Serious question about Dallas media

[Reality]

Dallas media has alway been a huge springboard for getting into the national media.

Shockingly, few sports sections have earned more national awards than the Dallas Morning News' "Sports Day".

Part of earning their stripes to get into the national media's good graces is to show they are not homers. These knuckleheads go out of their way to be jerks at times and they get little respect from their peers unless they do so.

This is exactly what I have said for years. Their "I'm not a homer" reputation and their "willing and able to bash the Cowboys in some way" reports makes them a perfect candidate for ESPN or other national media.

In a way, I don't blame them. Local media is struggling in the digital age and with the media having more statistics readily available to evaluate their reporters, I don't blame the writers and reporters for trying to use their current position to leap into a better situation.

It all comes down to the fans. As long as the fans (both Cowboys and anti-Cowboys fans) pay attention by reading, watching or listening to the local media, the cycle will continue and likely increase in frequency and aggressiveness as the shock factor of their current tactics continues its inevitable decline.

/reality

 

[visionary]

This is exactly what I have said for years. Their "I'm not a homer" reputation and their "willing and able to bash the Cowboys in some way" reports makes them a perfect candidate for ESPN or other national media.

In a way, I don't blame them. Local media is struggling in the digital age and with the media having more statistics readily available to evaluate their reporters, I don't blame the writers and reporters for trying to use their current position to leap into a better situation.

It all comes down to the fans. As long as the fans (both Cowboys and anti-Cowboys fans) pay attention by reading, watching or listening to the local media, the cycle will continue and likely increase in frequency and aggressiveness as the shock factor of their current tactics continues its inevitable decline.

/reality

So they should defend one of the worst front offices in sports and look an idiot?

Wow!!

 

[Doomsday101]

If you think about it objectively, Jerry basically fired one if the greatest coaches in football history and gave the keys to his college buddy

It was a roll of the dice and in many respects an idiotic decision

He lucked out that his college buddy did a superb job

If jimmy had turned to be a nobody, that would among the top 10 all time blunders in NFL history

Jerry was making the same sort of shoot from the hip gut decision he has made seceral times since then
just got lucky that time, not so much with RJ

True but it was the same media who had been calling for Landry head after the 3-13 season and 3 losing seasons. Media said the game had passed him by. Along comes Jerry and yes he hired the hottest college coach in the Nation a person whom he had known for many years.

Jerry took the heat as he always takes the heat. As for his current HC he is doing the right thing he is not being knee jerk like fans he is giving Garrett the time and the chance to do the job. If it works out I highly doubt any of you critics will even acknowledge it no you will talk about Oh Garrett changed he did things the way I felt they should have been done like you guys have a clue.

 

[Reality]

So they should defend one of the worst front offices in sports and look an idiot?

Wow!!

I think their stories go well beyond the objective criticism that is well deserved. It borders almost on an obsession level we see in some fans, though their motivations for that approach is a little more obvious.

/reality

 

[visionary]

True but it was the same media who had been calling for Landry head after the 3-13 season and 3 losing seasons. Media said the game had passed him by. Along comes Jerry and yes he hired the hottest college coach in the Nation a person whom he had known for many years.

Jerry took the heat as he always takes the heat. As for his current HC he is doing the right thing he is not being knee jerk like fans he is giving Garrett the time and the chance to do the job. If it works out I highly doubt any of you critics will even acknowledge it no you will talk about Oh Garrett changed he did things the way I felt they should have been done like you guys have a clue.

I like how you say "Jerry takes the heat", of course he should for making idiotic decisions but he does not take the real heat, which would be to be held accountable by the owner for the horrific job he has done as GM, anyone else in his place would have been fired several times

I actually was a supporter of Garrett because I thought he would bring discipline and accountability to the team, you will excuse me when clear evidence to the contrary has soured me in his ability as OC and HC, same lack of discipline, same lack of accoutability, basic HC mistakes, bad playcalling

Some of us like to look at actual evidence and make up our own minds rather than parrot the homer-lines with eyes closed

 

[visionary]

I think their stories go well beyond the objective criticism that is well deserved. It borders almost on an obsession level we see in some fans, though their motivations for that approach is a little more obvious.

/reality

Reality, you are too smart for this

If this team goes 12-4 or 13-3 and plays in the NFC CG this year and wins the SB the next year, how many negative vs positive stories do you think we will see from the same "negative" Dallas media?

It is about having a sloppy team that performs poorly under stress and having a very poorly run FO with no accountability, not the "negative" Dallas media

 

[lurkercowboy]

To answer the OP, no. It did not used to be this way. I lived in Dallas my first 36 years. Been in the Philly area for over 20 now.

Personally, I think it is Jerry Jones. Before the Jones era, there was a respect and honor directed toward the Cowboys and their front office. They had earned it. Over 20 years of winning. They got the benefit of the doubt. The organization was classy, humble and elite. Like the Patriots are today.

Then came Jerry. He booted out the old in a brash way. He is the opposite of humility. He is brash and egotisical. Works well when you are winning. The media gave him a pass the first 5 years because they were winning.

But, then, came the 'anyone of 500 coaches could lead this team' and the devolution of a great organization at the hands of a man whose ego and credit is more important to him than his accomplishments. The local media is simply hounding an arrogant, formerly great organization because they like to put an egotistical man in his place. It has become a gotcha and 'I told ya so' mentality.

Respect and Honor given to the Cowboys before Jerry Jones? Surely you jest. Remember the "cocaine cowboys," South America's team, the holdouts, the 1987 strike picket line, the poor 80s drafts, Danny White can't win the big one, "senile" Landry had to go, etc. There was plenty of Cowboy bashing in the 80s before Jones.

 

[mmillman]

Dallas has been a very mediocre team for a long time. That is not the history here so it brings some finger pointing. I would rather have expectations high like it is for the Yankees than low.

The Steelers and Green Bay have consistent winners and are contending for superbowls. Much easier to have a positive outlook on those teams.

 

[Plankton]

One of the biggest issues is the differences between how the organization was run under Tex Schramm and the way it is run under Jerry Jones.

Schramm made the media an extension of the Cowboys marketing arm when he was the GM. The media were taken on vacations to Clint Murchison's private island in the Bahamas, fawned upon in the biggest media press box in the league with gourmet food and drinks served to them by beautiful women (Texettes). The players were always made accessible to the media, and there was a huge penalty to be paid within the organization if you weren't available and accessible to the media. In a large sense, they were bought off.

From the media's standpoint, a lot changed when Skip Bayless came to Dallas in 1978. He did not worship at the altar, and was intentionally difficult and controversial about the team, specifically Landry, in an effort to build his own brand. Others took notice, and went in that direction.

A big reason is that Jones has not cultivated the same relationships that Schramm did with the media. It started from his first press conference, and it has never ended.

That being said, visionary is 100% correct in his assessment - if they were winning big games, the volume of negative stories would go down immeasurably.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

One can start to get a sense of the Dallas media back in the 80's from watching the 30 for 30 movie 'Pony Excess.'

The writers and reporters in Pony Excess have an extremely over-inflated opinion of their work and its importance. They mention that the other schools in Texas were cheating as badly as SMU was. And they act like they were some sort of patron saints for going after SMU.

The reality was that if they truly were so intent on bringing down schools that cheated, they would have gone after Texas and Texas A&M. But, they knew that would be career suicide in the state of Texas.

Can I blame them for not going after Texas and Texas A&M?

Probably not.

But, don't act like you're the most noble in your profession when you only have the guts to go after those who can't fight back.

Their writing in the Schramm era was a bit before my time when I started reading there. But, they were merciless against Landy, demanding that Schramm *fire* him. Then when Jerry fires Landry...they do a complete 180.

I've grown up reading sports since I started to learn how to read when I was 5 years old. That 180* turn-around on the Landry firing (and never admitting they were doing a 180* turnaround) along with the Syracuse Post-Standard's hack job on the Syracuse basketball 'violations' was when I started to see a real bad side to the sporting press.

With that said, I still look back at old writers and reporters like Jim Marshall, Shirley Povich, Dr. Z, Frank DeFord, Dan Jenkins and company and still think very highly of their work. It's just clear to me that the modern journalism pool of talent is far less talented and relies on sensationalism and a tabloid approach in order to get themselves over. The local Dallas area is about as bad as it gets.








YR

 

[burmafrd]

Reality, you are too smart for this

If this team goes 12-4 or 13-3 and plays in the NFC CG this year and wins the SB the next year, how many negative vs positive stories do you think we will see from the same "negative" Dallas media?

It is about having a sloppy team that performs poorly under stress and having a very poorly run FO with no accountability, not the "negative" Dallas media

interesting how you desperately defend the locals.

 

[visionary]

interesting how you desperately defend the locals.

Never said there can't be incompetent journalists or ones that are happy to bring up negative stories but I am getting tired of this whole "it's the negative Dallas media" schtick to try and distract from the obvious flaws in our FO and team

Win, and the negative media will suddenly become positive

Blaming the media is worse than blaming the refs IMO

Just being objective

Sorry you don't see it that way

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Reality, you are too smart for this

If this team goes 12-4 or 13-3 and plays in the NFC CG this year and wins the SB the next year, how many negative vs positive stories do you think we will see from the same "negative" Dallas media?

It is about having a sloppy team that performs poorly under stress and having a very poorly run FO with no accountability, not the "negative" Dallas media

Explain the media's negativity week after week during the 2007 season, when they went 13-3.

And for all of the talk about the team's win-loss record (which is better than given credit for when you look at the entire NFL and the conference we play in)...it's way too often not about that with the local media.

What other media have you seen where a reporter like Steve Dennis desperately tries to get the head coach to call the team 'a bunch of losers?' And then when the coach doesn't bite, the reporter gets hostile about it? And then claims (see my sig) that he has to be the 'bad guy' on ESPN, but not on other places?

Is this professional wrestling?

How about somebody like Calvin Watkins going after the team for having flight delays only to find out that his entire story was complete nonsense?

How about Rick Gosselin claiming that if we're not under the cap, we can't draft any players?

What about the entire Terrell Owens situation where they claimed he 'tried to commit suicide because he couldn't play for Parcells' only to find out that his publicist stated that he accidentally took too many painkillers (and the 911 call shows that she never mentioned suicide and that he had accidentally overdosed)?

What about the time that at an event some crazy fan kept yelling 'get your ring finger ready!' repeatedly and Wade finally obliged him by saying 'yes, get your ring finger ready' only to have Mac Engel claim that Wade guaranteed a Super Bowl?

Or the claim that in the playoff game against the Giants that Jerry had showed the team tickets reserved for the Super Bowl only to find out that Tom Coughlin made the story up to motivate his team?

Or the times that columnists called, in print, Wade a 'fat idiot.'

Or how Galloway and JFE refused to call Terrell Owens and instead called him 'El Dorado' because they knew he didn't like the name El Dorado?

What does any of that have to do with actual performance or how the organization is ran?

The answer is that it doesn't.

It has become very personal for them and that makes it very unprofessional. And everything they do as reporters/writers/journalists becomes suspect.











YR

 

[visionary]

Explain the media's negativity week after week during the 2007 season, when they went 13-3.

And for all of the talk about the team's win-loss record (which is better than given credit for when you look at the entire NFL and the conference we play in)...it's way too often not about that with the local media.

What other media have you seen where a reporter like Steve Dennis desperately tries to get the head coach to call the team 'a bunch of losers?' And then when the coach doesn't bite, the reporter gets hostile about it? And then claims (see my sig) that he has to be the 'bad guy' on ESPN, but not on other places?

Is this professional wrestling?

How about somebody like Calvin Watkins going after the team for having flight delays only to find out that his entire story was complete nonsense?

How about Rick Gosselin claiming that if we're not under the cap, we can't draft any players?

What about the entire Terrell Owens situation where they claimed he 'tried to commit suicide because he couldn't play for Parcells' only to find out that his publicist stated that he accidentally took too many painkillers (and the 911 call shows that she never mentioned suicide and that he had accidentally overdosed)?

What about the time that at an event some crazy fan kept yelling 'get your ring finger ready!' repeatedly and Wade finally obliged him by saying 'yes, get your ring finger ready' only to have Mac Engel claim that Wade guaranteed a Super Bowl?

Or the claim that in the playoff game against the Giants that Jerry had showed the team tickets reserved for the Super Bowl only to find out that Tom Coughlin made the story up to motivate his team?

Or the times that columnists called, in print, Wade a 'fat idiot.'

Or how Galloway and JFE refused to call Terrell Owens and instead called him 'El Dorado' because they knew he didn't like the name El Dorado?

What does any of that have to do with actual performance or how the organization is ran?

The answer is that it doesn't.

It has become very personal for them and that makes it very unprofessional. And everything they do as reporters/writers/journalists becomes suspect.











YR

When a team has performed poorly for a decade and a half and starts performing well, of course people are just waiting for the other shoe to drop... And it did... In the very first playoff game

That is why I said, 12-4 with NFC CG and then the same next year

Idea is, win consistently

If that happens, the negative stories will largely go away

The fact is that it is not the "negative Dallas media" it is the "underperforming cowboys team and the poorly run front office"

 

[Yakuza Rich]

When a team has performed poorly for a decade and a half and starts performing well, of course people are just waiting for the other shoe to drop... And it did... In the very first playoff game

That is why I said, 12-4 with NFC CG and then the same next year

Idea is, win consistently

If that happens, the negative stories will largely go away

I guess you don't remember the Super Bowl years when the team would lose a game and they would still get skewered afterward. The 2-games without Emmitt where they went after both Jimmy and Jerry were not positive by any stretch. You would think that winning a Super Bowl in the prior year would cure that, but didn't.

The fact is that it is not the "negative Dallas media" it is the "underperforming cowboys team and the poorly run front office"

Then why do so many of the stories...like the ones I mention in detail...have virtually nothing to do with a poorly run front office?

That's probably what gets me the most. They are too busy with sensationalized, tabloid style stories and meanwhile the important stories that deals with the outcome of the team do not get reported.

For example, we have no idea of the possible conflict the organization and coaching staff was having with Rob Ryan until he was fired. The only person I remember quibbling about Ryan was Broaddus in a radio interview a couple of months prior to his firing. Yet, we didn't hear a peep out of this from anybody involved with the DMN and FWST.







YR

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Explain the media's negativity week after week during the 2007 season, when they went 13-3.

And for all of the talk about the team's win-loss record (which is better than given credit for when you look at the entire NFL and the conference we play in)...it's way too often not about that with the local media.

What other media have you seen where a reporter like Steve Dennis desperately tries to get the head coach to call the team 'a bunch of losers?' And then when the coach doesn't bite, the reporter gets hostile about it? And then claims (see my sig) that he has to be the 'bad guy' on ESPN, but not on other places?

Well that was Wade hate... They couldn't stand him because 1) he looked and talked like a truck driver, and didn't care about PCs, and 2) most of them were huge Parcells lovers who predicted disaster when he left... And when it didn't happen, they refused to admit they were wrong and still found fault. Like many message board posters.

I still argue that a huge reason the Jerry criticism has ramped up to a new level the last year or so is that they are all Garrett fans and were convinced he would turn the team around. When it didn't happen, they couldn't go after him... So that left Jerry.

But I do think the team has deserved the criticism it's gotten the last couple of years because the results have been pretty lousy. From the Parcells era through 2009, not so much.

 

[Rackat]

Personally, I think it started with the Pony Express. All of the writers and sports guys, Dale Hansen in particular, saw that the more negative news they could report the more their national profile increased. It got very crazy between the newspapers and tv tations during the days when the local media was bringing down SMU. I really think it just carried over to he Cowboys because the local news heads wanted to keep their high profiles. Now it has become a matter of habit to report mostly negatives on the Cowboys.

 

[KJJ]

and what has Buffalo done?

And Denver has been down until recently.

Both have much more favorable local coverage

Neither of those teams have had the rich history the Cowboys have had and Buffalo and Denver don't have much else to cheer for other than their NFL teams. Buffalo is doing everything they can just to keep the Bills in Buffalo the Bills are all they have. Everyone became spoiled by all the success the Cowboys had throughout the 70's and early 90's and the last 17 years have been the leanest in franchise history.

Everyone from the fans to the local media has become frustrated with the team. When the Cowboys started as an expansion team in 1960 it took them 10 years to reach their first SB. It's been 17 years and counting since their last SB appearance which is the longest SB drought in team history. The Cowboys had more playoff wins their first 11 years in the league than they've had the past 16 years.

The Cowboys haven't made the playoffs in 3 years and as dysfunctional as the team has been under Jason Garrett the Cowboys look like a joke. From what you've seen from the team especially the past 3 years what positives do you expect the Dallas media to come up with? What positives have you seen with the team over the past 3 years? I'm not from Dallas so I don't read what their media writes but I don't know what some of you expect from them with the way the team has looked over the past few years. For the Dallas media to be taken seriously and not look like a bunch of homers they have to be honest and straightforward about the current state of the team.

Their mission isn't to appease FANS like you who complain everytime someone says anything critical about the team. It's hard to build up a team and find positives with the issues the Cowboys have had. I try and find positives but it's difficult to find any with a team that hasn't had a winning season in 3 years and keeps missing the playoffs. It would take a great imagination to come up with a feel good article about the current state of the Cowboys as mediocre as they've been the last 3 years.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Well that was Wade hate

That doesn't excuse them from behaving immaturely and making ad hominem attacks against the man.

They couldn't stand him because 1) he looked and talked like a truck driver, and didn't care about PCs,

They made him a target because they found him to be an easy target. In other words, they are cowards because that's what cowards do.

and 2) most of them were huge Parcells lovers

I think some liked Parcells because he was a PC gem. But, they were relentless during T.O. playing for Parcells. There was one PC where Parcells started off saying that there would be no T.O. questions because they spent an hour with just T.O. questions the previous day and the press was irate with Parcells for cutting off T.O. questions for a day.

who predicted disaster when he left... And when it didn't happen, they refused to admit they were wrong and still found fault. Like many message board posters.

I agree with a big part of this, but the main part is that they targeted Wade because he was an easy target. And it still doesn't make it right. Even if we get out of the spectrum of journalism and sports coverage, etc....they quite frankly were just flat out rude towards the guy.

A real journalist should be able to write things in a way that truly 'schools' the person they have a beef with instead of using hacky ad hominem attacks.

I still argue that a huge reason the Jerry criticism has ramped up to a new level the last year or so is that they are all Garrett fans and were convinced he would turn the team around. When it didn't happen, they couldn't go after him... So that left Jerry.

I don't think it's ramped up lately. I think it's pretty much the same it's been. Again, he's a convenient target. It's easy to basically say "Jerry sucks" and leave it at that with no real thought or detail or articulate anecdotes that the reader can use to generate a more informed opinion.








YR

 

[Flinger]

Respect and Honor given to the Cowboys before Jerry Jones? Surely you jest. Remember the "cocaine cowboys," South America's team, the holdouts, the 1987 strike picket line, the poor 80s drafts, Danny White can't win the big one, "senile" Landry had to go, etc. There was plenty of Cowboy bashing in the 80s before Jones.

Were you there? Then was nothing like it is now. If you were there, you would know that. Not saying the media was quiet as a mouse. But, now they dream up stuff to be negative about.