Write On Sports

The Dallas Cowboys are showing the NFL that they may be back as a powerhouse team. With sportswriters expecting Dallas to run into a roadblock against the Chicago Bears’ stingy defense, the Cowboys and Tony Romo continued their offensive explosiveness with a convincing 34-10 victory over the defending NFC Champion Bears.

Tony Romo was 22-of-35 for 329 yards and 2 touchdowns for the now 3-0 Dallas Cowboys. And although he did not score a touchdown in the game, the explosive and ever-controversial Terrell Owens caught 8 passes for 145 yards, several of them coming at a point where the game was tied at 3-3 and Dallas needed some offensive life.

Not only was the Cowboys’ offensive superb, but they held the Bears to only one touchdown on their home field and Anthony Henry broke the Bears’ backs with a 28-yard interception for a touchdown, giving Dallas a commanding 27-10 lead and basically putting the game away for the Cowboys.

This is best start for a Dallas Cowboys team in quite some time, and I am sure that many around the NFL will now be looking closely to see if “America’s Team” is going to make a run again towards the Super Bowl, which they’ve won 5 times already, more than any other team in NFL History.

We’ll see how the season continues to progress.

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life

Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton

When you look at Muhammad Ali’s life and boxing career, you may notice that the month of September has been both a very eventful month and a very difficult month for the greatest heavyweight champion of all time.

First, in 1966 he fought Karl Mildenberger in Germany, which he won by a 12th round knockout. Second, in September 1972, he had his 2nd showdown with former champion Floyd Patterson in New York, winning by a knockout in the 7th. In September 1973, Muhammad Ali met Ken Norton in the 2nd of their three fights, this time avenging his previous, broken-jaw loss to Norton. Ali won this time on a 12-round decision.

In September of 1976, things got a bit tougher for Muhammad Ali. He and his wife of many years, Khalilah Ali, filed for divorce. In the same month in 1976, Ali had his third and toughest bout with Ken Norton in New York’s Yankee Stadium. This fight was extremely difficult for Ali, although he got the close decision in a hard-fought 15-round battle.

The next September, 1977, didn’t turn out to be too much easier for Muhammad Ali, as he did battle with hard-hitting Earnie Shavers in one of Ali’s toughest battles. After retirement, whenever Ali was asked, “Who hit you the hardest in all of your fights?”, Ali would always say, “Earnie Shavers”. It was an extremely difficult fight for Muhammad Ali, and was one of several fights that should have been his last.

September 1978 marked both a great triumph for Ali and a very historic fight on the same night. He had lost his title in a previous match with Leon Spinks, so on this historic September 15th night, Muhammad Ali became the first heavyweight in boxing history to win the title 3 times, by defeating Spinks in a 15-round rematch in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was also historic because it would be the final victory in boxing for the great Muhammad Ali.

Three more Septembers in later years would be much worse for Muhammad Ali. In September 1984, Muhammad Ali would be diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Then in September of 1987, Ali would lose his long time motivator and cornerman, Drew “Bundini” Brown, who passed away that month.

Even worse for Muhammad Ali was September of 1994, when his dear mother died at the age of 77.

September has been a very difficult and historic month for Muhammad Ali, in a life and career which has seen many triumphs, trials and tribulations. And through it all, Muhammad Ali has come out of it as a world hero, the most famous face on the planet earth, and as far as boxing is concerned, he was as he said he was: The Greatest of All Time.

For more on the life and career of Muhammad Ali, see the new book, “The Dancing Master: A Concise Biography of Muhammad Ali“. Also visit the website at www.muhammadali-life.com.

The Dallas Cowboys opened their NFL Season in superb fashion. With a little more than 11 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, Dallas led the NY Giants 38-22. The Giants’ Eli Manning promptly marched the team downfield and scored a touchdown, but missed the 2-point conversion. Dallas led 38-28. But the Giants got the ball back, and suddenly it appeared the Cowboys were in for a meltdown.

What Cowboy fans feared happened. The Giants scored again, on a 10 yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress, his third touchdown of the game. It was now 38-35, just a three-point game. Crunch time for Dallas.

When the Cowboys got the ball, they were put into jeopardy again by a 5-yard false start penalty against Flozell Adams, making it 2nd and 12 on the Giants’ 46. A five yard run by Julius Jones made it 3rd and 7, and the Cowboys looked to be in big trouble.

Suddenly, the Cowboys’ QB hero and goat of last year, Tony Romo, came up with a 51-yard TD pass to Sam Hurd, and the Cowboys’ victory was pretty much secured from that point. Dallas won the game, 45-35.

Hopefully, this is the start of a good season for the Dallas Cowboys. Let’s see how the rest of the season unfolds.

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life

The Colts look like they are ready to defend their title. They look as though they are preparing for the next Super Bowl. They have begun where they left off…playing like the best team in football. But is it too early yet to tell? Read the story of their Game One victory below:

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life

At long last, it’s here. It is time for the NFL season to begin. The Indianapolis Colts will kick off the defense of their Super Bowl Championship in the season’s first game, against the New Orleans Saints.

A season’s preview can be viewed below:

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life

In light of the Michael Vick case, I just thought this was one FUNNY way that someone chose to deal with Vick’s mistreatment of dogs.

What else can one say except “Funny and Appropriate”?

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life

Remember this name: Clay Buchholz. And if you can pronounce it, maybe you can remember it. But this 23-year old Boston Red Sox pitcher did what only TWO other pitchers have done in the last 107 years — throw a no-hitter in his 1st or 2nd major league start. It was his 2nd major league start, having been called up just hours before the game. He had pitched previously for the Sox about two weeks ago, and was sent back to the minors. He was recalled to the Red Sox on Saturday, then came in and pitched a no-hitter. Phenomenal.

The Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 10-0 with brilliant no-hitter. This same Baltimore Orioles team found themselves on the losing end of a 30-3 loss just 11 days ago, so they are finding themselves at the top of the baseball news bulletins for all the wrong reasons.

Congratulations to Clay Buchholz, who is also only the 21st rookie to pitch a no-hitter in the last 107 years. We hope we will see more great pitching from this Boston Red Sox rookie.

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life

It hasn’t taken too long. After a well-celebrated U.S. debut for David Beckham on July 21st, it seems to have all come quickly crashing to an end (at least for this season).

Slightly more than a month after beginning with the L.A. Galaxy of American Soccer, David Beckham has suffered what appears to be a season-ending knee injury.

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life