The Boys Are Back In Town

If you are a Cowboys fan like myself, then you have been waiting a long time for a decent group of guys to don the uniform. And if you have been paying close attention to the drama of the Jimmy Johnson/Jerry Jones breakup, the painful demise of the triplets and an unstoppable dynasty, the failings of a long line of successive quarterbacks since the fall of Troy Aikman, and rebuilding of this team once Jerry Jones hired Bill Parcells, thus admitting his inability to continue winning through puppet coaches--if you've chewed your fingernails each season down to throbbing nubs, then you have been richly rewarded last night with an impressive victory over last year's 12-4 San Diego Chargers.

The picture above should be called Redemption. Here we have our new free safety Keith Davis, who has had to step into the capacious, clown-sized shoes of Darren Woodson, the last great player from the halcyon days. If you don't know a thing about football, the free safety is the guy on defense who hangs out in the far back field and is the last line of defense against the deep ball. San Diego punished Davis for two quick touchdowns, who made huge blunders on each play leaving the receiver wide open in the end zone. But at the end of the game, Dallas pulled ahead by four points, meaning that San Diego had no choice but to score a touchdown as the game clock was running down. Twice they had to go on fourth down. The first time, Drew Brees, the quarterback of the Chargers, was amazing as he back pedalled under an intense Dallas rush and threw what looked like a desperation pass, but landed right on the money and put them at first and goal on the eight yard line. The picture above is Keith Davis laying a smack on Keenan McCardell on second down, forcing him to cough up the ball and saving the touchdown. This game went to the bitter end, and the Dallas defense held, winning their opening game for the first time since 1999 when Troy Aikman was the quarterback.

Ah! Football is back, and my boys are starting off on a good note for a change. The mood around my house is directly proportional to mine, in the opposite direction. My wife has taken to grumbling around the house, and my kids hang from every limb as I try to take in every moment. Thank God for TiVo. I have to pause the game periodically to do damage control. The wife and the kids do not take kindly to my diverted attention. It's not until Superbowl Sunday that I can actually watch a football game without all the attitude.

"Babe, you should have seen the ending of that game!" I yelled after running up the stairs, two at a time, as the kids were coming out of the tub.

"Greaaaaaaaate," she said like a bedridden patient recovering from a session of Chemo, or was it a creaking door? At least the latter can be fixed with a dose of WD-40.

I'll have to work extra hard at my honey-dos this week!

Vive le cowboys!