TwoDeep3
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The off-season is somewhat rapidly moving on and we are on the last lap or so before the real season starts with training camp.
A few OTA's and then the worst month of the season between the last of the OTA's and the start of camp and we are home again. Football has arrived.
So it makes sense the threads are starting that are time killers as each of us begins to get amped up for football's return.
I was reading in the latest thread about why you love being a Cowboy fan and a comment was made that seniors in high school have never had the pleasure of a winning season where the team went somewhere in the post season.
So this is another time killer, but with a perspective. Surely mine and perhaps yours.
The 1991 season was full of highs and lows. It had been Tom Landry's team in 1985 that broke into double digit wins the last time. So there had been a drought, and one that was on again, off again for nearly a decade.
The early '80's brought three NFC Championship games in a row. Dallas lost to the Eagles in 1980, 20-7, then in '81 to the 9ers in what would be "The Catch" game, 28-27.
In 1982 the season was a strike year. Dallas made it through a strike shortened season and to the NFC Championship game, being beaten by the Commanders 31-17.
Dallas only played 9 regular season games that year, as did all NFL teams. This is why the Commanders have an asterisk by this championship since they won in a shortened season, and did so with non-NFL talent during some of it, since the NFL used SCABs to play in place of the real players.
Dallas went through one last 10+ win season in '83, before the '85 season, winning 12 game but being second in the east and losing to the Rams in a shocker.
So when Dallas went into the 1991 season, they had a new coach in Johnson, a new quarterback in Aikman, a new runningback in Smith and Irvin, who was drafted by Landry the year before Jimmy arrived.
That was a difficult but exciting season in 1991.
Dallas won the opener against Cleveland but then dropped two division games in a row to Washington and Philly. They then ripped off four straight wins against the Cardinals, Giants, Packers and Bengals to get to 5-2.
They came back after the bye week and lost at Detroit and Barry Sanders 35-10. This was an omen of what would come later.
Dallas beat the cards again, then lost two in a row to the Giants Oilers and then the Giants.
Dallas had a problem the year before and hedged their bet by signing Steve Beuerlein as a quarterback late in the season. As things turned out Aikman went down with a leg injury in the Washington game on Nov 24th.
Beuerlein then won that game and four more as Aikman recovered.
(As a side note, it was reported that Darren Woodson called Aikman out as not really being injured, but afraid of the Commander's front four, so he took a dive. This was a topic all over the radio that season. Dale Hansen kept that rumor alive and I think it was Mike Fisher who finally debunked it on his radio show after the season was over. But it was late in the off-season. Something like May, if I recall)
Dallas made the play-offs with an 11-5 record. But controversy reared its head. Aikman was now healthy enough to play. But Beuerlein had the hot hand.
Jimmy stuck with Beuerlein in the first play-off game at the Bears, and Dallas won - 17-13.
Then they returned to Detroit where they suffered their biggest loss of the season. Jimmy decided to start Aikman, but truthfully it would not matter which guy he started. Dallas had no answer for the Lions.
It wasn't so much Barry Sanders, at least in the beginning. Dallas focused on him and threw everything they could to stop him.
What it came down to was the quarterback Erik Kramer and the passing game. The Dallas defense could put no pressure on him and they spanked Dallas 38-6 to end the season for the Cowboys.
Now you might wonder how this has a dang thing to do with '92-'93. But you needed the set up for this part.
The team took on Charles Haley from the 9ers. Now this is a bone of contention for many on who made that decision.
I have been vocal about Jerry over the last few years, but at the time the rumor flying was that Jimmy was angry he was not in this decision making and Jerry did it alone.
I cannot confirm that since Jerry doesn't return my calls, telegrams, or paintball messages I leave on the side of his car.
But what I do know is that Al Davis called Jerry up right after the news of this trade was announced and congratulated Jerry on his upcoming Super Bowl victory - which was a season away.
The point of this thread is for those that have never experienced an off-season like the 92, 93 and 95 off-seasons.
It went quickly, unlike the drudgery of the ones we face now.
There was excitement in the air and everywhere you went people were talking about the team. I cannot recall how many total strangers started conversations about the team with me as I filled up my car, waited in line at the grocery store, or where ever.
There was a guarded positive attitude by most fans wondering if Haley was a nut case or the answer. People believed in Jimmy and the team. Texas Stadium was filling up again and there was something special about that first season with the triplets in full force.
There is a difference between then and now. I am not judging here, but making factual statements.
The game in Candlestick was the Superbowl that year, since Buffalo had failed twice before.
It was evident Dallas had arrived and the team was something special. Beating the snot out of Buffalo as they did just sealed it that Dallas was the King of the Mountain and would be for a few years.
Especially the '93 off-season was exciting because Dallas was the odds on favorite to win it all by every sports reporting group, save for Berman and Jackson.
Yet that off-season is when Jerry and Emmitt got cross ways and Emmitt sat out the first two games. Dallas lost both.
And my personal belief is this is when the crack came between Jerry and Jimmy.
But besides that, Dallas was electric following those teams, and coming into those seasons, and especially the play-off runs, the fans were all on the same page as one group talking trash to every fan of every team.
I am not skilled enough to write the words to convey the feeling the fans had then. I have failed at making this colorful enough.
But there wasn't any argument back in that era about the team moving forward each season and the expectations were that Dallas would win three, four, and some even thought five in a row.
The team was that good.
So when you see the old hands making statements of disappointment in what we are fielding, and others express that is a sense of entitlement, that is an excuse, pure and simple.
Because back then every Cowboy fan was confident and arrogant and excited at what was coming.
This last seventeen years has brought highs and lows, and caused a great deal of the arguments and in-fighting on this and other boards.
But the truth is, if Dallas would build a team to last for a few years, meaning a team that was at the top and not looking up toward them.
The temperament around here would be different.
Because there is nothing like following THIS team in years when they are real contenders, and not what we have seen lately.
It's like that first hill on the largest roller coaster on the planet, and for six months you are racing down those tracks with the butterflies of excitement churning in your stomach.
Because every time you think of the team, you think of the prize, because it is real, and there is a real chance at grabbing that brass ring.
And understanding that ALWAYS brings a smile to your face.
I hope that time returns soon.
A few OTA's and then the worst month of the season between the last of the OTA's and the start of camp and we are home again. Football has arrived.
So it makes sense the threads are starting that are time killers as each of us begins to get amped up for football's return.
I was reading in the latest thread about why you love being a Cowboy fan and a comment was made that seniors in high school have never had the pleasure of a winning season where the team went somewhere in the post season.
So this is another time killer, but with a perspective. Surely mine and perhaps yours.
The 1991 season was full of highs and lows. It had been Tom Landry's team in 1985 that broke into double digit wins the last time. So there had been a drought, and one that was on again, off again for nearly a decade.
The early '80's brought three NFC Championship games in a row. Dallas lost to the Eagles in 1980, 20-7, then in '81 to the 9ers in what would be "The Catch" game, 28-27.
In 1982 the season was a strike year. Dallas made it through a strike shortened season and to the NFC Championship game, being beaten by the Commanders 31-17.
Dallas only played 9 regular season games that year, as did all NFL teams. This is why the Commanders have an asterisk by this championship since they won in a shortened season, and did so with non-NFL talent during some of it, since the NFL used SCABs to play in place of the real players.
Dallas went through one last 10+ win season in '83, before the '85 season, winning 12 game but being second in the east and losing to the Rams in a shocker.
So when Dallas went into the 1991 season, they had a new coach in Johnson, a new quarterback in Aikman, a new runningback in Smith and Irvin, who was drafted by Landry the year before Jimmy arrived.
That was a difficult but exciting season in 1991.
Dallas won the opener against Cleveland but then dropped two division games in a row to Washington and Philly. They then ripped off four straight wins against the Cardinals, Giants, Packers and Bengals to get to 5-2.
They came back after the bye week and lost at Detroit and Barry Sanders 35-10. This was an omen of what would come later.
Dallas beat the cards again, then lost two in a row to the Giants Oilers and then the Giants.
Dallas had a problem the year before and hedged their bet by signing Steve Beuerlein as a quarterback late in the season. As things turned out Aikman went down with a leg injury in the Washington game on Nov 24th.
Beuerlein then won that game and four more as Aikman recovered.
(As a side note, it was reported that Darren Woodson called Aikman out as not really being injured, but afraid of the Commander's front four, so he took a dive. This was a topic all over the radio that season. Dale Hansen kept that rumor alive and I think it was Mike Fisher who finally debunked it on his radio show after the season was over. But it was late in the off-season. Something like May, if I recall)
Dallas made the play-offs with an 11-5 record. But controversy reared its head. Aikman was now healthy enough to play. But Beuerlein had the hot hand.
Jimmy stuck with Beuerlein in the first play-off game at the Bears, and Dallas won - 17-13.
Then they returned to Detroit where they suffered their biggest loss of the season. Jimmy decided to start Aikman, but truthfully it would not matter which guy he started. Dallas had no answer for the Lions.
It wasn't so much Barry Sanders, at least in the beginning. Dallas focused on him and threw everything they could to stop him.
What it came down to was the quarterback Erik Kramer and the passing game. The Dallas defense could put no pressure on him and they spanked Dallas 38-6 to end the season for the Cowboys.
Now you might wonder how this has a dang thing to do with '92-'93. But you needed the set up for this part.
The team took on Charles Haley from the 9ers. Now this is a bone of contention for many on who made that decision.
I have been vocal about Jerry over the last few years, but at the time the rumor flying was that Jimmy was angry he was not in this decision making and Jerry did it alone.
I cannot confirm that since Jerry doesn't return my calls, telegrams, or paintball messages I leave on the side of his car.
But what I do know is that Al Davis called Jerry up right after the news of this trade was announced and congratulated Jerry on his upcoming Super Bowl victory - which was a season away.
The point of this thread is for those that have never experienced an off-season like the 92, 93 and 95 off-seasons.
It went quickly, unlike the drudgery of the ones we face now.
There was excitement in the air and everywhere you went people were talking about the team. I cannot recall how many total strangers started conversations about the team with me as I filled up my car, waited in line at the grocery store, or where ever.
There was a guarded positive attitude by most fans wondering if Haley was a nut case or the answer. People believed in Jimmy and the team. Texas Stadium was filling up again and there was something special about that first season with the triplets in full force.
There is a difference between then and now. I am not judging here, but making factual statements.
The game in Candlestick was the Superbowl that year, since Buffalo had failed twice before.
It was evident Dallas had arrived and the team was something special. Beating the snot out of Buffalo as they did just sealed it that Dallas was the King of the Mountain and would be for a few years.
Especially the '93 off-season was exciting because Dallas was the odds on favorite to win it all by every sports reporting group, save for Berman and Jackson.
Yet that off-season is when Jerry and Emmitt got cross ways and Emmitt sat out the first two games. Dallas lost both.
And my personal belief is this is when the crack came between Jerry and Jimmy.
But besides that, Dallas was electric following those teams, and coming into those seasons, and especially the play-off runs, the fans were all on the same page as one group talking trash to every fan of every team.
I am not skilled enough to write the words to convey the feeling the fans had then. I have failed at making this colorful enough.
But there wasn't any argument back in that era about the team moving forward each season and the expectations were that Dallas would win three, four, and some even thought five in a row.
The team was that good.
So when you see the old hands making statements of disappointment in what we are fielding, and others express that is a sense of entitlement, that is an excuse, pure and simple.
Because back then every Cowboy fan was confident and arrogant and excited at what was coming.
This last seventeen years has brought highs and lows, and caused a great deal of the arguments and in-fighting on this and other boards.
But the truth is, if Dallas would build a team to last for a few years, meaning a team that was at the top and not looking up toward them.
The temperament around here would be different.
Because there is nothing like following THIS team in years when they are real contenders, and not what we have seen lately.
It's like that first hill on the largest roller coaster on the planet, and for six months you are racing down those tracks with the butterflies of excitement churning in your stomach.
Because every time you think of the team, you think of the prize, because it is real, and there is a real chance at grabbing that brass ring.
And understanding that ALWAYS brings a smile to your face.
I hope that time returns soon.
