Welcome To My Nightmare...I Think You're Gonna Like It

[Hostile]

If you will indulge me I will tell one more story about my Grandma. One time she was taking us to the Mall so we could go to a movie. My cousin Todd was sitting in the front seat and he asked Grandma if we could turn on the radio. She said, "I don't like that damned yeah yeah music."

That's what she called Rock n Roll.

We all assured her it was not "yeah yeah music" and finally she relented and Todd turned on the radio.

I kid you not, the song on the radio was The Beatles..."she loves to yeah, yeah, yeah..."

My Grandma nearly ripped the knob off the stereo turning it off as she growled, "nothing but damned yeah, yeah music."

The four of us kids were in tears from laughing so hard. Her knuckles were white on the steering wheel from her gripping it so hard and the end of her cigarette in her mouth was as red as red can be.

 

[hockix]

If you will indulge me I will tell one more story about my Grandma. One time she was taking us to the Mall so we could go to a movie. My cousin Todd was sitting in the front seat and he asked Grandma if we could turn on the radio. She said, "I don't like that damned yeah yeah music."

That's what she called Rock n Roll.

We all assured her it was not "yeah yeah music" and finally she relented and Todd turned on the radio.

I kid you not, the song on the radio was The Beatles..."she loves to yeah, yeah, yeah..."

My Grandma nearly ripped the knob off the stereo turning it off as she growled, "nothing but damned yeah, yeah music."

The four of us kids were in tears from laughing so hard. Her knuckles were white on the steering wheel from her gripping it so hard and the end of her cigarette in her mouth was as red as red can be.

:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

That's funny.

 

[SaltyNovice]

Thank you Hos', I really enjoyed your story. I too have many a "life/family" memory that is intertwined with the cowboys winning and losing. It's funny how our lives are recorded in memory along side of some sports team or TV show or movies. For me, it's my grandfather and my memories of him and the cowboys are glued together. Great memories "most of the time".

 

[ChrisCanty99]

Thanks for sharing both of those, Hos. It's time we won another postseason game, and we will win at least one.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

If you will indulge me I will tell one more story about my Grandma. One time she was taking us to the Mall so we could go to a movie. My cousin Todd was sitting in the front seat and he asked Grandma if we could turn on the radio. She said, "I don't like that damned yeah yeah music."

That's what she called Rock n Roll.

We all assured her it was not "yeah yeah music" and finally she relented and Todd turned on the radio.

I kid you not, the song on the radio was The Beatles..."she loves to yeah, yeah, yeah..."

My Grandma nearly ripped the knob off the stereo turning it off as she growled, "nothing but damned yeah, yeah music."

The four of us kids were in tears from laughing so hard. Her knuckles were white on the steering wheel from her gripping it so hard and the end of her cigarette in her mouth was as red as red can be.

:laugh2:

I bet you never messed with her

 

[Everson24]

That was awesome. I just loved it. I also love it when someone else hates the Steelers as much as I do.

Hos, I don't know what you do for a living but if it's not writing I think you should consider a career change.

 

[klee34]

That was an outstanding post by the original poster. Well done. I also will throw in Alice Cooper rules, so nice reference to the Coop as well, lol.

 

[Hostile]

:laugh2:

I bet you never messed with her

She was a pistol. Seriously a genuinely funny lady.

Last year when my Dad died my Aunt finally let us take her ashes to be spread where she wanted them to be. She had hung onto them since that time even though she knew my Grandma did not want to be in a box on a bookshelf.

It was nice to take her "home." Even if that home was really just out in the desert on the ranch where I grew up where we used to go hunting for Indian arrowheads. That is where she wanted to be and finally is.

 

[cowboyjoe]

Hostile, here is my response to your story;

Glad you enjoyed things with your grandmother.

I first became a Dallas Cowboys fan in 1966 at the age of 13, while watching the cowboys before those years, but trying to choose between the rams with their fearsome foursome, and the vikings with joe Kapp.

In the ice bowl is where I became a die hard cowboys fan, crying and wanting to see the cowboys win. Going through the rough years till they won in 1971.

Working hard again in life, I watched the Cowboys get to the super bowl but lose to the hated steelers. I had previously that year, talked to Tom Landry, Alicia Landry, Drew Pearson, Billy Joe Dupree, Tex Schramn, even helping the cowboys figure out why they were missing field goals in 1975.

Early that year in February I took a couple of pages out of a book written by Red Hickey to All Pro John Wooten.

Going through some rough spots in my life again, and working hard again, and leaning on God, while having to start over again in life, the Cowboys got to the super bowl against the Denver Broncos and won.

Seems like everytime I asked the Lord for help, like Jerry Jones said in his talk with thefan 105.3, that Jerry himself had asked the man upstairs for a super bowl win. I myself in 1989 was soley upset at Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson for what they did to Tom Landry.

After I learned later from a man that was on the board, even for a few years after Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys, that Tom Landry was offered a job in the Cowboys staff, but he turned that down, best I remember Landry was offered the job at about a million for 1989.

Anyway, having gone through some rough times again, (always seems when I go through rough times like starting over or some real hard times, that the Cowboys always start winning again.

This was started again, in 1989, having lost my job again, and going back to leaning on the promises of God, and forgiving Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson, the Cowboys started winning again.

Same thing happened again in 94 and you all know what happened. In 95, the Cowboys won again. Then we all went through the lean years as you all know with the years of 2000 to present most of the time.

Last year, while asleep I dreamed about asking the Lord, how long are we going to suffer again, with these losing years and not winning in the playoffs and getting to the super bowl. The LORD replied to me, that last year was year one, and in year 2 the cowboys will go to the superbowl. He wouldnt reveal to me, who the head coach was, or if we would win the superbowl, but we would get to the big game.

Like Hostile, I want to enjoy the playoffs games starting with the Cowboys Eagles game coming up. I want to taste them, enjoy them, wallow in them and go from week to week winning.

Again, I dont know if year 2 meant this January or February winning big time and getting to the super bowl or year 2 meant winning games in the 2010 regular season, and building off of last year to win big time during the season and then making the playoffs in 2011.

I have the feeling though, since I am not going through tough tough times like I have been in the past, but still going through some hardships this year, but with leaning on the Lord again, trusting, believing in him and the Cowboys, that good times are ahead. Sure, might be some rough spots, but that is what life is about, going through the bumps, and bruises, that way when you do get highlights you appreciate them more, like when I won a $500 dallas cowboys stratch off ticket and purchasing some Cowboys stuff from the pro shop along with getting some cowboys stuff for my friends that something special might happen this year.

We just have to ride it out and believe. But enjoy the ride getting there!

 

[Joe Realist]

I like it Hos. I want this win BAD!

 

[Phoenix]

A long time ago I had a dream of playing for the Dallas Cowboys. Like the song said, "I was Roger Staubach in my back yard..." Well, for me that extended to the street where as the biggest kid in the neighborhood I had to be all time Quarterback or no one wanted to play. One of the other teams was always the Eagles and the other was the Commanders. That way the Cowboys always beat one of them in my imagination.

But I didn't just pretend to be Roger. I used to run through the desert in New Mexico with a football in the crook of my arm. The greasewood and mesquite bushes were the Commanders or the Eagles Defense and I was Tony Dorsett. If the leaves or limbs touched me I was tackled. It was a great game until one day I turned a corner to discover a 6 foot long rattlesnake. I was running full blast into it. I say it because there was no way I wanted to get close enough to determine male or female. All I knew was that I had to jump over a very big snake just as it curled up and rattled.

Fear is great for adrenaline. I broke a world record that day. From where I took off to where I landed was a jump neither Bob Beamon nor Carl Lewis could have done. At least not without my snake under them. I walked through the desert to the nearest road and ran home on the road, never to run through the desert with a football again.

Just about everyone knew these were my dreams. Some jokingly called them my nightmares. Alice Cooper sang it just the way I think it.

Welcome to my nightmare
I think you're gonna like it
I think you're gonna feel you belong
We sweat, laugh and scream here
Cuz life is just a dream here
You know inside you feel right at home

Here is where we all as Cowboys fans dream of being. In the playoffs, slightly feared and even slightly fearful because there's always a little bit of danger lurking near. I confess I like it. Nothing restores my dreams quite like the Cowboys in the post season. If these are my nightmares I do feel I belong.

The greatness of the Cowboys gives most of us old timers a sense of entitlement. We dwell too much on the glory of the past because it was so full and fulfilling. In 1966 the Cowboys had their first winning season. That was the first of 20 straight winning seasons that saw us go to 5 Super Bowls and play for an amazing 12 NFC Championships. We won our division 13 times in that stretch of 20 years.

Forgive me, I have told this next part before, but it feels relevant to tell it again. In 1988 I stood at the bedside of my grandmother as she lay dying. We had a bond that formed in 1983. That bond was the Dallas Cowboys. Her husband had played for and been employed by the Packers for many years. She hated football.

In the Summer of 1983 I was at her home one Summer and the Cowboys were playing the Steelers in preseason. She came and sat down on the couch next to me and asked me why I wasn't swimming with the other kids. In her hand was a glass of bourbon and she was already feeling no pain. I assured here that I did not want to swim while the game was on. That baffled her. She asked me to explain "this damned game" to her. She was married to a football man and didn't know the game. That baffled me.

I tried to, but it was impossible through the laughter. You see, for some reason my Grandma got excited about the Cowboys. At the snap of the ball she was jumping off the couch, careful not to spill her bourbon, and yelling "kill him! Break his legs!" And a lot of other wild comments that I had never heard from her before. We had a ball. It is probably my all time favorite football game and I don't even remember who won because I have never cared about the pre season.

I know it was 1983 because Bill Bates was a rookie. John Madden and Pat Summerall were doing the game. They started talking about Landry's admiration of Bates who would "hit anything." On one play Franco Harris got a handoff and he barreled up the middle and right over Bates. I still remember John Madden's exact words. "Mr. Bates, welcome to the NFL." My Grandma told John to shut the hell up.

On the next play Bill Bates blitzed and he hit Franco about the same time the ball hit his belly. After the play I remember 3 things. I remember Franco Harris retrieving his shoes because Bill Bates knocked him out of them. I remember John Madden saying, "Mr. Harris, welcome back to the NFL." I remember my Grandma yelling at the TV as Franco headed to the sidelines.

I have serious doubts that my Grandma became a football junkie like me. But she followed the Cowboys from that day on. When we talked we always talked about the Cowboys and my dreams. She knew how they were doing so I know she at least looked at the standings in the Albuquerque Journal. It became a bond between us.

1988 the Cowboys were not doing so well. I think we were either 2-6 or 2-7 at the time. I know it was late October when we were summoned to come say our goodbyes. I was the last grandchild to go in and see her. She said, "oh Mike, what are we going to do about our Cowboys?" The last thing I told her was that we were going to Draft Troy Aikman the QB at UCLA and win a couple more Super Bowls. She smiled, squeezed my hand, and went to sleep. That was the last thing she ever said to me, or me to her.

In 1992 the Cowboys, led by Troy Aikman, ended a 15 year Super Bowl drought. It wasn't a post season drought like we are in now. We did win some post season games in the interim. My wife was pregnant with our first child at the time. I kept begging our daughter not to be born during the Super Bowl. At halftime Michael Jackson was the show and we thought my wife was going into labor. She was just kicking to the beat of Billie Jean. I was a nervous wreck.

In 1993 Troy Aikman and company finished the business of fulfilling my death bed promise to my Grandma. I remember when the game was over and the post game was all wrapped up I went outside on the balcony of our apartment. It was dark and a bit of a chill in the air. I looked up to heaven and said, "Grandma, they did it." Even now I remember the warmth of my tears on my cold face and the smile that was plastered on my ugly mush.

There is a feeling in the air around me that we are back from the dead. In 2007 I thought that was the year. I am not really talking about the Super Bowl. I don't want the cart in front of the horse. I want to win this week more than I want a Super Bowl right now. Oh don't get me wrong, the Steelers winning their 6th before we got there pisses me off more than the Guidelines here will let me state.

I don't want to fast forward to a Super Bowl. I would like the Cowboys to deliver a little pain along the way. I can't think of a more deserving fanbase than Eagles fans. Last week was just an appetizer. Get ready for the main course.

They're going to sweat, we're going to laugh, and then they're going to scream. They will feel right at home because we own them. It will be familiar. Welcome to my nightmare. I think you're gonna like it.

We do belong.

That was a remarkable story. Thank you for sharing that Hostile. Wow, for your grandmother to become a Cowboys fan while watching with you, then you both being able to relate through that connection through the years is amazing. Absolutely amazing. Did it ever occur to you that she loved you so much that she willed it to happen? I think she did. What a woman. You are lucky.

Like you, I want more than anything for a victory tomorrow, to end this drought. I want also for the Cowboys to inflict pain on other franchises for a nice change, in the postseason, once again.

The December Collapse talk is now over. Even in Newark, listening to WFAN from NYC, both Craig Carton and Boomer Esiason were just gushing over the play of Romo in December, the play of the Cowboys in December, how they hit their peak...in December.

That puts an end to THAT. The wretched December meltdown is now history.

Tomorrow night, the wretched winless-in-the-playoffs for "x" number of years (depending on who is writing the article or talking on the radio/TV) will also end. And I for one can not WAIT. It WILL happen.

And Hostile, when it does, I want you to recall those tears, go back out to a balcony or patio or driveway or wherever, stare up at the night sky, and tell your grandmother, "We're on our way. Again."

BELIEVE.

 

[Hostile]

Tomorrow night, the wretched winless-in-the-playoffs for "x" number of years (depending on who is writing the article or talking on the radio/TV) will also end. And I for one can not WAIT. It WILL happen.

And Hostile, when it does, I want you to recall those tears, go back out to a balcony or patio or driveway or wherever, stare up at the night sky, and tell your grandmother, "We're on our way. Again."

BELIEVE.

I give you my word, I will do exactly that.

 

[Hostile]

I remembered Alice did this song on The Muppets. I decided to see if it was on youtube. And it was. Hope some will enjoy his theatrics.



[youtube]71hVIGjvuVY[/youtube]

 

[Daudr]

A long time ago I had a dream of playing for the Dallas Cowboys. Like the song said, "I was Roger Staubach in my back yard..." Well, for me that extended to the street where as the biggest kid in the neighborhood I had to be all time Quarterback or no one wanted to play. One of the other teams was always the Eagles and the other was the Commanders. That way the Cowboys always beat one of them in my imagination.

CLIPPED FOR BREVITY

We do belong.

Amazing story that brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for that.

 

[brucekr]

Fantastic read, man. Best post I've read here in my brief membership.

 

[RainMan]

Great stuff, Hos. Can't wait to read even more entries like this in your book.

Your story of your grandmother reminded me slightly of my great aunt, a blessed, 80-year-old woman that lives about 500 miles away but is one of the few living members of my mother's side of the family.

She doesn't know diddly about football, but she learned of my passion of the Dallas Cowboys a good decade ago. Ever since, she decided she'd follow them, too. To this day, she'll call my mom periodically on game days in a frenzy, asking what channel the game is on, or complaining that she can't get her antenna/signal to work. She has even called my mom after some of the gut-wrenching wins, saying she nearly had a heart attack. The vision of her watching a Cowboys game cracks me up to no end, but it warms my heart so much.

 

[Sickwitit]

Very good post !!! Thank you for sharing.

 

[DeaconBlues]

Absolutely awesome. Wonderful, wonderful story.

 

[Avenging Hayseed]

A long time ago I had a dream of playing for the Dallas Cowboys. Like the song said, "I was Roger Staubach in my back yard..." Well, for me that extended to the street where as the biggest kid in the neighborhood I had to be all time Quarterback or no one wanted to play. One of the other teams was always the Eagles and the other was the Commanders. That way the Cowboys always beat one of them in my imagination.

But I didn't just pretend to be Roger. I used to run through the desert in New Mexico with a football in the crook of my arm. The greasewood and mesquite bushes were the Commanders or the Eagles Defense and I was Tony Dorsett. If the leaves or limbs touched me I was tackled. It was a great game until one day I turned a corner to discover a 6 foot long rattlesnake. I was running full blast into it. I say it because there was no way I wanted to get close enough to determine male or female. All I knew was that I had to jump over a very big snake just as it curled up and rattled.

Fear is great for adrenaline. I broke a world record that day. From where I took off to where I landed was a jump neither Bob Beamon nor Carl Lewis could have done. At least not without my snake under them. I walked through the desert to the nearest road and ran home on the road, never to run through the desert with a football again.

Just about everyone knew these were my dreams. Some jokingly called them my nightmares. Alice Cooper sang it just the way I think it.

Welcome to my nightmare
I think you're gonna like it
I think you're gonna feel you belong
We sweat, laugh and scream here
Cuz life is just a dream here
You know inside you feel right at home

Here is where we all as Cowboys fans dream of being. In the playoffs, slightly feared and even slightly fearful because there's always a little bit of danger lurking near. I confess I like it. Nothing restores my dreams quite like the Cowboys in the post season. If these are my nightmares I do feel I belong.

The greatness of the Cowboys gives most of us old timers a sense of entitlement. We dwell too much on the glory of the past because it was so full and fulfilling. In 1966 the Cowboys had their first winning season. That was the first of 20 straight winning seasons that saw us go to 5 Super Bowls and play for an amazing 12 NFC Championships. We won our division 13 times in that stretch of 20 years.

Forgive me, I have told this next part before, but it feels relevant to tell it again. In 1988 I stood at the bedside of my grandmother as she lay dying. We had a bond that formed in 1983. That bond was the Dallas Cowboys. Her husband had played for and been employed by the Packers for many years. She hated football.

In the Summer of 1983 I was at her home one Summer and the Cowboys were playing the Steelers in preseason. She came and sat down on the couch next to me and asked me why I wasn't swimming with the other kids. In her hand was a glass of bourbon and she was already feeling no pain. I assured here that I did not want to swim while the game was on. That baffled her. She asked me to explain "this damned game" to her. She was married to a football man and didn't know the game. That baffled me.

I tried to, but it was impossible through the laughter. You see, for some reason my Grandma got excited about the Cowboys. At the snap of the ball she was jumping off the couch, careful not to spill her bourbon, and yelling "kill him! Break his legs!" And a lot of other wild comments that I had never heard from her before. We had a ball. It is probably my all time favorite football game and I don't even remember who won because I have never cared about the pre season.

I know it was 1983 because Bill Bates was a rookie. John Madden and Pat Summerall were doing the game. They started talking about Landry's admiration of Bates who would "hit anything." On one play Franco Harris got a handoff and he barreled up the middle and right over Bates. I still remember John Madden's exact words. "Mr. Bates, welcome to the NFL." My Grandma told John to shut the hell up.

On the next play Bill Bates blitzed and he hit Franco about the same time the ball hit his belly. After the play I remember 3 things. I remember Franco Harris retrieving his shoes because Bill Bates knocked him out of them. I remember John Madden saying, "Mr. Harris, welcome back to the NFL." I remember my Grandma yelling at the TV as Franco headed to the sidelines.

I have serious doubts that my Grandma became a football junkie like me. But she followed the Cowboys from that day on. When we talked we always talked about the Cowboys and my dreams. She knew how they were doing so I know she at least looked at the standings in the Albuquerque Journal. It became a bond between us.

1988 the Cowboys were not doing so well. I think we were either 2-6 or 2-7 at the time. I know it was late October when we were summoned to come say our goodbyes. I was the last grandchild to go in and see her. She said, "oh Mike, what are we going to do about our Cowboys?" The last thing I told her was that we were going to Draft Troy Aikman the QB at UCLA and win a couple more Super Bowls. She smiled, squeezed my hand, and went to sleep. That was the last thing she ever said to me, or me to her.

In 1992 the Cowboys, led by Troy Aikman, ended a 15 year Super Bowl drought. It wasn't a post season drought like we are in now. We did win some post season games in the interim. My wife was pregnant with our first child at the time. I kept begging our daughter not to be born during the Super Bowl. At halftime Michael Jackson was the show and we thought my wife was going into labor. She was just kicking to the beat of Billie Jean. I was a nervous wreck.

In 1993 Troy Aikman and company finished the business of fulfilling my death bed promise to my Grandma. I remember when the game was over and the post game was all wrapped up I went outside on the balcony of our apartment. It was dark and a bit of a chill in the air. I looked up to heaven and said, "Grandma, they did it." Even now I remember the warmth of my tears on my cold face and the smile that was plastered on my ugly mush.

There is a feeling in the air around me that we are back from the dead. In 2007 I thought that was the year. I am not really talking about the Super Bowl. I don't want the cart in front of the horse. I want to win this week more than I want a Super Bowl right now. Oh don't get me wrong, the Steelers winning their 6th before we got there pisses me off more than the Guidelines here will let me state.

I don't want to fast forward to a Super Bowl. I would like the Cowboys to deliver a little pain along the way. I can't think of a more deserving fanbase than Eagles fans. Last week was just an appetizer. Get ready for the main course.

They're going to sweat, we're going to laugh, and then they're going to scream. They will feel right at home because we own them. It will be familiar. Welcome to my nightmare. I think you're gonna like it.

We do belong.

Im with you every step of the way with this Hos. Like you say, no need to fast forward to a Superbowl. I want to enjoy this EVERY step of the way.

Every minute of it, every play. As an old friend of mine used to say........Sometimes its not just about the final destination, but about the journey GETTING THERE. Its been a hell of a ride! We need to cherish EVERY minute of this!

 

[Arch Stanton]

Im with you every step of the way with this Hos. Like you say, no need to fast forward to a Superbowl. I want to enjoy this EVERY step of the way.

Every minute of it, every play. As an old friend of mine used to say........Sometimes its not just about the final destination, but about the journey GETTING THERE. Its been a hell of a ride! We need to cherish EVERY minute of this!

AH - you should be in bed asleep! :