Attention NFL Owners: Jerry Jones is not the enemy!

Over the last few weeks the NFL and the NFL Players Association have been locked in a battle. And, in many reports it seems that Jerry and other owners in big markets are being portrayed as part of the problem.

Word has it that the owners are not only in a disagreement with the players, they are disagreeing amongst themselves. The problem is that they cannot figure out how to divide the enormous amount of revenue they receive. The smaller market teams claim that increasing the salary cap will force them to use a higher proportion of their non-TV revenue and ticket revenue to cover the salaries of their players. They think that the larger revenue teams (see Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys) should share more of their revenue.

Up to this point no one has come out and labeled Jerry the bad guy. But the implication is that he and the other high revenue owners are being greedy. And this may be true. But it appears that the small market owners are being just as greedy if not more.

Here’s the simple truth: the NFL has a system that ensures that every team can make a nice profit regardless of the market. The NFL has an enormous TV deal that is divided equally amongst the teams. That alone makes it fairly easy for any team to stay afloat.

Let me tell you something: the man behind this great TV deal is Jerry Jones. Jerry has also introduced plenty of great marketing ideas to the league. He has shown other teams how to create all sorts of revenue streams that were previously untapped.

There is no doubt that Jerry and the Cowboys have a revenue advantage. They generate an enormous amount of revenue just because they are the Dallas Cowboys. They have the ability to generate much more revenue than other teams such as Jacksonville. But, I can assure you that while Jacksonville isn’t generating the kind of revenue that the Cowboys are generating, they are not going broke either.

A smart man once said that fear and money are the two greatest motivators in the world.

And the NFL proves this point each and every day.

Fear and money determine almost every decision that an NFL executive makes.

And the draft is a perfect example of this. The NFL Draft is still 2 months away. NFL teams have spent the better part of an entire year studying prospects. Teams have 3+ years of game films on most of the draft candidates. They’ve watched the films. They’ve talked to the college coaches. In some cases, they’ve even done background checks. Yet, for some reason, they still need to find out more.

This weekend in Indianapolis the potential draftees were paraded in front of the NFL. They were poked. They were prodded. They worked in the weight room. They ran the 40. They went through drills. They were tested and re-tested. They were interviewed. Every inch of their body was examined.

Why did these prospects have to go through such examination? Well, it’s because of fear and money. Yes, that’s right, F-E-A-R and M-O-N-E-Y.

You see, in the NFL teams are made and destroyed during the draft. A couple good drafts could mean Super Bowls. A couple bad drafts could mean disaster. You do not want to be the Personnel guy who chooses Ryan Leaf when he could have chosen Peyton Manning. GM’s around the league are scared to death when it comes to making a first round selection.

First round selections make a lot of money. What if you choose the wrong guy? Not only did you waste your draft pick, you’ve also wasted all that cash. Fear and Money strike again.

So, the NFL Combine is really about finding reasons not to draft certain players. It doesn’t matter how great a players college career was, if he doesn’t perform well at the combine, he may be headed for a free fall on draft day.

We're going to keep this entry short and sweet...

Way to go, Bode.   Your mouth made you the talk of all the Olympic previews.  But your performance during the games may have been the biggest flop in the history of the Olympics.

The man who went to Italy with hopes of winning 5 medals has been shut out.   I wasn't rooting against you.  But, I do think it is fitting that the outspoken king of Winter Olympic hype comes home empty handed.

Bode was outspoken.  He was brash.  He spoke openly of drinking and skiing under the influence.  He suffered an injury playing pickup basketball in between his Olympic events.

To me the Olympics have always been about men and women sacrificing everything to pursue a dream of gold.   Olympic athletes pour their hearts and souls into the competition.  Olympic athletes respect the competition.  They respect the work that it takes to succeed. 

To me Bode just did not fit my definition of an Olympian.   I might be wrong but I think the results spoke for themselves over the last 2 weeks.

Something that happened in New York on Wednesday that may have a direct effect on the Cowboys. The Jets got together and decided to part ways with several key players. Just a couple of years ago, the Jets were a terrific team that was very close to advancing through the playoffs. Well, in the course of one year, they’ve completely collapsed.

The Jets are $26 million over the cap. So, Wednesday they made several moves. They told their QB Chad Pennington that he was going to have to take a substantial paycut. They said goodbye to key veterans Ty Law, Jay Fiedler and Jason Fabini.

Jason Fabini is a man that I think the Cowboys will immediately go after once the free agent season begins. Fabini is going to be 32 years old…Red Flag!….Coming off an injury and limited to 9 starts last year…Another Red Flag!

I know that you are asking yourself, “…why should we consider this guy?”

The Cowboys will be able to get this guy cheaply because of the age and because of his injury. Parcells drafted this guy while he was with the Jets. Parcells made him a starter in his rookie season. Parcells obviously likes this guy.

Now, why would you want to take on yet another 30+ offensive lineman? When you look at the age of this offensive line it is scary. Regardless of what the Cowboys do in free agency, they will be drafting offensive linemen.

But do you really want another season of starting a rookie offensive lineman? And hearing every week that he has not quite yet developed to the proper NFL level. I think the Cowboys want to draft linemen and let them ease into the lineup. The last thing you want to do is force the issue.

The Rangers and Tom Hicks appear to be long shots in the Roger Clemens sweepstakes. But a lot can change between now and when he actually makes a decision.

But, for now, I’m getting tired of the Roger Clemens soap opera.

Will he play? If he will play, when will he play? When he plays, who will he play for? Is he interested in staying close to his family? Is he interested in pitching for money? Is he interested in pitching for a contender? What does he want? Does it depend on what day of the week it is?

I’m ready for everyone (including myself) to stop the speculation. I’m ready to just wait and see what happens in May when Roger is finally ready to make his decision.

Clemens’ ability and proven track record have earned him the ability to take his time while he makes his decision. He is in a great position right now. He can wait a month to see how things are shaking out in the division races. Waiting a month not only gives him the option of going back to Houston, it also adds Houston to the bidding war for his services.

I’m not blaming Clemens for this tired soap opera. He is just doing the smart thing. But, while he does the smart thing, I think I’m going to stop analyzing the situation and just let it play out.

Buck Showalter stepped out yesterday and said that he thinks his guys are ready to take the next step and play in October. You may say, “…wait a minute, it’s October, every team is saying that…” The Tampa Bay people aren’t saying that. The Kansas City people are not saying that.

A lot of managers don’t like to be tied to comments like this. If the Rangers go 72-90 these comments will come back and bite Buck. But, Buck thinks this team is ready. I’m not sure if this team is ready to win the division but I do not think he’s going too far out on a limb to suggest that they could earn a Wildcard berth.

I think that the A’s are headed straight towards the Division Championship in the West. I think that the A’s may be the best team in the entire league. That leaves the Rangers competing for the Wildcard.

Let’s look at the Central: I don’t know if the White Sox are going to repeat. The Indians are looking really good.

In the East: Toronto made some dramatic acquisitions in the off season. I believe that they’ve improved more than any other team in baseball. The Yankees and Red Sox are not too shabby either when compared to the Rangers.

The Rangers are going to have to be better than a lot of good teams in order to play in October.

I still have my doubts about the end of their starting rotation. The Rangers are going to be depending on some very questionable pitchers to come thru and be consistent at the end of the rotation. The bullpen must become more consistent. And one more thing about pitching: the Rangers have a lot of pitchers that are coming here from the National League. History suggests that NL pitchers sometimes have a hard time adjusting to the American League.

Offensively, Ian Kinsler hit .270 in the minors. I don’t know if that translates in the majors. Kevin Mench has been a question mark. Mench has got to start hitting with runners in scoring position. The collective outfield is a question mark for me. And I question the depth on this team.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not criticizing this team. I’m not saying that Buck is wrong. I’m not saying that they don’t have any shot at the post season.