...no, not after he kissed Jessica Simpson on the lips. (Actually, I would not want to know what that feels like).
I think I know what his frustration felt like after fumbling the snap and hold to the game winning field goal against Seattle in last year's Wildcard playoff game. By the way, there is something about that play... Before all you Seahawks fans or Cowboys haters call me a "sour grapes cry baby," check this out: The NFL does not make rule changes for just any old reason. When they actually make a rule change, it's for a reason. Prior to last season, here's what they did concerning field goals and kicks of all types: each NFL game had 12 "K-balls," which were designated for kicking field goals, kickoffs, and punts. A few years previous they instigated this rule to make it harder to kick. What they did was make these 12 balls were brand new and not scuffed up and "broken in." Kickers used to do all sorts of things to make the balls lighter and roughed up so as to kick easier. They'd do all kinds of creative things, short of using sandpaper, I think, to roughen these balls up. With this old rule change, however, they'd only be given 20 minutes prior to the game to roughen up these 12 K-balls. 20 minutes is not a lot of time to roughen up 1 ball very good -- much less all 12 of them. Then, prior to a kick, the local stadium's ballboy would fetch one of the 12 k-balls and toss it to the ref, so it would be in play for a kick. I sure would like to talk to the Seattle Seahawks local ballboy about his supposed "fair" and "impartial" k-ball selection prior to that kick. It was within his rights, according to the rules, to pick the least scuffed ball for this play. It was legit. Last year's last-minute field goal attempt against Seattle would have probably won the game for the Cowboys, eliminating the Seahawks from the rest of the playoffs. When watching the replays of that botched hold, the ball sure looked darker and "slippery looking" than normal/other kicks. "Sour grapes," you say? Perhaps. But check out this year's rule change:
Of the 12 k-balls, each one is marked with a number and they will continue to use "K-1" for the duration of the game until it is lost in the stands or ruled unusable for some reason; in which case they'd go to K-2 and so on. And the kickers from each team are now given 45 minutes prior to each game to roughen up the k-balls. So, sour grapes or not, the NFL decided to change the rules after what happened last year.
Okay, so now we know that the play that surely caused Tony Romo to feel frustration, anger, and regret for how that game ended. As another aside, if Martin Grammatica would've dived low and taken out that speedy cornerback's legs (i.e. actually made a successful block), Romo would've been able to run for a first down or touchdown. The guy who Grammatica tried in vain to block pushed the kicker aside and tackled Romo to end the play, giving the Seahawks the ball.
So, last night was my botched snap/hold. My two girls are part of a dance academy that had a 30-minute performance scheduled in downtown Austin at Zilker Park's "Trail of Lights." They learned 7 songs / dance numbers for this and had been working on it all Fall. It was a big moment for them. Besides relatives from Houston and friends from our church attending, my parents flew in from Florida to see this. It was a big deal for my girls. I left our house 2 hours prior to the 8:45 performance time, thinking I'd make it. I even scheduled a quick stop to pick up a Christmas gift and flowers for the girls on the way. I made it to the highway exit on Mopac and 2244 with a good 45 minutes to go before the performance started, but we were in bumper to bumper crawling traffic for 1 hour and 20 minutes. By the time we got to the parking area, it was 9:15 and I knew the girls were done. I felt like Tony Romo immediately following that game. I wish I could've gotten into a time machine and changed our routing so as to make the performance. Maybe if I would've taken the next Southerly exit and approached the line to park from the other direction, we could've made it. If we would've bypassed the flowers... It's so frustrating, and there's nothing I can do about it now. The past is past. It's over. I have to live with the consequences and just let it go. There's no use staying mad and hurt by it all.
Good music helps. A great song can lift the "spirits" or emotions. Bands like Maylene, Mute Math, U2, and Zeppelin can bring a smile to the face.
And it's true -- the joy of the Lord is my strength. Giving disappointment and frustration to God can help. Being able to drop it in His lap can help you forget about stuff like this and not let it nag at ya.
P.S. If I was to give unsolicited advice (uh, oh, watch out, Romo), I'd say "choose Carrie Underwood over Jessica Simpson." She seems like less trouble. Who knows? I have to admire the QB for the way he's let the memory of last year's game go. He's been having quite a good year this season.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at December 19, 2007 09:42 AM