Ben

June 1993-December 2007

My sweet, sweet, gentle Ben. He was our largest kitty. Not just physically. He loved to be loved and to give his love.

He was my blanket and foot warmer.

He always knew when you needed his attention.

He hated Heidi while Heidi loved him. Adversaries to the end, I think he missed her when she was gone. Now they are together again. I'm sure Heidi is glad to see him again....her old friend. I know right now Heidi is getting "popped" in the face as we speak. She didn't care. She isn't alone anymore. And he'll have someone to boss around.

I miss you Ben and I love you so very much!!!

Yeah, what T.O. said...........

T.O. to Jessica Simpson: Back Off Romo

Terrell Owens has a message for Jessica Simpson: Stay away. The 27-year-old singer-actress has become Public Enemy No. 1 among Dallas Cowboys fans because of a link being made between her appearance at Sunday's game and the poor performance of her new boyfriend, quarterback Tony Romo.

Asked Wednesday about the Simpson scenario, Owens playfully chimed in: "Right now, Jessica Simpson is not a fan favorite - in this locker room or in Texas Stadium."

Late Wednesday, Owens further clarified the tone of his statements.

"Man, I was joking," he said. "Everyone was laughing, right?"

The Cowboys lost 10-6 to the Philadelphia Eagles and Romo had what was statistically the worst game of his career, all while Simpson sat in a luxury box wearing a pink No. 9 jersey she proudly showed off for television cameras.

The problem for her is, Romo's previous worst game came last December at home to the Eagles when then-girlfriend Carrie Underwood was in attendance.

"With everything that has happened, obviously the way Tony played and the comparison between her and Carrie Underwood, I think a lot of people feel like she's kind of taken his focus away," Owens said, echoing the chatter on sports-talk radio and blogs. "Other than that, she was hot on my list until last week.

"Oh, I got a message for her when we make the playoffs. Just stay tuned."

Hooked on a Feeling

MICKEY SPAGNOLA
dallascowboys.com columnist

DETROIT - You knew it, didn't you, you just did.

That is the indelible charm of these Dallas Cowboys.

Yeah, yeah, I know, they were gashed for a season-high 152 rushing yards by the rushing-deficient Detroit Lions.

Yeah, I know, they couldn't get pressure on Jon Kitna to save their lives.

Yeah, I know, Jason Witten fumbled at the 1-yard line and Tony Romo fumbled at his 40 and Marion Barber fumbled at the Lions 28.

But unlike previous seasons when you were just waiting for that next shoe to drop, when you were convinced of yet another December-January fade and when you've seen a couple of potential NFC East Division titles disintegrate into mid-air, this time you get . . . .

Cowboys 28, Lions 27.

But you knew it, right, you just had this feeling after watching this team play 12 previous times this year that these Dallas Cowboys were not going to let you down; that somehow, some way they would make the play to yank a victory from the bear trap of defeat.

And if you did not share in the good vibes thousands of Cowboys fans among the 62,759 here at Ford Field on Sunday surely did by the way they lustily tried to out-cheer the Lions faithful to the very end, then you should have been listening to Troy Aikman this past Thursday out at The Ranch. The Hall of Famer would have told you.

For Aikman, when talking about Romo, basically saying he would have to put two of his years together to match Romo's magical season this year, said, "I don't know how everybody else feels, but I know when I watch him play, and there's some other quarterbacks that are like this in the league, you always feel like he's going to make a play. You always feel like regardless of what the situation is, he's going to make a play that's going to get it done for the team."

And the son of a gun did it again, right in front of the guy who said so, resurrecting a Cowboys team trailing by 13 heading into the fourth quarter. Undaunted, no matter fumbles, poor field position, fourth-down pressure or the NFL's 60-minute sand timer seemingly dropping granules at a rapidly increasing rate, the charmed one led the Cowboys to two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, once again overcoming every and all shortcoming for the victory over surely the disbelieving Lions.

The result:

Cowboys win the NFC East for the first tine since Greg Ellis and Flozell Adams were rookies in 1998 10 years ago, allowing one and all to wear white hats and T-shirts afterward proclaiming their division crown.

Cowboys clinch at least a home playoff game, something not seen at Texas Stadium since 1998.

Cowboys need only a win next Sunday over Philadelphia or a Seattle loss to clinch a first-round playoff bye, something they have not enjoyed since 1995.

Cowboys win a franchise-high 12 of 13 games so far this season (12-1), the first 12-win season since 1995; win seven straight games for the first time since 1993, one short of matching the franchise single-season high; win now nine straight road games, one short of the franchise high with two left to play.

By the hair of their chinny-chin-chin...........

COWBOYS 28

Lions 27

OMG! I'm tellin' ya, that game was the most gut wrenchin', heart-achin', last minute heart-stoppin', hellacious, tenacious, belly-achin', loud-screamin', house-shakin' game I have ever scene. It took us the last 48 seconds of the 4th quarter to come from behind and win the game.

I bow to the Cowboy gods.

Naruto is Yahoo's top 10 most searched topic of 2007

........by Anime News Network.

According to a CNet News article, the Naruto ninja manga and anime franchise was fourth on an unofficial list of the most popular searches in the Yahoo search engine this year. In previous years, Yahoo had officially announced the list, but it now only releases the top ten searches grouped by a specific trend such as "news stories," "environmental searches," or "consumer call-backs." Nonetheless, a Yahoo executive provided the ten most popular terms overall to the CNet reporter.

No manga or anime franchise appeared in Yahoo's list of the top ten overall searches from 2003 to 2006, or in Google's top ten searches for those same years. Naruto placed second on this year's list of the most searched toys and games, as compiled by one of Yahoo's online search competitors, Lycos.

It's not a winter wonderland...........

As we walked towards the Walmart automatic sliding doors, we hear the faint music of a holiday Christmas carol. I can't remember what it was. I just know thinking to myself, "It just doesn't feel like Christmas." As we get closer, the music gets louder. We cross the yellow painted pedestrian crossing. I am in short black shorts and a pink tank top. It's 70ish degrees outside. No jacket. No smoky breath as you exhale from frosty temps. No closed, zipped, buttoned jackets to protect you from freezing temps. Just warm weather on a December day. Just wasn't giving me that Christmas feeling.

As we got inside, it was a madhouse of shoppers. Nothing different on a typical Sunday morning. I got my necessary items and we shopped a bit around to just look and wish, I guess. As we turn a corner, Bobby stops me. "Listen, " he says. I look at him queerly. "It's Elvis, " he says. "So," I respond. Then Bobby replies, "He's singing a Christmas song." I just shrug. "So," I thought to myself.

We check out. We get to the van. I start it since Bobby isn't able to drive just yet. (A totally other story.) As we pull out and start our way home, I just dream of a cold front to come through. It's hard to get in the Christmas spirit without a cold wind, some snow on the grass and trees, and a hot mug of coffee or chocolate.

Sometimes I think of my friends up north who get inches or feet of the white stuff. They own snow shovels or skis. Betcha each one of them owns a parka. Who the hell in Texas owns a parka? Who the hell owns a snow shovel?

So I sit in my overly warm van with windows rolled down to let in the coolish breeze and think of a cold Christmas. A white Christmas? Won't happen.

So in all, I bet it must be nice to get out of a warm van, into a sub-30 degree atmosphere, walk to a Walmart with Christmas music blaring and hear the sounds of the tinkling bell that a freezing volunteer Salvation Army soldier flicks with a wary wrist. It must be nice to turn around and see the other shoppers with their warm coats, hats and mittens huddled together to share their warmth. It must be nice to see those same shoppers with cold, red, chapped cheeks slapped by the Jack Frost's hand with warm smiles on their faces. It must be nice to see the snow that has been shoveled to the side of the road so those same shoppers can get to that Walmart. It must be nice....

...but that is only my dream.