Article:Did the fake Jessica Simpson at the NFL Divisional playoff game jinx the Cowboys?

Normally I would spend serious time writing about the National Football League, but I have to say a big fat BOOYAH!

Last week as the New York Giants had shifted their playoff focus on the top seed in the NFC as their next opponent, Modell's sporting goods store at Times Square in New York City hosted a Jessica Simpson look-alike contest. Certainly it was worth the fun given it was at the expense of the pedestal that Tony Romo had been sitting on leading into yesterday's big playoff game.

But the New York Post took it a step further. Since Romo's on-screen and pop singer girlfriend Jessica Simpson in fact stayed away from Texas Stadium by request from teammate Terrell Owens, the rest of the Cowboys players (at least we've been led to believe) and especially Cowboys fans and the local media, one of New York City's primary newspapers recruited and sent a Simpson look-alike to yesterday's 2007 NFC Divisional playoff game. Was it to help the visiting Giants and put a season-ending hex on Romo? While the New York Post won't claim they aided the end of the Cowboys' 13-4 season with a bitter 21-17 defeat on their home field, impersonator Lynsey Nordstrom of Bothell, Washington did her best to fool Simpson's latest squeeze.

Regarding yesterday, for New York City, the Giants, their fans and this newspaper, mission accomplished.

The Cowboys have always been superstitious for wearing their white jerseys at home instead of what most NFL teams do with dark jerseys because they have felt their navy blue ones trimmed in silver and white have brought them bad luck. Nordstrom simply just wore a replica of the same white jersey trimmed in pink that Simpson wore nearly a month ago. That was when Romo had his worst performance of his second season at one of the most coveted jobs in sports, Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback.

Following a 10-6 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on December 16th, Simpson drew lots of negative press from the Dallas media, some ire from Cowboys fans and even the players. Knowing how much Terrell Owens like to hear himself talk, he as expected chimed in with a request for her to stay home. However, Owens retracted that statement after he was portrayed as being mean to say "I'm only joking". Remember this is coming from a player that wore out his welcome in San Francisco and especially Philadelphia where he wanted everything surrounding his team to revolve around him.

Oh yeah, hey T.O.! Who's crying now? You were so sure the Cowboys would be Super Bowl champs, weren't you?

As the Romo-Simpson fairy tale romance grew, so did the media attention. Opposing fans would use Simpson as their rallying cry against the Cowboys, like that's a surprise, right? The Carolina Panthers faithful were unsuccessful with some wearing blonde wigs and even Simpson cutout masks to try distracting Romo. Washington Redskins fans were successful in the season's final weekend. And who knows, if Giants fans that did make their way to Dallas for yesterday's game used the same tactic, did it work? It's certainly possible, but not proven for sure. All we know is that Nordstrom tried to her best as the 21-year-old beauty sat just a few rows up in her 50-yard line seats behind the Cowboys bench.

One way or the other, ultimately Patrick Clayton will be able to eat his words and by the advice of Michael Strahan, Owens will be able to get the popcorn ready next Sunday. Only this time, the trash that came from Dallas has been dumped into a Staten Island landfill. Instead of a fairy tale Super Bowl ending to a dream season for that self-proclaimed "America's Team" that Jerry Jones wants you to believe that they are, Romo will have more time to spend with his Hollywood hottie in another Mexican getaway instead of a trip to Disneyland.