Cowboys Training Camp Schedule

We finally move away from the dark side of the moon.  Due to their participation in the Hall of Fame Pre-Season Game, the Dallas Cowboys are the first team to report to training camp.  Players started arriving in Oxnard California today, Friday July 19th with training to begin on Sunday July 21st.

That's right, it's starting to look a lot like Christmas...I mean Football.  Here is the Dallas Cowboys Training Camp schedule as currently posted.  Practices times tend to fluctuate periodically throughout the pre-season as coaches adjust schedules.

DALLAS COWBOYS TRAINING CAMP SCHEDULE

Date	Time / Action
Saturday, July 20th	12:00 p.m. - Camp Opening Press Conference
Sunday, July 21st	10:30 a.m. - First Walk-Thru
Sunday, July 21st	12:00 p.m. - Jason Garrett Press Conference
Sunday, July 21st	4:00 p.m. – First Team Practice
Monday, July 22nd	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Tuesday, July 23rd	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Wednesday, July 24th	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Thursday, July 25th	No Practice
Friday, July 26th	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Saturday, July 27th	2:30 p.m. – Practice
Sunday, July 28th	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Monday, July 29th	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Tuesday, July 30th	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Wednesday, July 31st	No Practice
Thursday, August 1st	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Friday, August 2nd	5:15 p.m. – Practice
Saturday, August 3rd	Team Travel to Canton, OH
Sunday, August 4th	No practice – Preseason Game –Dallas vs. Miami (7:00 PM CST)
Monday, August 5th	No Practice
Tuesday, August 6th	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Wednesday, August 7th	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Thursday, August 8th	Team Travel to Oakland, CA
Friday, August 9th	No practice – Preseason Game –Dallas vs. Oakland (9:00PM CST)
Saturday, August 10th	No Practice
Sunday, August 11th	5:15 p.m. – Practice
Monday, August 12th	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Tuesday, August 13th	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Wednesday, August 14th	4:00 p.m. – Practice
Thursday, August 15th	5:15 p.m. – Practice
Friday, August 16th	Break Training Camp
Saturday, August 17th	No practice – Preseason Game –Dallas @ Arizona (3:30PM CST)
Tuesday, August 28th	Kickoff Luncheon @ Cowboys Stadium (11:00 am CST)

Over the Top Statements by Sports Writers.... Please Stop

Bleacher Report provides entertainment during the off season with their continual slideshows.  They're usually not very informative, but entertaining during this period of little football news.  Anyway, recently ran across this one and couldn't let the gross overstatement go.....

Not that kickers are real football players, so I hate to spend time debating them, however when a writer makes such an ignorant and obviously non-researched over-statement as "No other kicker was even close to Walsh's level" as Mr. Stueve made in the slideshow (Bleacher Report Best Players at each position - Kicker), I have to take the time to call them out. Just one example.....

Dan Bailey, K for Dallas Cowboys, stats for 2012....
Overall on FGs 29 of 31 for 93% 
Extra Points 37 of 37 for 100% 
kicks > 50 yards, 3 of 5.....

So there was no other kicker even close to Walsh's level??
It's OK to pick your favorite player's for each position, and Walsh is certainly in the conversation for 2012 since he was 10 of 10 for 50+ kicks, but let's refrain from the constant barrage of overstatements so commonplace with sports writers and commentators.

Romo Finally Has His Irvin

I'm glad Romo finally has a true superstar at Wide Receiver to throw to.
Aikman had Irvin, Staubach had Drew Pearson. 
Romo's never had that, he's had a washed up T.O., free agent with no hamstrings Miles Austin, etc....
He's never had that bonafide superstar WR.

Part of an article from Bleacher Report by Peter Mazzarazo:

Dez Bryant had a monster year in 2012 and will be counted on to have the same type of impact in 2013. Throughout the OTA sessions and the minicamp there seemed to be the same recurring theme, and that was the play of Dez Bryant.
For Cowboy fans this is outstanding news, and for the NFC, maybe not so much. At times he has been simply unguardable, but the most important aspect of all is his maturation off the field. Bryant is simply a new man, and the fact that he has figured this out is downright scary.
He continues to shine in sessions whether it be catching deep balls, going up high and snatching the ball or simply taking in a slant and going the distance. Having Bryant play at such an elite level will continue to make this offense and its capabilities limitless.
Bryant simply is a bona fide superstar.

Dark Side of the Moon

Well, it's that time of year again that I like to refer to as the "Dark Side of the Moon"..... As in no communication for 4 - 5 long summer non-football weeks.  OTA's and Mini Camps are over and everyone is going their separate ways in the NFL world until training camps start back up in late July.  
So everyone enjoy your family vacations, 4th of July celebrations and long, low scoring baseball games.  And Dez Bryant, please have a fun but non-eventful summary vacay.  
But before we go, see a few good tidbits below.... some links to good stories. 

• Dez continues to beat everyone.... DEZ is the Best - DMN
• Clairborne, while beaten constantly by Dez still looks good (Claiborne having to practice against Dez all of the time will be like swinging two bats on the on-deck circle.  By the time regular Joe Blow Wide Receivers come around like the Giants and Eagles, Mo will be all over them)....Claiborne - DMN
• Mini Camp Wrap up.....Wrap Up DMN
• As always, my favorite, Randy Galloway puts like no other can....Galloway - Star Telegram

Galloway Slams Jerry Jones

My favorite Dallas/Fort Worth sports columnist is Randy Galloway with the Fort Worth Star Telegram.  There is never any political correctness to his columns and he routinely exposes Jerry Jones for what he is..... in Randy's words... "A football idiot".

For anyone who has never read a Randy Galloway column, or routinely reads Galloway, and/or loves to bash Jerry Jones for his football idiocy, you have to read Galloway's article from Thursday 6/6/13.  
It is classic Galloway and great Jerry bashing.... here's a couple of the best lines, with the link to the article following:

"Mr. Jerry has not “gone” insane. When it comes to the Dallas Cowboys, he’s been insane for two decades."

My personal favorite.....

"Speaking of summer, have you ever sat on a stock tank dock and watched a fillet knife in expert hands slice through a fine mess of crappie?"

Link to the story..... Randy Galloways Full Body Slam of Jerry Jones

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/06/06/4916183/all-jerry-all-the-time-for-jason.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/06/06/4916183/all-jerry-all-the-time-for-jason.html#storylink=cpy

Jerry Jones, Idiot or just plain Stupid? (The Bill Callahan Story)

So Jerry Jones, once again could not keep his mouth shut and divulged that Bill Callahan will handle the play calling duties this season for the Dallas Cowboys.  Jonathan Bales with Dallas Morning News put together a great analysis of Bill Callahan's play calling tendencies.......

Boys: Bill Callahan’s Play-Calling History and Tendencies by Jonathan Bales

Going back to my question - Is Jerry Jones an Idiot or just plain STUPID? (BTW - doing my best to keep this a family friendly blog and not drop the F bomb repeatedly during that question).

If a media person can put together such a good analysis of Callahan's play calling tendencies within 24 hrs of the "announcement" by Jones.  Imagine what the opposing teams', particularly the NFC East Division Foes, coaches and analysts will do now that they have all of June, July and August to plan for Callahan's play calling tendencies.  Wouldn't it have been better to at least make them wait until August during the first pre-season game to figure this out?

There are a lot of reasons that the Cowboys have not performed well in the last 20 years since Jimmy Johnson left, and 99% of those involve Jerry Jones.  To answer my own question, Jerry obviously is an Idiot and Stupid when it comes to running a pro football team.

2013 Dallas Cowboys Training Camp Schedule

Dallas Cowboys 2013 Training Camp Schedule

Training Camp will be held at Oxnard, CA.  All Times Listed below are Central.

Sunday, July 21, 6 p.m.

Monday, July 22, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, July 23, 6 p.m.

Wednesday, July 24, 6 p.m.

Thursday, July 25, no practice

Friday, July 26, 6 p.m.

Saturday, July 27, 4:30 p.m.

Sunday, July 28, 6 p.m.

Monday, July 29, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, July 30, 6 p.m.

Wednesday, July 31, no practice

Thursday, Aug. 1, 6 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 2, 7:15 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 3 -- Team travels to Canton, Ohio

Monday, Aug. 5, no practice

Tuesday, Aug. 6, 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 7, 6 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 8 -- Team travels to Oakland

Saturday, Aug. 10, no practice

Sunday, Aug. 11, 7:15 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 12, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 13, 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 14, 6 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 15, 7:15 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 16 -- Team breaks training camp