Oh No! Tony Romo is MUCH Worse Than ANYONE Imagined

There’s an old saying in football that perfectly describes why the Dallas Cowboys won’t be a playoff team, much less a Super Bowl contender, until either Tony Romo “gets it” and learns to manage a game or the organization finds a new quarterback:

If you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one.

Romo plays like two dueling quarterbacks inhabiting the same body. At times, he looks every bit the part of an elite signal-caller, like a Joe Montana or a John Elway or the good version of Brett Favre. Then there are those times when he just can’t seem to do anything right. From botched snaps on field goals to crippling fumbles and interceptions with the game on the line. It’s as if Romo has a special talent—a knack, if you will—for snatching defeat from the clenched jaws of victory.

In over 51 years of NFL football, a Cowboys team had never blown a 24 point lead and lost the game until yesterday.  In all of NFL history, a 24 point lead in a game has only been blown three other times, resulting in a loss.

The Cowboys were up 27-3 in the third quarter vs the Detroit Lions and Tony Romo single handedly decided to literally throw the game away. Romo threw not one, not two but three ill advised passes, two of which were immediately returned for touchdowns.  The game ended with the most shocking result in Cowboys history, Detroit 34 - Cowboys 30.

One player does not win or lose an NFL game because there are so many plays, so many referee calls, and so many coaches decisions that result in so many unpredictable results.  Football is a game measured in yards but won or lost by inches. UNTIL YESTERDAY…

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo lost that game. For perhaps the first time in NFL history, ONE player was solely responsible for turning a 24 point lead into a 4 point loss in the second half of a game.  Think about it.  The Cowboys lead by 24 in the third quarter and Romo takes off on a pick feast, throwing three gift wrapped interceptions.  WHY, WHY, WHY ?

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the 
scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The 
frog asks, "How do I know you won't sting me?" The scorpion 
says, "Because if I do, I will die too."

  The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream,
the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of 
paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown,
but has just enough time to gasp "Why?" 

		Replies the scorpion: "Its my nature..."
 

Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit

T. Boone Pickens Wants TCU in the Big XII Conference

The NCAA requires a “conference” to contain a minimum of 8 member institutions.  The Big XII will have nine members after Texas A&M joins the SEC in June.  But Missouri is being courted by the SEC.  I believe that the University of Texas would be happy with eight.  The Big XII has an automatic BCS bowl bid and until that changes, UT wants less institutions not more.

UT supports expansion to 10 institutions and appears to favor BYU.  Texas has expressed doubt in the past about adding “Texas” universities to the conference.

TCU continues to be a strong candidate to become school No. 10 in the Big 12, the sources told Chip Brown this week.

“Being in the same time zone is a bigger priority than most people think when it comes to adding someone to the Big 12,” a high-ranking official at a Big 12 school told Orangebloods.com.

Interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas has said that geographic proximity is important in terms of conference members having commonality. Neinas also said there might be some resistance to adding TCU.

And while most have assumed Texas is the one that would resist TCU, sources close to Texas have said UT wouldn’t hold up such a move, according to Chip Brown at Orangebloods.

The San Antonio Express News reports that T. Boone Pickens favors adding TCU as his leading Big 12 expansion candidate, with Houston, SMU and Rice also receiving consideration.

That thinking contradicts those who believe the conference must expand its geographic footprint to remain viable.

“I don’t see any viewing area available with (expansion to) BYU. And with West Virginia, there’s no relationship there,” Pickens said. “I don’t have anything against any of them. But I know where the home is, and home to me is this area.”

During the past six years, Pickens has donated more than $500 million to the OSU athletic department. Those gifts have helped transform the school’s facilities in the most massive upgrade in Big 12 history.

Taking advantage of those creature comforts, OSU has streaked to a 4-0 record and a No. 5 ranking in the AP poll. It’s only the sixth time in school history the Cowboys have cracked the AP’s top five.

“It was a good school when I went there, and it’s much better today,” Pickens said. “The attitude of our people and alums is that we are a pretty tight crowd. It’s pulled us together.

“We know we can win. This is the sixth year since the big gift, and there’s no question we’ve stepped up every year. I got my money’s worth.”

Pickens was cheered by OSU’s most recent victory, a dramatic 30-29 triumph at A&M on Saturday. That win resonated as OSU challenges for its first Big 12 football title.

Game 1 of ALDS - Rays vs Rangers

For the first time in franchise history, the Texas Rangers have home-field advantage in the ALDS, and it all begins a few hours from now (4 p.m. CDT) in Arlington as the Rangers host the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1.

Texas is going with C.J. Wilson  (16-7, 2.94 ERA) versus Tampa Bay rookie Matt Moore (1-0, 2.89 ERA).

Texas Rangers’ pitchers fell just two strikeouts short of a club record while issuing the fewest walks of any Texas staff since 1978. They will oppose a Rays offense that scored only 4.36 runs a game, a 10th of a run lower than the A.L. average.

And while the Rays enter on an emotional high, having swiped the wild card from Boston, the Rangers actually played a bit better in September. The Rays went 17-10, and the Rangers went 19-6 and won 10 of their last 11.

Matt Treanor will be on the playoff roster as the Rangers have decided to go with a seven-man bullpen for their American League Division Series against the Rays.  Alexi Ogando and Scott Feldman will be part of that bullpen.

The Rangers wanted Treanor as their third catcher because it will give manager Ron Washington flexibility in how they use Yorvit Torrealba and Mike Napoli. This allows him to use both in the same lineup, which could be the case in Game 1 on Friday with Rays left-hander Matt Moore on the mound.

“It gives us versatility with both Torrealba and Napoli, with Napoli being versatile against left-handers,” Washington said. “Both of them have been very productive for us this year, and I want both of them to stay engaged. And that’s what it gives me. It gives me versatility, especially with Napoli being able to go in the DH spot and play some first base. May want to DH Torre [Torrealba] and catch Napoli, and I still have a catcher if something happens.”

Last year’s division series between the teams is the only major league postseason series in which the road team won every game. After Cliff Lee and C. J. Wilson stifled the Rays at Tropicana Field, Tampa Bay took two in Arlington. Back in St. Petersburg for the decisive fifth game, Lee fired a six-hitter to beat David Price for the second time. The Rays struck out 55 times in the series, but 28 whiffs came against Lee and Tommy Hunter, who no longer pitch for the Rangers.

• The Rangers led all of baseball in batting average for the second consecutive year and the third time in the last four years. Texas also had the fewest strikeouts in baseball.

• MLB announced that Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Rays will be at 6:07 PM CST on Saturday on TNT, and Game 3 will be at 4:07 PM CST on TBS on Monday.

• Pitchers Michael Kirkman and Mark Hamburger were sent to the Arizona Instructional League to pitch in games and stay sharp in case the pair are needed in subsequent playoff rounds. Both were left off the playoff roster.

• The Rangers improved their record from 90-72 in 2010 to 96-66 this season. It marks the fourth straight season the club has improved its record, which marks the longest stretch in Texas history.

• The Rangers, spell out “TEXAS” across both their home and road jerseys; they do not wear a version that spells out their nickname. The Rays do not have a jersey that says “Tampa Bay” — they are “RAYS,” at home and on the road.

Update on Friday, September 30, 2011 at 7:53PM by Bonzer Wolf

Rookie left-hander Matt Moore threw seven shutout innings in his second major league start and Kelly Shoppach hit two home runs, leading the Rays to a 9-0 win over the Texas Rangers in Game 1 of their AL division series on Friday.

Moore (1-0) was the first pitcher to start a playoff game with one or fewer previous MLB starts, but the box score betrayed everything about that fact.

The 22-year-old rookie gave up just two hits, two walks and struck out six while becoming the youngest American League pitcher in 40 years to start his team’s first game of the post season.

Tampa Bay scored its first eight runs off Wilson, the left-hander who went 16-7 for Texas during the regular season but couldn’t make it to the sixth inning of this one.

C.J. Wilson gave up seven hits and a walk while striking out six. Two of the eight runs scored against him were unearned.

The Rangers, who won six straight games to end the regular season and were 14-2 in their last 16, got only two hits in Game 1. Both came from Josh Hamilton, who singled in the first inning and stroked a leadoff double in the fourth.

I can’t express my disappointment in the Ranger’s performance.  Neither the team nor the fans seemed into the game. Embarrassing!

Bank of America to Charge $5 a Month for Check Card Use

More unintended consequences of the Nanny State will bite you in the wallet next year. Fight back by closing your bank of America accounts and voting against Democrats in every election. Don’t switch to Wells Fargo Bank either. They’re coming after your money too.

Citibank says they will NOT charge customers to spend their own money using a debit card.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Bank of America Corp. (BAC), the largest U.S. bank by assets, plans to charge customers a $5 monthly fee for making debit card purchases starting early next year, according to an internal memo sent to bank executives Thursday.

The fee will apply to customers with various checking accounts during any month they use their debit card to make a purchase. The fee will not apply to customers who do not use their debit card to make a purchase or who only use it to make ATM transactions.

Bank of America is trying to cushion revenue losses it expects to incur from new caps on the fees merchants pay when a customer uses a debit card at their stores. In June, the Federal Reserve Board finalized rules capping such fees at 24 cents per transaction, compared with a current average of 44 cents.

Bank of America has said it expects the caps, which take effect Oct. 1, to erase $2 billion in revenue annually. Industrywide, the caps, which apply to banks with $10 billion and more in assets, could wipe out $6.6 billion in annual revenue for banks, according to an August report from Javelin Strategy and Research.

“The economics of offering a debit card have changed with recent regulations,” a spokeswoman for Bank of America said in a statement Thursday.

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), said it will charge a $3 fee for debit and ATM cards in several states starting in October if customers use the cards to make a purchase under a pilot program.