cowboyjoe
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Fans want the truth about the Cowboys - and they're going to keep getting it
9:51 PM Tue, Oct 13, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Jean-Jacques Taylor/Columnist E-mail News tips
The overwhelming majority of you said you want the truth as it relates to the Cowboys, which is good to know.
Many of you said you just want the facts and the facts alone. Well, part of the newspaper's job is to analyze and interpret the facts based on conversations with players, coaches and members of the front office, so we can tell you what the facts mean.
My job, since I stopped covering the Cowboys' beat in 2006 after 11 seasons to become a columnist, is to give my OPINION. That's what columnists do.
I don't believe in sitting on the fence. I don't want there to be any confusion or debate about where I sit on an issue.
So I make my opinion strong. It's blunt. It's in-your-face. If that rubs some of you the wrong way, then I'm sorry but it's not changing.
The biggest complaint I get from critics is that I'm too negative, when it comes to the Cowboys. Who's fault is that?
It's the Cowboys' fault. They're 13-12 in the last 25 games. I promise you I wrote a lot more positive stories when they were 13-3 than I did when they were 9-7 last year or 3-2 this year.
I use the same approach to writing columns whether they're about the Cowboys, Mavs, Rangers or Stars: I judge the team and its players based on the standard they have set for themselves.
I will judge the Rangers more harshly next year than I did this year because they've proved they can be a good team. I judge the Stars and Mavs on being playoff teams. I judge Dirk and Brenden Morrow on being stars.
The Cowboys keep talking about being a playoff team and taking a journey, so I judge them on that standard. When the Cowboys were 5-11 for three consecutive seasons, I judged them on being a raggedy team. I ask players all of the time, if we should lower our standard for them, they always say no.
The same goes for Romo.
I judge him on the standard he set when he went 17-6 and was one of the league's best quarterbacks. I can always lower the standard. Once I make the determination based on his play that he's a good player - not a great player- then I'll lower the standard. At the end of the season, we should have a pretty good idea.
As for being too negative, I think that's poppycock. I've written 13 columns about the Cowboys since the season started. By my count, six were positive, four were negative and three could be considered either way based on the reader's perceptions.
The one thing fans should remember - I've written this many times - is that it's not my job to have faith, hope or optimism that a problem will be resolved. It's not my job to support the home team.
My job is to deal in reality - not what the local teams want reality to be. My job is to give my OPINION on why the local teams are playing well or playing poorly and why certain players are playing well or playing poorly.
No more, no less.
It was nice to have what I call a thoughtful debate about a subject - do fans want just positive news no matter what or the truth no matter what? - without listening to bunch of knuckleheads hiding behind the anonymity of screen names calling me an idiot, racist or some other derogatory name.
It's not that I mind the name-calling - it really doesn't bother me anymore than it bothers a professional getting booed on the road - but there's something cowardly about people who take personal shots at me without putting their name and e-mail address on their comments.
After all, I put my name and e-mail address on everything I write and then I go to the Cowboys' locker room 2-3 times a week to give the players an opportunity to say whatever they want. Sometimes, we debate what I wrote, but we always maintain a certain respect level.
Two weeks ago after I wrote a piece on Tony Romo, I had an animated 30-minute discussion with Jay Ratliff, Jason Hatcher, Andre Gurode, Roy Williams, Martellus Bennett and Stephen Bowen about the column.
At one point, voices were raised. None of us, though, ever crossed the line.
I reply to virtually every e-mail I get whether I agree or not because I never mind debatingt sports. It's fun. It makes me think. Sometimes, I even change my mind. There's nothing in the sports columnist handbook that says you can't change your mind on a topic.
Some of you will find fault with this blog, and resort to the same old tired name-calling that you always do. I guess, sadly, that's the only way you know how to communicate. This blog is only designed to give you some insight to my approach, which I hope it has done.
Rest assured, I'm going to keep telling the truth in my columns, which is what most of you guys said you wanted.
Besides, it's the only way I know how to do it.
9:51 PM Tue, Oct 13, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Jean-Jacques Taylor/Columnist E-mail News tips
The overwhelming majority of you said you want the truth as it relates to the Cowboys, which is good to know.
Many of you said you just want the facts and the facts alone. Well, part of the newspaper's job is to analyze and interpret the facts based on conversations with players, coaches and members of the front office, so we can tell you what the facts mean.
My job, since I stopped covering the Cowboys' beat in 2006 after 11 seasons to become a columnist, is to give my OPINION. That's what columnists do.
I don't believe in sitting on the fence. I don't want there to be any confusion or debate about where I sit on an issue.
So I make my opinion strong. It's blunt. It's in-your-face. If that rubs some of you the wrong way, then I'm sorry but it's not changing.
The biggest complaint I get from critics is that I'm too negative, when it comes to the Cowboys. Who's fault is that?
It's the Cowboys' fault. They're 13-12 in the last 25 games. I promise you I wrote a lot more positive stories when they were 13-3 than I did when they were 9-7 last year or 3-2 this year.
I use the same approach to writing columns whether they're about the Cowboys, Mavs, Rangers or Stars: I judge the team and its players based on the standard they have set for themselves.
I will judge the Rangers more harshly next year than I did this year because they've proved they can be a good team. I judge the Stars and Mavs on being playoff teams. I judge Dirk and Brenden Morrow on being stars.
The Cowboys keep talking about being a playoff team and taking a journey, so I judge them on that standard. When the Cowboys were 5-11 for three consecutive seasons, I judged them on being a raggedy team. I ask players all of the time, if we should lower our standard for them, they always say no.
The same goes for Romo.
I judge him on the standard he set when he went 17-6 and was one of the league's best quarterbacks. I can always lower the standard. Once I make the determination based on his play that he's a good player - not a great player- then I'll lower the standard. At the end of the season, we should have a pretty good idea.
As for being too negative, I think that's poppycock. I've written 13 columns about the Cowboys since the season started. By my count, six were positive, four were negative and three could be considered either way based on the reader's perceptions.
The one thing fans should remember - I've written this many times - is that it's not my job to have faith, hope or optimism that a problem will be resolved. It's not my job to support the home team.
My job is to deal in reality - not what the local teams want reality to be. My job is to give my OPINION on why the local teams are playing well or playing poorly and why certain players are playing well or playing poorly.
No more, no less.
It was nice to have what I call a thoughtful debate about a subject - do fans want just positive news no matter what or the truth no matter what? - without listening to bunch of knuckleheads hiding behind the anonymity of screen names calling me an idiot, racist or some other derogatory name.
It's not that I mind the name-calling - it really doesn't bother me anymore than it bothers a professional getting booed on the road - but there's something cowardly about people who take personal shots at me without putting their name and e-mail address on their comments.
After all, I put my name and e-mail address on everything I write and then I go to the Cowboys' locker room 2-3 times a week to give the players an opportunity to say whatever they want. Sometimes, we debate what I wrote, but we always maintain a certain respect level.
Two weeks ago after I wrote a piece on Tony Romo, I had an animated 30-minute discussion with Jay Ratliff, Jason Hatcher, Andre Gurode, Roy Williams, Martellus Bennett and Stephen Bowen about the column.
At one point, voices were raised. None of us, though, ever crossed the line.
I reply to virtually every e-mail I get whether I agree or not because I never mind debatingt sports. It's fun. It makes me think. Sometimes, I even change my mind. There's nothing in the sports columnist handbook that says you can't change your mind on a topic.
Some of you will find fault with this blog, and resort to the same old tired name-calling that you always do. I guess, sadly, that's the only way you know how to communicate. This blog is only designed to give you some insight to my approach, which I hope it has done.
Rest assured, I'm going to keep telling the truth in my columns, which is what most of you guys said you wanted.
Besides, it's the only way I know how to do it.
