I’m not quite sure when this series of ads began, but I do remember that they were originally on television, but are now exclusively on radio. As with the other lists, there is no real rhyme or reason as to why certain ads are near the top of the list. I’m just picking the ones that I think are funnier consistently than all the others.

I also remember a few years ago that the guys who did these commercials were on the telecast of the Rangers game. That was truly a sight to behold. I remember the “Real Men of Genius” guys made up a song about the Rangers television crew (was constructed then as constructed now) that was pretty funny. The two guys who do the “Real Men of Genius” commercials really are talented.

But before we get to the list, as always, let’s get to those that narrowly missed the cut. Or, “the Extra Frames,” as I like to call them.

Honorable Mention – Best “Real Men of Genius” Ads

Mr. Parade Float Driver
Worth a laugh as a radio spot. Not one of the best ones, but I do like the secondary singer going “Ooooh…” That’s always funny. Quality isn’t as great on this one, but still easy to hear. A nice warm-up act, which is exactly what the Honorable Mention spots should do.

Mr. Football First Down Marker Guy
A spot worthy of a few giggles, but not exactly with the staying power to make you laugh upon multiple repeat listenings. Good for the radio, but the key line of “I know lots of numbers!” doesn’t quite stack up with some of the other spots we’ll get to later.

Mr. Way Too Much Cologne Wearer
One of the few TV spots on this list, this one suffers because of the length. The secondary announcer is the most important one in these commercials, but since he only gets two lines in this 30-second spot, this commercial suffers. Although he does get a good crack in there – “Everywhere a splish splash!”

Best “Real Men of Genius” Ads – The List

10th Best “Real Men of Genius” Ad – Mr. Really Really Really Bad Dancer
The only TV spot in the top ten, but I’d be lying if I said the acting didn’t distract from the song itself. On the radio spots, it’s much easier to hear what’s going on in the commercials (which is probably why Bud Light switched these ads to the radio), which hurts this particular spot’s standing. Still funny though.

9th Best “Real Men of Genius” Ad – Mr. All You Can Eat Buffet Inventor
I do like this particular radio spot, but I’ve never seen an all-you-can-eat buffet that has a little sign in the front that says, “Go Nuts, buddy.” I have been to my share of buffets, though, but I’ll always take CiCi’s over any other one. You can’t beat CiCi’s. YOU JUST CAN’T!

8th Best “Real Men of Genius” Ad – Mr. Cell Phone Holster Wearer
This one takes a little hit because there aren’t as many people wearing cell phone holsters today. There are still some though, and this spot captures the ridiculousness of wearing said holster beautifully. This exchange is one of the best in any of the “Real Men of Genius” ads: “Anything over that, and you might as well be using smoke signals. BARBECUUUUUUE!” Classic.

7th Best “Real Men of Genius” Ad – Mr. Paranoid of the Ocean Guy
Kind of an obscure subject to focus on for one of these ads, but still funny. When the secondary announcer comes out with his first line, “Please don’t judge me!” that’s pretty funny. It’s also good to hear “Ooooh…” Good stuff, but the best part is the reminder of how funny these guys are who are paranoid of the ocean.

6th Best “Real Men of Genius” Ad – Mr. T-Shirt Launcher Inventor
One of the strangest inventions of all time. Who in the world thought it was a good idea to create a cannon to shoot T-shirts all over a stadium? Is that really necessary? One of these days I would love to see one of the weirdos shooting the shirts get hit in the face because the cannon backfired. Now that would be funny.

5th Best “Real Men of Genius” Ad – Mr. Golf Tournament Quiet Sign Holder Upper
An underappreciated Real Man of Genius. I’ve always wondered about how these guys got the job to hold these flimsy signs. Are they marshals at the courses where the tournaments are being held? Are they flown in from a factory somewhere? Are they cloned in a lab? I need some answers here…

4th Best “Real Men of Genius” Ad – Mr. Rolling Cooler Cooler Roller
The only ad that confused me on this list. Who exactly takes a giant cooler on a trip? No one. I’ve never EVER seen these used as luggage. So why is this one so high on the list? One word. “Unpopular!”

3rd Best “Real Men of Genius” Ad – Mr. Pro Sports Heckler Guy
Any clip that features cursing and reminds you of how funny hecklers are is going to be pretty high. Just a personal preference.

2nd Best “Real Men of Genius” Ad – Mr. 80 SPF Sunblock Wearer
Almost at the top because of the performance of the primary announcer. Most spots feature him making a few jokes, but this one has him in rare form. The trio saying “Something smells delicious” is also a nice touch.

Best “Real Men of Genius” Ad – Mr. Overly Competitive Touch Football Game Player
The best of the best for a variety of reasons. First of all, the secondary announcer has to squeeze all those words into the intro and outtro. The key line is awesome – “Dignity is overrated!” The primary announcer is solid, as always, but a warning – the video version I’ve linked to is a little distracting. This spot is ranked number one because I’ve heard it without the sound effects. With the sound effects? Mediocre.

There’s the list. The Real Men of Genius though are the guys at Bud Light who came up with this amazing ad campaign. Awesome.

All clips are property of Bud Light and come from YouTube.
Bud Light pic: USATODAY.com

After such a lively discussion of the best sports video games, I think it might be time to move to a different discussion – and a different screen.

Today we examine the big screen and some of its most enjoyable representations of sports.

There are many factors that contribute to what makes the best sports movie – a good underdog story, hilarious characters, accidental comedy – all contributed to where these movies rank on this list.

Just as before, I encourage you to post your own picks for best sports movies in the comments, as I’m sure there will be a bunch of disagreements on this subject.

So here’s a group that didn’t quite make the ten best – think of them as “The third hand.”

Best Sports Movie – Honorable Mention

Remember the Titans – A very solid football movie. Good underdog concept, based on a true story from Virginia in the heart of the Civil Rights struggle. Pretty believable football scenes, but the problem with them is what kept this movie out of the top ten: they’re shot strangely. Namely, they are just way too tight. Wide shots, please! I would kind of like to be able to see more than two players on the field at one time. Decent performances here and a pretty solid cast. Good, but not quite worthy of “Save until I delete” status on your TiVo.

Varsity Blues – An awesomely goofy sports movie. Set in Texas (a plus!), James Van Der Beek (a minus? debatable) plays Mox, a backup QB with the over-the-top dad. Jon Voight is the revered coach who’s actually a horrible person and Amy Smart plays Mox’s steady girlfriend. So when the starter goes down, Mox goes in and starts to lead the team to glory. Very solid movie, though. Funny and absolutely rewatchable – a big criteria on this list.

The Karate Kid – Just off the list. A good movie with good scenes and a good underdog story. Probably should be higher, but maybe I have some irrational personal bias against it. I’m not sure. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I don’t like it as much as these others. Oh well. Sorry Daniel-san.

Best Sports Movie – The List

10th Best Sports Movie

The Bad News Bears (original) – There are those out there who believe the remake of this movie is better than the original. I vehemently disagree with this belief and always will. Maybe this movie’s lost some of its luster because of Jackie Earle Haley and Tatum O’Neal, but there are so many great things about this movie, many of which cannot be reprinted here or anywhere. Let’s just say that Tanner is easily my favorite character in this movie and one of the best characters in any sports movie I’ve ever seen.

9th Best Sports Movie

The Natural – Really only on here for one scene: The last one. There are plenty of other good ones, but if this movie is on near the end, I will always turn it on. When ESPN was doing its countdown of the best sports movies of the last 25 years in 2004, something Keith Jackson said about this movie has stuck with me: “Inside every little boy’s head, there exists that kind of a dream.” I guess that’s why I like it so much. I know I had that kind of dream.

8th Best Sports Movie

Slap Shot – Paul Newman’s virtuoso performance as Reg Dunlop is up there with some of the best sports movie characters in history. Ty Webb? Definitely. Crash Davis? Absolutely? Norman Dale? Yep. All three are iconic characters, and Dunlop is just as good as any of them. Plus, how can you go wrong with the greatness of the Hanson brothers? Answer: You can’t.

7th Best Sports Movie

The Longest Yard (original) – I really wish I didn’t have to make that distinction, as the more recent Longest Yard with Adam Sandler is almost unredeemable. Chris Rock saves the movie from being an unmitigated disaster. The original Longest Yard, though, featured Burt Reynolds in his heyday and a bunch of other football players creating some absolutely great football scenes. The problem? Not quite enough football, plus it’s not about a team, just a bunch of guys who happened to play football in prison.

6th Best Sports Movie

Rocky – While the original is a little dated now, it needs to be appreciated for what it was when it came out: a great boxing movie that won “Best Picture.” Really. Inspired just about everybody who watched it to run up those steps in Philly (along with inspiring people to do other things). Influenced the sports movie genre in many ways as not just a great underdog story, but the great underdog story. Got knocked down a little because of all of the sequels and how dated it is now. Still, though, always worth the time.

5th Best Sports Movie

Caddyshack – This may seem hard to believe, but there are many ways this movie could have been even better. Why did we need the gopher? Did we really need that much time with Danny and Maggie? Still, though, Caddyshack is a stop-down, start to finish laugh riot that is always funny no matter how many times you’ve seen it. So many layers to the movie and so many great scenes. Shame that there are a couple of clunkers. It’s in the hole!

4th Best Sports Movie

Bull Durham – Getting into the heavy hitters now. Caddyshack is impeccably written from a comedic standpoint, but Bull Durham is also written superbly, more from an overall motion picture standpoint. There are some simply outstanding scenes in this movie with fantastic dialogue. Just about every scene involving Crash, Nuke and Annie is near All-Star quality. Plus, some of the advice Crash gives Nuke is some of the best out there (with a little cleaning up of the language). Gets docked because Tim Robbins is nowhere close to realistic as a pitcher.

3rd Best Sports Movie

Hoosiers – A lot of people have this movie as their best sports movie and one of their favorite movies overall. I don’t have any problem with those people, as I agree that the difference between Hoosiers and the best sports movies ever, if there even is one, is razor-thin. My choice of slotting Hoosiers third is simple: I’m not as big a basketball fan as baseball fan. There’s no portion or segment of Hoosiers that I can complain about – I always stop down to watch it if it’s on, but I would just choose either of the following two before it because of my love for baseball.

2nd Best Sports Movie

Major League – The perfect blend of comedy and an underdog story. I will always watch this movie if I find it on TV – it always leaves me feeling pretty good inside. Cerrano, Willie Mays Hayes and Ricky Vaughn? I’m not sure if you could beat those three (Wesley Snipes’ best role in my opinion). Plus, how could we forget the greatness of Lou Brown? There’s two or three potential All-Stars. Awesome. A little hokey with the love story between Jake and Lynn, but they did end up beating the Yankees, so that’s a plus.

Best Sports Movie

Field of Dreams – Simply amazing. A great story with good performances and spectacular characters. Even gets a little comedy in there now and then. Not really all that much about baseball, but it doesn’t matter. James Earl Jones with the big speech at the end, the headlights of the cars as the screen fades out, plus the added fun of ghosts coming out of a cornfield. I mean, how great is that? Only drawback is that Ray Liotta is right handed as Joe Jackson. Inexcusable.

There have been good sports movies recently (Friday Night Lights), but not many. Hopefully we get another really good one soon.

PICS:

Caddyshack: http://www.thisweekontheinternet.com/2009/06/22/best-golf-movies-us-open/

The Natural: http://media.photobucket.com/image/the%20natural/askwhy3/The_Natural.jpg

Rocky: http://www.plu.edu/~allenca/

Major League: http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/blog/major-league.jpg

With the release of Madden ’10 looming on the horizon and NCAA Football ’10 still fresh on the shelves, it seemed like the perfect time to break out a list. What list? The ten best sports video games ever conceived by mankind.

There are no fancy ranking systems or formulas to determine which of these is the best sports video game; purely my own personal experience and bias. If you don’t like my choices, post your own in the comments. Before we get to the list, though, we’ve got a few games that didn’t quite make the cut for best sports video game. And just as a point: racing games were not included for consideration.

Best Sports Video Game – Honorable Mention:

Mario Tennis (N64) – A game so easy to pick up and play, it’s amazing it took so long to think of it. Mario and friends play tennis. What could be easier? Still fun no matter how much graphics change things. One of the best sports video games, but not quite reaching that upper echelon of “best sports video games” that the games on the list reached. Sometimes could play a little too slow.

Lee Trevino’s Fighting Golf (NES) – An obscure game that consumed my youth on the NES. Was it the best sports video game ever? Far from it. Two courses and four characters? Not exactly a whole lot of depth to the game. But golf games have always been pretty simple and I enjoy them quite a bit. But since I played this game so much in my memory, it’s on the list. Barely.

Excitebike (NES) – Excitebike has gotten quite a bit more pub recently after being rereleased on the Game Boy Advance and spawning its own “Excite series.” I don’t have very many memories of this game, but if Matt Lawrence vouches for it, well then, by God, it’s good enough for me.

Best Sports Video Game – The List

10th Best Sports Video Game

Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey Jr. (N64) – The Nintendo 64, for my money, is the best video game system of all-time. I do have a bias, as that system is the one I grew up playing, but it was a system full of great games. One of which happens to be this title, released in 1998. This is not a straight baseball simulation, which does hurt its standing. But a simple hitting graphic (put the circle around the box) led to some fun play and the 10th best sports video game on this list. Graphics aren’t that great, but you can get through a whole season with stats (that was a big deal once) and all of the ballparks are included. And pitch speeds range from 47 mph to 106! What’s more fun than that?

9th Best Sports Video Game

FIFA Soccer Series (XBOX 360, PS3) – I greatly enjoy soccer. I played it for most of my life, and I enjoy watching it. FIFA is a fantastic game, especially if played on a huge HD screen. This may seem a little low with all of that taken into account, but to me, it’s a game that I could always find a way to put down. Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I’m not that good. One of the best sports games out there, but I suppose I prefer to just watch people who are better at it than me.

8th Best Sports Video Game

Tecmo Bowl (NES) – The sequel to this game, Tecmo Super Bowl, might actually be the game that’s played more today, I’m putting Tecmo Bowl on this list because it created the sequel. (After all, without Tecmo Bowl, there’s no Tecmo Super Bowl.) One of the best sports video games along with the oldest in our top ten, Tecmo Bowl had four plays per team. Bo Jackson had one. Talk about injustices.

7th Best Sports Video Game

NFL Blitz (PlayStation) – Check your expectations of a realistic game at the door. On this list, NFL Blitz stands up with the best of them for simple, pure fun among the best sports video games ever. Put in some cheat codes (or agree to not have any) and just go to town. Penalties? Pssh. We don’t need no stinkin’ penalties. An added bonus: A great announcer. IS THAT LEGAL???!!!

6th Best Sports Video Game

Madden NFL series (All systems) – The Madden games are great, but they’ve gone downhill over the last couple of years after EA Sports bought the exclusive license for the NFL and the NFLPA. (Related story – this is why The Show is the only baseball game worth getting) When EA had some competition, there wasn’t much argument over who had the best game. So why did they even have to buy the rights in the first place? Why am I asking questions of myself? Am I going crazy? Still excellent games, though, and worthy of this spot on the list of best sports video games.

5th Best Sports Video Game

Wayne Gretzky 3D Hockey (N64) – There have been quite a few arcade-style games in this list of the best sports video games. Why is that? They’re fun. This one is another sports video game that is just fun. Get the game fired up, pick a team, pick a line of three players from that team, and you’re on your way. Power shots? Check. Power checks? Check. An overly excited announcer? Check. (See a pattern here? I’m a sucker for over-the-top announcers.) Put it all together and you have an awesome game. It’s so simple!

4th Best Sports Video Game

Tiger Woods PGA Tour Series (All systems) – As far as golf games go, you can’t get any better than these. This latest entry on to our list of best sports video games ever has such a multitude of features that “completing the game” is a task equal to that of most adventure games. Some of the best courses in the world are on these games, and if there’s a golfer you want to play as, just pick one, and he or she is probably in there. A series that continues to get better in every way.

3rd Best Sports Video Game

NBA Jam (SEGA Genesis) – The original arcade sports game. I don’t care what the facts say; this was it. 2-on-2 action complete with eight pointers, HE’S ON FIRE!!!!!, and even players who were left out (MJ). Arcade sports games dream of becoming NBA Jam. In fact, I’d argue that NBA Jam is still on top of the list of basketball video games, 15 years after its release. Boomshackalacka.

2nd Best Sports Video Game

MVP Baseball 2005 (XBOX, PS2, GameCube) – The last EA Sports baseball game, and quite possibly the deepest sports game ever created. I’m still trying to unlock all the created players and uniforms, four years after this game was released. Near the top of the best sports video game list because you could have a dynasty featuring a major-league team and its top three minor league affliates. Also – you could be an owner and build up your team from minor-league level to Yankees-level cash cow. Practice modes, plus tons of unlockable players, uniforms and stadiums.

Best Sports Video Game

NHL ’94 (Sega Genesis) – If you haven’t played this game, you’re missing out. The best sports video game ever, hands down. Realistic (and fun) gameplay, you could play through a whole season with stats, crash through the glass, and one-time a shot past the goalie. For those lucky enough to still have a Genesis, this game must be in your collection, no matter what.

So there you have it. There are still great sports games out there, but some of the better ones have been around quite awhile.

PICS:

Gretzky cover: http://www.gamespot.com/pages/image_viewer/boxshot.php?pid=199279

Blitz cover: http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/psx.html

NHL ’94 shot: http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=445412

Griffey cover: http://www.gamespot.com/pages/image_viewer/boxshot.php?pid=197847

5. Moody Madness – April 26, 1984

It could be argued this game should be even higher on this list. Within their fourth season, the Mavericks had already made the playoffs through shrewd trades and good drafting. This team had a strong foundation built with players such as Rolando Blackman and Mark Aguirre along with Jay Vincent and Brad Davis.

This game in particular was the deciding fifth game of the first round series, held at SMU’s Moody Coliseum because of a tennis tournament being held at Reunion Arena. The Mavs had earned the fourth seed with a 43-39 record, giving them home-court advantage over the Seattle SuperSonics.

9,007 were packed into Moody Coliseum to see if the Mavs could get to the second round against the powerful LA Lakers. Seattle was up seven at the two minute mark and up six with 48 seconds to go, but the Mavs forced turnovers down the stretch and forced overtime.

While the Mavs jumped out to a lead in the extra frame, Seattle made a late push, but the Mavs held on for a thrilling 105-104 victory and moved on to the second round. While the team promptly fell to the Lakers, the Mavs announced their presence in the Dallas sports scene with this, one of their most memorable wins.

4. Cowboys trade Herschel Walker – October 12, 1989

The Trade, as it’s called, has been talked about more than enough in these parts, so I’ll just give a few quick facts:

• Largest trade in NFL history: involved 18 players and draft picks.
• The Cowboys received eight picks and five players while giving up Walker and four draft picks
• Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson and Russell Maryland all became Cowboys because of this trade.

This trade was made during a 1-15 season in 1989, the worst 16-game record in franchise history. (Dallas went 0-11-1 in 1960, its expansion year.) At the time, the trade was highly frowned upon, but shrewd drafting by the Cowboys’ staff propelled them to three Super Bowl titles in four years and into another stratosphere in terms of franchise value.

3. Dirk over Manu – May 22, 2006

Sometimes it’s hard to see which moments are the most important in a season until long after they happen. Sometimes you know exactly when something big happens. This was one of those times. The Mavs had a 3-1 lead on the defending champion Spurs, but had let it slip away to a Game 7 in San Antonio. The Mavs came out firing in the first half, building up a 14-point lead at halftime, only to see it slip away on a Manu Ginobili 3-pointer with 33 seconds left.

But on the next possession, Dirk put the Mavs on his back and drove to the hole – drawing a foul on Manu Ginobili in the process – which ended up forcing overtime. The Mavs held down Tim Duncan in OT and headed on to the Western Conference Finals. Everyone remembers how close the Mavs were to the Larry O’Brien trophy, but this play by Dirk should never be overlooked.

2. Game Six – June 19, 1999

We’re moving into rarefied air here. Anyone who doesn’t remember the magical run of the 1999 Dallas Stars needs a serious history lesson. Current GM Joe Nieuwendyk helped lead a loaded Dallas squad – winners of the President’s Trophy for best record in the regular season – into the franchise’s first Stanley Cup Finals appearance in the Lone Star State.

Their opponents? A Cinderella Buffalo Sabres team, who came into the NHL Playoffs seeded seventh in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo struck first with a Game 1 win, but the Stars found themselves up three games to two in Game 6 in Buffalo. The game became a 1-1 duel between netminders Eddie “The Eagle” Belfour, and Dominik “The Dominator” Hasek. The contest remained tied at 1 through two overtime periods before Brett Hull finally got one past Hasek. While his skate was in the crease, Hull’s goal was not waived off, and the Stars celebrated their first – and only – Stanley Cup championship.

1. XXVII – January 31, 1993

After two straight Super Bowl losses, it seemed as if the Buffalo Bills were due to finally win one after making it back to the Big Game for the third straight year. The Dallas Cowboys were just three years removed from being the worst team in the league – they couldn’t possibly rise that quickly to the top, could they?

Absolutely. While the Cowboys have won four other Super Bowls, I don’t believe that there was quite a moment like this one where a Dallas team was truly on top of the world. This game sparked a dynasty, and is one of the greatest teams in NFL history, by any standards. Although we’ll stick with the biased Dallas opinion. If only Leon Lett would have made it over the goal line with that ball, that scoring record would belong to the Cowboys…

So there you have it. The top 10 Dallas sports moments. Hopefully there will be a couple more recent ones that will crack the list soon; a championship can’t come soon enough.

Credits -

Mavs logo: vectorlogo.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html
Joe Nieuwendyk: http://www.thehockeynews.com/imgs/dynamique/photos/original/h053119A.jpg

So let’s try and focus on some positives on a relatively mild summer day. Namely, what have the 10 best moments been in the sports history of our fair city?

For this discussion, our “moments” are going to be more like events. So without further ado, here’s the list:

10. Nolan Ryan’s 5000th strikeout – August 22, 1989

There aren’t going to be a lot of Rangers sightings on this list – not exactly a historically dominant franchise. But the Rangers do occasionally have flashes of greatness, and this strikeout which took place 20 years ago is still up near the top of the list of best moments in Rangers history.

Soon-to-be Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson was Nolan’s victim that night against Oakland, and the strikeout prompted Rickey – ever the wordsmith -   to say, “If he ain’t struck you out, then you ain’t nobody.” Ryan went on to finish his career with 5,714 strikeouts, far and away the best total in baseball history. Nolan’s #34 has been retired by the Rangers (the only Rangers player ever to have his number retired), and Nolan was almost unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999.

9. Roger Staubach’s “Hail Mary” pass to Drew Pearson – December 28, 1975

It’s not often a team can have a play that enters the football vernacular. It doesn’t seem possible, but before this game, a pass like this wasn’t called a “Hail Mary.” But Staubach’s heave to Pearson in the first round of the 1975 playoffs propelled the Cowboys all the way to Super Bowl X, where they were done in by Lynn Swann and the Steelers.

The phrase “Hail Mary” reportedly came from Staubach himself, who said afterwards that he threw the ball as hard as he could and said a Hail Mary prayer. Both players were key parts of the team in the 1970s that helped drive the Cowboys to their current stature in the American sports consciousness.

8. Morrow saves the Stars – May 4, 2008

Last year’s “Cinco de Morrow” game against the San Jose Sharks was not the longest game in Stars history (anyone care to remember the 5-OT marathon against the Ducks? Didn’t think so.), but it was one of the most memorable. After racing out to a 3-0 lead in their second round series against the Sharks, the Stars dropped two in a row and were locked in a tight game that didn’t seem like it was ever going to end. But Brendan Morrow’s goal in the 4th overtime sent the Stars to the Western Conference finals, their deepest playoff run since the 2000 playoffs. 

7. Kenny Rogers’ perfect game – July 28, 1994

There’s something to be said for the franchise known only for its hitting to have a pitcher throw one of only 17 perfect games in the history of the majors. I have no idea what that is, though. At any rate, Kenny’s perfect game against the Angels came 10 seasons after Mike Witt threw a perfect game against the Rangers. These two teams are still the only two teams to throw perfect games against one another. 

6. Jerry Jones buys the Cowboys – February 25, 1989

You may not think that this was such a great moment. After all, Jerry may have been behind the revival of the Cowboys in the ’90s, but those players were mostly brought in by Jimmy Johnson, right? What has he done since then? How have the Cowboys fared without a Hall of Fame coach such as Jimmy or the Tuna? 

Well, my friend, let’s go back to what times were like when Jerry bought the team. The Cowboys’ glory days were long gone. Even agonizing defeats had something on what the Cowboys were: irrelevant. The Mavericks, despite a disappointing (at best) 1988-89 season, were coming off a trip to the Western Conference Finals and five straight playoff appearances. With no hockey and simply an up-and-coming Rangers team, the Mavericks were threatening to loosen the Cowboys’ stranglehold on the Dallas sports market. 

Compare that run of success to that of the Cowboys: After losing three straight NFC Championships in 1980-82, the Cowboys had only two playoff appearances from 1983-1988 (six seasons), both of which ended in losses in the first round. America’s Team also had compiled three straight losing seasons in 1986-1988 before Jerry bought the team in 1989. 

Love him or hate him, Jerry has turned the Cowboys into the most valuable American sports franchise (trailing only Manchester United for global value), according to Forbes magazine, but I suppose us fans are simply focused on what his team hasn’t done (namely, win a playoff game since 1996).

Check back for Part 2 tomorrow. 

Photo credits -

Nolan Ryan: http://www.chrisoleary.com/
Morrow Goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiqnaAMR-7Y