Could It Happen Again?

Let's get this out there. I think the 2006 NBA Finals between Dallas and Miami was rigged. I think the NBA wanted the Heat to win and basically told the officials to call the game in a way that Miami couldn't lose.

Let me set this up. The series was going badly. Dallas was up 2-0 after winning the first two games on their home court. They were headed to Miami for games 3-5 and the league wanted anyone but Dallas and especially Mark Cuban to win the series.

I know what you are thinking, the ratings of a Mavericks fan who just can't let it go. Well I am joined in my paranoia. Some examples of others believing the same thing..

This from Phil Jackson? Hardly a Mavericks fan.

"That Miami Finals really was a tough one to swallow," Jackson said before the Lakers won 96-91 on Saturday night in Dallas. "I think Wade averaged about 25 foul shots a game. You couldn't even touch him. That was really tough to swallow and I think he understood there's kind of a pecking order in this league and you keep your mouth shut at times.

and from Tracy McGrady..

Interviewer: Was it a little ridiculous how Dwayne Wade got all the calls? TMac: Yeah, yeah it really was. I'll tell you man, it seems if you were watching that game, seemed like it was rigged. Seriously. I know the NBA.... (cut off by interviewer) Interviewer: You just got fined (sarcastically) TMac: I don't care. So what? But yeah it seemed like it was rigged. With all the calls he was getting. Jesus. Did you hear me? We are talking about the NBA Finals, I wish I could say I was just kidding, and that's what it seemed like.

This is all without mentioning Tim Donaghy (Ex-NBA Ref) saying that the NBA often rigs series just for ratings and that the 2006 Finals were one of those series.


Need more proof?

First off with the phantom fouls on Dwayne Wade. 
Phantom Foul 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lX_qMS9b…
Phantom Foul 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuukM40T9…
Phantom Foul 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fydhtOSlf…
Phantom Foul 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZKGlHfuk…
Phantom Foul 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y8nI1PPY…

Some items:

Game Five: Miami wins in OT. Dwyane Wade shot as many free throws as all the Mavericks combined! He set an NBA Finals record for most made free-throws in a game with 21. After a controversial play in which many fans thought Wade committed a back court violation, Wade hit the game-winning free throws with 1.9 seconds left.

More: From website "Rigged NBA Games"   http://thumpernewman.com/rigged_nba_games.htm

Mark Cuban Fined $250K Because of Outburst After Game 5 of NBA Finals

According to an AP report he said to Stern and other NBA officials, who were seated at the scorers table and was overheard to shout venomously in the jubilant din, '[Bleep] you! [Bleep] you! Your league is rigged!'

David Stern decided that game 5 would be his chance to pay back all his sponsors. Dwayne Wade who was a spokes person for Converse, Gatorade, T-mobile cell phones, Lincoln cars & whose Jersey is in the top 3 in sales was the benefactor . In total Wade went to the foul line 25 xs, There were 5 separate fouls on Wade in which he was never touched. The Internet bloggers refer to them as the Phantom Fouls. Miami as a team went to the line 49 xs to Dallas 25 xs. Dallas finished with 6 more field goals 11 more rebounds & lost the game by one. Both of Dallas low post defenders were in foul trouble Diop fouled out Dampier finished with 5 fouls.

Was the 2006 NBA finals rigged? Yes 57%  No 43% Total votes : Poll from Real GM

I know a lot of people think Maverick fans are beating a dead horse but the real question, to me, is not that it happened but can it happen again? This guy may have something to say about it.

Aggies and Other Shite..

Make me go to A and M, I will pull the trigger..Proof that Aggies are fucking weird and mostly gay..Don't bail on the video..suffer..and Hook Em Horns...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YTepCLMf_I

Enjoy the greatness of Afro Man..''Because I got high.''
Stick around..it is really funny...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Y7GMPJO64&playnext=1&list=PL2D026EC506AD5922

No one will ever call Obama a pussy again, not after this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3SFXQfE4kk&feature=related

Just when you think it can't get worse, I bring you a farting cat..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KOPil9ABUg

Bud Light: Real Men of Genius..Picking on Dougie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0Y7yjxJVlc

Weed with Willie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDQANmQO2g0&feature=related

Finally I leave you with greatness. The one and only..The chosen one..
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYOPMZNdUwU&feature=related

Cowboys Notes

On Rob Ryan..call him ''The Dude''

On Cowboys lack of ''defense picks'' in 2011 draft..Stephen Jones..''It was by design. Our board was set up for offense. We plan to address defense in the upcoming free agency and we are not sure we are through on offense."

On Dez Bryant..He was too busy to meet with Jerry Jones but was spotted at North Park Mall, where his Bentley was double parked, buying more shoes. The Cowboys version of Imelda Marcos also posted his distaste for paying a hundred bucks for a tank of gas. Am I the only one who believes if you make 7 figures, you should own oil company stock, not bitch about gas prices?

More on Dez Bryant..You might be doomed if you adviser's first act is to get you hooked up with bling dealers. This before he had one cent of his signing bonus.
 
On Roy Williams..With no cap in 2011.. We wont  face any cap penalties from releasing him, it costs nothing at all, it's a perfect year to get rid of ridiculous contracts. Ditto to Barber..

On Draft and Character...Cowboys drafted 4 team captains..Good to see these high character guys coming in. You know team captains are going to come in and be hard working, smart, dedicated guys.

On Chapas owning Patrick Peterson..link..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7HclLJp_lQ  Chapas is a late round FB from Ga and Peterson is all that from LSU..Chapras..winning..

On grading 2011 draft..This from Goose Gosselin/Dallas Morning News..Grade B..best in NFC East..The Cowboys had a superb third day of this draft. Harris is a Kelvin Martin clone and the arrival of Arkin and Nagy will help Smith make the offensive line deeper and more competitive. Murray can solve a running back riddle.

On Jason Garrett..from the horses mouth/Jerry Jones..Jones told several people before the draft that the thing that has surprised him most about Garrett is that "he's more stubborn than I thought." Jerry just says so much in one sentence..

On Cowboy's Draft Philosophy..More importantly, I think that the pick signals that Garrett and the Cowboys did something very smart in this draft. They looked at needs on a big picture basis, not on a Week 1 vs. the Jets basis.

Go Cowboys..

Cowboy Should Model The Packers

We all watched as the Packers won the Super Bowl. The Cowboys look a whole team behind the Pack and it seems all is a mess. Well you would be half right. You can make a case that Dallas is equal to and a little better on offense than Green Bay . More about that later.

Green Bay has a dilemma on their hands. Two playoffs ago in Arizona their QB Aaron Rogers had a better day than he did in this SB. In Arizona he threw for over 400 yards, had 5 td's and a QB rating of 121. This bettered his 300 yards,3 TD and 111 QB rating of 111 against the Steelers.

The difference was when the team that faced the Cardinals had to be perfect on offense. Good or great were not enough, perfect might have won the game. In 2009 the Packers scored 461 points and allowed 297. In 2010 they actually scored less points 388 but allowed less with 240. That 240 points allowed led the NFL. The Packers, even with Rogers playing at a high level, didn't require he win every game. In the game before the SB, Rogers threw 2 interceptions and had a 62 QB rating and they still won.

Dallas had a miserable year but even with Romo missing 9 games and their third string QB playing the last two games they still outscored the Packers 436 points to 388. This by having the worst starting field position on offensive drives than all but three teams. This by having a defense that never got a turnover in the Cowboys first 5 losses and they still outscored Green Bay by 4 points a game. Told ya you could make a case for Dallas having a better offensive year than Green Bay.

So many have blamed the offense and forgiven Dallas' defense for under performing under Wade Phillips, when the truth has been the defense has never stepped up. Dallas averaged starting an offensive drive on their 23 yard line. That is because the defense allowed an average of 38 yards on their opponents drives. It seemed every punt was from midfield. In one loss against Minnesota the offense average starting field position was  their own 15. NFL stats.com says the chance of scoring from your own 15 is less than 20%. Yet so many blame the offense.

Following the loss in Arizona the Packers turned up the heat on defense. This is where Dallas must look. Fix the defense and fix the Cowboys. Dallas needs to address the corner backs, safeties and get an inside pass rusher. They have options including the ninth pick in a draft heavy with defensive lineman. They must do what they did not do last off season and look to sign some free agents. I also am optimistic with the hiring of Rob Ryan, son of rival Buddy Ryan and brother of Rex Ryan, head coach of the NY Jets.

The other good news is Dallas has a much easier schedule, on paper, than last season. If the defense is fixed or just becomes a little better than average, the offense has the potential to get this team deep into the playoffs. If they completely turn the defense around, they can compete with any team in the league.

Cowboys..What Happened and What Now?

The worst season in Cowboys history is finally over. Oh there have been worse records but never has a Cowboys team with so much promise, flopped so miserably. Jerry Jones fired Wade Phillips, mid season, the only time that has happened in the history of the Cowboys.

The defense was Wade's downfall. He has always been a defensive 'fix it guy.' The GM/Owner shares a lot of the blame for this season's disaster. It started when there were no outside free agents signed in the off season. They were the only team in the league to do this. They relied on unproven first time starters to carry the load. Alan Ball  and Gerald Sensabaugh were total failures as safeties. Ball, especially, had never done anything in the past to warrant a promotion but he was there anyway. Anthony Spencer took several steps back at OLB. He was joined in miserable seasons by Keith Brookings..ILB and Jay Ratliff..NT who looked out of position.

The offense was productive, if all you do is look at the yards, but they made way too many mistakes and never figured out the red zone. The offensive line played horribly as a unit and when they did put in a back up it cost them dearly. The one bright spot was Dez Bryant who showed promise but couldn't stay healthy and was lost for the year. Romo played in only five games but Jon Kitna played well as his back up and their third string QB, Steven McGee won a game and should have won two. 

This team lost more games than their opponents won them. Mistakes were the mantra of this team. They were the most penalized team in the league for the second time in three years. The only time they were not number one they were number two. Plus so many of their penalties were in key situations.

The team was 1-7 under Wade Phillips and 5-3 under Jason Garrett. The team did respond to Jason but then the real culprit was exposed. The culprit was lack of talent. This team just wasn't good enough to win without some luck. They gave up more points than any Cowboys team in the history of the franchise. The offense kicked in with some horrible turnovers and mistakes at key times. The big difference in pre and post Wade was the defense, while still sucking, got some turnovers.

Moving forward the Cowboys have the number nine pick in the 2011 draft. They have a favorable schedule for next season. Jerry won't stand pat this season on free agency and that is good because there will be a lot of holes to fill. The entire defensive line are nearly all free agents. That is the bad news, the good news is they need to go..Ratliff needs to be moved to DE where he won't face as many double teams. They need a monster in the middle to stuff the run. We need Sean Lee to step up and replace Brookings, who his surely a goner.

On offense the team needs a couple of Olinemen..Free and Gurode may be the only survivors, although Kosier if he can stay healthy might be kept. For sure Davis and Colombo are gone. I see no need to blow up the running backs, there are more places to put your money. A wide receiver is needed unless they can get Roy Williams to take a pay cut. TE is in good shape as is the QB situation. The Cowboys were the only team with two 1000 yard receivers. Jason Witten and Miles Austin both achieved this.

Special teams need to become special. The team signed Brown a kicker who kicked in Houston. He is reliable but with not much of a leg. Buelher as I post before contributed in two losses. We still need a return guy. Dez seems too fragile to handle both returns and wide receiver.

Here is to 2011 and a return to the playoffs. It will be hard to see two other teams play in the Super Bowl in the Cowboy's stadium..

Some Stats On How Offense and Defense Work Together

For those of you who are at all interested in examples of how the offense and defense are connected read below?

The Redskins had the ball on 9 possessions. On those 9 possessions they scored twice..but they also had drives of:

69 yds...36 yds..50 yds..46 yds..15 yds..11 yds..4 yds..3 yds..0 yds..


The Cowboys offense had drives of:

37 yds..56 yds..7 yds..62 yds..2 yds..41 yds..34 yds..25 yds..5 yds..58 yds..

The offense by having 7 of 10 drives over 25 yards gave the defense good field position all night. It actually could be 8 of 10 because one drive ended in a fumble at the half.. The only good field position the Redskins had was on their own 43 and that was on a kick off..The other kick off the defense got field position at the 33 of Washington..

So what does this mean..It means that Washington took over at their..20..24..15..5..7..17 and 23 yard line following a Cowboys punt and if you take away the 24 yard starting point because of a missed field goal the Redskins started every drive but one at or inside their 20..and the other was at the 23..It is a lot easier to stop a drive when they start that deep.


Plus by giving up so many yards on each possession the Cowboys started deep in their territory. The one exception was when the Redskins got the ball at their 7 yard line and the defense stoned them and the offense got the ball back at the Skins 34. They then scored their only touchdown.


The Redskins averaged their 20 yard line. So the field position the offense put the Skins in had as much to do with the defense as any other factor.

Is Dez the Most Over-Hyped Cowboy Pick Ever

Is Dez the Most Over-Hyped Cowboy Pick Ever


I have been around since the very first game the Cowboys played against Pittsburgh. It was my first pro game of any type. I was 13 years old and watched future HOF Bobby Lane throw for 358 yards and 5 td's. I was hooked and to this day I still am.

I have been struck by the chatter on Dez Bryant. It has been a long time since I have seen any draft pick with this type of positive buzz. He won the hearts and minds of many Cowboys fans when selected. He seems to have gotten the local media on board with his ability to catch everything. Throw it high or low, inside or outside, it doesn't seem to matter he catches everything.

He looks to have the Cowboys on board as well. The evidence is the trading to Patrick Crayton and the rumored interest in being open to trading Sam Hurd. The Cowboys coaches from day one have not held back on Dez. On draft day the Cowboys said they had him as the highest rated wide receiver and one of the highest rated guys on the board. In OTA'S and mini-camps the rhetoric has done nothing but go up.

This brings me to the point of asking is Dez Bryant the most hyped draft pick the Cowboys have ever had? Now you don't become America's team and not have high profile picks. From their very first draft pick in 1961, the great HOF'er Bob Lilly to the rest of the greats. The candidates are as follows:

1961.............Bob Lilly
1963.............Lee Roy Jordan
1974.............Ed Too Tall Jones
1975.............Randy White
1977.............Tony Dorsett
1989.............Troy Aikman
1990.............Emmitt Smith
2010.............Dez Bryant

They are all great players with the exception of Dez, who has yet to play a down. Remember I am not saying I believe Dez will accomplish any of the things these past greats have done. I am simply talking hype. So using scientific and Sherlock Holme's type logic I narrow my list.

Lilly came to an expansion team that didn't have a first year draft. Jordan and Too Tall were both very highly thought of but never received the buzz that Dez is getting. Same for White and maybe the greatest Cowboy ever Emmit Smith. BTW a note on Emmit. He was not the Cowboys first choice. Jimmy Johnson wanted to draft James Francis a linebacker.

I think the main competition for Dez is between Troy Aikman and Tony Dorsett. Both were the best players in the draft and Dallas had the number one pick in the case of Troy Aikman and the number two pick in the case of Tony Dorsett. If this was a case of the most hyped rookie ever it would be a blowout in my opion. Tony Dorsett came out of the blue. The Cowboys made a trade on draft day to get the Heisman Trophy winner out of Pittsburgh and he did not disappoint. He and Roger Staubach led the Cowboys to their second Super Bowl win in 1977..I still remember that the Cowboys have never ran a screen pass before or after that compared to Tony. It seemed he was at full speed in a split second. He is still my favorite running back..EVER..

Then there is Dez Bryant. I have no idea if the guy is as good as advertised? I am not sure if he can do enough to deserve the hyperbole but I he has built a reputation without playing a game. If he is anywhere as good as some suspect he could be the difference maker that the Cowboys got with Tony Dorsett in 1977. If not he will be totally trashed by "I told you so'ers" and the main stream media who never let the Cowboys forget that in Wade's second year they picked the Cowboys to go to the Super Bowl. I just know one thing and that is Dez is the most hyped draft pick in the Cowboys history..Of course all is IMHO..