I was sitting watching football today, and as it usually is in december the Cowboys were losing. And throughout the entire game i continued to get text making fun of the Cowboys, filled with personal insults and profanity. It got me to thinking, is the only reason i watch sports to either brag to my friends about my team winning, or making fun of their team losing. I mean think about it, whenever your team wins a game what do you say to your friends who are fans of a different team. I know what i do, i come to school all decked out in my Cowboys gear, smack talking everybody, thats just the way our society has become. Dont get me wrong i love the team, and the tradition. But i think we as fans have gotten away from what being a fan really is. It's not just a way to vent our pent up aggresion, its about enjoying a sport you love, and supporting your favorite teams. I know that i am as guilty as anybody when it comes to being an angry fan and making fun of other peoples teams. I have put a lot of holes in the wall just for watching my team lose. And when i think about it, it just makes me angry at mayself and for what has happened to pro sports. And im sorry if you dont agree with me, but i just had to vent a little bit because im just really sick of people making sports personal. It's especially sad when someones trash talking a team that is arguably the greates NFL franchise ever and their team is the Cincinnati Bengals. I mean come on, at least if your going to make fun of a team, your team should at least have won a super bowl. (Sorry for the crack bengals fans, there okay). Anyways i just want people to realize that sports are more than trash talk and yelling.

Im sure that if any of you have read my blog before that i am a baseball enthusiast. But you may also like to know that i do know a little about football. Being a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan and living everywhere besides Dallas in my life has presented me with some challanges before. But i being a Cubs fan i know how to handle these issues. Anyways i wanted to do a post about this football season thus far and preview the upcoming Cowboys @ Packers game.

The coolest thing to see in a football season is how hyped up fans get in a city where there team is competetive and in the playoff race. Living near Cincinnati i get to see Bengal fever everywhere, theres a lot of "Who Dey" cheering and talking about Chad Ochocinco. Cincinnati is a fun football city, and i think everyone has been suprised at how well they've played thus far, and you have to give Pete Prisco some props because he totaly called that one ( I know i laughed when i first saw it). But the Bengals are for real, Cedric Benson has been a beast, when you rush over a 100 yards on the Ravens twice in a season that is impressive. Carson Palmer is always a legitamate QB, he is a great leader and winner and has all the physical tools of a good QB. Then you have the imfamous Chad Ochocinco, he may talk a lot but he has been showing what he can do week in and week out on the field. And the Bengals defense has been outstanding, i think when i looked at them this season this was the only part of the team i knew would be good for sure. They have two lockdown corners in Hall and Joseph, a solid linebacking core and are really dominating opponents. They now sit atop their divison at 6-2 and are coming up to their most important game thus far in the season at Pittsburgh. If they win it they will gain a bigger lead in the divison and will have beat the Steelers both times this season, if they lose they will fall to second place. I will be very interested to see how it plays out, because i think the Steelers are a much better team now than that last time they played.

Now when we start talking about the Boys (Dallas Cowboys) the first thing i want to say is how about Miles Austin. He has accumulated 612 yards and 7 tds on only 27 receptions. He is really responsible for the Cowboys turn around this season. He gives the Cowboys that instant offense threat. Lets take the Eagles game for example, the games tied at 13 each and with one catch Austin goes 49 yards for a TD to give the Cowboys the lead and the eventual win. Roy Williams is starting to get in a rythm with Romo and hopefully he can continue to get better to give the Cowboys another awesome option to throw to. Witten hasnt put up the same numbers from last season but he is again the most reliable reciever on the team. He continues to make key 3rd down conversions and is the saftey valve for Romo, if no one else is open it goes to Witten. With all of those receiving options the Cowboys also have an awesome 3 back system that is working great. As you might have seen Tashard Choice is becoming the Wild Cat option, but in my opinion he is really emerging into the Cowboys best option. He is the most consistent of their backs, Felix Jones is the "Home Run" threat, he has tremendous speed and can break games open with big runs. And of course everyone knows Marion Barber, the physical runner, he is still the used the best in the 4th quarter where he can run over the tired defenses. The biggest improvment for the Boys aside from Miles Austin is the defense. They have really stepped it up. They have always been a pressure defense with guys like DeMarcus Ware, and Jay Ratliff but now the secondary is really starting to play to their potential. Mike Jenkins got his 3rd pick of the season on Sunday and a lot of analysts are raving about him, and with Terrence Newman on the other side they are becoming a hard team to pass on. And the 3rd reason why the Cowboys have improved is the maturation of Tony Romo, he is protecting the ball a lot better. He has a 9-1 TD-INT ratio during the Cowboys 4 game win streak. He isnt fumbling or getting picked off. All of these factors are making the Cowboys a force to be reckoned with.

I really like the match up this weak against the Packers, the Cowboys beat them last year and i think it will be a similarly good game for the Boys. The Packers main struggle this season has been protecting Aaron Rodgers, their O-Line has allowed a league high 37 sacks thus far this season. Basicaly we're looking at a bad O=Line going against one of the better pass rushes in the league. Im guessing Rodgers gets sacked at least 4 times. Now Rodgers is a great QB but the O-Line really hurts the Packers. Also their defense realy hasnt caused the amount of presure the thought it would. The game should be close the 1st half but i think the Boys can put it away late in the 3rd quarter. The Boys are hot, and they have a balanced offensive attack, the Packers are cold (lost to the Buccanears last week) and like i said they can't protect the QB, and eventualy Rodgers is going to get hurt.