A Touch of Reality: Blind Homers and Rose Colored Glasses need not enter

[Big Dakota]

Since I quit being emotional about the Cowboys several years ago I don't feel any concerns or pain at all...this team isn't my problem, it's Jerry's. If history is any indicator, Jerry isn't going to solve his problem because he seems incapable of recognizing that he is source of the problem. But, hey, it's his team and he can do anything he wants and has to answer to no one.

I don't see any significant changes coming down the road anytime soon and I simply accept the things I can't do anything about but I don't have to like it and I don't have to follow any given team like some lemming. I like football and I no longer care who plays good football, I love to watch the games regardless of who wins.

I enjoy watching the games anyway and in fact I enjoy them now more than ever since I quit caring whether this team wins or loses and have decided to enjoy the football game itself for its own merit. I don't get mad anymore and I don't feel pain anymore but I do enjoy the game of football a lot more regardless of who wins or why.

After being a rabid fan and living and dying with the Cowboys since 1961, I guess I'm just not a fan anymore, *sigh*.

Life is good.

Wow, that's sad

 

[Big Dakota]

Where did I say the record is not what it is? Nothing changes what has taken place however things are not set in stone for the future. As I said if there are those who feel this team is toast and the season is done well that is their feeling but unless you can see into the future none of us know how things will playout. Dallas is 2-2 this season we lost 2 games that many felt we should have won but none the less loss. For me I still have faith in this team to turn things around and not lowing my expectation for this team, I can't control what anyone else feels nor am I trying only stating my own view points.

So skunks are scarce in Houston? :

 

[Doomsday101]

Since I quit being emotional about the Cowboys several years ago I don't feel any concerns or pain at all...this team isn't my problem, it's Jerry's. If history is any indicator, Jerry isn't going to solve his problem because he seems incapable of recognizing that he is source of the problem. But, hey, it's his team and he can do anything he wants and has to answer to no one.

I don't see any significant changes coming down the road anytime soon and I simply accept the things I can't do anything about but I don't have to like it and I don't have to follow any given team like some lemming. I like football and I no longer care who plays good football, I love to watch the games regardless of who wins.

I enjoy watching the games anyway and in fact I enjoy them now more than ever since I quit caring whether this team wins or loses and have decided to enjoy the football game itself for its own merit. I don't get mad anymore and I don't feel pain anymore but I do enjoy the game of football a lot more regardless of who wins or why.

After being a rabid fan and living and dying with the Cowboys since 1961, I guess I'm just not a fan anymore, *sigh*.

Life is good.

Oh please should this team get things going you will be whooping and hollering like most around here.

 

[Doomsday101]

So skunks are scarce in Houston? :

No plenty of them you just don't play with them. I would consider a fan seeing things through rose color glasses one who think everything is ok and this is a minor setback. I don't see it that way I do think we have the players to turn this around but it is up to them to go out and execute if they do that they can win if they don't they will not. I'm not giving up on the team I have been a fan way too long to just give up plus it is not in my makeup to give up be it playing sports or the team I support, I never say die.

 

[burmafrd]

We do have the PHYSICAL talent to win it all. Heart on the other hand is very questionable. We CERTAINLY do not have the coaching. That maybe the worst thing of all- we have the TALENT to win it all- but we lack everything else.

 

[Bach]

We do have the PHYSICAL talent to win it all. Heart on the other hand is very questionable. We CERTAINLY do not have the coaching. That maybe the worst thing of all- we have the TALENT to win it all- but we lack everything else.

What's amazing is Jerry, with all his money and desire to win, can buy everything, except a head coach?

Switzer, Gailey, Campo and Wade

That says it all. Jerry doesn't hire the best, because he doesn't want to be overshadowed again. The one time he did since Jimmy left was when he got desperate after three consecutive 5-11 seasons and brought Parcells here. BP did get us back on track but things were so bad before he got here and he was also at the end of his coaching career - not the same as he was 10-20 years ago.

The other four though, no one in their right mind can argue any of them were the best we could do, or close to it. Maybe some were in the top 500, but going after #412 or #497 isn't exactly doing "all you can do to win".

What it comes down to is for most of the last 15 years Jerry has put his ego and personal chase for glory ahead of the team. Pitiful and sickening at the same time.

 

[zrinkill]

No plenty of them you just don't play with them. I would consider a fan seeing things through rose color glasses one who think everything is ok and this is a minor setback. I don't see it that way I do think we have the players to turn this around but it is up to them to go out and execute if they do that they can win if they don't they will not. I'm not giving up on the team I have been a fan way too long to just give up plus it is not in my makeup to give up be it playing sports or the team I support, I never say die.

Good post

 

[visionary]

What's amazing is Jerry, with all his money and desire to win, can buy everything, except a head coach?

Switzer, Gailey, Campo and Wade

That says it all. Jerry doesn't hire the best, because he doesn't want to be overshadowed again. The one time he did since Jimmy left was when he got desperate after three consecutive 5-11 seasons and brought Parcells here. BP did get us back on track but things were so bad before he got here and he was also at the end of his coaching career - not the same as he was 10-20 years ago.

The other four though, no one in their right mind can argue any of them were the best we could do, or close to it. Maybe some were in the top 500, but going after #412 or #497 isn't exactly doing "all you can do to win".

What it comes down to is for most of the last 15 years Jerry has put his ego and personal chase for glory ahead of the team. Pitiful and sickening at the same time.

it is real simple, there are 3 owners in the NFL who meddle in personnel decisions and want to be GMs because they think they are real football men. they want their teams to win but they want to be the reason for the team winning.

JJ
Al Davis
Lil Danny

How are all these teams doing?

I rest my case.
Mediocrity will not end until JJ hires a real HC (at least) and GM (I can wish and of course will never happen)

 

[sk0aL]

Pretty much my thoughts exactly.

This team has 9-7 written all over it and a wild card berth is a desperate prayer at best. It simply comes down to attitude and a desire to win and this team does not have that. Wade doesn't have it. Romo doesn't have it. I think some of the other players could have it but they need to be inspired. I think when some of the younger guys look to Wade or Tony and they see that lame duck lost look all over their face, they say "Why bother?". Wade is on the sidelines throwing tantrums when opposing kickers make game-winning field goals from 38 yards out like in the NYG game. Hey Wade, don't get mad at a chip shot game-winning FG, get mad at why you were in that position.

I truly believe this team is talented, but what separates talented teams from championship teams is the desire to win at any cost, and we simply lack that.

 

[skinsscalper]

it is real simple, there are 3 owners in the NFL who meddle in personnel decisions and want to be GMs because they think they are real football men. they want their teams to win but they want to be the reason for the team winning.

JJ
Al Davis
Lil Danny

How are all these teams doing?

I rest my case.
Mediocrity will not end until JJ hires a real HC (at least) and GM (I can wish and of course will never happen)

Alas, the crux of the problem.

 

[sk0aL]

it is real simple, there are 3 owners in the NFL who meddle in personnel decisions and want to be GMs because they think they are real football men. they want their teams to win but they want to be the reason for the team winning.

Speaking of this, did anyone else see Jerry with a playsheet in his booth on Sunday? Or was I just seeing things?

I wouldn't be surprised if he has a direct link to the radio feed between Romo and Garrett.

 

[Apollo Creed]

Attitude reflects leadership, sir.

I would love to see BP, Haley, and Sparano coach this group of players.

 

[iceberg]

What we witnessed yesterday is another example of a team that lacks character, heart and a kill attitude. We have seen it before in recent years, yet many of you still hold out hope that things will change. You say we have more talent than most teams. Do we really? I dont think so.

Last year we had 44-6, so we cleaned house. Blah Blah. Nothing has changed.

Put the Cowboys Kool-Aid down. 2007 was a mirage as well as the 13 Pro-Bowlers that came with it. The Cowboys are an average team with a decent QB who in my opinion still does not get it. Is he all to blame, of course not.

From top down, the Cowboys do not display the strength it takes to get it done. What do I mean? When other teams (say Eagles and Giants) go through rough stretches, they have the leadership in coaching, front office and player to ride it out and come back. How many times have we written the Birds off only to see them rally and make a run? That does not happen here.

Our team makeup does not have that intestinal fortitude. When players are not held accountable because a.) your coach is a figurehead, or b.) you can go over his head to the big BOSS, that is not a good thing. Heck, I haven't even mentioned who controls the draft.

Think about that in your work lives. What if you are a manager and your employees go over head, you have no power nor command any respect.

What we also witnessed yesterday is the end of the Wade Phillips regime. As I have stated before, I have viewed 2009 as a transition year. They will run more and put less pressure on Romo. In theory it sounds good, but Romo has not been great this year. I still think he can improve (better than the dark ages of 2000-2005) and am willing to give him through 2010. He needs a QB coach that can work with him and make him capable of realizing his full potential.

So they will win some games this year and lose others. They are not a playoff team. The Cowboys are more pretenders than anything else. 2010 will bring about some new coaches and players, but if nothing changes at the top, expect the same old same old.

I would love to be wrong about them but I don't think I am.

Stop living for the nineties. It was a long, long time ago.

it's always fun when someone equates being negative to being a "realist". maybe you are, but you're still being negative. no, there's not much positive to rave about these days, that's true.

but all the whining in the world about wah the coach, wah i hate jones, wah romo sucks, wah camp creampuff...

other than venting, what does it change? nothing.

neither does the side trying to be more positive and still realize we've got work to do w/o having to wah and whine on a daily basis. i'll never understand how the whiners think they have some inside track to reality over the non-whiners.

your vision is just as clouded as the other, it just happens to be your own is all.

it's frustrating. after game 1 i told my adopted family friend that this is the cowboys for 2009. good at times, great sometimes, but frustrating most of the time, get used to it so far, i've been dead on.

oh, i could start a JONES MUST GO thread, but would he?
i could start a BLIND HOMERS NEED NOT READ thread, but will they avoid it? obviously not.
i could go on and on about all the things i'd do if i were in that position to do it.

all these are the fun things of talking football to many in some capacity. but what i miss is when the group was small enough to talk about football without the personal agendas taking over.

hey, man can you believe ware has no sacks yet?
JONES MUST GO!!!!
uh, ok.

the conversations seem to turn to the most vocal and the most vocal are usually either the whiners or the anti-whiners (guess where i am?) and people need to now drop catch phrases like

"bottom line - it's...."

yawn.

talking football is fun. talking to someone who's just gonna whine we're not dominate and demand changes that have zero chance of happening is not.

reality is what you make it. you wanna make it negative, feel free. but at times i'm never sure if the slams are for the team, or for the people who still support this team.

i, for the record, still support this team and have found ways to do it that don't demand my way or the highway out of a club that doesn't even know i'm alive.

 

[notherbob]

Wow, that's sad

Not at all; I'm very happy and I'm enjoying life. My life simply does not revolve around the Cowboys winning any more.

I was a pro football fan 10 years before the Cowboys ever came into existence and life was good. I am still a pro football fan, I just quit letting the team's losses affect my life. I used to get exuberant for a few hours or even a day or two after a win but depressed for weeks or months or even years after a tough loss, like the Ice Bowl or the one to Baltimore and the refs in SB V.

I really enjoy football now and exuberance comes when I walk through a field of wildflowers or take my wife on a picnic down by the creek or just the pure joy I feel when working on a fence out in the middle of nowhere with only God and a few curious cows to keep me company.

Life is good if you make it good or just let it be good on its own.

I no longer care to suffer personal anguish because of someone else's failings.

The Cowboys are not my problem, they're Jerry's.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

12 - 12

That pretty much says it all.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Not at all; I'm very happy and I'm enjoying life. My life simply does not revolve around the Cowboys winning any more.

I was a pro football fan 10 years before the Cowboys ever came into existence and life was good. I am still a pro football fan, I just quit letting the team's losses affect my life. I used to get exuberant for a few hours or even a day or two after a win but depressed for weeks or months or even years after a tough loss, like the Ice Bowl or the one to Baltimore and the refs in SB V.

I really enjoy football now and exuberance comes when I walk through a field of wildflowers or take my wife on a picnic down by the creek or just the pure joy I feel when working on a fence out in the middle of nowhere with only God and a few curious cows to keep me company.

Life is good if you make it good or just let it be good on its own.

I no longer care to suffer personal anguish because of someone else's failings.

The Cowboys are not my problem, they're Jerry's.

You know over that 5 years or so, that's the route I'm following. It's been a slow transition but I can see it happening.

Over time I figured it was unfair to myself and those around me to carry the disappointment and sometimes anger over something that I had no control over.

 

[alancdc]

We need some leaders....

So far it looks like Brookings and Barber are the only ones that care....

but then again....if you whine too much on the sidelines.....someone might just peg you as a cancer.

This team star players.....Romo..Ware ...Newman...have to be leaders...but then again....he has to come within.....and maybe they dont have the ability to be one.

I would throw RATLIFF in there as well. On the Marshall TD disaster he was running full speed trying to catch him from the freakin' nose position.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Couple of things here...


#1: I agree with quite a bit of what the OP is saying. It's a solid post and doesn't deserved to be dismissed.

#2: I agree with quite a bit of what Hostile was putting out in his. His didn't deserve to be dismissed either.


There is one thing I've noticed about these message boards, and I guess with all of them but I don't know that cause I don't got to many, is that everything seems like it has to be turned into a friggen pissing contest. People can't just present their opinions and thoughts without having to say "But if you think differently then you're wrong, no open minded enough, a homer, a hater, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."

It's gotten really old, really fast. News flash people. No one on here, no one, can predict the future and has an opinion or thought that outweights anyone else. Just because you believe the season is doomed doesn't make you right. Doesn't make you wrong either.

It goes with both. People who choose to look at it half full or half empty are both entitled to that way of thinking and guess what...they're both right in that regard.

That first post was a very good one. One that made several very nice points. Unfortunately, as always around here, that was ruined and thrown away the moment this thread turned into a stupid pissing contest over whose opinion and way of thinking is more right.

This is a board full of adults, supposedly, and yet we all (even me far, far, far too often) act like were a bunch of stupid middle school kids making arguments about whose daddy can beat up who elses daddy.

 

[fanfromvirginia]

This team is poorly coached. Sure, the players don't have any fire but that's, in part, what a coach is for.

 

[Shake_Tiller]

I don't think Phillips is a top quality head coach, and it's a shame. I do think he's a good man who knows a lot of football. But there are people, for whatever reason, after whom ill luck or fortune or whatever seems to follow. How many people lose on something called the Music City Miracle? Stuff just happens. Can the Cowboys turn the thing around, to coin a Jimmy Johnson phrase? Maybe. But Phillips probably won't be the inspiration.

I don't have much issue with Garrett's play-calling. He was somewhat hampered in the Denver game by Barber's injury, which seemed pretty clearly to slow him in the second half. Combined with the loss of Felix, and the weapons were light. But that's the NFL. I don't think Garrett has proven to be a master play-caller, but I don't think game plans or play calls have been the problem. No, I wouldn't like to see Garrett succeed Phillips. I expect the team will need a new voice and a new direction if the season goes poorly.

Romo doesn't look right and really hasn't looked right all season. He's had some good moments, but he's lacked consistency in his accuracy. His decision-making maybe has improved, but he appears hesitant in his play. A good game might help to turn that around. I didn't think he was as good in the Tampa game as the statistics suggested. Good. Not as good as the numbers. He has the ability to get it turned around.

Felix is either unlucky, early in his career, or not quite physically able to carry a heavy NFL load. I have no idea which, but the Cowboys need his big plays, obviously. It's a much difference offense without him -- almost plodding. I don't think Owens would have been the answer. His results at Buffalo seem to confirm what appeared last year -- he's almost toast. It would be interesting to plot his last 25-30 games and see how many were above average in terms of productivity. Not many. Roy Williams has been good, especially as a blocker, and he's a dependable guy, an effort guy, but he can't stretch the field as Owens once could.

The offensive line has been, to me, a pleasant surprise. But it can be a bit inconsistent, which prevents it from being dominant. Also, rules have changed the last 10-15 years. Old-fashioned power football has some limitations.

The defensive line has been decent and has created some opportunities for the linebackers to make plays. I hope Ware has been dinged because he lacks his former explosion. He's still awfully good, gets pressure on the quarterback, but something has been missing. The LBs have been decent, as a group, though Carpenter is proving he isn't a 3-4 ILB or a 4-3 OLB. He is a guy who used to play pro football.

The corners have been okay, and Newman was snake-bitten more than inadequate in the big play against Denver. The safeties haven't shown up. Hamlin appears to have taken the money and yawned. Sensabaugh is okay, but he hasn't been a playmaker.

The special teams have been a pleasant surprise.

The schedule looks brutal, but things change in the NFL. One doesn't know what a team will look like in December -- not only the Cowboys, but other teams as well.

I have an eerie feeling the team will recover to be a pleasant surprise -- maybe 10-6, strong in the playoffs -- or it will fade badly and finish with seven or less victories. For some reason, this doesn't feel like an 8-8 season. It feels like a turnaround year, good or bad. If the thing gets to say, 4-4, the handwriting will be on the wall for Phillips, and the team might swoon.

At this point, I think 6-10 is marginally more likely than 10-6. It's a ridiculous window, I know, but it feels like that kind of year -- either a pleasant surprise as the team finally learns to toss aside adversity or a big disappointment as the thing falls apart around the head coach.

Which is reality? Who knows? Maybe 8-8 is reality. I'm just a fan.