“What Did The Dallas Cowboys Ever Do To You?”
Is there any team you can think of that gets a more charged response when you talk about them than the Dallas Cowboys?
On any given day, nearly everyday, I run into someone who’s a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. Just as often, probably more often, I run into Cowboys haters. This is every day. I’m not exaggerating. Thing is, I’m not in Texas. I live near Palm Springs, California. Unless there is a strange anomaly that created a pocket of Dallas Cowboys fans and haters in Southern California, this must be happening to some extent all over the country.
– At this point, most Cowboys fans around the country (or at least the 12 that are reading this) are saying “Yea, its true”, while all the non- Cowboys fans around the country are saying, “Cowboys fans? All over the country? Man, you Cowboys fans are so full of yourselves! You think the Cowboys are America’s Team… I hate the Dallas Cowboys!”, or something to that effect. Of course, this only proves my point. –
It doesn’t end there. I can’t count how many times, when talking about quarterbacks, that I mention the name – Tony Romo – and the intensity level of the conversation goes up a notch. Everybody seems to know who he is and has an opinion to share about him. The comments range from, “He’s not clutch”, or “He’s a Choke artist!”, to “I wish my team had him”, and even “Man, he dated all those hot blondes, then he married one!” (OK, that one was me). Point is, everyone’s got an opinion.. EVERYONE!
Fans of the Dallas Cowboys are everywhere, and they are happy to tell you they’re fans. They see my miniature helmet on my dashboard and start talking about being a fan. How they wish Jerry Jones wasn’t the owner or Romo wasn’t their QB. Most say they’re sure we are going to the Superbowl this year. That last one always gets me, because I always think the same thing. What makes Dallas Cowboys fans think the team is going to the Superbowl every year? It’s been how many years since we’ve been there? Like, Seventeen? Still, we remain the most popular team (with an occasional back and forth with the Green Bay Packers – and the Packers have been to 3 superbowls in that time) in football, or any other sport in America, and we always think we are going to the Superbowl.
It’s hard to fathom the enthusiasm or the popularity of a team that’s hovering around .500 for over a decade and a half. Jerry Jones, for what it’s worth, was able to turn the Dallas Cowboys from a team that Bum Bright was forced to sell for around $140 million into the 2nd most valuable sports franchise in the world worth about $2 billion and he also got a state of the art stadium built for this team (with no stadium sponsor) during an economic downturn. This is crazy, even for a fan, to completely realize how difficult that is. Is it the simple blue star? Is it the name – Cowboys – that elicits some strong American history of the wild west ? Or the name- Dallas -? The cheerleaders? Maybe it was the 20 consecutive winning seasons during Tom Landry’s era or the 8 Superbowl appearances. I could go on and on, but reality is the Dallas Cowboys are hugely popular. They are also hugely envied and hated. The envy I understand, because many less popular teams play better ball and have bigger stars. It’s the haters I don’t get. For example, if we’re honest, then we know that if Tony Romo played for the Kansas City Chiefs he would be liked by more people and would be considered more resoundingly for his substantial QB skills. Speaking of the Chiefs, I rarely hear anyone say “I hate the Kansas City Chiefs!” I rarely hear about the Chiefs at all where I live.
Ok, so the Dallas Cowboys are popular and have a national following. So do the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Funny that I don’t hear a lot of “I hate the Green Bay Packers!” even though they call their town ‘Title Town’ and the Superbowl trophy is called ‘The Lombardi Trophy’ after their famous coach. No, the hate is surely saved for our beloved Cowboys. So I gotta ask – “What did the Dallas Cowboys ever do to you?”
Artie Cappello