The Year after

After mostly outplaying the Bulls in 1997, before falling short to the MJ Heroics, the Jazz came back the next season with the same cast, primed to knock off the Bulls, who were also a year older. The Jazz had a nice mix of veteran leadership(Stockton, Malone, and Hornecek were STILL at the top of their respective games) youth, and depth. First the Jazz had to begin the year without Stockton, who went under the knife for a knee surgery. He wound up missing the first 18 games, returning in early December, with the Jazz at 11-7. After about a month or so of finding their groove again, the Jazz tore through the second half of the season once again, out distancing the Spurs(who now featured a Twin Tower effect in Rookie Tim Duncan and Veteran David Robinson, who had missed nearly all of the previous year)for the Midwest Divsion Title and running down the Lakers, and Sonics for the best overall record in the West at 62-20. That's 51-13 after Stockton's return. The Bulls actually "slipped" to the same 62-20 record and the Jazz actually won the tiebreaker against them should they meet again in the Finals. They beat Chicago in both regular season meetings during the 1997-98 campaign.

The Jazz, however, nearly suffered a first round flameout again. There were visions of 1995, in Salt Lake City, after the Jazz opened up with a lackluster Game One defeat to the Houston Rockets. The injury depleted Rockets had stuggled to a 41-41 record but managed to qualify for the eighth and final spot. They also had everyone back to face the one team they would rather beat than anyone else, the Top seeded Jazz. Utah absolutely had to win game 2 and they did rather easily, 105-92 but the Rockets had stolen away home court. This wasn't the typical ONE verses EIGHT matchup, everyone knew that going in. And Houston took the Jazz to the brink of defeat by winning a close one in Game Three at home 89-85. Utah reacted to being on the ropes in Game Four by really struggling through the first two and a half quarters. They were down by ten 63-53 at one point but inched back to tie things at the end of the third. Then Charles Barkley was lost for the remainder of the series with a knee injury. The Jazz came alive in the fourth and wound up running away with a 93-71 win to get the fifth and deciding game back up to Salt Lake. Without Barkley, the Rockets struggled in the fifth game, succumbing 84-70(not uncommon scores back then given the style of NBA play of that time)

Having survived their first rounder against Houston, the Jazz next drew the San Antonio Spurs, playoff victims of the Jazz in 1994 and 1996. The Spurs, who would go on to win four NBA titles in a Nine Year span, starting in 1999, would contest the Jazz in the first two games, with the Jazz opening up with a ONE point victory in game one. Game two went into double overtime before the Jazz escaped with a three point win. Game Three down in San Antonio, was all Spurs, as the Jazz suffered a letdown from the first two games-it was ugly, 86-64. The Jazz were able to bounce back the following evening in San Antonio, led by Karl Malone's 34(without even attempting a single free throw) to win 82-73 and take a commanding 3-1 series edge back home where they would finish things with an 87-77 victory in Game 5.

Meanwhile, the young, talented, yet still undisciplined, Lakers, led by Del Harris, had a suprisingly easy time with Seattle, winning four straight convincing games, after dropping Game One. There was talk that the Lakers might go all the way. The Jazz were still the consensus favorite, since they had a more experienced cast, and had the homecourt advantage. The Trendy pick, ofcourse was LA, based on how they were playing, and how the Jazz had been grinding it out in their first two rounds. In Game ONE, The Jazz hit the Lakers with a barrage of haymakers, bolting out to a 40-15 lead and never looking back, winning 112-77. Game 2 was a game that I attended actually, and it was the best played game of the series. The Lakers showed up in this one, leading throughout the first three quarters, only to have the Jazz play more disciplined down the stretch in winning 99-95. After three days off, Game Three was down in the old Forum, and the Jazz took apart the Lakers again, pulling away in the fourth, despite Shaq going off for around 50. It was 109-98 and the Lakers players were bewildered afterwards, all but conceding the series at this point with the loss. Two days later, the Jazz were able to complete the four game sweep with another win. Now they had to WAIT TEN DAYS for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls had mowed down New Jersey and Atlanta in the first two rounds but were pushed to seven games by Indiana. The Pacers won three close games at home while the Bulls had won their three at home fairly easily. In Game Seven in Chicago, the game went down to the wire, but the Bulls survived, thanks to a key three pointer by Steve Kerr, and Michael Jordan outleaping 7-4 Rik Smits on a jump ball, the final score being 88-83.


The Bulls and Jazz squared off, this time with Utah having homecourt. After the Jazz won Game One, the Bulls stole Homecourt away in Game 2 when Kerr got a key rebound and fed Michael Jordan with a clinching layup. Game 3 was a wash for the Jazz as they no showed in a 96-54 (YES 54)debacle. Game 4 went down to the wire like games one and two, with the Jazz employing a Hack Rodman Strategy at the end. Rodman stunningly made 5 of six foul shots to give the Bulls a four point win and a 3-1 edge. Facing elimination in Game 5, also in Chicago, the Jazz got strong efforts from Karl Malone (39 pts) and the BiG Dawg (ANtoine Carr) and were able to thwart Jordan's late game efforts to take over late. The Jazz escaped by two to send the series back to Salt Lake City. In Game Six, it was closely contested all the way, Pippen hurt his back and didn't play for a lot of the second half (he likely would've missed game seven it's believed)and Michael Jordan kept Chicago close all by himself. There were two questionable calls by hated Ref Dick Bavetta that favored the Bulls, allowing one shot by the Bulls Ron Harper to count after the shot clock had expired, and disallowing a shot by Howard Eisely that should've counted. But ofcourse, it all came down to Michael Jordan at the end, stealing the ball from Karl Malone from behind, and basically stealing the championship from the Jazz. His shot over Bryan Russell, you just knew was going in and ofcourse, Stockton's valiant miss at the end to win it for the Jazz caused the stunned fans in the Delta Center to think "maybe it's not meant to be". When the Jazz failed to win the championship the next year with the Bulls disbanded, you had to know that the Championship door on the Stockton-Malone era had slammed shut.

Not just a Cowboys Blog

I am a big fan of the Jazz as well. I remember the feeling I had back in 1997 and 1998 when they went back to back in the Finals losing each time in six games to the mighty Chicago (Michael Jordan) Bulls. I think that 1997 was not to be that big of a dissappointment as far as the finals go because, the Bulls were expected to win it(I believed that it was the final one for the Chicago)and that the Jazz finally getting there was the beautiful thing of it. In 1996-97, after years of near misses (1988, 1992, 1994, 1996) mixed in with years of disheartening first round playoff flameouts(see 1989, 1990, and 1995) the Jazz finally made it to the finals with the aid of a 64-18 record (best in the West and an NBA Best in MOST seasons) compared to the 69-13 Bulls. THat year, the Jazz were as deep as anyone in the league, maybe not the most talented but the most disaplined. Karl Malone won his first Regular season MVP award. He was approaching the age of 34 and still in his prime. John Stockton, the point guard, who had already become the league's all time leader in assists and steals, was still the savvy floor general and at age 35, was also, incredibly still near his peak. Jeff Hornecek was the shooting guard, while he and Stockton were backed up adequately by Howard Eisely and Shandon Anderson. Throw in Adam Keefe and Veteral Antoine "BiG DAWG" Carr for depth at the Forward spots to back up Malone and Bryon Russell. And not to forget about Greg Foster and Chris Morris, each pure shooters, who made the Jazz that much tougher to beat when they were hot from the outside. The Center was young Greg Ostertag, who was up and coming at the time, and about to become a very rich young underachiever in the years ahead once he signed that new deal. The Jazz closed out the year, an astounding 31-4 over the final 35 games of the regular season, in pulling away from the rest of the Western Conference field. Houston, a talented veteran team with Hakeem, Charles Barkley, and Clyde Drexler, finished a distant second to the Jazz at 56-26. Los Angeles had won their division with a 56-26 record. They would meet the Jazz in the second round, after Utah completed their first ever playoff sweep against the Clippers 3-0 in the first round(still a best of five at that time)The Lakers, a young team headed by Shaq, were talented but undisciplined, unharnessed. They would go down in five to the Jazz 4-1, although they played them tough in close losses in Salt Lake City in games 2(Jazz escaped 103-101) and Game 5(the clinching game with the Jazz winning 98-93 in overtime, remembered best for Rookie Kobe Bryant's airballs) So now it was Houston in the Western Conference Finals. The Rockets had easily dispatched the first time playoff bound Minnesota Timberwolves in the opening round and then outlasted the Seattle Supersonics(the previous year's Western COnf. Champs) in a grueling seven game series. The Jazz were rested and took the Rockets easily in Games 1 and two (101-86 and 104-92 respectively) In Game Three, the Jazz roared out to a 31-18 lead after one period but hit a wall thereafter as HOuston stormed back and seized a 118-100 win. Then, in Game Four, the Rockets evened the series in a close one 95-92 when reserve forward "Fast" Eddie Johnson drilled a three pointer as time expired. Game 5 was close as well, with the Jazz being able to stay one step ahead throughout the second half. Karl Malone's 29 helped the Jazz regain the series edge 3-2 in a 96-91 win. Game Six was hotly contested, back and forth with the Rockets facing elimination and the Jazz trying to close it out down in Houston. After three quarters it was 71-70 Houston. But in the fourth quarter, the Rockets surged to a 90-77 lead, and the series looked to be headed back up to Utah again for a winner-take-all Game 7. Many Jazz fans, myself included, turned the game off at that point, resigned to game seven. I remember thinking" at least it's up here". At work the next morning is when I found out what happened. The Best Finish that I didn't see live. The Jazz stormed back with the aid of Stockton, to forge a 100 all tie in the closing seconds. The Rockets had their chance to win it and failed and the Jazz rebounded with two seconds left and called timeout. The inbounds pass went to Stockton, who was left alone with Barkely arriving too late. Karl Malone had bearhug picked Clyde the Glide out of the way as well, and Stock let it fly from about 25 feet. "UH OH" said announcer Greg Gumbel, followed by" YES! JOHN STOCKTON SENDS THE UTAH JAZZ TO THE NBA FINALS!!!!!" In the winners lockerroom afterwards, Jeff Hornacek said the most striking statement of all "We knew that they (HOuston) would be tight if it was close at the end, because we had the luxury of a Game seven(at home no less)and they didn't"

Now that we're halfway to the next season

That loss to the HATED, DESPISED, DAMNED Giants was a BITTER BITTER BITTER pill for me as a fan to swallow. But believe it or not, the players have got to feel worse. They owned these guys and they did not come through. Penalties, Dropped Passes, and hampered with some poor field position for critical parts of the game that allowed New York to stay in it and find away in what turned into sort of a chess match in the second half, is how Dallas would blow itself up. And all you have to do is look at the stats. 350 total yards for Dallas. 230 for the Giants. The Cowboys also had the time of possession edge by nearly TWO to ONE. Their TE Jeremy Shockey was out with broken leg, and may not even be back in a Giants uniform this coming season. Their Top wideout Plaxico Burress had ONE catch for FIVE yards. They rushed for only 55 yards. Dallas had somewhere close to 150 although they got away from that in the second half somewhat when Romo started feeling the pressure, perhaps remembering that he hadn't yet won his first playoff game. Eli Manning was only 12-18 for 160 yards. And on the defensive side, the vaunted secondary of the Giants, who was lit up for nearly 80 points in the two losses to Big D in the regular season, didn't even have their best defender in CB Sam Madison. T.O. wasn't nearly 100 percent recovered from his injury, probably would've still been slowed had the Cowboys survived this and perhaps made it all the way to the Super Bowl. But it's not a good enough excuse. This was Dallas's to lose. Period.

Meanwhile the freakin' Giants shocked everyone by upsetting Green Bay in the NFC Championship and then, against all odds, completed their unlikely playoff run by eeking out a 17-14 win in the Super Bowl against the undefeated Patriots. I wasn't pulling for my bitter rivals to win that, although I'm not a Patriots fan anymore than I'm a Spurs fan. I'm just hoping my hometown Utah Jazz can be the Giants of the NBA this year.

So now that the Giants will suffer a post Super Bowl slip, the Cowboys look to bounce back in 2008 with a healthy T.O., perhaps a 100 percent return of Terry Glenn opposite him and a rookie RB in Felix Jones, taking place of the departed Julius Jones(now with the Seahawks) They Boy's will have an improved secondary if Pacman Jones can behave himself along with a Rookie CB Jenkins from Univ SOuth Florida. Marion Barber should only be better. Romo should be better and wiser from this(I'd prefer he cut ties with Jessica Simpson, though I don't blame her for the playoff choke)

My final feeling of the playoff debacle was that it stands as the most dissappointing loss for me as a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. Yes, I remember losing to Joe Montana and Dwight Clark when I was in fourth grade via "THE CATCH" But I knew that San Francisco was Dallas' equal and it was at Candlestick to boot. It was dissappointing to lose the following year to the Hated Redskins(Washington hadn't beaten Dallas in four years at that time) but that was at RFK and I knew that the Skins were on a roll and would be tough to beat if the Cowboys didn't play well(too many turnovers). Losing to San Francisco at the end of the 1994 season, ending the Cowboys'quest for a THREEPEAT was hard but I think the 49ers were a little bit better that time around. I don't think that the loss to Seattle the previous year to this choke even dissappointed me that much, because I figured the Cowboys were still building back up. They should have won but it didn't destroy me or anything. I just shrugged. But in 2007, given the fact that the Cowboys were the NO 1 seed and rarely goofed when they were the Number one seed in the NFC playoffs(only other time they lost as a NO 1 seed was in 1979 against the Rams-Staubach's last game)It wasn't supposed to happen and it was totally unexpected. The Giants could not beat the Cowboys without help from the Cowboys. And they got it and were able to escape with the upset. This has got to be the most dissappointing loss that I can think of for me, personally, as a Cowboys fan given the circumstances. And anything less than taking it all this next year will be a dissappointment and I believe that's what the players are saying as well, maybe not publicly.

Cowboys choked! unbelievable!

I'm just sick. See you in eight months

The day we've been waiting for has dawned

It's been a long time coming. The Cowboys have been gearing up for two weeks to play the Giants a third time this year. Tony Romo is going after his first playoff win that eluded him a year ago up in Seattle. Last week Eli Manning won his first playoff game ever at Tampa Bay. Now it's Romo's turn. The Cowboys were due to bust out this season in a big way, which they did. They went 13-3, won the NFC East without much of a challenge, for the first time since 1998, and secured the top conference seed for the first time since 1995. The biggest question of all is will the Cowboys be there today? Frankely, the Giants, in their two losses to Dallas this year, couldn't have played any better on offense then they did, and it wasn't enough. ANd they will miss TE Jeremy SHockey today. The Giants defense, who only sacked Romo a COMBINED two times in those two games, are VULNERABLE in the secondary, especially if CB Sam Madison (doubtful today because of a pulled stomach muscle) can't give it a go. I just don't see how they can win if they don't get to Romo. He will,as he did previously, pick that secondary to pieces, maybe even more so with Madison out and the addition of Terry Glenn. T.O. hasn't played since he suffering the high ankle sprain in the Dec. 22 win over Carolina, but he'll be out there today. He looks radiant, confident. That's bad news for the Giants, who in the second game, chose to key in on TE Jason Witten. So T.O. tore it up, along with Patrick Crayton, and now Terry Glenn is in the mix. The Giants can't win unless they somehow get to Romo and the Cowboys help them out some. The Giants can't afford ANY turnovers and if they get behind, well......they aren't playing the Bucs, or the Bills, or the Bears this time. If the Cowboys don't help them out, the Giants won't win. Period. People make such a big deal out of the G-Men losing only one road game all year while they were a woeful 3-5 at home. One important fact left out. WHO WAS THAT ONE ROAD LOSS TO?
Dallas in week one. The Giants began the 2007 season with a loss to Dallas. They will end the season in the same place. As long as Dallas shows up, their best will beat New York's best.

Prediction: Cowboys 34, Giants 20

Just win

The only thing that matters is to win the game. Style points are not at the top of the list. Will Cowboy Nation more gratified with a one point win than twenty-one? No. But if Cowboy Nation were to be offered beforehand a one point win if you do this that and the other, we'll readily accept it. Win by a point, we move on. Lose by even a point, we're just plain sick. And much sicker than last year's one point loss at Seattle. While that was dissapointing, what was really the most dissapointing to me, was how our team botched the stranglehold that we had on the NFC East division crown and backed into that playoff game. Let's go back to December of 2006. We have just done the Giants 23-20 in New York on a Martin Gramactica field goal as time expired, to win our fourth in a row and move to 8-4, two games up on the reeling 6-6 Giants. And it's set up as a "Can't Lose" for Dallas. Four games left, three of them at home, and the one remaining road game(we'd weathered the early season underachieving tag when we played so many road games early on) was against the struggling Atlanta Falcons. Two games up on the Giants. We crash and burn starting the next week, losing badly at home to the resurgent New Orleans Saints. Well, the Giants werent' the ones who would run us back down. The Eagles, left for dead at 5-6, a full two games behind Dallas, had lost McNabb for the season to the torn knee cartilage. They came back to beat Carolina to go to 6-6. tied with the Giants. The Giants would succumb to 8-8, somehow grabbing the last playoff spot still. Dallas would beat Atlanta after the Saints debacle, but noone knew at the time that would be the Cowboys last win of the 2006 season. The Eagles, now a game back of Dallas, beat the Giants that same week to set up the Christmas day showdown in Big D. If Dallas wins they've clinched the division, and the Eagles are forced to win on the final day to get a wildcard. The Eagles and Jeff Garcia come in and the Cowboys don't even show. 23-7. Eagles (who had beaten the Drew Bledsoe led Cowboys backn in October in Philly) complete an unlikely sweep of the Cowboys, who had been preseason favorites to win the division highlighted by their signing of T.O.

T.O. had had a solid year though playing most of it with a dislocated finger suffered in week two. The Cowboys limped into the regular season finale with a chance to still win the NFC East with a win against the lowly 2-13 Detroit Lions at home and then watch a later game to see if Philly could still lose to Atlanta in their season finale. Only Dallas made mistake after mistake in every phase. The Lions scored over thirty for the first time since, not sure when, and left Texas stadium posturing after embarassing the still playoff bound Cowboys 39-31. And the defense was a huge issue all of a sudden.

And then against Seattle, the Seahawks were decimated in the secondary and the Cowboys could not take enough advantage. That and other factors allowed the Seahawks to stick around in the game. The key sequence of events in this game was when it was 17-13 Dallas early in the fourth quarter, and Safety Roy Williams intercepted a pass. With the lead, the Cowboys mounted a drive that would take them all the way to first and goal. A touchdown more than likely seals the deal. The Seahawks were worn down and all but beaten. Only the Cowboys commit a costly penalty to keep them out of the end zone, have to settle for a field goal, and still only lead 20-13. And then the Seahawks were stopped on fourth down at about the Dallas 2, the Cowboys, still up by seven, have a Terry Glenn fumble in his own end zone resulting in a safety for Seattle. Seattle takes the good field position following the free kick and turn it into a big play touchdown. So now the Seahawks are up by one but hold on........Back comes Dallas, with a clock eating drive with crisp passing and running mixed. A pass to Jason Witten on third down with just over a minute left in the game appears to give Dallas a first down at the Seattle four. It was ruled a first down at first but then there was a booth review. It was determined that Witten was about six inches short of the first down, making it fourth down. The Cowboys elect to kick the chip shot field goal, to give them the lead rather risk losing on a possible failed fourth down attempt. Then the Romo botched hold and well you know............You know what though, it's not for certain whether the defense would have held with still a minute to play. Seattle has one of the game's best kickers in Josh Brown. But after the Romo botched hold, where he picked up the ball and ALMOST made it in. ALMOST. The Cowboys STILL got the ball back with seconds left but no timeouts, and no time to set up a long field goal with a completion and therefore reduced to a hail mary pass to the end zone. At any rate, game lost season over. A decade now since their last playoff win, over Minnesota in 1996. Wait till next year.

Well, Next year is here. The Cowboys roared out of the gate this year and never looked back in the division, beating the hated Giants twice along the way, along with a 13-3 record and the number one seed in the NFC. Romo is second in the NFL with 36 Touchdown passes and the fourth rated passer in the NFL. T.O. and Witten have big seasons. Solid season from receiver Patrick Crayton in place of the injured Terry Glenn. Solid productivity out of the running tandem of Barber and Jones. And even Terry Glenn is back. And it's all going to go out the window with a loss whether it's by one lousy point or seventeen. I'm sure that even a one point win on Sunday, to make it three for three against the Giants, will still qualify. Just win. We'll take it.

Regular Season Complete

Lost in this 13-3 season, is the fact that the Dallas Cowboys have lost EIGHT consecutive regular season finales. This last one, a 27-6 drubbing at the hands of the hated Washington Redskins, allowed the Cowboy's most bitter rivals to clinch the final seed in the NFC. Dallas clearly wasn't into this final game, having long since wrapped up the NFC East, for the first time since 1998, and having also wrapped up the NFC's top seed for the first time since 1995, the previous week. Romo played half of the game, missing four starters to begin with and the only thing more lethargic than the conditions were the Cowboys themselves. Looked like an uninspired exhibition. And as has often been the case in the great Cowboys-Redskins rivalry, 2007 saw the two teams split the two annual regular season meetings. Dallas defeated Washington at home in November. The Cowboys don't play again until Sunday January 13. If Washington wins at Seattle, not an easy task for the Redskins but it should be a good game, then there will be a rubber match on the 13th in Dallas. If Seattle eliminates Washington this saturday, then Seattle will go to Green Bay, the NFC's #2 seed while Dallas will take on the Giants/Tampa Bay winner. It's very probable that Terrell Owens will take the field for the Cowboys on the 13th. Good thing. And Terry Glenn can only be that much more in game shape by then. He was on the field for the first time all year against Washington, though only for a few series' and didn't have a reception. Will we see the Redskins a third time? Or the Giants a third time? It would be classic to win a rubber match against the Redskins. That would taste mighty sweet. But it would be equally sweet to make it a hat trick against the Giants. Then there is Tampa Bay, a team that Dallas walloped 38-10 last year on Thanksgiving Day, which saw Romo in only his fifth career start at the time, throw for five touchdowns in the rout. Yes, the Buccanneers are significantly better this time around, but the Cowboys are better than then as well, at least on paper. If Tampa Bay comes to Dallas: 34-17 Cowboys.

If the New York Giants come in : let's call it 31-21 Cowboys.

If Washington beats Seattle, and comes to Dallas I see it a little closer: 27-20 Cowboys.

I don't really care who we play, only that we win. And I don't care "how" its done, but that it's done. The Dallas Cowboys are the best team in the NFC(provided we show up)and should be in the Super Bowl. Technically, it's our's to lose