Prior to last week's tilt against the stubborn Arizona Cardinals, with the immortal Kevin Kolb at the helm, it occurred to me this was just the kind of game the Cowboys could lose…one in which it's nearly impossible to find a rational route to defeat. They entered Arizona on a roll, had improbably taken over first place with a winning streak, albeit a largely unimpressive one, and were staring at prosperity. The New York Giants were likely to have their hands full with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. So, let's see, they had the better team, were playing more efficiently than the Cardinals, and they had the motivation. A two game lead with four to go was a virtual certainty.
Stuff all of in the blender, and out came a loss. Unfathomable.
Even though the Cowboys were always such a great team, it seemed to me they lost so much more than they should have. Many years ago, I called myself a Cowboy fan…just something to do while I as waiting a generation or so for the Jets to pique my interest. Unlike those compelled to follow a team with a winning tradition, I simply wanted the Packers to lose occasionally. Teams that win constantly infuriate me…the Celtics, the Patriots, the Yankees, etc. The Cowboys were my hope in those days, and I stayed with them through the Steelers annoying years.
I'm no longer so inextricably linked to them, but I feel incontestably secure in my position that the Cowboys will disappoint yet again. So convinced am I, that I'm willing to guarantee a Giants victory this weekend, and in the final weekend. The end result? Out of the playoffs…at which time all will gather to rue the disaster at Arizona when fortune could have smiled so broadly on them.
Glenn Vallach has been a football fan for most of his lifetime, but never played organized pigskin unless you consider the thousands of youth hours running slant routes on city streets with a friend serving as Joe Willie. Don Maynard was his idol, an adulation he took seriously, complete with a number 13 stitched to his sweatshirt. In later years, he modernized his admiration and included Wayne Chrebet. Receivers—always receivers. He remains a New York Jet fan through so much disappointment and embarrassment over the years. Coach Rex Ryan has rekindled a dormant fire, but sometimes he feels as if he doesn't understand the likely end result of all his efforts. It has been 42 years, after all.
