News: Sturm: Why Cowboys Fans Are Victims of Their Own Memories

[cowboys2233]

It's a reasonable expectation for one's team to be at least average in terms of playoff success. The Cowboys are one of only three NFC teams who haven't played in an NFC Championship in 17 years. That's not even average. That's poor.

Great post. And completely right. People get fooled by our .500 record over the last 15 years or so and claim we've been average. But when you look at things like post-season appearances and division titles, things that really matter, we are performing FAR below average. Sorry Sturm, you are completely wrong on this one. It's not that the bar was set so high, it's that this team has truly been inept.

 

[Stash]

I see it as two, largely unrelated problems. There's definitely an enthusiasm gulf we're going through. I feel that, too, without a doubt. Our key players didn't get it done, and they're at the point in their careers where they're getting worse and not better, and our cap is not in shape for any meaningful change to come. Our key positions are all filled, and nobody wants to see high picks going to replace those positions, but that's the only place where meaningful change can come. You can only get so excited about a top-10 Safety, or a new RG.

I agree about the enthusiasm gulf as mentioned earlier, and about key players being on the downside. But I have to disagree about the safety and OG comment. Those are both serious and glaring needs I would be happy to have filled.

I praised the drafting of both recent offensive linemen. Not sexy picks, but needed ones. And I lamented the fact that they didn't do more in that area. Most fans were clamoring for investments in both lines. Not sexy picks, needed ones.

On the flip side, the things that are causing us to lose games are not, and have not been, the players in those key positions. We've got very specific holes, we've got a recent history under Garrett of filling them wisely, and we've got more work to do yet, and we're 3 years into the project. It's a long, tough slog that's not fun for anybody. That doesn't mean, though, that we shouldn't go through the slog. Or that bulldozing and rebuilding from the ground up with the same architect is the smart thing to do.

The current NFL dynamic gives you 4 years at most with your draft picks. If you don't have a winning base in 3 years, it's all for naught. Those great players you drafted will be playing for someone else. You seem to want to give Garrett credit, but never blame. The 2013 draft has been very good, but how about taking Escobar, yet another 2nd round TE over more glaring needs like both lines? You want to say that Garrett has 'filled them wisely', but he's left just as many holes as he has filled. And keep in mind that he has been here and had influence for 7 years, not 3.

Against that backdrop, though, is the fact that the team really has been a middling team recently. Neither good, nor bad. That sort of performance merits disappointment, I agree. But that's not the same thing as the abject despair we get after close victories around here some weeks. Fans *should* be feeling dissatisfied. It's the extend of the dissatisfaction and the way it's expressed without context of what's going on around the league, and why, that I usually react to, if that makes any sense.

I don't think it's fair to gauge the proper level of dissatisfaction. I think that's a very subjective and personal thing with no right or wrong measure.

 

[visionary]

Idgit, it comes down to how energized do you feel about this team? Change for change sake does no one any good. The change to Romo energized the fan base. Fans were excited about the core and then the bottom fell out in 2008. In 2009, the team rebounded and re-energized the fan base...and then 2010 happened.

I think the fans have been more than tolerant. I also believe fans, in general, want something to grab onto for hope. Right now Dez and Lee are that hope, but that's about it. Little tidbits here and there are not enough to sustain that hope. The fan base is looking for something to re-energize it...either via wins, some modicum of postseason success, or organizational change. But something has to happen to re-energize the fandom.

For example, Case Keenum replaced Matt Schaub in Houston. Team hasn't won any more games with him than they had with Schaub at the helm, but he's re-energized the fan base. Fans need something and right now they're not getting it.

good post WG but it goes deeper than that

people that bring up the whole "be patient" card are just trying to distract us and themselves from the real issues

these are just posters that want to be known as the martyrs, the ones who held on when it was darkest, and want to be able to come in and thump their chest if this team happens to sleep walk its way into the playoffs in a year where the whole division is in the toilet.... and then loses in the first round

then they will be all over the board about how the process is working, all the while ignoring reality

this fan base has been "tolerant" and "patient" through 17 years of mediocrity
we are one of 3 NFC franchises not to play in an NFC CG in the last 17 years
one of only 3!!!

the Giants have won more SBs than we have won playoff games in this time frame

think about that
that is not mediocre, that is abysmal

even with garrett, he has been the OC for over 6 years and the HC for 3 and the team is performing just as poorly with little sign of improvement

so, we are willing to be tolerant and wait for the process to unfold but the 'process' better start producing results

 

[Zordon]

houston have one bad season this year and they had empty seats all over their stadium last weekend.

cowboys fans have been dealing with this crap for nearly 20 years yet we still fill up the biggest stadium in the league. yet we are spoiled??? screw you sturm and your transplant mentality.

 

[khiladi]

Why is this guy wasting his time analyzing why plays didn't work anymore, cause we are, per his logic, just bums now...

 

[cowboys2233]

houston have one bad season this year and they had empty seats all over their stadium last weekend.

cowboys fans have been dealing with this crap for nearly 20 years yet we still fill up the biggest stadium in the league. yet we are spoiled??? screw you sturm and your transplant mentality.

Yup, his article was pretty offensive. Like all of us here are completely ignorant of reality and he is going to enlighten us all. Like we haven't sliced and diced every piece of meaningful data in an effort to find some hope. This stuff is old, Sturm. And it isn't going to fly any longer.

 

[Seven]

Don't know about anyone else but I don't care what bob sturm thinks about what kind of fan I am.

No kidding. Who is he to dictate fandom? All we want is improvement. That too much to ask for from millionaires who 'work' half a year?

That article wasn't even a good spin.

 

[T-RO]

I think the fans have been more than tolerant. I also believe fans, in general, want something to grab onto for hope. Right now Dez and Lee are that hope, but that's about it. Little tidbits here and there are not enough to sustain that hope. The fan base is looking for something to re-energize it...either via wins, some modicum of postseason success, or organizational change. But something has to happen to re-energize the fandom.

For example, Case Keenum replaced Matt Schaub in Houston. Team hasn't won any more games with him than they had with Schaub at the helm, but he's re-energized the fan base. Fans need something and right now they're not getting it.

Great insight, WG. So much of being a sports fan is hope. And this franchise currently has a mostly empty cupboard in that regard. Jerry's despotic and inept leadership doesn't help.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

My son is going on ten. My son could not care less about Superbowls from twenty years ago. Neither could I right now. There are a lot of fans that are disappointed because the team is simply disappointing.

 

[theebs]

No kidding. Who is he to dictate fandom? All we want is improvement. That too much to ask for from millionaires who 'work' half a year?

That article wasn't even a good spin.

Bob is an extremely arrogant egomaniac who thinks he knows every single thing about every sport.

He thinks he knows what each fan is feeling or what they believe at all times. The guy has been to disrespectful to almost everyone in the time I have listened to him on the radio since I have been here.

The on,y other person in this town with an ego as big as bobs might be Jerry jones.

 

[pjtoadie]

It's a reasonable expectation for one's team to be at least average in terms of playoff success. The Cowboys are one of only three NFC teams who haven't played in an NFC Championship in 17 years. That's not even average. That's poor.

Yeah only the Cowboys, Lions, and Commanders haven't been to the NFC Championship in the last 17 years....pathetic!

 

[Doomsay]

The most annoying element of the past two decades has been the false mea-culpa following the Campo years. Instead of learning his lesson, Jerry went right back into puppet master mode after Bill and there is no sense that the mediocrity wont continue even after Garrett leaves. The fans have seen so many shades of fail, it's hard to even get excited about a major coaching change at this point.

 

[Seven]

I had a sentence in my post above that mentioned the inevitable board reaction to that article that I removed because I didn't want to start off inciting an argument, but, yeah, it is pretty predictable. Sturm took the time and made the point better than I would, anyway, but that article encapsulates perfectly both the disappointment and entitlement that plagues Cowboys fans right now.

Given how they react to competitive, 500-football, I often find myself wondering what it'd be like around here if the team were actually a bad one. There really aren't adjectives much stronger than 'disgusting,' 'pathetic,' 'horrible.' At some point, the actual realists are going to need such words, and there are going to be none of them left for us because we wasted them all the week after the Minnesota win, or whatever, when we had won 3 games out of the last 4 and were alone in first place in the division.

This team IS bad.

Competitive? They're eeking out losses instead of wins.

Did we not see Stafford place the ball across the goal line while 'our' guys were standing around? That's school yard stuff. I was more embarrassed than Leon Lett in the SB.

Denver? Another Romo oopsie.

Couldn't muster up the 'man' in the athletes to stop one single drive in KC.

We lose a game due to a penalty. Which is like the sun rising in Dallas, BTW.

Dude, this .500 record is leanin haevily on the generous side of the suckness of this team as a whole.

We iced our own kicker for God's sake. It hasn't gotten any better. Every year. Can we not see the pattern and consistency with ineptitude?

 

[CowboyFan4Eva]

If BP had another 3 years in him, We would've won that SB. Sooo close.....

 

[cowboys2233]

If BP had another 3 years in him, We would've won that SB. Sooo close.....

Yup, or would have come reasonably close. But guess what? Jerry's ego drove him away too.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I think you are very correct here- it's all rooted in Jerry hate. Which I just don't understand all the teeth-gnashing about. Not because I think he's a good GM - I don't think he really runs the team well. Of course he's not as great a football mind as some other young smart guys out there. But he's been an enormously successful owner who rakes in cash so why should he change? This a sport for entertainment. Your McMahon analogy is spot on. He knows that aspect of the promoting and selling, and nails it every single year. And guess what? He's not going anywhere. So I try to just enjoy his shenanigans and laugh along with him, realizing the game he's playing. Doesn't mean I like the results.

It's like living in the US and loving this country, and raging against the democratic system that keeps bringing in presidents (coaches) that you don't like. Democracy isn't going anywhere, and neither is Jerry.

I'm a firm believer that fans really screw themselves over when they have some sense of undying loyalty to a team to the point where they will still claim the team as their 'favorite team' despite hating the way the team is being ran.

They would empower themselves much more by having an attitude of 'I don't like the way this team is being run anymore and I'm going to start rooting for another team.' If fans had more of that attitude, ownership would cater to the fans more and the way they would run the team is different.

Whether it's Jerry Jones or Mike Brown, owners understand this sense of loyalty and continue to run their team in the same fashion. Mike Brown knows that he's going to have a ceiling on how many Bengals fans he will have every year. Jerry understand that he's got the most popular NFL team in the world. There's no reason for them to change anything unless *they* actually *want* to change things.

So if a person keeps claiming they are a fan but can't enjoy wins because they hate Jerry so much, why not go somewhere else? The answer is they won't go anywhere else because they get more enjoyment of being miserable and like the attention it brings them from other Cowboys fans.







YR

 

[WoodysGirl]

good post WG but it goes deeper than that

people that bring up the whole "be patient" card are just trying to distract us and themselves from the real issues

these are just posters that want to be known as the martyrs, the ones who held on when it was darkest, and want to be able to come in and thump their chest if this team happens to sleep walk its way into the playoffs in a year where the whole division is in the toilet.... and then loses in the first round

then they will be all over the board about how the process is working, all the while ignoring reality

Just wanted to address this part...

Personally, I don't think it's that deep. People are not all alike and they're not going to all think alike. I just think folks need to stop getting upset about people's differing opinions about the team. You're going to have folks who believe in the process...and that's ok. And you're going to have folks who think the process is broken...and that's ok. People need to stop taking it so personal that he or they don't think the way you (universal you) do.

I actually agree with you and everyone who feels that we need to see some on-field production to go along with this current coaching regime's process.

But if he fails, then my issue is this.. You can't keep swapping out coaches every 3-4 years hoping the next big thing is going to work. Every coaching change brings a change in coaching philosophy, in coaching methods, in player acquisition, everything. THAT's how you get stuck in mediocrity. So I'm hoping for Garrett's success, because I'm not confident that a new coach will be able to raise the talent level to compete next year...and then we'll be in the middle of yet another transition period, and waste the remainder of good play that Romo has left in him. Because this team isn't SF or the Lions or any number of teams that had insta-success upon hiring a coach. The talent base isn't quite where it needs to be, IMO. One more offseason maybe under the current regime...or two with a new regime.

 

[ufcrules1]

Sure you can when it's one of the biggest holes on the team. Folks would love JJ Watt, but are glad to have Tyron Smith. Folks wanted Shariff Floyd, but love T-Fred. Safety is THE biggest hole on the team... They fill it with a top 10 player, that guy better produce or he'll get the side eye like Jenkins and Claiborne. Top picks who have not been Deion-dynamic to date.
I think this view is all relative. There's rebuilding and then there's the bottom dropping out of a defense for the 2nd straight year is causing the team to lose. Romo & Co. playing HS level offense is causing the team to lose. Injuries cannot be predicted and you can't blame those on Garrett. But if the buck stops somewhere sans Jerry, then it goes on JG's desk.

I can appreciate the job Garrett has done in player acquisition. I actually think that's where excels. However, his on-field job has not been as stellar and that's where he needs to produce.

Well, that's the nature of fans around the league. The extent in which fans on here express themselves is right on par with those around the league. We laugh at Commander fans after a loss and call them delusional or whatever... and CZ to an opposing fan probably provides the same entertainment.

I am REALLY liking your postings lately. Haven't always agreed with you but we are getting closer and closer.

 

[cowboys2233]

Just wanted to address this part...

Personally, I don't think it's that deep. People are not all alike and they're not going to all think alike. I just think folks need to stop getting upset about people's differing opinions about the team. You're going to have folks who believe in the process...and that's ok. And you're going to have folks who think the process is broken...and that's ok. People need to stop taking it so personal that he or they don't think the way you (universal you) do.

I actually agree with you and everyone who feels that we need to see some on-field production to go along with this current coaching regime's process.

But if he fails, then my issue is this.. You can't keep swapping out coaches every 3-4 years hoping the next big thing is going to work. Every coaching change brings a change in coaching philosophy, in coaching methods, in player acquisition, everything. THAT's how you get stuck in mediocrity. So I'm hoping for Garrett's success, because I'm not confident that a new coach will be able to raise the talent level to compete next year...and then we'll be in the middle of yet another transition period, and waste the remainder of good play that Romo has left in him. Because this team isn't SF or the Lions or any number of teams that had insta-success upon hiring a coach. The talent base isn't quite where it needs to be, IMO. One more offseason maybe under the current regime...or two with a new regime.

Nope, my hope that it's "just one more season" is gone. THIS was supposed to be that season...at the very latest. And that was with the idea that our divisional rivals would actually be decent this year. They're not and we're still facing a must win game in week 12. Just incredible.

 

[Deep_South]

I think Sturm laid an egg with this column, but I'll still want to know what he has to say in future columns. Well, unless this kind of stuff becomes a habit. The word "fan" is rooted in the word "fanatic", and fanatics are never going to be OK with losing. He seems to be suggesting that losing is inherently cyclical, which would mean a loss like the beatdown in New Orleans is no biggie because it was just our turn to lose.

I think Bob forgets that winning is everything, according to the guy whose name is on the trophy. In the NFL, we can't just wait for our turn to win. Clearly, some teams don't get a turn, and right now we are one of them. We have to build a team that can impose its will on other teams so we can win more than our share of the games; a team deep enough to carry us through the long season and into post season success. The fans are doing their job by supporting the team. The team management has failed to produce a quality product on the field, and that is what all of the noise is about. The only way it will ever abate is if the fans lose interest and just don't care anymore.