NFL Blog Blitz: Dallas Cowboys
By Sean Leahy, USA TODAY
As part of a season-long feature, USA TODAY checks in with bloggers following different NFL teams in an attempt to capture what the fans are thinking. This week's installment focuses on the Dallas Cowboys, who sit atop the NFC East with a 5-1 record:
Rafael Vela was an Internet pioneer when he began "blogging" (before the term was even coined) about his beloved Cowboys in 1995. A decade later, the 42-year-old teacher from Austin, Texas, and Raul Villaronga, a 48-year-old IT specialist from Pennsylvania, started The 'Boys Blog, which has become a favorite online hangout for fans of America's Team. The two took some time to talk with USA TODAY about their Cowboys avocation.
Bloggers: Rafael Vela and Raul Villaronga
Blog: The 'Boys Blog | Active since: 2005
Q: The 48-27 loss to New England on Sunday was a disappointment for the Cowboys. What's the reaction among fans?
A: (Rafael) All losses are disappointing, but this one didn't linger. The Cowboys secondary simply didn't match up with New England's receivers. Simple as that.
(Raul) The thing I worry about from this particular loss is the penalties. I think that the Patriots offense is just humming on all cylinders right now and I'm not sure anybody could stop them if they continue to play at that level.
Q: What do you make of the competitive difference between the AFC and NFC right now?
A: (Rafael) It's an empty topic. It's one for newspapers and bar arguments. Dallas beat the Colts last year. They beat the Chargers the year before. They lost to New England. I don't know what you can draw from that. Is the top of the AFC deeper than the top of the NFC? Yes. But it's way too early to say anything about the title winner. Who had the Colts at the beginning of the playoffs last year? Their run defense was a sieve and they had a weak December.
Q: You were a blogging pioneer in the 1990s. What prompted the creation of The 'Boys Blog, and how have you grown your readership?
A: (Rafael) My inspiration was dissatisfaction with the coverage I read in the daily papers. Too much fluff, too little analysis. Look, when I was writing in the '90s, I noticed that all the papers would run some version of the same story during training camps. One year, I hung out near the reporters after practice and eavesdropped. I watched them take handouts from the team's PR guy and voilà, they had the template for tomorrow's story. That's stenography. We're not stenographers.
It's been slow and steady growth. I have no idea how they find us. I do know that most of our readership comes from outside of Texas. I also know from comments that the non-locals like the long-form, core-dump approach we take. Many of them can't see the games live, so they rely on us for a more detailed description of what happened.
Q: Do you have a working relationship with the team? Have you approached them about credentials for bloggers?
A: (Rafael) I have cultivated sources who give me good information. I've been offered credentials at camp, but this past year the team shut down all access to "non-professional media," whatever that means. I don't sweat it. I've written about this team for four and a half years and don't feel I need (credentials). I'm serving a different role. I think my blog tries to look very hard at why the team won or lost a game. I don't need interviews to do that.
Q: Was there a negative reaction to Bill Parcells among fans after he left the Cowboys last season?
A: (Rafael) There are some readers who spit every time they mention his name. Most people are grateful to him for pulling the team out of its moribund state and restocking the roster. There was not much talent in Dallas when Parcells arrived.
Q: Any worry among Cowboys fans about the contract status of Tony Romo, who's a potential free agent after this season?
A: (Raul) There is some, but the majority realizes that he's not going anywhere and he will get paid. Jerry Jones has never been a scrooge when it comes to signing marquee stars for the Cowboys and I think this will be another example of that. From a cap standpoint, the Cowboys are looking good so any deal, even done this year, will be a nice payday for Tony and will not break the back of the team.
Q: Let's talk rivalries in the NFC East. Dallas has a rivalry with virtually every team there. What's the best one the Cowboys have? Can you rank them and tell us the merits of each?
A: (Rafael) The Redskins were the rivalry in the '70s and '80s because they were the only worthy rival then. The Eagles and Giants were also-rans. That rivalry fell apart because Joe Gibbs left and the Redskins floundered in the '90s. It's come back the last couple of years and you're starting to see the types of crazy plays that characterize true rivalries. The end of last year's game at Washington, with Dallas trying for the win and then Washington kicking the winner on the next play isn't something you see every day.
The Redskins have more history with the Cowboys, but I think the Eagles rivalry has been the most intense the last 20 years. Nastiness on and off the field. The fans really hate each other and you see wild swings, with one team ripping off a long winning streak and then the other taking over.
The Giants rivalry is the weakest because there's less blood. Dallas has never faced them in the playoffs, while the Redskins and Eagles have kept Dallas out of the Super Bowl.
Q: Good start aside, the Cowboys have won just one game in the NFC East. How will the Eagles, Redskins and Giants greet a Cowboys team that enters its division schedule as the top team in the NFC?
A: The same way they greet a Dallas team that's on the bottom, with utter contempt.
As part of a season-long feature, USA TODAY checks in with bloggers following different NFL teams in an attempt to capture what the fans are thinking. This week's installment focuses on the Dallas Cowboys, who sit atop the NFC East with a 5-1 record:
Rafael Vela was an Internet pioneer when he began "blogging" (before the term was even coined) about his beloved Cowboys in 1995. A decade later, the 42-year-old teacher from Austin, Texas, and Raul Villaronga, a 48-year-old IT specialist from Pennsylvania, started The 'Boys Blog, which has become a favorite online hangout for fans of America's Team. The two took some time to talk with USA TODAY about their Cowboys avocation.
Bloggers: Rafael Vela and Raul Villaronga
Blog: The 'Boys Blog | Active since: 2005
Q: The 48-27 loss to New England on Sunday was a disappointment for the Cowboys. What's the reaction among fans?
A: (Rafael) All losses are disappointing, but this one didn't linger. The Cowboys secondary simply didn't match up with New England's receivers. Simple as that.
(Raul) The thing I worry about from this particular loss is the penalties. I think that the Patriots offense is just humming on all cylinders right now and I'm not sure anybody could stop them if they continue to play at that level.
Q: What do you make of the competitive difference between the AFC and NFC right now?
A: (Rafael) It's an empty topic. It's one for newspapers and bar arguments. Dallas beat the Colts last year. They beat the Chargers the year before. They lost to New England. I don't know what you can draw from that. Is the top of the AFC deeper than the top of the NFC? Yes. But it's way too early to say anything about the title winner. Who had the Colts at the beginning of the playoffs last year? Their run defense was a sieve and they had a weak December.
Q: You were a blogging pioneer in the 1990s. What prompted the creation of The 'Boys Blog, and how have you grown your readership?
A: (Rafael) My inspiration was dissatisfaction with the coverage I read in the daily papers. Too much fluff, too little analysis. Look, when I was writing in the '90s, I noticed that all the papers would run some version of the same story during training camps. One year, I hung out near the reporters after practice and eavesdropped. I watched them take handouts from the team's PR guy and voilà, they had the template for tomorrow's story. That's stenography. We're not stenographers.
It's been slow and steady growth. I have no idea how they find us. I do know that most of our readership comes from outside of Texas. I also know from comments that the non-locals like the long-form, core-dump approach we take. Many of them can't see the games live, so they rely on us for a more detailed description of what happened.
Q: Do you have a working relationship with the team? Have you approached them about credentials for bloggers?
A: (Rafael) I have cultivated sources who give me good information. I've been offered credentials at camp, but this past year the team shut down all access to "non-professional media," whatever that means. I don't sweat it. I've written about this team for four and a half years and don't feel I need (credentials). I'm serving a different role. I think my blog tries to look very hard at why the team won or lost a game. I don't need interviews to do that.
Q: Was there a negative reaction to Bill Parcells among fans after he left the Cowboys last season?
A: (Rafael) There are some readers who spit every time they mention his name. Most people are grateful to him for pulling the team out of its moribund state and restocking the roster. There was not much talent in Dallas when Parcells arrived.
Q: Any worry among Cowboys fans about the contract status of Tony Romo, who's a potential free agent after this season?
A: (Raul) There is some, but the majority realizes that he's not going anywhere and he will get paid. Jerry Jones has never been a scrooge when it comes to signing marquee stars for the Cowboys and I think this will be another example of that. From a cap standpoint, the Cowboys are looking good so any deal, even done this year, will be a nice payday for Tony and will not break the back of the team.
Q: Let's talk rivalries in the NFC East. Dallas has a rivalry with virtually every team there. What's the best one the Cowboys have? Can you rank them and tell us the merits of each?
A: (Rafael) The Redskins were the rivalry in the '70s and '80s because they were the only worthy rival then. The Eagles and Giants were also-rans. That rivalry fell apart because Joe Gibbs left and the Redskins floundered in the '90s. It's come back the last couple of years and you're starting to see the types of crazy plays that characterize true rivalries. The end of last year's game at Washington, with Dallas trying for the win and then Washington kicking the winner on the next play isn't something you see every day.
The Redskins have more history with the Cowboys, but I think the Eagles rivalry has been the most intense the last 20 years. Nastiness on and off the field. The fans really hate each other and you see wild swings, with one team ripping off a long winning streak and then the other taking over.
The Giants rivalry is the weakest because there's less blood. Dallas has never faced them in the playoffs, while the Redskins and Eagles have kept Dallas out of the Super Bowl.
Q: Good start aside, the Cowboys have won just one game in the NFC East. How will the Eagles, Redskins and Giants greet a Cowboys team that enters its division schedule as the top team in the NFC?
A: The same way they greet a Dallas team that's on the bottom, with utter contempt.
posted by The Gryphon at 7:55 AM
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