The Dallas Cowboys Are No Longer America's Team

I never thought the day would come where the words above were uttered by me, but alas, I must say it. See, I’m a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. I ride for my team all day, every day. I’ll go to games, travel to training camp, talk crazy to the haters, everything. There’s nothing I won’t do for my team. However, the truth must be told, and even when it’s ugly, it’s still truth. When you love something enough, you also have a responsibility to tell it like it t-i-s, tis (shout-out to The Michael Irvin Show on ESPN Radio). We’re no longer America’s Team and have not been so for years now.

When I updated my status on Facebook yesterday, my fellow Cowboy fans became enraged with me. I was called a traitor, a Benedict Arnold, and a non-believer. One of my fraternity brothers placed me on a 24-hour suspension until I came to my senses. Others say the Cowboys continue to be the talk of the NFL, given the fact there are fans of them everywhere, and the haters will continue to have us on the brain. They said the Cowboys have some of the highest-rated games in NFL history according to Nielsen ratings (Ed works there, so he’ll confirm it; I don’t care personally, but hey). They also talk about how plenty of NFL players who dream of wearing The Star on their helmet, and it’s considered an honor to do so. Well, while that all may be true, excuse me for not giving a damn.

Here is the harsh reality; my team has not won a playoff game since December 28, 1996. I was a freshman in high school. Ladies and gentlemen, I was in the ninth grade, 14 years old, and hadn’t grown facial hair yet. Since then, damn near every other team in the league has AT LEAST won a playoff game. When I mention this to my fellow fans, they would say “yeah, but yadda, yadda, yadda.” Now I know we want to win, so that’s not an issue. It could simply be a case that “God don’t like ugly,” yet I can’t imagine The Football Gods staying this angry with us, as to not allow us to have even a fraction of post-season success in 13 years. There are only so many times when someone can say “well, we have five rings.” Well, Pittsburgh has six of ‘em, so that argument, in my opinion, doesn’t carry much weight. Sure, people love the Cowboys, but I’ve seen things this season which disgusts me as a Cowboys fan. Every Sunday, there’s a ritual that was started by Bryant Robertson (a loyal Saints fan), which has us watching games at Buffalo Wild Wings. When I go, there are some Cowboy fans there, but the number of Saints fans is absolutely staggering. On top of that, they truly get into the game, whereas some of us just sit there and cheer half-heartedly. You would think we were in another city, and not in the *bleeping* Metroplex, but see, these are the things some of us are afraid to admit. Not only have we not been worth a damn, playoff-wise, in the past 13 years, we’ve allowed our city to be infiltrated by the enemy.

I won’t even touch on the way we overreact to our team losing (Romo should be traded is a perfect example of Cowboy fan stupidity; I hear this one every Sunday). There’s some validity to the statement that everything is bigger in Texas, especially when it comes to the Cowboys, and the microscope and the lights are even brighter when it comes to what we do, and my response is simply so what? Who cares? Once we get our stuff together, which I’m entirely confident we can do, I’ll go back and acknowledge us as America’s Team. Right now, forget it. Lets win a playoff game first, and then we can start that back up. For now, this Cowboys fan has put the kool-aid down.

-K. Masenda
www.edthesportsfan.com