OK, I admit it, I have no clue what to do with the Picture of the Day now. I thought this was a good one though.
The Cowboys won pretty big yesterday, it was actually pretty boring to be honest. I like boring. I hope we get more boring this season. A good offensive game means everything is ok, for now.
Jason Garrett gets Dallas Cowboys moving in 34-21 win
02:51 AM CDT on Monday, September 14, 2009
Column by TIM COWLISHAW / The Dallas Morning News | wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com
TAMPA, Fla. – On the Cowboys' opening field goal-producing drive, Jason Garrett made sure Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice each got a carry. The sharing of the wealth in Dallas' three-headed backfield had begun.
Then the Cowboys offensive coordinator, who transformed from Wonder Boy in 2007 to Wonder-What-He's-Thinking in 2008, went on the attack.
The result was a one-sided season opening victory and a record-setting day for Tony Romo.
Romo passed for 238 of his career-best 353 yards after halftime as the Cowboys got big-play touchdowns in the passing game from Roy Williams, Miles Austin and Patrick Crayton in a 34-21 victory over Tampa Bay.
"When we talk about attacking the defense, we want to attack them with the running game, attack them with the passing game, do everything that we can," Garrett said. "There are a lot of things we will look at and try to clean up, but we did a lot of big things well today."
Bigger than anyone anticipated, really.
I don't know anybody who saw Romo's 17th career 300-yard passing game coming against the Bucs, much less a career- high 353 yards.
It's funny that of the franchise's 70 300-yard passing games, Romo owns the most (17) but still hasn't joined Don Meredith, Troy Aikman, Danny White, Drew Bledsoe, Gary Hogeboom or Vinny Testaverde in the top 15 days.
But Romo threw just 27 passes Sunday as the hometown Bucs controlled time of possession but not the rest of the scoreboard.
This might be the last time all season in which Romo's pass attempts and the runs by Barber, Jones and Choice total less than 50 plays. Being saddled with fewer play calls than normal did nothing to keep Garrett from being the most effective coordinator on either side of the field.
The Cowboys produced four touchdowns and two field goals on six drives that covered 365 total yards.
Nothing was given to the Cowboys offense – the defense failed to register a single turnover – but the unit still managed to score consistently and at times quickly.
Touchdown catches of 80 yards by Crayton and 42 by Austin came on the second play of drives. Williams' 66-yard TD catch came on the third play of the Cowboys' first possession after halftime.
"Everybody was wondering whether we could get the ball down the field, whether or not this was a dink-and-dunk offense," head coach Wade Phillips said. "And it's not. Our quarterback and our receivers made a lot of big plays."
Here is your Cowboys without T.O. story for the week, I won't post any more this week. Hopefully it will be longer than that but you just don't know.
Cowboys played just fine without you know who
By RANDY GALLOWAY
Ft. Worth Star Telegram
rgalloway@star-telegram.com
galloway TAMPA, Fla. — Big plays happened. Big plays galore came downfield. The Cowboys displayed aerial weapons that were either considered in doubt, or, in most cases, nonexistent.
Winning this way, winning by 34-21, scoring more points than in all but two games a season ago, and with Tony Romo throwing for a career-high in yardage (16-of-27, 353 yards), well, afterward, it could have been a shut-the-bleep-up moment from a variety of locker-room voices.
Instead, however, of verbal ammo fired at media, fans and maybe even the dearly departed one up in Buffalo, postgame tongues were held in check. Gloating, as it turned out, wasn’t even a consideration, nor should it have been. This was Tampa. The Giants are coming, OK?
"It’s one game," shrugged receiver Patrick Crayton, with a smile. "If all the questions were answered after the first game, nobody would have anything to write about, or talk about."
For the record, an amused Roy Williams also deadpanned:
"I still suck. I’m still terrible. We were just out there today being the same sorry receivers we are."
But if the subtraction of one loud guy from the roster last March was going to leave the Cowboys’ offense in a dink-and-dunk funk, it’s ironic it took only one game into a new season to totally foul up that fan and media popular logic. Or at least shut it up for a week.
That was wideout Miles Austin, just before halftime, making a huge play downfield by breaking two tackles for a 42-yard touchdown.
That was Williams on a midfield slant in the third quarter, making the catch, shaking a tackler, and he was gone for a 66-yard TD.
That was Crayton, who benefited from broken coverage, being located by Romo, and was off to the races on an 80-yard TD, which finally iced what had been an uneasy game for the Cowboys due to defensive uncertainty.
Crayton also had a 44-yard catch in the fourth quarter that set up a TD.
Plus, with Romo struggling with his accuracy early on, he overthrew an open Austin on what could have been a 65-yard bomb.
Again, however, there were no told-you-so’s from anyone, certainly not offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, nor Romo, the two guys who took most of the fire from the departure of the receiver formerly known as No. 81.
Only two postgame references, at least that I heard, were made to that fool.
When told Romo had established a career high in yardage, Williams replied, "What? Without T.O.?"
And owner Jerry Jones, in an understatement to say the least, noted: "There is no doubt, no doubt, at all, we were directing the ball at Terrell the last three years."
Now, Jerry, you finally admit it. Thanks for the tip.
OK, I'm not just blowin smoke up my buddies ass but the fact that the Rangers actually got 3 games in this weekend when I'm not sure it ever stopped raining is pretty amazing. Too bad they dropped 2 of 3 and seem to be running out of games.
Rangers lose ground in playoff races with split
By JEFF WILSON
Ft. Worth Star Telegram
jwilson@star-telegram.com
ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers found a way to beat the weather twice Sunday, certainly a significant achievement during a rainy-weather weekend.
But the longest day of the season at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington saw a pair of rookie pitchers continue to head in different directions, and ended with the Rangers facing an even longer road to a postseason berth.
They split a doubleheader Sunday with Seattle, which doesn’t sound like a completely lost day. But both teams they are chasing in the playoff race gained ground, and the Rangers’ gap to the postseason is the largest it’s been this month.
Tommy Hunter logged the first complete game of his career to win the opener 7-2 and ensure that the Rangers would do no worse than a split of the two games. The Mariners, though, avoided a sweep in the second game by handing Derek Holland a fourth straight loss, 5-0.
"It’s tough to win doubleheaders," manager Ron Washington said. "We came out and played well in the first game, and we didn’t score any runs in the second game. We’ll bounce back and get on a roll."
Ichiro Suzuki became the first player in major-league history to collect 200 hits in nine consecutive seasons. The record-breaker was an infield single in the second inning and drew a standing ovation from the sparse crowd that endured the constant threat of rain.
Holland became a footnote to baseball history, perhaps the highlight of his six-inning outing. He allowed five runs on eight hits, an improvement over his previous three starts but a loss nonetheless in a game the Rangers needed to win.
Boston swept its doubleheader Sunday and now leads the American League wild-card standings by four games with 20 to play. The Rangers’ margin is six games behind Los Angeles in the AL West.
But the Rangers aren’t folding their tents, not with seven games remaining against the Angels. Boston has three more games with New York, and the Red Sox’s next three are against the Angels.
"We just have to win games. That’s the bottom line," second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "We don’t have that many left. It was tough losing two out of three to these guys with all the delays. It was just a tough series all the way around. But we’ve got to get back with it."
Hunter’s next start will come against the Angels, and the Rangers can only hope it’s as effective as his effort Sunday. Once the rain cleared 4 1/2 hours after the originally scheduled first pitch, he allowed only six hits on a tidy 102 pitches as he mixed his curveball and changeup with a sinking fastball.
Hunter (8-3) encountered trouble only in the third, when Suzuki doubled in Ryan Langerhans. That was the only extra-base hit Hunter allowed, and if not for slick outfield conditions, Julio Borbon might have tracked down the well-placed blooper in left field.
Apparently the Bears weren't very good last night and they aren't very happy about it in Chicago this morning.
Bears QB Jay Cutler's miserable 1st half: You had to see it to believe it
Rick Morrissey In the wake of the news
Chicago Tribune
GREEN BAY -- No way. This wasn't possible.
Of all the scenarios that might have crossed even the most virulently pro-Packers mind, Jay Cutler throwing three interceptions by halftime in his Bears debut was not one of them.
Nor was a fourth interception that cost his team a chance to win Sunday night.
So, no. Don't come here and try to weave that unthinkable tale of woeful quarterbacking. Since Cutler came to town, it was supposed to be on the banned-book list.
But it came to life Sunday night. Cutler was dreadful in the Bears' 21-15 loss. That last interception, with about a minute left in the game, sealed his team's fate. He was left to knock Packers cornerback Al Harris out of bounds and listen to the taunts of jubilant fans at Lambeau Field.
You can't put a ceiling on the disbelief involved here. It wasn't just Cutler's 43.2 passer rating. It was that he looked like so many of the quarterbacks who have stumbled through Chicago.
Pick a word: Unimaginable, bizarre, awful -- however low you want to go. Rex Grossman-like?
"It's still a learning process," Cutler said. "We haven't been together that long in game situations. That's no excuse for what happened out there."
At the rate he was going in the first half, it was a wonder Bears coach Lovie Smith didn't throw his red flag and challenge the trade that brought the quarterback to town.
The scouting report on Cutler always has been that the rewards outweigh the risks on the field. He'll brashly, rashly throw into coverage and break a coach's heart once in a while, but he'll make more plays than not.
On Sunday night, Cutler's worst attributes crept into the light. Time and again, he tried to make plays only he saw. He threw across his body. He threw off the wrong foot. He screamed at a world that would do him so wrong.
Jay Cutler, hear him roar.
How bad was it? He could have been picked off twice before his first interception. On his second interception, a short pass meant for Matt Forte landed in the hands of Packers defensive end Johnny Jolly. Bad.
Packers cornerback Tramon Williams returned the third interception 67 yards, which eventually turned into a touchdown. Worse.
On that interception, Smith challenged a fumble at the end of the return, and by the time the referee was done looking at the replay, the Packers had gained two yards. That's how it went in the first half.
Stop me if you've heard of this kind of categorizing before, but the best way to put it is that there's a Good Jay and a Bad Jay. Good Jay threw such a sweet touchdown pass to Devin Hester in the third quarter that it could have made a grown Bears fan cry. That 36-yard connection helped cut the Packers' lead to 10-9.
Bad Jay loitered and lurked.
The defense that so many of us had dismissed going into the game played well most of Sunday. After weeks of intrigue about his back, Charles Tillman ended his Medical Mystery Tour and started at cornerback. Brian Urlacher was knocked out of the game with a dislocated right wrist. And still the Bears hung on ... until Rodgers hit Greg Jennings for a 50-yard touchdown pass with 1:11 to go.
Pick No. 4 arrived soon after.
Larry Gelbart the guy who wrote and created M*A*S*H, Tootsie and Oh, God died this weekend.
'M*A*S*H' creator Larry Gelbart dies
Oscar nominee for 'Tootsie,' 'Oh, God'
By Duane Byrge
Hollywood Reporter
Sept 11, 2009, 05:12 PM ET
Larry Gelbart, who created the classic TV adaptation of Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H" and whose talented comedy writing stretched from the days of radio to the big screen and cutting-edge cable shows, died of cancer at his Beverly Hills home on Friday. He was 81.
Gelbart, the principal writer on "M*A*S*H" during the first four years of the hit CBS series, was responsible for 97 episodes of the show, one of TV's most literate comedies. He also directed some early episodes.
Beginning as a gag writer in days of radio and honing his comic craft for such talents as Jack Carson and Bob Hope, Gelbart was a versatile stylist who succeeded in a variety of mediums.
Gelbart won an Emmy with co-producer Gene Reynolds for "M*A*S*H" as well as three WGA Awards for the episodes he wrote. He picked up two Tonys for writing the books for the musicals "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "City of Angels." He collected five other awards from the WGA, as well as the Laurel Award for TV Writing Achievement. And he earned Oscar nominations for the screenplays for "Oh, God!" (1977) and "Tootsie" (1982).
Carl Reiner, his longtime friend and colleague, called Gelbart "the Jonathan Swift of our day."
"It's a great, great, great, great, great, great loss. You can't put enough 'greats' in front of it," said Reiner, who directed "Oh, God!" from Gelbart's script. "The mores of our time were never more dissected and discussed. He had the ability to make an elaborate joke given nothing but one line."
Gelbert's other screenwriting credits include "Neighbors" (1981), "Not With My Wife, You Don't!" (1966) and "Blame It on Rio" (1984). He had his name removed from the 1980 screwball comedy "Rough Cut," starring Burt Reynolds, and fought other battles over script changes and credits, "Tootsie" included.
"Writers are a vital part of the filmmaking process, as vital as a virgin at an Aztec sacrifice," he once quipped.
Larry Gelbart was born in Chicago on Feb. 25, 1928. When he was in his teens, his family moved to Los Angeles, where his father, a barber, set up shop in Beverly Hills with a clientele that included Danny Thomas. Having listened to the elder Gelbart extolling his son's comedy skills while getting shorn, Thomas asked to see the teen. Thomas was impressed with the kid's intelligence and nimble wit and put him on the payroll for his show, "Maxwell House Coffee Time."
Gelbart was signed by William Morris and soon joined the writing staff of "Duffy's Tavern," working for the taskmaster Ed Gardner. After earning his spurs, he left to write for "The Joan Davis Show." While there, he was drafted. In the military, he was attached to the Armed Forces Radio service and wrote "Command Performance." After discharge, he continued to write for Davis and, additionally, took on Jack Paar, who was then doing a summer replacement show for Jack Benny.
Writing for both radio and the new medium of TV, Gelbart wrote for Carson and Hope. He also wrote for Red Buttons' TV show and in 1953 joined the staff of "Caesar's Hour," modeled after "Your Show of Shows." Hope at the time asked Sid Caesar, "I'll trade you two oil wells for one Gelbart."
Gelbart also turned to theater. He wrote "My L.A.," "The Conquering Hero" and in tandem with Burt Shevelove, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," which turned into a Broadway hit starring Zero Mostel.
Apparently Kanye West made an ass out of himself last night at the VMA's. We haven't watched it yet.
A tribute to Jackson, a second speech for Swift at VMAs
By Elysa Gardner and Lorena Blas, USA TODAY
NEW YORK — Planned and random acts of kindness reigned at the MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night.
Among the planned acts: Janet Jackson's opening tribute to her brother Michael, whose death at age 50 on June 25 rocked the music world.
The production began with Madonna recalling her encounter with Michael and reminding the audience that "Michael Jackson was a hero." And while "he seemed otherworldly," she added, "he was also a human being."
And then, the performance began. Dancers crept up on stage with original Thrillervideo airing in the background. The dancers' moves duplicated the ones being performed on the video.
Then a sequence of Michael's hits played. Bad and Smooth Criminal led to Scream, his duet with Janet, who broke through glass to make her way onstage and sing along with the video. The loud, almost angry performance had the audience on its feet.
After the tribute, Madonna said backstage that "it was good to finally get to say my piece."
And then near the end of the show, in a gracious act of kindness, video-of-the-year winner Beyoncé offered young country music star Taylor Swift a second chance to say her piece with an acceptance speech.
The moment came after Kanye West took everyone by surprise early in the show when he went onstage to interrupt Swift's acceptance speech for best female video for You Belong With Me.
West grabbed the microphone from Swift and said to her "Taylor, I'm really happy for you, and I'm gonna let you finish, but," and West then declared that Beyoncé, who had also been listed as a nominee in the category for Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), "had one of the best videos of all time." Camera shots showed both women looking startled. Swift was then hurried off the stage without finishing her speech.
The teen country star returned for her live performance of You Belong With Me later in the show.
Celebrities reacted backstage.
Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong said, "Well, you know, she's young, I think she'll get over it. I think he needs to get it over it also. It was very uncomfortable sitting there."
"I feel bad for Taylor," said Kristin Cavallari. "I think it was really disrespectful."
After the show, Kanye West apologized on his blog for the outburst: "I'M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM. I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD'VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED!"
Other music-related news items had guests talking at the awards show, too. American Idol's Kara DioGuardi was asked about her new colleague at the judges' table, Ellen DeGeneres. "I feel fantastic. I feel ecstatic. I can't wait for January, when we can all be on the panel."
Bruce played 2 shows in Florida over the weekend.
Last night was in Ft. Lauderdale.
September 13 / Bank Atlantic Center / Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Notes: Atrocious weather soaked many fans to the bone and wrought some havoc with the floor entry... good thing the tour moved indoors beginning with this Ft. Lauderdale show. Inside the arena, it was all Florida sunshine courtesy of a jubliant Bruce. "Florida," he said, "it's where people from New Jersey go when they get in trouble Everybody knows that. That's how half of you folks got here — ask your mom and pop!"
With Bruce's voice back in shape already (heck, it got there halfway through the Tampa show the night before), this was a fun, energetic show with a number of curveballs. Some of them made for unusual pacing and rocky transitions — an audibled "Cover Me" early on, "Out in the Street" following "Outlaw Pete," "Johnny 99" into "Factory." "Factory" was beautiful nonetheless, a spare version beginning with just Bruce on harmonica, the rest of the band eventually filling in.
"Sherry Darling" by request came before the request-portion-proper, and brought all three accordionists down front... eventually. When Nils needed a little extra time to get strapped in, Bruce asked Charlie and Roy to vamp a bit: "We have to take a little break... A little break music!" "Lady of Spain" first, then "Hava Nagila" before the trio was set for "Sherry." "We don't have the big stage," said Bruce, "but you're not gonna see this at the U2 show!"
A great sign request trio began with "Be True," into "Cadillac Ranch" and the very rare "So Young and in Love" (previously played just once on this tour, part of the Dropkick Murphys guest spot in Boston in April). A bit rough as they remembered how to start, but they worked it out for a show highlight. Another high point of the night was a not-so-unusual song, but an unusually fine performance of it: a phenomenal "Backstreets," one of the best in recent memory, as Bruce stretched out the middle portion with ethereal moaning and lots of "until the end"s. Another request followed, "Radio Nowhere" by request for somebody's ex-girlfriend (and notable for having Max on the kit rather than his son—as in Tampa, Max held down the beat all night).
Leading off the encore was another request, a favorite last played in St. Louis at the end of the Magic tour: "Then She Kissed Me." We wouldn't be surprised if the request/performance was inspired by the recent death of songwriter Ellie Greenwich, though Bruce didn't mention her; he did say, "I think we opened up our show in 1975 at the Bottom Line with this one." A classic cover, always welcome. Before "Hard Times" Bruce called for "health care for every American." Four young kids, two boys and two girls, were brought up onstage for "Dancing in the Dark," and one of the girls got a harmonica to remember it by. Finally, the show closed, as in Tampa, with "Thunder Road." On the setlist but not played: "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City," "Atlantic City."
Setlist:
Working on the Highway
Badlands
Night
Cover Me
Outlaw Pete
Out in the Street
Working on a Dream
Sherry Darling
Seeds
Johnny 99
Factory
Raise Your Hand (instrumental)
Be True
Cadillac Ranch
So Young and in Love
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Backstreets
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run
Encore
Then She Kissed Me
Jungleland
Hard Times
American Land
Dancing in the Dark
Thunder Road
Saturday was in Tampa.
September 12 / Ford Amphitheatre / Tampa, FL
Notes: After a three-week break, the Working on a Dream tour resumes in Super Bowl country. Bruce tells the Tampa crowd, "You guys scared me.... It takes my crew a day to put this equipment together—you guys did it in five minutes!" With this past week's U.S. debut of "Working on a Dream: A Super Bowl Journal" on the NFL Network, those 12 minutes in February were surely on most fans' minds. This was Bruce and the bands first return since to "hot, sticky, sweaty Tampa," as Bruce called it—and tonight it was all of the above.
Max Weinberg was back behind the drums all night (a boon for anyone dismayed after Saratoga). Bruce was noticeably hoarse, his voice somewhat worse for wear—or lack of wear, as it were: "Sorry about my voice," he said, "Too much time off!" And a bit of a staid setlist, particularly in the back half of the set, but some choice rarities among the bunch nonetheless. The first jaw-dropper was "All or Nothin' At All," rare enough even on the '92-93 tour—this is a song that's only been played six times ever, and never before by the E Street Band. Human Touch gets a bad rap, but this is one of those overlooked tracks with a lot of live potential. As Bruce said at song's end: "A lost masterpiece, I tell ya!"
A strong "Growin' Up" followed, and then another long-lost gem by request: "Jole Blon." Back in 1981, Bruce and Steve worked up this Cajun classic for Gary U.S. Bonds' Dedication album. Bruce has been known to revisit it in clubs over the years; he and Terence Trent D'Arby worked it out on the final night of the '92-93 tour at the Garden. But the last time Bruce and the E Street Band did this one was at the very end of the River tour, almost 28 years ago to the day. Tonight, the only real rust that showed was trying to figure out the key. Finally, Bruce made an executive decision: "Goddammit, let's play this motherfucker: B-minor, on four..." Killer solos from Charlie on accordion and Soozie on fiddle. And Stevie looking happy as a clam.
Later in the set, a beautiful sign for "Racing in the Street" pictured a vintage Chevy, with Bruce noting, "That was actually my car when I was 24 years old!" And before "Hard Times," Bruce put the E Street Band's lengthy 2007-2009 run into perspective, seeing it all as of a piece: "This is the last leg of our long, long tour stretching out over a couple of records and a couple of years... thanks to my band for playing better than ever!"
Setlist:
Badlands
Out in the Street
My Lucky Day
Spirit in the Night
Outlaw Pete
She's the One
Working on a Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
Point Blank
Raise Your Hand
All or Nothin' at All
Growin' Up
Jole Blon
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Racing in the Street
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born to Run
Encore
Hard Times
Rosalita
American Land
Bobby Jean
Dancing in the Dark
Hungry Heart
Thunder Road
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