Despite all the many wonderful suggestions from you guys, I went with the name Cooper. Coop, for short. It’s what I started calling him in my head, so there it is. Originally, I wanted to name him after a scientist (I liked Franklin and Chomsky), but I just couldn’t escape Cooper. Which, in actuality, is because of my undying love of Sheldon Cooper, who at least plays a scientist on TV.

Cooper is a five-month-old Terrier mix. He weighs 8.2 pounds right now. He’ll probably get a little bigger, but not a whole lot. He eats his food one piece at a time. He runs away from the bowl to chew each piece. I’m pretty sure if I could stick to his diet plan, I’d only weigh 8.2 pounds, too. It takes him forever to eat breakfast because he’d rather hang in the bathroom with me while I get ready.

Which, actually, is something I’ve never minded in a man. So I guess he’s perfect.

The only things we’re really having issues with are poop and the fact that Cooper really only wants to sleep for a couple of hours at a time, each segment punctuated with face-licking and hair biting and “PLAY WITH ME PLAY WITH ME LOOK HOW CUTE I AM YOU LOVE ME PLAY WITH ME NOW!”

I think we’ll be able to work through both obstacles. He’s peeing outside like a champ. With the exception of this morning, when he peed on my kitchen rug, literally right next to the puppy pad. But this was mostly my fault, as I didn’t take him out right away. Lesson learned.

What I actually wanted to talk about today, though, is respect. And sorry, but this is about sports. Well, not just sports, but sports is the impetus.

It’s what they’re calling “Shoulder Pad-Gate” here in Dallas. Even Aaron Rodgers of the Greenbay Packers has weighed in (on Twitter, somewhere). You know, because we care what he thinks.

Cowboys* training camp has started in San Antonio. In what seems to be an almost unprecedented action, Dez Bryant (rookie wide receiver and first round draft pick) refused to carry Roy Williams’s shoulder pads when asked. As a rookie, hazing is very much a part of life, and everyone just goes along.

Well, not Dez Bryant.

And I say, good for him. Honestly, if I were Dez Bryant, I’m not sure I’d really want to play football in Dallas. After all the ridiculous talk about his mother and his upbringing (in a league that includes Michael Vick, Pacman Jones, Donte Stallworth, and What’s-his-name who shot himself in the leg, to name a few), none of which have any real bearing on his ability to catch a football, I’d probably cut and run.

What really gets me about this story, aside from the fact that it’s actually a story and people have actually been talking about it for days now, is that everyone is talking about respect. How can Dez expect to earn the respect of his fellow teammates if he doesn’t do their grunt work? Uh…that doesn’t even make sense to me.

I don’t tend to respect people who let me push them around. I tend to respect people who stand their ground and stand up for what they believe in. And hazing has never made sense to me. In fact, arbitrary actions that are designed to show respect have never made sense to me. That’s not how respect works, in my opinion.

I do understand tradition, but I’m not much of a traditionalist. If I wanted tradition, I’d go to Texas A&M or join the military. I don’t need someone to tell me that I have to stand up when the National Anthem plays, in order to love and respect my country. I don’t need to be forced to put my hand over my heart when I say the pledge of allegiance (or forced to say the pledge of allegiance, for that matter). It’s a gesture, and it could very easily be an empty one. Respect isn’t about arbitrary actions, in my opinion. Respect is something deeper. And I’m not saying that those things are wrong or even that they’re ridiculous. I’m just saying that you can’t know what’s in someone’s head or heart, so maybe don’t give the girl who doesn’t take her hat off for the whatever dirty looks. Maybe she just doesn’t want to show off her hat hair. And the guy who readily stands when he’s supposed to? He may be plotting to overthrow the government.

It seems to me that this is really about the fact that these guys let themselves get pushed around, so now they want to be able to take it out on the new kids. That’s not respect. It’s immature, frat-boy crap. It’s not even really team building. I mean, unless you want your team built on punishing it’s new members. And look, I get it, it’s a thing. It’s how things are. It’s just what happens. But it’s not required, it’s not necessary, and I sincerely doubt it’s helping anyone’s football game. So if the dude doesn’t want to do it, why make such a fuss about it? It’s just making a big deal out of nothing.

Plus, his response was, “I’m here to play football, not carry someone else’s pads.” How can anyone argue with that? But let’s not make this about respect, people. It’s just not. Plus, if I were Roy Williams, I might just keep my mouth shut until I could pull my weight on the team. I, for one, will laugh when Dez takes his place as a starter. Here’s to hoping he can catch the ball.

*No, I’m not a Cowboys fan. Living in Dallas just means that Cowboys news is what I hear the most. In other news, IT’S ALMOST TIME FOR FOOTBALL!