Schramm marketed the hell out of them, yes, but Landry and the players made it credible.
Joel Send a noteboard - 22/01/2010 04:55:01 AM
The Cowboys didn't become America's team because they played from some higher moral ground the rest of the teams they got the name because both of the owners of the Cowboys were fist and foremost marketers. Tex Schramm volunteered to have the Cowboys play the Thanksgiving game every year when no one else wanted to play a disruptive Thursday game and it ended up being one of the most watched games of the year every year. That and they won a lot championships. Both owners were active owners in their team. The Cowboys were called America's team because their fan base dwarfed other teams and that is still true, Cowboys gear still out sells any other teams by wide margins.
And you seem to forget the Cowboys aren't the only game on Turkey Day; the Lions have been playing on Thanksgiving since the mid-thirties, and the AFL played a Thanksgiving Day game every year of its existence (note: Dallas was never an AFL team. )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_Classic
Note in particular that the Lions owner wanted to do it in the first place to get fans to games (yes, it's a terrible hardship being THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN rather than competing with a dozen other games each Sunday; wonder (but not much) how they convince teams to play on MNF. )
One of the reasons the Cowboys put so much energy into building their cheerleader squad is Scramm liked to surround himself with beautiful women. The hole in the roof was from poor planning no matter what DD Lewis said.
You postulate about how Landry would have treated Aikman but look at how he treated White. He benched White after White took him to three championship games and made the playoffs four games in a row because WHite was taking heat for not being able to win the big game. Do you think he would have kept Aikman after Aikman stopped winning? If Aikman was treated so badly why does he still seem to be friends with Jerry and do commercials with him?
Don't get me wrong I loved Tom Landry and still do but lets not put him up saint. When one of his players was asked if he had ever seen Tom smile he said no but he had only been there 8 years. The Cowboys had one of the best runs in football history under Landry but he had not had a winning season in four years when Jerry bought the team it really. It was the way he fired that was the problem. He deserved a much better send off but that is water under the bridge.
You postulate about how Landry would have treated Aikman but look at how he treated White. He benched White after White took him to three championship games and made the playoffs four games in a row because WHite was taking heat for not being able to win the big game. Do you think he would have kept Aikman after Aikman stopped winning? If Aikman was treated so badly why does he still seem to be friends with Jerry and do commercials with him?
Don't get me wrong I loved Tom Landry and still do but lets not put him up saint. When one of his players was asked if he had ever seen Tom smile he said no but he had only been there 8 years. The Cowboys had one of the best runs in football history under Landry but he had not had a winning season in four years when Jerry bought the team it really. It was the way he fired that was the problem. He deserved a much better send off but that is water under the bridge.
'Course it is; not like he did the same thing to Troy Aikman ten years later....
Danny White almost certainly has permanent nerve damage in his throwing hand; he was never the same after that injury, because it's hard to have a good release when you can't feel the ball leaving your hand. However they felt about him he was no longer a starting QB. I'm not convinced he was ever more than Staubachs backup anyway. Which brings us to a classic example of what I mean:
They drafted an Annapolis man who declined a Stateside posting he could've requested and received. There was a war on, so he did a tour over there, then came Stateside a couple years and finally, five years after they drafted him, Dallas got their 27 year old rookie in 1969. I guess missing the first two Super Bowls was worth the marketing value that earned Americas Team. Dallas' team leadership (not ownership) was such Boy Scouts my father used to chuckle all the time over conflicts between Ditka based on one simple thing:
Ditka being Ditka, if someone gave him a cheap shot he gave it back with interest, and, Landry being Landry, the coach did not approve (back then the displeasure of Dallas' head coach was relevant even to star players. )
I wonder what Landry thought of the arrogance of claiming to represent the country, but he supposedly didn't like the name "Americas Team" (given by NFL films, not the Cowboys themselves) because he thought it would incite other teams to play them harder (he seems to have been right. ) That's before we get into the team prayer before every game. Not hard to see why guys like Hollywood lasted no longer than guys like TO or Keyshawn would've. By the end even Landrys greatest fans thought his playcalling too conservative, and perhaps it was; he didn't have much to work with then (not like the first seasons under Jimmy were so impressive; he got talent fast, but he had to get it before they could win) but that means taking chances to have a hope of winning. Landry didn't take chances.
Not that they were perfect, certainly in the front office; Wikipedia claims the Redskins owner so jealously guarded HIS heavily marketed position as the Souths only pro team Murchison and Co. knew he'd veto an attempt to get Dallas a team--and when he did they informed him they'd bought the rights to "Hail to the Redskins" and two could play the "proprietary" game. As a Houstonian it doesn't bother me that public support (and funding) for Texas Stadium ran out before they could complete the worlds first dome. Then there's that book Scott McClellans dad wrote, not that I buy it. On the other hand, they were dubbed Americas Team because they were clearly the most popular, not the reverse, and I don't think that's because America had no taste for the team that won twice as many SBs that decade, or the only perfect one in modern history. America saw something they liked, respected and identified with, or wanted to, and that's because Landrys players walked the walk or they didn't remain his players. Sure, my lenses are probably a little rosy; it would be hard to avoid, all things considered, but it's far from all in my head. Wasn't my idea, y'know.
Honorbound and honored to be Bonded to Mahtaliel Sedai
Last First in wotmania Chat
Slightly better than chocolate.
Love still can't be coerced.
Please Don't Eat the Newbies!
LoL. Be well, RAFOlk.
Last First in wotmania Chat
Slightly better than chocolate.
Love still can't be coerced.
Please Don't Eat the Newbies!
LoL. Be well, RAFOlk.
For the Record, I Think Terry Was Right, not Jimmy.
18/01/2010 12:52:27 AM
- 811 Views
There is no running up the score in pro sports.
18/01/2010 01:24:24 AM
- 583 Views
Sure there is.
18/01/2010 01:59:16 AM
- 494 Views
I find it difficult to feel bad for a team of millionaires...
18/01/2010 01:52:57 AM
- 535 Views
It's less that I feel bad for the Cowboys (and more their fans) than I'm disappointed in the Vikes
18/01/2010 02:56:11 AM
- 516 Views
Wade Phillips should be thanking his lucky stars that the Redskins were so bad this year....
18/01/2010 04:57:32 AM
- 468 Views
It was stupid but they have the right to score if they want
18/01/2010 02:24:39 AM
- 499 Views
Less time than I remembered, underscoring the point.
18/01/2010 02:32:00 AM
- 560 Views
Naw I hope the Saints kick the snot out of them
18/01/2010 03:54:55 AM
- 612 Views
Favre got his ass kicking in '97; I just wish I had it on tape.
18/01/2010 04:38:54 AM
- 642 Views
two reasons you are wrong
18/01/2010 06:02:40 AM
- 509 Views
So it's OK to humiliate a good team, just not a horrible one?
18/01/2010 06:34:24 AM
- 534 Views
eh?
18/01/2010 07:11:25 AM
- 489 Views
The Catch didn't make up 32 points, and The Comeback took more than the two minute warning.
18/01/2010 08:12:54 AM
- 515 Views
um, not to put words in your mouth, but....
18/01/2010 03:48:55 PM
- 503 Views
If you think they're still in it, ice it with the FG; if you don't, kneel down and go home.
18/01/2010 05:48:19 PM
- 697 Views
Hey, if a team can run up the score against you, you shouldn't be in the playoffs.
18/01/2010 01:32:30 PM
- 528 Views
great argument to bad it is based more on your emtions then reality
18/01/2010 02:09:13 PM
- 553 Views
pot meet kettle... *NM*
18/01/2010 04:05:47 PM
- 229 Views
hello kettle
18/01/2010 04:19:49 PM
- 505 Views
the problem being that you're criticizing someone for being emotional while doing the same
18/01/2010 04:42:09 PM
- 519 Views
speaking of sandy vaginas
18/01/2010 05:43:04 PM
- 478 Views
that was so incomprehensible i'm not sure how to respond....
18/01/2010 11:19:38 PM
- 548 Views
To be fair, some, though not all, of Dallas' critics take unconcealed glee in their misfortunes.
19/01/2010 12:49:35 AM
- 524 Views
I have no problem with the critisim
20/01/2010 06:56:38 PM
- 474 Views
When I'm criticizing Romo I'm really criticizing Jerry.
20/01/2010 11:51:50 PM
- 517 Views
For all of the boot Wade talk most people forget he is one of winning coaches in NFL
21/01/2010 05:10:50 AM
- 435 Views
His playoff record is wretched though, so every time he loses a playoff game someone will mention it
21/01/2010 02:10:58 PM
- 466 Views
You must think Barry Switzer is one the greatest coaches of all time then he is 5 of 7 post season
21/01/2010 04:28:29 PM
- 546 Views
Barry wasn't an NFL head coach, he was a placeholding yes man.
22/01/2010 06:56:43 AM
- 594 Views
No sorry either a coach is responsible for his teams record or he isn't
22/01/2010 04:39:09 PM
- 517 Views
I was saying stop winning because I call people out for stupid hate post
20/01/2010 02:38:46 PM
- 481 Views
Re: great argument to bad it is based more on your emtions then reality
18/01/2010 04:43:23 PM
- 541 Views
Re: great argument to bad it is based more on your emtions then reality
18/01/2010 06:57:47 PM
- 527 Views
They were within their rights, just as the Saints would be to do it to them.
18/01/2010 05:57:01 PM
- 484 Views
Re: They were within their rights, just as the Saints would be to do it to them.
18/01/2010 06:56:15 PM
- 446 Views
Re: Hey, if a team can run up the score against you, you shouldn't be in the playoffs.
18/01/2010 06:50:06 PM
- 560 Views
Re: Hey, if a team can run up the score against you, you shouldn't be in the playoffs.
18/01/2010 07:00:18 PM
- 462 Views
I had no problem with it.
19/01/2010 05:32:19 PM
- 476 Views
Seems it's just me, Brooking and Bradshaw on this one.
20/01/2010 09:28:03 AM
- 523 Views
What should happen...
20/01/2010 05:24:45 PM
- 521 Views
Wasn't Childress trying to bench Favre to protect him at the end fo the season...?
21/01/2010 02:20:30 AM
- 523 Views
Your glass are a little rose colored when you look at the Landry years
21/01/2010 03:16:48 PM
- 473 Views
Schramm marketed the hell out of them, yes, but Landry and the players made it credible.
22/01/2010 04:55:01 AM
- 531 Views
I think you confuse the press with the team
20/01/2010 02:55:53 PM
- 434 Views
It's not about "Can" or "Having the Right" or whether or not the Cowboys "should" stop them...
20/01/2010 04:43:36 PM
- 501 Views
"Character is who you are in the dark. "
20/01/2010 11:13:28 PM
- 546 Views