Good morning, all. I hope your week is off to a terrific start.
The Dallas Cowboy’s “America’s Team?” My asterisk they are. Favorites to advance to the NFL’s divisional playoff round, they were embarrassed at home by the Green Bay Packers, 48-32, on Sunday. For years we have heard the Cowboy’s are “America’s Team” but are they? Dallas has not won a Super Bowl since 1995. They have not been to the NFC Title game since 1995.
The Cowboys are all about the hype, propped up by willing accomplices in the media. For nearly three decades they have been post season flops. With this latest playoff defeat, the Cowboys become the first team in NFL history to have three straight seasons of 12 or more wins and not advance to the conference finals.
That owner Jerry Jones is not happy is an understatement. After Sunday’s debacle Jones stated:
“This is one of my (biggest) surprises since I’ve been involved in sport, period.”
As Dallas fell behind Green Bay, social media was abuzz, speculating on when coach Mike McCarthy would be fired and Bill Belichick would be hired. There is merit to this talk. Jones is 81 and knows time is slipping away on his team winning another Super Bowl. Going nearly 30 years without winning a championship is a long time for any team let alone “America’s Team.”
McCarthy and his much-maligned quarterback Dak Prescott are entering the final year of their contracts. Add me to the list of those who would not be surprised if McCarthy goes and Jones hires Belichick. To those who say Jones and Belichick would be like oil and water, well one of Belichick’s mentors, Bill Parcells, coached the Cowboys. Just the other day “Big Tuna” had nothing but praise for Jones. Besides, how delicious would it be for Belichick to win a Super Bowl with the Cowboys, something Parcells could not do? It would be the Patriots all over again, when Parcells got the Pats to the Super Bowl but could not win the big game. We all know what happened in New England, once Belichick arrived. Belichick to Dallas? It could happen.
New media should be ashamed of itself
So let me get this straight. Our Secretary of Defense was missing in action for five days and no one in the mainstream news media realized it? Why in the previous administration, if the Secretary of the Interior was away for half a day, the media was all over the story.
Look, it’s scary enough that the President of the United States did not know his Secretary of Defense was MIA for five days, particularly with the country essentially involved in two wars and on the verge of World War III. (By the way, weren’t all these wars supposed to happen under the previous regime?) Where was ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX News, CNN, MSNBC, NY Times, WaPo and the WSJ? They all assign reporters to the Pentagon. Not one of these entities realized the Secretary of Defense was missing? For five days!!!!!
Do not expect any self-examination by the media for this dereliction of duty. They have been the first to either criticize or defend Lloyd Austin’s absence - depending on the platform’s political leaning - but do not expect any inward analysis. These suits are too busy lobbing fireballs to conduct a self-proctology.
What passes for news in this country today, is nothing more than a greedy, corporate, media framework, disguising its political views as news. Fortunately, many news consumers have recognized this charade. Sadly, journalism for many of these entities is no longer a noble endeavor.
Peacock struts its feathers
A peacock does not start strutting its feathers until late February. NBC’s Peacock streaming service is strutting its feathers today. Following much criticism for placing the AFC wild card game between Kansas City and Miami exclusively on Peacock, NBC is now reaping the windfall from its $110 million investment. Turns out Saturday night’s game was the most streamed event ever, averaging 23 million viewers. Now you know why NBC and the NFL were more than willing to shoulder the criticism for placing the game on Peacock. In the end, it is always about the cha-ching!
Just like the old days
So looking at the TV Listings on Monday morning, I could not help but notice the following-
Steelers vs. Bills- CBS
Eagles vs. Bucs- ABC
That was it! No hunting around the “dial” or scrolling through the remote-guide to learn on which alphabet soup network the games were being televised. One game was on CBS and one was on ABC. For one day, anyway, it was just like the old days.
That is going to do it for this week’s newsletter. As always, thank you for subscribing and have a terrific week!
DAN LOVALLO