WAKE UP! ON ETBLITZ | If you’re the Cowboys, do you pay Micah? Or do you trade Micah?

EDITOR’S NOTE: So, it dawned on me yesterday – get it? Wake Up? “Dawned on me”? – Yes, that was bad. Anyway, I realized yesterday that we’re several weeks into our ‘Wake Up!’ feature here on ETBlitz.com and I’ve never mentioned that you guys can get your own gift cards and e-gift cards for family and friends at Cozy Coffee Station at their stores in Kilgore and Gilmer, or on their website, at this link: Order | Cozy Coffee Wagon LLC eGift Cards. Opening THAT in an e-mail or getting one in an actual gift would make ME happy, I know! And obviously, they can be redeemed at the store in Kilgore at 110 Midtown Plaza, or in Gilmer at 755 Highway 271 North.

The Cowboys & Micah Parsons

So – just how in tune are you with the Dallas Cowboys?

Or, ok, I won’t discriminate: the National Football League?

Most people that know me know that if it’s football, I’m in. Point being, did you know that the NFL’s mandatory mini-camps are going on right now?

So there’s football being played right now. Like, at The Star in Frisco, by members of the Cowboys.

Let me tell you who WON’T be playing, and why that should worry you: edge rusher Micah Parsons.

Parsons is under contract for this coming season, but he’s wanting to re-work his deal, and agents have seen athletes (cough, cough, Ezekiel Elliott, cough cough) threaten to hold out, to not play at the start of the season, before, and get contract extensions.

Parsons was at camp Tuesday, but wasn’t in uniform. What was told to the media was that Parsons was experiencing some tightness in his back, and I’m not suggesting he wasn’t. He talked to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for a short period, but told media members it wasn’t anything to do with contract talks, and that he’d like to have a new deal in place before the Cowboys open official training camp in Oxnard, California in July.

“We were talking about how my offseason has been, the training I’ve been putting in,” Parsons told Cowboys’ ESPN reporter Todd Archer. “He was telling me I look pretty good, so I got excited about that. Asking me about the trip I just went on. It was a pretty good conversation. Then obviously just stepping up and being a leader and how much he appreciates it. And that means a lot to me.”

The Cowboys are on a slippery slope here.

It’s true that they don’t need to let this linger. If they’re going to extend Parsons this offseason, then get it done. If not, then tell him no extension is coming in the offseason, and let that be that. Parsons is certainly one of the best defenders in football when healthy: 256 career tackles, 172 solo, 52 career sacks, 42 quarterback hurries, nine forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries.

But here’s the problem. The NFL has a salary cap in place. And the Cowboys are already committed to the league’s highest-paid quarterback in Dak Prescott ($60 million a year), and while I like Dak as a person, you can be the judge whether or not he’s playing like the best quarterback in the league. They also have the second-highest-paid wide receiver in football in CeeDee Lamb ($34 million a year).

Right now, the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player is defensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns. And he makes north of $40 million annually.

Kind of boggles the mind, right?

At any rate, minicamp is just that: mini. The Cowboys had a practice yesterday and kind of a walk-through today, and that’s it. Training camp begins July 22 in Oxnard. And Parsons told media members Tuesday that he’s got a rental there for camp. So he plans to be there.

So, if you are in charge of the Dallas Cowboys, do you pay Parsons? Do you trade him?

Let us know in the comments below. I’m interested to hear about this.

Camp Central

Our Camp Central youth sports camp roundup is on the site and fresh, so if you have a child who’s interested in going to any of the remaining sports camps in the area, check that out, brought to you by Energy Weldfab.

For anyone reading this who has a camp they’d like to get in, there’s absolutely no charge to make that announcement. Send me an email at mlucas@etblitz.com.

Also, coaches at camps: if you want a camp photo to run here on ETBlitz, send me those at that email address, and we’ll do that free of charge.

Kind of a slow time, calm before the storm, and 7-on-7

It won’t be long until we’re all looking at football and volleyball schedules, getting people to practice, and I’m booking photo shoots and getting to scrimmages. But right now, it’s a little slow.

There’s the 7-on-7 state football tournament, though. The only team from the ETBlitz coverage area in the tournament is Kilgore, and that’s June 26-28 in College Station.

We don’t want to hit you over the head with it every day, but here’s that information. As it gets closer, we’re going to do another deep-dive into 7-on-7, and what you can expect if you go.

The tournament is June 26, 27, and 28 at Veterans Park in College Station, and that’s at 3101 Harvey Road, College Station, TX, 77845.

There are 13 to 15 fields there at Veterans Park, and there’s quite a bit of walking involved for spectators.

Kilgore’s portion of that will be the first two days. Kilgore competes in Division II in 7-on-7, which is the UIL equivalent of Class 4A and 3A. The final day and a half is the Division I tournament.

There’s no entry fee for spectators.

There’s a catch: it’s going to be as hot as – well, you know.

They do allow you to set up chairs, bring water, that kind of thing, because there is no stationary seating, and there is a concession stand, or there was last year.

Pool play begins at 10 a.m. Thursday, and just like the local qualifying tournaments, there will be four teams in each pool, so that means three pool games for each team on Thursday.

All teams advance to bracket play on Friday morning, and everyone will play at least one game.

On Friday, the first round of the Division II bracket will start at 8:45 a.m.

We’ll do way more on 7-on-7 when the tournament gets closer, but here’s an article from a couple of weeks ago where we went into detail explaining the rules and more about the game: WAKE UP! ON ETBLITZ.COM | Overton leads series, game two today; learn about 7-on-7, because it’s cool, man.