Thursday, May 16, 2024
Careful efforts were undertaken to complete all my work tasks prior to game time, so my mind could focus on the game. Food was purchased and prepared, beverages were chilled, and I dressed in my favorite Cowboys jersey. My heart was full of anticipation of watching a close and exciting game with the hope the Cowboys would be victorious. My Sunday was going to be great! Unfortunately, when the game started, things went downhill very quickly. Quicker than I could build a platter of nachos, the game was out of hand. We stunk!
Watching the game was painful, but this is the NFL. The league is built on parity, and as the old saying goes, “on any given Sunday any team can beat another.” Sure, the Cowboys were slightly favored, but the game was on the road against a very good team who had been playing better the past few weeks and now desperately needed the win to have a chance to make the playoffs. The Cowboys, on the other hand, have been playing terrific and have won five games in a row including a complete route of their rival and league-leading Philadelphia Eagles. With a loss by the Atlanta Falcons earlier in the day, the Cowboys learned before their game started that a playoff berth was locked in. For a month, everything had been going great for the Cowboys. Unfortunately, the kickoff of Sunday’s game was the beginning of the Cowboys laying an egg.
Let me remind you, such a loss like the Cowboys suffered is not unusual. San Francisco, who many believe is the best team in the NFL, lost three games in a row earlier in the season. The returning Super Bowl Champs, the KC Chiefs, have a worse record for the season than Dallas, and their star quarterback Patrick Mahomes has thrown four interceptions in the last three games. This is NFL football. Ups and downs are to be expected and accepted. It is how the league was built and what keeps people interested in the games.
Despite the fantastic season being played by the Cowboy quarterback, Dak Prescott, and a highly-rated defense, after Sunday’s game I saw some fans take to social media bashing the team and their quarterback. They ranted, they criticized, and they cursed. Instead of having one of the best season records in the NFL, the loss to Buffalo clearly means the Cowboys are “losers,” incompetent, and “never going to win anything.” (Not sure that makes any sense.)
A few months ago, after a short losing streak, some Texas Ranger’s fans began bashing their team, saying they would probably not make the playoffs and were clearly an inferior team. At that time, I wrote a column which expressed that baseball was a long season with lots of ups and downs, and people needed to have faith the team would come together at the right time. As fate would have it, the Rangers not only turned it around, but they also turned it around so much they played themselves into a World Championship. I am not saying the Cowboys will win the Super Bowl, but they are a pretty darn good team - arguably, a top four or five team in the league. They will be going to the playoffs, and let’s just wait and see how they do when the games are played before we declare them dead as a can of tuna. There is a lot of football to be played, and no championship is ever won before all the games are played.
I had some folks tell me when I wrote the column about the Rangers that I was a cockeyed optimist. Maybe so, but as it turned out, my patience was well-rewarded. I am willing to give the Cowboys the same benefit of a doubt, and when the next game is played, I will be watching, hoping for the best. Isn’t that what being a fan is all about?
Thought for the day: Being a true fan is not being there at the beginning but being there at the end.
Until next time…I will keep ridin’ the storm out.
sam@hcnews.com
