If you haven't figured it out, I've taken to doing the update in the evening rather than the mornings. It means I can post more often as my mornings have become very crowded lately but it also means I don't have much info on games anymore. So, as I type the stinkin' Yankees look like they are about to win another World Series. They are up 7-3 in the middle of the 8th. Have I mentioned that I hate the Yankees?



Roy Williams is getting annoyed because people think he sucks. Does it matter that I get annoyed because he sucks?

Criticism beginning to annoy Dallas receiver Williams

By CLARENCE E. HILL JR.
Ft. Worth Star Telegram
chill@star-telegram.com

IRVING — Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams is frustrated with his numbers and tired of trying to defend himself.

He said he is not complaining or pouting and is continuing to do everything he can to still help the Cowboys win.

But he wants everyone to know it’s not all on him_ especially when passes are high or behind him. "It makes me look like crap," Williams said. "The only thing that keeps me going is cause I know I’m not. I know what I am. I know what people are trying to make me be. I know I’m not that."

Williams has no answers when asked to explain the difference between his numbers and those of receiver Miles Austin. Williams has 14 catches for 249 yards and two touchdowns. Austin has 26 catches for 563 yards and six touchdowns.

"He gets the ball thrown correctly," Williams said. "I’m stretching, falling, doing everything. My balls are everywhere."

Williams said quarterback Tony Romo are simply not on the same page _ which is downright shocking to him considering the work the two have put in together.

"It’s stunning," Williams said. "I anticipated us rolling right now. We are rolling in the win column. But as far as me and Romo’s production, we are not even close. I’m not mad or anything by no means. We are just not connecting. I am not going to rant or rave. I’m going to work. I’m just waiting for the switch to cut on one day...boom."

Bruce played Charlotte on Tuesday night.

November 3 / Time Warner Arena / Charlotte, NC

Notes: "Seeds" got things off to a rocking start at the Bobcat Arena, but it was the second song, "Darlington County," that really set the tone. It's one of the obvious choices for a local special (along with "Cadillac Ranch," unplayed this time), but Bruce actually hasn't broken out "Darlington" in the Carolinas in a year and a half. And it was as if everyone there had been waiting for it; a little thrill rippled throughout the arena at the opening guitar riff. An unusual choice for the second slot, but when the crowds sings "blasting off the T-top" as loud as they sing "Baby we were born to run," you know it was a good move. From there, through the "sha-la-las" and onward, energy flowed both ways all night.

The Born to Run album sequence continues to catch fire, not at all dampened by repetition (or by the word, just beginning to circulate prior to showtime, that Bruce would be digging deeper this weekend for his buddies in New York City). "This record... this was the record that started a lifelong conversation between our band and you," Bruce said before beginning with "Thunder Road," adding "Shout if you remember this one!" clearly knowing that this room would shout it out loud. "Night" was particularly intense, and "Meeting Across the River" keeps shining bright, Garry working the frets downstage and Curt's clear trumpet doing all the right things.

Following "Sunny Day," an armful of signs kept the "Darlington" party vibe going: "I Fought the Law" first, previously played just twice in Europe on this tour. Next Bruce hollered, "The biggest sign of the evening!" and he danced across the stage with it: "I'll Have Sad Eyes if You Don't Play Sherry Darling." That might seem like two requests in one, but they just took it literally, with Roy, Charlie, and Nils strapping on their accordions for "Sherry." The requests kept rolling: "We're gonna take one from the upper balcony," Bruce said, pointing up to the rafters, "Get a spotlight on that sign!" It was a horn-heavy "So Young and in Love," Curt Ramm joining back in, Bruce working the stage and dropping to his knees, and the whole band all smiles.

A fourth request was for one that the band had never played before: "Play 'Brown Eyed Girl' For My Brown Eyed Girl," read the sign. "We're figuring it out!" said Bruce, lightly practicing the riff before diving in. It didn't always groove, but it was a whole lot of fun: lights up, all hands in the air, and hey, as Bruce had already figured out, this was a crowd that liked to "Sha La La." "Just like that!"

In the encore, "Cousin" Frank Bruno Jr. joined in for "American Land." Heading from there into "Dancing in the Dark," Bruce was apparently as excited as the crowd: "Ladies and gentlemen, I've had an erection lasting more than four hours — I should get to the emergency room. But first!..."

One more after "Rosie," and one that's become an instant E Street classic since Bruce and the Band debuted it on night four in Philly: Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher." "You think we can take it any higher? Are you ready to help us take it higher?" They did, and we did, and I'd be surprised if this one didn't appear at every show from here to Buffalo. It's as perfect a show-closer, with sweet horns and killer vocals — even better now that Cindy and Curtis are taking verses, too, as they began to do in DC. The background vocalists are the tour's secret weapons that have never quite felt fully deployed until now; Cindy and Curtis already elevated "Hard Times" at the beginng of the encore, but their solo turns on "Higher and Higher" were breathtaking. Bruce got so inspired, he had to join the crowd to dance — he ran back around the pit, up to the platform in the middle of the floor (from which he'd earlier gone crowd surfing), and practically boogalooed. Soon back on stage — "We ain't done yet! Is the band ready? Is the people ready?" — Bruce took the sucker up like "Jacob's Ladder." "Up to C!" "We got one more build left!" "Up to D!" And if that was the top of Bruce's range, it was more than enough.
- Chris Phillips reporting

Setlist:

Seeds
Darlington County
Hungry Heart
Working on a Dream
Thunder Road
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out (with Curt Ramm)
Night
Backstreets
Born to Run
She's the One
Meeting Across the River (with Curt Ramm)
Jungleland
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
I Fought the Law
Sherry Darling
So Young and in Love (with Curt Ramm)
Brown Eyed Girl
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Badlands

Encore

Hard Times
Bobby Jean
American Land (with Frank Bruno, Jr. and Curt Ramm)
Dancing in the Dark
Rosalita (with Curt Ramm)
Higher and Higher (with Curt Ramm)