The Dallas Cowboys Need Crazy Joe Clark

I was watching one of my favorite movies of all-time the other day: none other than Lean on Me, and anyone who has seen the movie is familiar with one of the greatest men who ever lived, Joe Louis Clark. In the event that some people haven’t seen the movie, here’s a quick snapshot.

Eastside High School was a beacon of light in the late 1960’s, and during that time, Joe Clark was a teacher at the school. He was ushered out of his job by folks who didn’t know a damn thing about teaching and education (sound familiar here???), and he pretty much went into exile, resurfacing years later as a principal at a local elementary school. 20 years later, Eastside High had become a shell of itself; drugs, loss of hope, lack of respect, and overall negativity from all parties pretty much sent the school to hell. The State of New Jersey threatened to take over operations, so Eastside did the unthinkable (at the time): they brought Joe Clark back to right the ship.

The reason it worked, is because he had the support of the people above him to do everything it took to get the school back on track, and establishing the school as a place where students, faculty, parents, and the community could take pride in. He ruffled plenty of feathers along the way, but he wasn’t there to make friends; he had a job to do.

Now I know the Cowboys can’t bring Crazy Joe here, but they need a Crazy Joe type. See, my issues with the Cowboys are all on the coaching staff, as well as the man who calls all the shots. We have all the talent in the world, but no direction at all. Living here makes it even more evident, and you have no choice but to be exposed to this tomfoolery on a daily basis.

Wade Phillips is a nice guy, but he’s not the coach we need. It is obvious Jason Garrett can’t be the coach either, because he can’t even handle being the dadgum Offensive Coordinator. All of our problems are discipline-related (on-the-field discipline), and even though we have a winning record, I’m not stupid. With our collective mindset, we’re not ready to make the next step right now, and it would take a combination of factors for us to make the playoffs, let alone win a playoff game. I truly believe that, and anyone with a set of eyes and half a brain knows the same thing.

Some people think we need a big-name coach to right the ship, but I honestly don’t need or want a big-time coach to come in, simply because I don’t think Owner Jerry will get the hell out of the way, and let him do his job. Plus, if it’s a coach with a low-profile, the expectations may not be as insane as they’ll be, if Cowher, Shanahan, or Holmgren come in. I’d much rather see a low-profile coach come to town (someone with a Super Bowl ring, though), and see if he can fix it. I’d like it to be a Tomlin, Singletary, or a McDaniels-type, but who am I kidding? As long as our owner is here, he’s not ever gonna change, so I may as well end this now…

…but it sure is nice to dream, right?

Be easy.

-K. Masenda
www.edthesportsfan.com