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2012-2013 Preseason: The Show Must Go On
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September 5, 2012
At 7:20 PM CST
By Eric M. Scharf
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- The 2011-2012 NFL season was the
same as any other. Each team had a chance – some greater than others
– but still a chance to make it to the big dance.
That chance, however, will always mean zero to those teams which
fail to see it as a foundation from which they can enhance. If you
do not spend, scout, study, draft, coach, practice, perform, and
stay reasonably injury free – to the best of your ability . . . you
have a better chance of being a couch ornament than a contender in
"The Tournament."
The Dallas Cowboys had their chance – just like the other teams – to
fulfill their Super Bowl dreams.
The Dallas Cowboys were fatigued by the offseason strike drama –
just like the competition – and they still had a chance to bring
their goals to fruition.
The Dallas Cowboys were as physically affected as most teams by
labor strife that cut like a knife, but America’s Team still had a
shot to establish a playoff spot . . . and bring the NFC East
division crown back to town.
The Dallas Cowboys absolutely had their chance and – at their
closest, most palatable postseason prospect – they performed like
they had ants in their pants. The Cowboys ended their season they
way they started it – with a thud . . . and stuck in self-made mud.
The latest season has arrived, but not without a dumbfounding dose
of dezstractions for Dallas and – for the greater NFL – a surly
summer of ill repute . . . of which there can be no dispute.
After School Program
People who love and watch football – by and large – do so because of
the raw and refined talent on display every game day. When one or
more of those raw and refined talents make (selfish) personal,
private
decisions that (potentially) damage their teams’ public future . . .
the fan experience can become absolute torture.
While NFL players come from a
variety of backgrounds (with further variance in the presence of
parents, style of upbringing, and available resources), after
mandatory rookie symposiums and being introduced to a range of
helpful league-sponsored tools . . . poor choices (must eventually,
somehow outweigh exciting
talent and) should result in job or career divorces (for blatant or
repeat offender fools).
People who have no prior knowledge of the National Football League –
before this sad summer – might view it as a high profile,
commercially-sponsored NJH (National Juvenile Hall) . . . where
irresponsible screw-ups line up to play ball.
The NIL (National Idiot League) would be more accurate . . . with a
warped marketing campaign to boot.
“Coke Zero Ain’t Got Nothin’ On NIL” or “Get ILL From NIL."
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- This would actually be an affront to juvenile halls everywhere . . .
if it was completely true.
"The Tortured Cowboys Fan" LOVES football – all categories of pigskin
pleasure – but this summer of screw-ups was enough to make even the
most fervent fan find fault with even their most favorite player.
Please forgive the following outrageous (?) venting . . . as The
Tortured Cowboys Fan becomes unrelenting towards too many
mistake-magnified members of the NFLPA who apparently do not have a
prayer.
“Why care about what goes on with the players off the field,” you
ask?
When the various MMA (Mixed Martial
Arts) associations of the world decide to start
advertising "Fight 60" to the youth of the United States (like the
NFL’s “Play 60”), then, morals will officially go out the window. No
one will care and the warped behavior will no longer scare. That
possible reality has yet to take hold, and there is still time for
those involved to be bold.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has all the ammunition he needs to
continue making sweeping changes that protect players from dangerous
headaches . . . and bad personal breaks.
The NFLPA spent all summer – not including the bounty brainlessness
– stepping right into the stinking bucket of bad decisions, with not
a single turbo wash in sight . . . to wash away their repeatedly
self-made plight.
Goodell would be right to continue his push for an 18+ game schedule and even a
year-round season . . . “encouraging” the players to swallow a
bitter behavioral pill before the NFL really does become the NIL.
The once-promising "Boy Scout Clause" –
mentioned in the
previous article
as a solution to bad player behavior – would be no better than
covering a gunshot wound with a piece of gauze.
The concept of an 18+ game season is no longer about the
risk of
excessive injury (READ "the inability of a spotlight-hungry player to
mentally accept the fame-and-fortune-affecting repercussions
of no longer being able to physically
start every single game and play through every single snap at his position for an entire season).
After all – for the oft-troubled NFL
player – do two more games per year really shorten your
career . . . as much as being locked away, potentially never again
to play?
After all – for the unfettered NFL
player – professional sports require participants who want the rock
all the time, who view not playing as a crime, and may not be
interested in sacrificing a dime . . . but I digress.
The concept of an 18+ game season is
no longer about proportionally augmenting the CBA, player salaries,
and contract incentives, or expanding / watering down the 53-man
roster in order to properly account for a longer season.
The concept of an 18+ game season –
as absolutely ridiculous as it sounds – is now all about what
can be done to reasonably keep any and every NFL
player from meeting their career-ending jailor . . . and being
thrown to the hounds.
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- Players from all the major sports
routinely get themselves into legal trouble, and fans – sadly – are
used to it, accept it, and are generally willing to look past it . .
. as long as the incidents are isolated and do not ruin the
remaining football experience. These incidents are not so isolated
anymore, not so few and far between anymore . . . and they will
force the NFL's PR-minded commissioner to settle the score.
The CBA gears Judge Goodell to – indeed – be the very judge, jury,
and executioner the NFLPA fears. The players signed it, the players
are bound by it . . . and the players (who fail to fly like an arrow
down the straight and narrow) should not complain about it.
Those players who are insulted by this concept – who have been able
to display “fine, upstanding representation of the NFL” and “lead
reasonably trouble-free lives” – have a decision to make . . . or – someday – risk a
deep union break.
The truly responsible members of the NFLPA can continue with the
status quo (and make the NFLPA look more and more like a
collection of circus animals) . . . or they can take responsibility for
their teammates if they really do not wish to see the NFL become
more and more replete with criminal athletes.
Somewhere, Alan Pinkett is patting himself on the back and saying
“See? SEE?! I told you so!” . . . but I digress.
This could actually change the whole dynamic of public funding
forevermore . . . and remake NFL owners into business people the
fans can more regularly adore. Fans could finally be confident that when NFL owners
ask for public funds to construct their new football stadiums and
the redevelopment of the surrounding areas . . . they are asking for
support in building massive rodent wheels for their players.
The entertainment venues, hotels, and restaurants which typically
populate those redeveloped areas would all be for the players and
their families. There would be an army of personal assistants and a
massive security detail . . . all ready and waiting to ensure an
epic NO FAIL.
The next time you ponder the grand goals of NFL owners – and their
unquenchable thirst for public funding – you may no longer entirely
associate them with pure greed. They may actually want to keep your
favorite players under 24-7 league lock and key . . . rather than in court,
ready to plead.
It would be nice to be able to view the members of the NFLPA as
grown men, public representatives of the NFL, and role models who
are responsible for themselves on a reasonable and regular basis.
Players are people, too, not merely androids that exist in so many
entertainment voids. Players come from every walk
of life . . . with many bringing with them swollen suitcases of
strife.
No one wants the NFL to have to establish an After School Program
but – someday – that may be the only way to keep their players from
being caught with a gram, hurting a ma’am . . . or being sent to the
slam.
Compliant Bryant?
While Dez Bryant is the only current Cowboys’ player to have
appeared on a police blotter in the past year . . . the memory will
not fade to the rear.
If Dez really did request guidance and structure from the Cowboys,
that should be a feather in his cap . . . especially if he succeeds.
These so-called “Dez Rules” – again, allegedly established by Dez
himself – would also conveniently prevent the NFLPA from filing a
grievance suggesting circumvention of the current CBA.
Somewhere, Mike Brown – owner of the Cincinnati Bengals and author
of the “Carl Pickens Clause” – is patting himself on the back and
saying “See? SEE?! I told you so!” . . . but I digress.
“If he was man enough to ask for help . . . he should be man enough
to succeed within the boundaries of that help.” It sounds nice, but
it is entirely up to Dez . . . to prevent his Cowboys career from
quite possibly being put on ice.
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- Regardless of what the "Dez Rules"
entail, he knows he must extricate himself from
all-things-and-people who have been identified (for him?) as
horrible influences . . . or experience an epic fail.
He will either be on a mission that – should he succeed – will
absolutely reward him for taking personal responsibility for his
actions, or he will allow his ego and immaturity to gobble him
up just like Pacman Jones.
If he did not know it then, Dez certainly knows it now: it is not
about him, it is about the team. It is not about what he can do for
himself, it is about what he can do for his team . . . because his
needs and the team’s needs are now one and the same. Dez can no
longer make a personal decision without determining the potential
damage it might do to Dallas, as well.
Will Bryant be compliant on the field for his team and off the field
for himself . . . or will he end up on the shelf? Fans are about to
find out if Dez is finally capable of putting a cork in his good
behavior drought.
Determining Depth
“Preseason football games are an absolute joke,” you say?
“Preseason football games are an absolute money grab by the NFL,”
you say?
These widely-held theories may be true, but preseason football is
necessary in determining depth with players both old and new.
“Depth is discovered in 32 training camps every offseason,” you say?
Training camp merely helps teams identify potential depth . . . but
not proven depth gleaned from game day conditions.
That proven depth – prior to the current collective bargaining
agreement (CBA) – was somewhat regularly realized during carefully
scripted scrimmages between offensive and defensive starters in full
pads with full aggression . . . before engaging in even the first of
four preseason contests.
The current CBA created a double-edged sword for and against such
preseason progress. While players were buoyed by the benefit of
fewer two-a-days and finite physicality, they lost the luxury of
being able to thicken their skins through more palatable practices – rather than more punishing preseason performances.
Preseason games should continue to exist as the single best
opportunity to see which starters have been staying in shape, what
highly-touted rookies can achieve . . . and if career benchwarmers
might finally cease to thieve.
Preseason games should continue to exist so that 1st round draft
choice and rookie cornerback Morris “Claymore”
Claiborne can demonstrate how he might blow up each play that comes
his way.
Preseason games should continue to exist so that rookie free agent Cole “Not So
Measly” Beasley can demonstrate how he can go over the middle with
conviction and not end up with a (Wayne) Chrebet concussion.
Preseason games should continue to
exist so that 6th round pick and rookie tight end James Hanna can
demonstrate how he can allow Jason Witten to remain comfortably keen
to delay his return . . . and completely heal his spleen.
Preseason games should continue to exist so that coaches could see –
as early as possible – that Tyrone Poole could no longer swim in the
deep end of any team’s secondary. While this discovery occurred
during the early part of training camp, the sooner the better when
your goal is to become NFL champ. The Cowboys’ coaches were able to
go to (Barry) Church to seek the solution to their supplication.
Preseason games should continue to exist so that a laundry list of
players – from draft choices to veterans – can prove and reprove
their skill . . . so teams can more accurately decide who goes and
who gets a roster spot to fill.
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- This season’s base NFL salary ranges anywhere from $390,000 to
$925,000 for many players . . . especially for those looking to
avoid the burn of the preseason churn. Teams who seek reliable depth
– and fans who pray for it – should (desperately) want to know which
of their role players occupy roster spots “because they’re worth it”
. . . and which players are there are merely keeping the spot warm
for someone else.
Long gone are the days BC (Before Cap) when teams could stash
starting quality backups all over their rosters . . . and mostly
avoid average imposters. Today’s NFL – more than ever before – has
player personnel decisions bouncing back and forth between carefully
crafted plans and high stakes gambling . . . from young to ambling
and from least to beast.
Determining depth is never quite as easy as it seems . . . with an
unpredictable mix of sensational small school hits, baffling big
school misses, vanquished veterans, and cluttered with crushed
dreams.
Determining depth is the very best reason to continue on with the
physically – but not financially – valuable games of preseason.
Not The Right Fight
While fans might be rabid for the NFL season to begin tonight, they
would love to be confident in the replacement officials’ ability to
be able to get most of their calls right.
The NFLRA is locked out due to the NFL’s desire to establish a
full-time squad of referees . . . under financial considerations
that would irritate anyone like fleas.
It is the NFL – not the zebras – who are looking half-assed.
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- THE contentious issue is not about full-time referees versus
part-time referees.
THE contentious issue is not about how much each referee will be
paid per year under a new CBA – potentially anywhere from $149,000
to $189,000.
THE contentious issue is all about the current pension enjoyed by
the NFLRA. The pension payout is guaranteed by the NFL upon
retirement, and the stock market has no bearing on the value of that
payout.
The NFL has indicated they just want to join the rest of the
nation’s companies that – more and more – are adopting 401K-based
retirement plans . . . which are subject to market fluctuations.
The NFL is right to want to (finally) have a fleet of full-time
referees and a “farm team” of part-timers who can be trained to
eventually become full-time, as well.
The NFL is wrong in wanting to unnecessarily penny pinch the NFLRA.
The referees – for all the mental and verbal abuse they endure as a
result of their game-altering calls – cost the NFL very little for
what the NFL receives in return.
Fans may not purchase NFL tickets to watch the referees, but the
referees have little interest in the fame associated with the game (such
as the violent stalker who threatens to follow them home after a
blown call that – for their favorite team – may have ended it all).
The NFL could have started this “dialogue” the very day after last
season ended to save every precious offseason second towards what
were certain to be painful negotiations. The NFL believed – and still
believes – it is in a position of power . . . even as the
replacement refs are preparing to be deflowered.
If the NFL really wants it, the owners must bite the pension bullet
in order to move past it.
The NFL knows it must grandfather
the existing referees into the guaranteed pension and – for that –
they need no new invention. The NFL knows the NFLRA will, then, be
far more pliable towards a new CBA that includes seniority-scaled
salaries . . . and a 401K-based retirement plan, justifiable for
every new referee in the officiating tree. Otherwise, as the current
scenario reflects – between the zebras and mules, err, NFL – the
stalemate will
last much longer than anyone expects.
The NFL did not pick the right fight, they know it, and – rather
than reaching out with the simplest of solutions – they have so far chosen to ignore it.
Will They Or Won’t They?
The Tortured Cowboys Fan joins the rest of a curious Cowboys Nation
to see if America’s Team has made enough of the right moves to
rediscover their playoff groove, to be determinedly deaf to the experience and
quality of their game day refs . . . and to prevent any further
collision with their personal behavior vision.
One thing is powerfully clear just moments from game time. The show
must go on, and it will go on . . . preferably with a Cowboys team
that is prepared to perform with power and precision.
Will the Cowboys be ready to start their season under the national
television lights, in the Meadowlands, for the second year in a row,
and actually come away with a victory?
We shall see. We always do.
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