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The Cowboys really are "America's Team"

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on October 7, 2009 7:00 PM ET

The Harris Poll is probably run by a large company that does many important things.

 

But I only hear of it one time a year, when they come out with the poll that says who is "America's favorite football team."

 

And the envelope please . . .

 

The Dallas Cowboys came in first in the poll for the third straight year, which doesn't exactly make up for the lack of playoff wins of late. But it certainly helps Jerry Jones' bottom line.

 

The Steelers came in second, followed by the Bears, Colts, and Patriots. Completing the top ten were the Packers, Eagles, Giants, Titans (!?), and Vikings.

 

The poll takers were asked to predict who would win the Super Bowl this year, with the Steelers getting the most votes (19%), followed by the Patriots (17%).

 

There was no word how many people picked the Redskins.

 

You got the part about the media right. I swear it's a conspiracy at times. Even the stinking ticker at the bottom of ESPN always seems to get cut off for a commercial RIGHT when the Bears are about to be shown.

You got the part about the media right. I swear it's a conspiracy at times. Even the stinking ticker at the bottom of ESPN always seems to get cut off for a commercial RIGHT when the Bears are about to be shown.

I thought it was just me.I have always felt that ESPN has an east coast bias. When Iam trying to watch the ticker just to get a score that is important to Chicago teams it seems that a commercial comes and you wind up starring at the ticker for another half hour just to get that score.

 

As for the Cowboys being America's favorite team,I just don't believe that and the reason is simple. Here in Chicago we have diehard fans of our teams but, quite a few fans are front runners which simple means they pull for winning teams in professional sports.With the Cowboys lack of success in the playoffs,I believe fans would not vote them as the top team over perennial Super Bowl participants like New England and Pittsburgh or even the Giants.

(E)astern (S)eaboard (P)ropaganda (N)etwork

I live in Dallas, and the whole "America's team" makes me sick. It was a phrase coined I think in the 70's by a writer, and the name just stuck. At the time, I believe Dallas, under Landry, was a great team.

 

Since then, the nickname stuck, and when someone asks who is known as America's team, the Cowgirls are the team that comes to mind. Not because it is true, but because the phrase is simply so well known.

 

If you had a poll throughout America of, "who is your favorite team" I bet the #1 team would not be Dallas, despite their being known as America's team.

 

What funny to me is, I think that nick name has actually made them a more hated team by many. I resent hearing how I should love Dallas because they are America's team. I know many who root against Dallas just for that reason.

 

I thought it was just me.I have always felt that ESPN has an east coast bias. When Iam trying to watch the ticker just to get a score that is important to Chicago teams it seems that a commercial comes and you wind up starring at the ticker for another half hour just to get that score.

 

As for the Cowboys being America's favorite team,I just don't believe that and the reason is simple. Here in Chicago we have diehard fans of our teams but, quite a few fans are front runners which simple means they pull for winning teams in professional sports.With the Cowboys lack of success in the playoffs,I believe fans would not vote them as the top team over perennial Super Bowl participants like New England and Pittsburgh or even the Giants.

 

Ha!

 

(E)astern (S)eaboard (P)ropaganda (N)etwork

 

In it's early years the Dallas franchise understood marketing. When the league first came out and requested teams play on Thanksgiving nobody wanted to play, at least none of the good franchises wanted to play on such a short week. Dallas jumped at the offer with the thinking that their team would be seen on national TV and they'd build more fans. As the team became successful naturally people migrated to them much like these days you can find Packers fans who don't know where Green Bay is on a map. I think it went even beyond that for Dallas, I suspect they were successful getting their games broadcast into other "team-less"markets such as Phoenix.

 

When I went to school at Iowa State just north of Des Moines I was amazed at how many Iowans were Cowboys fans. I asked them why when the Vikings (who had success with Fran Tarkenton) were so close to the north, and the Bears (who hadn't had much success in the 70's) were closer to the east. In the south you had St Louis and Kansas City in Missouri. Most said those were the games they saw on TV growing up, and of course since the team was winning they became a fan. When I moved to Arizona in the early 90's I found the same thing, a lot of Cowboy fans. When I ask why when you have Rams, 49ers, Raiders, Chargers you get the same answer: Those were the games they watched growing up. To this day we have a lot of native Arizonans who remain Cowboy fans. At any rate this is how I believe the Cowboys built up such a big following around the country and based on that following the term "America's Team" was coined.

 

On a nostalgic note, I was in college in the 80's and during the 85 season the Bears rolled into Big D for a game. I lived in a dorm and we had about 7 Chicagoans so naturally this was a big showdown between Bears and Cowboys fans and the TV room was packed with at least 25 people to watch the game. At the time Dallas was considered one of the top teams for the playoffs. Midway through the 4th quarter only 7 people were left watching the game and all had a big smile on their face.

 

To this day I never hesitate to bring this up when a Cowboy fan gets a little too presumptuous about their franchise's history. Sixburgh fans will pipe down when you remind them the Bears have 9 titles and none of them required bringing their own referees.

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...11885bears.html

 

44-0

Bears flatten Cowboys, hand them worst defeat

11/18/1985

By GARY MYERS / The Dallas Morning News

 

It was not a pretty sight, not by any means – Cowboys splattered across Texas Stadium, ravaged to a degree never experienced in the team's 26-year history.

 

Unlike the pre-season game against Chicago, which was highlighted by six fights and $6,000 in fines, the Cowboys did not retaliate.

 

"There isn't any question we took an old-fashioned whupping," Cowboys coach Tom Landry said. "They just whipped us."

 

For starters, Sunday's 44-0 loss to the Bears was the most lopsided in Cowboys' history. It was only their third shutout – the first at Texas Stadium – and broke a string of 218 games in which the Cowboys have scored. The Cowboys (7-4) dropped to second place in the NFC East, a half-game behind New York, which plays at Washington Monday night. Chicago (11-0) clinched the NFC Central and is five games away from the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history.

 

"The Bears basically destroyed us," Dennis Thurman said.

 

"I hurt, I think everybody on this team is hurting," Bill Bates said."My pride is hurt."

 

 

You can thank the 1985 Bears for the ranking! I was at a wedding last weekend here in Colorado and at our table was a Chiropractor ands his wife from Texas. We were talking football and he told me the Bears were his second favorite team and that alot guys his age began following the Bears after hearing the SB shuffle as a kid.

 

 

To this day I never hesitate to bring this up when a Cowboy fan gets a little too presumptuous about their franchise's history. Sixburgh fans will pipe down when you remind them the Bears have 9 titles and none of them required bringing their own referees.

 

But you know the response. Only post SB matters. Not a good response, but you know that is the response I hear all the time. My reply is usually to ask, so I guess Jim Brown wasn't a good RB and his records don't mean anything. And to then begin to provide a list of pre-SB players who are minimized by the above, ignorant statement.

 

Besides the 9 championships, I also like to bring up the HOF, and how the Bears have more players in the HOF than any other team in the NFL.

No need!

 

Just bring up we won SB XX! EVERYONE remembers that one. Besides the one that just happend (whatever the current year is...), people ALWAYS remember that Super Bowl.

 

Yep, we're still living off it. But, it was that big, that good, that important.

 

To this day I never hesitate to bring this up when a Cowboy fan gets a little too presumptuous about their franchise's history. Sixburgh fans will pipe down when you remind them the Bears have 9 titles and none of them required bringing their own referees.

 

But you know the response. Only post SB matters. Not a good response, but you know that is the response I hear all the time. My reply is usually to ask, so I guess Jim Brown wasn't a good RB and his records don't mean anything. And to then begin to provide a list of pre-SB players who are minimized by the above, ignorant statement.

 

Besides the 9 championships, I also like to bring up the HOF, and how the Bears have more players in the HOF than any other team in the NFL.

 

Yep!

 

You can thank the 1985 Bears for the ranking! I was at a wedding last weekend here in Colorado and at our table was a Chiropractor ands his wife from Texas. We were talking football and he told me the Bears were his second favorite team and that alot guys his age began following the Bears after hearing the SB shuffle as a kid.

 

Dallas fans are easy right now.

 

First, you just say, "hey, what's your playoff record over the last decade." Oh yea, 0-4.

 

Second, if they talk about their history, you say, "First, its time to stop living in the past, but hey, if you want to live in History, try 9 league championships and the most players in the HOF."

 

 

 

No need!

 

Just bring up we won SB XX! EVERYONE remembers that one. Besides the one that just happend (whatever the current year is...), people ALWAYS remember that Super Bowl.

 

Yep, we're still living off it. But, it was that big, that good, that important.

 

Like fishin' with dynamite!

 

Dallas fans are easy right now.

 

First, you just say, "hey, what's your playoff record over the last decade." Oh yea, 0-4.

 

Second, if they talk about their history, you say, "First, its time to stop living in the past, but hey, if you want to live in History, try 9 league championships and the most players in the HOF."

 

(E)astern (S)eaboard (P)ropaganda (N)etwork

 

tune into ESPN Chicago then