day by day, being a fan

[iceberg]

the hardest part of participating in a forum these days is the negativity. the next hardest part is having to understand it's deserved. i used to love to get tied up in the discussions of who our LBs are, QB, WR...anything cowboys related.

now it just hurts.

people tend to glom onto the obvious. in this case, jerry jones. we all seem to need someone to blame as a single point of failure. but no NFL team has ever won it all based off a single point.

there was a point in my own life i lived 2 blocks from valley ranch. i remember us losing around 95 give or take and me on my balcony smoking a stogie wondering how long it would be before the night was alive with a champion again. it was a don thomas stogie i was smoking, as i recall.

too many years have gone by and we're still looking. i honestly have no idea why young fans are cowboys fans these days cause it's not off winning. then again my first fav team were the vikings cause they had horns in their helmets.

i don't know how to talk to a "normal" fan. this isn't a "normal" team. the barroom convo i just don't give a damn about in regard to miles and his injury history. dez and his "pants on the ground" but yet now we can't live without. fans are fickle.

by nature.

what have you done for me today? there is always a player on the alter of sacrifice. just part of how it works, i suppose but very old when you try to look at a bigger picture. yes, there is an element of fans who have to find a player to hate in order to love the rest. i used to argue against that but i've come to find it's just how it is. there will always be an element of fans who choose to hate a given player and that's life.

not something to fix.

so i post a lot less cause i don't argue with those who want IG. "instant gratification". but that is also a small segment of fans. many point to many years of emotional letdown and rightfully so.

rightfully so.

this has been a tough team to follow over the last decade. but it's not been due to a lack of effort or investment in where we put the most blame. bad decisions maybe. ok, to be sure. but we do seem to be a team lost in the average of it all. we can win when no one cares, and we lose when we should win.

jones?

romo?

garrett?

life?

i can pull up teams who have never won it all but that doesn't do much to settle our own expectations. we're the cowboys and we deserve more. now there *is* for good or bad a sense of entitlement among the older fans given our history.

i can't explain why younger fans are fans any more than i can say cleveland still has fans.

tampa, jacksonville, charlotte or the like.

the nfl has changed and the rules, to me, make a dynasty impossible. winning, improbable. but it's become more and more a product to sell and less and less about winning. to me the way the league is being run is about making more and more money, and nothing to do with the dominance so many of us "old timers" used to love. tags has watered it down for PC reasons and forgive me, rome never would have watered down the rules of the fight.

i'm all for player safety. but i also realize it's a tough game.

so day by day being a fan becomes harder and harder to do. not because jones isn't doing it right but because the league is just losing its value, to me. they're fighting to become a top dog in entertainment and they're losing me.

day by day.

maybe it's just me. but win or lose, i just seem to lose.

 

[Doomsday101]

I guess for me, I don't dwell on something 17 years ago matter of fact I don't worry about last year. Every year is a new year and will play out on it's own. I have nothing against constructive criticism people coming here talking about negatives and positives of a game but the constant whining by some really gets to be a bit much. They don't like the owner they don't like the players then exactly why the hell are you even watching them? because of some star on the helmet? Be critical there is nothing wrong with it but these constant exaggerations and over board comments just seems overly childish at times. It is like I'm not getting my way so I'm going to cry and throw a fit and then I might get my way. My girl friends 5 year old does this I kind of expect more from so called adults but I guess not.

 

[pugilist]

i usually get more and more optimistic as the game draws closer, but this is the only week in a very long time where no amount of sunshine can convince me that this team has any chance this weekend. i know i know any given sunday, but i just feel from absolute top to bottom, Denver has the advantage. they have better management, better coaching, and most importantly better players. it's going to be a bloodbath and there's really nothing that can be done to stop it. fortunately this is the only game on the schedule that is a definite loss, it's just a shame we couldn't pull out wins @ KC and @ SD.

 

[Future]

The league is catering to fairweather fans because, quite simply, there are a lot more of them.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I fully believe that the whole player safety thing is simply a guise to cater to the fantasy football crowd who care more about touchdowns than the actual soul of the game.

 

[Eddie]

Jerry Iceberg, 17 years ago we were chilling on the DMN forum gloating about how we ruled the world. Those days are gone. It's been a long time passing. We made a pact to meet up in Dallas for the next Cowboys Super Bowl ... I've been waiting to visit for the past 17 years. I may be waiting a lot longer.

Cowboys were once the focus of my life. They're simply a passing hobby right now ... something to pass the time.

Perhaps Jerry Jones sold his soul to the devil for those three Super Bowl wins. We may not see another ... actually, know Jerry Jones won't see another in HIS lifetime.

The losing as softened me. I barely get upset anymore .. I actually expect it to happen. Just like the Chargers game. I no longer get hyped ... the Cowboys always find a way of disappointing me.

I have some friends who just moved to the Dallas area. I plan on visiting them soon. We can meet up in the bar of your choosing to catch a Cowboys game. It may not be the Super Bowl, but it'll be good catching up ...

 

[Deep_South]

I don't know if the Boys will ever get to another Super Bowl, but the team that does get there might win games like the one this Sunday. I know the media has already declared we don't have a chance, but let's go ahead and play the game and see if we can take down Peyton like we did his brother. It will give them something to talk about when they get together with Archie at Thanksgiving, eat their turkey, and watch the Cowboys beat the Raiders.

 

[Risen Star]

The league is catering to fairweather fans because, quite simply, there are a lot more of them.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I fully believe that the whole player safety thing is simply a guise to cater to the fantasy football crowd who care more about touchdowns than the actual soul of the game.

I don't. I think it's the league covering it's backside for future lawsuits.

 

[Future]

I don't. I think it's the league covering it's backside for future lawsuits.

Same difference...its still about money lol

 

[Risen Star]

As for the OP, there's nothing wrong with the league. All that ails the Cowboys resides in it's front office. Even with the parity and watered down salary cap era, the teams that win have the best people in place at the top to run the football operations.

Parity is an excuse for some bad seasons here and there, not for 17 straight years of futility. Nobody's expecting the Cowboys to win every year. But to be one of the least successful franchises over a nearly two decade period is unacceptable. It goes beyond parity. Because the more successful teams, basically the entire league, are also playing against parity.

This team could be on the road to recovery today. All it takes is for the Owner to put the state of the team over his own ego. His failure to do that has created a lot of hate his way. He deserves every bit of it. He deserves more. He's gotten off too easy, IMO.

We all suffer from some form of this Jerry disease. He has beaten down this franchise with his nonsense. The games and seasons aren't nearly as fun as they used to be. Anybody who tells you different is either lying or too young to experience the winning.

But I was a Cowboys fan before he arrived. God willing, I'll be a Cowboys fan when he's gone. I will ride this out with my team. Because, frankly, I don't know how to be anything other than a fan of this team.