Dallas Morning News Continues to Fuel Cowboys Controversy

The Dallas Morning News coverage of comments Terrell Owens made is an exhibit of poor journalism, folks.

DMN blogger Tim MacMahon should be ashamed of himself. But he’s not. He’s getting all tingly as he associates himself with Jessica Simpson. I’d post his picture here but I fear the DMN weird photo guy will prank me again. Timmy’s reporting is so irresponsible that he is single-handedly pulling the rug out on the Cowboys’ season. Proud of this, Timmy? Gee, hard to believe some other news organization other than ESPN and Skippy Bayless are out to destroy the Cowboys.

First of all, I challenge anyone to listen to the interview Timmy did with Owens and tell me that Owens was not kidding around. You can hear the cackle of reporters a mile away. Owens is obviously joking. In those situations, joshing your teammates, I don’t think he needs to be too concerned about what he says. Unless of course, Timmy wants to blow it up and stretch the interview into something it is not. Well, that’s what he did. First off, he reports, or he infers, that Owens was not kidding when he said Tony Romo’s girlfriend should stay home on game days. Listen, I will be the first person to say she should stay away from Romo for the three days before game day. Just stay the heck away. You can hang out after the game and on Mondays. After that, go sing or something! Go play with your sister!

I don’t have a problem with linking Romo’s poor performance with his girlfriends being at the games. I do have a problem with sensationalizing comments a player makes about another player in a joking manner. This is an attempt by Timmy to cause problems in the locker room. This is also an attempt by Timmy to gain hits on his bloggy. All Cowboys fans should be concerned with his reporting on this matter. He’s supposed to be representing a serious news organization. It’s not like he’s running this blog or something and can hide a little bit and have fun.

This is what he has on his blog:

T.O.: “I think with everything that has happened, and obviously the way Tony played and the comparison between her and Carrie Underwood, I think a lot of people feel like she’s probably taking his focus away. Other than that, she was at the top of my list until last week.” [reporters laugh after last line; T.O. had a straight face during the first sentence]

Now, the quote, fine. It is what it is. But it’s what Timmy decided to add: that T.O. said it with a straight face. Give me a break, Timmy. The story has spread all over the place, from tabloids to reputable newspapers. It’s pathetic. Today, Timmy posts the transcript from the media interview with Owens, who had to call Romo because of all the controversy (along with the other distractions of the horse collar, Romo’s thumb, Simpson’s hotness, DMN weird photo guy calling me).

The comments from fans on this post are pretty damning.

NCTRNL says:

"“Tim, you’re ruining your reputation with this story. Give us some real football stories. Like somebody said earier, how do BIGG DAVIS and MB3 feel about making the pro bowl? I guess we’ll never hear about it as long as you try to twist this whole Romo, Simpson, and Owens story. I bet you’re glad your name was all over the nation tied to your evil twist of T.O.’s words yesterday. You’re well on your way to being the next SKIP BAYLESS!!!!!!!!!!!”"

Scott in SA said:

"Tim,Just like yesterday when you said “TO wasn’t kidding when he said she was a distraction”. Of course, what your smart a$$ really meant was, “man, that guy ain’t kidding AKA I agree with him”. You totally lefy out context and decided to become what ESPN and most of mainstream media has become. A bunch of unprofessional, biased tabloid writers with no integrity that are out to MAKE news. You’re a jackhole…leave Texas immediately moron."

Bud said:

"We should document the reporters who blew this one and hold them accountable! Enough already! The scribes are the ones that should be apologizing for the poor job they have done with this story. I know that wont happen, and I also know that I will not be reading some of the reporters stories from now on. Why arent we hearing more about the pro bowl players and the next football game?"

I don’t know what to do about this, folks. If I could buy out the DMN, I would. For the sake of good sports journalism, I really would. But what Timmy is doing here is really hurting us fans. People go to the DMN sports page for news about the team that matters. The fans will come here to get their laughs. My blog is not going to cause some controversy in the Cowboys locker room. But how the DMN covers this team can have damaging results to our team, America’s Team!

My friends, it’s time to start a revolution. It is time to take back our local coverage of the Dallas Cowboys and turn it over to reputable writers who can report on hard news that matters to us fans. Statistical trends; game analysis; players profiles matter to us and that’s what we want to see in the DMN.

NOW GO COVER THOSE DALLAS COWBOYS AND STOP INSERTING YOURSELF INTO THE NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO COVER HOW THIS TEAM IS 12-2 AND FIGHTING FOR HOME-FIELD IN THE PLAYOFFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!