The Beat

THE COWBOYS have returned to the HBO training camp reality series, Hard Knocks, but the show may have lost its most intriguing story line months before its Aug. 6 premiere: Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson (right) have reportedly ended their six-month relationship. While Simpson's rep denies the reports—advanced by The Dallas Morning News and several other publications—the singer was nowhere to be found when Romo fumbled through Take Me Out to the Ball Game at Wrigley Field last week. Romo, however, was on hand when Jessica's sister, Ashlee, married Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz last Saturday.... Barry Bonds, who was hit with a new BALCO indictment last week, didn't let his legal troubles get in the way of a brief appearance in David Banner's Get like Me video. "Barry came fresh out of court to come holla at me," the rapper said. "That's real." ... The shoe company PF Flyers has reissued the 1956 Bob Cousy All-American, a canvas high-top sneaker in colors including Celtic green. They sell for $60. "Back then I was the only one with my name on a shoe, other than my buddy Chuck Taylor," Cousy, 79, tells SI. "And he couldn't throw the ball behind his back."

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GINA JAMES/RETNA LTD. (SIMPSON)