Don't believe or buy into any of the nonsense some people are saying about the NFL as a result of Super Bowl 43. Though all I really care about is how we, as fans, feel about the team, the fact is Dallas Cowboys are still the bomb and the biggest team in the NFL. Don't believe it, read the comments ...
10 comments:
Springsteen changing the words of "Glory Days" to include the "Hail Mary" was cool. It was, of course, the most famous pass in Dallas Cowboys history ... Staubach to Pearson.
I grew up in NEPA. I have known three Steelers fans and about 15 Cowboys fans.
The Dallas newspapers aren't even really mentioning the six Super Bowls thing. The fact is the Cowboys have NEVER had the most Super Bowl wins in the NFL. They were tied for a while, but they were the most popular team in the NFL after only winning two. There's just something special and colorful about them that no other team has. That was a very sloppy game last might, but it was a good Super Bowl. Still not really impressed with the Steelers. Even though they lost, Dallas smacked them around physically when they played in December, and every time I saw them in the playoffs, it seemed the other team beat themselves. They never dominate anybody. Defense? Arizona seemed to move the ball with ease when they had to. Of the 43 Super Bowl winners, this team isn't even in the Top-20 of the best ever.
Steelers are boring. There are more people around here - in PA - on talk radio this morning talking about the woodchuck seeing its shadow, the woman on welfare with six kids who just had eight more kids, and all of the churches closing. Very sad about the churches. A lot of local history is being lost.
"The Eagles are not even in the conversation."
Mike Francesca from WFAN was at the game. Says he was not very impressed with Steelers. The dude with the long hair was nowhere to be found and the defense wasn't so great. Rosenburger stepped up at the end, but I still think he's only so-so. Warner's stats were better.
The Dallas Cowboys are still the most colorful and most popular team in the NFL and, for what it's worth, are certainly still "America's Team." The Steelers barely got by one of the easiest opponents in Super Bowl history and were handed much of the game by dumb Arizona penalties and even a few questionable calls. They are an excellent, very well-run organization that hires good coaches, and for the most part, their players seem like good guys. They should be congratulated for winning a very good game. But some of the stuff I've heard this week is just plain dumb. Some were debating whether or not, if they won their sixth Super Bowl, they were the "greatest sports franchise in history." The truth is they are not even the greatest franchise in the history of the NFL. Both the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears have won more championships. And they'd have to win 20 more Super Bowls - yes, 20 - to pass the New York Yankees in the number of championships won. Also, the Boston Celtics have won the NBA championship 17 times and the Montreal Canadians have won the Stanley Cup 23 times.
So, as you can see, the Steelers aren't even in the Top-5 when it comes to the all-time greatest teams in sports history. Are the Steelers "one of" the greatest sports teams ever? Yes, I would certainly say so. Are they now one-up on the Cowboys in Super Bowl wins? Yes, but Pittsburgh came into the league in 1933. Dallas entered the league in 1960. Pittsburgh went through 43 years of mediocrity before winning its first championship. Dallas, by the late '60s, was already one of the best teams in the NFL and won its first World Championship during the 1971-72 season, only 11 years after coming into the league. Also, I can't make that big of a deal about this "most Super Bowl Wins thing" because the Cowboys were not the first team to win two, three, four or five Super Bowls. It's something that they were tied with for a few years, but it simply has not been a big part of their nearly 50-year history. Having won the most World Series has ALWAYS defined the Yankees. Not so with the Cowboys.
I've also heard some nonsense that the Steelers are really "America's Team" because their fans seem to have really come out of the woodwork in recent years and they seem to really get a kick out of waving towels. But those fans were pretty much unseen during the entire decade of the '80s and some people I know have actually started to root for them in recent years, even though they never did before. The fact is, even with the dysfunctional mess they put on the field in 2008, the Dallas Cowboys still sold more merchandise than any other team in the NFL. I live in Pennsylvania, and I personally know more Cowboys fans than Steelers and Eagles fans combined. Cowboy flags line the streets everywhere on Sunday, and even when I was out shopping a few times this week, it seemed I saw more people wearing Cowboys attire than any other team. The Cowboys didn't name themselves "America's Team." It was pinned on them, in 1979, by NFL Films, and though it's not that big a deal to anyone, it is still true.
The Cowboys are clearly still considered to be one of the most successful NFL teams of the modern era. They have won five Super Bowls and eight NFC championships. They have more victories (41) on "Monday Night Football" than any other NFL team and hold NFL records for the most consecutive winning seasons (20, from 1966 to 1985) and most seasons with at least 10 wins (25). The team has also earned the most post-season appearances (29), a league record of 56 post-season games (winning 32 of them), and the most division titles with 20. They also have the most appearances in the NFC Championship Games (14), and the most Super Bowl appearances (8). Three Super Bowls were lost by a TOTAL of only 11 points. Even in defeat, they have always played well in the big, big games. The Cowboys also played in two NFL championship games before the NFL's 1970 merger with the American Football League. They were also the first team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in just four years. An article from Forbes Magazine, dated September 10, 2008, lists the Cowboys as the most valuable sports franchise in the United States. The NFL and all of its owners love the Cowboys and Jerry Jones because the Cowboys help make more money for everybody than any other team.
So ... the Steelers squeaked by the Cardinals and they are happy. Good for them. They are winners and champions and they play and act like a team. But don't take any nonsense from some of the dumb and uninformed people that follow the team, or the people in the press, that don't know much about history. They are NOT the greatest team in NFL history. And remember, the best part of all of this is that when you debate and argue this stuff with your friends, The Eagles aren't even in the conversation.
This is being debated in Dallas in the papers today, and it seems most fans could care less about being called "America's Team." As for the game, Steelers get lucky again, just like the one from a few years ago. The TV commercials were also lousy. Having the crew there from the plane that landed on the river in New York was cool. Bruce was cool.
The officiating was really being questioned on ESPN. Seems to be a perception that the "Stealers" always get the calls.
250,000 people at the victory parade in Pittsburgh? You can get a card game bigger than that in Big-D. Cowboys are clearly still "America's Team."
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