Now, don't go getting all flustered and drop your new Madden NFL 07. Though that damned media won't seem to let it die, the only job Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is winning this pre-season is the No. 2 slot, behind No. 1 Drew Bledsoe and in front of ridiculously bad No. 3 Drew Henson. With Terrell Owens still sidelined by a sore hammy, the focus has somehow shifted to a faux competition between Bledsoe and Romo. Yeah, right. Hmm, a future Hall of Famer? Or a guy from Eastern llinois who's never thrown an NFL pass? Decisions, decisions.
After the Cowboys' 30-7 win over the New Orleans Saints in Shreveport last night, one of the first questions posed to coach Bill Parcells sounded like this: "Is Tony Romo your go-to guy?" Fittingly, Parcells' answer sounded like this: Absolute silence. As he should, Romo is doing his best to fan the flames on and off the field. He was six of eight for 138 yards and a touchdown, then afterward proclaimed, "It's an open competition."
In his first pre-season action, Bledsoe was a razor-sharp 12 of 16 with two touchdowns. On KTCK-AM's (1310, The Ticket) pre-game radio broadcast, owner Jerry Jones made a Freudian slip by calling Tony "Troy," but he also silenced the supposed controversy by simply saying, "No, it's just something the media makes up to fill up space here until we get going for real."
In other, sorta-related news, is there anyone on TV more annoying than ESPN sideline reporter Suzy Kolber? I know, she got her start reporting on Cowboys Special Edition with Jerry Jones back in 1990-'91, but these days her forced sideline reports aren't informational, much less entertaining. Listening to her is like starving for a double cheeseburger and being served three White Castle mini-burgers. Last night she ended a ridiculously empty piece on Saints quarterback Drew Brees with, "Brees isn't like any other quarterback. He's dedicated." Dramatic pause. "And driven." Really? No other NFL quarterbacks are driven? Now that's a sideline report we'd actually like to hear. --Richie Whitt
