The Rowdy Jinx

There are some sports franchises that have had jinxs before. The Chicago Cubs and the Boston Redsox of Major League Baseball come to mind immediately. Here is a great blog on the subject. To me, whether or not a person believes in Jinxs(s)?) or not, sometimes you just have to look at the evidence and say there can be no other reason than a jinx for some of sport's teams inability to succeed at a certain level.

I'm not sure if most of America knows this, and I'm pretty sure the Cowboys don't want you to know this, but the Dallas Cowboys have a bonified jinx. He is the current mascot of the team, Rowdy. Why Jerry doesn't fire this idiot is beyond me but I have numbers to proove how this jinx will hinder any playoff win as long as he is the mascot.

There was even a blog dedicated to removing Rowdy as the mascot and is located at www.removerowdy.com and you will notice it really hasn't been updated in a few years even though the forum still works. I mention this because radio station KTCK the Ticket, is now the flagship station for the Cowboys and I think you can see the potential conflict of interest this would cause.

From the Remove Rowdy blog:
9/19/05

"Rowdy ruins yet another Ring of Honor induction ceremony
While there's a good chance Irvin, Aikman and Smith will eventually all be part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, they received another, more fitting tribute by going into the team's Ring of Honor -- together. During halftime of the Cowboys-Redskins game, their names were unveiled across the stadium's facade around the 50-yard line facing the Dallas bench.

However, the grand event was marred a bit by the annoying mascot everyone has grown to hate over the years. Just as in previous events, the vapid foam-brained joker was jumping and dancing as the three names were revealed in the ring. When will he be permanently removed? His role has diminished over the past couple of seasons, but his mere presence takes away from truly serious and emotional events such as this. Please Jerry - Remove Rowdy."

Rowdy became the mascot of the team in 1996. Let's see what's happened to the Cowboys since Rowdy has been the mascot: Isn't it a coincedence that 1996 was the last time the Cowboys have won a playoff game?

The 1990's Decade

1997: The Cowboys battling injuries started the season with a 6-5 record entering a midseason show down with the Packers in Green Bay. The Cowboys would be blow out in that game 45-17, and it would the start of a season ending losing streak that ended their season with a disappointing 6-10 record. Following the season Barry Switzer would resign under pressure, he would be replaced by offensive guru Chan Gailey.

1998: The Cowboys take advantage of a weakened NFC East to win the Division Title for the 6th time in 7 years with a 10-6 record. On the way to the Division Title the Cowboys became the first team ever to march through the NFC East undefeated sweeping all opponents for an 8-0 record against division rivals. In the Wild Card round the Cowboys were matched up against another division rival in the Arizona Cardinals who they man handled twice in the regular season. However, the Cowboys playing without Deion Sanders were stunned by the Cardinals 20-7.

1999: After a rough off-season in which Leon Lett was suspended for the entire season for drug use, and former OT Mark Tuinei died form an overdose the Cowboys started the season 3-0. However storm clouds were on the horizon as FB Darryl "Moose" Johnston career came to an end with a series of neck and back injuries. In week 4 the Cowboys would suffer another loss when Michael Irvin suffered a career ending neck injury in a 13-10 loss to the Eagles. Making matters worse was the tasteless Eagles fans who actually cheered as Irvin was taken out on a backboard with his head and neck immobilized. The Cowboys would still go on to make the playoffs despite a mediocre 8-8 record. In the Wild Card game at Minnesota the Vikings scored 24 unanswered points to win the game 27-10. Following the season Coach Chan Gailey is fired and replaced by Dave Campo.

The 2000 Decade:

Defensive coordinator Dave Campo was promoted to head coach, but he could only post three consecutive 5-11 seasons. Many fans and media were beginning to blame Jerry Jones for the team's ills, noting that he refused to hire a strong coach, preferring to hire coaches who did not want to be involved with personnel duties so that Jones himself could manage them. Jones then lured Bill Parcells out of retirement to coach the Cowboys. The Cowboys became the surprise team of the 2003 season, posting a 10-6 record and a playoff berth by having the best overall defense in the NFL. However, during the next two seasons, the Parcells-led Cowboys missed the playoffs. The Cowboys then finished an up-and-down 2006 season with a 9-7 record and a playoff appearance, but after a last second loss in the Wild Card Game against the Seattle Seahawks, Parcells retired and was succeeded by Wade Phillips.[9] In his first season as head coach, Phillips and his coaching staff led the franchise to its best seasonal start ever and its 16th NFC East championship title, the most of any team in that division. (Washington and Philadelphia are tied for second with seven championships each.)[10] The Cowboys were eliminated by the Giants in the divisional round of the playoffs, the first NFC #1 seed to do so since the 1990 playoff re-alignment.

So to sum it all up, Rowdy joins the Cowboys in 1996 and the Cowboys have not won a playoff game since. You tell me, is that a jinx or not? For crying out loud, the Texas Rangers have won a playoff game since the Cowboys have!!

So even though I'm a die-hard Cowboys fan (I've either seen or listened to every Cowboys game in history), I am getting tired of some things. I'm getting tired of the expectations in June about how the Cowboys are going to win the Super Bowl and all of the high-priced problems (players like T.O., Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson et al) and how we are going to win this or that, only to have the melt-downs in December and another frustrating loss in the first round of the playoffs. I guess I should be glad I support a team that even makes the playoffs, but that's not what Cowboy's tradition is to me.

Jerry, get rid of Rowdy!