As a good football man, Parcells is trying desperately to keep the focus on his team and on the upcoming season. With T.O. in the fold, however, that is impossible. That should have been obvious to him from the beginning of this charade, since it was obvious to most outsiders given Owens’ failure to contain his selfish antics in San Francisco and Philadelphia.

And maybe it was. Perhaps it is ego at work here. Maybe Parcells sees himself as a miracle worker, given his remarkable ability to rejuvenate teams and players in the past. Here, though, he has met his match. And so soon into training camp!

Aside from T.O. and Rosenhaus, the real culprit is Jones, who is a bigger casualty of his own ego than Parcells. After all, it’s Jones’ money and team that is going down the toilet with each T.O. uprising.

Even if T.O. gets his act together right away and begins practicing with the team, it’s only a matter of time before he starts complaining about not seeing the football enough in Parcells’ offense. This isn’t designed to be a Owens-centric offense. The Cowboys intend to make him an option, not a reason to live. T.O. will tolerate that for two games maybe, three tops, before he begins ripping into everyone around him, starting with quarterback Drew Bledsoe.

Special feature Our top players at each position

Also, additional blame needs to be placed on some of these ex-jock commentators who keep mouthing that “T.O. will be fine” and remarking how he’s such a tremendous player that when the games start he’ll be a good soldier and a valuable asset. Wrong. He’ll be T.O., which means he’ll be all about himself. You don’t have to be a football expert to understand that, just a student of human nature.

Slideshow   The Week in Sports Pictures The Giants on top of the football world, getting ready for the London Olympics and more. more photos

That is all the more apparent today now that he’s getting fined for missing meetings. After all he’s been through, after all the baggage he has accumulated, T.O. has the audacity to start blowing off team obligations.

He is Maurice Clarett without the firearms.           

Sometimes a storm hits earlier than the prognosticators expect. And sometimes it lasts a whole lot longer than anyone could imagine.