Monday, October 6, 1997

So, is it not any fun anymore, Green Bay?

By CANDY REAGAN / Abilene Reporter-News

I'd like to personally welcome the Green Bay Packers to the world of Super Bowl winners.

Last year's Super Bowl champs are learning the hard way that the year AFTER the Super Bowl isn't near as much fun as the year OF the Super Bowl. It's a lesson that Cowboys and Cowboys fans know well.

In fact, the sounds I hear coming from Green Bay sound all too familiar.

The Packers, of course, cruised to a Super Bowl victory last year, with mostly easy wins and very few losses (including one to the Cowboys, of course.) The Super Bowl victory wasn't the first for the franchise, but it was the first for most of the players.

And although the team has been predicted by many to repeat, the team already has two defeats under its belt. And several of its wins have been close shaves.

Which, of course, is cause for hand wringing in Green Bay, despite yesterday's victory over front-runner Tampa Bay.

I couldn't help but chuckle this last week when I read that several Packers, including Brett Farve and Reggie White, were complaining that they "weren't having any fun."

Where have I heard that before?

Key Cowboys, particularly Troy Aikman, have been moaning about the "fun" being gone from the game since the team's back-to-back Super Bowl victories in 1992-'93. The game is never as much fun when you've had the experience of total domination and suddenly must settle for simply winning -- or barely winning.

And it's pretty difficult these days to dominate the game for several years in a row.

Stuff happens when a team wins the Super Bowl.

First, simply winning isn't good enough any more. A Super Bowl champion is expected to dominate. The grumbling in Green Bay began in the season's first week, when the team came out and just barely beat Miami.

Fans expected a stomping. Meeting the new, higher expectations, isn't much fun. Just ask the Dallas Cowboys. Everyone talks about how the Cowboys have struggled and declined since 1993. Still they have yet to miss the playoffs, and during the last three years they lost in the conference championship, won a close Super Bowl and lost in the divisional playoffs.

Most other teams would call that a successful and fun season. But not the Cowboys.

Plus, a Super Bowl champion is bound to lose some good players. In fact, the mediocre players on a Super Bowl team suddenly make other teams salivate and fork over the big bucks.

Those losses are bound to hurt depth.

Just ask the Cowboys. They have lost free agents galore. Larry Brown was only the Cowboys third best cornerback, but he went to Oakland for big dollars. His departure certainly hurt the Cowboys cornerback depth.

Now Green Bay gets a taste of the same medicine. Desmond Howard wasn't even good enough to be a starting receiver for the Packers, yet, he too went to Oakland for money.

There goes some depth.

Then, of course, there's the fact that every single team is gunning for a Super Bowl champ. A team might not win another game all year long, but if they can just beat the Super Bowl champs, they have accomplished something.

Even beating the easy teams becomes difficult when each one is psyched and ready to play.

That's not just a whole lot of fun, is it?

The Packers still have possibly the best shot at winning the Super Bowl, and they will likely win big in some games -- maybe even the game against the Cowboys. But if they thought this season would be just as easy, and fun, as last year, well then all I can say is:

Welcome to our world.

Candy Reagan, a local free-lance writer and avid sports fan, writes a weekly sports column commenting on sports happenings. You may contact her by e-mail at reagan@camalott.com.