By NICK GHOLSON, Scripps Howard News Service

ARLINGTON, Texas - Ever since T.O. left town, I have been up and down on whether handing him his walking papers was really the right decision for the Dallas Cowboys.

Love him or hate him, the guy is one of the best wide receivers in all of pro football.

Don't believe me. Just ask him.

This was supposed to be a column about the Dallas Cowboys offensive soap opera that has been playing at Valley Ranch all week.
Would T.O. and Tony kiss and make up?
Could T.O. and Witten just be friends?
Would Marion Barber forgive Jerry Jones?
Would Jerry just shut up?
But in the end, none of this really mattered.

IRVING, Texas -- It had been nine years since Deion Sanders made headlines with the Dallas Cowboys.But this week, he was back in the news.Not for intercepting passes. Not for scoring touchdowns.All Deion did was sit in a chair and chat with Terrell Owens. The interview for The NFL Network wasn't great -- Deion is a much better cornerback than he is a journalist.

LAS VEGAS -- Phil Hellmuth knows the bigger poker gets, the richer he gets.So if Peter Eastgate wants to erase his name from one page in the World Series of Poker record book, it's OK with Hellmuth.

LAS VEGAS -- The Kentucky Derby proudly calls itself the "greatest two minutes in sports."Well then, the World Series of Poker needs to start calling itself the "greatest 123 days in non-sports."

IRVING, Texas -- With four minutes to play Sunday, this game -- and maybe even this season -- was on the line for the Dallas Cowboys.Tampa Bay was 74 yards away from spoiling everything.Where was cornerback "Pacman'' Jones when the Cowboys really needed him?In rehab.And fellow corner Terrence Newman?On the injury list.

"Well, what happened was, that second game, we got our (expletive) kicked. In the second half, we just got our (expletive) totally kicked. We couldn't do diddly poo offensively, we couldn't make a first down, we couldn't run the ball, we didn't try to run the ball, we couldn't complete a pass -- we sucked.

IRVING, Texas -- For most of the afternoon, the Dallas Cowboys pretty much stunk.Wade Phillips won't agree with that.Neither will Tony Romo.And -- "Praise the Lord" -- the Rev. Terrell Owens might even accuse me of bearing false witness."A win is a win, and we are happy to win" was the echo of all the Cowboys players and coaches on Sunday.

BEIJING -- "The best man won today. It wasn't me."That's the way Walter Dix of the United States described the amazing Olympic moment that took place Wednesday night in the Bird's Nest.And the other six sprinters who followed Usain Bolt to the finish line can echo Dix's words.