Here's another: it's supposed to rain in Seattle.
Seriously, it's true. When the Cowboys meet the Seahawks in the NFC
Wild Card game this Saturday, the temperature is supposed to be in
the 40s and the wet stuff is supposed to be falling from above --
it's kind of like announcing that Terrell Owens is going to earn
headlines for something other than his ability to catch a football.
However, while it might not be the kind of news that makes hearts
skip a beat, it is important to consider as the Cowboys get ready to
face the Seahawks and turn around a regular season-ending skid in
which they lost three of their last four games. In preparation, the
Cowboys are trying to create conditions that resemble what awaits
them in the Pacific Northwest as much as possible.
Rather than practicing inside their indoor facility, head coach Bill
Parcells has had his team practicing outside in the cool, January
air. He has contemplated piping in noise to simulate the din the
Seahawks' "12th Man" crowd emits at their games. And he's having his
team's practice with footballs that have been submerged in water.
"The forecast in Seattle is for 44 degrees and showers," Parcells
said Wednesday. "When we went outside for practice today, it was 44
degrees. We've practiced with a wet ball quite a bit; we have been
for the last two days."
Parcells said that the area in which a wet football affects
performance the most, naturally, is in the passing game.
"When you practice with a wet football, you can not throw it as
hard," Parcells said. "When you throw it hard, the ball kind of
explodes on you. The balls we're using, in fact, are probably wetter
than the balls we'll play with, because we've been dunking them in
buckets."
Quarterbacks are not the only ones who are affected by the wet
footballs.
"You have to focus more when the ball is wet," wide receiver Patrick
Crayton said. "You have to squeeze it a lot harder when it gets to
you. With a dry ball, the way gloves are now, sometimes it just hits
you in the hands, and off you go. With a soaked ball, it comes at you
heavier, it really hits you harder. You have to concentrate much
more, or it will go right through your hands."
Crayton said that he, and many of the other Dallas receivers and
running backs, will switch gloves because of the conditions, too. In
dry weather, most players use gloves with synthetic material in the
palms; when the skies open up, he said he and many teammates will
switch to gloves with leather palms.
"When it gets wet, leather is stickier than the synthetic gloves," he
said. "You get the wet leather of the ball and the wet leather of the
gloves, and you have a better chance to make the catch."
Even punter Mat McBriar is contemplating the use of gloves … or at
least one.
"I might wear one, but only on my left hand," McBriar said. "I don't
want to do anything that affects the way I drop the ball (with the
right hand) when I kick."
The actual punting part of his job shouldn't be affected, McBriar
said, unless the rain turns into an absolute downpour.
"The balls we (kickers and punters) use aren't really that wet,
anyway," McBriar said. "They're kept separate on the sideline, and
pretty dry. They'll get a little wet, but it's not like they're
really soaked, like the balls the other guys are practicing with.
"It doesn't affect (punting) a whole lot, unless it's really coming
down. In that case, all bets are off."
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