Because no battle is ever won, he said. They are not even fought. The field only reveals to man his own folly and despair, and victory is an illusion of philosophers and fools. - William Faulker, “The Sound and the Fury”

That was written by Mississippi’s “greatest author,” who I also thought was kind of overrated. Which, it turns out, could easily apply on multiple levels to the Ole Miss football team. On a national stage and with a No. 4 ranking, the Rebels completely imploded, falling 16-10 at South Carolina last night. It may or may not be true that no battle is ever won, but for Ole Miss, this one was certainly lost.

Mainly it was lost for two reasons: QB Jevan Snead had a miserable game, going 7 for 21 for 107 yards while being pressured by the Gamecocks’ defense all night. And Houston Nutt’s game plan reminded you of why he was barely a .500 coach with a backfield of Felix Jones and Darren McFadden at Arkansas. Nutt seemed unable to accept that the passing game just wasn’t working, and waited until the fourth quarter to turn to running back Dexter McLuster. He ran for 68 yards in the final quarter, but by then it was too little, too late. Read more…

Did you know the Dallas Cowboys haven’t won a playoff game since 1996? That’s pretty spectacular for haters of America’s Team, which includes, oh, most of America. But according to one ESPN analyst, don’t blame the players, or coaches, or even Jerry Jones. Blame the trainer.

Marcellus Wiley believes he’s identified the culprit for Dallas’ late-season collapses: strength and conditioning coach Joe Juraszek, who maybe-not-so-coincidentally joined the club in 1997. Wiley, a former defensive end who played one season for the Cowboys, thinks the team is never in shape to handle the grind of a 16-game season. And Cowboy fans, eager to find a scapegoat, quickly rounded up the posse. (Wiley’s words, and the ensuing fan lynch mob, after the jump.)

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Since losing/removing “Inside The NFL” from their schedule, HBO has been looking for more football-centered programming for their pay channel. And last night was the season premiere of “Hard Knocks“, the candid, in-depth, behind the scenes, too hot for TV pigskin series - sort of like “Playmakers“, if it was properly censored & approved by the NFL.

(We know one thing about Adam - he’s got a lot of balls)

Although we didn’t catch the premiere (there was some QB trade going on), FANSIDED does pass along a clip from the show, featuring everyone’s favorite calamitous cornerback, Adam “Don’t Call Me Pacman” Jones.

In this week’s installment, Adam is up to his old tricks again, making it rain on teammate Felix Jones’ head. But when we say “making it rain”, we really mean it.

Video after the jump. Read more…

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been described as outlandish, arrogant, innovative, idiotic, and selfish, and all of those are true. But now we can add another descriptor to that infamous profile of his.

(thanks to WithLeather for the photo)

Jerry Jones is an a$$ man.

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