Badmike wrote:
Nice one!!!!!  

Like Deadlord says, I think the Pats have done what several successful teams in history have done, and that is create a successful system. At the bottom of each success story, there it is.  However, you do have to have a few special players to implement the system.  In Bellicheat's case it is Brady; in the Cowboys case it is Romo.  Trade those two players between teams, both teams would be as successul. Eliminate them off the teams, and you would be shocked at the level of talent drop...I'm talking 8-8, maybe. Sorta like if Favre goes down, that team will become alarmingly normal. Never underestimate a franchise QB (or player) and his effect on a franchise, no matter what the scheme.  Reminds me of good old Phil Jackson, who supposedly can plug anyone into his triangle offense, yet oddly enough has won nothing coaching teams without guys named Jordan and O'Neill.....!  Gee, what a great coach Phil is....

The first full game Romo played, I knew happy days were here for the Cowboys.  Ditto I'm sure the first time Brady for Pats fans.  

The demise of almost any team can be a number of factors, but more often than not it's the departure of a franchise player, followed by sudden lack of depth due to injury or free agency.  A lot of people don't realize the secret to the Cowboys defense in the mid-90s (quick, name someone on the defense besides Deion Sanders) was incredible depth, they basically fielded an entire second team in the second half of games and wore teams down. The Pats Def reminds me of that quitea lot, and the Cowboys Def is getting there

However, let's dont' kid ourselves, if Brady goes down, or Romo, both teams are looking at a .500 record no matter who takes over from the bench.

Mike B.

One caveat:

I said the same thing about the Eagles last year when McNabb went down...and Garcia led them to the playoffs.  But then I think that says more about McNabb's "talent" than anything..... Rush Limbaugh and TO are turning out to be absolutely correct in everything said about the over rated McNabb...

Mike B.

FYI for Americans

REMINDER...3 days from today, all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls.

     To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222.

     It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time.
     It blocks your number for five (5) years.
     You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked.
     You cannot call from a different phone number.

     Please pass on to others as appropriate.  It only takes about 20 seconds to register.

BTW did anyone miss Monday Night Football with the Cowboys and Bills?  You missed one of the best games I've seen this century.  Unbelievable finish.  You got to see:

Tony Romo tie a Cowboy record with five interceptions;

The Bills set an NFL record with two TDs off Ints and one off a kickoff return (never done in NFL history)...

A last three minutes that will be talked about for years to come if the Cowboys win with Romo as their QB;

With the score 24 to 16, the Cowboys got the ball needing a TD and 2 pt conversion to tie and send the game into overtime. Starting on their own twenty, the Cowboys drove downfield taking 3 min 25 seconds to score.....they had to make the 2 pt conversion to tie, but TO was stripped of the ball. Down by two pts, the Cowboys had to attempt an onside kick with 25 seconds on the clock;

Nick Folk, a rookie kicker who earlier that night had made the longest FG of his career (47 yds), hit a beautiful onside kick that squirted downfield until it was fallen on by a Cowboy at the Buffalo 47 yd line. The Cowboys would have one at most two plays to get into FG position;

First play Romo hits TO who got to the Buffalo 25, no time outs.  The Cowboys run downfield to spike the ball with 1 second left, long enough for Folk to attempt a FG. But not so fast....on further review, the refs decided TO had dropped the ball.  So it's ruled an incomplete pass, and the Cowboys get the ball back with 18 seconds;

The Cowboys run two short passing plays and get the ball down to the Buffalo 35, where Folk would attempt a game winning 53 yds FG.  He makes the kick....and it's good!  But wait, the Bills called a time out before the kick .  Folk has to again kick a 53 yarder, the longest of his career;

With 2 seconds left, Folk bangs it AGAIN through the uprights.  COWBOYS WIN!!!!!

Folk is MONEY.  Romo is the reincarnation of Bret Favre (Interceptions and all...).  This team is bound for something great this year.....

Next week the 5-0 Boys vs the 5-0 Pats...it's going to have to be something special to beat this one.

Mike B.

Hey Mike -

I was hanging on the game, and it was one of the best I've seen. Fantastic stuff, how Romo came back from 5 interceptions and a fumble to run the final drive and score I have no idea.

And somehow, the Cubes also managed a win. With four starters (Palmer, Chad Johnson, Westbrook and Peterson) all on byes, I decided to make it harder for myself and not start Rivers - he'd been playing poorly, and the Broncos will be too tough I thought. So I looked to pick up a free agent - Green or Campbell? I decided on Green, which was looking good for about the first 3 minutes of the Miami game.

Luckily the Iguanas were also having problems, so I was 14 up before the Cowboys game. I had Crayton and Jones, Iguanas had Romo and Lynch. Thankfully one of the Romo TD throws was to Crayton so I think I finished ahead. A big comedown after the 229 the Cubes posted a couple of weeks ago, but a win's a win.

Looking forward to next week - I'll be cheering for Dallas (I never thought I'd ever say that, but they've been great to watch so far this year), so go Cowboys!

Regards

Mike

You're right, Romo could easily throw another 7 300 yard games this year - he's already 4 out of 5. He's got a bunch of targets - both tailbacks can catch, Witten is one of the top 3 TE in the league, Crayton is a competent wideout and TO is TO. The Cowboys are strong all over the park.

BTW - I went looking in the monster manual to look up Gelatinous Cube stats. I couldn't find the listing - were Cubes only in the basic rules? If so, would someone mind posting the entry here so I can see how many hit dice my team has?

Regards

Mike

mdr003 wrote:You're right, Romo could easily throw another 7 300 yard games this year - he's already 4 out of 5. He's got a bunch of targets - both tailbacks can catch, Witten is one of the top 3 TE in the league, Crayton is a competent wideout and TO is TO. The Cowboys are strong all over the park.

BTW - I went looking in the monster manual to look up Gelatinous Cube stats. I couldn't find the listing - were Cubes only in the basic rules? If so, would someone mind posting the entry here so I can see how many hit dice my team has?

Regards

Mike

mike the GC is in my monster manual.....

you must have an aussie copy and its worded in some strange aussie format

Al

Templated 3.x versions of the gelatinous cube are here:

. . . http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/eo/20060922a

They are the Advanced Half-Fraal/Half-Gelatinous Cube, the Half-Farspawn/Half-Gelatinous Cube, the Amphibious Gelatinous Cube, and the . . . the . . . Fiendish Gelatinous Cube Monk!

Damn, sounds like an awesome MNF game.  Too bad it wasn't carried here.  I'm totally STOKED about next Sunday's game.

Badmike wrote:
and Brady bags a couple of supermodels during the post game show.

Mike B.

Or Siegfried & Roy.