All Things Cowboys would like to offer a heartfelt thanks to Mickey Spagnola of DallasCowboys.com for not so prominently mentioning this obsure and "lame" blog in his latest column, A Bigger Fish To Fry. Such notoriety is completely unexpected at this juncture of our online sports enterprise. Unexpected, but not unwelcome. Once again, our thanks to Mickey.
With that said, I'd like to give our readers a hint as to who Mickey Spagnola really is. Having never personally met him, I only know him through his writing about the Dallas Cowboys. This reaches back to his days working for The Dallas Times Herald, having to endure the journalistic blossoming of Skip Bayless. (He referred to the passes of Danny White as "quacking ducks") Fortunately, Mickey had the positive professional influence of an august group of accomplished writers including scattershooting Blackie Sherrod and reserved Frank Luksa. He also worked along side of Randy Galloway, who may be considered accomplished but not quite august. (Randy understands!) This circus atmosphere prepared him for working for Jerry Jones, DallasCowboys.com and The Silver Star Network, where he has worked along side of Babe Laufenburg as a Preseason Game Analyst.
To put it concisely, Mickey Spagnola is the consumate professional. He knows his stuff, especially his Cowboys stuff. He is always prepared and never caught off guard, in spite of those around him. His tenure within the varied ranks of modern sports journalism speaks for itself. He exhibits a measured realism in his analysis of the Cowboys, a realism which stops short of tabloid hype. ( Of course, Dale Hansen might have provided the ultimate primer on journalistc no-nos while working for Jerry Jones.) This attribute is a treasured commodity in the midst of the ever present selfishness of journalists attempting to draw attention to themselves. For this reason alone, Mickey stands out simply because he's not trying to.
Because of this immense value of Mickey to the operations of Jerry Jones, I can't help but wonder if it's feasable to trade him for someone (maybe more than one "someone") with a little more flash. After all, Jerry likes flash. And flash brings attention. And attention brings cash flow! And cash flow makes Jerry smile. And Jerry likes to smile. And when Jerry smiles he looks for more flash.............. So maybe Mickey should be shipped off to ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC or FOX for ..............Who?.......a loud mouth?..........a non stop motor mouth?...........a handsome camera presence?.........a nationally recognized and respected sports personality? I ask you, "Exacty who would that be?" After all, do these entities want to trade their contracted personnel? For the most part, no. They would tell you that they are currently satisfied with their arrangements and the stature of Mickey would upset that desired equilibrium.
So, as much as Mickey would add immense value to these other national operations, they can't afford to give up what they already possess. And Jerry will not ship him off unless it significantly enhances the weight of his back pocket. And Jerry doesn't keep anyone, I repeat, anyone, unless he really likes their performance and they add to his bottom line. And believe me, Mickey has done exactly that over the years.
That's why he's staying right where he is. Nope, the trade's not going to happen. I don't care what you may have read or heard on some legitimate web site, the great Mickey Spagnola stays put. He's too valuable and should be recognized as such, something even lame blog writers can do!
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