LoneStarStruck.com - For Die Hard Cowboys Fans - StarStruck

Philadelphia beat Dallas 10-6 on Sunday, December 16, 2007. We all know this. Some of us have gotten drunk over it, some have cried over it. Some might have even bashed TV sets because of it, but one thing is certain: there is NO other team we, as Cowboys fans, hate as badly to see our guys lose to.

Last week I wrote about why so many people love the Dallas Cowboys; this week I’m going to look at a couple of the (many, many) reasons we hate the Eagles…

There is the obvious reason and that is Tim Hauck’s tackle of Michael Irvin on October 10, 1999, a tackle that severely injured Irvin’s spinal cord and, ultimately, led to his retirement from football. None of us will ever forgive the Eagles for this (or their fans who cheered as our “Playmaker” lay on the ground). And there are people, I am sure, who will say, “Well, it’s not the Eagles fault…surely you can’t blame the entire team. Or their fans.” And our rejoinder is, first, “Yes it is the Eagle’s fault” and, second, “Yes, yes we do blame the entire team. And we hate them and their fans even more for it than we already did.”

And how about T.O.’s first game as an Eagle wide receiver? You know, the Monday night 2004 game that started with a skit from Desperate Housewife Nicolette Sheridan, who dropped her towel and jumped into T.O.’s arms? And that wasn’t even the most nauseating event of the night….oh no…the worst was the pounding the ‘Boys took (at home, no less), losing 21-49. Jeez that game was a gem…do you remember how bad we hated T.O. then? The times they sure have a-changed.

And then there’s last Christmas, and I’m not gonna recap THAT because I am sure it is still wretched and ugly in the minds of Cowboys fans. We got our revenge, though….the Eagles are officially out of the play-off race for 2007…and if the Cowboys had not beaten them earlier this year, I would not be able to make that statement.

And, speaking of that win in November, that game was only the second time the Cowboys have beaten the Eagles in Philadelphia since 1998, and, now that we have head coach Wade Phillips (a former Eagle’s defensive coordinator), not to mention Romo, T.O., Barber III, Witten, Ware, and a host of others, things are looking up, WAY up. The team is clicking, yes it is… As Timbuk3 said in that 80’s song, “The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades….”

There are few football rivalries that are as bitter as the one between the Cowboys and the Eagles. We know this. We accept this. We teach this to our children so they will grow up to be Philly haters, too (God, PLEASE don’t let them be Eagles fans just to spite us)…I have already begun to instruct my two-year-old little girl, Morgan, on the fine art of being an Eagle hater. Last Sunday, as I yelled “Philly Sucks!” at the TV (but I didn’t cuss, no, not even a little…OK a little), my sweet little girl stood beside me, yelling the same words I did, in toddlerese, no less, but still the same thing.... “Pilly Suckie! Pilly Suckie!” That’s my girl…

Posted by Shelley Fogel-Schmidt at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Someone once said, “It doesn’t matter what happens in a game, as long as you win it with eighteen seconds left.” OK, so maybe I made that up, but in reality, the only thing that matters is that final push to victory. Last Sunday, while fans, coaches, and teammates all held their collective breaths, Tony Romo and Jason Witten proved, once again, that you don’t mess with Texas…especially not the (unquestionably) talented and (possibly) charmed faction of it that is the Dallas Cowboys.

What is it about the Cowboys that makes so many people care about their game? Is it the talent of its players, the productiveness of its coaching staff, the beauty of its cheerleaders? Is the fact that the Cowboys hail from Texas, a place where people have hearts as big as the state itself? I think the key lies in this… it lies in the fact that the Cowboys offer us a sense of familiarity, of home, of family.

Those of us who are children of the 1970’s still remember, I’m sure, how the Cowboys were the name on everyone’s lips. Due to the popularity of the team, many TV markets broadcasted Cowboys games. Nowadays, and depending on where you live, you may rarely or, even worse, never, have that privilege. For me, growing up in a small town on the outskirts of Myrtle Beach, SC, some of the only memories I have of my family being together are Sunday afternoons gathered in front of the television, eating Pizza Hut pizza that my Dad had to drive to get, and watching Cowboys games. The rivalry of the 1970’s era between the Cowboys and the Steelers brought some heated moments in our den, as I always pulled for the Cowboys and my closest sister, just to spite me, I am convinced, cheered for the Steelers. 

For me, now, thirty years later, Sundays are sacred, not for any religious reason, but because of what we have deemed “family day.” My husband, our two-year old baby girl, and I, along with a few friends (hers and ours) sit in our den, eat lots of finger foods, and watch a ton of football (yes, my toddler LOVES football. Be jealous, be VERY jealous). Because we are in South Carolina and, therefore, subjected to Panthers game via our local market, we get Direct TV and the Sunday NFL Ticket so we (hopefully) never have to watch crappy football. We have four televisions set up in our den, and, regardless of what other games may be on at the time, the Cowboys game always gets the prime big-screen spotlight.

Flashback to last Sunday’s game: as the final minute played out, I could hardly bear to watch. Forget the fact that I play fantasy football and this was the first week of our league’s play-offs; forget the fact that I was playing my husband for the opportunity to move to the next round; forget even that I had the supreme providence to draft both T.O (in the third round, can you believe it?) and Romo (I took him in the 5th—all the guys said I “reached,” but who would accuse me of that now?)—all I cared about was a Cowboys WIN.

I had my hands over my eyes, so I missed Romo’s touchdown throw to Witten, but what I couldn’t miss was hearing Morgan, my little girl, jumping up and down and yelling, “Go, go, GO Cows!” as they scored the winning touchdown (I am convinced that this is why they won, by the way).

I watched my daughter, and it hit me that at the tender age of two she is experiencing what I have waited 37 years for—the best Cowboys season ever. For some reason this seems especially important, and gives me hope for her future as she continues to grow up a Cowboys fan. As I tucked her into her crib that night, she said, “Mommy, Morgan, Cows,” toddler slang for “Mommy and Morgan had a really good time watching the Cowboys today.” It was a family day that surpassed any of the ones of my childhood…

Posted by Shelley Fogel-Schmidt at 12:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)