This year, I don’t have this anticipation. I forgot to erase my mental blackboard this time. I remember 44-6, and it still hurts. I remember the disappointment, and it still bites. I remember it has been 13 years without a playoff win, and that fact still sucks ass. Most of all, I remember the one thing that HAS to change for this team to ever have a decent shot at any long term winning didn’t change. It sucks for me. It would be so much easier to be able to get caught up in the hopes for a new year, new chance at winning once again. It feels like something is amiss. Something should be there, and it’s not.

 Jerry Jones has taken the hope for winning completely away from me. I just wish I could wipe the memory of disappointment and anger from my mind. But, I just can’t seem to shake it this year. I will sit in front of the TV and yell and scream for my ‘Boys every single game, just like I have every year. But, that deep down hope for success has dulled, and may never come back so long as our Front Office stays status quo.

My hope now is for change. It may be an unrealistic hope, but friends, it’s the only hope we have.

Share on Facebook

But before thatJones talked about the rave reviews he got about the stadium from guests in his suite Saturday night, including Troy Aikman, Jason Witten and former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson.

Jones was so happy that he volunteered a little Cowboys news regarding his continued interest in cornerback Adam Pacman Jones. The Cowboys owner said nothing is imminent or even in the works toward bringing Pacman back to the Cowboys.

But he acknowledged that it is something he is considering, which rates as big news considering Pacman was cut in January after a nondescript season on the field in 2008 and more controversy off of it in the form of a six-game suspension for fighting his body guard at a Dallas Hotel.

Jones said that Pacman Jones graded out as the team’s best cornerback last season. But he says he likes second year cornerbacks Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick and is worried about stopping their progress.

Regarding another NFL player with the last name Jones and off the field issues, Jerry Jones said the Cowboys have no interest in former Arkansas receiver Matt Jones. Matt Jones was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars after failing a drug test and violating the terms of his probation from a previous arrest for felony possession of a control substance.

Clarence E. Hill Jr.

Share on Facebook

Regular season: 71-73, .493

Playoff wins/record: 0-3  Super Bowls won/appeared: 0  Playoff seasons: 3

Winning seasons: 5   Losing seasons: 4

Pretty stinking low ranking for America’s Team, huh? The team of the 1990s slips all the way to 20th this time around? Well, yeah, that can happen to the best of ‘em when you go 12 years between playoff wins. About the best thing you can say for Jerry’s team is that those 5-11 years in the Dave Campo era seem like a long time ago. But Dallas remains synonymous with underachievement for the time being.

- Tim MacMahon

You can read it here.

It’s a sad state we endure.

How much longer do we have to?

Share on Facebook

Since the Jimmy Johnson – Jerry Jones split occured, now beginning to approach two decades ago, a Jones-led Cowboys team has managed to improve its record from the previous season just FOUR times.

Two of those occurences came with Jerry in a limited capacity when Bill Parcells was head coach. Another came with Bill Parcells’ roster and assembled talent and was mainly the result of a full year with Tony Romo as the starting QB.

The only other time? 1998, with Chan Gailey as a first year head coach, rebounding from the disastrous Switzer regime.

Every single other year (that’s 11 seasons, for those of you at home slightly intimidated by basic math), the Jerry Jones Dallas Cowboys have either gotten worse or failed to get better from their previous campaign. Here’s the full list:

1994 12-4
1995 12-4
1996 10-6
1997 6-10
1998 10-6 IMPROVED
1999 8-8
2000 5-11
2001 5-11
2002 5-11
2003 10-6 IMPROVED
2004 6-10
2005 9-7 IMPROVED
2006 9-7
2007 13-3 IMPROVED
2008 9-7

What does this data indicate, trend-wise?

Consistent backsliding at a fairly alarming pace, interrupted by brief periods of managerial competence that has a short term boosting effect, but in the long term is diluted and eventually the positive aspects of the new administration are eroded.

There’s only one constant through all this.

Share on Facebook

-Former scouting director Dick Mansperger

The Cowboys are Jerry’s team and he can do what he wants. But if you want to chart where things began to go wrong, look at the point when he started making the moves.

-Larry Brown

Man, the drafts under Jerry were terrible, just terrible. Jerry would draft a guy and he would come out to minicamp and I just couldn’t believe it. I’d say “This is our first round pick?’

-Darren Woodson

Share on Facebook

In 1996, the FBI arrested the Unabomber.
In 1996, scientists introduce Dolly, the world’s first cloned sheep.
In 1996, Tupac Shakur was killed.
In 1996, Braveheart won Best Picture.
In 1996, “Macarena” was Billboard #1.
In 1996, Y2K was still a concern.

Do these events seem like ancient history? Well, in 1996, your Dallas Cowboys won its last playoff game.

Ask yourself this…do you have accomplishments from 12 years ago that allow others to forgive your pisspoor performance since?

So let’s break the perception. Jerry Jones is still basking in the glory of the early 90s. Question his ability and the early 90s are thrown in your face.

It doesn’t work for M.C. Hammer, why does it work for Jerry Jones?

History is history and, unless he’s sporting Zubaz pants, Jerry Jones can’t continue to ride off of the early 90’s.

Fact of the matter is that, since 1996, the Dallas Cowboys have:
- Suffered 5 losing seasons
- Gone 0-6 in the playoffs
- Only two division titles
- With the Top Pick, drafted Quincy Carter, Dwayne Goodrich, Ebenezer Ekuban, David LaFleur, Kavika Pittman.

Again, why are we calling for GM Jerry’s head? It’s because history is long gone and we need the present. Unfortunately, history is all Jerry Jones can claim.

-phildominator

Share on Facebook

I have missed one televised game, the day of my grandmother’s funeral — Dallas vs St. Louis, October 19th, 2008. The Cowboys lost that day, pathetically. They gave up thirty four points to one of the NFL’s worst teams. Inexcusable, even without Tony Romo. It’s the Dallas Cowboys, the worlds most famous sports team, and they laid down. I didn’t see it, but I listened to the radio the entire trip home and could visualize the beating we were taking and it cut deep. I was embarrassed, ashamed and let down. It got worse.

The Cowboys fell for the second time in three weeks as the New York Giants thumped us. A bit expected, though, as the Giants were a good team and we weren’t full strength.

Romo’s return seemed as if life eternal sprung into the hearts of fans and his teammates. Dallas would go on to win out in November, beating Washington, San Francisco, and Seattle…

Then came December. Three December losses and all heart ripping. The loss to Pittsburgh started the avalanche. The Cowboys had every chance to win, but late mistakes and the Steelers playmakers wrestled the game right out of our hands.

Any glimmers of hope from the win over the Giants were mercilessly crushed against Baltimore. Two long touchdowns of 82 and 77 yards didn’t just end the game, but drove a stake through the team’s heart and the season. The Cowboys would finish in horrific fashion, losing to the Eagles 44-6. No playoffs, no respect, no heart.

This past season was painful. However, looking back, I realized that it has been painful to watch these Cowboys for a long time. Twelve years without a playoff win; Only the Detroit Lions have been more pathetic.

Why? Jerry Jones is the only constant in this organization for the past twenty years. Even the great Bill Parcells couldn’t overcome Jerry Jones.

Jerry Jones may have brought us three Super Bowl wins, but he may have also cost us two to three more.

Jimmy Johnson, Jerry’s college roommate, built the Dallas Cowboys through the NFL draft. He was smart and knew how to evaluate players. Furthermore, he knew which players’ talents were maximized in his system. It didn’t take long for Jimmy to build the Cowboys, but Jerry’s ego toppled it even quicker. Jimmy Johnson’s replacement, Barry Switzer, did all he could to hold the pieces together. One championship more was squeezed out, but a sense of underachievement lingers for what could have been the best sports dynasty ever.

Bill Parcells encountered the same issues after he took over the team in 2003. Parcells rebuilt a horrible team by bringing in “Parcells Guys” and drafting capable starters. However, Jerry Jones could not stand idle and eventually clashed with Parcells. Terrell Owens, or T.O., was the wedge that broke the board. Jerry worked his way out from under another great coach and patted himself on the back in the process.

Jerry Jones was criticized for hiring Wade Phillips as the next head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. However, Phillips’ first season accomplishments seemed to vindicate Jerry Jones’ decision — 13-3 regular season record, Division Champs, and a first round bye in the playoffs. Phillips’ player-friendly approach seemingly put this team over the top.

Not so fast as a “one-and-done” sent the Cowboys home early. Still no playoff wins and now criticisms that the Cowboys got too soft. They didn’t have the killer instinct, the will to win, or the coach to out wit the other guy. The eventual Super Bowl champion Giants sent us packing, but, hey, at least we didn’t have to go far…it was a home game.

There is a trend over the past twenty years, and it swivels on Jerry Jones’ enormous ego. When put away, and kept in check, the Dallas Cowboys flourish. Coaches bring in players that are good for the team, and good players want to come here because we are the Dallas Cowboys. There is a certain mystique — America’s Team — and with that comes the pride of playing for something bigger than yourself, you can’t get anywhere else.

However, when things start to roll, when progress picks up and the ball starts to bounce our way, the same ego is unleashed. The selfishness and insecurity of a business man come out and Jerry Jones reveals himself.

He is a credit monger, “Jerry Jones won those Super Bowls in the 90’s and he can do it again.” No. No he didn’t. Jimmy Johnson won those Super Bowls, and Bill Parcells was bringing us back until Jerry unraveled.

It’s time for a change. Jerry the General Manager must go. Jerry Jones however, will not fire himself. Someone must do it for him. As in all industries, a single person is never the top dog. Jerry gets paid just like the rest of do. In fact, we, the fans, employ Jerry Jones the General Manager. Every time we buy a jersey or go to the new stadium, we put money directly into his pocket book. I don’t know about you, but if my employer was still paying me no matter how poorly I was performing, I would keep showing up to work.

I’m not proposing a boycott. That has already been done…I’m supporting it. I’m not giving up my fan hood, and am not asking you to, either. However, I stand here to declare that I have written my last check to Jerry Jones the General Manager…

…and from one life-long Cowboys fan to another, I hope that you join us.

Ron Carter
Dallas Cowboys Fan Since 1984

Share on Facebook

By Albert Breer
updated 1:56 p.m. CT, Thurs., March. 26, 2009

DANA POINT, Calif. – At one point during Wednesday’s NFC coaches breakfast, a Buffalo writer asked Wade Phillips if Terrell Owens is sometimes judged unfairly because of his reputation.

“Yup,” Phillips sniffed. “Kind of like being the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.”

Two years into the job, it’s hard to say Phillips has embraced all that his role entails.

Yes, Phillips is a native Texan who, like his father Bum, is getting a chance to coach an NFL team in his home state. Yes, he’s a defensive mastermind who couldn’t be more perfect a tactician for the Cowboys’ best player, DeMarcus Ware. And yes, he’s got every resource imaginable at his disposal.

But if you believe he really wants to swallow all his job takes, you’re probably swallowing something else that’s causing you to see things that way.

The Cowboys’ job isn’t like the coaching position he held in Denver, nor is it similar to the one he had in Buffalo.

You want a 22-10 record with an 0-1 playoff mark to be acceptable? Looking for breathing room in your press conferences or a media corps without a thirst for blood?

Then, Valley Ranch is the wrong place for you.

Whether you’re Tom Landry or Dave Campo, Bill Parcells or Barry Switzer, when you sign on to lead the Cowboys, there are certain things to be expected.

Scrutiny will be intense. Success will be measured in championship rings. And if you fail to understand both those things, the criticism will sting.

So it does for Phillips.

“I try to analyze myself, our team in every way possible, and that’s every year,” Phillips said. “It’s not just this year or last year. I did it when I was a coordinator … what are the things we need to do that are going to help us win more?

“I did say ‘win more’ because I don’t want to get rid of the winning attitude from the 22 games we won the last two years. I don’t want to say, ‘Let’s just do everything different,’ because there are teams that haven’t won that many games.”

The problem with those 22 wins? Thirteen of them came in Year 1, which is why winning nine last season wasn’t remotely impressive.

And then there’s the fact that none of those victories came in the playoffs.

Doesn’t matter if it’s in Dallas or Des Moines, that’s a downward trend.

But if you happen to be leading the Cowboys down that path — and think that things are going all right — then you might not be suited for the job.

Only two coaches in Cowboys history were considered successes in Dallas and with the Cowboys’ large fan base outside the Metroplex: Landry and Jimmy Johnson. That leaves one who won a Super Bowl (Switzer) out and another who’s headed for the Hall of Fame (Parcells) joining him on the periphery.

It wouldn’t hard to venture a guess on which side of the fence Phillips sits now.

Yet, Phillips pointed out Wednesday: “In two years, we’ve won almost as many as the previous three years.”

And that leads us to Problem No. 2: Phillips’ reaction to criticism from media and fans.

He doesn’t understand why it’s so harsh, which is directly related to his justification of the failures of last season, which opened with expectations as high as they’d been since the height of Triplets Era and ended with a 44-6 evisceration at the hands of the Eagles.

“Any time somebody gets personal, I don’t think that’s right,” Phillips said. “It’s more yellow journalism. Any time they start calling you names, those kind of things, I don’t think it’s right. I’m going to do my job, I’m going to do the best I can do, and I don’t have to look back and say, ‘Well, I didn’t do this, I didn’t try hard enough, I didn’t work hard enough.’ “

This, for better or worse, is the fish bowl that Phillips lives in.

Some men, as Cowboys coaches, have accepted it.

For some reason, Phillips — a good, smart football man who has been nothing more than mediocre as a head coach — can’t.

Instead of saying, “We messed up,” he’s highlighting what went right in a season gone wrong.

And showing why, in the end, he may just not be cut out for this job.

Share on Facebook

Checking in from NFL Owners’ Meetings
10:43 AM Mon, Mar 23, 2009
Todd Archer

And, yes, Wade Phillips will speak but it has nothing to do with Jerry Jones lifting the gag order. It is a league rule that coaches attending the meetings talk with the media. Phillips – and the rest of the NFC coaches – will speak Wednesday morning. AFC coaches talk Tuesday.

Share on Facebook

WADE GETS TO TALK
Posted by Mike Florio on March 23, 2009, 12:00 a.m. EDT
The muzzle has been removed from Cowboys coach Wade Phillips.

Our guess is that the gag order was imposed for one reason only — to ensure that there would be no disclosure of the internal deliberations that culminated in Terrell Owens’ release on March 4.

Share on Facebook