“Well,” it said, “before I begin let me make a correction. I said last week that UTEP was playing Mississippi at home. Wrong. It’s an away game for the Miners and it’s going to make it even tougher for the Miners to win that one. And, of course, the Miners open the season with mighty Oklahoma at the Sun Bowl Sept. 1.
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“OKAY, WITH that out of the way, let’s talk about America’s Team. Hopes are high. Their officials and fans are even talking about a Super Bowl. They could make it but there are hurdles.
“There’s something missing on the team, and it’s not just quarterback Tony Romo’s fault. I mean, he’ll go down as one of the greatest quarterbacks not to win a Super Bowl if it doesn’t happen soon. Did you know his quarterback rating going into this season is 96.9, which ranks second all time in the National Football League?”
I COULDN’T argue against that statistic. “Why hasn’t he won a Super Bowl then?” I asked.
“It’s the coaching,” the crystal ball said. “Do you realize Romo hasn’t had a topnotch coach since his first season as a starter in the NFL? He joined the Cowboys in 2003 when Bill Parcells was head coach. Now there’s a coach. But Parcells took his time giving the quarterback reins to Romo and only did it after he replaced Drew Bledsoe with Romo during the 2006 campaign. After that season Parcells resigned and Romo had to suffer through four seasons with Wade Phillips, a likeable chubby guy but hardly a genius.
“After Phillips was canned during the 2010 season, Romo had to break in a new coach, Jason Garrett. He’s another nice fellow but was totally inexperienced as a head coach. Garrett has shown promise, and he’s had some experience now and maybe he will join the list of top NFL coaches.”
I INTERRUPTED. “Do you think it will be this year?” I asked. The crystal ball shrugged its shoulders. “Don’t know,” it said. “We’ll just have to wait and see. There’s only one position more important than the quarterback on a football team, and that’s the head coach. Romo has proven his efficiency. Garrett must do so now. A coach must not only come up with good strategies and plays, he must keep players in tip-top condition and inspire and motivate them. That has been lacking with the Cowboys for years.”
I thought for a while then said, “Okay, but can you give us any idea of how many games you think the Cowboys will win this year?”
THE CRYSTAL ball thought for a while then said, “Let me see. It’s pretty hard for a team to repeat as Super Bowl champ so the New York Giants won’t be as ‘up’ as they were last year. Maybe like other teams that won a previous Super Bowl they’ll think all they have to do is show up and they’ll win. That’s a recipe for losses.
“And I’m enthused that coach Garrett is emphasizing conditioning with the Cowboys more this season. I guess he learned how conditioning helped Giants coach Tom Coughlin win last year’s crucial games coming from behind. Coughlin proved that conditioning is a must factor in winning.
“Frankly, I don’t see a team outside of the Giants on the Cowboys’ regular season schedule this season that the Cowboys don’t stack up well against. I’m going to predict 11 victories.”
ON THAT happy note, I thanked the crystal ball and put it back in its drawer. I walked away feeling pretty good about America’s Team.