Monday, December 29, 1997

What to do, what to do?

By CANDY REAGAN

Well, this certainly is an unfamiliar feeling.

Here we are -- it's still December -- and the Cowboys' season is over. No Cowboy game this past weekend, none next week or the week after. No reason to rush home from the holidays.

The playoffs without the Cowboys? What's a Cowboys fan to do in January? I'm struggling to think back to the late 80's and remember.

Yes, this is an unfamiliar feeling, and it's just the latest in a host of unfamiliar feelings I have experienced this season.

For one, there's that unfamiliar feeling of disgust at a team that has at-times played like bumbling idiots.

There's that unfamiliar feeling of watching Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin make key mistakes to lose a game. Like seeing Troy Aikman step out-of-bounds and lose six yards rather than throwing the ball away.

There's that unfamiliar feeling of watching this Cowboys team be unable to get psyched for the big game. If one thing has characterized this team during its success in the '90s, it was the team's ability to play big in big games.

Not this season.

Then there's that unfamiliar feeling of a Dallas Cowboys team that can't come from behind. The Cowboys of the '90s have rarely needed to come from behind. In past years, they were up by so many points so early in the game, the final was rarely in dispute.

And previous Cowboys teams never had any trouble coming from behind. In fact, Roger Staubach was great at leading last-second winning drives, and so was Danny White.

But this season the Cowboys needed to come from behind, and in most cases, couldn't.

And, I personally found it new territory during the final game of the season when I actually preferred that the Cowboys lose to improve the team's status for the draft. My husband had to remind me several times that we wanted them to lose.

And then, of course, there's that unfamiliar feeling of expecting, and wanting, the Cowboys coach to be replaced.

The Cowboys have only had three coaches in their history, and few fans, if any, wanted to see Tom Landry replaced. That was a quick and unexpected move that took most of us by surprise.

The same with Jimmy Johnson. Although, I didn't like him personally, he did have a knack for leading the Cowboys to the Super Bowl, and I thought only an idiot would fire him.

But, of course, the Cowboys have just that in owner Jerry Jones.

So for the first time ever, Cowboys fans are anticipating a coaching change.

And that's as unfamiliar as it gets.

So is this the end of an era?

No doubt.

Barry Switzer will likely be gone. Already Charles Haley, Jay Novacek and the dominating offensive line are gone. I suppose we Cowboys fans shouldn't complain. After all, we did have three Super Bowl victories this decade.

That's not too shabby.

Still I can't help but think the team doesn't have to be as bad as they were in the late '80s. The Cowboys still have a lot of good players, and I expect them to be back in fight next year.

Oh yeah. I'm remembering now how we handle this. We sit around for the next several months and say, "At least we'll get a high draft pick and an easy schedule."

Or even better: "There's always next year."