Wait till December to believe in the 'Boys
by Mark Kriegel
FOXSports.com
OXNARD, Calif. - Here in a town best known for producing strawberries, lima beans and gangbangers, the Dallas Cowboys are endeavoring to transform training camp into a theme park. An immense, inflatable entranceway proclaims the "Cowboys Experience."
The makeshift complex boasts enough corporate sponsorships to qualify as a NASCAR site. Cowboys merchandise seems a mandatory purchase for the fans who throng the practice field. They chant and cheer for the quarterback and their new corner.
"Way to go, Adam. We love you."
What's true for the former Pacman Jones is true for them all. The people of Oxnard care deeply for the team from Dallas, heaping praise and adoration on the entire roster. But it's not just Oxnard, of course. HBO, which will offer this training camp as a reality series, loves them, too. So does Jessica Simpson. Sportswriters and oddsmakers have made them a favorite to play in the Super Bowl. It's good to be a Cowboy.
Maybe too good.
I have no quibble with the notion of Dallas as America's Team. The Cowboys deserve it, having made a cult of victory and commerce with a whiff of sex. But their popularity is unwarranted when considered in relation to the last decade. For all the talk of a Cowboys renaissance — you've heard it since 2003 when Bill Parcells signed on as coach — this team still hasn't won a playoff game since 1996. Even worse, for all the fashionable talk of an impending Cowboys Super Bowl — just the acquisition of oft-arrested Adam Jones makes them more talented than last year's team — they are coming off an ignominious collapse.
But here in camp — a theme park that offers T.O. in lieu of Mickey Mouse — you feel none of that heat, none of that pressure, none of the desperation that usually arrives in the wake of defeat. Regret doesn't seem to be weighing heavily on anyone's mind.
I asked coach Wade Phillips what could be learned from the disappointing way last year's team finished, or rather, did not.
"Besides I can't coach very good?"
"Yes, besides that."
"Last year was last year and it's over with."
It was a curious response from a coach who recently told an audience of high school he'd be getting "the ring finger ready" for championship jewelry.
After Tuesday's practice, Phillips spoke vaguely of "learning lessons." But he was more intent on emphasizing that the inevitable turnover on a roster meant that this year's team was not last year's.
"We'll have a new team," he said.
Not really. You can add a high-profile guy like Adam Jones, but the core remains the same. This is the same team that collapsed last season.
Maybe the coach, who seems like an awfully nice guy, wants last season to be over. But it's not. What's more, his job depends on an entirely different outcome, something in line with what the Cowboys are, which is to say the most talented team in the conference.
Dallas' loss to the New York Giants, eventual Super Bowl champions, was memorable, as most big playoff upsets are memorable. "The Giants made 52 yards in the second half," owner Jerry Jones said, "and we still didn't finish it."
"If you change four, six, seven plays it's a different game," said the tight end, Jason Witten. "They made the right plays at the right time."
But the problem — at least if you're a Cowboys fan — wasn't a single game. It was the month-long decline that preceded that game. On Nov. 29, the Cowboys beat the Packers as Tony Romo outplayed his childhood idol, Brett Favre. At 11-1, Dallas looked like the best football team outside of New England.
The Cowboys went 2-3 the rest of the way. They squeaked by Detroit, 28-27. They lost to Philadelphia at home. They beat Carolina on the road before concluding the regular season by getting blown out in Washington, 27-6.
"It definitely wasn't our best football," said Witten. "... We played bad against Philadelphia. We didn't even show up against Washington. Now our mindset has to be that we're going to play our best football in December."
Leonard Davis, the veteran guard, spoke of not playing "like you already got it made into the playoffs."
Was that the problem, I asked, playing like you already had it made?
"It could have been," he said. "I don't know. I didn't take a survey."
Maybe someone should have polled the players. Someone should have reminded them that the plaudits were premature, and the team itself, immature.
"You gotta finish," Jones told me after practice. "You gotta finish everything. Finish every drill. Finish every practice hard. The place to start is right here."
Then he was off, smiling, greeting, signing, appearing. Nowhere in the Disney kingdom is there a more dedicated host then Jerry Jones. Still, the Cowboys should know: either they finish the season or they finish their coach.
FOXSports.com
OXNARD, Calif. - Here in a town best known for producing strawberries, lima beans and gangbangers, the Dallas Cowboys are endeavoring to transform training camp into a theme park. An immense, inflatable entranceway proclaims the "Cowboys Experience."
The makeshift complex boasts enough corporate sponsorships to qualify as a NASCAR site. Cowboys merchandise seems a mandatory purchase for the fans who throng the practice field. They chant and cheer for the quarterback and their new corner.
"Way to go, Adam. We love you."
What's true for the former Pacman Jones is true for them all. The people of Oxnard care deeply for the team from Dallas, heaping praise and adoration on the entire roster. But it's not just Oxnard, of course. HBO, which will offer this training camp as a reality series, loves them, too. So does Jessica Simpson. Sportswriters and oddsmakers have made them a favorite to play in the Super Bowl. It's good to be a Cowboy.
Maybe too good.
I have no quibble with the notion of Dallas as America's Team. The Cowboys deserve it, having made a cult of victory and commerce with a whiff of sex. But their popularity is unwarranted when considered in relation to the last decade. For all the talk of a Cowboys renaissance — you've heard it since 2003 when Bill Parcells signed on as coach — this team still hasn't won a playoff game since 1996. Even worse, for all the fashionable talk of an impending Cowboys Super Bowl — just the acquisition of oft-arrested Adam Jones makes them more talented than last year's team — they are coming off an ignominious collapse.
But here in camp — a theme park that offers T.O. in lieu of Mickey Mouse — you feel none of that heat, none of that pressure, none of the desperation that usually arrives in the wake of defeat. Regret doesn't seem to be weighing heavily on anyone's mind.
I asked coach Wade Phillips what could be learned from the disappointing way last year's team finished, or rather, did not.
"Besides I can't coach very good?"
"Yes, besides that."
"Last year was last year and it's over with."
It was a curious response from a coach who recently told an audience of high school he'd be getting "the ring finger ready" for championship jewelry.
After Tuesday's practice, Phillips spoke vaguely of "learning lessons." But he was more intent on emphasizing that the inevitable turnover on a roster meant that this year's team was not last year's.
"We'll have a new team," he said.
Not really. You can add a high-profile guy like Adam Jones, but the core remains the same. This is the same team that collapsed last season.
Maybe the coach, who seems like an awfully nice guy, wants last season to be over. But it's not. What's more, his job depends on an entirely different outcome, something in line with what the Cowboys are, which is to say the most talented team in the conference.
Dallas' loss to the New York Giants, eventual Super Bowl champions, was memorable, as most big playoff upsets are memorable. "The Giants made 52 yards in the second half," owner Jerry Jones said, "and we still didn't finish it."
"If you change four, six, seven plays it's a different game," said the tight end, Jason Witten. "They made the right plays at the right time."
But the problem — at least if you're a Cowboys fan — wasn't a single game. It was the month-long decline that preceded that game. On Nov. 29, the Cowboys beat the Packers as Tony Romo outplayed his childhood idol, Brett Favre. At 11-1, Dallas looked like the best football team outside of New England.
The Cowboys went 2-3 the rest of the way. They squeaked by Detroit, 28-27. They lost to Philadelphia at home. They beat Carolina on the road before concluding the regular season by getting blown out in Washington, 27-6.
"It definitely wasn't our best football," said Witten. "... We played bad against Philadelphia. We didn't even show up against Washington. Now our mindset has to be that we're going to play our best football in December."
Leonard Davis, the veteran guard, spoke of not playing "like you already got it made into the playoffs."
Was that the problem, I asked, playing like you already had it made?
"It could have been," he said. "I don't know. I didn't take a survey."
Maybe someone should have polled the players. Someone should have reminded them that the plaudits were premature, and the team itself, immature.
"You gotta finish," Jones told me after practice. "You gotta finish everything. Finish every drill. Finish every practice hard. The place to start is right here."
Then he was off, smiling, greeting, signing, appearing. Nowhere in the Disney kingdom is there a more dedicated host then Jerry Jones. Still, the Cowboys should know: either they finish the season or they finish their coach.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:15 PM
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