Write On Sports

With quarterback Tony Romo, running back Felix Jones, and cornerback Terence Newman not set to play in this game, and then proceeding to lose Anthony Henry and Jason Witten during this game, the Cowboys were a team without a healthy roster. And without a healthy offense, the Cowboys’ defense needed to step up and play a strong game. And they did just that.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers scored NO TOUCHDOWNS as the Dallas Cowboys eeked out a narrow 13-9 victory. The Buccaneers did not, however, go down without a fight as they moved all the way to the Cowboys’ 20 yard line with less than 30 seconds remaining. But the Cowboys’ defense was not to be scored on today for a touchdown, so they held Tampa Bay at bay until the Buccaneers threw a 4th down incomplete pass.

It was not a strong game for the struggling Cowboys offense who, without Romo, is not the same team. But the 13 points were enough give them the win and to keep them close to 1st place as their record now stands at 5-3. Next week, however, is their biggest game of the year as they take on the World Champion New York Giants and will still be without their star quarterback, Tony Romo.

Brad Johnson most certainly has his work cut out for him and the Cowboys’ defense must REALLY step up against a fiery, well-coached Giants’ team, quite possibly the strongest team in football at the moment.

We’ll hope the best for the Dallas Cowboys in next week’s battle.

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life

The Dallas Cowboys were blasted tonight, 34-14, by one of the worst teams in all of the NFL, the St. Louis Rams. The Rams were 1-4 coming into the game, while Dallas was 4-2. Now the Cowboys are 4-3, and are 2 games behind the first place World Champion Giants, who defeated the S.F. 49ers while the Cowboys failed to show up.

When Bradie James, Cowboys’ linebacker, was told last week of Tony Romo’s injury to his throwing hand, James said, “Wow!”, and then proceeded to talk about how the Cowboys had to now step up and play harder. Well, it wasn’t a surprise that the Cowboys’ offense sputtered without Romo. But what happened to the Cowboys’ defense? Were their little pinkies also injured?

The Cowboys now have to decide whether or not to try and play Romo next week, although Romo’s hand will probably not be ready for NFL football by that time. His replacement, 40-year-old Brad Johnson, was extremely ineffective and could never get the Cowboys rolling in this one.

The now 4-3 Dallas Cowboys must get it together and play the kind of football that such a talented team is capable of. There are still 9 games to go, and a good run of successive wins here would have them no worse off than last year, at 13-3. But it must begin next week. Otherwise, next year could begin very soon.

What’s your opinion?  We’d like to know.

M. Dean
Write On Sports/Muhammad Ali Life

It has now been exactly 33 years since Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier met for the third and final fight between these two great warriors of the ring. It is again a reminder of just how quickly time flies, for it seems like it was only a few short years ago that the evening television news would remind us that Ali was fighting this evening by broadcasting a short clip of Ali making a loud and firm prediction of what he was going to do. You would see and hear Ali proclaiming:

“It’ll be a chiller, and a killer, and a thrilla
when I get the gorilla in Manila!”

Of course, Joe Frazier did not take too kindly to these sort of announcements, but then those who really understood Ali knew that it was just hype and that it was not meant to be taken literally. It was a tactic used for the fight, meant to psyche out the opponent, not to disgrace him. For the Ali that many of us knew was a kind, gentle, and charitable man who, on most occasions, was surprisingly quiet and humble.

But for the purposes of promoting the fight and getting to his opponent, Ali would whip things up into a frenzy if he was able to do so. And on this particular night, while he was the Heavyweight Champion, he was on top of the world and Joe Frazier was his for the taking. A somewhat older Frazier, who had been battered by George Foreman - the same Foreman who Ali knocked out - would be easy pickings now and another payday, so Ali thought. Frazier, on the other hand, had other ideas. He was dead set on taking the title away from Ali.

This fight would begin with Ali looking much stronger than he was in the other two Ali-Frazier bouts, and more dominant through the first couple of rounds. But in the middle rounds, in typical Joe Frazier fashion, we began to see why he was called “Smokin’ Joe”. Frazier began to ’smoke’ and Ali was in for the fight of his life. It was a hot night, and the two of them went at it full force for many rounds. Ali would later claim, “It was the closest thing to death…”, referring to the tremendous pace and energy used and needed to continue on in this fight.

But when the “smoke” cleared, it was Muhammad Ali, the Greatest of All Time, who would come away victorious, as he found a second wind and would put on Joe Frazier a series of blows through rounds 12, 13, and 14 until Frazier’s trainer, Eddie Futch, said “Enough”, and the fight was stopped after the 14th round. Muhammad Ali had retained his title in one of the greatest, and most grueling, heavyweight title fights in the history of boxing.

To read more about the life and career of the great Muhammad Ali, get the biography of Ali called, “The Dancing Master” - by N. Hamid.

You can also visit our website at http://www.muhammadali-life.com

M. Dean
Write On Sports