Hype Can Be Good . . . Premature Celebration, Bad

It's not too often that events live up to their hype. But two did, in almost as many days. First, Tina Fey's spot-on impression of Sarah Palin. She really ought to get an Emmy for that.

Second, but only because it occurred later, was Monday Night Football. The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles definitely earned their spot as one of the premier games of the week.

(Sorry to interrupt but as I'm typing this, I'm watching the post-game show and is it just me or is something fishy with Steve Young's hair? )

It had all the things you want to see in a football game: lots of offense, defense (when it really counted), long bombs, and some added perks for Eagles/Cowboys fans: Donovan McNabb playing and moving well, T.O. doing what T.O. does best - scoring, and Brian Westbrook having a good game. Before you ask, yes, I can and do like both teams. It was a shootout in the first half with both teams racking up almost 60 points - I've definitely seen basketball games with less scoring - which slowed down considerably in the second half, to the Cowboys advantage. Ended up a squeaker with the Cowboys eventually winning by four. I don't know what that was McNabb and the Eagles tried to do in their last two plays of the game, so I'll just chalk that up to good defense by the Cowboys. Overall, it was quite the entertaining outing. So entertaining that they only mentioned Jessica Simpson once, and that was to remark that they hadn't talked about her.

I'll let you check out ESPN.com for the rest of the game round-up because I want to focus here on two events from this game: 1) Tony Romo's fumble and 2) Desean Jackson's "letdown" (aka "do that again and you WILL be gently reminded what city you play in").

First, Romo. Is someone putting baby oil on the footballs these days? (Don't answer that) What's with all the QB fumbles? The hurricanes don't usually make their way to the Irving/Dallas area so I don't think it was the rain. This particular Romo fumble happened near a very bad place - the Cowboys' end zone - which resulted in a touchdown for the Eagles. And just like the Eagles last few plays of the game, I can't really tell what Romo thought he was going to do here.


I can tell you what he was NOT trying to do, and that was go for the ball. I couldn't see it that well in real-time, but if you have DVR, please watch the replay (again) of this one. Not only did he not try to recover the ball, he actually leapt in the total opposite direction (this picture is a second too early to get the effect), no doubt trying not to end up like many other quarterbacks this season ... not playing. Romo made the right decision in not sacrificing himself for one touchdown...even if he made a terrible one in trying to make a play out of no play just seconds before. I just found myself amused watching the slo mo of him leaping clear out of the screen. Had the Cowboys not scored near the end again, no doubt this play would have gotten him a lot of flak. But they won, so it didn't. And once again, winning covers up a multitude of sins.

On to #2. While this game was filled with things you like to see, it also had one glaring thing we all hate to see.

DeSean ("Michael") Jackson, there ought to be some type of award for what you did. For those who didn't catch it, Mr. Jackson, the Eagles rookie wide receiver, caught one of those long bombs from Donovan McNabb. He then proceeded to fool us - and himself - into thinking he was going to score, but just as he was setting foot into hallowed land, he threw the ball away. No, really. He tossed it behind him, into the field, as he crossed into the end zone. Believing he had scored, he spontaneously broke into dance (quite a confident dance for a rookie, I might add).

Well, all that changed in a matter of seconds when it became increasingly clear (after a replay or two) that Jackson had celebrated too early. After a challenge by the Cowboys, sure enough, the refs decided he had indeed not scored. Since there was no camera to catch the side view because of the long throw, it was hard to tell exactly where he broke the plane of the end zone. But he deserved to have the TD taken away for that mess. Thank goodness he only lightly discarded it so that the Eagles ended up with the ball on the ene yard line.

I was incredulous that someone in the NFL would actually put more thought into their post-score dance than they did into actually scoring. I still am. I'd rather refer to someone's actions than call them names (notice the MNF folks called it a "bonehead play" rather than calling Jackson a bonehead) so I'll just stick with that may be one of the most ridiculous plays I've ever seen in my life. I actually can't think of a worse careless error. Only the timing could have been worse, worsened still had the Eagles not eventually scored. Even attempting and missing a 360 dunk on a fast break comes in a distant second.

I was already shaking my head when those ESPN researchers tracked down the video of Jackson doing a forward flip just short of the end zone in an All-American high school football game. That actually made me laugh out loud when I saw it, and again just now while typing this. So he behaved ridiculously once, and now he has done it twice. For Jackson's own good, I'm hoping that the third time is not a charm. Eagles fans have ZERO tolerance for antics like that, and anyone seen in or around the stadium/arena is fair game. I was at that All-Star game when they booed Destiny's Child's entire performance because one of them had on a Lakers jersey. (And if any of those fans also have Jackson on their fantasy teams. . . )

So if you're at Wawa, Jackson, and suddenly get struck in the back of the head with a hoagie, don't say I didn't warn you.