Romo's Fantasy Island

The 2012 NFL season is upon us as the Dallas Cowboys opened with an impressive – and at times sloppy – victory over the defending champion New York Giants.  The win revealed an emotional ambiguity within my heart, my inconsistent and tormented relationship with Tony Romo.

 

There have been plenty of times over the past five years or so where I have been more than willing to part ways with the chaotic charm of Romo’s play.  But I believe my expectations were misjudged.  At this point, I have come to recognize that Tony Romo is a really good quarterback, who makes players around him also really good.  Such a quality is typically understated when it comes to quarterbacks, and only a handful of players receive this synergistic characterization (Brady, Manning, Brees, Rodgers). 

Now, I am not putting Romo in the “elite” category of the quarterbacks previously mentioned (no ring…), but with the revelation of Kevin Ogletree the other night, Romo deserves some praise.  Since he has been the starter, Romo has effectively used his slot receiver, making them into overachieving players.  In a time where fantasy is all the rage, this gives Romo a unique value over most of his peers.

Patrick Crayton (drafted in the seventh round), Miles Austin (undrafted), Laurent Robinson (third round before becoming an NFL journeyman), and now Kevin Ogletree (undrafted).  These four receivers, with low expectations, all achieved their greatest season (up to now) and moved quite beyond expectations with Tony Romo as their quarterback.  The value with this blog post along with Romo is strictly on a fantasy level… which is what it is… (Aah, why can’t he win a Superbowl!?!)

Here is my advice, pick up Kevin Ogletree. 

Crayton’s breakout season in 2007, had Romo throwing him seven touchdowns with nearly 700 receiving yards – which was pretty good considering Romo was also heavily targeting both Terrell Owens and Jason Witten that year.  In 2009, Austin’s breakout year, he racked up 11 touchdowns and 1,320 receiving yards.  Last year, Robinson finally justified his third round draft status with the help of Romo, by accruing 11 touchdowns and 858 receiving yards.  These are pretty remarkable stats for “mere” slot receivers. 

And they have Tony Romo to thank.  Both Crayton and Robinson received significant contract raises once they became free agents from other teams.  (Crayton has significantly underperformed, failing to become a number two receiver, and we can only assume that Robinson will decline with Blaine “Failure” Gabbert throwing to him.)  Austin also received a nice contract from the Cowboys and is now one of the more recognizable persons on one of the most popular teams in professional sports.  Although only time will tell if Ogletree will produce similar stats as his predecessors – this may be difficult as he’s behind Dez Bryant, Austin, and Witten (albeit declining and spleenless… sorta) – but he is certainly worth a pick-up.  Will Romo ever win a Superbowl?  I don’t know.  I hope so.  But will he help produce some really good, unheard of, fantasy receivers?  History says yes.  And at the height of fantasy football’s influence upon the NFL and its fans, history may regard Tony Romo as one of the better quarterbacks of his generation… 

Lights in Darkness

Here are some photos I took this past week walking around downtown Boone.  I enjoy black-and-white photography, particularly the way you can contrast your light source with the surrounding darkness.  My themed verse for these pictures: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." - John 1:5

For Nicole Payne. Happy Birthday.

A Picture and a Thousand Words

This is not a very good picture.  You can’t even see faces.  But there might be a story’s worth of insight, even in an abstract, artistic way, and that’s always the best way anyways.  The two backs we are seeing are owners of two fronts, belonging to Justin and Nicole Payne.  They are married, and with arms wrapped around one another, surely recognize the symbolism of their posture. 

Matching outfits and coordinating colors can only take a marriage so far but it certainly is a great start.  A wardrobe can tell many things about a person, and maybe that sweater or whatever it is, tells a lot about Nicole.  Maybe it tells nothing about her.  Maybe it tells that she’s well put together, has an eye, a taste.  A person who can pick out clothes is a good person to imitate.  They understand the lily of the valley philosophy of life, the foresight to know where the day and evening takes them.  Nicole knows where she is going. 

She is following and she is supporting.  An arm on the shoulders will lead, and the arm on the waist supports. There is a door that is being opened in the corner of the frame and with a man like Justin Payne an open door can only mean adventure.  The door is not opened all the way provoking some unknown mystery, where only the brave and bold would enter.  As one said, behind every great man is a greater woman.  He may lead but she is there to sustain.  And, it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyways, Nicole sustains with love.

The irony of this door, and what the picture does not disclose, is that it leads only to a water heater.  But does that strip away the adventure?  Maybe, but I am certain they have smiling faces that the picture does not show.  There is no lack of joy as both Nicole and Justin appreciate the irony of things.  The musing and meditation of such an appreciation certainly has its complex sources: family history, intelligence, wit, introspection, etc. but ultimately the equation can be summed up as thus: Nicole is a woman of fun. 

We then see or try to see a handful of people who are blurred and out of focus, framed under Nicole’s left arm, conjuring up the natural avian metaphors.  Nicole, the mother hen.  If signs of life, and the good Lord’s decree, serves any direction and confirmation it is that the Payne’s will be those who lead others.  Justin, as we mentioned, leading; Nicole supporting, but also comforting and protecting.  There is no lack of human attention or care when Nicole is one of the company. 

These people are out of focus due to distance.  The compassion, the patience and gentleness will inevitably lead them closer to this couple, which will thus bring them into focus.  People are sharper, they know themselves, their identity is clearer when they’re with Nicole.  She is a woman of understanding.  Peaceable and sensible, Nicole angles her way through life, in which expectations can only be the best for the best.  She is a woman, and a woman of many titles.  A mother? Yes. Wife? Yes. Friend? Yes. Sister? One and many.  Daughter? Certainly.  Yes, in this picture we only see their backs, but such was enough for Moses – and so like Father, follows the daughter.  

(Also, this was not a thousand words...)