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We have room to talk when It comes to Lumberton!!! And you better bet I will be talking this season!!

Vidor, you have no room to talk either. I'm just saying within 2 years we will win district.

Yeah and Deweyville has alot of room to talk. What has Deweyville done lately (from what I seen they do not even have a field to play on) Its okay I understand all of you nay sayers, just wait till the end of the season, there will be plenty of room on the Raider bandwagon. I graduated from Lumberton and we stunk up the place but I always keep faith in MY team. One of these days things will get going in the right direction.

Maybe some of there Pop Warner teams can play on Friday for them (same result). I know that hurt just tried of all the unrealistic talk. Lumberton would have a hard time playing against some 2A schools.

Hey Jacksonville Ind. I am just stating my honest opinion. I would love to have all of our local teams go to state every year. Then we can all go to TexasPrepXtra.com and talk trash with the rest of the state.

I think a few factors come into play when you talk about NED and Ozen. Obviously, when they initially played, Ozen was fielding their first football team and didn't have the benefit of any seniors on their squad. NED definitely had an advantage over Ozen early on in the series by having an established program, but Ozen soon caught up. I think it's fair to say that Ozen has recently looked very strong against NED. They lost to NED in 01, but that was the year that NED made it to the semis -- easily one of the better Bulldog teams in history. In 02, 04, and 05, though, they've had stronger teams than NED. I don't know the reason why Ozen has won 3 of the last 5 games played, but they have. It may be something as simple as NED being outplayed/outcoached, or it may be something else, like a mental edge that Ozen has over NED. Whatever the case, the fact that NED has recently struggled against Ozen weighs into my belief that they will have a difficult time against a very good Ozen team this year, as well.

Talk about a huge statement if Mid County comes home winners!

Here is a very early rare picture of Coach Dan Hooks in his early years giveing a pep talk to WO-S secondary. We think this is were he invented the intercept the ball and put it in a basket play CLick photo to enlarge

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Thursday, August 10th...last day of camp for us...and our ISDN line is up and ready to go! 11:00am-Sad moment in camp, my son Craig's best friend, Nic Gregory is on his way to Burbank Airport for his return to Tyler. I can't speak for Nic, but I have a feeling this has been a wonderful experience for him. We put him to work, and he responded when needed. Nic did have one criticism of my daily prep-work...telling me, "Mr. Smoak, you sure do spend a lot of time monitoring the UT websites, and not enough time on those Aggie websites (Nic's an A&M fan)." 11:30am-Bill Parcells press conference 12:15pm-Jerry Jones held an impromptu press conference today, discussed most of the same issues we've heard throughout camp...talked about his excitement over Tony Romo...and when asked if he knew T.O. enough to know for sure he's telling the truth about his hamstring...Jerry responded, by saying he's confident in everything T.O. is telling the team...and has no reservations about the injury. 2:00pm-Practice 2:07pm-Sports Talk...scheduled guests (depending on ISDN line): *Cowboys owner and general manager, Jerry Jones *Cowboys QB Drew Bledsoe *Cowboys kicker Mike Vanderjagt *Cowboys RB Keylon Kincade We'll also interview Tyler Lee wide receiver Jacob Amie on his decision to play college football in the Big XII, Texas A&M athletic director Bill Byrne...plus open-line discussion on the Big XII, high school football, and the Rangers hammer the A's...but is it too little, too late?

Friday, July 28th, Oxnard-California 6:26am-Never fails, everyone I know, knows I'm in California, but they always forget about the 2-hour difference in time...argh! 6:45am-My head is still on central time, plus I can't get back to sleep...time to get to camp and hug Coach Parcells. 9:05am-After an incredible breakfast at the Ventura Beach Marriott (ham and egg omelet with pepper jack cheese), Jamie and I arrive at the Hayes RV Luxury Suite...otherwise known as the place where everyone in camp wishes they could be. 9:15am-Cowboys staff member asks when we'll start cooking the food...now I know why everyone was excited to see us. 9:30am-Jamie Lent, Mike Laroux, and I check in for credentials. Cowboys PR stud Brett Daniels tells me that T.O. might be the only one "off-limits" for interviews this summer. 10:15am-Jamie Lent discover "ants" infiltrating our kitchen sink in the RV...apparently tasting Mike Laroux's loaf of bread. 11:00am-Bill Parcells Press Conference about to begin, I can't control myself!!! Did I hear Jerry Jones say he "hopes" the Cowboys make the post-season? You sign T.O., Vanderjagt, extend Parcells contract, and you "hope" to make the playoffs? The ultimate Cowboys optimist has been muzzled? 17 of the 44 questions during today's press conference were about Terrell Owens...none of them were something we haven't already heard before... 2:07pm-Sports Talk begins... Jennifer Floyd-Engel tells me she wants to be in California, but won't be here until August 5th...we'll miss her. ESPN's John Clayton says covering Cowboys Training Camp is always a circus... Most open-line callers appear happy with the Rangers trading for Carlos Lee...most defend Jerry Jones for "toning down his Cowboys predictions." 5:00pm-Sports Talk ends...seemed like another good show. We start having player interviews on Monday. 5:15pm-First T.O. sighting around our RV and Smoker...talking with a couple of teammates... Smoaky's Camp Goal---get T.O. to the smoker, and eventually an interview inside the Hayes RV Luxury Suite. 5:45pm-Dinner time...time for some Buffalo Wings, and beating Jamie Lent and my son Craig in Putt-Putt. 8:05pm-Jamie had steak quesadillas, Craig ordered a healthy chicken salad, and I gobbled down a cajun chicken sandwich. We ate at Cronie's Bar & Grill...always good food, nice atmosphere, but terrible service and it was hot as heck. Sunday, July 30th...Cowboys lose a tight end, one practice today... 10:00am-I'm in a rut for breakfast, third straight day of ham and cheese omelet, although I added some veggies (mushrooms, green peppers, and onions) today. Tomorrow--no doubt, I'm ordering waffles with lots of syrup and butter. 11:30am-Bill Parcells Press Conference Notes *Tight end Brett Pierce has been lost for the season after reinjuring his ACL. *Defensive end Marcus Spears is having surgery today on his torn meniscus, should be back within 2-3 weeks. *Offensive tackle Flozell Adams will practice today, apparently ran 86 50-yard dashes on Saturday, although I would think "dashes" might be exaggerated. *Parcells said his short conversation with defensive end Greg Ellis was nothing more than talking technique, and Parcells says he and Ellis have a very good relationship and the ability to separate the business side of the game from the on-field side of the game. *Parcells singled out cornerback Terrance Newman as perhaps the most dedicated and player with the most commitment of anyone on the team for his off-season workout regimen. Parcells also added offensive tackle Rob Pettiti probably improved the most of any one player during the off-season...but said the second-year pro must take that improvement from the weight room onto the field. *Parcells said he's asked Newman to take any punt return duties "more seriously", and that he will be used as a spot return man at times...although the Cowboys are hoping Skylar Green gets most of those returns. *Parcells called tight end Jason Whitten "The Big Easy", in reference to Whitten riding the big wave (contract extension)...and says Whitten has a high ceiling, but not quite ready to include him in the same breath as Ben Coates and Mark Bavaro. *When asked which side of the ball is easier to rebuild through the draft... I think the defense for me personally, because there's wider array of people that I can look at and say this guy fits here specifically, and the key position on offense is at quarterback, and there are just very few of those options available to you on a yearly basis. And some of the one's that appear to be the cream of the crop for that year, have of those aren't any good at the end of the day." 1:03pm-Jamie Lent and I are on our way to Walmart to shop for football cards. 2:00pm-Fairly uneventful practice, intermixed with some special teams work for the first time. Linebacker Kevin Burnett and offensive tackle Marc Colombo were involved in a little cat-fight during the team scrimmage portion of practice. Burnett tried to land a punch, but the 6-8, 320-pound Colombo didn't seem fazed. I originally thought Greg Ellis was involved, but as usual he was a peace-keeper. Cowboys will have an intra-squad scrimmage next Saturday, and of course that's when coaches can see even more on tape, with younger players and bubble players under fire. 7:00pm-Jamie Lent, Craig Smoak, and I went to Andria's for some great seafood, but the line out the front door scared us off. The line suggests great food that's worth waiting for, but we didn't have time to wait.

The Bay City LB hadn't guessed the snap count to perfection and stuffed J. Ramoin on the last play of the game from inside the 1 yd. Line... Nederland would've likely had a State Championship to go along with it's current run. Instead we get to hear the rest of the area talk about how we haven't won an outright district championship.

Wednesday, August 9th, two practices, technical gremlins invade sports talk... *Please post any question you'd like asked to Bill Parcells during today's press conference. 9:00am-Practice *Offense did very well during today's short-yardage drill, even drew praise from a grumpy-and-vocal Bill Parcells. *DB's completely dominated the running back's during a pass protection drill, all running back's struggled, prompting some sarcastic comments from free safety Keith Davis. *NFL Films is at practice this morning...they have their own riser, some sound equipment that would make anyone jealous. *Cowboys signed tight end Eric Jensen, who was on the Super Bowl Champion Steelers practice squad in 2005. 11:15am-I taped a one-on-one interview with Cowboys quarterback Drew Bledsoe that will air on Thursday's show. I thought Bledsoe was great, hope you'll enjoy the interview. 11:30am-Bill Parcells press conference *Not much said today, still hasn't made decision on whether Romo starts against Seattle...but once again reiterated Romo would get a bunch of snaps. *Discussed how valuable it is to have two solid running backs with similar, yet different strengths (Julius Jones and Marion Barber), and also mentioned he wants to get Tyson Thompson several snaps with the number-one offensive line. Not sure if that's good news for Troup's Keylon Kincade who has enjoyed a solid camp. 1:57pm-Our ISDN line, which makes our audio crystal-clear no matter where we are has gone down...not sure what's up, and our engineer, Mike Laroux is working on it. This is tough to deal with since we're only 5-10 minutes away from air-time. 2:05pm-On-Site producer Jamie Lent informs Randy Thomas, producing back in Tyler, that we'll use the old-fashioned "Telfax Machine"...which will limit what audio (interviews) we'll be able to send back to Tyler. This is very disappointing since we have Keylon Kincade scheduled, along with Mike Vanderjagt. Let's just see what happens. 4:00pm-Just finished a hectic show (techinical issues), but we did get it on the air...production director Garth Maier called during the show and said everything sounded "fine in East Texas", probably sounded like we were on a regular phone line and not ISDN, which we were. I credit Mike Laroux, Randy Thomas, and Jamie Lent for somehow getting us on the air in the first palce. 5:00pm-Practice *Looks like the team is working on some plays for their pre-season opener against Seattle...not a gameplan or anything, but some semblance of plays. *Terrell Owens is doing more-and-more conditioning work with strength and conditioning coach Joe Jurazcek... *Jerry Jones was back at practice after spending the past few days in Canton, Ohio (Hall of Fame), and New York (naming Roger Goodell NFL commissioner). 7:45pm-Several minutes after the regular practice ended, Terrell Owens spends time with rookie receiver Sam Hurd (this is a daily deal), and quarterback Matt Baker. Owens appears to be running routes with ease... After catching several passes and running various routes, T.O. speaks to the media...admits he knows about the speculation in the media about his injury and how serious it is...says he won't let that pressure force him back on the field too early. He took several questions, answered all of them, and from everything I heard...there was nothing for anyone to read between the lines...at least in my opinion. 8:30pm-Jamie Lent, Nic Gregory, Craig Smoak, and I are headed for our annual "KTBB Putt-Putt Training Camp Championship". Jamie Lent has won this title once before, and "I think" I'm the defending champion. I actually hate putt-putt, and you'll find out why in a moment. 9:15pm-Craig Smoak dominates early-and-often and hammers the field by 6-strokes to win his first-ever and coveted "KTBB Putt-Putt Training Camp Championship". C-Smoak fires a 51, easily blowing away the runner-up Lent (57), I'm humiliated with a 60, and Gregory, showing his nerves with his first appearance in this event, ends up with a 63. This is a tough way for Nic to leave training camp...he departs for home tomorrow afternoon. I do think Nic's had an incredible and memorable trip...attending practice, the Parcells press conference's, hanging with the media horde, and having the chance to meet his favorite Cowboy player, Roy Williams. He was also in the Hayes RV Luxury Suite today when Drew Bledsoe dropped by... Jamie, Craig, Mike Laroux, and I have another day of training camp...then it's pack-it-up and head home on Friday. That's it for tonight, at least until I find a way to circumvent the putt-putt scores.

Talk about taking someone out!! :shock:

Hey Coop, I don't think it will happen now, but it almost happened several years ago when the SWC was breaking apart. There was an interesting article that I read not too long ago talking about it. There was also talk that A&M would go to the SEC and UT to the Pac-10, but as much as Aggies and Horns "hate" each other they wanted to stay in the same conference so that fell through too.

A Football Story The coach had put together the perfect team for the New Orleans Saints. The only thing missing was a good quarterback. He had scouted all the colleges and even the Canadian and European Leagues, but he couldn't find a ringer who could ensure a Super Bowl victory. Then one night, while watching CNN, he saw a war-zone scene in Afghanistan. In one corner of the background, he spotted a young Afghan Muslim soldier with a truly incredible arm. He threw a hand-grenade straight into a window from 80 yards away. Then he threw another from 50 yards down a chimney, and then hit a passing car going 80 miles per hour. I've got to get this guy!" coach said to himself. "He has the perfect arm!" So, he brings the young Afghan to the States and teaches him the great game of football ....... and sure enough the Saints go on to win the Super Bowl. The young Afghan is hailed as a hero of football, and when the Coach asks him what he wants, all the young man wants to do is call his mother. "Mom," he says into the phone, "I just won the Super Bowl!" "I don't want to talk to you," the old Muslim woman says. "You deserted us. You are not my son!" "Mother, I don't think you understand," pleads the son, "I've just won the greatest sporting event in the world!" "No! Let me tell you," his mother retorts. "at this very moment there are gunshots all around us. The neighborhood is a pile of rubble. Your two brothers were beaten within an inch of their lives last week, and I have to keep your sister in the house so she doesn't get assaulted!" The old lady pauses then tearfully says, "I will never forgive you for making us move to New Orleans"

I agree Cat22. What about those early 80 Hebert Panther teams? Talk about team speed I felt like I was not even running. They could FFFFFFFFFFFFFFLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Corpus Christi already covering title IX. San Antonio wants to bring back the SWC and lure UH, Rice, and SMU into the conference. I'm sure North Texas, and LA-tech and a few other SUN/USA teams will want in. This would be perfect for LU. But as far as I know, it's just talk. Conference USA will die. Memphis is leaving in 2010. UAB has finance problems as well as Tulane. Central Florida wants out. Sunbelt Western Kentucky is looking at MVC. UNO is having finance trouble. Big changes are coming.

Tuesday, August 8th...one practice, and more to come...Parcells spars with the media... 11:30am-Bill Parcells Press Conference We saw several sides of Bill Parcells today during his daily press conference. Grumpy, stern, condescending, philosophical, and then loveable. Parcells knew it was obvious the media (me included) wanted to know more about T.O.'s plans on bringing in his own trainers, etc... After short-crisp answers, Parcells finally relented, "I'm just trying to get the best players on this team that I can, and as I told you the other day, I'm trying to integrate the player (T.O.) into the system, and right now we can't really proceed the way we'd like to proceed, but when we can then I will try and do it that way. In the meantime, I'm getting a sense that most of the media is just waiting for something to be controversial in that regard. And I'm here to tell you, it's not going to happen from me, so you need to get that in your head, okay? So don't use those words that have ambigous meanings, like "clouded", which is that kind of word, and expect me to respond to it, because I won't." When asked if Drew Bledsoe would start or play this weekend against Seattle, Parcells said "I don't know", but said he's sat his starting quarterback in a pre-season opener before. When asked if Tony Romo would start, Parcells said he didn't know that either, but "that's a possibility." And Parcells also specifically said, "you guys (media) don't need to make a big deal out of this...this isn't today's big story." Well, I checked various websites, and "Romo May Start" was everywhere...wow, we (media) sure know how to listen to the coach. 12:45pm-Interview with kicker Mike Vanderjagt went well...good guy, and we'll air the interview tomorrow during sports talk. When asked who has the worst stigma for being a little goofy, relief pitchers of placekickers, Vanderjegt said, "I don't know about relief pitchers, but I think we both get a bad rap on that deal." 2:00pm-Practice 2:05pm-Sports Talk, and today's guests include Jason Witten, Kilgore College head coach Jimmy Rieves, and both Mickey Spagnola and Jennifer Floyd-(troublemaker)-Engel. 5:07pm-Just interviewed former Troup running back Keylon Kincade for tomorrow's show. We wanted him live for today's show, but practice ran a little long, and he had to lift weights. 8:34pm-Craig Smoak, Nic Gregory, and I just returned from a good sports bar, "Cronies", with several television sets, flat-screen's and big screen's...we watched the Rangers build a 4-0 lead in thr 3rd-inning, only to hear upon our arrival at the Ventura Beach Marriott, the game was tied at 4-4 because Kevin Millwood couldn't hold the lead. 8:45pm-Craig Smoak hid our cooler, and both Nic Gregory and I are a little thirsty right now, but Craig is a little pre-occupied with shaving whatever that is off his face that's been growing since our arrival on July 27th. There goes my razor.

Spikes is back and from what I hear will be playin on offense and defense...wow, talk about a running back...Javorski Lane move over!

Sunday, August 6th...Day off at Cowboys Camp... Today is an off day for everyone at camp...we'll blog-back-on sometime later in the day, and start back up again for sure tomorrow morning. Two practices on Monday, 9am-11am and 5pm-7pm, Bill Parcells press conference at 11:30am (all these times are Pacific). Sports Talk will have Jennifer Floyd-Engel, T.R. Sullivan from mlb.com, and Cowboys wide receiver Terry Glenn, and running back Keylon Kincade (Troup)...plus Tyler Jr. College head coach Jamie Critchlow. Have a great day, we will.

Same reason WO-S/BC can't be a "rivalry for at least five more years. WO-S is undefeated in something like 16 games. No doubt the Nederland "game" being referred to is the controversial 2000 game in which Paul Thomas returned a dropped "lateral" for a TD to seal the win for WO-S. Although admittedly replays show that the ball was moving SLIGHTLY forward, NED coach Larry Neumann even admitted on Chalk Talk that it was a trick play and that refs were briefed before the game that it was coming and NOT to blow it dead. It was a fake incomplete that the Ned WR was supposed to pick up and run with. He even said "It's worked before, but it's also come back to bite us in a big way." Still, I can't blame ned folks for holding that play in their heads, even though the WO-S 2000 D, which I think to be our best ever, would never have allowed a score anyway I think our biggest rivalry, honestly, is with Bay City. To be a "rivalry," the record has to be SOMEWHAT close. I think we're 5-2 or 5-3 with them, and it's always a great game. The Jasper series is my favorite, but the odds are very heavily in our favor despite the fact that it's usually a barn-burner. With cross-town teams LC-M and BC, the record is so heavily weighed in our favor that it can't POSSIBLY be considered a rivalry, even though our hatred for LC-M, for their unscrupulous (according to the UIL) way of dealing with our DQ in 92, surpasses all others.

How Baseball Cards lost their luster Requiem for a Rookie Card (by Dave Jamieson | The Slate) [Hidden Content] Last month, when my parents sold the house I grew up in, my mom forced me to come home and clear out my childhood bedroom. I opened the closet and found a box the size of a Jetta. It was so heavy that at first I thought it held my Weider dumbbells from middle school. Nope, this was my old stash. Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Baseball Cards from the 1980s. Puckett, Henderson, Sandberg, Gwynn, and McGwire stared back at me with fresh faces. So long, old friends, I thought. It's time for me to cash in on these long-held investments. I started calling the lucky card dealers who would soon be bidding on my trove. First, I got a couple of disconnected numbers for now-defunct card shops. Not a good sign. Then I finally reached a human. "Those cards aren't worth anything," he told me, declining to look at them. "Maybe if you had, like, 20 McGwire rookie cards, that's something we might be interested in," another offered. "Have you tried eBay?" a third asked. If I had to guess, I'd say that I spent a couple thousand bucks and a couple thousand hours compiling my Baseball Card collection. Now, it appears to have a street value of approximately zero dollars. What happened? Baseball Cards peaked in popularity in the early 1990s. They've taken a long slide into irrelevance ever since, last year logging less than a quarter of the sales they did in 1991. Baseball card shops, once roughly 10,000 strong in the United States, have dwindled to about 1,700. A lot of dealers who didn't get out of the game took a beating. "They all put product in their basement and thought it was gonna turn into gold," Alan Rosen, the dealer with the self-bestowed moniker "Mr. Mint," told me. Rosen says one dealer he knows recently struggled to unload a cache of 7,000 Mike Mussina rookie cards. He asked for 25 cents apiece. For someone who grew up in the late 1980s, this is a shocking state of affairs. When I was a kid, you weren't normal if you didn't have at least a passing interest in Baseball Cards. My friends and I spent our summer days drooling over the display cases in local card shops, one of which was run by a guy named Fat Moose. The owners tolerated us until someone inevitably tried to steal a wax pack, which would get us all banished from the store. Then we'd bike over to the Rite Aid and rummage through their stock of Topps and Fleer. Card-trading was our pastime, and our issues of Beckett Baseball Card Monthly were our stock tickers. I considered myself a major player on the neighborhood trading circuit. It was hard work convincing a newbie collector that Steve Balboni would have a stronger career than Roger Clemens. If negotiations stalled, my favorite move was to sweeten the pot by throwing in a Phil Rizzuto card that only I knew had once sat in a pool of orange juice. After the deal went through, my buddy wouldn't know he'd been ripped off until his older brother told him. He always got over it, because he had no choice: Baseball Cards were our common language. In the early 1990s, pricier, more polished-looking cards hit the market. The industry started to cater almost exclusively to what Beckett's associate publisher described to me as "the hard-core collector," an "older male, 25 to 54, with discretionary income." That's marketing speak for the Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons. Manufacturers multiplied prices, overwhelmed the market with scores of different sets, and tantalized buyers with rare, autographed, gold-foil-slathered cards. Baseball Cards were no longer mementos of your favorite players—they were elaborate doubloons that happened to have ballplayers on them. I eventually left the hobby because it was getting too complicated and expensive. Plus, I hit puberty. It's easy to blame card companies and "the hard-core collector" for spoiling our fun. But I'll admit that even before the proliferation of pricey insert cards, I was buying plastic, UV-ray-protectant cases for my collection. Our parents, who lost a small fortune when their parents threw out all those Mantles and Koufaxes, made sure we didn't put our Griffeys and Ripkens in our bicycle spokes or try washing them in the bathtub. Not only did that ensure our overproduced cards would never become valuable, it turned us into little investors. It was only rational, then, for the card companies to start treating us like little investors. The next wave of expensive, hologram-studded cards didn't ruin collecting for us—we were already getting too old for the game. It ruined baseball cards for the next generation of kids, who shunned Upper Deck and bought cheap Pokémon and Magic cards instead. This year there are 40 different sets of Baseball Cards on the market, down from about 90 in 2004. That's about 38 too many. When there were just two or three major sets on the market, we all had the same small pool of cards. Their images and stats were imprinted on our brains. The Baseball Card industry lost its way because the manufacturers forgot that the communal aspect of collecting is what made it enjoyable. How can kids talk about Baseball Cards if they don't have any of the same ones? Seeing as the cards I once prized now fetch a pittance on eBay, I decided not to sell my collection. I figure my Boggs rookie is worth more as a keepsake of my card-shop days than as an online auction with a starting bid of 99 cents. The worthlessness of my collection gave me an idea, though. The card manufacturers and the Major League Baseball Players Association have launched a $7 million marketing campaign to remind a generation of children that Baseball Cards exist. Instead of spending all that money to tell kids that cardboard is cool, Topps and MLB should convince everyone that cards are worthless, suitable for tacking to the wall, flicking on the playground, or at least taking out of the package. In that spirit, the other day I opened three Topps packs that I'd stowed away as an investment in the late 1980s. I even tried the gum, which was no staler than I remember it being 20 years ago. And as I flipped through my new cards hoping to score a Mattingly, I felt that particular tinge of excitement that a generation of kids have missed out on.

Saturday, August 5th...Cowboys scrimmage and time to do the laundry... 9:05am-We're picking up another Tylerite today, Nic Gregory...who arrives around noon today in Burbank. I really enjoy watching a Cowboy fan get an up-close and personal view of what we do at training camp...I think Nic will have a great time. 11:15am-Who said covering Cowboys camp was fun and glamorous? I'm about to wash a week's worth of clothes between now and their scrimmage at 2:00pm. 11:45am-My buddy Tim Thompson reports "another Eagle (Nic Gregory) has landed at Burbank airport. 11:53am-I enjoy watching the various inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but I think they need to cut back some of the highlights and overviews, and get on with the ceremonies. 12:15pm-Wide receiver Terrell Owens will have an MRI on his sore hamstring, and will not be involved in today's scrimmage. Bill Parcells insists he's not worried about the lost time in practice, not yet. 12:24pm-Bill Parcells discussed his plans for today's scrimmage and what he'd like to see or needs to see. When asked if the coaches also go through the grind of training camp, Parcells responded, "No, not really...this is what we do. I'm a like a trained-pig, I go from the office to the locker room to the practice field to here, to the cafeteria, to my room, and then just keep doing that over-and-over-and-over again." Parcells also thinks "juggling" the final few spots on the 53-man roster will be more difficult this season than the previous three, because he has a little more depth at key positions than before. Interesting stat of the day, Parcells mentioned cornerback Terence Newman didn't allow a single touchdown pass last season. He said Newman was tremendous in man-to-man, but that stat might be a little deceiving considering the Cowboys use a lot of zone defense. Parcells also said he didn't have any specific plan on starting Tony Romo during any pre-season games, but he does plan on playing him "a lot". When asked if the offense making more plays on Friday afternoon would change his mind about giong straight 2-a-days next week, he said "we'll go through today's scrimmage, and we'll see where we are after that." Parcells specifically mentioned strength and conditioning coach Joe Jurazcek today, saying..."he's won my respect, he (Juraczek) doesn't tell the players what they always want to hear, and he takes it personally when a player isn't in good condition". Parcells added, "I probably talk with Joe more than any coach on staff...he knows each player and their behavorial patterns, and has a good sense of who has guts, and who doesn't." Parcells said rookie Skylar Green will have to make the team as a return man, and not as a wide receiver. He also mentioned he probably doesn't have much comfortability with his fourth-receiver, at least not yet. 3:40pm-Cowboys scrimmage has ended, I'll give you some personal insight first, and then more statistic-based information later. Cowboys first-team offense appeared to really struggle...meanwhile Tony Romo and Drew Henson led their offensive units to touchdown drives. Touchdowns were scored by: *Lousaka Polite, short run *Marion Barber, short run *J.R. Tolver short touchdown pass from Tony Romo *Skylar Green short touchdown pass from Drew Henson Other highlights... Rookie wide receiver Sam Hurd had a handful of catches, a couple of them were acrobatic. I'm sure we'll (media) all overreact to his performance since we (media) always do with a young wide receiver. Jamie Lent, Tim Thompson, Nic Gregory, Craig Smoak, and I (along with basically dozens of other media members) sit along the chain-link fence that separates the fans from the field. I'm truly amazed at how vocal and demanding the fans were today, especially in their frustration with Drew Bledsoe. I'm also always impressed with how a great deal of the fan-base in attendance know their football...they made some nice comments throughout the scrimmage, including a couple of points I wasn't thinking about. We sat near FWST's Mac Engel, the husband of "our" very-own Jennifer Floyd-Engel, and we were trying to figure out a nickname for the Cowboys first-team offense. Snap and Pray or Chuck and Duck were one of the favorites after Bledsoe was sacked five times early during the scrimmage. One somewhat interesting stat, there were zero turnovers throughout the 90-play scrimmage...although Drew Henson should've been picked at least once. Also, the hits of the day were Terence Newman blindsiding Terrance Copper, and safety Keith Davis blowing up running back Marion Barber, even though Barber was pulling up and was out of bounds. 4:00pm-Terrell Owens on hamstring, "It's sore, to the point that I feel that if I get on the field right now and I try and open up then it's going to make matters worse, so I think for me I've got to be really cautious, knowing myself I really want to try and push myself when I get back out there, but it's not going to do the team any good, it's not going to do myself any good if I get out there, and I know everybody wants to see me out there and practicing, but it's not going to do me any good to get out there and push it and then really go beyond the limit." 4:11pm-We're awaiting the arrival of pro bowl tight end Jason Witten, who will be joining us inside the Hayes RV Luxury Suite for an interview. Next week on Sports Talk, we already know we'll have Witten, wide receiver Terry Glenn, quarterback Drew Bledsoe, running back Keylon Kincade (Troup), defensive tackle Jason Ferguson, and owner and general manager Jerry Jones. 4:15pm-I just realized, Monday is the start of practice for hundreds of high school football teams throughout Texas...those programs who had spring drills will have to wait another week (August 14th). 4:25pm-Tim Thompson, who hasn't done anything all day, is supposed to be checking on a couple of fine restaurants, although he told me his lone focus of concentration today has been wondering about how his best friend Scott Salvage is doing without his annual trip to training camp. ***Please let me know if you have a question for Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells for Monday's press conference. Sunday is an off-day...talk to you later. We're headed to Malibu and the most beautiful view you can imagine off Highway 1 and the Pacific Coast...beach, big waves, and just an incredible view.

Coaches enjoy ribbing at Pigskin Preview By Doyle Barlow Baytown Sun Published August 5, 2006 BAYTOWN — These guys sure put the “barb†in barbecue. Even though the coaching staffs from Sterling, Lee and Barbers Hill were at Cedar Bayou Methodist Church Friday night for the annual Pigskin Preview, they still managed to mix in some good-natured ribbing with all the football talk. Barbers Hill assistant coach Jamey Horn fired the first shot, as he explained why defensive coordinator Jackie Byrd was absent. “Most people don’t know this, but Jackie has a lucrative modeling career that takes him to New York and Los Angeles. And this is an example of some of his work,†Horn said, holding up a T-shirt with the picture of a face resembling a wrinkled prune who smoked in a tanning bed on it. Horn added the six defensive coaches at Barbers Hill had 165 combined years of experience, so that the T-shirt was actually adopted as the mascot for the entire staff. REL head coach Dick Olin also got in a couple of jabs. The first was at emcee Mike Finley, who introduced him. “Mike Finley says he’s known this guy for a few years but he can’t remember his first name,†said Olin, pointing at Barbers Hill offensive coordinator Bryan Price. “But he can remember our record (1-7) from a year ago.†Olin also ribbed assistant coach David Hackney. “We had our first meeting with Tom Ed (Gooden, Goose Creek, A.D.) today and he was talking about how you never really have anything to show for the meal money you spend,†Olin said. “Hack, stand up. You’re living proof of something to show for meal money.†Sterling offensive coordinator Craig Simmons had some fun talking about the youth of some of the Rangers’ assistants. “I told them I was 50 and one of them said that’s how old is dad is,†Simmons said. “Oh well, I know I look a lot better than Olin.†In between the barbs, the coaches also managed to talk some football. Barbers Hill offensive coordinator Bryan Price, who was subbing for head coach Don Price, was candid about the Eagles jump to Class 4A. “We’ve had a great deal of success in 3A and we recognize this will be a challenge,†Price said. “But we have 33 seniors — the most we’ve ever had — and we return to starters on defense and four on offense. “Our keys will be getting Blake (Patton) comfortable at quarterback and rebuilding our offensive line, but we’ve got some good prospects there.†Olin praised the addition of a fourth playoff team from each district. “It’s always good when you get more teams involved,†Olin said. “That means that each week there’s always something you’re playing for.†Sterling head coach Herb Minyard was candid as he talked about relinquishing the defensive coordinator duties and hiring Chad Haynes from Bacone College in Muskogee, Okla. to take over the defense. “I’ve always called defenses so I thought I was the best defensive coordinator there was,†Minyard said. “But when I interviewed Chad I asked him to show me the defenses we were going to run at Sterling High School. About 24 hours later we got through and he left for Oklahoma. I called him and offered him the job and he accepted somewhere north of Dallas.†Sterling outside linebacker coach Tim Lumpkin also had praise for Haynes. “He’s brought a lot of enthusiasm and energy and we’re excited,†Lumpkin said as he smiled and glanced toward Minyard. “Not that coach Minyard was a bad defensive coordinator…â€