Whether you've reached the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt's End:
*Dear NFL owners, you're a slimy lot. Signed, Everyone. Basically on Thursday the owners ratified a proposal, not an agreement. They made a deal with themselves. Then -- with darting eyes that screamed, "Are we really going to get away with this?!" -- they tried to pressure the players into recertifying as a union. It's unscrupulous, and it's illegal. I don't blame the players for taking their time and signing the 10-year contract on their terms. And Panthers owner Jerry Richardson is creepiest of all, trying to trumpet the owners giving in on an 18-game schedule when the issue was never even broached because the players, from the outset, deemed it "non-negotiable." The owners are the sleazy used-car sales guy, and they're treating players as first-time buyers.
*If it wasn't so sad, it'd be funny. Josh Hamilton's daytime struggles, that is. Ol' blue eyes has resorted to trying drops, eye-lid scrubs and sunglasses. But Thursday in Anaheim he went 0 for 3 and by his last at-bat the shades were gone. Hope this thing gets fixed before daytime ALDS and ALCS starts arrive. Of course at this point the problem is in Josh's head, not his eyes.
*Don't be surprised if the Cowboys wind up moving their first preseason game -- scheduled for August 11 -- to the weekend of August 13 to 14. Probably on that Sunday. Also, as we wrote last month, expect Cowboys Stadium to have an in-game MC along the lines of the Mavs' Chris Arnold. Hintyhinthint: Don't be surprised if it's a familiar voice.
*Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay left a game this week in Chicago with heat exhaustion. Temperature was 91. The Rangers would kill for 91 degrees for first pitch in Arlington.
*Butt-Head: "This is like a family tree ... if your family was made of whores." They're back in October. Yesss!
*Looking forward to tonight's 105.3 The Fan Softball Turf War at Big League Dreams Sports Park in Mansfield. Best part: All proceeds and donations will go to the memorial fund set up for the family of Shannon Stone. The fallen firefighter's parents will be on hand. Hopefully a healthy check and some horrible softball will provide the family a respite from their indescribable grief.
*Hot.
*Not.
*It pays to play for the Mavericks. J.J. Barea has reportedly knocked up his Miss Universe girlfriend, and former forward Kris Humphries is marrying Kim Kardashian next month.
*I'd like to live in a world where one post-sneeze "Bless you" had a 24-hour shelf life. Instead, I live in one where after seven sneezes and seven "Bless you"s, an eighth sneeze without accompaniment prompts an arched eyebrow.
*Just when we were starting to trust Endy Chavez, the Rangers outfielder missed a cut-off man and then dropped an easy fly ball in consecutive one-run losses. Leonys Martin, anyone?
*Heard a dog owner this week praising her pup's loyalty for returning home after escaping through a hole in her fence. But if the dog was truly loyal -- if he really cherished the luxury and convenience of plentiful food, shelter and love -- he wouldn't have fallen for the escape route's temptation in the first place. Though I know some women who have the same attitude toward their husbands: "He can go out and play wherever and with whomever, as long as he comes home to me at the end of the night."
*Let the record show that on July 21 my girlfriend actually posed this question: "What do you want to dress up as for Halloween this year?"
*Cool moment this week when Tony Romo, just toolin' around after a workout, called his favorite radio station to chat football and golf and life with Gavin Dawson.
*If I gave you a hundred guesses, would you have posed that Leon Lett is the former Cowboy joining the coaching staff for training camp? As a player, he was shy to a fault.
*Dead 'n Gone: Telephone operators, phone books, maps and the road atlas. Can't remember the last time I consulted any of 'em. You?
*So, not so fast on that ESPN Longhorn Network eh?
*This weekend? A little softball tonight, followed by taking some punks to Six Flags on Saturday afternoon and then doing radio analysis alongside Greggo and Wally Lynn on the Dallas Vigilantes Arena League game Saturday night on 1190 AM. Sunday feels like a good day for some pool volleyball and then the season premiere of HBO's Entourage. Don't be a stranger.
