What’s your problem with Jerry?

First, I’d like to apologize to my loyal readers. I’m using August as a vacation of sorts, to regroup and reset my blog. I’ll have some very exciting news to share regarding a new blog I’m launching within the next few weeks, so stayed tune.

Until then, football season is upon us and we need to talk some football. A couple of quick questions I thought about over my lunch break:

1.) I’m a life long Dallas Cowboys fan. I was 11 years old when Jerry Jones bought this team and fired my childhood hero, Tom Landry. During the past 20 years, I’ve experienced the highest highs and lowest lows with my team. Through it all, I’ve remembered not to give Jerry too much credit for the glory days and not to throw too much blame his way for the lean years.

I realize that Jerry’s personality rubs some people the wrong way, but I also realize that many of those same personality traits are traits necessary to building a winner. Jerry wants to win and will spare no cost in the attempt to reach his ultimate goal.

Why then do so many Cowboys fans despise Jerry so much? Do they not realize that the Cowboys owner wants to win more than any other owner in the NFL?

Does he make some bone headed decisions? Yes, but we all make mistakes.

2.) There is a small, but vocal, contingency of Rangers fans out there who complain about the amount of attention being placed on the Rangers wild card chase compared to Cowboys preseason action. They seem to be offended that more people want to watch a Cowboys preseason game than a Rangers regular season game.  At this point, ”baseball hubris” kicks in.

“Baseball hubris” is a trait possessed by some hardcore baseball fans who feel that baseball is the only true sports and all others should be ignored. They’ll berate the other leagues and belittle the fans of sports.  

I love baseball, but I don’t get “baseball hubris”. I think football, basketball and golf all have something to offer as well.  In the professional ranks, my love for the Cowboys has never caused me to hate the Rangers or Mavericks. In fact, I find that my love for these teams compliment one another.

Why is it that some Rangers fans HATE the Cowboys (and the NFL) so much?

Watson at the Open

59 never looked so good.

That’s how I had planned to start this post had Tom Watson been able to finish off the miracle.

What Watson could have accomplished today lacks precedence.  Five Open Championships-impressive.  Eight major championships–amazing. To be able to add to these numbers at his age, thirteen years older than Jack Nicklaus was when he won The Masters in ’86, with an artificial hip, is unfathomable.

I’m told that the New York Mets were truly “amazing” in 1969. What the United State hockey team did in 1980 in Lake Placid, truly was a “miracle.” Villanova proved to us that Cinderella really can dance in 1984. However, none of these feats compare to Watson winning the Open Championship at the age of 59.

On Thursday, when the reports started coming in that Watson was on top of the leader board, I smiled. However, I never thought it would last. Last year, Greg Norman teased us, hanging around the top of the leader board until the very end. At best, I thought Watson could hang around through 36 holes, but to do it through 72 holes I felt was unimaginable.

Here was a man I watched as a young golfer.  I still remember writing Watson as a 9 year old and asking for his autograph. I guess I should dig through some of my old sports memorabilia, because Watson wrote back and somewhere, among mounds of baseball cards, I have his autograph.  Now, I’m 30 and Watson is once again relevant in the world of sports. This would be like Danny White coming back and leading the Cowboys to a Super Bowl title this year.

It hurt watching Watson shows signs of fatigue, bogeying 18 and then the tragic 4 hole playoff.  However,  I should look at it from the other perspective. Stewart Cink’s performance in the 4 hole playoff, and subsequent birdie on 18 was very Tiger like and for the first time in his career he started living up to his hype. Nothing should be taken away from Watson. His performance is still amazing.

I can only hope I look so good at 59.