Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …
• Minutes after losing to the Buffalo Bills 13-10 to fall to 0-2 in 1993, Cowboys defensive end Charles Haley slammed his helmet into a wall in the Texas Stadium locker room, leaving a massive hole. “We can’t win like this!” he bellowed. An hour later, having seen that hole and sensing a much larger one caused by the absence of star running back Emmitt Smith, Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman posed to me an urgent question on his drive home: “After this, Jerry’s gotta end it. Right?” Owner Jerry Jones caved then. And 26 years later, he’s going to cave with Ezekiel Elliott. Jones turns 77 in October. As he’s said many times, “I don’t have a lot of time to have a good time.” In 1993 Smith, coming off a rushing title and a Super Bowl championship, held out to become the highest paid runner. With so much at stake – defending champs embarking on a possible dynasty – many in the media were skeptical that the contract impasse would last into the regular season. During training camp at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Channel 8 anchor Dale Hansen, in fact, bet the first 10 takers $100 that Smith wouldn’t miss a game. (For the record, he dutifully paid off the $1,000.) Without Smith, the Cowboys offense sputtered — 16 points in an opening night loss in Washington and only 10 against the Bills in a Super Bowl rematch. Tony Pollard fans, beware. Stand-in Derrick Lassic rushed for only 127 yards and no scores in his two starts. After the Bills loss, Jones grudgingly picked up the phone, called Smith’s agent, Richard Howell, and three days later gave Smith what he wanted – a four-year, $13.6 million contract that allowed him to leap-frog Buffalo’s Thurman Thomas as the league’s most valuable back. The difference between Emmitt and Zeke? Emmitt had the luxury of a championship, and the fact that in 1993 there was no salary cap. Nonetheless, Jones realizes a déjà vu void with Elliott could wreck a promising season in 2019. Reports this week are that the Cowboys upped their contract offer to Elliott, willing to make him the NFL’s second-highest paid running back behind only Todd Gurley. Jones has his flaws. Refusing to learn from history isn’t one of them.
• Horribly sad news Thursday as former Cowboys quarterback, longtime radio analyst and forever DFW media personality Babe Laufenberg revealed that his 21-year-old son, Luke, lost his battle against cancer. I profiled Luke last summer for the Dallas Observer. He had just been given a clean bill of health after seemingly beating Burkitt, a rare leukemia that affects only 1,200 Americans per year. Doctors gave him a 70% chance of permanent remission. “I want to play football again,” Luke told me at the time. “I don’t want having cancer to define me. I want to get it behind me and forget about it forever.” He got stronger. His post-chemo hair grew back. He resumed his career at UT-El Paso. But then the cancer came back. And this time, sadly, it never went away.
*Had I told you back in spring training that on Aug. 20 the Rangers would be throwing pitchers named Joe Palumbo and Brock Burke in a doubleheader, you would’ve predicted they’d be 30 games under .500 and an afterthought for months upon months. No, Texas isn’t going to any sort of playoffs and the stagnation of guys like Rougned Odor and Nomar Mazara is disconcerting to say the least. But Jon Daniels and Chris Woodward get credit for making this season much more competitive and positive than any of us expected.
• How different are things gonna be for the Mavs without Dirk Nowitzki? With him absent for the first time in 22 years, their seniority looks thusly: J.J. Barea, Dwight Powell, Dorian Finney-Smith, Maxi Kleber and Luka Doncic. Yep, Luka’s been here a little more than a year and he’s already an elder statesman. Yikes.
• America is more divided than ever. This week the polarizing topic is, believe it or not, chicken sandwiches. Popeye’s introduced a new fried chicken cutlet on a bun, adorned with a pickle, and people plum lost their minds. Including Chick-fil-A, Wendy’s and their supporters. Which one do I like? Um, none. I mean, I’d eat any of the three if convenient, but I’d go out of my way to favor none of the three. Still baffles me how passionate people get over food. If I could take a pill that would give me all the vitamins and nutrients I needed, I’d skip eating. We spend – waste – soooo much time, energy and money in this country on the act of eating. The shopping. The planning. The cooking. The eating. The cleaning up. The paying. The repeating all of it. Once upon a time I went on a 10-day “Master Cleanse” wholly void of food, and I’ve never been more productive.
• Speaking of that Rangers doubleheader on Tuesday, there weren’t 50 people in the stands for the 98-degree, 1 p.m. first pitch of Game 1. Prompted me to use Globe Life Park – taking its last gasps – as this week’s Hot/Not. But I’m confused upon whether it’s correctly designated. Should the Hot be hot, or, oh you decide for yourself.
• Hot.
• Not.
• While Cowboys fans rip Jones for his (non)handling of the Zeke, Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper contracts, they should let him take a bow for Jaylon Smith. The gamble to draft a player who might never again play football paid off. Big time. Smith allowed only one touchdown in 500-plus coverage snaps in 2018 and is one of the best linebackers in the business. And now he’s being paid like it. Bravo, Jerry.
• In a normal summer, DFW experiences 18 days of 100-degree weather. As of Thursday, we’ve had 11. Please adjust your whining accordingly. I love me some heat, but the EPA’s “Energy Star” recommendations are totally out of whack. The program suggests setting your home’s thermostat at 78 during normal hours, 82 for sleeping and 85 when gone. Sorry, but sweating ain’t conducive to sleeping. Not in my house, anyway.
• In the year of #MeToo and women’s empowerment and the U.S. Women’s Soccer National Team seeking equal pay, I get it. Women deserve equality. But something tells me they’ll still accept inequality, when the scales are imbalanced in their favor. Take the Little League World Series. Maddy Freking is a 12-year-old girl pitching and playing second base for the Minnesota team. No biggie, right? Equality and all, she deserves no more – or less – publicity than her 12-year-old male teammates. Or … “Maddy Power!” and “She’s the darling of the LLWS!” screamed the headlines on ESPN this week. Freking is receiving special accolades and attention not for being a superior player in Williamsport, Pa., but merely for being a girl. Equality?
• If I’m a TCU football fan, I’m conflicted. Good news: Alcohol finally being sold at Amon Carter Stadium. Bad news: No more in-and-outs. Be careful what you ask for. The halftime parking lot parties are a thing of the past. I fear the unintended consequences of TCU’s new policy will be a half-empty stadium after intermission.
• Along with Luke Laufenberg, two more notable passings this week: My long-time friend Will Chilton, former owner of Apple Moving, great guy and extremely decent golfer. And former KRLD news director Jack Hines. The longer I live, the more it becomes painfully evident that death is a big part of life.
• With Zeke demanding more money and Jerry countering that the signing of Jaylon Smith means “less pie for more people,” makes me – yet again – cherish the loyalty and sacrifice made by Nowitzki. By my math, during his career in Dallas he gave up almost $200 million to allow the Mavs more money to surround him with better players. I’m not saying the strategy worked – hence, one lone title – but we should appreciate it nonetheless.
• This weekend? Friday I’m hosting a truck show. That’s right, a truck show. The Great American Truck Show, in fact, at the Dallas Convention Center. Godspeed to me. Saturday is tennis practice, followed by new wine with old friends in Fairview. Sunday, we Sabbath. As always, don’t be a stranger.
