Do I have to accept mediocrity to be a real fan?

[DavidAK]

I've refrained from posting everything that's on my mind because I think it won't go well with the fellas around here. But one thing I have noticed and I can't understand is the amount of distane towards fans that have just seen or had enough of....ALL of this whatever the hell we have here in Dallas.

We have guys like Andrew Luck going to the worst team in Football to turn around and go to the playoffs. We get beat by a rookie hobble leg Rg3 on the last game of the season and our franchise Qb lays yet another egg.

We as fans have every right to be mad and distressed about the future of our team. When will people just realize, that mediocrity, 8-8 jobs and missing the playoffs is not ok. Why should I accept an 8-8 season?

Just venting..Get at it fellas.

[lane]

great post..

[Boyzmamacita]

We are all mad right now and it's OK to vent, but it won't change anything. Venting after a brutal loss makes perfect sense, but six weeks from now some people will still be going on about Jerry Jones and 16 years, etc., etc. We all know these facts, but since we can't change them AND since we choose to continue being fans of the Dallas Cowboys, we go into defensive mode, the same mode utilized to deal with trolls. It doesn't mean you're not a fan because you vent. It's those who choose to infuse negativity into every thread, even positive threads, that get some posters riled up.

[UncFelix28]

You do have to accept it unfortunately, b/c there is nothing "we" as fans can do to change it, aside from taking a stand from paying for merchandise & tickets. All you can do is somehow hope something clicks with the Jones family & they start to make the right moves in the offseason that help this team get to the next level & are competing for years & years to come, + hope Garrett is the right man for the job & can turn things around in 2013, while bringing in a new Offensive Coordinator. Only hope is what I can cling to

[5Stars]

Originally Posted by Boyzmamacita

We are all mad right now and it's OK to vent, but it won't change anything. Venting after a brutal loss makes perfect sense, but six weeks from now some people will still be going on about Jerry Jones and 16 years, etc., etc. We all know these facts, but since we can't change them AND since we choose to continue being fans of the Dallas Cowboys, we go into defensive mode, the same mode utilized to deal with trolls. It doesn't mean you're not a fan because you vent. It's those who choose to infuse negativity into every thread, even positive threads, that get some posters riled up.

[5Stars]

Originally Posted by UncFelix28

You do have to accept it unfortunately, b/c there is nothing "we" as fans can do to change it, aside from taking a stand from paying for merchandise & tickets. All you can do is somehow hope something clicks with the Jones family & they start to make the right moves in the offseason that help this team get to the next level & are competing for years & years to come, + hope Garrett is the right man for the job & can turn things around in 2013, while bringing in a new Offensive Coordinator. Only hope is what I can cling to

I'm stealing this bold for a lyric.

[AlterEgo]

Originally Posted by UncFelix28

You do have to accept it unfortunately, b/c there is nothing "we" as fans can do to change it, aside from taking a stand from paying for merchandise & tickets. All you can do is somehow hope something clicks with the Jones family & they start to make the right moves in the offseason that help this team get to the next level & are competing for years & years to come, + hope Garrett is the right man for the job & can turn things around in 2013, while bringing in a new Offensive Coordinator. Only hope is what I can cling to

You can strike the oc hope you had. Princeton already said no change. The process is working.

[Picksix]

Originally Posted by DavidAK

I've refrained from posting everything that's on my mind because I think it won't go well with the fellas around here. But one thing I have noticed and I can't understand is the amount of distane towards fans that have just seen or had enough of....ALL of this whatever the hell we have here in Dallas.

We have guys like Andrew Luck going to the worst team in Football to turn around and go to the playoffs. We get beat by a rookie hobble leg Rg3 on the last game of the season and our franchise Qb lays yet another egg.

We as fans have every right to be mad and distressed about the future of our team. When will people just realize, that mediocrity, 8-8 jobs and missing the playoffs is not ok. Why should I accept an 8-8 season?

Just venting..Get at it fellas.

Actually, the hobbled rookie didn't do a whole lot to beat us last night. More like a rookie RB running for 250 yards, and an OL that couldn't block. Romo played his part for sure, and it would have been nice to see Garrett come up with something to beat the blitz.

As for positivity or negativity determining a person's fanhood, I don't think there's much correlation. What gets me (and many others) are the posters who are nothing but negative. Hundreds and hundreds (even thousands) of posts, spewing nothing but "this guy sucks", "the team is horrible", "the season basically been an abortion"...and so on, without ever having anything good to say, jumping to ridiculous conclusions about everything (the Cowboys think Leary can be a starter...great, just another excuse not to address the OL) like they know so much about what's really going on inside the organization. When someone does post something informative, hopeful, insightful, positive, they just blast it because it doesn't jive with their agenda. It's either Garrett sucks, Romo's a choker, Ware is overrated, Ryan is full of hot air, our scouting department can't get good players, our coaches can't develop anybody, anything that anybody else is doing is better, players/coaches on other teams are all better, you don't know anything compared to what I know, yada yada yada.

There's nothing wrong with being critical, even angry about it. If you got a beef, let's hear it. But make the point and move on. (Not speaking directly to you, just in general). But there are some who are so entrenched that their line of thinking is right, and everyone else is wrong, and will take any thread, and just and steer it toward their agenda. I don't know how many threads I've seen, that start off talking about something like who could we get draft to play safety, and make it about how Garrett can't coach an offense, when there are already a dozen current threads about it at the time. That's not being a fan, and it goes way beyond venting.

And repeatedly talking about who the team needs to get rid of (or better yet, just blow the team up - yeah, that sounds good), without giving any suggestions as to who might be better. Fine, if there are people on here who know so much, how do we make it better? Don't just talk about getting rid of someone. Who's the replacement? Because without having a better alternative, making a change for change's sake is a failed concept.

Guess I needed to vent a little, too.

[Cowboyz88]

Not calling anyone out specifically, but I just find it and always will find it pretentious that other fans seem to think that they can dictate or let others know when it's the acceptable time to vent or complain, as if they're the official fan authority.

As an example, during the whole RW31 fade to nothingness, fans were raked over the coals for having a dissenting opinion on his obvious declining play, then it's like all the self-proclaimed "authority" decide that it's finally time to accept reality, then instead of admitting that they might have actually been wrong, they go on some grandiose breakdown of his play and how they suddenly suspected that his play was diminishing , and most of all NOW is the time that RW31 can be criticized.

Happens over and over again with player after player. Like now, calling our Ware for his terrible play last night elicits responses with his career stats as if his sack from 2007 had any bearing on his play last night.

Let's not even get into Romo.

Bottom line, all fans are different and cheer/root for their teams in their own way, and trying to force someone into thinking like you is comical.

[jterrell]

What these "realists" need to understand is all the fans watch the same games and suffer the same heartbreak when we see a late pick.

What separates them is some people are able to move forward and focus on what it takes to get better while others cry incessantly. Having to watch a late pick in another tough loss the last thing I want to experience is a bunch of whining sniffling entitled babies.

There is absolutely zero logical sense to hate Jerry Jones for 16 years and still be a fan of HIS team. Wish he makes different moves? OK. But when there is real disdain for him it is time to move on to another hobby or another team. By claiming this team you support him. PERIOD.

Because the man isn't firing himself. He'll die with the job he has.

No one has to accept 8-8 EXCEPT that is 100% the epitome of an average NFL season. So half the fans will get just that or worse.

If you are a Cowboy fan you get to see games on national tv every other week and get to be talked about non-stop on ESPN. But you don't get to win many games right now. This team just isn't that talented, well coached nor managed. The are creeping that direction with some very solid young players but also face cap issues which could make us even worse.

What might really help this team is a 2 or 3 win season. Add some real help from the draft and eat a crap sandwich one season as we expunge all cap woes. Unfortunately the team isn't that talentless, poorly coached or mismanaged.

We are a middle of the road bunch. And it is really hard to move from here to elite. But if it was easy there would no real joy in winning. By 1996 regular season wins largely meant nothing to this fan base.

[jterrell]

Originally Posted by Cowboyz88

Not calling anyone out specifically, but I just find it and always will find it pretentious that other fans seem to think that they can dictate or let others know when it's the acceptable time to vent or complain, as if they're the official fan authority.

As an example, during the whole RW31 fade to nothingness, fans were raked over the coals for having a dissenting opinion on his obvious declining play, then it's like all the self-proclaimed "authority" decide that it's finally time to accept reality, then instead of admitting that they might have actually been wrong, they go on some grandiose breakdown of his play and how they suddenly suspected that his play was diminishing , and most of all NOW is the time that RW31 can be criticized.

[View Full Quote]Happens over and over again with player after player. Like now, calling our Ware for his terrible play last night elicits responses with his career stats as if his sack from 2007 had any bearing on his play last night.

Let's not even get into Romo.

Bottom line, all fans are different and cheer/root for their teams in their own way, and trying to force someone into thinking like you is comical.

Bad example to use. Anyone complaining about Ware last night is not intelligent enough to take seriously discussing football. He was severely injured and really shouldn't have been on the field.

Your post is basically saying as fans we should allow all fans the ability to say whatever they want, even the plainly ridiculous and that is as far from what this site is built upon as anything.

What has made this site great over the years is people holding posters to higher standards with football discussion. That has fallen off mightily this year. Every fan does deserve a chance to vent immediately following tough losses and they do deserve the forum to speak their piece. But no one should expect to allowed to repeatedly offer dregs and not be called on it.

[Cowboyz88]

Originally Posted by jterrell

Bad example to use. Anyone complaining about Ware last night is not intelligent enough to take seriously discussing football. He was severely injured and really shouldn't have been on the field.

Your post is basically saying as fans we should allow all fans the ability to say whatever they want, even the plainly ridiculous and that is as far from what this site is built upon as anything.

What has made this site great over the years is people holding posters to higher standards with football discussion. That has fallen off mightily this year. Every fan does deserve a chance to vent immediately following tough losses and they do deserve the forum to speak their piece. But no one should expect to allowed to repeatedly offer dregs and not be called on it.

And here we go.

I conveniently left out the injury thing because we all know he's hurt physically, but his mental capacity last night was the issue. The Skins played him last night and it was blatantly obvious.

To say otherwise is folly and is EXACTLY what I'm talking about.

How about instead of calling me or anyone else out, you actually acknowledge that he was CLEARLY a weakness on our defense last night. Not all season, not his career, last freaking night.

It's OK. You can say it. We all know he was a weak spot. Doesn't make you any less of a fan. I promise.

[Cowboyz88]

Originally Posted by jterrell

What these "realists" need to understand is all the fans watch the same games and suffer the same heartbreak when we see a late pick.

What separates them is some people are able to move forward and focus on what it takes to get better while others cry incessantly. Having to watch a late pick in another tough loss the last thing I want to experience is a bunch of whining sniffling entitled babies.

There is absolutely zero logical sense to hate Jerry Jones for 16 years and still be a fan of HIS team. Wish he makes different moves? OK. But when there is real disdain for him it is time to move on to another hobby or another team. By claiming this team you support him. PERIOD.

Because the man isn't firing himself. He'll die with the job he has.

No one has to accept 8-8 EXCEPT that is 100% the epitome of an average NFL season. So half the fans will get just that or worse.

[View Full Quote]If you are a Cowboy fan you get to see games on national tv every other week and get to be talked about non-stop on ESPN. But you don't get to win many games right now. This team just isn't that talented, well coached nor managed. The are creeping that direction with some very solid young players but also face cap issues which could make us even worse.

What might really help this team is a 2 or 3 win season. Add some real help from the draft and eat a crap sandwich one season as we expunge all cap woes. Unfortunately the team isn't that talentless, poorly coached or mismanaged.

We are a middle of the road bunch. And it is really hard to move from here to elite. But if it was easy there would no real joy in winning. By 1996 regular season wins largely meant nothing to this fan base.

And while we're at it, according to you, fans CAN'T criticize Ware for clearly being a liability last night, but SHOULD wish for a 2 or 3 win season?

And YOU'RE the one deciding who is or "is not intelligent enough to take seriously discussing football?"

Got it.

Any other thing we should all know before deciding what to post? I'm just dying to know.

[TwoDeep3]

You be your kind of fan and I'll be my kind of fan.

If you don't like that I am vocal about Jones, Garrett, Romo, et al then don't read my posts.

But sitting astride your sanctimonious horse telling me what I need to do to be a fan smacks of hubris of the first order.

"We held fans to a higher standard...ect"

That is the steaming matter that falls from a tall bull's butt.

What happened here, just like most places dominated by the hope and change fandom, is you brow beat the crap out of people who expressed any opinion that was not positive and fit in with the company line.

The poster was ridiculed by the clique that was most visible here and true football discussion was about how great things were.

Real Xs and Os made way for the praising and sugar coating.

Off limits was Romo's penchant to choke, Jerry Jones and his complete incompetence, the current head coach du jour, and any team favorite player that could do no wrong, including the anointing of every draft pick as greatness, and the giggling that the rest of the NFL didn't take a 5 foot 9 inch, 179 pound receiver from SMU because Dallas was so smart.

This site is greatness. The guy that runs this place may be the greatest poster of them all. He certainly maintains a site that is functional, clean, and will entertain the opinions of all.

Reality is a rare breed of man who gives of himself for the enjoyment of others and maintains such an even keel while putting up with people like me.

Except...

Now days the silver and blue sun glass set goes around making this insipid commentary that nothing can change so shut the hell up.

And I find that to be the most insulting thing of all. Because of this.

I sat in the stands - every game the 1-15 season and a number of others. I bought the concessions. I bought the merchandise. I read every article. I bought the magazines. I watched every TV show. I took the fax sports page.

I have missed Thanksgiving to watch the team. I have missed weddings - what a great loss that was. I have missed Christmas parties, birthday parties, broken dates and a lot worse for this team.

I have put up with insults from fans around the league, the press, the ex-players, fans of this team especially, and even relatives that like to be smart butts.

I watched the games, I went to the games. I lived and died by the results.

I have rejoiced at the Championships.

I have cried at the tragic losses.

I've been here as a fan of this team since the day they came to Dallas.

And I'll be damned if I'm going to let some thin-skinned fan who isn't adult enough to discuss the pros and cons of this team tell me what it takes to be a fan my Dallas Cowboys.

So to the OP, you feel as you feel. You say what you think.

We all have a right to express our opinions on this team because our dollars support it and makes the meglo-maniac that is the GM one rich mother-shutmymouth...

One last point.

This isn't Jerry's team. He is merely the caretaker.

One day he will die and his sons will run it. Eventually the team will be sold to someone else who will be the care taker.

This team belongs to us, the fans who support it.

We are not stock holders.

But we are the most important stake holders!

[juck]

People just keep believin in that loser Romo. I wish he would retire.