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All of those who think that the biggest problem with the Dallas Cowboys last year was Terrel Owens put up your hand.  Ok, so that might be most of you, but I am here to give you another less ’spun’ side of it. 

Lets get a couple of things out of the way now.  T.O. is still an excellent receiver.  His detractors like to point to his drop of production this year, but his numbers were actually impressive when you consider he had to endure several games with Brad Johnson as his QB (who can’t throw the ball more than 20 yards) to say nothing of many of the other Cowboy problems - injuries, bad trades (Roy Williams) and a total lack of leadership from Tony Romo who had yet another horrendous December (you want to blame number 81 for that as well?).

Many of Owens’ teammates have already spoken out regarding him being painted unfairly as the source of problems.  In Philadelphia over half the lockerroom actually was on his side during the blow up there.  Does T.O. cause problems? Yes. In the absence of leadership, in a vaccuum, someone with a strong personality like Owens will step into the void.  You have a team in Dallas with a weak head coach, a weak starting QB, and an owner who thinks he knows more than the coach.

 Lets talk about Romo.  What about the comments in the media about players and coaches having concerns about his preparation and laziness during practice?  Shortly after that broke, Troy Aikman mentioned that Romo never should have gone to Cabo with his girlfriend in the off week before the Cowboys one and done in the playoffs.  It doesnt matter what Romo says (and he says very little) his actions speak louder than any words - lazy practice habits, leading perhaps to two brutal meltdowns in the games he needed to step up in.  Romo’s lack of preparation and intensit also impacted Jason Garrett, an offensive coordinator who lost credibility with his team for not cracking down on Romo. No one works harder in conditioning or practice than Owens, so of course there will be players that will look at T.O. as the leader of the locker room.  One thing is for sure, after cutting loose T.O., Romo will be out of excuses this year.

How about this one that got reported this week: Romo felt under enormous pressure to always make sure T.O. got the ball.  Pressure from who? Owens? If that is the case, its time to grow a set and take charge of your team.  What do you think Tom Brady or Peyton Manning would say to a receiver complaining about not getting the ball?  Too much pressure?  You are the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, so if you dont like pressure, go play in Jacksonville.

Bottom line is T.O. is about winning, and the stats prove out what Jerry Jones knew: that when T.O. got the ball in his hands the team won football games.  All those who think Roy Williams will be able to fill those shoes put your hand up.

Picking Pittsburgh and Philly is a waste of blogging space since everyone is doing it, so let me break this down for you.  Let me bore you with the conventional wisdom:  Pittsburgh is healthy, and at home and seems to have finally gotten their running game going, while Baltimore is not healthy and has played 18 wks straight.  Oh,and did I mention that Baltimore has a rookie QB?  Heres the thing: Pittsburgh wont be able to run against the Ravens, which means it is in Big Ben’s hands - normally a pretty sure bet, however, this game will likely be won by whomever wins the turnover battle and i think Ben will be more apt to turn the ball over trying to make a big play then the unflappable rookie Joe Flacco.  Lastly, it is tough to beat ANYONE in the NFL 3 times in one season, much less a team like the Ravens, so, going against all the ‘experts’  I am picking Baltimore here to ruin the interstate Superbowl dreams of  Pennsylvanians. Sorry Joe.

If Philly cant beat Arizona , then tie a can to Donovan McNabb.  Arizona had NO pressure on them going into Carolina last week, and it showed as they dismantled the Panthers in Charlotte.  Now, playing at home for the NFC championship, they have a ton of pressure on them.  Unlikely Philly will be able to run which puts things in the streaky hands of McNabb, but  like the Philly defense to do enough to force Kurt Warner into some turnovers. My Pick: Philly.

Philly visiting Arizona on Sunday at 2:00. The cinderella Cardinals should have Anquan Bolden back in their lineup, but are something like 4-0 without him this season. Arizona is very good at home.
But like my cousin Pharmaceutical Frank has said this year about the NFL “make your educated pick and go the opposite”. That’s why I’m taking Philadelphia. I know Westbrook is banged up, but I believe the Eagles defence will have enough wrinkles thrown in to stop Kurt Warner.

Baltimore in Pittsburgh at 5:30. Everyone believe this game will be a very low-scoring affair becuase of two great defences. The Steelers seem healthy, while The Ravens have two key injuries in Suggs and Rolle. I think something like a safety might be the difference. I’m betting on my Steelers.

Good luck and if you want some company watching the games, you can join us at Boston Pizza on Kenaston.

Have a tremendous weekend!

The press release from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers just came out and Brendan Taman has resigned from his post with the football club. At this point it seems like Brendan is walking away from football for awhile and I personally want to wish him the best of luck. Brendan is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet in the sport and has always been accomodating when it has come to doing an interview and never had a problem with answering the tough questions or with answering truthfully. More importantly than all that, he has been a great part in this community and has done alot of things behind the scenes to help out others that he would always keep under the radar. Good luck my friend! hopefully we’ll see you around!

Superman in the NFL 

It is hard to imagine that a guy who may well go down as the greatest collegiate player of all time might not even get picked in the first four rounds of the NFL draft.

While the folks in Gainesville are praying that Tim Tebow will return for his senior season with the Florida Gators to perhaps become the winningest player in the history of college football (potentially three national championships and a pair of Heismans), many are speculating when the aptly nicknamed ‘Superman’ will enter the NFL and at what position. You see, despite Tebow’s incredible credentials, many scouts see him as at best a fourth round pick, and one likely to be used as a third string quarterback, tight end or ‘h-back’ (kind of tight end, fullback hybrid). Perhaps these scouts are the same geniuses who evaluated Alex Smith, Ryan Leaf and Jamarcus Russel.

Some of the knocks on Tebow include that he is really more of a throwback player, kind of a tailback with a linebacker’ body playing the QB position - ideally suited to the NCAA, but not the prototypical pocket passer currently desired by NFL general managers.  Some scouts also lament that Tebow is not tall enough at 6 foot 3 to be a franchise QB. Has anyone taken a look at Drew Brees lately? Tebow is also a rock solid 240 pounds with powerful legs (Fox commentator and former USC linebacker Tim Ryan reportedly told Tebow when he met him “Damn hoss, last time I saw a butt like that it had a saddle on it.” Not tall enough? Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford, who beat out Tebow for the Heisman this year by shredding suspect Big 12 defences, is so skinny he could walk through a harp,looks like he would break in half if he were hit, has unanswered questions related to his mobility and ability to make all the throws and is being seriously discussed as a potential number one overall pick to the Detroit Lions in this years NFL draft .

Another knock is Tebow’s throwing mechanics, (Tebow is a lefty and throws a kind of side arm style) and the fact that Tebow has not played enough under centre in a pro-style offence. Both of these are very valid but also fixable with someone with great physical gifts that is highly coachable – something true of Tebow. 

with all of that said, here are a few reasons why Tebow will get a shot at playing QB in the NFL and may get drafted higher than expected, possibly by the Tampa Bay Bucaneers.

1. Wildcat offence - the popularity and success of the Miami Dolphin experiment with Wildcat this year has many offensive coordinators in the NFL reevaluated staid, conservative gameplanning. When Chad Pennington lines up as a wide receiver in the Wildcat he is not much of a threat,but an athlete like Tebow would change the equation and give defenses fits.
2. Recent first round busts - why spend 70 million on Sam Bradford and a number one pick? For every Matt Ryan there is a Alex Smith or Jamarcus Russell. QBs are a roll of the dice in the draft, would you rather gamble a first or a fourth round pick on it?    At least with Tebow, you are not likely to lose millions in guaranteed money and his ability to potentially play many different positions means that if the quarterback experiment doesnt work you will still get your value with him as an h-back or tight end.
3. Character- you think Tebow would handle pressure or criticism like Vince Young? Plaxico, Pacman, Vick, Ryan Leaf.  Enough said.
4. Leadership- former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz called Tebow perhaps the best leader and competitor he had ever seen. Look at the Dallas Cowboys or Winnipeg Blue Bombers of this past year and see what a lack of leadership can bring.
5.  Butts in the seats- Tebow would be a huge draw in Florida and the Tampa Bay Bucs had one of the most boring offences in recent memory this year and are perpetually unsettled at the QB position.  Coach Gruden, who is an acknowledged quarterback guy, could work with Tebow and ease him into the starting rotation behind a veteran like Jeff Garcia.
6. Low expectations- hard to be heralded as one of the greatest college players of all time but have low expectations, but this is likely to be the case with Tebow.  This means he has an opportunity to be drafted by a better team- the last thing a young quarterback needs is to be thrown to the lions in Detroit and get blitzed all year and be ruined ala David Carr- and that he will not be expected to be the next Peyton Manning but, will be more likely to be eased into the lineup, giving him the opportunity to watch and learn for a couple of years, which is a much better formula for success      

Perhaps Tebow isnt the prototypical NFL passer just yet, but remember Michael Vick? Wasn’t his style supposed to represent the 21st century NFL protoypical QB?  It didnt take long for the new prototype to give way to the old prototype of the big, tall pocket passer once again.  The reality of NFL prototypes are that they are valid until someone changes them. Someone like Superman.

It was nice to see the Drive for Five came alive on Monday night as Team Canada defeated Sweden (who looked more like soccer stars….with all the diving). The sad part is the shot for a sixth gold has to happen in Saskatchewan as Winnipeg did not win the bid.
Join us tomorrow morning on the show for Bomber head coach Mike Kelly and Friday for Chris Jericho! Should be good.

What a great weekend for sports fans! The NFl Playoffs are on and Team Canada played in a couple of exciting games.

The World Jr’s Gold Medal Game goes tonight with Team Canada taking on Sweden, and the Swedes have to be concerned with two great comebacks from the Canadian kids. First off, the intensity in the Canada/U.S round robin game was tremendous, then to follow it up with a shootout win against the Russians! Wow!
These kids certainly have alot of heart. Here’s hoping for 5 in a row. prediction: Canada 5 Sweden 3

Wild card weekend for the NFL started with a pretty enetertaining game on Saturday afternoon between Atlanta and Arizona and an even better game at night with San Diego and Indianapolis. The Chargers have won 5 in a row and now go to Pittsburgh, where they lost once this year already in a tight football game. Could they be the team this year to continue winning on the road and get to the Superbowl?
Sunday saw Philly get past Minnesota and Baltimore beat Miami.
Now this weekend we have Baltimore visiting Tennessee, San Diego at Pittsburgh, arizona at Carolina and Philadelphia at Ny to face the Giants. There could be some upsets and very tight playoff games. I’ll post my picks later in the week.

For tonight enjoy the Gold Medal Game and take a glance at the Fiesta Bowl between Ohio State and Texas. The Longhorns are heavy favorites, but I’m hoping for a close game. Either way, a nice bonus having a football game on a Monday night.

Alot going on this weekend as far as the NFL goes. Some big match-ups, including Baltimore in Dallas. The last regular season game at Texas Stadium for the Cowboys. I like them to win against Baltimore. Also, the Steelers are playing in Tennessee for first place overall in the AFC. I’m taking my Steelers to win in a close one against the Titans. How about Carolina against the Giants? This should be a great game and I’m giving the nod to the home team, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Panthers win in a tight one. If you can join us at Boston Pizza on Kenaston for some NFL action, don’t forget about Monday Night Football featuring the Bears and Packers. It’s the last Monday Nighter of the year and we’ll be giving away a ton of prizes.

Sunday night on the sports show at 6:00, Cyrus, Ken and myself will be joined by CTV Sports’ Leah Hextall. Lots of topics to cover including Mats Sundin and his deal with Vancouver, the NFL playoff picture, Richie Hall signing on as head coach with Edm. and the Moose being on a great run!

Have a great weekend and have a Happy Holiday season!