Archive for October 24th, 2006
The scene was electric. Irving, Texas. Monday Night Football. Cowboys vs. Giants. Veteran Dallas quarterback Drew Bledsoe is not exactly setting the world on fire, but in spite of a lackluster first half, his Cowboys only trail 12 - 7. That’s not good enough for the Dallas faithful. They have a hard-on for Tony Romo, their backup quarterback. Bledsoe is old and slow. Tony is the man to lead them to the promised land. They’re screaming for Romo as the first half ends.
They’re screaming harder for Romo as the second half begins. What happens? Onto the field trots Tony Romo! The roar is deafening. Romo gets a standing ovation. I kid you not. A standing freaking ovation for a guy who has thrown exactly two passes in the NFL.
Everyone loves a Cinderella story. In part, because they’re so rare. This wasn’t one. Romo throws an interception on his very first play, and in spite of looking good at times, he throws a total of three interceptions in half a football game, and turns a close Monday night battle into a 36 - 22 ass-kicking. Only a late junk touchdown by Dallas prevented the score from looking as bad as the Cowboys did.
In the words of Stan Marsh, I’ve learned something today:
Lesson #1: Football is a game of preparation. You spend a week assembling the combination of personnel, strategy and training necessary to combat that week’s opponent. If you’re going to swap out personnel in mid-game at your most important position, you should have a better reason than a few thousand screaming drunks who think it would be a keen idea.
Lesson #2: Just because your starter sucks, doesn’t mean his backup doesn’t suck harder.