In my business, if you want to light up the e-mail machine, or bring an instant text response onslaught doing local sports talk radio, here's the way you do it:
Peyton Manning will soon be gone in Indy, kicked to the football curb to make way for Andrew Luck. So...
The Cowboys should trade Romo for defensive- or offensive-line building blocks, and then sign Peyton.
No, you don't do that. Tony Romo is not the problem. Peyton is also dealing with age and a bad injury.
But if I did write that, I'm predicting 200 e-mails, running close to 50-50 pro-con in response. Even using the Peyton-Romo comment strictly as a hypothetical there will probably still be 200 e-mails running close to 50-50.
Man, I love this job. Over four decades into it, and not even once has there ever been a morning wakeup where there's the dread of going to work.
For this, let's give thanks.
What follows is a list of people who make this job happen, most all of them local. My appreciation flows.
Biggest Lightning Rods.
No. 1. Jerry Jones has retired the all-time trophy. Nobody else even comes close in comparison, and the current disgust over Jerry's football decisions is deeper than it's been in nearly two decades.
As a longtime critic of Jerry the GM, Jones once joked to me, "Galloway, you've still got a job because of me."
At least I think Jerry was joking. Hate to admit it, but maybe he's right.
No. 2. Tony Romo comes in a distant second, and that comes with the territory of being the Cowboys' quarterback.
Troy Aikman was booed here more than once. Brad Sham swears that Roger Staubach was also booed here. I don't remember it, but I take Brad's word for it. Don Meredith retired early because of the constant boo-birds.
That's two Hall of Famers with five Super Bowls between them, plus a legend in Dandy Don. Better quarterbacks than Romo have been treated poorly by local fans.
Overall, I like Romo's game. That opinion makes people mad. So be it.
But think about it: Trade Romo for much-needed help, and sign...
Don't You Dare.
Only last week there was a column in this space on the strange situation with Dirk Nowitzki losing his basketball drive. And, whoa.
Many were kind enough to write very harsh responses, believing I had ripped the Large German. People, please. I was simply using Dirk's own words about his post-world championship mindset going into this new NBA season.
But I got the message. Don't dare mess with Dirk. A year ago, yes, you could have messed with Dirk and many would have agreed. But the ring and the bling change all, at least for now. That's fair, even if Dirk's current situation is still strange.
You Let Him Off the Hook.
Ron Washington tops this list by far for his World Series moves. No, to answer some pointed questions, RonWash is not a next-of-kin.
It's just that I didn't disagree with Washington on most of his World Series decisions, starting with him not bringing back Neftali Feliz to start the 10th inning of Game 6.
On the list of personal second-guessing, I had at the top leaving Derek Holland in to face Allen Craig in the eighth inning of Game 6, with the Rangers leading 7-4. Craig kills lefties, and doesn't hit for as much power against righties. And, of course, he killed Holland with a solo homer that would prove huge in the ninth.
Oh, yeah. The Game 1 move of pinch-hitting Esteban German in a key spot was also a what-the-heck moment.
Otherwise, there was a logical explanation for everything Washington did.
But despite much displeasure with me supposedly letting RonWash off the hook, I'm sorry I brought it up today. It still makes the stomach flip just rehashing Game 6.
Most Volatile Opinion in the Last Year.
Oh, brother. This one was nasty. This one was about Joe Paterno, with me saying Joe Paterno should not only have been fired, he should be facing jail time.
That one drew more than 300 e-mails. I'd say 70 percent were in agreement, but from those in disagreement, the anger overflowed. I stress overflowed.
Regardless, this topic is still volatile. And always will be.
Quickest Fall from Grace.
This would be Jason Garrett as a head coach, and since I was one of the most disappointed in Garrett, the e-mails ran heavily in agreement. It's not a good sign for Garrett when one of my columns receives heavy agreement.
Coming in From Left Field.
For diverse response, and for pure volume of responses, nothing topped the game of Big 12 bingo over the last two years. Depending on your school colors, opinions were all over the place.
The departure of Texas A&M topped the comments, of course. UT fans wanted me to know how much they didn't care about the Aggies or me, but if you don't care, how come you cared so much to take so much time explaining why you don't care?
DeLoss Dodds (as if he needs to be reminded), man, you are really, really disliked by so many everywhere. Except for the UT homeboys, of course. In DeLoss' world, that's the only opinion that really matters.
Quote of the Year.
It's still very early in 2012, but this one will be hard to top over the next 11 months.
Jerry Jones, last week: "With our personnel [talented players], we're fine."
Being blessed with the newspaper space to disagree with that kind of football evaluation foolishness, no wonder I've still got a job.
Thanks again, Jerry.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/01/28/3695265/thanks-to-jerry-jones-and-others.html#storylink=cpy
Peyton Manning will soon be gone in Indy, kicked to the football curb to make way for Andrew Luck. So...
The Cowboys should trade Romo for defensive- or offensive-line building blocks, and then sign Peyton.
No, you don't do that. Tony Romo is not the problem. Peyton is also dealing with age and a bad injury.
But if I did write that, I'm predicting 200 e-mails, running close to 50-50 pro-con in response. Even using the Peyton-Romo comment strictly as a hypothetical there will probably still be 200 e-mails running close to 50-50.
Man, I love this job. Over four decades into it, and not even once has there ever been a morning wakeup where there's the dread of going to work.
For this, let's give thanks.
What follows is a list of people who make this job happen, most all of them local. My appreciation flows.
Biggest Lightning Rods.
No. 1. Jerry Jones has retired the all-time trophy. Nobody else even comes close in comparison, and the current disgust over Jerry's football decisions is deeper than it's been in nearly two decades.
As a longtime critic of Jerry the GM, Jones once joked to me, "Galloway, you've still got a job because of me."
At least I think Jerry was joking. Hate to admit it, but maybe he's right.
No. 2. Tony Romo comes in a distant second, and that comes with the territory of being the Cowboys' quarterback.
Troy Aikman was booed here more than once. Brad Sham swears that Roger Staubach was also booed here. I don't remember it, but I take Brad's word for it. Don Meredith retired early because of the constant boo-birds.
That's two Hall of Famers with five Super Bowls between them, plus a legend in Dandy Don. Better quarterbacks than Romo have been treated poorly by local fans.
Overall, I like Romo's game. That opinion makes people mad. So be it.
But think about it: Trade Romo for much-needed help, and sign...
Don't You Dare.
Only last week there was a column in this space on the strange situation with Dirk Nowitzki losing his basketball drive. And, whoa.
Many were kind enough to write very harsh responses, believing I had ripped the Large German. People, please. I was simply using Dirk's own words about his post-world championship mindset going into this new NBA season.
But I got the message. Don't dare mess with Dirk. A year ago, yes, you could have messed with Dirk and many would have agreed. But the ring and the bling change all, at least for now. That's fair, even if Dirk's current situation is still strange.
You Let Him Off the Hook.
Ron Washington tops this list by far for his World Series moves. No, to answer some pointed questions, RonWash is not a next-of-kin.
It's just that I didn't disagree with Washington on most of his World Series decisions, starting with him not bringing back Neftali Feliz to start the 10th inning of Game 6.
On the list of personal second-guessing, I had at the top leaving Derek Holland in to face Allen Craig in the eighth inning of Game 6, with the Rangers leading 7-4. Craig kills lefties, and doesn't hit for as much power against righties. And, of course, he killed Holland with a solo homer that would prove huge in the ninth.
Oh, yeah. The Game 1 move of pinch-hitting Esteban German in a key spot was also a what-the-heck moment.
Otherwise, there was a logical explanation for everything Washington did.
But despite much displeasure with me supposedly letting RonWash off the hook, I'm sorry I brought it up today. It still makes the stomach flip just rehashing Game 6.
Most Volatile Opinion in the Last Year.
Oh, brother. This one was nasty. This one was about Joe Paterno, with me saying Joe Paterno should not only have been fired, he should be facing jail time.
That one drew more than 300 e-mails. I'd say 70 percent were in agreement, but from those in disagreement, the anger overflowed. I stress overflowed.
Regardless, this topic is still volatile. And always will be.
Quickest Fall from Grace.
This would be Jason Garrett as a head coach, and since I was one of the most disappointed in Garrett, the e-mails ran heavily in agreement. It's not a good sign for Garrett when one of my columns receives heavy agreement.
Coming in From Left Field.
For diverse response, and for pure volume of responses, nothing topped the game of Big 12 bingo over the last two years. Depending on your school colors, opinions were all over the place.
The departure of Texas A&M topped the comments, of course. UT fans wanted me to know how much they didn't care about the Aggies or me, but if you don't care, how come you cared so much to take so much time explaining why you don't care?
DeLoss Dodds (as if he needs to be reminded), man, you are really, really disliked by so many everywhere. Except for the UT homeboys, of course. In DeLoss' world, that's the only opinion that really matters.
Quote of the Year.
It's still very early in 2012, but this one will be hard to top over the next 11 months.
Jerry Jones, last week: "With our personnel [talented players], we're fine."
Being blessed with the newspaper space to disagree with that kind of football evaluation foolishness, no wonder I've still got a job.
Thanks again, Jerry.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/01/28/3695265/thanks-to-jerry-jones-and-others.html#storylink=cpy