Saturday, December 20, 2008

TORN #3

I'm sitting at a half empty bar, about to watch the Dallas Cowboys game. I couldn't watch it at home because Time Warner cable does not carry the NFL Network. So far this season I don't think I've missed a Cowboys game and I didn't want to miss this one. It's the last game to be played at Texas Stadium, a place so deeply rooted in the American sports consciousness that it's a bit difficult to not get a bit sentimental about it. Add to that the playoff implications and this easily becomes one of the biggest games of the regular season. One thing I've always regretted is not attending a game at such a historic stadium, but so it goes...

1.Question: Why is there a hole in the roof of Texas Stadium? Answer: So God can watch his favorite team play on Sunday.

2. Earlier this week, there was an article on ESPN.com about the reporter's most significant memories from Texas Stadium since it first opened. Interestingly enough one of my favorite memories as a Cowboys fan made the list, and it's not particularly a victorious moment. The late 90s and the first part of this decade has been rough for Cowboys fans. The last Super Bowl win happened in January of 96, nearly 13 years ago. That's more than half my lifetime. Similarly, the last time the Cowboys won a playoff game was in December of 1996. So, again, more than a decade since a playoff win. The time spanning from 1996 to about 2004 has been a dark period in Cowboys history, and yet those were my most formative years as a sports fan. Things don't seem so grim now with Tony Romo (our Holy Savior) at the helm of the team, but it's been rough. In September of 2000 the Cowboys played the San Francisco 49ers at home. The 90s were all about this particular rivalry, with 5 of the 10 Super Bowl victories won by either of these two teams (The 'Boys won 3, and the Niners won 2. Conversely, these two teams are tied for most Super Bowl wins, 5.) During that game, the Niners were beating up on us, and it wasn't pretty. That Niners team featured a young megalomaniac named Terrell Owens ( haha,he now plays for the Cowboys) who after scoring his first touchdown ran to midfield from the end zone and posed on top of the star. Later in the game, he ran and did the same thing, only he spiked the ball, adding insult to injury. That didn't last long, however. As Owens ran towards the middle of the field, Corner George Teague ran after him and just knocked him out cold. Teague sent a message. This is our house. Do not disrespect us. I think that did more for me as a fan than anything else. Even at our lowest moment, the players were proud to wear the Blue star on that silver helmet and that meant alot to me.



3. Tracy Morgan is a funny motherfucker. I think what makes him funny as shit is his lack of social tact. Earlier today, in between laundry and cleaning my room, I found this. If ay of you get a chance, you should check out Werewolf Bar Mitzvah. It's transcendental.

4. I'm drunk. Bars with wireless internet=brilliantly evil.