There and Back Again; A Cowboy Fan’s Tale

For the blog, and not for any personal enjoyment, I braved the heat, the crowds, and the extremely long walk from the car to go plod through the first preseason game in Cowboys Stadium to see what all the fuss was about. It was a boring, lame...ok ok, I can’t keep this up.

LAST NIGHT I WENT TO COWBOYS STADIUM, AND IT WAS AMAZING!!!

Ok, so that may have been a slight overreaction, and I did partially do it for the blog, but yes, my beloved readers, last night my friend Danny and I went to Camelo...er… JerryWorl…um…The Mothershi…wait…the Death Star? Seriously though, last night I went to Cowboys Stadium to watch the game, and what an experience it was. Now I know I’ve already gone all wild and crazy about the stadium in a previous entry, but that was a soccer game, and I watched it from a box, and unless you have Jerry Jone money, you won’t be sitting there, you’ll be in the places I visited around the stadium last night, and so I am here to tell you all about it. This is more an alert blog than anything, and it doesn’t have much substance. It’s just a hook, because if I wrote everything in one entry, you’d get bored and it would be too long, so I’ve decided to break it up over the next 3 days to tell you all about everything I saw, heard, and experienced, and to pass on a little inside information for that glorious day when you’ll get to take the epic journey to that glorious stadium. So without further ado, the incredibly lamely titled schedule for the next few days of “There and Back Again, A Cowboy Fan’s Tale by Blake Montie.”

Sunday, August 23^rd: “The Fellowship of the Drive” The best ways to get out there, what to avoid, and how early should you leave?

Monday, August 24^th: “The Two Arches” Walking into the stadium, walking around the different areas, the no go areas, what you should check out, and how the different seats were (I tried to get as good a feel as possible to let you readers know where the best places to watch from were.

Tuesday, August 25^th: "The Return of the Team" They’re back in big D, and the final entry will be about when I finally got settled in my seat, and the experience of simply watching the Cowboys perform.

Titans vs. Cowboys... or should I say Titans vs. the Pantheon?!?!

Last nights preseason game proved several things, but I'll give you my top ten, David Letterman style:

10.The Cowboys can win in the new stadium

9. Roy E. Williams and Tony Romo are a reliable combination, even if not for too many yards- but I like that they are trying to get the ball to Williams, and if they can get him 3-5 receptions a game in the regular season, that will open things up for the rest of the receiver corps

8. Felix Jones is human, when it comes to running the ball. But when he catches passes, he should break one for over forty yards every other time

7. Keon Lattimore and Kevin Ogletree were the third- and second-stringers to impress- Ogletree might have made the team with that spectacular catch,
showing something where the other fifth wide receiver candidates have shown nothing. Lattimore has made a good case for the team to keep four running backs on the roster.

6. Steven McGee is a better NFL Quarterback than Vince Young, and will have a better career. Some people can recover from nervous breakdowns, but couple that with the death of his Mentor, Steve McNair, I just don't think he will have enough to challenge for a starting job for another few years. He's the Akili Smith of the NFL- one ridiculous season in college and then out of the league in six years. And that hurts. We'll always have the Rosebowl, Vince. Here's looking at you, kid.

5. Jon Kitna is a good player and could easily start a few games if Tony goes down with an injury.

4. Marty B! MARTY B!!!!!!!!!!!!

3. The defense looked pretty good- they shut down the Titans running game, the corners looked good- a nice performance by the first and second teamers, though admittedly they weren't exactly being tested.

2. Nick Folk missed a forty-nine yard field goal? Go get my gun, ma, we might need to put old yeller down

1. It is the preseason- and who know what it means at all.

According to Sensebaugh's twitter feed, Wade Phillips gave the Cowboys the weekend off because of their good performance. But we don't take the weekend off. So we'll be hitting you up tomorrow with some more knowledge between the numbers.

Buehler? Buehler? Buehler?

The Cowboys were last in touchbacks last year, with zero. Starting field position is a highly under rated key to victory, and there’s no easier way to ensure your opponent has a long field to go than a touchback. A touchback, for my less football minded readers, is when the kick-off goes through the back of the end zone, or, in some cases, so deep in the end zone the opposing team decides its not worth risking a return and they just down it in the end zone by taking a knee. This means that the offense is starting at their 20-yard line. This also means you don’t have to worry at all about your opponents snapping off some huge run back killing your teams momentum. The Cowboys saw this problem, and drafted accordingly. Enter David Buehler, the kicker from USC with one of the trickiest last names to spell (I struggle with it every time, you’ll notice I never type it again after this point), and one of the strongest legs in football. He was drafted purely for touchbacks, but there is so much more to this kicker, so this installment has been dedicated entirely to him, to alert you of a very cool, very under rated player the Cowboys acquired this off-season. Now you might be saying, why write about a kicker? I could probably own him in a fight, right? WRONG! Check out the numbers this kid put up at the combine:

• He bench-pressed 225 pounds 25 times. For some perspective, that bettered 27 offensive linemen, including Michael Oher and Eugene Monroe.
• Then Buehler busted out a 4.6-ish 40-yard dash.

Feeling a little foolish about badmouthing this guy? I am too. Not only could he beat you into oblivion, you couldn’t even run away when you realized how foolish the fight you picked was. Though that’s not the half of it. Not only is he immensely strong, and extremely fast, and o, did I mention he claims to have kicked a 72-yard field goal in practice before? That is from the Cowboys own 38-yard line, which is unbelievable, and has been known to hit kick offs through the uprights before. Not only that though, the Cowboys are considering using him on the Punt team. That’s right, this kicker is going to be a left-winger on the punt team if he wins the job! Which is way too cool. Anyway, I thought he was a really cool story so I wanted to let you guys know. Watch for him during the preseason game tonight, GO COWBOYS!

2 parter, week in review, and this week preview

Good Monday everyone! Or for those who are reading this days late, umm…HI! So regardless of when you read this, it’s a Monday morning for me (a morning I was hoping to spend golfing, but a friend let me down) so instead of going back to sleep, which my body so sorely needs, I decided to spend my morning with you, my beloved readers (which is probably a mistake, I’m too tired to be doing any quality writing, but there is news to report! Please forgive the typos). I will do a 2-parter this morning, a week in review, which would be last week, and an upcoming week preview, which would be this week. Ok before I keep rambling, lets get to the facts.

Last week:

• Terrence Newman, cornerback, went down with an injury in practice, the fan began grumbling wondering if he really is as injury prone as we all hope he’s not.
• Mike Jenkins, cornerback, also went down with an injury, raising serious concerns about the secondary depth as both top corners went down.
• 1st preseason game: some flashes of brilliance, some not so much, and it reminded each and every last one of us why preseason games can be such a beating.
• Michael Vick moved to the Eagles, and I want to make a joke, but I am tired of all of the knocks on Vick, he paid 23 months in prison for dog fighting, and Donte Stallworth, who was driving drunk and killed someone, got 30 days in Jail, dogs are adorable and all, but that’s just ridiculous, welcome back Michael, play poorly so the Cowboys can win, but I’m glad you’re out of prison for the egregious sentence you had to serve.
• Felix Jones complained of stiffness in the toe he had surgery on, causing rioting in…ok maybe not, but fans are nervous, this guy is a huge part of this team, and we need him to stay healthy if this team is going to succeed, count on it.

This week:

• Roy Williams sprained his wrist and sat out for the afternoon practice on Sunday. X-Rays and MRI were negative, listed as day to day; Romo assures us he'll be fine.

UPDATE: Roy says he wants to return to practice this afternoon.
• Marty B may be a goofy guy, but he’s working his butt off, he’s currently working with D- Ware to get better at blocking to be a more solid tight end. Keep an eye out for this kid; a break out year might be on the way.
• Felix Jones told reporters his toe soreness is not a big deal, and that it’s just surgery hangover, I don’t think this is something for us to worry about, he’ll be game ready if he can, and that’s really good for the Boys.
• Mike Jenkins came back Saturday, and Terence Newman is said to be returning to practice today, so neither injury was very serious, fear not people, our corners are back.
• 2nd Preseason game is Friday night, the 21st, against the Titans, preview of that game upcoming. This is the first game in the new stadium, tune into Fox to at 7 to at least catch a small portion of the game and to see the stadium if you can,
• BREAKING NEWS! Brett Favre may be returning to the Vikings, thought you peeps might be interested.