Eagles - Cowboys Rivalry: Taking the Temperature
I still hate
the Cowboys.
I will always
hate the Cowboys.
Growing up in
the ‘80s with a dad and two of three brothers being Cowboys fans and the third
not really being that into the Eagles, I often felt like the only Birds fan in
Dallas – and I’ve lived in Philadelphia my whole life. (So did my front running
family members, by the way.)
When I hear about
the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry fading with fans, I want to deny it.
I hear people
talk about Michael Irvin being likeable as an analyst for the NFL Network, and
I’ll admit that he’s improved since leaving ESPN. But as a player Irvin was
part of the second generation of Cowboys who I couldn’t stand. He was
completely overrated, carried by Emmitt Smith, and his stupid first down
celebration made Eagles fans just want to punch him in the face.
Tom Landry,
Jimmy Johnson, and even Barry Switzer, were Dallas head coaches we loved to
hate.
The national
media still loves to trot out the “America’s Team” nonsense that many of us
were forced to grow up hearing every Sunday afternoon.
Jerry Jones
is still a buffoon who the press can’t wait to praise because he owns the
Dallas Cowboys.
Tony Romo is
still ridiculously overrated.
And the front
running Dallas “fans” from Philadelphia are still the most annoying turds on
the sports planet.
But I will
admit that the rivalry has cooled. I take comfort in the fact that the biggest
reason for the lack of passion to beat Dallas is that the Cowboys just aren’t a
great team any more. That’s not to suggest from an unemotional point of view
that they can’t win Sunday night; I think Eagles fans should be very concerned
about the game. But it’s not the old Cowboys. A win Sunday night (barring
flukes) would suggest that they’re the better of two bad teams. They haven’t
won a Super Bowl in a while, and they’re not a real threat to win one any time
soon. As much as Eagles fans don’t want to admit it, part of why we hate the
Cowboys was that they won – a lot.
Romo
eventually proves that he’s a fraud every season. So, it never gets too bad
listening to the media kiss his rear end. Now, Eagles fans are praying that
Romo has a long, long career in Dallas because (despite Jones’ disillusions) he
stinks. If he ever hoists the Lombardi Trophy I might have to stop watching the
NFL because the football universe just won’t make sense any more, but I’m
really not that worried about it.
Their head
coach is Jason Garret. Who cares? He
doesn’t stir any emotions for Eagles fans. He may be a good coach, but it
almost feels like some little kid is coaching the Cowboys until the real coach
gets back.
Even Jones is
less annoying because we all know he’s never again going to relinquish control
of the franchise to someone who can actually win. He’s too much of an ego
maniac.
Besides all
of that, I think the biggest problem causing what I think is a temporary thaw
in the emotion fans feel for the rivalry is, yes, Andy Reid. I’m really not
trying to rip the Eagles head coach every day this week – though I can’t say
it’s killing me. I just think the “Fire Andy” sentiment is growing. Fans aren’t
quite ready to root for the Eagles to totally fall apart for the betterment of
our team (and it will always be our
team) in the hope that Reid finally gets the boot, but I don’t think we’re all
that far from it. I just don’t think it would break our hearts to see the
Eagles finish 4-12 if it got Reid out of Philadelphia.
If
we ever do get to that point, Eagles fans would still want the remaining two
wins that 4-12 would bring this season to be against the stinkin’, rotten,
overhyped Dallas Cowboys.
Because
in Philadelphia, no matter what, “Dallas sucks!”
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