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I ran across this earlier today. Actually I agreed with about 95% of it until the end.
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Fan Loyalty
I grew up a Dallas Cowboys fan. I've watched their games every Sunday for as long as I can remember. The only time in my life I didn't watch them every week was when I worked in a restaurant and had to work on Sundays. That's the thing about the restaurant business--Sunday isn't a day off. Knowing I'd never get to watch football again was a big reason I didn't go into restaurant management when I had the chance.
When I was a kid, though, not many people in my family watched football every week. My dad liked watching, but you never knew where he would be on any given Sunday, so he never had any real habits like that. It was me and one other person in my family who were the true die-hard fans. My Granny and I watched the Cowboys together every Sunday. She always went to church, and we always went out to lunch after church. If the Cowboys played at noon, we had a snack during the game and went to eat a late lunch when it was over. If they played at 3:00, then anyone that wanted to go to lunch with us had better be ready to go when she got out of church, because we weren't waiting. We didn't have time to lolligag, after all. We had to be back at her house by 3:00 and not a minute later.
Granny taught me about fan loyalty. We loved the Cowboys when they won, and we loved them when the lost. We were happier when they won of course, but we supported them when they lost. Granny knew the players, and understood the game to a degree. I think for her it was more about having someone to be a fan of than the game itself. Speaking as someone lucky enough to know, Granny knew how to be a fan. Until Joy came along, Granny was my biggest one.
I learned the lessons of fan loyalty well, and even when Tom Landry was fired, I still supported the team. I was angry, and I hated watching the 1-15 season, but I did it. I watched every minute of every game. It didn't take long to become a Jimmy Johnson fan. He's got a likeable personality, and he won. Jerry Jones was a different story, and I watched the Cowboys despite of him from the time he bought the team. He was like a kid with a toy he always wanted and finally had. He knew how to market the team and make money, but he didn't know enough about football to win. That was ok when he had a coach that did know how, who was allowed to do his job. Eventually, though, Jerry's ego got the better of him and Cowboys fans everywhere suffered for it.
Jimmy Johnson had assembled arguably the best young team in NFL history. They won Superbowls, and were poised to keep winning them, and then Jerry Jones stepped in and started wrecking it. He was convinced he was the reason for the success, and that everyone but him was incidental. This first became evident in the way he treated Emmitt Smith during the off season between his 3rd and 4th years in the league. Emmitt Smith and signed a 3 year deal when he joined the team out of college, and all 3 years combined paid him just a little over $600,000. That's not a lot of money for a pro football player, but Emmitt wasn't that highly regarded out of college. He wasn't fast enough or strong enough to be successful in the NFL, according to most experts. Emmitt's second year he lead the league in rushing, and was a big part of the Cowboys' Superbowl win. A lot of people believed that Emmitt would hold out before his third year and try to renegotiate, but he didn't. He showed up at the voluntary camps. He reported when expected, and he played. When asked about it, he simply said he'd signed a contract and he intended to honor it.
After his contract ended the next year, he expected to be paid at the level of the other top backs in the league, but Jerry Jones didn't want to do it. He decided they could plug any back in and still win. No one was vital to the team but Jerry Jones in his opinion. When they hadn't come to an agreement by the time the season started, Emmitt didn't play. After going 0-2 without him, Jerry Jones finally paid him what he deserved, and Emmitt joined his team. He immediately made an impact, and the Cowboys started winning again. It became obvious to everyone, with the possible exception of Jerry Jones, that Emmitt was probably the most vital part of this team. When Troy Aikman was hurt, the team suffered, but they still won. When Michael Irvin was injured or suspended, the team suffered, but they still won. The few times Emmitt was hurt, though, the team lost. That offense just didn't work without him as its main focus. For years, you could practically always tell if the team won by looking at Emmitt's stats. If he got 25 carries or gained 100 yards they won. It was as simple as that.
Emmit was just the first of many players to be unappreciated by the boss. When contracts came up for renewal, people weren't signed. For example, the heart of the defense, Ken Norton Jr., went to the 49ers. Jerry Jones just didn't think anyone mattered. He went too far eventually. He told a reporter after a Superbowl victory that, in fact, he could coach the team with the same success as Jimmy Johnson. It was a ridiculous and stupid thing to say, but he said it and he stood behind it. Jerry Jones had a history of doing things through the media that should have been done privately. He'd done a lot of posturing during Emmitt's negotiation with quotes to the media. Tom Landry, one of the most respected and successful coaches of all time, was in effect, fired through the news. Before he'd notified Landry or even spoken to him after buying the team, Jerry Jones told a reporter that his old friend would be coaching the team. He'd now in effect done it again. He wanted Jimmy Johnson to move on, and this was his way of doing it. Well, it worked, and Jimmy Johnson left.
With him gone, Jerry Jones took almost complete control of all aspects of the team. He followed him with Barry Switzer, who may have been a good college coach, but was so happy to be in the NFL that he agreed to let the owner/GM have complete control in the decision making process. The team was good enough when he took it over that they still won the Superbowl his first year as coach, but believe me when I say it was despite the fact that Switzer was coach and not because of it. The team got progressively worse every year he was the coach. Barry Switzer was followed by two more weak coaches who were chosen because they could be controlled by Jerry Jones, and under his strict control, the team's decline continued at a painful pace. For the first time in decades, the Cowboys weren't considered a serious contender at all. They'd always been an elite team and all of a sudden a 9-7 season was considered a positive because of how bad they were.
Still I watched. I was bothered by the way things were going, but I was a Cowboys fan and I remained loyal. When they moved the offense away from the run, my loyalty was really tested. Emmitt Smith was the last thing left on that team that was any good, and through stupidity and arrogance the men in charge seemed to have forgotten that. Maybe they just didn't care. When Emmit didn't gain 1000 yards last season for the first time since he was a rookie, I'd had enough. They'd gotten so bad and made so many bad decisions that the one good thing left on the team was being tarnished. Besides, we had the Texans now, and I liked the idea of following a team as they climbed up the ladder to contention.
Then, all of a sudden I thought things were going to get better. Jerry Jones had finally realized that he just wasn't any good at running a football team and went out and got a coach that wasn't going to be controlled. When Jerry Jones hired Bill Parcells, it made me happy for more than one reason. Not only was Parcells a coach with a history of winning and a reputation for not being controlled by owners, but by hiring him the owner who had run America's Team into the ground was finally conceding that he couldn't do it himself. It meant someone who understood football was going to be in charge again. I had hope for the first time in years that my football team would be a winner.
Then the first thing Bill Parcells did as coach was announce that Emmitt Smith would be cut from the team. I was devastated. What was he thinking? The only proven player on the team and he was going to cut him? Emmitt's not over the hill, for crying out loud. He may not be the back he used to be, but Troy Hambrick will never be the back Emmitt Smith used to be. That was the last straw. **** the Dallas Cowboys. I hope they go 0-16. I'm a Texans fan now.
**(Note: What a loser)**
I cheer for a lot teams, but the Texans are my team. I like the Colts because I like their coach. I like the Bucs because I liked them when Tony Dungy was their coach, and they haven't done anything to make me quit liking them. I love watching great defenses, and there's not one better than the Bucs'. I like the Rams because that offense is just fun to watch when it's working. Marshall Faulk is probably best all-around football player in the game. I like the Titans because they used to be in Houston, and after the move, I just kept liking them. They have fun players who are likeable, and I feel like they deserve to win. I like the Cardinals for the first time ever.. Care to take a guess why?
So there you have it. I have a lot of teams I want to do well for various reasons, but the Texans are my team. It's hard to say it, because I've always been a Cowboys fan even when I wanted other teams to win too. It's hard to say, but I can say it.
I'm a Houston Texans fan.
Posted by Rob at September 9, 2003 10:26 AM | TrackBack
http://www.onenameleft.net/blog/archives/000136.html
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Fan Loyalty
I grew up a Dallas Cowboys fan. I've watched their games every Sunday for as long as I can remember. The only time in my life I didn't watch them every week was when I worked in a restaurant and had to work on Sundays. That's the thing about the restaurant business--Sunday isn't a day off. Knowing I'd never get to watch football again was a big reason I didn't go into restaurant management when I had the chance.
When I was a kid, though, not many people in my family watched football every week. My dad liked watching, but you never knew where he would be on any given Sunday, so he never had any real habits like that. It was me and one other person in my family who were the true die-hard fans. My Granny and I watched the Cowboys together every Sunday. She always went to church, and we always went out to lunch after church. If the Cowboys played at noon, we had a snack during the game and went to eat a late lunch when it was over. If they played at 3:00, then anyone that wanted to go to lunch with us had better be ready to go when she got out of church, because we weren't waiting. We didn't have time to lolligag, after all. We had to be back at her house by 3:00 and not a minute later.
Granny taught me about fan loyalty. We loved the Cowboys when they won, and we loved them when the lost. We were happier when they won of course, but we supported them when they lost. Granny knew the players, and understood the game to a degree. I think for her it was more about having someone to be a fan of than the game itself. Speaking as someone lucky enough to know, Granny knew how to be a fan. Until Joy came along, Granny was my biggest one.
I learned the lessons of fan loyalty well, and even when Tom Landry was fired, I still supported the team. I was angry, and I hated watching the 1-15 season, but I did it. I watched every minute of every game. It didn't take long to become a Jimmy Johnson fan. He's got a likeable personality, and he won. Jerry Jones was a different story, and I watched the Cowboys despite of him from the time he bought the team. He was like a kid with a toy he always wanted and finally had. He knew how to market the team and make money, but he didn't know enough about football to win. That was ok when he had a coach that did know how, who was allowed to do his job. Eventually, though, Jerry's ego got the better of him and Cowboys fans everywhere suffered for it.
Jimmy Johnson had assembled arguably the best young team in NFL history. They won Superbowls, and were poised to keep winning them, and then Jerry Jones stepped in and started wrecking it. He was convinced he was the reason for the success, and that everyone but him was incidental. This first became evident in the way he treated Emmitt Smith during the off season between his 3rd and 4th years in the league. Emmitt Smith and signed a 3 year deal when he joined the team out of college, and all 3 years combined paid him just a little over $600,000. That's not a lot of money for a pro football player, but Emmitt wasn't that highly regarded out of college. He wasn't fast enough or strong enough to be successful in the NFL, according to most experts. Emmitt's second year he lead the league in rushing, and was a big part of the Cowboys' Superbowl win. A lot of people believed that Emmitt would hold out before his third year and try to renegotiate, but he didn't. He showed up at the voluntary camps. He reported when expected, and he played. When asked about it, he simply said he'd signed a contract and he intended to honor it.
After his contract ended the next year, he expected to be paid at the level of the other top backs in the league, but Jerry Jones didn't want to do it. He decided they could plug any back in and still win. No one was vital to the team but Jerry Jones in his opinion. When they hadn't come to an agreement by the time the season started, Emmitt didn't play. After going 0-2 without him, Jerry Jones finally paid him what he deserved, and Emmitt joined his team. He immediately made an impact, and the Cowboys started winning again. It became obvious to everyone, with the possible exception of Jerry Jones, that Emmitt was probably the most vital part of this team. When Troy Aikman was hurt, the team suffered, but they still won. When Michael Irvin was injured or suspended, the team suffered, but they still won. The few times Emmitt was hurt, though, the team lost. That offense just didn't work without him as its main focus. For years, you could practically always tell if the team won by looking at Emmitt's stats. If he got 25 carries or gained 100 yards they won. It was as simple as that.
Emmit was just the first of many players to be unappreciated by the boss. When contracts came up for renewal, people weren't signed. For example, the heart of the defense, Ken Norton Jr., went to the 49ers. Jerry Jones just didn't think anyone mattered. He went too far eventually. He told a reporter after a Superbowl victory that, in fact, he could coach the team with the same success as Jimmy Johnson. It was a ridiculous and stupid thing to say, but he said it and he stood behind it. Jerry Jones had a history of doing things through the media that should have been done privately. He'd done a lot of posturing during Emmitt's negotiation with quotes to the media. Tom Landry, one of the most respected and successful coaches of all time, was in effect, fired through the news. Before he'd notified Landry or even spoken to him after buying the team, Jerry Jones told a reporter that his old friend would be coaching the team. He'd now in effect done it again. He wanted Jimmy Johnson to move on, and this was his way of doing it. Well, it worked, and Jimmy Johnson left.
With him gone, Jerry Jones took almost complete control of all aspects of the team. He followed him with Barry Switzer, who may have been a good college coach, but was so happy to be in the NFL that he agreed to let the owner/GM have complete control in the decision making process. The team was good enough when he took it over that they still won the Superbowl his first year as coach, but believe me when I say it was despite the fact that Switzer was coach and not because of it. The team got progressively worse every year he was the coach. Barry Switzer was followed by two more weak coaches who were chosen because they could be controlled by Jerry Jones, and under his strict control, the team's decline continued at a painful pace. For the first time in decades, the Cowboys weren't considered a serious contender at all. They'd always been an elite team and all of a sudden a 9-7 season was considered a positive because of how bad they were.
Still I watched. I was bothered by the way things were going, but I was a Cowboys fan and I remained loyal. When they moved the offense away from the run, my loyalty was really tested. Emmitt Smith was the last thing left on that team that was any good, and through stupidity and arrogance the men in charge seemed to have forgotten that. Maybe they just didn't care. When Emmit didn't gain 1000 yards last season for the first time since he was a rookie, I'd had enough. They'd gotten so bad and made so many bad decisions that the one good thing left on the team was being tarnished. Besides, we had the Texans now, and I liked the idea of following a team as they climbed up the ladder to contention.
Then, all of a sudden I thought things were going to get better. Jerry Jones had finally realized that he just wasn't any good at running a football team and went out and got a coach that wasn't going to be controlled. When Jerry Jones hired Bill Parcells, it made me happy for more than one reason. Not only was Parcells a coach with a history of winning and a reputation for not being controlled by owners, but by hiring him the owner who had run America's Team into the ground was finally conceding that he couldn't do it himself. It meant someone who understood football was going to be in charge again. I had hope for the first time in years that my football team would be a winner.
Then the first thing Bill Parcells did as coach was announce that Emmitt Smith would be cut from the team. I was devastated. What was he thinking? The only proven player on the team and he was going to cut him? Emmitt's not over the hill, for crying out loud. He may not be the back he used to be, but Troy Hambrick will never be the back Emmitt Smith used to be. That was the last straw. **** the Dallas Cowboys. I hope they go 0-16. I'm a Texans fan now.
**(Note: What a loser)**
I cheer for a lot teams, but the Texans are my team. I like the Colts because I like their coach. I like the Bucs because I liked them when Tony Dungy was their coach, and they haven't done anything to make me quit liking them. I love watching great defenses, and there's not one better than the Bucs'. I like the Rams because that offense is just fun to watch when it's working. Marshall Faulk is probably best all-around football player in the game. I like the Titans because they used to be in Houston, and after the move, I just kept liking them. They have fun players who are likeable, and I feel like they deserve to win. I like the Cardinals for the first time ever.. Care to take a guess why?
So there you have it. I have a lot of teams I want to do well for various reasons, but the Texans are my team. It's hard to say it, because I've always been a Cowboys fan even when I wanted other teams to win too. It's hard to say, but I can say it.
I'm a Houston Texans fan.
Posted by Rob at September 9, 2003 10:26 AM | TrackBack
http://www.onenameleft.net/blog/archives/000136.html
There is always going to be fans who leave and rejoin... that's how life goes! Hopefully, he has a good time with whatver team he is fallowing. Isn't that what it is all about?
