Blogs Like a Girl

The Book I Just Finished Reading That You Should Be Reading

 

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham.

It is a pretty good book if you are into the whole research thing. A good book if you like history. A really good book if you like POTUS Andrew Jackson. Or, in my case, if you love anything that sheds light on our current political climate, this book rocks.

I love politics. They are like sports only with crazier athletes who take themselves way more seriously and not nearly as fun to watch. And the crazy we are seeing in 2011 is practically a repeat of Jackson’s day. Politics is a lot like soap operas, too, regurgitating the same plot lines.

They were fighting the debt (Jackson threw a party when the debt was paid off under his watch), they were fighting about states rights versus what is best for the union (it was just as snarky back then albeit more eloquent) and the political discourse was nasty. The debates they were having back then seem instructive today in light of the fact the Democrats and Republicans sole policy seem to be trashing the other side. And especially in light of the shooting of Gabby Giffords, which has everybody talking about political discourse in breathy tones. The one I like particularly came from Edward Livingston railing against the hazards of blind and unmoving partinsanship.

In Livingston’s words: “The spirit of which I speak creates imaginary and magnifies real causes of complaint; arrogates to itself every virtue--denies every merit to its opponents; secretly the worst designs… mounts the pulpit, and, in the name of God of mercy and peace, preaches discord and vengeance; invokes the worst scourges of Heaven, war, pestilence, and famine, as preferable alternatives to party defeat; blind, vindictive, cruel, remorseless, unprincipled, and at last frantic, it communicates its madness to friends as well as foes; respects nothing, fears nothing.”

He called this “excess of party rage” and I wish he were around now to talk sense into both sides. Of course, I’d love to have an Andrew Jackson on the ballot to vote for as well.

 -- jengel

All Of This Twitter-crushing On #Fisher Makes Me Like The #RHG Even More

We here at The Engle House have spent Thursday watching Mavs on TV-reading Olivia for the 457th time-debating what coach we'd hire if everyone was in play.

This is how we roll, all domestic and boring.

My better half said: Bill Belichick.

I said: Mike Tomlin.

Of course, I'd definitely take Belichick as my backup. And he'd take Tomlin as his.

What is more instructive about the answer is what it reveals about your risk tolerance. Obviously, Belichick is a genius and has a long track record of just out bettering everybody. Tomlin has had recent success but is obviously younger and a couple of years removed from being an assistant people only had kind of, sort of heard of. A lot of fans and media do not like guys like him. They want a guy who has been somewhere else and more than likely failed (or why else are they available). This is why you see so much of this nonsense about how the Cowboys should have waited for Fisher. I like Fisher. He is a good dude. What I like better is the idea that the Cowboys could have hired the next Tomlin.

Is it a risk? Hell yes. But that is also how I roll.

So, assuming everybody is in play, who would be your Cowboy coach?

-- jengel 

Wait, Jerry Jones Said What About His #Cowboys?

As if life were not bad enough for Cowboy fans, with Pittsburgh and Green Bay all set to infiltrate JerryWorld on Super Sunday, Owner Jones had to go and make things worse.

By being him.

He talked Cowboys with local media types from The Senior Bowl and his lack of self awareness about his team was disturbing. His scariest thoughts, especially if they affect this offseason, in WHAT order.

3. "It would have been hard for me to draw it up any better."

This was Jerry on how much he loved the Steelers-Packers matchup. Which is a lie. He easily could have drawn it up better. Cowboys versus anybody. Or anybody except the nemesis of the 1970s Cowboys. Or teams that do not underline what is fundamentally flawed about the Cowboys.

2. "I think the fact that they’re here at this time tells you what Jason [Garrett] feels about him. So, I think that’s safe to say."

This was in answer to a question about whether a Cowboy assistant being in Mobile suggested their job was safe. Yay, everybody comes back. Wait, why is every coach who wanted to be back (except for Ray Sherman) welcomed back? Pretty sure the Cowboys were a gigantic failure last year, and changes were promised. If this turns out to be the case, Sherman really did get jobbed. 

1. "Frankly our corners -- if you compare us to other teams across the league -- we're in good shape at corner. ... And safety -- we were strong there last year."

Wow. Just wow.

How can anybody who watched more than a game of Cowboy football in 2010 not want to fire everybody in the secondary? And if the eyeball test was not convincing enough, there are stats. Ugly stats about finishing 26th in pass defense and giving up more passing TDs than anybody else in the league. Everybody had better hope Jerry was just trying to run a fake on his draft day plans.

-- jengel 

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/01/24/2793479/jerry-jones-switches-focus-to.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz1C4p8vFUR

The #AFC Championship Column I Wanted To Write

Journalists root. Anybody who tells you otherwise is lying.

We root for good stories, for good guys, for karma to catch up with those who aren't, for happy endings, for guys who have persevered, for comebacks, for underdogs, for games to end well before deadline and, yes, for guys we covered when we and they were just starting out.

Full disclosure: I was rooting for The NYJ on Sunday, for that reason.

Not cheering in the press box rooting, and not fully invested rooting like I do for Mizzou when my stomach gets all twisted in knots and I feel like I am going to vomit the whole game. No, I was hoping the Jets would win because I wanted to see running back LaDanian Tomlinson return to Fort Worth and practice and TCU and play in a Super Bowl. And I wanted to tell his story, not the good guys makes good version or the redemption version but the one about the kid I knew while just a kid myself covering TCU for the S-T.

I was like 12. He was somehow younger.

Covering TCU was my big break. And he was a big deal.

I barely knew him when I got the call that Tomlinson and former Frogs basketball player Lee Nailon had been arrested outside of a Comfort Inn on suspicion of marijuana use. Nothing was ever tied to him. Charges were dropped. It was not a big deal, and Nailon basically laughed. What I remember, though, was then Frogs coach Dennis Franchione sitting us both down -- LT and I -- and demanding his star running back explain himself. What transpired should be an example for any athlete in trouble. 

LT did not blame anybody else. He talked about how sorry he was for putting himself and his team in a bad position. He talked about learning from his mistake, and he actually did. He did not have to do any of this. It was the summer, and it probably would have fizzled. It is a reminder to everybody that we all screw up and it is how we handle our mistakes that matters.

I covered exactly two TCU games after that before going to the Stars beat but LT will always be one of the good guys to me. And I am sad he is not getting a chance to come home and play in a Super Bowl.

-- jengel

 

 

#Mavs Fans Stop, No Seriously Just Stop

I exited Fort Worth for balmy and beautiful Pittsburgh amid a torrent of Mav hypotheticals being blasted via all mediums.

* The Mavs need to trade for Carmelo Anthony/Kirk Hinrich/Tayshaun Prince/any slightly decent player capable of pumping hope into an otherwise floundering team.

* Adding Peja Stojakovic is a) The answer b) The prudent course c) A sign of total desperation.

* Dirk is crazy hurt, and thus has not bee playing well, and only playing because The Mavs are in crazy trouble.

* Coaching. When in doubt, blame coaching. It is Nellie, no Avery, no Rick's fault.

So on the long, long, long flight to PItt I, too, began trying to figure out ways to bail water on yet another Mavs season, going over all the trade possibilities so en vogue right now and trying to think of a player capable of givingthis Mavs team (and really The Big German) a chance at a championship. And what I determined is that player does not exist, not for this team, not as presently comprised. Nor has he, not for a while.

It was only a couple of seasons ago we were told that JKidd was the answer, then Caron Bulter and now Peja. What nobody seems to want to say is that, maybe, the player does not exist because the team is fundamentally flawed in terms of having a big-time playoff impact. The problem is they are not good enough. And instead of addressing the big problem of "Why?", they fix all of the little ones that in the end have them out in the first or second round yet again. I know why, kind of. And I really do feel bad for Dirk who is watching his window get smaller and smaller and yet little changing around him.

The answer, unfortunately, is bigger than a trade-deadline fix. It calls for big changes.

-- jengel

A Couple Of Thoughts On Mavs Smackdown Of Lakers

1. Love how this Mavs team fights and claws and fights. Especially loved how Tyson Chandler battled through flu-like symptoms in that second half. Very hocky player of him. He has very quickly become my favorite Mav not named Dirk.

2. The game, this team, this season feels like another tease, you know how it is going to end but every once in a while they get your hopes up. Either by playing out of their minds like at the beginning of the season, or by beating LA, or with some JJB type who looks real deal. The Wednesday story was JKidd and JTerry, flashing what it might be like if they were consistently good. The problem is I have seen this episode and know exactly how it ends, and it is not well. Those shots rarely go down for JKidd in the playoffs and Jason Terry is 50/50 for runway landings when it matters. So as much as I hate to say this, Wednesday was a mirage. It was Haley's Comet. It was like a good Kesha song. They come along every once in a great while but do not count on them.

3. What is up with booing Cowboys QB Tony Romo? Has everybody gone nuts? Or am I really just so far in the tank for this guy that I am incapable of seeing his boo worthiness? Seriously, anybody who thinks Romo is the biggest problem on this team needs to explain it to me. He is the only thing keeping it afloat a lot of times. Try going to Marion Barber's house and boo from the sidewalks. Your breath is better served there.

-- jengel

Why Trading Dez Is "Inception Fail", Or Worse

The S-T had a blog quoting Cowboys VP Stephen Jones trying to combat a “story” that started as a talk-radio hypothetical that became a “story” when a Cowboy source said the hypothetical was something he would think about.

I think I have this right. Do not kill me if not. I am confused.

And apparently, I am not alone in said confusion.

In my years covering Valley Ranch as a beat writer and now as a columnist, the first lesson you learn is it does not matter what anybody is thinking unless his name is Jerry Jones. Everybody else is entitled to think big thoughts, toss around crazy hypotheticals and suggest any and all kinds of changes at Valley Ranch. It just does not make the leap from crazy talk to “story” unless Jerry is the one thinking it.

The only possible exceptions to this rule are Jimmy Johnson (long gone), Bill Parcells (gone) and Stephen Jones who reminds me very much of the Leo DiCaprio character in Deception. People always are tying to get him to plant ideas in Jerry’s brain, the trick being that Stephen has to make him believe they were his ideas all along or the brain will reject them.

And whoever wants the idea for trading Dez Bryant planted has best give up that silliness now. Not happening for all kinds of reasons, including but not limited to Jerry loves Dez, Jerry loves that he was right about Dez, Jerry does not trust Miles.

So enough. Dez is not being traded.

Of course, I am willing to take suggestions for what idea Cobb/Leo/Stephen needs to try to implant in Jerry’s mind next.

My short list: You are not needed on draft day. And let’s call The Jimster about a GM role.

Greetings (yet again) From a Resolution Slacker

 

On my list of New Year’s resolutions, “restart Blogs Like A Girl” fell between become fluent in another language and become more involved at my church.

Alas my Rosetta Stone DVDs remain untouched, NFL playoffs have prevented anything close to perfect church attendance much less active participation and my blog stayed dormant. I had good intentions, of course. Who doesn’t in January?

The problem with me is I always am waiting until I have time to do it perfectly, and I barely have time to do my hair. Flying back, or more accurately trying to fly back, from Chicago on Monday, it hit me that there are no perfectionists in motherhood.

Or no sane ones.

Monday was typical for me, excessively planned and with very little wiggle room. There was breakfast in Chicago with one of my bffs, a flight to D-FW to allow me to spend time with my daughter before a attending a planning meeting for fundraisers to generate scholarships and then attending a Bachelor watching party with friends.

Of course, I’d find time to tweet/blog/handle radio obligations while at the airport and finish Freedom by Jonathan Franzen while “unplugged” in flight.

You know where this is going, right? The flight cancelled and American rebooked me on a connecting flight through Saint Louis that was delayed for de-icing and then landed in C when I parked at A and what was supposed to be two hours turned into closer to seven and I just barely arrived in time to read Olivia to Vivian before bedtime.

The ugly truth? Some days I miss the beginning of the Mavs game because we are dancing around the living room to Beyonce, and I have missed a few bed times because I was at a Rangers game. I do not pretend this makes me original. We are all making choices. I have good friends who gave up careers they loved to stay home, and friends who gave up having kids for careers they love. And the smaller but nonetheless significant choices the rest of us make every day about how to juggle where to be.

And as I am typing, I am thinking this not like the other sports blogs and, maybe, I should just give you some generic “what the Mavs need to do is …” or “Rob Ryan rocks because …” and pretend that I spend every waking second on sports, sports, sports.

I do not. And so what.

If that is your favorite flavor, there is plenty of that to be clicked upon locally and nationally. This is me, and this is why I originally chose to call this Blogs Like A Girl.

I love sports. I also love music, and being a mom to Vivian, and traveling, and reading, and shoes (I really love shoes), and yoga and gardening and my husband and Fort Worth and politics and religion and cooking and celebrity gossip and 457 other things that only tangentially have anything to do with who the Cowboys need to draft which I also have a very strong opinion about, btw.

And so we begin.

-- jengel

Follow me on Twitter @engeljen, friend me on Facebook @ Jen Engel and on good, pretty paper @ star-telegram.com