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Thursday, June 19, 1997

Anticipation: Waiting for the Cowboys to take center stage

By ANTONIO TATE / Guest Columnist

Fall is just around the corner. And with it comes another season of the NFL.

Soon athletes will don their pads and begin the violent summer ritual known as training camp. Perfection is the only goal of the aged athlete crafting his skills to chase a silver crown. Grunts and groans filled the heavy summer air as men battle each other to become part of the family.

Fans gather and watch the ritual. Every year, every team can go all the way. The young draftees look good, every phase of the game has been improved. Excitement grows and fans continue to watch their favorite stars blend with fresh talent. "Did you see that catch!?!" "Man, that guy can move!" Everyone is a star during the ritual.

Coaches agonize over decisions that will affect both men they have never met and men they have known for years. All this while trying to fit 80 men into 53 positions. Fans watch the news, read the papers and surf the net every day to see whose sweat was for naught. Feeling a loss when one player is cut and happiness when another suffers the same fate.

Soon the ritual is over and the season begins. Everyone is fresh and confident that they will do it this year. This is the year that we will win. The NFL's first weekend will see 15 teams take one step back and 15 take one step forward. Sweat and tears will be left on playing fields all over America for the next 4 months. Each Sunday, fans wake to greet the fresh brisk air of fall and winter, the clear day that smells of football or the harsh wintery day that feels like it. There is nothing else like it.

One by one, teams fall until there are but two remaining. They battle for themselves, their teams and their fans. They are watched by hundreds of millions, the day is almost a holiday.

Here I sit waiting in anticipation of this year's NFL season. Waiting for the Cowboys to take center stage and play the game. Knowing that this year is our year. Waiting for the morning that I wake and know that it is football season, waiting for the Cowboys to play.

I love football and the Dallas Cowboys. When they win, the week is good and when they don't, next Sunday cannot come quick enough. This is football, this is the NFL.

Catch22