That’s right, our first dose of Monday Night Football is upon us. Okay, so it is only training camp footage. But it is football, and it is on Monday Night at 7PM CST on the NFL Network. There will also be re-airs later that night and on Tuesday afternoon, so if you have plans you can’t break on Monday, then skip work on Tuesday!

They will be filming in San Antonio on Sunday, and since all the draft picks are signed we should get a good dose of the newbies, though Isaiah Stanback may still be rehabbing his foot.

The Cowboys have their pads on and are preparing for the start of the season, but the start of training camp held two tidbits of information that should worry all of us Cowboys fans.

First, both starting tackles are rehabbing from injuries. Adams and Columbo will miss the first part of training camp, and tackle James Martin, our second round draft pick, hasn’t signed his contract yet.

Now, I don’t mind not having Martin out there. It hurts him to miss an opportunity to work with the first team, but if we have to rely on him during the season for more than spot duty then we are already in big trouble.

Which is why having Columbo and Adams unable to work out at the start of training camp is cause for worry. Let’s face it, the offensive line is the Cowboys weakest link and has been for several years. It’s odd considering the offensive line was one of the main reasons we won three championships in the 90’s. Parcells is considering a tough old-school in-the-trenches coach that values the offensive and defensive lines, but this still didn’t get fixed on his watch, and we can only hope the addition of Leonard Davis and the draft pick of James Martin will fix it.

The second issue that is cause for worry is Greg Ellis. His repaired ACL was causing him pain during the first day’s practice. The trainers said this was to be expected, so hopefully he’ll be ready for the start of the season. But, it doesn’t take a genius to point out that Ellis’s injury last year corresponded with our defense going down the tubes. Until Anthony Spencer proves he can be dangerous lining up on the other side of Ware, we need Ellis.

It’s here. Finally. I’m a one-sport fan. I used to like baseball when I was younger, but I could never get too into watching every game of a sport that plays ten thousand games a week. Or however many they play. I always forget. I like going to hockey games, but that is as much for beer and hot dogs and hanging out than the sport itself.

So, these months of off-season inactivity can be excruciatingly painful. Though, I admit, it does have its fun points. The first week or two of free agency, the weeks leading up to the draft, the draft itself, all of these are high points during the spring.

But they are poor replacements to the actual season. Heck, training camp might not be the most exciting of events, but at least I can turn on the news and catch a glimpse of the new draft picks on a regular basis. I can tune into those Sunday evening shows and see even more if I can manage to stand Babe Laufenberg’s inane pratter, cheesy production, and mucho ass kissing. (And, no, I’m not sure if that means he kisses a lot of asses, or just a few really big asses.)

Heck, if I can stand to read Mickey Spagnola’s articles, I figure I can stand listening to Babe. No offense to Mickey, but he’s a homer. I still remember how he sung Quincy Carter’s praises, talking about what a big deal it was to string together so many 200+ yard passing games and how hitting 7+ different receivers each game meant he was really starting to understand the offense, and then when Chad Hutchinson is promoted to start he immediately talked about how Carter just didn’t get the offense and Hutchinson had a better understanding. Okay, I get it, he writes for dallascowboys.com, he ain’t got that thing we call ‘unbiased opinion’. He’s there to give the company line. But, he does have great access to players, and he can give all us outsiders a little glimmer of what is going on over there at Valley Ranch.

But it is all second fiddle to the start of the season, and training camp signals that is getting pretty close.

Finally, there will be something to write about!

And, I admit, I really love preason. In fact, I think the second half of the games is much better than the first half. Hey, I usually know what the starters can do. I want to see those on-the-bubble guys. I want to pick out a few guys, like Rector and Hurd

It’s going to happen. It might be training camp. It might be pre-season. It might be week two of the season. But you can bet your last dollar that sometime this season, probably early this season, there is going to be a huge T.O. story.

When is the last year there wasn’t a big ruckus about something Owens did?

So, let’s just get this out of the way right now. Terrell Owens is not as bad as the media paints him to be.

There. I’ve said it.

Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a big fan of bringing T.O. to the team. They could cut him tomorrow, and I’d be fine with it. Sure, we wouldn’t be as strong at receiver. There’s no doubt about his talent. But if they were to cut ties with him I would be quite happy about it.

And don’t misread me. I am not saying T.O. is a great guy. He’s got all the maturity of a twelve-year-old – if we are talking about an immature twelve-year-old. He’s very insecure, and he lacks self-control. He’s an explosion waiting to happen, which is why I would rather he explode on another team.

But, he’s not as bad as the media paints him to be. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The media is yellow. The media will cover something simply because they don’t have anything else to talk about. And its not just sports media. Why do you think Paris Hilton’s release from jail got O.J.Simpson murder-trial type coverage? The media doesn’t care about news, they care about money, and they’ll stretch and sensationalize the truth all they can to get that money.

Remember the hamstring deal? Terrell Owens has always been known as a workout warrior. The one thing the media has been consistent on is that the guy works hard. He’s also the same guy that stayed after practice to work with rookie free agent Sam Hurd. And then he tweaks his hamstring and suddenly – according to the media — he’s faking an injury to get attention.

That’s what we call selling fiction as news. That’s what the sports media in this country is all about. Think about the so-called QB controversies that spring up almost every year. Sure, sometimes they are genuine, but as often as not they are just filler for not having anything better to talk about.

Remember the bicyclist uniform? T.O. dresses up like Lance Armstrong to ride his stationary bike and suddenly he’s a huge distraction to the players on the field. Huge distraction? To players that are paying attention to what happens on the field and not what’s happing off to the side? Who the hell is saying that? And why aren’t they saying it about Clinton Portis when he dresses up like a clown to talk to the media? I’ll tell you why. Because he’s Clinton Portis and not T.O. And, if you put the words ‘Terrell Owens’ and ‘pulls another stunt’ in your article you are bound to get some readers.

This isn’t to say T.O. doesn’t cause some his own problems. The overdose might have been a mistake. I’ve taken Vicoden, and I know how easy it can be to become confused after taking it. But it was a valid media story. He is known for tirades against the coaching staff and his starting quarterback. And, certainly, the spitting incident rests entirely on his shoulders.

However, those incidents do not justify the media blowing something as trivial as wearing a bicycle helmet out of proportion. And they certainly don’t justify blowing an injury out of proportion. We can chalk those up to bad journalism – something that is sadly growing more popular these days.

But here’s the deal: T.O. isn’t as bad as most people think. The little things that don’t get as much media exposure paint a slightly different picture. T.O. was one of the first people to talk to Tony Romo after the botched hold and console him. He did the same for Mike Vander-shank after a missed field goal. He took time after practice to help Sam Hurd adjust to the NFL. And he is well-liked by many of his fellow players.

Consider this, when the McNabb-Owens incident was in full swing, there were a number of Eagle players who stood up for Owens. I can’t remember a single one of them offering support for McNabb. Donovan McNabb is a charismatic guy who is very media savvy, but it is apparent – if you read between the lines – that he had as much to do with the issue as Owens.

There were rumors McNabb was jealous of Garcia’s success last year. There were also rumors he was upset the Eagles picked up another quarterback in the draft. I think, in some ways, Rush Limbaugh was right that McNabb is sort-of a media darling. I don’t think his reasoning is correct – I don’t think it is because he is a black quarterback. I think it is because he is a funny, charismatic guy who is easy to like. But, I also think that deep down he has his own set of insecurities, and sometimes they get the better of him.

So, mark my words, it is coming. I’d go as far to guarantee it. I’d even say we’ll have at least one incident trivial in nature that gets blown out of proportion, and at least one incident where T.O. makes an ass of himself.

I think fans should keep an open-mind and realize the media will milk the trivia as quickly as they’ll milk the real stories. I mean, come on, hamstring watch? Have you ever heard of a Marvin Harrison hamstring watch? Don’t buy into all the media squawking. Listen to the facts and make up your own mind.

It seems the rumors concerning the running back position just don’t want to go away. I guess since the quarterback position isn’t ripe for rumors, people have switched their attention to the backfield.

The latest rumor: Larry Johnson for Julius Jones and the 1st round draft pick aquired from the Cleveland Browns.

Good deal? Not a chance.

There is no doubt that Larry Johnson is a more proven commodity than Julius Jones, but the price tag is too high. Johnson is 27, and running backs start slowing down when they hit their thirties, so that would leave three seasons. Johnson might be able to last a little longer considering he wasn’t a feature back until his third year in the league, but a potential top ten draft choice doesn’t come around very often.

The smart move is to hang on to the pick and shore up the position with Darren McFadden, the running back sensation out of Arkansas, if neither Julius Jones or Marion Barber raise their stock this year.

The scary thing is I wouldn’t put it past Jerry Jones to make such a deal. He talks a good game about not giving away future draft picks, and hopefully he learned from the Galloway trade what a huge gamble that can be, but what Jones says to the media and what Jones actually thinks can be two very different things.

When you look at a defense brimming with talent, a new head coach who is a defensive genius, and an offense with Terrell Owens, Terry Glenn, Jason Witten, and Tony Romo… well, let’s just say a premier running back can be very tempting.

But, I would vote on a pass. Jones and Barber combined for over 1,700 yards last year, which isn’t too shabby. I’d pass on the trade and look for McFadden or a similar premier back in next year’s draft if there is still a need in the backfield.

Now, if we modify that trade to Julius Jones and Dallas’s first round pick, that’s a bit more interesting. The Cleveland pick could very well be a top five pick — a very valuable pick — but the Dallas pick could be number 20+. It would stifle some maneuverability in next years draft to trade it away, but if the Browns do as badly this year as we all hope they will that would be moot.