Josh Hamilton Is Your AL MVP

Claw! Antlers!

Things I Do Not Understand: Wade Phillips Is Better Than Tom Landry?

I will admit, I have judged this year’s Dallas Cowboys by their promises. But heck, if you’re going to promise to go to the gosh-darned Super Bowl, you better go to the gosh-darned Super Bowl.  And you don’t get to go there by being 3-7 going into Week 12.

And I’m still not convinced that this sudden resurgence isn’t so much the work of a wunderkind Ivy League ginger and not the Cowboys have been playing crappy teams.  Beat the Saints, and I’ll reconsider my position.

But then along comes this interview Wade Phillips did, wherein he states that he went out with the same record Tom Landry had. And maybe I’m just super cranky and kind of in need of a nap, but seriously, shut your mouth.

Now, yes, if Landry’s record was .602, and we’re only counting Phillips’ record with the Cowboys (.620ish), then sure. But if you’re counting Phillips entire NFL career, well, that’d be more like .580. Max. So not so close. Landry had 29 seasons of excellence. Phillips had a handful where he failed to capitalize on talent provided.

And if we’re using Phillips’ math, Jason Garrett is the best coach in the history of ever.

Or maybe I just don’t understand football math. I am a girl, you know.

Leading Off (11/23/10)

1. Today we honor Jerry “Jer” Jerrels, who came up with the first conspiracy theory regarding the JFK assassination, when he announced to the patrons at Larry’s Tip-Tap Room — remember, over on Hawkhand Street, next to Merle’s Rods, Reels, Etc.? — that he was “pretty sure Jackie done it” the day after. Anyway, on with the show.

2. Plano East High is closed today while a bomb threat, the second in two weeks, is investigated. According to the threat, the bomb is located in “Mrs. Thomp — wait, they might not close school if it’s in just a teacher’s room. Dude, I KNOW I’m on the phone. Do you want a longer Thanksgiving break or not? Okay, then let me do my thing. Well, no, actually, you’re NOT helping. Yeah, screw you, too. Hello? The bomb is in the cafeteria.”

3. Blockbuster has launched its “Less Waiting” ad campaign. Unfortunately, the campaign has already cost Frank Jenkins, Jeff Delarios, Bill Bell, and Lynette Creel their jobs, as none of them could keep from making the “…because no one goes to Blockbuster” joke when the tagline was first announced. Their spirits will be avenged, in this life or the next.

4. Josh Hamilton should win the AL MVP award today. So, one last time: claw!

FC Dallas Owner Wants Rangers Popularity for Team

FC Dallas owner Clark Hunt said today that he hoped the MLS second-placers would gain the same kind of popularity in the area that the Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars enjoy (noticeably absent from the discussion was the Dallas Cowboys).

Watching the game last night, I couldn’t help but notice the sparse crowd watching the Cup final – held in neutral ground in Toronto.  And I wondered aloud if perhaps the MLS (and, by extension, FC Dallas) wouldn’t be more popular if the final game was held in at least a reasonable proximity to the teams playing. If, for instance, home-field advantage was awarded to the favored team, would more people attend? In this case, it would mean the game would’ve been played in Frisco. Would FC Dallas fans and bandwagoners have filled the stands? Would Colorado fans have traveled?

Leading Off (11/22/10)

1. Today is November 22, 2010, and 47 years after the Kennedy Assassination, the Atlantic wonders, “what do we really know?” We know a little more than we used to since the secret service officers on the Kennedy detail have broken their silence, including Clint Hill, who was on the running board of the presidential limousine on that fateful day. But this Longview man’s perspective, born just 22 days after the assassination, is more like our own. And so, nearly fifty years on, the Sixth Floor Museum finds itself “changing from memory to history.” Not that there aren’t new controversies in Dealey Plaza, namely the status of the guides who retell that history. Dealey Plaza, it turns out, is “too small” to contain a history so large. (in Dallas?) Part of the largeness of the day was the mini-visual revolution sparked by Zapruder’s immortal 8mm YouTube video. We’ve all seen the film, but there are also, of course, many, many books on the Kennedy assassination – here are eleven. And here are the top ten conspiracy theories. And here are the stories of the other ten presidents who were targeted by assassins. And finally, don’t forget, tonight The Texas Theatre is screening Virtual JFK and a short print of War is Hell, the film that was playing in the Texas Theatre when Oswald was arrested there 47 years ago.

2. Should religiously-affiliated charter schools receive state funds?

3. Dallas has its second championship runner-up of 2010: FC Dallas lost the MLS Cup last night in overtime, and heartbreakingly, the loss came on an own goal.