Rich on the Road

The NFL has officially become the No Fun League!  New England Patriots reciever (and Texas Tech great) We Welker scores a touchdown in the snow, falls to the turf, creates a near-perfect Snow Angel -- and gets a penalty for unsportsman-like conduct!

Come on! 

Didn't matter much.  The Patriots were so far ahead of the Cardinals at the time.  But, rules are rules I guess. 

Merry Christmas!

Rich

Fox 4 photographer Raul Cantu wore a pained expression most of Monday, along with a truly gawdy and ugly Pittsburgh Steeler shirt -- little Steeler emblems plastered all over it. Raul's choice of outer wear was a payoff for a lost newsroom wager on Sunday's Steelers/Cowboys football game. The winner of said wager, Pennsylvania native and Steeler fanatic John Thompson, avoided having to wear a Jessic Simpson pink #9 Tony Romo jersey (a size too small on the stocky Asst. Chief photographer) when Pittsburgh came back in the 4th quarter to beat our beloved Cowboys.

My buddy Keith was sandbagging last Friday night at Careciple -- our monthly Bible study and fellowship get-together with church friends.  I asked him how deer hunting was going -- and he poor-mouthed it.  To hear him tell the tale he didn't have much of a chance of putting any venison in the freezer this year.  Oh, he told me dejectedly, he'd seen some deer but not ones he'd want to shoot.  He was planning to go back and hunt a few more days, beginning at a friend's place and then he'd hunt his own property south of San Angelo for a couple more.  He was almost sure, he told me, that this year just wasn't going to be very productive.  Long sigh.

Of course, a couple days later I get this picture from him.

Now my buddy's biggest problem will be talking his lovely bride Lois into letting him get another mount for the house.  I think she's about to draw the line - if she hasn't already.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Rich 

A remarkable story appears on DMN's Sports Blog this afternoon from Tim MacMahon:

T-O spent some of his off time traveling to New York to do the Letterman show -- reading a Top Ten -- pretty fun stuff.

Unlike the Cowboys season which has turned terribly un-fun.

For those who missed it.

Rich

New boots, black hat and with the prettiest Texas girl on the planet on my arm, I went to the rodeo Friday night - Tom Thumb Texas Stampede at the AAC in Dallas.  Truth be told, we're "all hat and no cattle."  But, we took friends Wayne and Susan with us and they're not.  They own a working cattle ranch about two hours south of Dallas and Wayne is the real deal - at least when he's not running their roofing business.

Fox 4 sponsors Texas Stampede so tickets were available and I'm glad I snapped them up.  One of the best rodeos I've been to.  Top cowboys, many of them are headed to NFR (the World Series of Rodeo) next month in Las Vegas and a few of them needing just a little prize money to ensure they make the top 15 in their event so they can go to NFR, too.

Texas Stampede continues tonight and Sunday night.  Each night has a concert after the rodeo.  Tickets remain.  Do yourself a favor.  We had a blast.

Rich

I always have a great time shooting my Lone Star Adventure -- but the one that airs tonight is one of my favorites.  A couple of weeks ago photographer John Thompson and I traveled west to a ranch near Dublin, Texas -- home of DeerChannel.Com.  Owner Tom Brooks and his crew have put together quite an operation.  One that gives viewers on the internet a deer's eye view of the world.  They've figured out how to put a live camera on the antlers of a big buck.  And, the footage that results is incredible!

I'm going to make this a short post.  You really need to see the video.    Tonight (Sunday) in the 9pm news.  And, here on the internet www.myfoxdfw.com. 

Rich

Early summer four years ago, I set out to do a Lone Star Adventure at a training center in Plano -- and stumbled into meeting what would turn out to be the next two Olympic all-around gold medal winners in women's gymnastics.  What a treat it has been to watch first Carly Patterson and, then last night Nastia Liukin, dazzle the world and win the gold for Texas and the USA.

In 2004, both Carly and Nastia trained at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) in Plano.  Nastia's father and mother (Olympic athletes themselves) co-owned and coached.  Of course, Carly was the focus of the piece and, on Fox 4 the following Sunday night, I predicted (correctly) that she was about to become America's next Mary Lou Retton.  She did.

Nastia made it into the feature as an up and comer with gold medal potential.  In fact, her father told me, she probably would have made the team in 2004 but she was a few months too young and thus wasn't given the chance.

Catherine and I both thought Nastia's gold medal performance was even more compelling than Carly's was in Athens.  So elegant.  So confident.  Nailing every dismount. 

I'm not much for gymnastics.  It's not a sport I would watch outside the Olympics.  And, honestly, I made an exception again last night because I happened to have met a key performer who seemed like a hard-working and level-headed kid.  A pleasant young Texan who we rooted loudly for.

She made us proud.

Rich 

It's all about timing.  Catherine and I have not been to a Rangers game in four or five years.  Lord, did we pick the right one to attend tonite.  I'll post this in the sport section so, certainly, most of you know the incredible story of Josh Hamilton.  Once in a generation athlete, derailed by drug addiction, returns to become The Natural -- more importantly to publicly profess his Christian faith and to use the story of his recovery to encourage others with theirs.

Catherine and I, along with wonderful friends Ron and Rachel, witnessed what had to be the most thrilling victory thus far in what is turning out to be a really interesting Rangers season.  Walk off homerun in the bottom of the 9th by the kid we've been rooting (and praying) for.

If you missed it, Major League Baseball has the replay at:

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2008_0
7_09_anamlb_texmlb_1

God Bless Josh Hamilton.  Whether or not he continues to be the best player in baseball.

Rich

Two and a half games into Jason Kidd Era II, I think we can make some conclusions about how this is going to work.  This is a very different team with Kidd at the controls, a team that gets a lot more easy baskets, a much better offensive team.  He runs and looks to make the pass, and it appears to be contagious.  I've seen more breakaway layups in the last ten quarters than I remember in the previous ten games.  Dirk Nowitzki is playing with more passion than we've seen since the playoff run two years ago.  Josh Howard and Jason Terry are getting open looks and cheap baskets at a rate that ought to make all three of those guys drool to think about the possibilities.

Jason Kidd is also a force defensively.  He's not nearly as quick as Devon Harris but he's so much stronger.  When he gets his hands on the ball it's his.  That's the thing that has most surprised me about Kidd -- how strong he is.

Tantalizing.  This team is sucking me in.  No doubt, to break my heart in the playoffs.  But, for now at least, I'm beginning to believe again.

Rich

This baseball/steroids scandal is starting to get personal for me.  I have a Roger Clemens rookie card that lists at $200 and with every new revelation my card stock is going south.

I've gone through this before with my Mark McGwire rookie card.  Same deal -- the guy went from sure fire Hall of Famer to No Way In Hecker.

Don't even get me started on my Barry Bonds rookie cards!  Suddenly I have cornered the market on baseball stars who would have made the Hall of Fame if it were not for the performance enhancing drug suspiscions.

Seriously, the more we learn -- the more this thing stinks to high heaven.  The question really has changed.  It's no longer - Who was?  It's become - Who wasn't?

Rich

P.S.  I've lately been buying a few old Football cards, so expect a scandal to break out in that sport any minute.

Sitting here with one eye on my computer and work and the other on the Packer's playoff game in snow-blown Green Bay.  One of my earliest memories is watching championship football on a snow covered field -- 1960 QB Norm Van Brocklin and the Eagles against Coach Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers.  I was just ten at the time, so the memory is a little fuzzy and I loved finding this recap on Wikipedia:

The 1960 National Football League championship game was the 28th NFL title game. The game was played on December 26, 1960 Franklin Field in Philadelphia. The game matched the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Eagles (10-2), who were making their first appearance in a championship game since 1949, against the Western Conference champion Green Bay Packers (8-4) who were making their first appearance since 1944. The game kicked off at 12 p.m. EST due to the lack of lights at Franklin Field and was played on a Monday, as the NFL did not want to play on Christmas.

The Eagles won despite being outgained 401-296, with only 13 first downs to the Packers' 22. Chuck Bednarik tackled Jim Taylor on the final play of the game at the Eagles' eight yard line (the last Eagle between Taylor and the end zone), and remained atop Taylor for several seconds as the final seconds ticked off the clock, ensuring the Packers could not run another play.

It would prove to be Packers' coach Vince Lombardi's sole career playoff loss as a coach, and is the Eagles most recent championship. 

The NFL game has changed -- and mostly for the better -- but I think one element it has lost with all the domes and warm-weather Super Bowl venues is the weather factor in really big games.  Think of the Ice Bowl (even though the Cowboys lost) and other late season games in years past and how etched in our minds they are.  There are lots of arguments for playing it safe and dry and warm -- but there is also reason to savor this frosty delight in Green Bay today.  I hope it's a classic and not the last of its kind.

Rich

A Super Bowl run (and we hope it's a long one) always makes Cowboys fans (and media types) a little crazy.  By now, surely, you've heard about Tony Romo's off-weak jaunt down to Mexico with his pals the Jason Whittens and his starlet girlfriend Jessica Simpson.  The papparazi photographs of them lounging on the veranda are all over the internet, including one where Jessica appears to be checking out Tony's undimpled cheek.

So, today my standing as a serious journalist takes another blow -- I'm assigned to do a story on perceived worries about Cowboys "distractions" and "loss of focus."  Being the loyal foot soldier that I am here at Fox 4 (and hoping to stay gainfully employed for a few more years) I cheerfully accepted the assignment.  And, actually had some fun with it. 

Hope you can catch it at 5:30 and again at 9.  Bottom line is this:  If you think the local media is going nuts with this Tony/Jess thing -- you should see what the New York newspapers are doing. 

One paper calls Simpson Romo's "kryptonite girlfriend" and another (New York Post) has a blaring headline that bemoan's her agent's statement that she won't be in the stadium on Sunday for the Giants game.

January 9, 2008 -- Boo-hoo, Big Blue.

Jessica Simpson won't be there.

The beautiful bad-luck charm and gal pal of Dallas quarterback Tony Romo will not attend Sunday's Giants-Cowboys playoff clash, her rep said.

This is a huge blow to superstitious Giants fans who wanted Simpson there to jinx her golden boy.

"She is not attending. She's working on a new album," said Cindy Berger, publicist for the dishy distraction. "She will not be there, but she'll be watching [on TV] and cheering [Romo] on."

Romo played his worst game this season when Simpson was in the stands for a loss to the Eagles.

"Ouch," said Giants fan Zach Curran, 26, of Jersey City at the ESPN Zone yesterday, upon hearing that Simpson would be a no-show.

"The Giants needed her like a 12th man or a secret weapon."

Oh, my.  Ain't we got fun now.  I've long said that sports is a soap opera for guys -- and the Cowboys always have the soapiest stuff going on.

Rich

I happened to catch this live Saturday afternoon during the Trinity/Judson state final.  The Judson coach was interviewed on the sideline at halftime and it was a tad scary.  The young lady doing the sideline interview admitted that he'd frightened her.  She asked him the most milktoast question and the guy ... well, you have to see it for yourself.  He's not angry at the question.  Just very, very INTENSE in his answer.

I'm guessing he'd had a lot of coffee.

Rich