Saturday, August 30, 2008

Fox Sports - Top 10 Ticking Time Bombs

Fox Sports ranked their Top 10 Ticking Time Bombs and guess who ranked #1 on their list? Surprise, surprise - it's the Dallas Cowboys.
The only thing that scares me about the Cowboys this year: the Cowboys themselves. There is drama, a soap opera atmosphere, at every turn. My guy Tony Romo appears in US Weekly more than Sports Illustrated. While it is idiotic that his focus is ever questioned (he is one of the most diligent workers in the league), Romo has to deal with ridiculous questions about Jessica Simpson when he plays poorly.

Terrell Owens is a great player. He can also bring negative attention to the Cowboys with one wrong answer or press conference.

Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson are both an off-the-field issue away from never playing again.

Is this a back-handed compliment? In other words, the Cowboys are too talented that there only real problem is they might get in their own way?

In today's NFL, what team isn't dealing with issues? T.O. has been a leader in the post-Parcells era and he has a great relationship (tears and all) with "his QB." The Patriots have Randy Moss, who has had his own share of problems (worse than T.O.'s), the Broncos have Brandon Marshall (but the real T.O. isn't getting suspended by the NFL) and the Bengals have Chad Johnson (or now legally Chad Javon Ocho Cinco).

Adam Jones and Tank Johnson may be off-the-field risks, but everyday if you go to the NFL section of ESPN, SI, etc., you'll see things like today's ESPN headlines: Ricardo Colclough of Carolina arrested for DWI and Bryant McKinnie suspended for 4 games for his involvement in a fight. I think the support system is well-established in Big D to keep Jones and Johnson out of trouble. The NFL has league-wide "personal conduct" issues, but the perception that the Cowboys (with the possible exception of the Bengals) have the biggest share of them is absurd.

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