4th Fiddle? Dallas Cowboys' Drought Drags Them Down DFW Sports Rankings

When O.J. Simpson owned Dallas Cowboys' Texas Stadium, Deja Vu for Dallas Mavericks, Deja Boo for Texas Rangers and calling for a daily eclipse, all in this week's DFW sports notebook.

WHITT'S END 4.12.24: 

Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …

   *They’re popular. They’re profitable. But nothing about the Dallas Cowboys these days is productive. And “productive” I mean successful for the last – oh – 30ish years.

   Was on vacation a couple weeks ago when a tourist said to me upon learning I was from Dallas: “Oh, Cowboys. Yeah. They’re always right up there.”

   I mean … sorta.

   They have three straight 12-win seasons and 36 regular-season wins, behind only the two-time Super Bowl champion Chiefs. But since winning Super Bowl XXX in the 1995 season, they are only 5-13 in the playoffs and haven’t even sniffed a return to the NFC Championship.

   “Right up there” in revenue. But, no, not in results.

   Matter of fact, this side of the Bills – who lost four consecutive Super Bowls in the 1990s – the Cowboys are the most successful unsuccessful team in the NFL. The Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers have all won championships since the Cowboys last played in a conference championship game.

   Worst news: Nothing about this supposedly “All in!” offseason is doing diddly poo to change the narrative.

    With only Eric Kendricks arriving a slew of players – Tyron Smith, Tyler Biadasz, Tony Pollard, etc. – departing, the Cowboys’ Super Bowl odds have actually decreased since the start of free agency. They now have only the NFL’s ninth-best odds to win Super Bowl LIX next February, behind the Eagles in their own division and the Texans in their own backyard.

   *Chiefs vs. 49ers in the Super Bowl. Biden vs. Trump for President. Why not run back another battle from 2020 in 2024: Mavericks vs. Los Angeles Clippers. No matter who owns the homecourt advantage in their impending first-round playoff series, Luka Doncic and the Mavs have unfinished business with the Clips.

   In 2020 in the bubble, Doncic hit that miraculous buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cap a 43-point performance in Dallas’ Game 4 win. Bur the Mavs lost the next two games.

   In 2021, the Mavs took series leads of 2-0 and 3-2 but couldn’t win a single game on their home court and wound up losing Game 7 in L.A.

   Even four years later, some of the main characters will be familiar in the rivalry: Luka, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber for Dallas; Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Ivica Zubac and Terance Mann for L.A.

   *Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Jose Leclerc is a bum of a closer and the Rangers won’t win anything if they can’t beat the Oakland A’s! It was almost a year ago that I – and you – bemoaned the Rangers losing layup games to the Triple-A A’s. We know how 2023 turned out. But … this week Leclerc gave up a two-run, game-losing homer in the 9th inning Tuesday and Texas was almost no-hit Thursday in losing two of three.

   *Not only was this week’s total solar eclipse a stunning visual, it did something I thought was no longer possible in the Divided States of America. It brought us together. All of us. For a glorious, magical four minutes – the length of “totality” – every American put down their tribal rhetoric, cultural differences and literally looked in the same direction. Up, at the moon/sun. I mean, then we immediately got in our cars and cut each other off in traffic and got on social media to criticize everyone who doesn’t look and act exactly like we do, but … we need an eclipse every damn day.

   Next chance in the U.S.: August 2044. If you just can’t wait, head to Egypt in 2027 where there will be another total eclipse moving over the Pyramids.

   *Whether you remember him as the host of Channel 8’s Bowling For Dollars, one of the original voices of the Dallas Cowboys or the signature voice of Augusta’s famed 16th hole, Verne Lundquist is a Dallas treasure. Ol’ Vern, now 83, is working his 40th and final Masters this weekend on CBS. Lundquist belongs on DFW’s Sports Media Mount Rushmore alongside Dale Hansen, Randy Galloway, Blackie Sherrod and Norm Hitzges.

   *Hot.

   *Not.

   *Long before he was the most enigmatic suspect in American justice history, O.J. Simpson was an entertaining superstar. Simpson, who died of cancer this week at 76, went 0-3 against the Cowboys during his Hall-of-Fame career and never rushed for more than 78 yards in a game. He was, however, the MVP of a game played at Texas Stadium. O.J. ran for 112 yards and a touchdown to lead the AFC to a win in the 1973 Pro Bowl played on a 44-degree January afternoon at the Cowboys’ old home. Chasing him that day for the NFC defense: Cornell Green, Dick Butkus and Merlin Olsen.

   *Fans of women’s college basketball are crowing that their National Championship Game drew a bigger television audience than the men’s game this week. Of course, the women played on ABC (available to 305 million) and the men on TBS (71 million), but don’t let facts get in the way of a blowhard argument. If you want to debate “popularity,” the men’s tournament generated $200 million revenue; the women $25 million. But instead of resurrecting 29-year-old Billie Jean King beating 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in 1973’s “Battle of the Sexes,” let me ask a serious question: If you really love something, why do you desperately seek other people’s validation of it? Popularity in no way mandates quality. McDonald’s as America’s best-selling hamburger and 2 Broke Girls having a six-year run on prime-time TV quickly come to mind.

   *Aside from his insane ball-handling wizardry and clutch shooting, best thing Kyrie Irving is doing for the Mavs is making basketball fun again for Luka. After a timeout this week in Miami, Doncic sprinted the length of the floor to help Kyrie up after an acrobatic layup. There were times the last couple of seasons where – despite his MVP-caliber play – Luka never smiled.

   *To no surprise, Texas was near the top for white supremacist events held in 2023. Our state hosted 500 wanna-be Ku Klux Klan meetings. Shockingly, that wasn’t the most in the U.S. Congrats to … Virginia?

   *I have two vivid O.J. memories: 1. Interviewing him at Valley Ranch in the early 1990s when he was a sideline reporter for NBC’s NFL coverage; 2. Covering a World Cup game at the Cotton Bowl in 1994 and huddling shoulder-to-shoulder with journalists from all over the world to watch O.J.’s white Bronco slow-speed chase.

   *History with a strong Dallas accent: Only athlete to ever win an Olympic medal and a Super Bowl in the same calendar year: SMU’s Michael Carter (1984); Only athlete to ever win an Olympic gold medal and a Super Bowl? Cowboys’ Bob Hayes.

   *If you thought the recent earthquakes and eclipse were ominous signs, here come the locusts. Check that, cicadas. Whew. Billions – with a b – will emerge from the ground in the next month as two giant broods converge. The swarms haven’t coincided since Thomas Jefferson was President and won’t again until 2245. They’re loud, but essentially harmless. Unlike locusts, they don't destroy farmers' crops.

   *During last year’s epic Rangers run to the World Series it was Creed’s “Higher” that served as the musical motivational backdrop. Of course fans don’t want to ruin the mojo so this year they voted to hear after wins at Globe Life Field … Pat Green’s “I Like Texas”?

   *One of golf’s hidden jewels resides just north at Tanglewood Resort. Just a 3-wood from Lake Texoma, it boasts a gorgeous layout with all the fixins. And next month they’ll celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a Tequila & Tacos soiree. Fine, stay and play in DFW. But guarantee you get three margaritas and an all-you-can-eat taco buffet for – wait for it - $25. See ya there?

   *This Weekend? Saturday let’s take Big Brothers Big Sisters lil’ bro Ja to a second day “working” as a firefighter. Sunday let’s mix in watching The Masters with playing tennis. As always, don’t be a stranger.