Not even St. Nick can grant wish for Cowboys to earn playoff berth
by Jennifer Bentley, sports editor

     I have been really good all year long. I have not cheated; I have obeyed the traffic laws; I have parked where I’m supposed to. But  Santa will not bring me what I want this year.

     He’s not a miracle worker. And a miracle is what it would have taken for the Cowboys to end up with a playoff slot.

     It’s not going to happen.

     For most of this season, I have been a critic.

     They have not done what they should have, when they should have done it. But at heart, I’m a Cowboys fan.

     So to face the holidays without the Cowboys in a playoff berth, and with the worst record since 1989, is not the most cheerful prospect in the world. It’s kind of hard to be in the holiday spirit when they lose, over and over again.

     This weekend, it was Tampa Bay and another depressing loss—27 to 7.

     It was not a good sign when former practice-squad quarterback Anthony Wright replaced Troy Aikman, Jerry Jones’ pampered darling. The game was over. Granted, the Cowboys were trailing by 20 points with 7 minutes and 45 seconds left, but still…. It was like the party was over, the guests were leaving, and we were stuck with the tab.

     The main problem, in retrospect, has been the defense.

     The top playoff contenders each have an outstanding defensive line.

     And the Cowboys have limped through, keeping with the old tradition of a star quarterback and a mediocre defense.

The times changed, and the Cowboys didn’t, and now, the effects face them.

     It also doesn’t help that Jerry Jones has switched coaches on the team repeatedly.

     A good team has a good relationship with its coach, and the Cowboys have switched partners far too often for a relationship to develop.

     So we are left with a team facing a 4-12 season, and no possible hope for that holiest of holies, the Super bowl.

     Now, in the off-season, the Cowboys face some major decisions.      Is Troy going to play for another season? Is he worth the money they’re going to spend on him? Should the defense be overhauled, should defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer be replaced, should Jerry Jones be bought out? Oops, sorry about that last one, personal opinions are affecting my article.

     At least we know one thing, for sure, maybe. Jones has said that head coach Dave Campo will still be here next season.

     But, Norv Turner has had a parting of the ways with Redskins owner Little Danny Snyder and will soon be a free agent for coaching. Will Jones’ loyalty to Campo survive? Or will the temptation to bring back one of his favorites be so much for Jones that he would switch coaches?

     Let’s hope not. The Cowboys need some stability. They have had none for years now with Jones’ it’s-my-team-and-I’ll-run-it-in-the-ground-if-I-want-to mentality.

     It takes time to fall from the glory days of three Super bowl wins in four years, and it will take time to get the team back up to anything near to what they resembled in the early ’90s. Or to what they resembled just a few short years ago when they were still winning.

     Santa is not a miracle worker, no matter how good I’ve been. He can’t go back in time and change the mistakes of the past. He can’t build a winning team out of the ashes of the bridges Jones has burned.

     I would say that I could content myself with playing armchair quarterback for another team. But I don’t know how. I’ve been cheering for the Cowboys for so long, I’d have to learn how to be a Seahawks fan, or a Packers fan, or even, heaven help me, a Jaguars fan.

     However, like the Cowboys, I have not changed with the times. So I can only sit back and hope for better times. And I guess I’ll spend all of next year being extra good and hope that Santa remembers me in 2001.