The first game I went to was Monday Night Football against the Panthers. I was so dang excited and in awe of the stadium that I am thankful I went in several hours early to take it all in.The fans were pretty lively as the minutes ticked away to the kickoff, as a matter of fact I specifically remember getting the chills when they played the intro to MNF on the big screen and when we all heard the anthem to MNF everyone was going crazy …and then we watched a half that ended with Carolina up 3-0. That does sort of take the wind out of your sails.

I sat in the upper level for this game and there were several groups trying to start chants and even the dreaded wave, and it was a decent atmosphere. There were a lot of cheers during the defensive series.

The second game I attended was a 3 o’clock kickoff vs Atlanta. I was very lucky to get free lower level tickets on the 15th row. This is where I saw a marked difference. There was little to zero passion down there. As a matter of fact, there were at least 10 empty seats on our row! The face value of these tickets were $375.00 each, so I seriously doubt that someone would pay that and just decide not to go, so they must have belonged to some gigantoid corporation.

I remember early on in that game texting my friend who was in the 200 level and telling him that there was no hype, no excitement. This was during one of our best wins of the season. Sam Hurd was dancing and waving his arms before every kickoff to get the fans into it, and this would work to an extent. I almost felt bad once, because I stood up on a 3rd down to cheer and looked around and I was the only one.

So, on that occasion it was NOT a great atmosphere. I loved the view, but not the vibe.

My third game was Thanksgiving and again, I was in the upper level. This game was sort of a tweener, sometimes really good, sometimes very quiet. Miles Austin brought the biggest cheer of the day when he was doing a little celebrating on the bench and it was shown on the big screen. He was smiling and holding his arms up and the place went nuts.

Overall, this being a holiday game and a very lackluster opponent, I was a little disappointed in the atmosphere.

Now, about last week’s game against the Chargers. I was shocked to see so many San Diego fans! This must have just not translated to the TV because this was a loud game. The fans knew how important this game was, and if not, then the loud, obnoxious Chargers fans put a little life into them. The 4th and goal debacle and lack of points took some steam of off things, but I really enjoyed Sunday’s game from an atmosphere standpoint.

I have some theories to why things seem to be the way you wrote… but first, let me just say that the most insane, intense game was without question the Big 12 Championship.

With the crowd split about 65/35, there was never a quiet moment, the marching bands in the stands filled every break with fight songs and such, and the colors were vibrant… it seems that every person in the building was wearing red or burnt orange. It was an amazing experience.

Now, my theories on why the stadium is or can be quiet.

First theory: the product on the field. Let’s be real and honest with ourselves as die-hard fans. We are disappointed right now, we have no consistency, we can’t seem to make the defensive stops we need so badly, cheering or not! The offense racks up yards but can’t put points on the board and we are very unsure about our head coach. Just because we don’t boo doesn’t mean we are not concerned.

If we as knowledgeable fans feel this way, imagine the schmucks and trophy wives that sit down along the first level, they don’t know anything but when the Cowboys score it’s good and when they don’t it’s bad. While this may be a reflection on ticket prices, I believe it’s more of a reflection on casual fans.

Secondly, the aforementioned ticket prices. When you out-price the average joe, then you lose your most passionate fans. If there is one thing I walk aways from thinking after each game, is that this is NO Texas Stadium, in both good and bad ways; I remember being at many games there and while you would freeze your you-know-what off trying to walk to a 30-year old bathroom. You had an awesome time screaming and yelling and cheering.

I recall a Sunday night game four years ago, the first home game against the Redskins and it was electric. When Romo hit Terry Glenn in the endzone for a TD, my friends and I went crazy, jumping and chest bumping and so was everyone else. You just don’t see that now at the new place. There is no community of fans, no tradition yet.

And my last theory: the big TV. It is amazing, the most awe inspiring thing you could imagine but it draws people in like a tractor beam. You just sit there and stare at it. I have weened myself off of it to an extent this year and now am able to actually watch the live game below, but look around and everyone is sitting back, eating their popcorn watching the game on TV. It almost brainwashes people into forgetting they are AT A GAME!

Who knows, maybe these could all have a little truth to them, or maybe none at all. I am with you and with Roy, and I try to do my little part. I know that winning and consistency cure all. The fans, for the most part, start off with good intentions. It’s those 7-6 games against the Redskins that seem to turn even the best intentions, into disappointing actions.

I want to give it time, let the stadium grow it’s own traditions. Let’s get some landmark victories in there and let’s let the corporate suits give their tickets away to clients for now, and as time goes by we can hope that the stadium becomes more accessible to the true fans! Go COWBOYS!

This comment was promoted to a post in response to: Are You Starstruck? Then Act Like It!

Watching the game, I remember being extremely happy that we scored on a great touchdown catch by Roy Williams, I was ecstatic. Up 10-0, looking as if we would be able to beat the Giants with less than 2 minutes before halftime and we had been doing a good job on shutting down the Giants. Then it happened. The defense let them go down and score pretty easily.

I ran upstairs to check on my son and came back down and see we are losing 14-10. I thought, what in the world happened!?

Come to find out, Marion Barber had fumbled the ball back to the Giants. Then I seen the replay of Brandon Jacobs running for a 74-yard touchdown. I was in shock, to say the least!

All of my dreams of beating the Giants were being shattered. Then it gets worse. We let them run back a punt for a touchdown. That’s when it really became a nightmare.

So continues the talk of how we can’t win a game in December. We definitely have to do something to stop this pattern.

We have the Chargers coming up and then the almighty, undefeated Saints. The Cowboys really need to figure out how to win in December or else we will be left sitting at home watching the Eagles win the division and head to playoffs.

Against the Raiders last Thursday, Austin caught seven passes for 145 yards and hauled in another touchdown after being denied one minutes earlier in the game.

Austin had a field day against the Raiders’ tight man to man coverage, and ironically he could have had a few more catches had he simply held on to them.

All in all he, Austin showed us that he is back on track after experiencing some down time in the two games prior. Most importantly, he delivered a big game against a Raider secondary that ranks in the upper half of the league, and features two of the league’s best man to man coverage cornerbacks. Take a bow Miles!

Additionally, even Roy Williams hauled in a touchdown of his own, while Jason Witten made a couple of long grabs en route to yet another 100+ yard day for the Pro Bowl tightend.

It was a great game to watch as the Cowboys seemingly had everything working for them, and not just in the air but on the ground as well.

Felix Jones finally showed the explosiveness that had been lacking since his knee injury, and dazzled the crowd with an electrifying run for touchdown, and Tashard Choice made a nifty run of his own out of the Razorback formation.

Next week we go to New York for a rematch against the Giants. It’s a game that we need to win so that we can finally take control of the division, and put the NFC East race to bed.

GO COWBOYS!

Edited by Joe D.

It seems that when the Cowboys play teams they are supposed to beat, the other teams ends up looking like world beaters.

We had no running game to speak of (gaining only 61 yards) and Tony Romo went 24 for 39 passing, for only 251. We were left wondering what happened to Miles Austin (4 catches for 20 yards). We seen Roy Williams have his best day statistically as a Cowboy yet we seen him fumble on a 42 yard completion and he dropped another pass that he should have caught down the sideline.

We had an injury on the offensive line as Columbo went down to a broken fibula and high ankle sprain, Mike Jenkins went out with a deep bicep bruise and Ken Hamlin was lost to a high ankle sprain as well.

The day was not a good one, but now we have to regroup and beat the Washington Redskins this weekend.

This would have been a great day to get a win as the Eagles lost to San Diego and the Giants were on a bye week, however we are left with the fact that we are still in first place for now.

Lets just hope that the Redskins do not look like super bowl champs this coming weekend and leave us again wondering why?

Well Sunday night against Philadelphia they finally connected. It was not a ton of catches nor was it for a ton of yards, but it was nice to see Williams catch five for 75 yards. It was great to see Williams thrust his hand forward after making a first down.

I am not sure what the issues were, but the extra work put in at practice must have helped. Maybe it was the fact the Miles Austin was drawing double coverage and that left Williams one on one or maybe it was Williams running crisper routes and getting open. Whatever it was, it was great to see.

Hopefully we will continue to see the Romo to Williams connection and hopefully it will account for more touchdowns.

The Cowboys are learning to play well together in all phases of the game. That becomes more evident along the way as we ride this four game winning streak.

Next up are the Cheeseheads from Green Bay lets show them how our team can play. GO COWBOYS!!!

Miles Austin scored another touchdown, Roy Williams scored a touchdown on a nice slant route, Patrick Crayton scored on another punt return, Sam Hurd scored a touchdown on nice pass, and although Kevin Ogletree did not score, he did make a nice catch and run for a first down.

I will admit it I have had my doubts about our wide receiver corps, but it seems that they might be coming along and they are doing some good things. It has been nice to see Miles Austin doing so well, he has catches totaling 482 yards. That is the best that a wide receiver has ever done in their first three games.

Romo and Williams have some work to do and even they admit that they have not been on the same page a lot this year.

I am sure Jason Witten is happy we are winning, but not so happy that he is not getting his normal amount of catches.

Its nice to see that the receivers have finally found a way to get open and make some nice catches and runs.

Patrick Crayton has stepped it up in the return game, scoring a touchdown in each of the last two games.

We have the Eagles this weekend and we are tied with them for first place in the division, we need to step it up again and beat them.

GO COWBOYS!

How ’bout them Cowboys! Huge win for our boys in blue and silver last Sunday.This win might be a sign of things to come.

How can we deny another game ball to him two games in a row? Miles is proving why we got rid of T.O.

Austin has the game breaking speed and excellent route running that the Cowboys have been lacking for a while.

Austin finished the day with 171 yards on only six catches. He scored two touchdowns along the way. The speedster from little known Monmouth University has given the teams of the NFL a reason to take notice.

We should give Jerry Jones some credit for finding 2 diamonds in the rough. Miles and Tony.

This week’s defensive/special teams game ball goes to DeMarcus Ware.

The sack flood gates have opened!

The Cowboys sackmaster celebrated his new deal with two sacks and heavy quarterback pressure for the whole game.

Ware also had a forced fumble.

He is a leader on defense and deserved every penny Jerry paid for him.

DeMarcus also finished the day with 2 solo tackles. He is the cornerstone of the new improved defense.

All quarterbacks should be running for their football lives. DeMarcus is here to stay.

Congratulations to Austin and Ware for their great contribution to the victory.

Honorable Mention: Tony Romo, Mike Jenkins

Yes, a complete game. The offense was clicking. Romo threw for over 300 yards and went 21 of 29. Miles Austin showed up again with over 100 yards and two touchdowns. The defense came through with four sacks and two turnovers, and the special teams was outstanding. Patrick Crayton ran back a punt for 77 yards and a touchdown and he caught a touchdown as well.

We still had eight penalties in the game, but other than that all phases of the game were clicking. Although we did not have a 100 yard rusher, all backs combined for over a 100 yards.

The Cowboys finally showed us what they are capable of and boy was it nice. I was so happy to see them play so well against a good team. I guess the bye week was good to us and the Cowboys.

With the Giants losing on Sunday, winning this game was huge. Not only did we gain some ground on the Giants, but we beat a team that we may be fighting with down the road to get into the playoffs. This one was really nice! Now bring on the Seahawks we are ready to win another one! GO COWBOYS!

Jones running mate Marion Barber and his banged up Quad are improving each week and should be the Cowboys number one back this weekend even though he has a broken thumb. He will wear a brace on that thumb and the good thing is it is not his main ball carrying hand. This will be the first time in a few weeks the Boys will have all three of their backs healthy enough to play together with Tashard Choice picking up the slack.

Newly signed Allen Rossum will get his first action in a Cowboys uniform this weekend as he will return both kicks and punts on Sunday. The return game has been an adventure early on this season and the Cowboys are hoping Rossum can turn it around and give them a new weapon on special teams. ESPN is reporting that having Rossum as an active player puts the Cowboys in a tough situation for the 45 man roster because they will have too many bodies and not enough spots. Safety Mike Hamlin’s broken wrist is healthy enough for him to play on special teams but Coach Wade Phillips is not sure if he is going to activate him. Dallas will use five of their roster spots on special teamers Rossum, punter Mat McBriar, Kicker Nick Folk, L.P. Ladouceur, and David Buehler.

Wide Receiver Roy Williams says he will play but is listed as probable on the injury report. Coach Phillips said he is “concerned for Williams health” and has been playing with discomfort in practice this week due to his bruised ribs. If he is able to go he will be wearing some kind of padding on his boo boo ribs, but I expect to see Roy out there.

Outside Linebacker Demarcus Ware did all the necessary individual and team drills this week but did skip a few because of the stress fracture he is dealing with in his left foot. ”We don’t want to overdue it with him,” coach Wade Phillips said. And last but not least we are all tired of the Patrick Crayton Miles Austin controversy. Both will play but Austin surely earned the spot of the number 2 receiver and Crayton will just have to stop whining about how Phillips may or may not have handled it. Wth the team getting stronger lets go out and “Earn” a big win against one of the NFC’s better teams.

What a game! It should have not been as close as it was, but a win is a win. We witnessed some firsts and a record breaking day.

This speedy wide receiver had a record breaking day with 250 yards on 10 catches with 2 game saving touchdowns.

His first score almost won the game for the Cowboys, but the one in overtime counted for the “W”.

Austin just might have earned his starting spot. Miles is the game breaking threat the Cowboys need.

He also could have had a few more touchdowns on the day. But he couldn’t secure a couple of throws from Tony.

Great job Miles Austin.

This week’s defensive/special teams game ball goes to Keith Brooking.

Brooking is the solid linebacker that was needed to compliment the defense.

Brooking finished the game with 8 solo tackles and helped on 3 more. He also recorded a sack on Matt Cassel. He came flying from up the middle to take him down.

With all the pressure the Cowboys gave the Chiefs on Sunday, Keith also had 4 QB hits.

His leadership speaks for itself. You can find the veteran linebacker running up and down the sidelines when he’s not on the field. He gets this team pumped up! It feels like Brooking has been a Cowboy all of his life.

Keep up the great work Keith Brooking!

Congratulations to Austin and Brooking for their great contribution to the overtime win.

Honorable Mention: DeMarcus Ware, Tony Romo, Jay Ratliff