Good News, Bad News

The Cowboys won!

The Longhorns lost.

I got the green bowls I’ve been wanting on Ebay!

Somebody outbid me on the oak library drawers — three different times.

I activated Patrick Crayton and Marion Barber in time to chalk up some points for me in Fantasy Football!

I lost anyway.

I found my iPod!

Okay, I can stop there. How can a day be anything but good when I found my iPod AND the Cowboys won?

Yep, I’ve got strep. But the ‘Boys won.

Now I’m going to go on to bed and let George Guidall read me to sleep with American Godswhich I’m thoroughly liking, even if good ol’ George doesn’t hold a candle to Lenny Henry. I loved Lenny Henry’s reading of Anansi Boys beyond all reason. Not surprising, since Neil says he heard Lenny’s voice when he was writing it.

(But, three times? I mean, I only needed one, couldn’t they have let me win one auction? Sigh.)

Sweet dreams.

Photo: Louis DeLuca, Dallas Morning News

Finally!

And T.O. earned me 22 fantasy football points; Julius Jones 10, Vanderjagt 10 and Vince Young 12. Fun day!

Pic from the Dallas Morning News–Matt Mosley’s Cowboys blog.

Fantasy

Here’s the question.

Do I want to play fantasy football for fun?

Or to win?

I mean, realistically, I’m not going to win. But do I really want to LOSE? To play it fast and loose not caring at all if I come in last in the league?

And what do I really consider fun?

Because today… today is huge. Today, I am chomping at the bit for noon to come.

Why?

Because Vince gets his first start.

And I want him. Who needs Chad Pennington? Who needs David Carr? Who needs a proven QB when I can have Vince? I had him on my team until I had to make some switches to cover for Dallas’s bye last week — I have four Dallas players on my team and scrambled to cover. (Last week is the only week I’ve won but if anybody points out to me that the only game I’ve won was sans Dallas players I will spit in your chili.)

But Vince.

Vince!

I want to see him run, scramble, pass, bully his way down the field.

I want him on my team, damn it.

Of course, there’s a catch. There’s always a catch.

I want to see him do all those things, but I want him to lose.

In fact, there’s a lot of reason to believe not only will he lose, but he will look bad doing it.

Why?

Three guesses why and the first two don’t count.

He’s going up against the Dallas Defense.

Yes, I’m going to watch Vince vs. Dallas and I can’t wait.

But oh, the quandaries, and that’s before I even address whether or not to bench T.O. Will he play? Will he play enough to make a difference? Will he earn me any points? Or do I wait until the return to Philly to let him play? (For the Wowboys, I mean.)

Because if he doesn’t play, Patrick Crayton (another of my guys) is bound to chalk up some yardage and maybe a TD.

This fantasy football thing is hard.

And do I want Vince to be on my team, just because he’s Vince, to hell with the odds of winning my game?

And if I grab and play Vince and the Titans (0-3) upset the Cowboys, will it be MY FAULT?

Oy.

(*To see more such brilliant photos, check out the work of Dallas Morning News photographer Louis De Luca. Seriously. It’s worth registering and you won’t get spammed.)

T.O.

Okay, this is what I think.

I am a Cowboys fan, not necessarily an NFL football fan. So other than the fact that he pissed on the star in the middle of the field when he scored yet another touchdown against us a few years ago, I haven’t paid a lot of attention to him. (Yes, I know he didn’t actually piss on the star. But … think about it. Do you know he didn’t? Did you wash his pants that day?)

And then, suddenly, Terrell Owens changed laundry and suddenly, he’s a Cowboy, and suddenly, I’m paying attention.

He’s even on my fantasy football team, The Wowboys. (He’s earned me a ginormous 2 points so far this year.)

So. What do I think about all this?

At this point, I’m being Pollyanna. Does that mean I believe he didn’t really try to kill himself? Well ….the police report is pretty darned specific. And it’s as difficult for me to believe that they wrote all that stuff down wrong as it is for me to believe that every media outlet on planet earth was somehow confused when they reported that Pakistan signed a treaty with the Taliban. (Yes, I got tired of posting links.)

And I have to notice that T.O.’s denial today was with his publicist/witness at his side, just as Musharraf’s denial was with President Bush at his side. T.O. says he didn’t try to kill himself, it’s a big mistake, and his publicist says she believes him, the cops got it wrong. Musharraf said, “… news reports had mischaracterized the deals. ‘The deal is not at all with the Taliban. This deal is against the Taliban. This deal is with the tribal elders,’” and President Bush says, “I believe him,” because “the media got it wrong” always works for him, right? Just as Clinton said, “I don’t know that woman,” and Hillary backed him up, because this new crop of deniers isn’t the first to deny, deny, deny.

Damn those pesky cops and media folks for getting it wrong.

Um, right.

So in what way am I a Pollyanna?

In the way of hoping that if the Dallas PD two-year veterans who answered that call weren’t mistaken, if the 9-1-1 call reveals T.O.’s publicist made a frantic call saying T.O. had attempted suicide –

I’m hoping it means he’s ready for help, because he’s in a good place for it. He’s here in Dallas where Bishop T.D. Jakes and a passel of Cowboys who’ve seen their own problems are ready to provide a support system that could finally turn T.O. around.

I believe that. I hope it happens. T.O. does not seem like a happy person, much less a balanced person. Even if I haven’t paid a lot of attention to him before, I’d like to see him find a happy ending.

And that would be true even if he hadn’t donned the Cowboy star on his helmet.

Good luck, T.O.

Lady Linksalot

We have everything under control.

You are free to move about the country…

Flashback.

Dunno which I love more – his hair, or the soundtrack.

Via Paper Bits:

Indexed!

And this just makes me grin. It’s just perfect.

Pugsley.

And finally, what you’ve been waiting for, screenwriting content.

Not from me, of course.

From her.

And if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check on my fantasy football league. I have dropped the Denver Defense in order to have Vince Young in reserve. (I’ve never played fantasy football before, but surely I didn’t really need two defenses? Aren’t the Giants enough?)