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

[Alexander]

There is nothing worse than being mediocre. Nothing. It is like purgatory. Especially with our leadership.

It is a constant litany of "wait till next year" but there is always some excuse.

I guess that is what I am most tired of. I am tired of the salesmanship, hype and just complete feelings of hopeless that comes with repeating the same things, over and over and over again.

Sorry, that does not inspire me to believe that golly gee whiz, one year, we won't be crippled by injuries, "bad luck" or whatever other nonsense is spun to excuse winning and losing intermittently. but absolutely every time at the end.

It is almost time to welcome a true losing season where you can at least hope that someone breaks the monotony.

 

[ufcrules1]

From the article:



This bugs me to no end. The argument that its hard to win and only 10 team have won SBs since we started our Dark Ages ignores the fact that 6 of the 10 teams are repeat winners. All of the repeat winners as well as Indy and now N.O. are considered top organizations in the NFL, with solid GMs, good coaches and, minus the occasional off year, consistently good talent. For the most part these teams won SBs because they are well run organizations that let's them capitalize on their down years with good drafts and player decisions. They didn't just fluke their way into the SB or get lucky at the right time, they more often than not put themselves in the position to win those championships.

Can anyone say with a straight face that is what has been going on in Dallas the last 18 years? That the ball just hasn't bounced right for us once or twice or we would have won?

Excellent post.

 

[dupree89]

I choose to take life and sports as it comes and enjoy the wins and get over the losses..but, hey that's me.

Certainly nothing wrong with your approach; in fact it probably adds years onto your life. But at the same time, I don't think there are many fans that view things this way.

 

[DogFace]

I read your posts...Actually, I read most of everyone's posts.I think we all consider ourselves realists. Your perception of the team doesn't make you anymore right than anyone else. You give hell when you think they deserve it. Someone else may throw flowers for their effort. So what if they blindly support any player...if your opinion is to blindly dislike a player where nothing they do is right. I just don't find those kind of discussions worth battling over.



I consider the Saints game a one-off. I've reffed many a game where it's a blowout and after awhile you can see it in both coaches where they're just trying to finish the game and get out of there. If the Cowboys spit the bit in these next two games, then I believe that will the tell the tale of whether they've quit on Garrett or not.[/

Completely correct and perfectly said in my opinion.

 

[DogFace]

I have seen it several times here. Also, I disagree with you. There is nothing wrong with considering yourself a homer. One of my best friends, who I can clearly point to and say he is the biggest Cowboys fan on earth, refers to himself as a homer and I as a realist. We have awesome conversations and debates at times. He knows he is an eternal optimist... AKA homer. I don't see anything wrong with being optimistic, unless you start being unrealistic with your view and then you start lying to yourself. I have seen many people do this and then you are right, there is no point in debating with them because they can't be truthful with themselves.



That is fine, say whatever you want.. but I have personally seen you be "publicly" more critical lately. Maybe you have always had the same thoughts, but now I have seen you actually type it out more? I dunno.



This explains a lot.

At least he's not deleting some your your quite in his reply making it look like you said something totally different and inappropriate in order to make you look bad. Then childishly saying "I'm ignoring you" after you pose a question that makes his arguments look very bad.

I'm also surprised this was allowed. He made it look like I said "F his team" by deleting part of my post in the quoted part.

 

[beevomav]

Certainly nothing wrong with your approach; in fact it probably adds years onto your life. But at the same time, I don't think there are many fans that view things this way.

I have moments after a tough loss when I rant, rave and want to fire everyone. The difference now is I get over the game quicker. How much of that is the Cowboys pitiful record and the sense they might never win another meaningful game? It crosses my mind.

 

[beevomav]

Do you have Lombardy trophies in your sig, or are they van de graaff generators?

Just a purty picture.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Do we as Cowboys fans have high standards?

We sure do.

And I will never be sorry or apologize for that.

Unlike other franchises and fans, we know what success looks and feels like.

And we're not about to lower those standards in an effort to accept mediocrity or moral victories.

This post should be hung at the top of every page on this forum for all to see daily when they come here.

Stash - Best....Post....Ever

 

[khiladi]

Sturm.... please, just stop...

 

[coult44]

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.

Competitive??? Haha... What do Cowboys fans that are under age 19 know about the Cowboys being a good franchise? Sometimes I wonder about "old" Cowboys fans , and why they think the past 18 years is ok because of the success of Jimmy and his team in the early 90's....

 

[john van brocklin]

WoodysGirl..

Thanks for posting that blog. It was an excellent read and I can't disagree with many of the guy's points. My only thing I would add is this:

Some of us arent disgusted because we think a .500 season is horrendous. We are disgusted because living around .500 is truly no-man's land. I believe there are many of us that would sign right now for the following:

football guy comes in to run the organization
the gutting of the franchise begins (with a few exceptions)
we go 2-14...and have a good draft
we go 5-11 and have a good draft
we go 7-9 and all the young guys are starting to blossom

I would sign for that right this minute. There is a good 7-9 and a bad 7-9 in my opinion. A good 7-9 is in my example above. A bad 7-9 or 8-8 is where the Cowboys are today.

This is how I feel.... don't mind being bad if it leads to being good.
Once Romo is gone we are looking at 5 and 11 for many years, unless Jerry gets out of the way.

 

[wileedog]

Once Romo is gone we are looking at 5 and 11 for many years, unless Jerry gets out of the way.

This cannot be understated. Once Romo is gone the guy who brought in Quincy, Drew and Hutch is back in charge of of finding a new franchise QB, this time without Parcells or Payton. Finding a QB in this league is easily 70-80% of winning now.

Get ready for the parade of ex-baseball players and bargain bin draft picks..

 

[Beast_from_East]

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.

And Jerry telling the fans that Opie is coming back regardless of how many games we lose really is not helping things either.


Just check out that thread...........most of the fans are already writing off next season...........then folks wonder why we are not excited about the team.

 

[CowboyFan4Eva]

This cannot be understated. Once Romo is gone the guy who brought in Quincy, Drew and Hutch is back in charge of of finding a new franchise QB, this time without Parcells or Payton. Finding a QB in this league is easily 70-80% of winning now.

Get ready for the parade of ex-baseball players and bargain bin draft picks..

Doesn't have to be that way, We gotta lot of promising young players right now.........
Go 3-13 next year without, romo, witten, ware, spencer......any of the old guard. Gut the house. !!!!

The can go play for other teams and probably do well......

Now......we draft a QB in the 1st and one in the second! Bring in some old baseball players. Backups, free agents.....etc etc. and we find ourselves a franchise QB,

2 seasons.......3-13, 5-11, and then a very very tough 10-6 team coming into thy playoffs with no experience but a tug hardnosed team that can compete with whoever is on the othersise.

 

[17yearsandcounting]

I'd love to talk some sense into Sturm for this column.

Sorry buddy, your drinking friend is on the OUTS.