What I Don't Understand About Cowboys Fans?

[Kingsmith88]

With all due respect, did you even read my original post?

I don't think there was any point during this discussion where I claimed to be the final authority on who is or isn't a "real" fan. Everybody's entitled to their opinion, and my definition of a "real" fan is no more valid than yours. I was simply stating that I agreed with Jazzcat22's opinion in the particular post you're quoting. The point of my original post wasn't to berate those who don't agree with me, but to try to understand why some of the perpetually negative and dissatisfied "fans" are even fans of the team, when it appears as though they don't even actually like the Cowboys.

Yes and who are you to tell someone else how to be a fan. Your post most certainly was to question fans who have said something negative about the team. If it wasn't your post didn't work because I just pulled something from three different posts and got the same gist each time.

 

[GIFTS]

looks like this thread should be closed. Now there is a online fist fight going down!
To add something positive to the OP use a different set of words instead of A REAL FAN. I used this before and it comes across as one being more of a fan than others. And there is no such thing. Only a fan who has more knowledge than others. But either way we are all fans and should look foward to coming here to talk cowboys. I would love to talk cowboys but i usually dont anymore because there is too much fighting online. Not positive constructive arguments or disagreements but stuff like this thread!

 

[TwoDeep3]

You can expect some negative and positive feedback. I too do not understand why some people do not seem to even like the team they root for. I couldn't be that way with a gun to my head. Most of them are still very loyal fans, just happy to be unhappy it seems. I can't explain it any other way because I just don't understand it.

It's pretty simple really.

I am able to look at the team and evaluate their talent in regard to my experience watching this franchise from day one. However skilled or lack thereof my understanding is, I can look at a player, coach or GM and entertain both the good and the bad about them.

Why is it you could speak about Bobby Carpenter in less than glowing terms?

And where is the difference if I do so about Newman last year, or Jenkins and his on again off again commitment to playing aggressive football?

Or Spencer not living up to his first round pick.

Or the GM making poor decisions that cost us draft after draft and put us where we are now.

I see a great deal to be excited about this team.

But you do enough cheer leading for everyone on this board. I find it boring to discuss the same things over and over about how this is the year and this unknown guy from Slippery Rock that was drafted in the sixth round is going to be a great player.

There is more to this team than rah rah projections that year in and year out tend to not manifest.

Jerry is one component. A HUGE component to where we are.

And when he heads up an organization that delivers the 2009 draft, it's pretty difficult after sixteen years of mediocrity to get stoved up on promises that sound like the ones from last year and the year before ect.

If your woman consistently cheats on you, after a while it would be difficult to accept her alibi that she was visiting a sick friend.

Show me is my current status with Jerry and the team.

I love this team. But I temper that love and excitement with the knowledge that sometimes even the blind squirrel never finds the acorn.

 

[Kingsmith88]

looks like this thread should be closed. Now there is a online fist fight going down!

I'm not mad, maybe I read into his post. That was my perception from his posts. I enjoy different opinions from different ways of thinking, that's just how I was raised.

 

[WoodysGirl]

I've always been told that a hit dog will hollar...and that's what seems to have happened here.

Superfan allegations aside, the one question that the OP has maintained throughout the thread is simple.

For those who tend to lean on the glass half empty side of Cowboys fandom, what makes you continue to be a fan?

 

[Proximo]

Yes and who are you to tell someone else how to be a fan. Your post most certainly was to question fans who have said something negative about the team. If it wasn't your post didn't work because I just pulled something from three different posts and got the same jest each time.

At no point in my original post did I attempt to "tell someone else how to be a fan". Nor was I questioning fans "who have said something negative about the team". I'm really starting to think you didn't even read my original post. I think it was pretty clear I was just trying to gain an understanding of why some of the perpetually negative, extremely dissatisfied fans even continue to be fans. Make sense?

I'm not telling anyone how to be a fan, but rather asking why you even are a fan if you have such firm stances against the front office.

 

[Proximo]

I've always been told that a hit dog will hollar...and that's what seems to have happened here.

Superfan allegations aside, the one question that the OP has maintained throughout the thread is simple.

For those who tend to lean on the glass half empty side of Cowboys fandom, what makes you continue to be a fan?

Thank You.

 

[tupperware]

A lot of fans were introduced to football by their dad or parents and choose a team. Some of them get called bandwagon fans because they jumped on to the Cowboys of the early 90s but that's just how it is, a lot of young people want to root for winners. That's how I started liking them. Not only that but, you hit an age where you start to notice BS when you see it and so you're critical of the team you like.

To stop being a fan of the Cowboys because you disagree and dislike some of the things they do would be like finding new parents. You might like the newer parents and their more laid back rules, but they're not your parents and you'll never be able to love them the same way. Plus it's like selling out, to me.

 

[cowboy_ron]

Good post WG,

I relate that to raising a kid, no matter how many mistakes they may make you still have to provide them with positive encouragement and hope that at some point they see the light. With what Stephen and JG have done this off season, I think that has been the case with the Cowboys.

 

[GIFTS]

At no point in my original post did I attempt to "tell someone else how to be a fan". Nor was I questioning fans "who have said something negative about the team". I'm really starting to think you didn't even read my original post. I think it was pretty clear I was just trying to gain an understanding of why some of the perpetually negative, extremely dissatisfied fans even continue to be fans. Make sense?

I'm not telling anyone how to be a fan, but rather asking why you even are a fan if you have such firm stances against the front office.

Its simple guy check this, i hated JJ when he gave up a ton for roy williams and then paid him what 45mil? Anywho like marion barber how much money? I hated him for that but i understand he is a person like us trying to win at all cost. But guess what i personally did not like the move and i expressed it. That being said we are all gonna hate, disagree, complain sometimes. But we are still here talking cowboys. And for the other few people who just are here because they have nothing else to do who cares BLOCK them if they are too negative for you.

 

[Ren]

I'm not so sure you understood my original post. In my opinion it's quite clear that the point of said post was not to illustrate my level of Cowboy fandom, but to rather attempt to gain an understanding of why some of the existing "fans" seem so bitter with the owner that it would make it appear as though they do not even enjoy being a fan altogether. Make sense?

The fact that you feel that need to say "fans" and not fans makes your whole post come across as ******y and condescending as every other super fan post we get here. But hey, i'm sure you're different

 

[TwoDeep3]

Thank You.

Been one since day one. Does that make sense.

Do you ever argue with your wife, if you have one? Sometimes she makes you so mad you want to spit.

But she is your wife.

I don't have to agree with everything they do.

What I want to know is how can anyone be satisfied with sixteen years of what we have experienced.

I saw a comment in this thread about we are not Cincinnati.

Not yet. But what makes you so sure we aren't headed that way?

Yesterday's trophies are wonderful to brag on.

But truth be told tomorrow's trophies are why we are here and why they are in business.

 

[Proximo]

The fact that you feel that need to say "fans" and not fans makes your whole post come across as ******y and condescending as every other super fan post we get here. But hey, i'm sure you're different

Dude, if you think it's condescending, there's probably not much I'm going to be able to say to change your mind. Regardless, the original question I posed still has yet to be answered: If you're a fan that harvests an intense disdain for Jerry and Co, why do you remain a fan? Point being, it doesn't seem very enjoyable to be a fan of something you don't even like.

 

[JonJon]

I don't think I'd quite consider myself a super fan in the context you're meaning it in. I'm just trying to understand why some of the "fans" of the team even continue to be a fan, when it appears they are generally dissatisfied, disgusted, and even despise the front office of the organization.

It's really simple; because they are fans of the Cowboys, not of Jerry Jones. I'm OK with Jerry personally, but I know other fans that feel he is the reason why the Cowboys have not been successful as of late. Just because you may not like Jerry Jones as an owner/GM does not mean that you should give up on the Cowboys and find another team. That is the cowardly way out and would give you the label of a band-wagoner. Those type of fans are long gone. Also, some of these disgruntled fans have probably been fans of the Cowboys before Jerry Jones got here. I wouldn't expect them to jump ship and root for some other team just because they aren't happy with Jerry.

 

[DFWJC]

I suppose "happily unhappy" may actually be the best way to describe it; some people are just that way in general. I wonder if these types of fans are just that way in most areas of life.

.

I stay out of the Jerry threads for the most part, but must admit that this question pops into my head at times.
I have no idea, however, so will not assume anything.

 

[KJJ]

After reading a large amount of the content on this board, I really have one question I'd like to pose to all of the Jerry naysayers: Why are you a fan of the Dallas Cowboys?

The disdain for Jerry that some of the posters on this board exhibit really makes me wonder why you would even want to be a fan of the team?

I'm a Cowboys fan because I grew up watching the team since 1971 and nothing Jerry does is going to affect my allegiance for the team. A true FAN isn't going to bail on the team they grew up rooting for because they have issues with the owner or the current direction of the team. If you follow a team long enough you're going to endure many highs and lows and a dedicated diehard fan is going to ride it out through the good and the bad. I had issues with Bum Bright and with Tom Landry during the mid to late 80's.

I saw the Cowboys headed down the drain and it was painful after all the winning seasons I enjoyed through the 70's and early 80's. Things went from bad to worse in 89 after Jerry and Jimmy took over. It appeared the Cowboys would be a crappy team for many years to come but I never even considered quitting on them because the Cowboys are in my blood and will always be no matter how bad things get. There's a love/hate for Jerry he means well and does everything he can to improve the team but he continues doing things his own way and it keeps the Cowboys spinning their wheels every year.

The best decision Jerry ever made was hiring Jimmy and allowing him to make all the football decisions. Once Jimmy left and Jerry started making all the football decisions and all the talent Jimmy brought in began fading away by 1997 the Cowboys have not been very successful. Had Jerry not come to Dallas with Jimmy the Cowboys would have never dug out of the hole they were left with and Jerry wouldn't have amounted to anything as an NFL owner. He probably would have been forced to sell the team by the late 90's. Everything Jerry has become as an NFL owner he became because of the Cowboys 3 SB wins in the 90's.

Maybe I'm just weird, but it seems odd to me that some of the "fans" on here don't even appear to enjoy being a fan of the Cowboys.

No "fan" is going to enjoy being a fan when their team is 2 games below 500 the past 2 seasons and has missed the playoffs both years. The Cowboys have only won ONE playoff game in 15 years and the team keeps folding in Dec every year. A lot of fans who come to this site have been following the Cowboys since the 70's they've seen the team win 5 SB's so the past 15 years hasn't been easy for those fans. The most critical fans are the ones who've been following the team for decades and grew accustom to the Cowboys winning consistently.

There's a lot of fans who come here who weren't even around when the Cowboys were winning SB's so all they know is the inconsistencies they see with the team every year. There's been no stability with the team since Jimmy left the Cowboys have gone through 5 head coaches since then. Most fans who were around during the Cowboys SB years are going to have high standards and are going to be very critical of the teams performance the past 2 playoff less seasons.

Some of us here are very passionate, demanding, honest fans and it's difficult for us to show the optimism every year that some fans do when the Cowboys keep falling flat on their face every Dec. Being critical of your team or someone in your family who keeps underachieving doesn't mean you don't love them. This site attracts a lot of fans some are very knowledgeable while others are stupid/delusional and are in denial that's what makes it interesting here and causes some of the heated debates. Anyone who visits this site regularly especially during the offseason is a fan. We all come here to support the team but when things aren't going well some are going to vent.

Some fans are able to maintain optimism every year regardless of how inconsistent the Cowboys are. They pump sunshine just to pump sunshine and predict SB's and 14-2 records regardless that the Cowboys haven't been able to break 500 the past 2 seasons. There's different types of fans the intelligent, the dense, the optimistic and the pessimistic but we all have one thing in common we're FANS or we wouldn't invest time posting on boards like this.

 

[jnday]

At no point in my original post did I attempt to "tell someone else how to be a fan". Nor was I questioning fans "who have said something negative about the team". I'm really starting to think you didn't even read my original post. I think it was pretty clear I was just trying to gain an understanding of why some of the perpetually negative, extremely dissatisfied fans even continue to be fans. Make sense?

I'm not telling anyone how to be a fan, but rather asking why you even are a fan if you have such firm stances against the front office.

Have you ever considered that some fans on this board was Cowboy fans way before Jerry ever thought about buying the Cowboys and they will still be fans when Jerry is long gone. Some posters on this board didn't like TO on this team, but they remained fans when he was here. I'm not a Jerry hater, but he has made many mistakes. I understand the hate towards him because he has hurt our team and fans don't like anybody that hurts their team. I look at it like this, the Dallas Cowboys are bigger than Jerry or TO etc. I will pull for them win or lose. No owner, coach or player will change that. What I don't understand is the fans that don't question the organization even after the last 15 years of failure. How can fans agree with everything the team does, even if it's wrong? That is not being a good fan. That is being blind.

 

[Kingsmith88]

Dude, if you think it's condescending, there's probably not much I'm going to be able to say to change your mind. Regardless, the original question I posed still has yet to be answered: If you're a fan that harvests an intense disdain for Jerry and Co, why do you remain a fan? Point being, it doesn't seem very enjoyable to be a fan of something you don't even like.

You were being condscending but putting that aside. Jerry isn't the Dallas Cowboys. I was a fan long before he came will be one long after he is gone. The star is bigger than one man. I don't get why someone has to be a fan of the current management to be a fan of the team. Makes no sense.

 

[cowboy_ron]

 

[Proximo]

It's really simple; because they are fans of the Cowboys, not of Jerry Jones. I'm OK with Jerry personally, but I know other fans that feel he is the reason why the Cowboys have not been successful as of late. Just because you may not like Jerry Jones as an owner/GM does not mean that you should give up on the Cowboys and find another team. That is the cowardly way out and would give you the label of a band-wagoner. Those type of fans are long gone. Also, some of these disgruntled fans have probably been fans of the Cowboys before Jerry Jones got here. I wouldn't expect them to jump ship and root for some other team just because they aren't happy with Jerry.

I guess I wouldn't expect them to jump ship either, but you get the sense from some of these fans that they're such intense Jerry haters it's hard to see how they even enjoy being a Cowboys fan, ya know? I mean, even if you're not a bandwagoner where do you draw the line? Do you just remain a miserable fan until Jerry's gone? Seems depressing. There's such Jerry hate from our own fans that I seriously think even if we did win the Superbowl, watching him heave the Lombardi over his head would probably make some of these fans mad.