Now for most teams the object is to win A Championship, but for the Cowboys expectations have always been of a higher standard, and that standard is to become the best and stay there for as long as possible! This is why you will not see them be a one hit wonder. There is a certain pride that comes with wearing the star, and cheering the star. This team becomes a part of you, a part of who you are.
I was born and raised in Arlington, Texas (the new home of the Cowboys) my parents were born and raised there as well. My family has been Cowboy fans since their inception. My earliest memories are of family get togethers playing football in the back yard at my grandparents home until it was time for the Cowboys to come on, then all of us piling into the living room and watching the game. I remember the intensity at which my uncles and grandfather had for the Cowboys. I now live in Houston, Texas and I understand that as a person of this community I should support my local teams, and all I can say is that I support them as much as I can. The extent of my support is well let’s say extremely minimal. I watch them when the Cowboys are not on, and if I was forced to pick another team to do well it would be the Texans. In most areas this would not be an issue, but here there seems to be a lot of animosity towards Cowboys fans. Here in Houston we are perceived as being arrogant, egotistical, conceited and just overall hated. Now I am not a person who really cares what anyone has to say about me, but this has been bugging me since I moved here in ’05.
The majority of this hatred towards Cowboys fans has not come from people I associate with; it is primarily pushed along by the Houston media (Ted DeLuca & John Lopez). These clowns down here like to build this big rivalry between the Cowboys and Texans, this I do not understand and never will. For starters they play in two completely different leagues, they have only played each other in one regular season game (yes I know the Cowboys lost), and the last time I checked being 300 miles apart is not the dominating factor in what makes a rivalry! Now I understand that the Cowboys have an extreme amount of bandwagon fans, most teams that are any good have this, but a large portion of Cowboys fans have been fans for a long time and will continue to be there.
So as I have thought about why we are perceived this way, the only thing that makes sense to me is that most of us were born and raised with a fierce devotion for the Cowboys. When I say that I am talking about when times are rough and the boy’s are not playing well we tend to do one of two things: one we get very angry with them and express that anger vocally or two we clam up and become silent. The second of these two things is what I tend to do, and I do this not because I do not care but because I care too much. In the same aspect we are perceived this way because when they are winning we tend to be very vocal about that as well. This is what people cannot stand, but winning is all we care about. We do not care how they play the game it is all about whether they win or lose!
In my three years here in Houston I have created my own perception of the Texans Fans and media, and I must tell you it is not a good perception. They always seem to have an excuse as to why they are not winning, and they are very ho hum about where they stand. For the first 2 years I was here it was all David Carr’s fault ( granted he was not very good) but this guy got his head kicked in for the entire time he was here. He never once had an even average offensive line, but I never heard him complain, and since he has left all I have heard about is how bad he was! Come on! How about you spread the blame around! The Cowboys have had some piss poor quarterbacks in their time, but generally speaking those quarterbacks did not have much around them either, this is what’s different, I and we see the team as a whole, they seem to want to lay blame on one person. The Ho hum perception is what kills me, in Dallas when the Cowboys are sucking it up they get killed by the fans and media alike, here it is like “ oh well the Texans got beat again who cares” I do not understand this.
If I could tell all of Houston one thing it would be this, If you all spent more time worrying about your own damn team and less time worrying about Dallas fans and the Dallas Cowboys you may actually get somewhere! I know none of what I have written here today will have any impact on this city or its media, and I am o.k. with that! I just needed to get this off my chest!
GO TEXANS!!!!