pun intended). 

Demon #1:  DECEMBER

It all started in New Orleans when the Cowboys took on the undefeated New Orleans Saints.  They were coming off back to back losses to the Chargers and Giants and the December monster continued to loom.  Most experts predicted that the Cowboys would not only lose

Continue reading "Exercising the Demons"