dhockster

I agree 100% about Marino. He did hate to lose, but overall, he didn't have enough talent around him for the Dolphins to win consistently in the playoffs. I also think you're probably right that a team winning in the playoffs feeds off that and it makes it easier to win in the future. I think Romo has enough talent around him now to win. Whether he can develop as a leader who makes the players around him play better is still an open question. As I have said before, I don't think he is getting any leadership help from the head coach position.

Would you agree with my contention that Peyton Manning is one of the top quarterbacks because he "hates to lose" and this pushes him to his highest potential? If so, did he always have that mindset, or did you see him develop that over his NFL career? I think it is relevent to Romo because I don't think he has that yet. That does not mean he is a bad quarterback or doesn't work hard. That means he may need to get that attitude since his coach doesn't have it, and as of yet, no one on the defense has shown it. Without someone having it, I think the Cowboys playoff record will continue in the same trend it has, despite the talent they have on that team.

Fair comment. It is interesting that comparing Romo and Phillips to McNabb and Reid is probably a pretty fair comparison. Overall, I think Philadelphia has had more playoff success because Reid is respected by his players more than Phillips is, McNabb has been in the same system his whole career, and knows it very well, and the Philadelphia defense has had more leaders (Vincent, Trotter, Dawkins) and a great coordinator (Jim Johnson). Like I said in an earlier post, usually teams that win super bowls have a QB or Coach who hate to lose driving them. I don't think that any of the 4 people mentioned hate to lose enough.

I know the song wasn't popular enough to be on this list, But Nuno Bettencourt's solo on Cupid's Dead by Extreme should be on their somewhere. Unfortunately, Extremes biggest hits were ballads or more folksy (more than words, wholehearted). Nuno Bettencourt rocks as a guitarist.

Very well said. In my mind, A team that wins the superbowl or gets significant playoff wins needs to have talent and no areas of glaring weaknesses. I think they also need to have a leader, usually the QB or coach, who hates to lose. Some QB examples would be Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, Steve Young, Troy Aikman and John Elway. Some Coaching examples would be Bill Parcells, Bill Belichek, Joe Gibbs, and Bill Cowher. You know that when these guys lost, they would do whatever they could to figure out what when wrong and worked on fixing it so it didn't happen again. I think the Cowboys have the talent to win right now, and they don't have any glaring weaknesses. As of yet neither Tony Romo or Wade Phillips or anyone else on the team has shown that they hate to lose enough. Wanting to win is not the same thing as hating to lose. I think Tony Romo has enjoyed being a successful NFL QB and he has not shied away from the celebrity that comes with it. I, as an Eagles fan have been okay with that because I think it has distracted him from making winning in the NFL his one and only priority. His recent breakup with Jessica may be an indication that he is changing. I certainly hope not. I look forward to seeing what this season brings, and seeing if Tony's overall focus has changed. As for the Eagles winning no SB's and Dallas being playoff deficient over the last 12 years, forget all that. 2009 is a new year, and right now everyone has a shot to win it all. Let the games begin!

You are right, he could of had someone telling him to do the right thing and he ignored it. My impression (not factual knowledge) of Steve is based on the good things he did in life was that Steve had good intentions and wanted to help people. Based on this, I think he would have listened to someone calling him out on how he was potentially hurting his wife and kids with his affair. That however, is just speculation on my part. If he did have friends or family calling him out and he ignored them, then I have would have far less empathy and sympathy for McNair. I would be much more likely to label him scum (your word) for putting his personal desires, even after being called out, ahead of the needs of his family. Again, I am not trying to trash McNair or demean the good things he did in life, I am just reacting to people who don't seem to think the fact that he had affair should factor into people's opinion of him.

Good Points. I hope it is not just guys with "side chicks" looking at this situation but guys who have friends with "side chicks". Are you really being a friend to them if you are not calling them out for the potential damage they are doing to their marriage and/or kids?

Okay, I'll bite. No, one mistake in your life does not make you a terrible person. I think Steve McNair, by all accounts, was a good person who got along well with everyone and did good things for the community. I also heard people say he was very involved with his kids and their sports teams. That's great. What we have also heard is that he met a 20 year old waitress six months ago at Dave & Busters, started a relationship with her, went on several exotic vacations with her, spent so many nights at her place that neighbors thought he was living there, and bought her a Cadillac Escalade. In my opinion, a good husband and father sacrifices some things for his wife and his kids. I think one of the things he sacrifices is some of his personal wants and desires. In my opinion, Steve McNair was not willing to do that as evidenced by his affair with a 20 year old woman. That does not make him a bad person. It does, in my opinion make him a bad husband and father whose selfish decision has cost his wife a husband and his sons a father (no, i am not saying he deserved to die, just that what happened to him is more likely to happen if you put yourself in the position he did). I don't think that should be the main story of his death, but I do not think we should just gloss over that either. To me, the sad part of this whole thing is McNair did not have a friend or family member close enough to him to hold him accountable and possibly prevent him from making the mistakes he did. It cannot be easy being rich and famous and having everyone cater to you, not to think that you should have everything you desire. I think too many of the people who surround star celebrities and athletes are too interested in their own well being (i.e. what they get from the celebrity or athlete) to risk getting nothing from them if they try to hold them to some sort of moral standard. Time and time again that is what these celebrities need, and based on the trouble they get into, so few of them get.

Maybe that's his opinion on adultery, and since he is an atheist, he generalized it as applying to all atheists. Even if he does not speak for all atheists, his reasoning that adultery violates a marriage vow and therefore would be offensive to an atheist seems reasonable to me. I don't understand what is confusing you.

Good Post. Some people say a true test of character is what you do when no ones watching. I am glad Steve McNair did great things in the community when the cameras were on. I feel sad for him that he got into trouble when the cameras were turned off.

Look let's not get into the whole Romo is Great/Romo sucks argument. Here are the facts: Record as starting QB in Sept-Nov: 22-4 Record as starting QB in Dec/playoffs: 5-10 He is tied for the 2nd best QB rating of all time but that does not make him the 2nd best QB of all time He is 0-2 in the playoffs but that does not make him the worst QB of all time. He is a good QB who has not performed in the clutch yet. It does not mean he never will, nor does it mean he will. Just as he could end up being Steve Young or Peyton Manning or Michael Jordan, he could also end up being Tracy McGrady or Allen Iverson or Randall Cunningham. Until he makes the players around him better players, he may have statistical success but he will not have team success (Michael Jordan is a perfect example).

Romo should be concentrating on football and not golf. I AM JUST KIDDING, KSB!!!

I am not saying the weapons they added this off-season will be all that, but to say they didn't add weapons means you weren't paying attention. Fullback - Added an experienced WCO fullback (Weaver). Gives another pass catching option. Halfback - Added a rookie with similarities to Westbrook (McCoy). Gives a pass catching option when Westbrook is out of the game. Tight End - Drafted a well thought of college tight end coming off an injury (Ingram). Gives a good pass catching option if healthy. Wide Receiver - Used first round pick on consensus 2nd best pass receiver in the draft (Maclin). With experience, should be a dynamic weapon. the rookie WR from last year who performed well (Jackson), will have a year of experience and could be that "Go to" receiver that you say the team does not have.

Ah, that Cowboy wishful thinking. I am not saying he won't have an injury, I just think it is funny that a Cowboy fan would predict McNabb to have an injury.

What I find funny is he said he and his wife have been trying to work things out for the last several months. Okay, if that's true, why did you just take a week-long trip by yourself to Argentina where the woman you were having an affair with lives?!

This is the Govenor of South Carolina, not the Houston Financial guy (Stanford)

I loved that game.

Very well said. The worst thing that happened to Romo after Parcells got fired was bringing in Wade Phillips as head coach. This guy has made the playoffs with three different teams and is 0-4 in the playoffs. Add in last year when his team folded down the stretch and it very well could be that Phillips is more to blame than Romo for the Cowboys failures in the last two years. If the Cowboys don't succeed this year, and I were Jerry Jones, I would fire Phillips and give Romo one more chance with a coach like Bill Cowher. By Cowher going to the Super Bowl with Neil O'Donnell and a second year QB (Roethlisberger) he has shown that he builds teams that don't rely on their QB to win big games. As was pointed out before Big Ben was awful in his first super bowl, yet Cowher's team won. I think Romo would benefit greatly from Cowher's coaching style and having the pressure taken off of him to do it all on his own.

This is a message board. People argue about their opinions. I was trying to explain that I am just arguing my position and have nothing personnel against Tony Romo. I have not even been arguing against your main point which is that he is free to do whatever he wants in the offseason. Geez, KSB, I can't believe I had to explain that.

Who are you referring to when you talk about hate for Romo? I see a lot of people in this topic arguing, rightly or wrongly, that based on his results on the golf course and the football field that it is possible that he does not prepare for things the way he should to have success. I see very little in personal attacks on Tony. I sense more frustration with the Cowboy fans who seem to have a blind loyalty towards Tony and fail to acknowledge that he may have shortcomings. Would you agree or disagree with that opinion?

It's all good.

Sorry, I am a fan of Sean "the cablanasian" Pendergast, who is a sports talk show host here in Houston. He used this line at the end of one of his rants to win Jim Rome's smack-off several years ago. It always struck me as pretty funny.

Look, I know you are a Dallas homer, and are probably annoyed that we are talking realistically about your QB Romo, but c'mon, you have to do better than comparing Roethlisberger to Dilfer. So far in his career he has a 51-20 record as a starter in the regular season and an 8-2 record in the playoffs. Two years ago he threw for 32 TD's and only 11 interceptions. All of this with not exactly star studded material around him on offense. If you're going to use that logic, then you may as well compare Roethlisberger to Aikman. After all, with all the star power around him on offense, the great defense, and the great coaching, all Aikman had to do was manage the games. He really didn't contribute to their 3 super bowls. Just like Roethlisberger. Oh wait, Roelisberger did drive his team to the winning TD at the end of last years SB. Troy never had to do that. To sum up my points on this entire thread: 1. Romo is a good NFL QB 2. Romo has not performed well in big games 3. Romo can do whatever he wants in his off time. 4. The public may perceive him as not doing all he can to prepare for football, if they see him not preparing for something else he does (like try to qualify for the US Open). 5. Based on their performance in big games, Ben Roethlisberger is a better QB than Tony Romo. And boom goes the dynamite.

If you are just wanting to compare super bowl performances between Romo and Roethlisberger, it can't be done since Romo hasn't gotten their yet. Overall Ben is 8-2 in the Playoffs, and in last year's SB, completed 70% of his passes and drove his team to the winning TD. If you want to base Roelisberger's whole career on that one bad SB performance, then I agree with you, Romo is the better QB.

From 1991 to 1993, the Oilers had a regular season record of 33-15. All three years their defense was ranked in the top ten in points allowed. Yet they went 0-3 in the playoffs those three years. Combined in those three games, the offense scored 1 touchdown and a total of 16 points in the second half, as the Oilers blew leads in all of them. Yes, overall, Warren Moon has good stats in those games, but in the second half, when his team needed him to do something, he didn't. The opposing team QB's all scored when they had to. I am not saying that all of the blame should be put on Moon (the run and shoot offense certainly had something to with it), but like I said before, since he was the QB for all three games, he was a factor in why they lost. Even if you do not agree with my Moon/Romo comparison, you're contention that Romo is a better QB than Big Ben is ridiculus. The bottom line is wins and losses when the games really matter (December and the Playoffs) and Big Ben blows Romo away in this area.