The one common thread.

[bestseller92]

The Dallas Cowboys are now in the midst of at least a 13 year playoff-win drought (1996-2009). This is the longest in franchise history.

The Cowboys are now in the midst of at least a 14 year Super Bowl appearance drought (1995-2009). This matches the longest in franchise history (1978-1992).

Players, head coaches and assistant coaches have all turned over during this span. The one thing that hasn't changed is our general manager.

What other NFL club would withstand a drought of such lenght without changing general managers?

Jerry Jones is, without a doubt, the worst general manager in the NFL. His record proves this. He seems incapable of realizing that doing things HIS way (with the owner/GM being the real power instead of the head coach) does not work, even though his own Cowboys have proven it again and again, from 1997-2002 and from the day Bill Parcells left the building until now. Yes, he won three Super Bowls as "general manager" in 1992-93 and 1995, but it was Jimmy Johnson and his crew who built those teams, and they rapidly fell apart once Johnson was no longer around to evaluate talent and maintain discipline.

I've been a Cowboys fan since 1974, when I was six years old. I'll be a Cowboys fan until I die. But never in the history of my fandom have I felt more hopeless about this team than I do right now.

When a team has bad players, they can improve through free agency and the draft. When a team has a lousy head coach they can axe him and hire a better one. But when a team has a clueless general manager who CANNOT BE FIRED, what hope is there for improvement?

The only hope I have is that Jerry, who in all other aspects of his life is without doubt an extremely intelligent man, will somehow, someway, FINALLY wise up and realize he has to run his team like a real NFL franchise, and not his own personal plaything. Failing that, I don't see this team doing much of anything until Jerry retires and his more sensible son Stephen takes over. And that's sad.

Your thoughts?

[Left Field ParrotHead]

There's one thing left that can give us Cowboys' fans hope. And after that, life will be miserable.

Super Bowl XLV. February 6, 2011. To be played at New Texas Stadium, Arlington, Texas.

Jerry Jones, as incompetent as he may be as a general manager, is an egotistical showman. When his new football mecca hosts the Super Bowl, he will do whatever it takes to make sure his beloved Cowboys are the home team. That will ensure he is the centre of attention for the whole 2 weeks leading up to the game.

His solution will be to throw money at his team until he turns up a winner. I call it billionaire fantasy football. Currently his biggest problem is a lack of discipline on his team. His solution, Ray Lewis. No 34 year old should be offered a $25 million guaranteed contract, but if it helps control the locker room, then its worth it to him.

Rather than solve the real problem, just throw money at it. It worked for the Yankees and the Red Sox, why not the Cowboys?

And on February 7, 2011, Cowboys fans will go through 10 years of salary cap nightmares because of the money Jones spent to try and win that one single game. That is all that matters to him.

[bestseller92]

Jerry Jones, as incompetent as he may be as a general manager, is an egotistical showman. When his new football mecca hosts the Super Bowl, he will do whatever it takes to make sure his beloved Cowboys are the home team.

The problem with that is, Jerry is incapable of making sure of that because he has no idea how to go about it.

You'd think that the examples of Jimmy and the Tuna would resonate, but nooooo....

It's just like Parcells predicted -- "after I leave you'll never know I was here at all."

[Left Field ParrotHead]

Jerry Jones, as incompetent as he may be as a general manager, is an egotistical showman. When his new football mecca hosts the Super Bowl, he will do whatever it takes to make sure his beloved Cowboys are the home team.

The problem with that is, Jerry is incapable of making sure of that because he has no idea how to go about it.

You'd think that the examples of Jimmy and the Tuna would resonate, but nooooo....

It's just like Parcells predicted -- "after I leave you'll never know I was here at all."

Like I said. We have hope. Hope is not a guarantee. Whether they win, lose, or even play in that game it won't matter. They will still have to spend 10 years undoing the trouble he caused to get there.

[bestseller92]

Fractured Cowboys are left looking foolish
By Albert Breer - SportingNews15 hours, 22 minutes ago

Print
MOBILE, Ala.—The Dallas Cowboys’ 13-3 season of 2007 was seen as a jumping-off point to a new era of glory.

It explains why the Cowboys spent $200 million to sign a handful of veteran players in the offseason. It shows why team officials thought the risk of acquiring Adam “Pacman” Jones was worth it. It’s the reasoning for burning two high picks, one in the middle of the first round, to get wideout Roy Williams in midseason.

And it all looks, well, kind of foolish now.

That 13-3 season? It looks like it could be the high point in a tumble down a steep slope.

As reported in The Sporting Blog, the Dallas Morning News reported that player tardiness was a serious problem in 2008, to the point where five team flights left late. The Cowboys have denied their planes were delayed in that manner.

But that’s hardly the beginning or end of problems involving the team. Sources have indicated that a divide between the offense and defense grew as the defense rose to the top of NFL rankings, and the offense was splintered by burgeoning controversy involving quarterback Tony Romo, receiver Terrell Owens and tight end Jason Wittenlate in the season.

The defense’s progress continued into the final five minutes of Week 16’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, when it cracked in allowing touchdown runs of 77 and 82 yards. The defense then fell apart in the season finale against Philadelphia.

That, mercifully, ended a season in which so much was expected and so little was accomplished.

Now, the ugliness of all that was lost is coming out.

Owner Jerry Jones demanded changes. So Adam Jones was cut, special teams coach Bruce Read and defensive coordinator Brian Stewart were axed and Owens’ place on the team is up for debate.

But the structure hasn’t changed. A mismatched locker room hasn’t been shaken up. Fractured relationships are being trusted to heal.

Coach Wade Phillips has said that, to that end, he’s going to get tough.

That, of course, won’t be easy. A tough coach can ease up a bit. An easy-going coach will have a much harder time hardening over.

And in the same way, once the air of accountability that Bill Parcells demanded wore off, after Parcells had been gone for about a year, it wasn’t coming back.

There are people, plenty of them, who are concerned about that. The trouble is that the boss doesn’t seem to be one of them.

“I am very aware that we have the visibility that we have,” Jerry Jones told the Dallas media on Tuesday. “With all of that goes a lot of criticism.”

Sometimes, it’s deserved.

And yes, sometimes America’s Team is victim to its own high profile.

But this isn’t one of those times. The equity built on a 13-3 season has circled the drain.

One thing Parcells did leave was a nucleus of his kind of players. Guys who do things the right way; guys like Witten and DeMarcus Ware and Terence Newman and Bradie James.

There are, however, only so many of them.

See, it’s like Scott Pioli, the new Kansas City Chiefs GM with three rings from his time in New England, said in his introductory press conference—his job was not to collect talent, but build a team.

That was what the Cowboys did under Pioli’s father-in-law, Parcells.

Then, once that team was in place, it began collecting talent.

And got a whole lot more than they bargained for.

[Left Field ParrotHead]

That's a good article. Sums up the problem pretty good.

No real leadership from the top all the way down. Anytime they have had it, it lasts until Jerry chases that person out of town and the turmoil begins again.

In a best case scenario, demote Phillips to defensive coordinator, keep Garrett, and hire his friend Mike Shanahan. Shanahan will get tired of Jones' act in 3-5 years, but that's ok. Shanahan knows what it takes to win, and will get the win that Jones desires so much. They will no longer be friends, but that won't matter.