{"id":8246,"date":"2014-10-27T07:10:02","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T11:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thehogs.net\/blogs\/?p=8246"},"modified":"2025-06-02T00:00:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T04:00:29","slug":"hate-them-cowboys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/the-hogs.net\/blogs\/2014\/10\/27\/hate-them-cowboys\/","title":{"rendered":"Hate Them Cowboys"},"content":{"rendered":"

I can say with certainty that in the twelve years I have been running this site, the question I have been asked the most is, “how did you become a Redskin fan, living up in Canada?” I always answer unequivocally and without hesitation, “Well I hated the Cowboys. Then I loved the Redskins.”<\/p>\n

That’s the absolute truth.<\/p>\n

Things were MUCH different for young sports fans in the early 80’s when I was cutting my football teeth. Television coverage was sporadic compared to the broad array of options available to Joe Q. Public now. In a climate where there were only one or two football games a week available to watch, it seemed that the Cowboys were always on. I liked football, so I watched. The Dallas Cowboys were known as “America’s Team,” and even at 10 years old, I didn’t like them. At all.<\/p>\n

They had a bunch of poopy<\/em> heads on their team.<\/p>\n

I came to like whatever team was playing Dallas. That’s an adage I still follow today. If someone happens to ask me what football team I like, I tell them that I like the Redskins, and whoever is playing the Cowboys. I don’t know how many times I have said it in my life. It isn’t to be cutesy<\/em>, it’s just how my football brain evolved.<\/p>\n

Ultimately as I learned about the game in that first year, I learned about divisions and what the NFC East was and that THESE teams played the Cowboys TWICE a year. I knew that there was a good chance my football allegiance lay somewhere in the NFC East by virtue of that fact alone. All of my other sports allegiances I was born into, or are to local clubs, but with no local option in the NFL for me here in Canada, I was a free agent.<\/p>\n

So in 1981, I started watching football with more of an eye for individual teams as opposed to just watching. Late in November I believe it was, I caught the Cowboys vs Redskins game at a friend’s house who had a giant satellite dish. The satellite was a new experience, so watching a non-network broadcast football game was exciting territory for an 11-year old. That friend of mine was a “Cowboys fan”.<\/p>\n

Dick.<\/p>\n

Or Richard I guess he prefers to be called.<\/p>\n

It was on. Him versus me. Mano e mano<\/em>. Okay, we were 11 – it was more like a little bit of mouthy jarring. We may even have snuck in some profanity in momentary absences of parental observation.<\/p>\n

I took my first Redskins beat down that game. They hammered us to the tune of 24 or 25 to 10 or something. He kept saying, “The Redskins suck.” I kept saying, “Nuh-uh, the Cowballs do. Dick!!”<\/p>\n

Some 30 years later, I have come to realize that all fans donning that stupid star are “Dick”s.<\/p>\n

My Redskins fandom was born on that day. Oh sure, the draft that year, and the imminent rise of The Hogs<\/a> was what rooted them in my soul; but it was that faithful day in late Novenber of 1981 when I first felt the coarsing rage of my burgundy and gold blood.<\/p>\n

And of course I still hate them Cowboys today; probably even moreso, as my vitriol has gained focus.<\/p>\n

Sure, I have friends that are Cowboy fans; but I consider it a tragic flaw in them, that I am willing to overlook. But not easily. Well actually, I can’t overlook it at all, so I guess that I “tolerate” or “put up with” it, is better phraseology.<\/p>\n

Because even the ones that are my friends, are “Dick”s. Especially on Game Day.<\/p>\n

I have a house rule that nobody EVER wears Cowboys garb in my house. Of any type. This has been exercised on several occasions… usually if a friend brings another new friend along to watch the game. It isn’t pretty, and usually goes something like this…<\/p>\n

Me: “You can’t wear that in my house.”<\/p>\n

Them: “HaHa. You hate them Cowboys huh?”<\/p>\n

Me: “This isn’t a joke. Did I stutter? Take that crap off.”<\/p>\n

Them: (to friend who brought them) “Ha. He’s kidding right?”<\/p>\n

Me: “If you don’t have a shirt to change into, then you can sit here shirtless, go get another shirt, or I will see if my girlfriend has a smock for you, but you can’t wear that crap in my house.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At this point, they either leave, or change. Nobody has ever opted for the smock. Which is good because I wouldn’t know a smock from a sock, but what I do know, is that you can’t ever come into my house wearing a star.<\/p>\n

For some reason, no one that has ever actually stayed after removing said Cowboys gear, has ever been very boisterous or annoying during the game. Regardless of result.<\/p>\n

Tossers. Every one of them. Even my friends.<\/p>\n

On Game Day anyway.<\/p>\n

Because at the end of the day…<\/p>\n

I just hate them Cowboys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I can say with certainty that in the twelve years I have been running this site, the question I have been asked the most is, “how did you become a Redskin fan, living up in Canada?” I always answer unequivocally and without hesitation, “Well I hated the Cowboys. Then I loved the Redskins.” That’s the … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[53,1655],"class_list":["post-8246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-washington-redskins","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-washington-redskins"],"yoast_head":"\nHate Them Cowboys | The-Hogs.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/the-hogs.net\/blogs\/2014\/10\/27\/hate-them-cowboys\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hate Them Cowboys | The-Hogs.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I can say with certainty that in the twelve years I have been running this site, the question I have been asked the most is, “how did you become a Redskin fan, living up in Canada?” I always answer unequivocally and without hesitation, “Well I hated the Cowboys. 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