Whether you're at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt's End
*I was on the field before Cowboys-Redskins talking to an NFL scout I've known for years and he was bemoaning the demise of DeMarcus Ware. Consecutive weeks without a sack against backup tackles were a concern. The stingers in the neck. The surgically-repaired shoulder. The lower back stiffening up. All worries about a 31-year-old. "I'm afraid we're seeing the inevitable decline," the scout said. "Sometimes, it just happens overnight." About four hours later Ware was on the sideline with a pulled thigh muscle that will prompt the first missed game of his Ring-of-Honor career Sunday in Philly. He could be out a month. He might never be the same again.
*Baseball already has its signature game of the playoffs with the Red Sox' rally over the Tigers behind David Ortiz' Grand Slam in Game 2 of the ALCS. But, other than that, zzzzz. I watched both the ALCS and NLCS games last Saturday and what'd I get? 18 innings. 105 outs. 2 runs.
Two. All spliced together by countless slow-motion replays of swings of misses and endless shots of a crowd on the edge of its seat awaiting ... something.
Anything. Late in those games we waited a good 30 - and at times 45 - seconds between pitches. And add another game last night in which a team didn't score. In the five LCS games, three times the losing team has been shut out and in all but one the winning team scored three runs or less. Average score: 2.8-1.4. Don't look now, but this postseason baseball has deteriorated into soccer.
*Remember back when Dez Bryant made us cringe on kick returns with his careless ball security and mental lapses? Yeah, well Dwyane Harris has fixed all that. I detail the two-time NFC Special Teams Player of the Week over at
NBC 5's Blue Star Blog.
*Don't see the movie,
Prisoners. Unless, that is, you want to torture yourself with the most confusing, nonsensical plot involving a maze since
The Shining. Jake Gyllenhaal is a bumbling detective that misses obvious clues and never ever calls for uniformed backup. If you dare try it, please tell me why the little girl in the hospital claims Hugh Jackman was there when she had tape put on her mouth. And if you remember
The Shining, please tell me why Jack Nicholson supposedly seeing himself in old photos at the hotel bar makes him want to kill everyone in sight.
*I don't agree with everything about
this New York Post column penned by Phil Mushnick, but it is thought-provoking. As in, yeah, it's kinda weird how we just mindlessly knee-jerk into "thoughts and prayers" mode for Adrian Peterson, even though the Vikings' running back never even took the time to meet his 2-year-old son that was killed at the hands of another man last weekend.
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Hot.
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Not.
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*The announced crowd at renovated Amon Carter Stadium for TCU-Kansas Saturday was 41,894. Looked more like just the 894. Embarrassing. What, were Frog fans over in Dallas for Texas-OU?
*Oh,
Dallas Morning News, you're not foolin' us. You're trumpeting photos of the
Miss Texas Pole Star Competition as a celebration of fitness and athleticism. C'mon, it's just your version of Hot/Not.
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If you have to fire - then hours later re-hire - a guy in connection with his alleged assault in a classroom, should that guy's name really be associated with your school? Even if his name is Deion Sanders?
*As expected, the overly sensitive Dallas Independent School District has acted overly sensitive, thus confirming its criticized characteristic of being overly sensitive. Translation: Yep, the Spanish teacher who once posed for
Playboy has been fired. At least that's what Cristy Deweese is saying on Twitter. And I trust her more than DISD. She also says she can't do interviews until Nov. 8 and that for the time being she's volunteering at an animal shelter. So yeah, she's a horrible role model for kids.
*Kansas City can gloat about Andy Reid and Alex Smith all it wants, but the power behind the Chiefs' 6-0 start is a defense with five 1st-round draft picks. They have surrendered only 65 points this season. Shoot, the Cowboys allowed 51 in one
game. The Cowboys' 17-16 loss at Arrowhead looks better by the week.
*I know he had the game-winning interception against the Steelers in overtime last season, but to me Sunday was Brandon Carr's best game as a Cowboy. He was in Pierre Garcon's pocket all night and he didn't miss a tackle in the open field.
*If you like to get your Guns Up! I suggest spending your Saturdays at The Hub on Belt Line Road in Addison. Great Texas Tech bar, complete with TD air horn and the fight song blasted from giant speakers. Next best thing to being in Lubbock.
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*Larry Allen is a man of few words. But his Hall-of-Fame hands are fingers full of rings. This is what he was presented with at halftime Sunday in Arlington. Very cool.
*ESPN this morning spent a segment on "Kenny Mayne is back." They actually try to convince us that their anchors are "stars" who do anything more than read off the teleprompter. Sorry, we're smarter than that. Right, Matt Barrie (wink)?
*Nick Foles or Michael Vick? Eagles' coach Chip Kelly won't tell us who's going to start at quarterback Sunday against the Cowboys. We know who Eagles' receiver Riley Cooper wants it to be. No, not because of
that. Because he caught four passes for 120 yards and a touchdown from Foles last week in Tampa.
*While you were enjoying a good night's rest after Cowboys 31, Redskins 16 I was still at the stadium after midnight breaking it down on NBC 5.
Proof.
*Today? I'll be in Fort Worth again. Bzzzzz. Don't be a stranger.
