Romo on ESPN

Tony Romo was on ESPN this afternoon. He says he doesn't feel the pressure the media writes about and "either you are good enough to do this or you are not."

Well, we all hope Romo is good enough to do it. Romo is seeking a new contract. He's up at the end of the season.

I loved the question of what are his chances of being the ball holder for field goals and extra points. Romo apparently loved it too, because he laughed.

"I think they went from 1 percent to zero," he said. "I think my time at holding has definitely passed and for good reason."

You gotta love a guy who can admit his mistakes, take responsibility for it and not let it destroy his psyche.

Len Pasquarelli was on after and he said negotiations have been real slow.

"I think things will heat up right at the end of the training camp," he said. "If you don't resign Tony Romo, who is your quarterback? There really are no other alternatives."

Terence Newman again

Dallas Cowboys Sports blog has a good post about an ESPN column and Terrance Newman here.

I am in a hurry so I can't go in depth about this, but I did leave him a comment. I refuse to sign up to ESPN's inside information section because of its stupid "WHO's NOW" segment. But, I do have a few things I could say about Terence Newman, but I'd be repeating myself.

Terence Newman has disappointed me. The entire Dallas secondary has been a weakness for years. Yes, they hit hard. Yes, they are intimidating. But how many big-play deep passes will that secondary give up this season.

I have to go. But I will debate this.

ESPN's "Who's Now" is P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C!!!

Is it just me who is completely annoyed with this ridiculous SportsCenter segment called "Who's Now" where they rate athletes against one another based on how many parties they go to, who they date, how good they are and what they win?

Call me stupid, but this crap is really bugging me. Here is an insert of the garbage:

Throughout July, "SportsCenter" will air "Who's Now," a daily series in which viewers will help ESPN determine the ultimate sports star by considering both on-field success and off-field buzz. Based on fan nominations, ESPN Research selected 32 finalists to square off in a single-elimination bracket. The winner of each matchup will advance based upon fan voting (70 percent) and ESPN's three-person panel (30 percent). In the first round, the panel consists of Michael Wilbon, Kirk Herbstreit and Keyshawn Johnson.

Vomit. This segment is PATHETIC! It should be called "Who the F--- Cares?" What I want to know is whose idea was this? I bet it was some idiot like Keyshawn who thought of the idea. Who else is dumb enough to come up with such a boring, meaningless idea?

Based on fan nominations? Who the hell is texting ESPN to nominate people for this? I am not sure why I feel like blaming this annoying segment on Keyshawn, but I do. He sits on the set wearing damn jeans as he talks about why he thinks David Beckham is so cool because he is married to a Spice Girl? Come the heck on. I know Keyshawn has something to do with the creation of this stupid crap.

I'm going to bed.

Does the two-back system work?

I read a fantasy report from ESPN's Neil Ravitz today that sort of led me to question whether the two-back system in Dallas works. You can read the piece here.

I personally thought that the Jones-Barber duo worked. There were times I was really annoyed at the short gains but I put most of the blame on the offensive line. Of course Ravitz takes a fantasy football spin to his synopsis and it doesn't work. Fantasy sports is a whole lot different than reality. In Fantasy NFL, Barber was a steal. Most people probably snagged him from the free agent wire in the first or second week. But, he was a role player, getting the ball often in red-zone situations. Parcells tried to use Jones as a finesse back and it didn't work all the time. I thought Jones heated up near the end of the season and he had a great game against the Seahawks.

Ravitz says:

"Last season, Jones averaged 4.1 yards per carry, while Barber's YPC was 4.8. That's a glaring difference, and not just for the obvious reasons. Barber actually had a handicap in this category because he received more carries in short-yardage situations. In fact, if you remove just the touchdowns from three yards out and in, Barber's YPC swells to 5.1, and Jones' ... well, he didn't score any short-yardage touchdowns."

The yards per carry is a significant stat to review. A 4.1 average isn't bad. But Ravitz argues that Barber is a better, more complete running back than Jones. I don't know about this. I think Barber and Jones compliment each other. They never seemed to be performing at high levels at the same time. I wouldn't be shocked if one were traded at some point. I'd have a hard time watching either go to another team. I do like them both and Barber is a favorite of mine.
I just think we need both to win this year and future years.