Laura Miller and some key members of the Dallas City Council have put together a proposal for an expansion of the Cotton Bowl. The cost of the proposed expansion is $50 million. The goal of the proposal is to secure long term commitments from Texas and OU to keep the Red River Rivalry in Dallas.

Let me say this, $50 million worth of renovations to the Cotton Bowl would be like giving a pig a facial. $50 million would barely be enough just to start the upgrade. The stadium has horrible seats, horrible concessions, horrible restrooms and a horribly cramped atmosphere.

Mayor Miller has basically said that this proposal is contingent upon the two universities committing long-term. I doubt very seriously. Let me repeat, I doubt VERY SERIOUSLY that $50 million in renovations will be enough to keep the game in the Cotton Bowl.

But let’s for one minute pretend that it is enough. Where does the money come from? You see, when Jerry Jones wanted $325 million for a new stadium for the Cowboys, there was a vehicle to raise that money (the hotel and rent car tax). But the money for this renovation will be coming from the City Budget. This means that corners will have to be cut somewhere in the city.

And, what exactly is “long term”? If the two schools agree to another 5 years, does that mean that the city has to pour more money into the Cotton Bowl 5 years from now in order to keep the game?

It does not take a great deal of intelligence to determine that the pursuit of a new stadium for the Cowboys was a much better cause than the lost cause of dressing up the Cotton Bowl.

This is not a good plan. I don’t think it will have any impact on whether or not the schools commit to keeping the game in Dallas. And, I think that, in the end, this proposal is all about politics. It gives city leaders an easy way out when Dallas loses the Texas/OU game. This proposal gives them the opportunity to say, “…we tried everything we could to keep the game here…”

We had a girl in our high school named "LaFonda McBroom.'' She was "accessible,'' and many of the teenage boys passed a manhood milestone by, um. ... accessing her accessibility.

Then some of the boys looked south and discovered, to their horror, that "accessible'' was simply a way to spell out "STD.''

I've been skeptical of "accessible'' ever since. Which takes me to why, when I finally interview new Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels, I plan to wear protection.

Yes, as Baseball's Winter Meetings roll into Dallas, it is clear that Doogie Howser G.M. is accessible. And if only because his Rangers predecessor, John Hart, came out of hiding about as often as Puxatawnee Phil, "accessibility'' is to be applauded. (Maybe not literally applauded, though. My colleague Uncle Norm, upon hearing on the air that Doogie Howser G.M. would follow up his appearance on his morning show with yet another visit later that afternoon on another Ticket radio show so he could peddle the same "we-tried-hard'' drivel, actually chanted, "Go Jon! Go Jon! Go Jon!''

All joking about the new Rangers G.M. being so young aside (hey, I heard Jon Daniels is petitioning the American League to let the Rangers play all day games because his mom won't let him stay up late! ... OK, just that one young-kid joke). ... is the bar now so low for our local baseball team that the Rangers receive gold stars on their forehead for simply TRYING to trade for a pitcher?

As my buddy Larry Legend says, "Hey, maybe this year I'll TRY to buy Rangers season tickets! I can have them if I only TRY, right?''

I'll leave the arcane minutia of the trade details to Uncle Norm and T.R. Sullivan and Gerry Fraley and Ol' Randy and people who care. (Besides, in terms of "people who care,'' once I add those three nuns to the above list, I think I just named 'em all). And I won't indict Daniels because of his age or lack of experience. ... though at 28, he's the youngest GM in baseball history and just a couple of years removed from being an intern-level Colorado Rockies go-fer making $1,200 a month and living in somebody else's basement.

Let's stay big-picture here: This pitiful franchise, no matter what it does, remains pitiful. They failed a few years ago to acquire Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens. Last year they screwed up the pursuit of Carlos Delgado. Now, on Daniels' watch, he's already failed to acquire Josh Beckett and Kyle Farnsworth and AJ Burnett.

Aming gossip that Texas is talking about flashy names Manny Ramirez and Kerry Wood, color me skeptical. In fact, I'll even offer a conspiracy theory: Farnsworth says he never even heard about the much-ballyhooed-in-these-parts Rangers' "interest'' until he was in New York taking his physical with the Yankees!

Meaning. ... maybe the Rangers are feigning interest in big names to attract some glorious headlines? Maybe the Rangers are attempting to keep their name in the headlines? Maybe the Rangers are putting on a fireworks show with no real intention of lighting any wicks?

Face it, your Texas Rangers couldn't get a big hit if George M. Cohen, John Lennon and 50 Cent combined to write it.

(Wait. I take that back. They've got the one power-ballad hit, written by Jose Canseco.)

So the new boss, Doogie Howser G.M., is available morning, noon and night to do interviews?

Terrific.

As soon as he and the Rangers accomplish something, I'll take advantage of his "availability'' and interview him.

And I promise you, as LaFonda McBroom is my witness, one of us will be wearing a condom.

Yesterday, the Cowboys not only lost a game, they lost their grip of first place in the NFC East. And most importantly, their offense lost some respect. Their lack of offensive production yesterday may have given the rest of the league a recipe for beating the Cowboys.

Here’s my advice to the teams that remain on the Cowboys schedule (Kansas City, Carolina, St. Louis, Washington): DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE RUN. The Cowboys are not going to break any long runs. And until they prove that they will, if I’m a defensive coordinator, I simply ignore the Cowboys running game. That is, if you can ignore something that does not exist.

The loss leaves the Cowboys at 7-5 and scrambling with a lot of other teams in the mix for a Wildcard. The Cowboys have 3 very difficult games left. I can see them losing all 3 of those games. By, the way, I can also see them winning all 3 of them.

The offense did not move at all yesterday. They were particularly awful in the first half. The first half, I believe was the most inept offensive performance I can remember in a long time. The Cowboys generated 37 yards on 28 plays in the first half. That’s 4 feet per play! 4 feet!

When an offensive performs poorly, the QB seems to always be the man who gets the blame. Yesterday Drew Bledsoe was chum. He was shark meat. Now he added to problems by not making good decisions. But constantly being under pressure will force a QB to make bad decisions.

I believe the root of the Cowboys problem is their inability of their running game. We are through 12 weeks of the football season and the Cowboys have 26 runs of more than 10 yards. They had runs of 10 and 12 yards yesterday. That is simply unacceptable.

This club does not explode. It does not make a big play.

When an opposing defense never has to worry about you breaking a play, you are in serious trouble as an offensive unit. Right now, Cowboys opponents can basically ignore the running game. If a defense doesn’t have to respect your running game, it is going to be practically impossible to throw the ball effectively.

Yes, the offensive line is hurt. Yes, they are young. And, yes they are lacking in experience. But, it seems like they are getting worse as the year goes on. I don’t want to take anything away from the performance of the Giants defense yesterday. They were definitely dominant. But, the Cowboys needed to break a play at some point in the game.

Things would be much easier for the Cowboys offense if the opposing defense was forced to respect the Cowboys running game.