You were far smarter than me. I remember getting together with my buddies I grew up with that happened to be Pittsburgh fans and we watch from my Dad's small bar. We were all single and in our 20's. Aikman was still young and in his prime, as was Irvin and Emmitt. I still had hope. Now my kids are the age I was back then and the oldest is married and I'm looking forward to grandchildren. Amazing.....
I was in my 20's as well and had been a rabid cowboy fan growing up because I lived right next to the practice facility, went to school with the players kids (like Melvin Renfro <RIP>, Newhouse, etc) and got to know the players by hanging out watching practice, etc; they were like family and the sustained winning and level of excellence just spoiled me rotten
I don't know how smart I was, I just had an overwhelming reaction to the news that jeri had fired Jimmy after back to back Super Bowls and my first thought was they'll never win again with an owner this petty, arrogant, clueless, petulant and self absorbed. I felt certain a team sport cannot succeed when this is what emanates from the top (unless you can buy enough players to overcome this disadvantage but jeri got the salary cap pushed through which killed the only advantage he is capable of bringing to the table)
This was one of two events that are burned in my mind
The other was when Jimmy was hired.
I was working at Deloitte & Touche (it might have still been Touche Ross back then) and my hand was stolen to twice its size because I had stupidly tried to break up a fight between a Rotweiller and a Labrador and the Rot got me good. The talk all week had been about how Landry needed to go and then the announcement suddenly came that Jimmy was hired and I was ecstatic!
But I was the only one because everyone who had been calling for Landrys head were suddenly pissed off he had gotten fired. I was laughing at their turnabout asking if they had lost their minds and said this is the best thing to happen to the Cowboys in a decade because I have never been more sure about something in my life than believing it would simply be a short matter of time before Jimmy had us back on top again and he did so even faster than I expected with results far beyond my wildest imagination.
I had the same level of confidence they'd never win again when I watched the press conference with jeri (& Jimmy) announcing his departure and I was sick to my stomach about it as my heart sunk to the floor. It probably took 15+ years to fully get over it to the point where I now have no feeling left for the organization. My love for the cowboys is more like the love of someone who has died or your first love who is never coming back, just a faint, fond memory thus why my fandom is dead
