Draw your own conclusions.
As founder of The Warren Report, Warren Etheredge hosts over 250 events every year,
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Nature versus Nurture. The gridiron might seem an improbable arena for resolving this age-old riddle, but the Dallas Cowboys‘ December may unscramble the chicken/egg-like conundrum.
Statisticians, die-hards and certain head coaches will tell you the Past is insignificant. Numbers are immune to history as the Present resets odds habitually. And, they are right. On any given Sunday, any team’s fortunes are a 50/50 proposition. Just ask the Raiders who beat the Bengals only to lose, convincingly!, to the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, 7-24. Oakland’s more irregular than Deion Sanders‘ wardrobe.
Psychologists, cynics and certain talking jocks will tell you the Past is inescapable. The Past is precedent; late-season swoons are an insurmountable intangible. And, they may be right. Witness 2008′s year-ending, soul-crushing shellacking at Lincoln Financial Field. Question is: do these Dallas Cowboys have it in them to prove the latter group wrong? We’ll see this weekend. Dallas needn’t necessarily win, but a blow-out or last-second loss might devastate… which leaves little room for error and plenty for followers’ terror.
If the Cowboys defeat the New York Giants, the team solidifies its first place division lead and Nurture moves ahead. While I have been consistently critical of Wade Phillips‘ abilities as a head coach, a victory would make me, more strongly, reconsider my doubts than his current 8-3 (30-13) record already has. I would lend credence to the notion that this year’s team is most truly, finally “his,” not some bedeviled, if talented inheritance from Bill Parcells. Wade has assumed accountability for his strength, the defense, and suggested the offensive gameplan, while not called by him, is an accurate reflection of his philosophy… though he tinkers with the OC’s balancing (t)act weekly. The off-season and training camp were under his re-dedicated supervision. And, the regular season has proceeded as he’s directed, from Victory Mondays thru erratic Sundays. Jerry Jones has helped prune the offense to one that’s Romo-friendly and drafted a kick-off specialist who is field position-friendly… with benefits. If Dallas wins, Wade’s nurturing will have overcome doubters’ notions of the Cowboys’ un/natural self-destruction and Jerry can hog or halve the credit as he so whimsically desires.
In order for Dallas and Nurture to triumph, the team — not just its quarterback — will need to adopt Parcells’ commandment: Never let good enough be enough. Yes, the Cowboys beat the Raiders Thursday and edged the Redskins before that, however, neither victory should be regarded as good enough. We can enjoy them as fans, but the team must demand more of themselves. To wit…
* Dear Tony Romo, Ignore the labels, neither a bus-driver nor a gun-slinger be. Be yourself. That’ll get us the win/s.
* Winning may be what it’s all about Roy Williams, but posting some decent numbers or making a highlight catch would be better than beneficial… they could be playoff-clinching.
* Uh-oh, Kyle Kosier, even you got two flags thrown your way the other day. Contrary to popular belief, penalties needn’t be contagious. Just keep your hands clean… and away from opposing helmets. Same goes for your line-mates, even the new guy. May the Truth set you, Free.
* I don’t care if it’s duck season, rabbit season or mating season, for that matter, if the camouflage get-up helps you, Marcus Spears, wear leafy-skivvies on game day. This is a playoff hunt, after all.
* I’m convinced, Bobby Carpenter: you’re not a bust. But why not shame your critics by playing like an overzealous curfew-enforcer, that is, LIGHTS OUT!
* Love you, Nick Folk, but whether it’s the yips, your hip or Mat McBriar’s grip, you need to drop the Scott Norwood impersonation. It’s good, but I’d prefer you mimic Adam Vinatieri… or Christopher Walken.
* Good things — not just celebrity deaths — come in threes, Patrick Crayton. Take another one to the house and Cribbs will be remembered as that MTV show not some guy up in Cleveland.
It is tempting to let minor successes buoy you after surviving stormy seas. However, bobbing along ain’t no way to get back to shore. Or, The Super Bowl. I know I have allowed momentary stress-relievers to rebalance me AND then made me complacent only to lose myself to the lurch once more.
Some would argue my occasional tendency to implode is the result of my childhood, a tattered and battered affair that left me with good reason to give up in toughest times. Some, even my ex, have suggested that having suffered abuse as a kid, I am incapable of parenting or, hell, living, maturely, as I am bereft of role models or a lover’s consistent monitoring. And, from time to time, I succumb to her curse, this curse, believing my earlier experiences are the consequence of some (self-)loathsome core that cannot be denied; the victim’s irrational need to make sense by accepting responsibility for the unimaginable. And then, when I regain consciousness, as it were, I remind myself that sometimes, the fault does lie in our stars, not ourselves. Sometimes, circumstances collude, and in so doing, collide with our selves’ own true Natures. Looking back, clearly, I can be prouder of the fact I endured rather than dwelling on the misery of the endurance. It is my Nature to survive and thrive, not to be beaten down.
Plenty of pundits have analyzed the Cowboys’ collapses of years past. I beg you to believe these retrospectives are irrelevant. Do not condemn a team, a quarterback, any individual to future failures due to past mistakes or misfortunes. Prophecies self-fulfilled are the hollowest victories. Instead, enable a team, a quarterback, any individual, to redeem themselves from histories of which they are more ashamed than you. Let them embrace their genetically- (or God-) blessed abilities and the possibilities born of greater, later, nurturing. Or coaching.
Damn, in re-reading, I just realized, we may have a tie on our hands. To determine the Nature vs. Nurture champ, we may just have to go into relativistic overtime… or march into Giants Stadium, helmets held high, baggage stored neatly in the locker room.
Go Cowboys!
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January 25th, 2010 at 1:14 am
I was hopeful all the way letting Philly slip in had me worried. Playing Indy was still in my hopes but Favre was on point and it was the big disappointing end to the season
After watching Favre take what I consider to be a cheap shot below the knees from behind to effectively end Minnesota’s year and most likely Favre;s career it sort of cheapened the win and invitation to the Super Bowl for the Saints. I actually think that the game would have gone to overtime anyway but it would have been a true dog fight til the end.
In post season I think that Philly needs to give McNabb the T. O . treatment and give him a choice, let him know that the quarterback of the team (Vick) is not comfortable working with him. Although Vick was listed as the third string quarterback he got more playing time than the second string guy you know whats his name.
In other news I am disappointed in Jim Mohr Jr I think that he should have conducted himself better in interviews as well as more coach like on the field instead of like the little momma’s boy that he is. Just because the men on the field know how to play the game does not mean that they run the show. A coaches job is to motivate his players to want to play, win or lose. Do your best we can deal with the rest.
Calling out players in public is not something that a coach should be remembered for. Being supportive in the public eye goes down better than anything else. If you have to make a negative comment in public either be general or point the finger back at yourself. I am sure these are all things that the real coach in that family has said to his son.
Next year is primed to be a humdinger all around the league – can the Browns become what the Seahawks should have already been?
Will Minnesota get a new stadium project green lighted?
Will Dallas rise above its self and become the dominate team of the decade and put the Patriots into the past?
Will San Fran be a team to be reckoned with or will Singletary be on his way?
Bengals – are they a threat to anyone but themselves one good year does not make a good franchise?
Will Seattle do the right thing and field a team that can play at the level that is demanded of the league on all fronts or will their game stay lopsided?
I often make a statement when a team loses horrendously that they sent in the local VoTech to play the game. Like when the Hawks blew out Jacksonville Votech 41 to 0. Those are exciting games that get the winning team high but for me the consumer I feel cheated and let down that the opposing team could not muster the ability to put three points on the board or that the defense is so inept that they could not stop the winners from scoring.
Players need to remember from our perspective they play for 5 months out of the year – they report to camp in June. That means that to the average Joe they work just over six months out of the year. They make more than 70% of their fans. So please play like it is fun and play like you value your job and fans the way that we value you as a player. Quit mailing in the performance just because LaQwisha or Dorothy is having a bad week or you had a rough Saturday night. We dont care. If you live with or have a drama queen in your life get her out, if you are out on Saturday night an have to work Sunday morning you like anyone else should be fired.
Let;s rest up heal up get ready for camp and get ready to kick some ass. This is football it is a contact sport it is not golf someone has to win and someone has to lose but we are all gentlemen at the end of the day to say the least
Thinkingcaveman
January 26th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
This season hasn’t yet ended, still I’m thinking ahead.
Of course, I am most interested in the Cowboys’ continued(?) fortunes. Will they improve? Can they compete to play a Super Bowl on their home field?
If forced to choose a second favorite team, I’d opt for the Seahawks, thus am truly concerned about the recent coaching overhaul. While I applaud the dismissal of the enervating Mora Jr., I am somewhat appalled by the installation of the morally-dubious and NFL-challenged Carroll. There’s a big leap from USC to the NFC West. I’m not convinced that white man can (make the) jump.
Conversely, I am a true fan of Singletary, a coach who possesses more of the intangibles of greatness than, perhaps, the x’s and o’s, but a man I’d sooner have run the Cowboys than that son of a Bum who currently does. Singletary demands excellence of his team on the field and on a handful of occasions has proven he expects the same of them away from the gridiron. Earlier this year, Tony Dungy explained why it’s hard for college coaches to succeed in the NFL: because its easier to motive a poor 19-year-old than a rich 25-year-old. This may be true, however, Singletary refuses to allow age or income prevent him from setting a higher bar for his players. Rah, rah!
As for the Saints “marching” into the Super Bowl, I, too, would have preferred had the team done so minus the multiple late hits and gifted fumbles. (Nevertheless, I must admit I have never been a Favre fan and took some delight in watching him end his season/career on such a poorly-contemplated throw. I just wish his legs hadn’t been cut out from under him beforehand. Let folks fail on their own merits, I say.)
So, while N’awlins and Indy countdown to Sunday the 7th, I’m xing off days on the calendar till the kickoff of the 2010 season.