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Thursday, August 28, 1997

Dallas is always "America's Team" in the point spread

By DAVE GOLDBERG AP Football Writer

America loves the Dallas Cowboys.

America hates the Dallas Cowboys.

But America always bets on them.

How else to explain the Cowboys going from 1-1/2-point favorites to 3-point favorites for their opener at Pittsburgh Sunday. Maybe Kordell Stewart's sore knee is raising questions, although it doesn't appear to be a problem. Bill Cowher cut Jim Miller last week, a demonstration that Stewart's set at quarterback.

This is a replay of the Super Bowl from 19 months ago, but the cast of characters is different. Ten of the 22 Steelers who started that game are gone, and so is the Cowboys' Larry Brown, the MVP, who now is a $12.5 million backup in Oakland.

Despite Barry Switzer's arrest with a loaded pistol at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and the trashing of the dorms at their training camp, the Cowboys feel they had a good preseason. "Believe it or not, there are good people on this team," Troy Aikman said.

More important than the Cowboys' decorum is Emmitt Smith's ankle is healthy, and the team as a whole appears more dedicated than it was in last year's lackluster season.

Most important on Sunday?

Perhaps the fact that the Steelers are breaking in three new cornerbacks and Aikman is likely to be picking regularly on Chad Scott, the No. 1 draft pick, who will start in Rod Woodson's spot at cornerback.

COWBOYS, 31-23.