“It’s Getting Hot Jerry, Isn’t It?”

With the Dallas Mavericks winning a title, the Texas Rangers playing in the World Series last year, and the Dallas Stars winning the Stanley Cup in 1999, would you be surprised to hear the Dallas Cowboys are the team in the Dallas market with the longest drought of playing for a championship? You have to think while it was good for the Dallas-Fort Worth area, a part of Jerry Jones had to be dying, watching Mark Cuban celebrate an NBA Title with his Dallas Mavericks. After seeing the Texas Rangers in the World Series last year, Jerry has to be feeling the pressure to deliver a team that can make a serious run in the playoffs soon or risk losing some market share in the Dallas area. With ticket prices for every sport constantly rising and the economy only slowly recovering who would you want to spend money to see; a team that is competing for a World Series, an NBA title, or a team with a meddlesome General Manager who seems to be doing his best to have the fans endure a painful lockout.

I’m not seriously thinking the Cowboys would become irrelevant with the national or Dallas media, because like the New York Yankees, University of Notre Dame and a few other sports dynasties, the Cowboys always generate more sports coverage and attention than they certainly warrant. You have to wonder though how much longer the Cowboys can still feel they own the Dallas market if the streak continues of missing the playoffs, first round playoff loses, poor drafting and free agent signings while other sports teams in the same market are winning or playing for titles. Hopefully for Cowboys’ fans across the world, Jerry does his part to get this labor situation resolved as soon as possible, allows Jason Garrett the chance to continue coaching without any interference from the front office, and spends money wisely on free agents. As the Packers showed the league last year, it takes an entire roster to win a Super Bowl. In other words, it’s better to sign three or four good players to fair deals than overspend for one or two flashy players like Jerry has done in the past.

Prior to the lockout starting, Dallas was making what appeared to be some really good moves in hiring Jason Garrett as head coach on a full time basis and giving him control of the staff and roster, adding Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator, drafting the first offensive lineman in round one in thirty years, and preparing to make some difficult roster decisions regarding the future of such players as Marion Barber, Marc Columbo, Terrance Newman, Roy Williams, Leonard Davis, and Keith Brooking. It just appears now, with the Dallas Mavericks winning an NBA title, and the Texas Rangers poised to make another playoff run, that things are going to be a lot hotter in Texas for Jerry to continue to make the smart and sometimes hard football moves in an effort to have the Cowboys make a serious playoff run. Just how hot can it get in Texas? We may soon find out.

You can follow Pat on Twitter at @ftballdialogue