Sorry, But The Cowboys Don't Have To Be Tough To Be Good
You're not going to like this, but Chuck Norris ain't real.
Nice guys don't always finish last (right, Dirk Nowitzki?).
And, nope, the team with the most testosterone isn't guaranteed to win the title.
In other words, just because the Cowboys got embarrassed in Seattle last Sunday doesn't mean they got punked, they're soft or that, ultimately, they have no chance at success. In the Metroplex the Cowboys don't play 16 games, but rather 16 separate seasons, each to be irrationally dissected and each outcome equipped with wild emotional swings with seemingly eternal consequences.
But stop and look. There are no tumbleweeds blowing down I-35. There are no gunfights at high noon in Victory Plaza to determine the new day's sheriff. In 21st Century Dallas there are better strategies than to simply shove your way to the top. I understand that in these parts you're considered a "douche" unless you are saturated with maximum macho and red meat and an F-150 pickup, but the reality of sports is that the toughest are not necessarily the most successful.
Case in point, the Rangers' Josh Hamilton – widely regarded as one of the best players in baseball – left last night's loss in Anaheim with, ahem, a sinus headache. You ready to call him "soft" and to dismiss his chances of leading Texas to another World Series?
Didn't think so.
Then why in the wake of Seahawks 27, Cowboys 7 are so many fans ready to write off Dallas as a weak-minded, physically Charmin team that's doomed to another season of mediocrity? That kind of reaction is knee-jerky, unfounded, narrow-minded, shallow, lazy, general and, above all else, just not true.
Critics are upset that the Cowboys didn't retaliate on Golden Tate for his violent hit on linebacker Sean Lee. Why? Hitting Tate might have gotten the Cowboys a 15-yard penalty, fine or ejection, but it wouldn't have changed the outcome of the game of the image of the team. I'm more troubled by the fumbled kickoff, the lapse of blocking on the punt or the failures of Jason Witten and Dez Bryant to get consistently get open and catch the football.
I want the Cowboys to win on the scoreboard and in the standings, not in some mythical dark alley tally where teams are ranked by their supposed bad-assedness.
Give me execution over effort. And I'll take guile over guts.
The Rangers didn't lose last year's World Series because they weren't tough, but rather because they didn't catch a fly ball. And the Cowboys didn't lose in Seattle because they didn't "man up," but rather because they didn't keep rookie quarterback Russell Wilson in the pocket as planned.
Tony Romo played last year with a punctured lung. Witten came back this year from a lacerated spleen. The defense produced a goal-line stand in the season-opening win over the Giants. Football players are inherently tough, and one loss doesn't turn these Cowboys suddenly soft.
No, all that was done in New York wasn't completely undone in Seattle. The Cowboys are 1-1, not 1-15. Once upon a time the Cowboys lost a Monday Night Football home game to the St. Louis Cardinals, 38-0. They were immediately written off as chumps and ridiculed as soft. But 8 weeks later that '70 team went to the first Super Bowl in franchise history.
I've heard a lot of Cowboys fans screaming that this team desperately needs a George Teague-like leader, someone who will have their teammate's back when physically challenged. When Terrell Owens infamously celebrated on the star during a 2000 touchdown at Texas Stadium, Teague heroically charged and knocked him down.
As for Teague's team in 2000? Those Cowboys went 5-11.
Yeah, real tough.
(©2012 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Also Check Out:
