Gene Strother

Sometimes,

I feel just like Waffle House hash browns…

…scattered

…smothered

…covered

…chunked

…diced

…peppered

…capped

…and topped.

But at least I am country.

Other times,

I just feel like Waffle House hash browns.

Know what I mean?

The post The Waffle House in me…or me in the Waffle House appeared first on The JourneyMan.

Dear Preacher,

I have a thing or two to say to you.

In church Sunday, the preacher I was listening to was talking about how to listen to a sermon. He was teaching us how to listen to him and apply what he told us. I powerfully resisted the inclination to consider how self-serving such a sermon might be and my heart instead acknowledged that the points he made were valid…and biblical…and wise.

Still, I could not help myself. When he talked about how listening to him was listening to God speaking to us through him, it gave me pause for reflection.

I reflected on how many times I might have said a similar thing…and meant it. I reflected on how natural such a thought once seemed to me. How I might think and say such a thing without much consideration of what I was actually saying.

How many preachers really stop to think about the gravity and enormity of such a claim?

In researching the size of the universe (aka, Googling), I found this interesting scale.

When it comes to how big a statement it is to claim to be the mouthpiece of God, you have to consider: Just how big is God? By how big, I mean how big of a deal; not His size.  God is, after all, spirit and hardly seems quantifiable as to dimensions. He is also, we believe, Creator of all that we see and all that we cannot see.

I do not know how big the universe is and neither does anyone else. But, it’s big. Wiredscience.com puts the size of the universe into perspective, sort of:

To try imagining how big, place a penny down in front of you. If our sun were the size of that penny, the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, would be 350 miles away. Depending on where you live, that’s very likely in the next state (or possibly country) over.

Attempting to imagine distances larger than this quickly becomes troublesome. At this scale, the Milky Way galaxy would be 7.5 million miles across, or more than 30 times the distance between the Earth and the moon. As you can see, these are rather inhuman dimensions that are almost impossible to really get a sense of.

But that doesn’t mean it’s completely impossible. Astronomers have made observations and simulations that in some way capture the enormity of our cosmos. In this gallery, Wired will look at the size and scale of the universe’s largest, farthest, and most mysterious objects.

We know that, in the grand scheme of things, we have no idea how grand the scheme of things is. Whatever its grandeur, we are—you and I—but a mere speck. Heck, less than a speck. We are to a speck as a speck is to earth, or something of that order.

You see, then, how enormous an undertaking it is for a speck of a speck to purport to speak on behalf of the One that designed and created everything. To claim to know His mind, His will is rather a big deal.

I am not saying the preacher doesn’t or cannot know the mind of God. I am just saying most preachers I know never seem to consider how big this thing they do really is. Look, I don’t want you speaking my mind. I don’t want you presuming to know what I want or think or need or desire. And I am nothing more than you.

Speaking on behalf of anyone that isn’t you is a great responsibility, fraught with snares and entrapments. Just ask any presidential press secretary

If you are going to speak for the God of the universe, you ought to at least let the awesome weight of that responsibility wash over your soul. If you do not feel the awe of it, if you do not feel the weight of it, if you do not somehow try to grasp just what it is you do…then, please, don’t.

Please do not reduce God to some low-grade level of ignorance just because you undervalue what you do.  And please don’t use God’s name to get YOUR message across. Don’t sully the great and holy name of Jesus to further your own agenda or validate your personal beliefs. If what you are saying is to your benefit, then just say so. If it is to prove yourself right or some adversary wrong, then say so. If it is for the purpose of keeping the people over whom you preside in the kind of order you want them, then say so.

That is all just fine. It just isn’t real biblical preaching. It isn’t responsible. And—tell the truth, now—it isn’t God speaking through you.

Please, for the sake of all that is holy, preach responsibly.

By the way, this is not God speaking through me, either. It is me observing what I believe to be the flippant way too many people claim to be God’s mouthpiece and calling foul on it. Feel free to disagree.

The comment section below awaits.

 

 

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The idea that anything anybody ever does is 100% selfless is just not so. There are heroic acts—acts of great abandon and sacrifice. But every person is motivated by how he or she perceives a thing, by the values or ideals important to him or her.

Selfless Facebook statuses and magnanimous Tweets

I see people on venues like Facebook and Twitter talk about how they just love to minister and give of themselves to others.

“I just love to give to others.”

“I find it so rewarding to minister to people in need.”

Beautiful. Outstanding.

But the first word in each of those sentences is “I.” If you were not fulfilled by serving in that soup kitchen, if it did not make you feel better about yourself to give your time to serve others, you wouldn’t do it.

Also, why share such things on social media? Is it to inspire others? Is it to impress? Where is the widow quietly giving her last coin? Why the pomp and circumstance? Why the drum-banging?

Don’t get me wrong: I think givers are far more blessed and much to be preferred as companions than takers. They are better adjusted. They are happier. They are more of a joy to be around. (That last observation is a rather selfish one, I know.)

The Apostle Paul put the “I” in ministry

If you are one to constantly give your credentials as a selfless person on FB or Twitter, don’t feel too badly. I have always thought that the most remarkable New Testament character was also the most self-promoting. The Apostle Paul was often defending his credentials or rattling off his resume. I know that sounds a little sacrilegious, but I don’t have a congregation from which I can be fired, so I am free to make an honest observation.

In Galatians 2:11-14, Paul talks about how he set Peter straight. There are numerous examples throughout Paul’s writings where he was seemingly thumping his chest about a position he took or something he did or said.

Apparently, God is good with that. He even inspired Paul to share it.

Why is that?

I bet God is impressed with that!

Well, I think it is because false pretenses are unimpressive to God. What use does He have for them? Why does he need you to pretend everything you are doing is an act of absolute self-abandon and that there is nothing at all in it for you? Why does he need you to pretend  anything at all? He knows.

He made us this way. He made us in His image. Look at God’s own nature. Even though He made everything about us and gave the ultimate sacrifice to redeem us, He insists we make it all about him.

Doesn’t he?

This is more than survival.

How would we survive as a species if we did not have this sense of self-worth, self-preservation? Even our self-sacrifice is a means of preserving the ideal we have of ourselves as a higher form of being than the brutish beasts.

We do not buy Darwin’s survival of the fittest, every man for himself mentality.

But we are selfish, nonetheless, and we may as well get our minds around it and stop lying to ourselves.

Even the Christian call to salvation is one that appeals to our selfish nature. We tell people they can avoid the wrath to come, they can be reconciled to God, they can find meaning for their lives. In other words, we tell them what is in it for them. You don’t have to go to Hell. You get to go to Heaven. You get to live a more abundant life.

And in conclusion…

The first knowledge is to know yourself. If you do not honestly recognize who you are and what makes you tick, how can you honestly relate to a holy God or a world in need?

Some people are needy, while others (the better ones among us) mostly just need to be needed. And we do need you. We need you giving the way you do, living the way you do.

Just don’t lose sight of who you are and why. If you do, even your selfless acts will stink of selfishness.

May God be pleased to bless all you give and do in His name.

Here’s some Toby Keith…

 

 

The post I like talking about you, usually—or putting the “I”, “I” in ministry appeared first on The JourneyMan.

Last night, NFL pundits celebrated the illustrious career of one of the fiercest competitors to ever don an NFL uniform. From the analysts in the booth and studio to the hundreds of media types tweeting sentimental snippets, Lewis was hailed as a great leader, a great competitor, a great tackler…great, great, great.

One last time. #INDvsBAL #raylewis #nflplayoffs instagr.am/p/UJxdaYvCgp/

— NFL (@nfl) January 6, 2013

Congratulations to the great Ray Lewis, who lives to fight another NFL playoff Sunday.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 13, 2013

It would b great to see #raylewis go out with a #SuperBowl win

— Jeremiah Trotter (@JTrotter_54) January 6, 2013

1/3/13 -”Do you want him to dance? He already dances. Do you want him to give a speech? He already gives speeches.” #MrTony on #RayLewis

— Tony Kornheiser Says (@MrTonySays) January 6, 2013

Meanwhile, an obscure nobody named Priscilla Lollar suffered through another day without her son.

It has been 13 years since that fateful night after the Ravens won the Super Bowl and Lewis and his entourage were somehow involved in the stabbing deaths of two men. One of the victims’ blood was found in Lewis’ hired limousine. The white suit Lewis was wearing was discarded and never recovered. Yet, Lewis was never convicted of anything but a misdemeanor obstruction of justice. He was initially charged with murder, but cut a deal.

Lewis received probation and the NFL fined him, but never suspended him.

He went on to enjoy a singular career, one that will have many saying he is the greatest linebacker ever.

But for the Lollar family, Lewis’ fairy tale is their nightmare. Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today wrote about this very dark side of Lewis’ story:

Priscilla Lollar still doesn’t believe her son is dead.

Any day now, she hopes he might finally return from Atlanta, walking through the door of her home in Akron, Ohio, as if nothing happened on the morning of Jan. 31, 2000.

“If I truly accept that he’s not coming back … ” says Lollar, her voice trailing off. “I don’t discuss him in the past. I don’t really acknowledge anything.”

Deep down, she knows he’s gone. She knows it every time she turns on the television and sees Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis – a reminder that her son, Richard, has been dead for 13 years, stabbed to death outside a nightclub in Atlanta, along with his friend from Akron, Jacinth Baker.

Their murders remain unsolved. But as the anniversary of their deaths approaches – and as Lewis dances into the sunset of his NFL career – the victims’ relatives are still seething at him. While Priscilla Lollar says she’s “numb” to Lewis, others want answers. And justice.

“My nephew was brutally beaten and murdered and nobody is paying for it,” Baker’s uncle, Greg Wilson, told USA TODAY Sports. “Everything is so fresh in our mind, it’s just like it happened yesterday. We’ll never forget this.”

Ray Lewis wraps himself in Christianity now. He boldly wears the big C on his chest like he is the big celebrity Christian, giving God all the glory for his life and career.

After his Ravens pulled off an inspired and unlikely upset victory over Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncose, Lewis was found on the sideline by a CBS reporter. Lewis, hoarse but passionate, kept repeating a portion of Isaiah 54:17.

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper,” he shouted several times.

Many, myself included, found his choice of Bible verses odd. You would think a man associated with the violent stabbing deaths of two men would avoid referencing weapons when thumping his chest and giving “witness.”

Now, I, of all people, know the importance of forgiveness and restoration. I believe all kinds of sins can be and are forgiven, even the biggest and ugliest of them.

But I do not believe in this convenient form of Christianity that people in trouble find in order to reinvent and redefine themselves. I do not believe in using Jesus as a reputation repairman.

I do not believe in redemption without repentance.

The Apostle Paul, himself was party to murder prior to his conversion. But he never hid behind a plea bargain. He never covered up a thing. He never discarded evidence. In fact, he made himself an example of the ugliness of sin and the riches of grace.

1 Timothy 1:15

Lewis’ celebratory Bible quoting was defiant in tone and generally confusing.

What did it mean? Was the weapon Peyton Manning’s arm? Or was it an article in USA Today? Was it the nagging gnawing of his conscience? Or, does he even feel remorse?

Who knows? He won’t talk about it.

Has Lewis ever met with the families of the victims? Has he ever tried to give them closure, to explain what happened, how he didn’t murder their sons? Or, has he, with the aid of the NFL and the media, simply swept it under the rug?

(As a side note, I find it odd that Tim Tebow is taken to task and ridiculed and hated for his Christian witness, while Ray Lewis is celebrated. Odd. Sad.)

How do I know Lewis remains unrepentant? He said as much…

Lewis declined to comment when asked about the subject Thursday by USA TODAY Sports. Messages left for agents and attorneys representing him were not returned. Oakley, recently living in Atlanta, didn’t return messages seeking comment. A relative of Sweeting, living in Miami, hung up when reached by USA TODAY Sports. And the prosecutor, Paul Howard, declined a request to be interviewed.

Said Lewis: “You want to talk to me about something that happened 13 years ago right now?”

I refuse to celebrate the career of this man. I refuse to identify myself with him in some bond of a common faith.  The Jesus I know is not a force field to ward off the inspection of a life or investigation of a deed. He deals in truth AND grace. He is full of both.

John 1:14

Am I wrong?

I know some are willing to give any celebrity a pass, as long as they proclaim Christ. They somehow think the cause of Christ is more apt to be furthered by the endorsement of celebrity.

Here is a news flash: Jesus doesn’t need your endorsement. God is not impressed with accomplishment or human acclaim. He is not some outsider, hoping an insider puts Him on the map.

Those without Christ are the outsiders. They can celebrate one another and promote themselves all they want. Without Him, they are dust in the wind. A tale already told. A puff of smoke. A vapor.

Ray Lewis needs Jesus; not vice versa. And…if he knows Jesus, he needs to stop misrepresenting what Christ is all about.

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It’s (not) the end of the world!

I was going to give an end of the world address before December 21st, but then I thought that if the world ended on the 21st, it would hardly be worth the effort.

So, I didn’t.

Since the world has not yet ended and there is no official word on when it will, I have decided to postpone the speech until further notice.

In fact, I think I will forgo the entire thing and refer everyone to The Revelation of Jesus Christ by the Apostle John.

That done, on this 24th day of December, I will turn my attention to other matters.

My Christmas Eve Speech

Fill in the blank: “It’s the most _____________ time of the year.”

What word did you use? Stressful? Commercialized? Overrated?

Bah? Humbug?

Or did you answer “Wonderful?” “Joyful?” “Blessed?”

Truth is, for most of us, all of those words apply at one time or another.

When you put so much stock, so much hope, so much emphasis on a single day, it can be difficult for that day to meet your expectations.

At the moment, at least.

But then, look back.

Look back on Christmases past and what do you see? You remember those moments and those people you may have failed to fully appreciate when you were actually there. Overrated moments, stressful family gatherings, Christmas blahs and blues become precious memories.

Vance Havner used to say, “Distance lends enchantment to the view.”

That is true.

It is also true that we need perspective. Life is, in a real sense, a matter of perspective.

I could tell you to remember the reason for the season and to remember the One Whose birth it is we celebrate. But you already know that is the right thing to do.

Right?

You have it for your Facebook status or you have “liked” it on someone else’s. You have tweeted and re-tweeted it. You have posted it on Pinterest and implied it on Instagram. You have even trumpeted it on Tumblr.

So, I won’t repeat it here.

Instead, I will simply suggest you try to experience Christmas this year the way you want to remember it next year and 10 or 20 years from now. I will suggest you focus on giving more than the things you bought on Black Friday or (if you are like me) will buy today.

Give that gift God wrapped in your flesh. Give the stocking He stuffed with his Goodness and stamped with his image.

Give yourself.

And then, have yourself…

a merry little Christmas now.

Merry Christmas to you and yours from me and mine…

 

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The life of a catastrophe adjuster is uncertain. One day, you can be up to your elbows in claims and the next, the storm is being wrapped up and you wonder where you will be tomorrow. Maybe you will go home. But, if so, for how long?

So, here I am on October 27, 2012, winding down one storm in Canada and watching the gathering storm in the Atlantic.

I am wondering, “Where to next, Lord? For how long?”

And then I remember an old song—one I have not heard or even thought of in years. And when I remember it, I sing. And when I sing it, in my mind, I hear the familiar, comforting, rich, alto voice of my mother, the person I most often heard sing the song from her perch at the piano in whatever church my Dad or Granddad happened to be pastoring.

It was impossible to listen to my Mom’s passionate delivery of this song and doubt a single word of its message. No preacher ever covered the subject more forcefully or eloquently. No one ever made its message more believable…

I don’t know about tomorrow,

I just live from day to day;
I don’t borrow from it’s sunshine,
For it’s skies may turn to gray.
I don’t worry o’er the future, For I know what Jesus said;
And today I’ll walk beside Him, For He knows what lies ahead(chorus)
Many things about tomorrow I don’t seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow, and I know who holds my hand

There are many songs I associate with my mother, but none more than this. I can tell you that she believed—and still believes—every word of it. She has faced every trial, every setback, every heartache with incredible grace and unwavering faith. And that includes the sudden, premature loss of the love of her life.

We kids do not have Dad’s reassuring voice telling us everything will be okay. But we still have Mom’s song.

And today is her birthday.

Happy birthday, Mom!

 

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Let’s talk about Jesus and American politics.

What would Jesus do?

Would Jesus vote for Mitt Romney or Barack Obama for president?

Would he vote at all?

I am a Christian and a political conservative. Depending on your world view and approach to hermeneutics, you will either say those two go hand-in-hand…or they don’t.

But here’s the trouble I am wrestling with at the moment: Christianity and Patriotism. So many that occupy our camp have so intermingled the two that the message is more than simply saying one is the natural result of the other. The message is that the two are the same thing. To be a Christian, you have to be a patriot. To be a true patriot, you have to be a Christian.

Again, I ask, what would Jesus do? Would He simply ignore the fact that Mitt Romney’s theological ties are to a cult-like religion, one that has perverted and revised the gospel, a religion that reduces Jesus Himself to a son of God, but not God the Son? Would he vote for Romney on the basis of a “common moral platform?” Or, would he vote for the one that claims to be an evangelical but coddles the religion that has persecuted His chosen people, spewed hatred and murder, and followed a false god?

WWJD?

For whom would Jesus vote? Would He vote at all?

Jesus’ earthly journey was one of singular focus. To the dismay of a beleaguered Jewish nation in the grip of a tyrannical, corrupt, godless enemy, Jesus was not a political activist.

Those Jews thought Jesus might have come to lead a revolution., to free them from the iron clutch of Caesar.

Thus, we have Palm Sunday, remembering how they sang so hopefully and exuberantly, “Hosanna to the King.” (This event has been labeled the “triumphal entry.”)

But then we have Easter Sunday a week later to remind us how many of those voices were silenced while their owners shrank into the shadows. Others of them joined a new chorus…

“Crucify him!”

John 18:38-40 tells the story of how these people turned on Jesus.

Disillusioned by His message of redemption (rather than revolution), they chose a radical, a corrupt political dissident named Barabbas over Jesus of Nazareth.

They wanted revolution, not the revelation of God’s truth.

Before that event, however, when faced with the question of taxes, Jesus used a coin with the image of Caesar on it to teach a lesson.

“Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s.”

That should serve as an insight into how Jesus viewed politics and government.

What I gather from the example and the teachings of Christ is that political involvement and activism are not in themselves inherently good or evil. Neither are they satisfactory substitutes for kingdom living.

I believe that, in a free society, Christians ought to exercise their freedom to stand up and speak up for truth. We ought to combat evil and shine the light on corruption. We ought to influence our nation because “blessed is that nation whose God is the Lord.”

But we also ought to remember that there is a higher calling and a higher office than president of the United States. We ought to remember that Jesus has advised us to be wise as serpents, harmless as doves; that He has sent us out as sheep among wolves— Matthew 10:16 —; and that this world and its order are under the dark, sinister, deadly influence of the god of this world. — Ephesians 6:12

---

Is Romney-Ryan to be preferred over the current administration?

In my book, yes.

Are they the ticket to heal what ails us?

Nope.

Jesus is the answer—and that is still the heart of the gospel and the message America and the world at large needs to hear.

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

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Planning your life is easy. Living your plan is not.

“We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned to have the life that is waiting for us” ~EM Forster

I posted this quote as my Facebook status this morning. Today wasn’t the first time I had run across it. But it was the most recent, and, as every time before, it resonated with me, struck a chord in my soul.

I know that my being in a reflective—and melancholy—mode comes as a great surprise to those who know me best. ~Smirk~

Here I am, nonetheless.

Since early 1997, I have been living in a post-apocalyptic state where personal plans for my life are concerned. Nothing I have done professionally since that time was part of the plan. Whether it was delivering pizzas and driving a taxi (yes, I did both for a short period), working as a salesman, managing a rent-to-own store, teaching middle school or adjusting homeowners’ claims all over the US and (now) Canada, it has all been unscripted.

I had a plan, but my own failures drove me off course. So, I have done what I must to keep the wolf at bay and the fire in the family hearth while I navigated uncertain waters and explored uncharted territory.

For the longest time, I figured this was but a detour. I would get back “on track.” I would be a pastor again. It was just a matter of time. None of this was part of the plan, but the plan was still intact.

How slowly I have come to realize the plan is not about the man. The man and his plan are both subject to the will and way of the only One whose plan is never thwarted, whose way is never lost.

But then I look back on my life and realize how little of it I really planned anyway. It was not my plan but His that I was born into a family of devoted believers. It was not my plan but His that the greatest influences on my formative years were preachers.

I didn’t plan to get married so young, but when I fell in love with Donya, I sure didn’t plan to let her get away.

I guess Donya and I planned to have a family, but we surely didn’t plan to welcome our firstborn into the world just 11 months into our marriage.

I didn’t plan to live in California for seven years or become a senior pastor at the tender age of 23. I didn’t plan my dad’s death or my return to Texas in 1991. I never planned to live in Paris, Texas and serve as pastor to that wonderful family of believers.

So, none of this was planned.

Or…was it?

Jeremiah 29:11-13 ”For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord . “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² In those days when you pray, I will listen. ¹³ If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me…”

I have finally let go of my plans, so I can learn day-by-day where I fit into His.

That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it.

 

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To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven…A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
Eccl. 3:1,6 (NKJV)

I watched the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma State Cowboys last night. I was elated that my Longhorns won the game, but I was also cognizant that it was one of those games nobody deserved to lose. Both teams played well enough to win. Both of the young quarterbacks were on their game. Both teams fought and scrapped and took advantage of almost every opportunity.

It reminded me of a poem I stumbled onto a decade or so ago…

Here’s to the Men Who Lose

Here’s to the men who lose!
What though their work be e’er so nobly planned,
And watched with zealous care,
No glorious halo crowns their efforts grand;
Contempt is failure’s share.

Here’s to the men who lose!
If triumph’s easy smile our struggles greet,
Courage is easy then;
The king is he who, after fierce defeat,
Can up and fight again.

Here’s to the men who lose!
The ready plaudits of a fawning world
Ring sweet in victors’ ears;
The vanquished’s banners never are unfurled;
For them sound no cheers.

Here’s to the men who lose!
The touchstone of true worth is not success;
There is a higher test –
Though fate may darkly frown, onward to press,
And bravely do one’s best.

Here’s to the men who lose!
It is the vanquished’s praise that I sing,
And this is the toast I choose:
‘A hard-fought failure is a noble thing!
Here’s to the men who lose!’
-George L. Scarborough

America loves a winner. We love front-runners and underdogs (who win.) We celebrate the victors while relegating the vanquished to historical footnotes. And that makes us…no different from any other people populating planet Earth.

Ah, the thrill of victory!

Oh, the agony of defeat!

If you have been long in this world, you have experienced both. One is sweet; the other bitter. But both are invaluable.

If you never lost, how would you know how good winning could feel? If you never failed, how would you know how sweet the taste of success? Babe Ruth knew the feeling of success. He hit more home runs than anyone else in his day. He also knew better than anyone the bitterness of failure, because he led the world in strikeouts.

Think about it! The best in the world fail more than they succeed. No one wins all the Super Bowls or all the World Series or all the Masters’ jackets…

Show me a person who never fails and I will show you a person who never accomplishes anything worthwhile.

That business venture of yours may meet with wild success…or you may have to close your doors soon. Your proposal may be accepted, or it may be rejected. You may ace that test or you may barely squeak by. Regardless, if you have laid it all on the line, if you have done the absolute best you can do, then you have won! You have won the smile of God. You have won the admiration of those who know you best and love you most. And you have won the right to lick your wounds, learn from your mistakes, reload your gun…and fire again.

A Thought for Today: The loser is not the one who does SOMETHING and fails; the loser is the one who does NOTHING and succeeds.

A Prayer For Today: “Father, help me to meet the challenges of my life with determination and commitment. If I stumble, steady me; if I fall, pick me up; if I go the wrong way, stop me. But help me, Lord, never to quit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

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It All Began With a Lie

Today I turned 51.

And that is the first lie I have told today.

I woke up this morning thinking I would wax eloquent and pontificate on lessons learned in my first half century on planet earth. Now that I am 51, I can tell everybody what to look for in those first fifty years.

That’s when I remembered that the birthday number is the first lie we tell ourselves to make us feel younger. You see, we ought to celebrate our first birthday as soon as we are born. Well, not as soon as…let the nurse clean you up and give yourself time to get over being pissed off about being ripped from the only home you have ever known. Then…cake with a single candle, birthday hats, a clown…the works!

Happy first birthday!

If we did it like that, then, when we turned two, we would just be starting our second year, rather than being done with it.

I do not, however, know a single woman that would be in favor of this formula, so I won’t push it.

Still, I can’t talk about everything I learned in my first 50 years today. I should have gotten on that a year ago. I probably spent this 51st year unlearning about half of it anyhow, so go figure it out for yourself.

At any rate: I do not turn 51 today. I end 51 today and start 52 tomorrow. If you want to wish me a happy 52nd tomorrow, I won’t complain about being celebrated two consecutive days.

Age Is Just a Number

I am constantly amazed at how old I am. It just doesn’t seem possible that I could still have so much to do, still act so immature, still feel so uncertain, still have so many questions…and be this dadgum old.

I think it is because the body ages, but the spirit is meant for eternity. I am beginning to understand that the “old folks” I come across every day do not see themselves as I see them. In their hearts and minds, they are the young, vibrant, sometimes-exuberant, often-overwhelmed youth they always were.

So am I.

Still. If one more smug well-meaner says to me, “C’mon Brother Gene. Age is just a number”…

Not long ago, a fellow said that very thing to me and then proceeded to complain about the temperature outside and the size of his paycheck.

Does anyone else see the irony here or do I have to spell it out?

We talk about grumpy old men without realizing that half the reason they are grumpy is because we treat them like old (aka, out of touch, over-the-hill, no longer relevant) men.

It beats the alternative

Inevitably, when someone celebrates a birthday that has a fairly big number attached to it, someone will say, “Hey, it beats the alternative.”

Yes. Yes, it does.

But weren’t these same people just singing “I Am Bound for the Promised Land” and “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder” last Sunday?

I guess we are all like Little Johnny. He was the only one refused to raise his hand when the Sunday School teacher asked the class who all wanted to go to Heaven.

Concerned, the teacher asked, “Don’t you want to go to Heaven, Johnny?”

“Of course!”

“Why didn’t you raise your hand?”

“I thought you were getting up a group to go today.”

You are only as old as you feel

God, I hope not.

If so, there is nothing the least bit linear about my aging experience. I am bouncing all over the calendar. One day, I feel like a lost child, wishing I could ask Dad which way is home and the next day, my hip is aching with the change of weather.

You are not as old as you feel. You are as old as you are. That said, you may as well “feel” good about where you are, because that is where you are.

But you don’t get to stay there. You have to keep moving. Keep pushing forward. Keep going where you are going.

But, slow down. Take your time, because, amid the birthday lies, I found this truth…

The Journey called “Life” goes by fast enough without us hurrying it along

Every kid wants to hurry up and be 16, so he can drive. Every 16 year old wants to be 18, so he can graduate and be an “adult” and go to college. Every college kid wants to hurry up and get that degree and storm the real world with the knowledge and enthusiasm he and he alone in the history of humankind will bring to the world of adults and the business they conduct.

The weary adults punching the various clocks of the world want to hurry up and retire.

The singles want to hurry up and get married. The marrieds want to hurry up and have a baby. The ones with babies want the little farts to hurry up and grow up and stop messing their pants already.

Meanwhile, the retired people are watching the smug, young doctor snap the latex gloves into place so he can poke, prod and otherwise rob them of their dignity. They shake their weary heads and wonder why everyone is in such a big hurry to get where they are.

So, happy birthday to me. Age is just a number and mine is still pretty low. You are only as old as you feel, and I feel fine.

It beats the alternative.

It’s a great day to be alive. Thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday. It is…because you are.

 

The post The Greybeard Chronicles | Age is just a number and other happy birthday lies appeared first on The JourneyMan.

I doubt there are many moments in a football player’s life to compare to that moment the commissioner of the NFL calls your name−especially if you are taken in the top ten.

Tyron Smith was a right tackle out of USC, highly touted, highly coveted, highly talented, and after the Cowbooys took him number ten in the 2011 draft, highly paid.

And that, according to Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com, is the rub:

Smith spoke about the ordeal for the first time to The Dallas Morning News. He agreed to pay his parents in four installments after getting drafted, but they kept coming back for more. When he told them about a move to left tackle, they didn’t say congrats. They talked about the next contract.

“There was a certain amount I agreed to give them, but it went way beyond that and I was just like, ‘I’m done,’ ” Smith said. “I feel like I shouldn’t have given them so much. There was nothing wrong with helping them out and making sure they were taken care of, but not something to where they live the same lifestyle as you.”

Smith’s lawyer alleged that his mom and/or stepdad threatened Smith’s well-being and the life of his girlfriend. The lawyer also alleged that Smith’s family took more than $1 million from him. The money went missing when Smith was using a financial advisor his parents recommended.

“There was money missing, but I just don’t know where it went,” Smith said. “There were times I would check my statements and it wouldn’t make sense and I hadn’t authorized it at all. I just felt betrayed and I was like, ‘Who can I trust?’ ”

Anyone with sudden riches can tell a similar story. Whether you won the lottery, signed your first big contract or sold your fledgling company to Google or Yahoo for a bazillion bucks, you can bet you are going to meet cousins you never heard of and all of your siblings are going to forgive every misdeed of your childhood.

If you are a good soul, one of the first people you think of when you get your fortune is your dear ol’ mom. If you do not, you are probably some sort of sick, selfish, petty little person plaguing the world with yourself.

Unless, of course, your mom is the kind that was more a mother and never much of a mom until you got rich. Or worse. She is a gold-digger, willing to threaten and harass you every minute until you cough up whatever amount she is trying to extort.

To hear Tyron Smith tell it, that is the kind of woman his momma is. She and the man she is married to apparently see their precious child as a cash cow.

All those hugs, smiles and tears we saw when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called Tyron’s name, unfortunately, were not accompanied by thought bubbles. If they had been, we might have seen this coming.

Smith had to call 911 on his siblings and get a restraining order against his mom. He also suspects either his mother or the man she married of stealing around a million bucks from him.

Ouch.

Wouldn’t you love to be a fly on the family wall come Christmas?

Hey! At least the Cowboys play on Thanksgiving, so Tyron won’t have to awkwardly turn down an invite to share turkey dinner with dear ol’ mom.

The post Tyron Smith family man: Black sheep or fleeced by the familial flock? appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

The speculation on Doug Free staying or leaving the Dallas Cowboys has ended, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer:

IRVING, Texas – Doug Free has accepted a pay cut and will remain with the Dallas Cowboys, according to a source.

Free was scheduled to make $7 million this season and count $10.02 million against the salary cap, but the new two-year deal opens up salary-cap room for the Cowboys and allows Free to remain with the team that drafted him in 2007.

He will make $3.5 million in each of the next two seasons. His salary in 2013 is guaranteed, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Ed Werder.

Free’s new contract clears roughly $3.5 million in salary-cap space, which the Cowboys could use in extension talks for linebacker Sean Lee, who is an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Free has started 48 consecutive games since 2010 but struggled in his return to right tackle in 2012, which led to the salary reduction. In 2011, Free signed a four-year, $32 million deal, including $17 million guaranteed.

Apparently, the Cowboys’ flirtations with free agent right tackle Eric Winston are done with, though I am not sure they should be. With the new-found money, it might make sense to pursue Winston for the tackle position and move Free inside, to guard. Free gets beat in space. He is a little tall for the guard spot, but experts believe he can play there and enjoy more success than on the edge.

The Cowboys would not have to ask Free to take a pay cut, if they were better able to self-evaluate. As Gregg Rosenthal observes:

This marks yet another misadventure by the Cowboys in self-scouting. They overpaid Free, and then were forced to change course. Jones often hypes his own players, and then he winds up paying for it.

If you are among Cowboys fans leery of trusting the health of suddenly insanely wealthy quarterback of the present and the future, Tony Romo, to the too-often over-matched Doug Free, too bad.

Free is not free to leave, which means left defensive ends may feel free to knock Romo into the middle of next week, or even the end his career.

The post Dallas Cowboys Doug Free ain’t free, but at least he’s cheap appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

Long-suffering Cowboys fans have looked with a wishful and hopeful eye to the future. Jerry Jones cannot go on forever. Some day, he will give in to the advancing years or the Grim Reaper and his son Stephen will take the reins. Then, sanity will be restored to team leadership. Stephen will save the day!

Jerry Jones is sick. We all know it. He has a horrible case of Optimisticitis, which causes him to see everything he does and sees as better than it actually is. This dread disease robs the mind of a realistic view of the world. Couple that with Spinster’s Disease, which causes its host to put a spin on every topic, regardless of how insane the spin may be, and you have one very sick man.

After getting off to one of the worst starts of any owner of any professional sports franchise in history, Jerry Jones earned the respect and trust of Dallas Cowboys fans by hiring Jimmy Johnson and subsequently delivering three Super Bowl championships. Then, he lost it when his pride got in the way of football and he fired Jimmy. Then, he regained it when he and Barry Switzer proved that, by God, that team was so good “any of 500 coaches” could have won the Super Bowl with it. Then, he lost it again, slowly, over 15 years and counting of fielding football teams that ranged from disgraceful to mediocre to under-achieving.

Stephen save us!

But Stephen won’t save you. He cannot. It appears he is suffering from the same crippling disease as dear ol’ dad.

Case in point: his comments on the recently departed bust of a first round running back, Felix Jones. This from John Machota of Sports Day:

“The guy played for us in a significant role,” Stephen Jones said. “I still say that’s very successful. I’d also say running backs, this day and time, a guy can be very successful in his first contract as a running back and not necessarily sign the second one. The shelf life of a running back, unfortunately is not as long as some other positions. We were very pleased with the career Felix had here with us. You always hate when it comes to a close. No regrets there.”

It seemed evident that the Cowboys would not re-sign Felix Jones after they drafted Oklahoma State running back Joseph Randle last month in the fifth round.

Felix Jones, who started 23 games in Dallas, will get a chance to face his old team at least twice next year, with the first matchup coming on Oct. 20 in Philadelphia.

“You know what we think of Felix, being a Razorback,” said Stephen Jones, an Arkansas graduate. “He made a lot of great plays for us. Obviously, we wish him luck, except when the Cowboys and Eagles play.”

He cannot be serious! This was not some guy they took a late-round flier on. He was not an undrafted free agent like Tony Romo. He was a first-round draft pick! 

The man was never a featured back in college, nor was he in Dallas.

Inside the Felix Jones numbers

• Jones was drafted in the first round in 2008, 22nd overall pick
• In five years with Dallas (5×16=80), he started just 23 games.
• He compiled 2728 yards rushing, an average of 545.6 yds/year.
• He had 1066 yards receiving.
• He scored 11 touchdowns rushing and 3 receiving. (That was a half season of work for Emmitt Smith.)
• He did have 1534 kick and punt return yards and one TD to go with that.
• He fumbled the ball 12 times.
• He never came close to winning NFL post-season honors, like All-Pro, Pro Bowl, All-Conference, etc.

Those are not miserable stats.

But it is not first round production, either. Jones’ production peaked in his third season, when he accumulated 800 yards rushing. His final season, he had half that.

Meanwhile, the Titans’ Chris Johnson, taken two spots later in the draft has amassed 6,888 rushing yards and 44 rushing TDs. Rashard Mendenhall (not considered a great first rounder by any stretch) was taken one spot after Felix. He has rushed for 3549 yards and scored 29 rushing touchdowns.

Who cares if he is from Arkansas?

“You know what we think of Felix, being a Razorback,” Stephen Jones quipped.

Well, Stevie Wonder Boy Jones, you know what we think of you wasting a first round pick on an under-achieving Razorback, being Cowboys fans.

Who cares if he played for Arkansas or was smuggled in on a shipment of Mackerel from the Ukraine? Can he play football at a high enough level to warrant a first round pick? You only get so many of those in a lifetime. You cannot be playing partisan college football politics with them. Instead, build your fans a football team worthy of the stadium your daddy built.

And go see a doctor about that disease. It may be hereditary, but it does not have to be fatal.

The post Dallas Cowboys News: Stephen Jones showing signs of same disease as the old man appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

Chuck Muncie dies and brings to life a flood of precious football memories for me and my generation of NFL fans.

That is the thing about life. The longer you live, the more death is a part of it. People you looked up to, admired, whose careers you followed, who entertained and enthralled you in your youth, they don’t live forever.

I had not thought of Chuck Muncie in 20 years or more until yesterday when Mike Rhyner of KTCK 1310 “the Ticket” memorialized the former NFL running back. Rhyner, a few years my senior, gave Muncie a fitting tribute, remembering the impact he had on the game and how much fun it was to watch him run.

I remember Muncie as the tough and talented RB with glasses. He had bad eyes but great “vision,” which is common for all great running backs.

Muncie’s NFL career ended ingloriously in 1984, as he was suspended for cocaine use. As the LA Times reports, he kicked the habit and in his retirement became an advocate for overcoming drug addiction.

Muncie played his college ball at UC Berkeley. Berkeley in the 1970s was the epicenter of the counter-culture movement. Drugs were common fare there and that is where Muncie first came into contact with Cocaine, the drug that would end his career and later land him in jail:

In a statement, the Chargers called him “one of the greatest running backs” in the team’s history and a “tremendous athlete with a larger-than-life personality.”

Recruited to play football at Cal, Muncie started using cocaine and his drug-abuse only increased once he made it to the NFL, he said in interviews.

After the first regular-season game of 1984, Muncie’s career came to a dramatic end when then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended him after Muncie tested positive for cocaine.

Five years later Muncie was arrested and sentenced to 18 months for selling cocaine. Going to jail saved his life, he often said, and while behind bars he vowed to turn his life around.

In 1997 he established the Chuck Muncie Youth Foundation, a California-based nonprofit that helped youngsters steer clear of drugs and the kinds of bad decisions that nearly destroyed him. It also offered a highly regarded tattoo-removal program.

He also spearheaded a mentoring program for athletes at UC Berkeley that “would have made all the difference” when he was at the school, Muncie told The Times in 2008.

The LA Times article describes Muncie’s football career as follows:

At 6 feet 3 and 225 pounds, Muncie was gifted with size, speed and power. While playing for Cal, he finished second to Archie Griffin of Ohio State in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1975. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies, according to the magazine.

A first-round draft pick by the Saints in 1976, Muncie was paired with Tony Galbreath in the team’s backfield. They were dubbed “Thunder and Lightning.”

In 1979, Muncie became the first Saints running back to break the 1,000-yard barrier in a season, with 238 carries for 1,198 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Former teammate Don Reese told Sports Illustrated in 1982 that Muncie had to be a “superman” to continue performing at such a high level despite his addiction.

Muncie would finish his NFL career with 1,561 carries for 6,702 yards, a 4.3-yard average, and 71 touchdowns. He also had 263 receptions for 2,323 yards.

In the middle of the 1980 season, Muncie was traded to the Chargers and the next year he led the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 19.

Muncie’s career spanned what, to me, is the golden age of the NFL. In the 1970s, the running back was the god of the gridiron. You had backs of such grace and power dominating the game. Names like OJ Simpson, Walter PaytonTony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Franco Harris, Larry Csonka and Chuck Foreman were among the greatest ever to tote the rock.

Muncie was in that group. Sure, he only eclipsed 1,000 yards twice. Remember this, though. The first half of his career was spent with the lowly New Orleans Saints, whose fans were famous for wearing bags over their heads. This was a team that seldom had the talent to sniff the playoffs.

The second half of his career, Muncie played for the San Diego Chargers. That team was coached by Don Coryell, the mad football scientist of his era, and threw the ball all over the field. His offense was nicknamed “Air Coryell.”

Whatever accomplishments Muncie mustered was either on a bad team or on a team that utilized the passing game more than any other team of its era. Muncie finished his 8+ year career with 6,702 rushing yards and 2,323 yards receiving. He went to three Pro Bowls. He was voted first team All-Conference once and second team All-Conference twice.

As a young football fan, I was enamored of the 1,000 yard back. Muncie was of particular interest because he looked different doing it than everyone else. Bill Williamson of EPSN knows what I mean:

Yes, those high-flying San Diego Chargers of the early 1980s were known as Air Coryell.

Yet one of the most memorable and recognizable figures on those teams was a hard-charging running back named Chuck Muncie. With a menacing bar down the center of his face mask and thick, black-frame glasses, the big, strong Muncie was a load for defenses around the league to handle.

Sadly, Muncie died Monday at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack, according to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. His death was confirmed later by the New Orleans Saints.

The California product was the No. 3 overall draft pick by the Saints in 1976. He was traded to the Chargers in 1980. He gave them a strong running presence, and quickly became a major part of an entertaining offense.

Muncie the man got his life straight and made a positive impact on succeeding generations. Muncie the football player made memories for guys like me…

R.I.P., Chuck.

 

The post Blast from the past has passed on: Chuck Muncie dies at 60 appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

A friend recently suggested that I put together a top ten list of Jerry Jones foot-in-mouth statements. That might be fun…and a challenge. Not to find ten candidates but to settle on just ten.

Now, we can add another. Another friend, a Twitter friend, put me onto this one.

@doomsdaddy editorial opportunity for you, Jones talking about Staubach involvement in game planning and play calling in reference to Romo.

— Will Roberts (@Quantracing) May 14, 2013

 

Actually, Jones didn’t so much put his foot in his mouth as he simply demonstrated how precious little he really knows about the history of his own football team:

“He’s played a lot of games now,” Jones told co-host Gil Brandt and me on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday night. “He certainly had a lot of time on the job before he ever started and played. He has a unique grasp of our offensive concepts. The people who are around him the most – his coaches – tell me he’s never had a bad idea.

“If you think about where he’s at right now, he’s 10 years older than most of the players we have on the field. We think his skill level right now is very much where we hoped it would be and will be for several years to come. But what we want to use more than we ever have is the kind of thing that (ex-Cowboys quarterback Roger) Staubach contributed – input into designing a plan that helps us beat that opponent.”

Mind you, this was Gil Brandt, the head of the Cowboys scouting department during the Landry/Schramm years that Jones was talking to.

Apparently, Brandt let the comment about how much input Staubach had in play-calling and game planning slide. Any real fan of the pre-Jones Cowboys knows that Staubach actually offered to come back and play another year if Landry would let him call his own plays. Landry declined. Play-calling was a bone of contention between the two iconic Cowboys. Landry was a bit of a control freak in that regard. He would shuffle players in and out of the huddle with the next play. He trusted no one with his game plan more than he did himself.

Here is how famoustexans.com remembers it:

Wile (sic) others appreciated Staubach’s neat footwork, Tom Landry was not so impressed. “Coach Landry wasn’t happy with my scrambling,” the quarterback revealed. “It caused a running feud between us. “But I put up with his play calling and he put up with my scrambling.” Staubach tried to have more of a say in the Dallas offense. After winning Super Bowl VI against the Miami Dolphins Staubach said, “I’m going to study films more than ever, but it will be hard to convince coach Landry to let me call my own plays after we won 10 games in a row with him calling them.” The friction between two tough and intelligent leaders helped spark a dynamic game.

A January 1979 issue of the Lakeland Ledger, in an article leading up to the Super Bowl, ran side-by-side articles on Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach.

The Bradshaw article was titled, “Bradshaw is One of a Dying Breed.” It begins,

“Terry Bradshaw is one of a dying breed. A rarity in the NFL. He is one of the few quarterbacks still in the game that is allowed to call his own plays.”

The Staubach article, titled, “Staubach Like an On-Field Robot,” goes like this:

“On a football field, Roger Staubach is a robot. His decisions are made for him by Tom Landry

In the NFL, that is not unusual. Most coaches make robots out of their quarterbacks, sending in instructions for them to carry out.

However, since quarterbacks are flesh and blood with feelings of their own, and not a bucket of bolts activated by some remote control process, they don’t like being robots.

Staubach doesn’t like it. He has learned to live with it, and he doesn’t make a big deal of it, but he would like to call his own plays.

“I think any quarterback would,” he said prior to today’s Super Bowl. “When you call your own plays, you believe in them. You’re confident they will work.”

Landry was a renowned autocrat when it came to offensive game planning.

In a January 17, 1978 article on Landry (a real gem of an article) titled, The 12th Cowboy, Wilmington Morning Star staffer Dave Anderson wrote,

Tom Landry designs the offensive game plan and supervises the defensive game plan that is structured on the “flex defense” that he invented, just as he invented the 4-3 when he was a player-coach with the New York Giants a quarter century ago.

Tom Landry was not the impassioned, fiery, quotable motivator extraordinaire like his counterpart Vince Lombardi. He was often seen as detached and emotionless. One former player, the somewhat unstable Duane Thomas, called him a “plastic man.” He was a tactician. He believed in X’s and O’s. He believed in a superior plan of attack. He believed that if his players would run his plays the way he designed them, they would win way more than they would lose.

He was right.

Staubach was a great player. He was fiery and emotional on the field. He was a leader of men. He was an athletic, cool-headed, steady hand. He carried out Landry’s game plans with enough success and precision to get the Cowboys to five Super Bowls in a decade and win two of them.

But he never designed a single game plan and he never called his own plays.

Why would Jerry Jones know that? A narcissist knows nothing except to put himself in the middle of everything. Even if he has to do it with his own foot in his mouth.

 

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Spring has sprung. The 2013 NFL Draft is history. Mini-camps, training camp and preseason loom just ahead. There are bluebonnets on the hillsides, birds singing in the trees, and the 2013 Dallas Cowboys football team is undefeated…just like everyone else.

Your 2013 Dallas Cowboys are ready

This is the time of hope, the time of dreaming of that magical run to a championship. For more teams than not, it is fantasy. But for a few, it is a real possibility.

Which is it for your heroes in Silver and Blue? Are they a legitimate contender, or do we brace for yet another so-so year of teasing,  taunting, and tumbling into mediocrity?

I, for one, believe this team is already better than the 2012 version and here are a few reasons for you to believe, as well.

Tony Romo

I know that Romo is the most polarizing, divisive player on the squad, and possibly in team history. A couple of things do not lie. Statistically, he is among the league’s best in most categories, and that includes 4th quarter QB rating and come-from-behind victories. So, branding him a choker is just a misunderstanding of the facts. However, he still sports but one playoff victory in his career.

Romo is now 33. Aikman points out that his career was in its last year when he was that age. Romo is still playing at an extremely high level. Moreover, he just got paid big money. $55 million, to be almost exact. He is not playing for money now. He is playing for pride. He is playing for his place in history. Will he be villainized as the man that robbed Jerry blind, that set the franchise back a decade, that was overpaid and under-delivered? If Romo fails to deliver some playoff success, both locally and nationally, he will be excoriated. The most criticized current player in the NFL will go down in history as a failure. The vultures are already on the low limbs smacking their beaks.

I believe that, if this team fails to deliver a playoff run, it will not be due to any lack of effort or determination from its most important player.

Addition by subtraction

Rob Ryan is gone and that is good. He was overrated as a strategist and coach. His colorful personality might be fun on a winning team, but it becomes an annoying distraction on a team that is struggling. Look for him to continue to bounce around the league, bragging about his greatness.

Also gone are Felix Jones and Mike Jenkins. Jones’ production tailed off considerably over the course of his career. He lost the quickness that made him a home run threat and, more often than not, putting the ball in his hands was a wasted down. Jenkins never showed himself a first-round talent. He made a few plays, but gave up more than he took from opponents. Both were injury prone.

Better coaching

Jason Garrett is a focused, intelligent football man. He is a leader. Unflappable. His handling of the team during the Josh Brent episode last year showed him to be just that. Sharing or giving over offensive play-calling duties will only serve to make him better as a game day coach.

Replacing Rob Ryan with Monte Kiffin is like swapping a Kia for a Porsche. Kiffin will install a defense more conducive to instinctual and natural reaction to offensive plays. Look for play-makers to make plays in his system. Besides, he is a respected teacher and steadying influence on the staff.

Addition by addition

DeMarcus Ware, DeMarco Murray, Sean Lee, Bruce Carter, Jay Ratliff, Miles Austin, Orlando Scandrick…the 2012 Cowboys was a MASH unit. The defense was especially hampered by the loss of key players. But the offense was slowed, too. Give the 2013 team just a normal run of injury luck and you can add two victories right there.

Rookies that contribute

We can debate whether the Cowboys should have taken Travis Frederick in the first round, but it is hardly a debate at all that he will help solidify a vulnerable interior offensive line. Whether at center or guard, I look for Frederick to start for this team from game one, and to make a name for himself in the league.

Tight end Gavin Escobar catches everything thrown at him. As long as you put it in the right zip code, he will pick up the mail. Add him and fellow deep threat wide receiver Terrance Williams—the big, fast Baylor receiver and Dallas product—to the top-notch core of Dez Bryant, Miles Austin and Jason Witten, and you have an embarrassment of riches in the passing game.

The cornerback B.W. Webb, out of William & Mary is a superb athlete and may be one of the real jewels in the draft. He could have an immediate impact on the team in nickel and dime packages. Safety J.J. Wilcox should also impact the secondary right away. Despite playing only one season at the safety position at Georgia Southern, Wilcox was invited to the Senior Bowl, where he performed well. Before moving to safety, Wilcox was a successful running back with 484 yards on 85 carries. He is also a solid returner in the kicking game. Mike Mayock of the NFL Network sees him as a future starter for the Cowboys.

Perhaps the biggest steal of the Cowboys’ draft was Oklahoma State running back Joseph Randle in the fifth round. This dude ran for 152 yards to help OSU beat Baylor and RG3. He galloped for 151 yards against Oklahoma, leading his team in the beat down of their state rival. he is a big time big game player with skills. He will complement the injury-prone DeMarco Murray (an OU product) and, if Murray isn’t careful, push him for the starter’s role.

Linebacker DeVonte Holloman is a converted strong safety. That tells you he is a little smallish as a linebacker and quick. He should make a good fit for the new 4-3 defense and add depth to the linebacking core.

The ticking clock

The clock is ticking on the careers of 33 year old Tony Romo, 31 year old DeMarcus Ware, and and 31 year old Jason Witten. The tread will wear thin on those tires very soon. These team leaders have done about all they could statistically, putting up eye-popping numbers at times. What they have not done is win. As they transition into that exclusive club called the Dallas Cowboys Fraternity, you can bet they want to do so as winners. They know it. Jones knows it. Garrett knows it.

This team should be “all in.”

The hot seat

Speaking of Garrett, he could very well be coaching for his career. This man is not about having a “career,” though. He is about establishing a legacy. He is not the type to be satisfied to survive. He will want to thrive.

 

2013 sets up as perhaps the most intriguing season in recent memory for your Dallas Cowboys. The stakes are high. The challenge is great, with the resurgent Redskins, the ever-present Giants, and the reforming Eagles all setting their sights on the NFC East crown. The talent is here. The time is now.

And I believe…

The post The 2013 Dallas Cowboys: Seven reasons to believe in them appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

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Dallas Cowboys GM Jerry Jones was given his job by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones the minute owner Jones fired his friend/coach/former teammate/nemesis/adversary Jimmy Johnson.

Jones will tell you he has always been the General Manager of the team, from day one. In a sense, that is true. But Johnson revealed in 2012 that he and Jones had a contractual agreement that he would have the say on all things football. Here is how Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News reported Johnson’s comments:

Jimmy Johnson said he wasn’t interested in creating controversy, but he wanted to set the record straight Wednesday about his role with the Cowboys in the years he coached the team.

“The time I was with the team, I had complete and total responsibility over the football operation,” Johnson said in a telephone interview from his home in the Florida Keys. “That meant personnel, the draft, coaches, including the strength coach. Everything.

“It was always in my contract.”

Johnson was reacting to comments owner Jerry Jones made in the wake of the Cowboys’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Jones said he ran the Cowboys’ football operation from the day he bought the team in 1989 and would continue to do so.

“When I bought the team, the night I bought it, I said I would be doing what I’m doing and that’s GM the team and making the final decisions on personnel,” Jones said late Sunday night. “That’s the way it’s always been done. We’ve won three Super Bowls doing it that way, so I’m going to do it again.”

Johnson, who coached two of those three Super Bowl teams, and has been widely credited for assembling the talent that twice beat the Buffalo Bills and the team that went on to win a third against the Pittsburgh Steelers under Barry Switzer, agreed that Jones held the title of “general manager” but…

“When we signed that first contract Jerry said, ‘I’ll be in charge of the finances, you’ll be in charge of the football,’ we’ll make history,” Johnson said.

Johnson and Jones had a winning formula. Jones, the promoter with the Midas touch, turned the Cowboys—and really, the NFL—into a money-making machine. He used Texas Stadium as a revenue-winner by signing deals with firms like Pepsi and Nike. The NFL sued him, lost, and then joined him. With Jones in the lead, the National Football League became America’s pastime and a branding juggernaut.

Meanwhile, Johnson pulled off the football deal of the century with the Herschel Walker trade and put together one of the most dominant teams in NFL history.

Johnson received national acclaim for his accomplishment in turning around a franchise that seemed to have pulled loose of its moorings and was adrift.

It is not speculation or unfair to say that Jerry Jones envied Jimmy Johnson. When Johnson seemed to snub Jones during the post-Super Bowl celebrations, after the team had won back-to-back Lombardi trophies, the rift lead to Jones’ dismissal of Johnson. Jones ate a million or so bucks, literally paying Johnson to go away.

Jones would famously assert that “any of 500 coaches could take this team to the Super Bowl.”

He was apparently somewhat right about that. The team Johnson had built was so strong that it withstood the storm its owner’s ego created, reached the NFC Championship game the year after Johnson was set free, and won the Super Bowl the following year.

But the new era of free agency (which Jones helped to bring on) took its toll. Players left for more money in other places. The core group of players grew older and the supporting cast became weaker. Barry Switzer, another old friend of Jones’ from Arkansas and Johnson’s replacement, forgot he had packed a gun and was detained at an airport. That gaffe aided Jones in getting rid of yet another old friend.

Then it was Chan Gailey and his marginal success followed by Dave Campo and his three straight 5-11 teams.

Jones was truly the General Manager of the team once Jimmy left. And that team slid into disarray. Jones had to bring in Bill Parcells, a football guru and personnel evaluator not unlike Jimmy Johnson, to salvage the team, turn it around, and get it pointed in the right direction. Then, Parcells was turned out to pasture. And on we go.

Under Jones the GM, the Dallas Cowboys have mismanaged and missed on personnel decisions so much that the team has been mired in .500 ball for nearly two decades. That kind of NFL irrelevance happens in other cities and to other football teams. That does not happen in the city of Tom Landry or to America’s Team.

Unless, of course, Jerry Jones is in charge.

Jones has overseen some of the worst drafts in NFL history. His 2009 draft consisted of 12 players. Three years later, not a single player from that draft remains on the team. Most of them are not anywhere in the NFL. In 2008, Jones had two first round picks. He chose RB Felix Jones and CB Mike Jenkins. Jones, who was not a featured back at the University of Arkansas, never established himself as one in Dallas, either. Jenkins was up and down, a so-so NFL cornerback. Both are gone.

Felix Jones (from Jerry’s Alma Mater) was selected over the speedy Chris Johnson and Rashard Mendenhall. That kind of mistake at RB was a repeat from the 2004 draft (another mangled mess), when  the Cowboys traded down and took Julius Jones, rather than staying put and selecting Steven Jackson.

A mismanaged roster. Misfires on both personnel and head coach hirings. I would point particularly to the promotion of Dave Campo, who was clearly over his head, and to the hiring of Wade Phillips, the laissez faire coach, who knew how to scheme a defense and spin an excuse for losing.

But Jones is not a failure. How can a self-made billionaire be a failure? He bought a flagship NFL franchise and turned it into an empire. Even through two decades of mediocrity, the Cowboys remain among the most marketable teams in America. They remain the team America loves and loves to hate.

Forbes still lists the Dallas Cowboys as the NFL’s most valuable franchise:

The Cowboys are the NFL’s most valuable team for a sixth straight year thanks to the league’s highest sponsorship and premium seating revenues—a combined $200 million. The Cowboys are the first American sports franchise worth more than $2 billion. The ’Boys are still America’s Team. Thirty-one million viewers tuned in to their Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Dolphins, making it the most-watched show of the 2011 fall TV season.

Everywhere but on the field, The Cowboys are still the team to beat. Merchandise flies off the shelves. Talk radio phones light up. Acres of paper and tons of Gigabytes are used up in the discussing and cussing of the Cowboys.

Then, there is Cowboys Stadium, perhaps Jones’ crowning achievement as a D/FW business owner and as a sports team owner. One of the most beautiful and versatile sports venues in the world continues to score one huge sporting event after another.

Hello, Super Bowl. Hello, NCAA Final Four. Hello, College Football Championship.

Meanwhile, Jerry Jones, bolstered by past successes on the field and current successes off, defiantly dismisses every suggestion that he might not be the best man for the job of Cowboys General Manager.

Why, though? He has fired coach after coach for not getting the team to the ultimate prize. Why does he give himself a pass?

I will let Jones answer that in his own words:

“I pretty much go with what I did the night I bought the team,” Jones said, via the Star-Telegram. “I said I was going to be the GM. . . . It would be a facade if someone else was sitting in my shoes and someone thought they were spending the money. It would be deception. . . . I would grant you the decisions that have been made over the years have not produced a Super Bowl, two Super Bowls or three Super Bowls that I would like to have been a part of. And the only thing I am going to do there is keep trying and then make sure I get the credit when we do get that one. Y’all are going to give it to me, aren’t you?”

Credit. That is what Jones craves. Jerry Jones would rather never win another Lombardi trophy than to have his Cowboys win it and someone else get the credit for it.

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Jerry Jones would rather never win another Lombardi trophy than to have his Cowboys win it and someone else get the credit for it.

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In that selfish approach, Jones is defying the logic that he and every other successful person knows: “Success happens when you don’t care who gets the credit.”

Rather than letting history take care of itself, Jones is determined to force history’s hand. He believes he can make his critics admit it was all his doing.

Well, I admit. This mess is all his doing.

And now we have the 2013 NFL draft, which has Jones failing again. Failing to get value when he trades his first round pick. Failing to recognize a third round pick from a first. Failing to remember he has already used two second round picks to try and find a complement TE to Jason Witten. Failing.

I give Jerry credit for that.

Finally, I will get to the point of this article, as suggested by its title. What about “Jerryatrics?” What does this term I have coined mean? What does it mean to be Jerry Jones today?

• It means you are an old dog trying to learn new tricks, but still gnawing on the same old bone.
• It means you are self-deluded, blinded by the successes of the past, believing you had more to do with them than you did.
• It means you have surrounded yourself with friends and family that tell you what you want to hear, rather than what you need to hear.
• It means you are a complicated man: both wise and foolish. Your wisdom glistens and sparkles and attracts worldwide attention and international acclaim to the city quietly nestled between Dallas and Fort Worth. Your foolishness, meanwhile, keeps spotting can’t-miss football talent that mostly misses.
• It means you are driven–and nearly driven mad–by the need to be recognized for your genius.
• It means you hold everyone accountable but yourself.
• It means you are the kind of man that will put your ego and self-fulfillment ahead of the tens of thousands of fans that have made you and your team both prosperous and prominent.
• It means you are the worst kind of fool. There is no fool like an old fool. And there is no fool more foolish than the one that fools himself.

Jerryatrics, just like it sounds, is getting really, really old.

 

Jerry Jones would rather never win another Lombardi trophy than to have his Cowboys win it and someone else get the credit for it.

The post Jerryatrics: The art of being @dallascowboys GM Jerry Jones appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

We now know the seven players the Cowboys took in the 2013 NFL draft. We know who they are and where they were taken.

Pick	Player	Position	School
31	Travis Frederick	Center	Wisconsin
47	Gavin Escobar	Tight End	San Diego State
74	Terrance Williams	Wide Receiver	Baylor
80	JJ Wilcox	Safety	Ga Southern
114	BW Webb	Cornerback	William & Mary
151	Joseph Randle	Halfback	Oklahoma St
185	DeVonta Holloman	Holloman	South Carolina

Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision

Rather than simply look at them in the order taken, let’s rank the picks, shall we? But we need a criteria by which to judge. So, here is mine:

1. Quality of player v. others available
2. Quality of player in relation to draft position (Taken too high, about right, or a steal?)
3. Positional need
4. Possibility of making impact on team in 2013

Since I have four categories and I want to grade on a percentage scale, I will weigh each category equally. So, the most points a player can receive in any one category is 25. The fewest is zero. I will use increments of five points.

Ready?

Player	Quality/Player	Quality/Pick	Need	Impact	TOTAL
Randle	20	25	25	20	90
Wilcox	20	25	25	15	85
Williams	20	20	20	20	80
Webb	25	20	20	15	80
Escobar	20	20	15	20	75
Holloman	20	25	20	10	75
Frederick	10	10	25	25	70

 

Travis Frederick may well prove to be the best player taken in this draft. he may be just what the Cowboys needed at center. But the Cowboys had the 18th pick and traded down to 31 to take him. No other center was taken until the third round. Chances are good that the Cowboys could have taken him in the second and gotten another quality player at 31. Plus, when grading him, you have to do so against all the picks from 18 to 30, which include DT Sharriff Floyd, thought to be a top ten talent and FS Eric Reid (a position of real need). Not to mention two offensive linemen, a guard and a tackle.

Gavin Escobar looks to have all the tools to be a good pass-catching tight end. He is another in a long line of tight ends the Cowboys have tried to find as a complement to Jason Witten. But again, the Cowboys ignored the greater need at safety, with D.J. Swearinger from South Carolina still on the board.

Terrance Williams, the wideout out of Baylor should help stretch the field and provide a deep threat for Romo and the offense. He is a hometown kid, and the first Dallas ISD product drafted by the Cowboys in 20 years. But he better be better than Keenan Allen out of California, whom the Chargers snagged two picks later. Allen grades out higher than Williams. Time will tell.

Joseph Randle, the Oklahoma Sate running back taken in the fifth round, may prove to be the steal of the draft. People are concerned about his speed. I prefer to look at his production. He was in a top tier conference, facing some of the best talent in the nation week after week, playing in a pass-happy offensive scheme, and still posting nice numbers. NFL.com says this on his player profile page:

The presence of Kendall Hunter limited Randle’s carries in 2010, but the true freshman had at least one tote in all 13 games (82 total for 452 yards and two touchdowns) and caught 37 passes for 427 yards on the year. He stepped into Hunter’s shoes admirably as a sophomore, earning second-team All-Big 12 honors with 1,216 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns in spite of Oklahoma State’s passing preference; he did not have 20 or more carries in any game after the first month of the season. His 152 yards and four touchdowns helped OSU beat Robert Griffin III and Baylor and he covered 151 yards in the team’s beat-down of the rival Oklahoma Sooners. Despite the team’s rotation at the quarterback position, Randle remained the constant figure in the Cowboys’ offense in 2012. He rushed for 1,417 yards and 14 touchdowns on 274 carries. He added 224 receiving yards on 28 receptions.

I remember another running back the Cowboys drafted that was considered a little slow of foot (Randle registered 4.63 in the 40 at the NFL Combine). His name was Emmitt Smith and he is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. I am not saying Randle is Smith. But I believe he can play on a much higher plane than his fifth round draft spot would indicate.

All told, I think the Cowboys had a rough start to the draft, but may have saved the day with second and third-day picks. At least that is the hope.

Coach Jason Garrett thinks they did exactly what they needed to and should have done, according to his post-draft interview with Rich Eisen of the NFL Network:

I hope Garrett is right and this draft deserves an A+, rather than the C- I am tempted to saddle it with.

The post Ranking the Dallas Cowboys 2013 draft picks appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.