The Day of Reckoning

Aveosmth · June 24th, 2005, 01:38 PM

The competitors articles have been submitted to the judges!!

The topic was: Which football team has had the greatest legacy since 1960?

Nick in Dallas chose: Who else but them Cowboys

Which NFL team has the greatest legacy since 1960? An interesting question to be sure. Not who is the best team, not who is the most liked team, but who has the greatest legacy. My friends, the answer could not be more clear: I give you (drum roll please) the tennessee titans!

No, wait, sorry Rusty, that’s not it. The real answer of course is the Dallas Cowboys. My trusty Oxford American Dictionary defines legacy as: something handed down by a predecessor. Notice that the definition says nothing about the “something” being good or bad. Simply “something”.

After struggling out of the gate, the Cowboys went on to have the NFL’s longest streak of winning seasons (20) from 66-85. It’s the third longest streak of its kind in pro sports history. They played in an NFL record 160 straight sell out games (this includes home and away). They are tied for the most Super Bowl wins (5).

The Cowboys became known as America’s Team and not through their own doing! The Vice-President and Editor-in-Chief of NFL Films coined the phrase after the 1978 season. The reason? “I noticed that wherever the Cowboys played, you saw people in the stands with Cowboys jerseys and hats and pennants. Plus, they were always the national game on television.” After that, in the first game of the next season, the television announcer introduced them as America’s Team and it stuck.

Additionally, the Cowboys have been involved in some of the most memorable moments in NFL history.

“The Hail Mary” was coined because Roger Staubach said one in the huddle before a 50yd bomb to Drew Pearson to beat the vikings in minnesota and eventually go on the win the Super Bowl.

“The Trade” was the complete and total lapse of any rational thinking on the part of the vikings and allowed Dallas to build what would eventually become the team of the nineties for a single running back (Walker).

The Catch, The Ice Bowl, 3 Super Bowls in 4 years, The East Coast Bias, to say nothing of the people that have been a part of the organization: Landry, Johnson, Jones, Smith, Staubach, Dorsett, Doomsday Defense, Aikman, Irvin, Pearson, Hayes, Dupree, Schramm, the list goes on and on. Good, bad, but rarely indifferent, these personalities and more have made sure that the Cowboys are never far from the spotlight.

Speaking of the aforementioned Schramm…

Some of you may have heard about Tex Schramm, the Cowboys President and GM from 1960 to 1989. What some of you may not know is how he helped mold the NFL to what it is today. Here are but a few highlights:

• Coordinated the merger of the established NFL and the American Football League in 1966

• Created the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

• Brought the NFL to the nation on Thanksgiving Day

• Spearheading the involvement of instant replay in the officiating of the game

• Gave the head referee a microphone for penalty announcements

• Shortened the play-clock

• Helped to develop a six-division wild-card playoff system

• Originated the idea of using a sports anchorman for major athletic events on television

• Built the NFL’s first bona fide scouting system

• Moved the official game time to the clock on the scoreboard

• Moved hash marks toward the middle of the field to open the field up more for offenses

• Developed the sudden-death overtime concept for breaking ties

• Implemented the in-the-grasp rule to protect quarterbacks

• Enabled quarterbacks to stop the clock by throwing the ball directly into the ground

• Made defensive linemen's head slaps illegal

That, my friends, is a legacy! Tex alone could win this debate.

The plain fact of the matter is that because of the legacy that has been built by the Dallas Cowboys people want to be here. People want to be a part of the franchise. Even when the team is bad, it still has a draw like no other team in the NFL.

Legacy, handed down year after year.

Dave M. chose the 49ers:

It all started with “The Catch”. It was the turning point that changed the history of the San Francisco 49ers and that of the NFL. The date was Sunday, January 10, 1982, the NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys at Candlestick Park. It’s a game that haunts every Dallas fan even still today. And it will most likely haunt them forever. Who would have known that this play would be the beginning of the best legacy in the National Football League? There’s nothing better than seeing Joe Montana being chased down by two Cowboys defenders, throwing the ball oFf his back foot and seeing Dwight Clark clutch the ball with fingertips in the back of the end zone, while a helpless Emerson Walls looks on in disbelief.

This is a play that propelled the 49ers into greatness. The legacy had begun.

What defines a legacy? To me, a legacy, in terms of sports teams, is an era in which one team dominated the rest. It’s a team where everyone is gunning for. It’s a team that other teams loved to beat, yet tried their hardest to emulate. It’s a team that other teams will do whatever they can to make this team crumble. It’s a team that other players dream of playing for. It is the San Francisco 49ers.

Throughout NFL history, there have been some great teams. The Packers of the 60’s, the Steel Curtain Steelers of the 70’s, the Cowboys in the 90’s and of course the Patriots of the current day. As great as all of these teams were/are, none of them quite measure up to the San Francisco 49ers, the Team of the 80’s. This name, which in my opinion is a misnomer given the fact that the 49ers were successful well into the 90’s as well, is a label that is well established. It’s a label given to the team by beat writers, sportscasters, the NFL, the list goes on and on. This wasn’t a self-imposed label, such as the “America’s Team” that the Dallas Cowboys gave themselves. Nobody outside of Dallas considers the Cowboys America’s team. But there is no denying that the 49ers were the Team of the 80’s.

So what makes the 49ers such a legacy? Why were they labeled the Team of the 80’s? Well, for starters, the San Francisco 49ers claimed four Super Bowl titles during that decade. They extended their dominance into the 90s, becoming only NFL team to produce 10-or-more wins for 16 consecutive seasons (1983-98). Since 1981, the 49ers have won 13 division titles, five conference championships and five Super Bowl championships (the first franchise in NFL history to win five), claiming the world title in 1981 (Super Bowl XVI), '84 (Super Bowl XIX), '88 (Super Bowl XXIII), '89 (Super Bowl XXIV) and '94 (Super Bowl XXIX). They are an unprecedented 5-0 in Super Bowl games. Also, in a span of 20 seasons, San Francisco had posted at least 10 wins seventeen times.

That, in a nutshell, separates the 49ers from all of the other teams in the league. The Packers had their time in the 60’s, the Steelers came and went and have never been near as great as they were in the 70’s and the Cowboys success is somewhat scattered throughout history. They were good in the 90’s, but the 49ers won their 5 Super Bowls in a shorter period of time than the Cowboys did, and were the first to win 5. The Patriots, while winning 3 Super Bowls in 4 years, are, to me, the least impressive of all the teams mentioned. I say this because, first of all, they don’t dominate the way the 49ers did. They also are playing in this new league of parity, expansion and salary cap.

I bring up the salary cap because this is another reason why the 49ers are the greatest NFL legacy. There are many reasons why the salary cap was implemented in the NFL. However, it is widely known that the main reason that the owners wanted a salary cap was to bring down the San Francisco 49ers. Like I mentioned in my opening statement, teams would do whatever they can to crumble this team, and the salary cap was a tool that the owners implemented to do just that. Owners couldn’t stand the legacy that the 49ers were creating. They hated that they had backup players on their rosters that were good enough to start on just about any other team. They got tired of hearing Pat Summerall and John Madden say, “The 49ers have so many weapons.” This was a phrase that you heard not for a season or two, but for 20 consecutive years. The 49ers dominated the league consistently. This is a fact this undisputable.

As jealous and envious other teams were of the 49ers, they did whatever they could to try to be just like them. The 49ers set the mold. It was them that coined the term, “Anything other than a Super Bowl Championship is unacceptable”, a term that every team now generically uses. Like I mentioned, teams hated the 49ers, but they were the class of the NFL, a model for other teams to follow if they ever wanted to achieve greatness.

What’s interesting to me is how now that the 49ers have FINALLY fallen from the elite status in the NFL that is all anyone can talk about. It’s front-page news that the 49ers were 2-14 last year. It’s the biggest thing since the invention of the wheel! Nobody cared when the Packers were terrible after the 60’s all the way until Favre arrived. Nobody cared that the Steelers were terrible. Nobody cared when the Cowboys were 1-15. Everyone had forgotten about all those teams. But dare put a lousy 49ers team on the field, and it’s a shock to everyone. Nobody forgets the 49ers. A legacy is always remembered.

There are other factors that back my claim of the 49ers having the greatest legacy as well. How many former 49ers coaches have branched off on their own to keep the 49er legacy alive? Here’s a list of former 49ers coaches that have gone on to do some pretty good things in their coaching careers:

Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan, George Seifert, Steve Mariucci, Dennis Green, Tony Dungy, Bruce Coslett, Ray Rhodes, Brian Billick, Jon Gruden, Pete Carroll, Jeff Fisher and Andy Reid.

If I’m not mistaken, almost all of these men have coached their own team in a Super Bowl with many having won them. Ya see, there’s a bit of the 49er legacy in many, many coaches and players around the league.

Let’s not forget about the WCO, or the West Coast Offense, either. Bill Walsh and the 49ers created this offense that a majority of teams currently use today. Sure, they add their own bells and whistles to it, but the base package is that of the 49ers. There is a reason why it’s called the West Coast Offense. Whenever you hear the team, West Coast Offense, you can’t HELP but think of the 49ers. It goes back to what I mentioned earlier. Teams want to do emulate what the 49ers did. They want to be able to accomplish the glory that they enjoyed. They want to be the next greatest legacy.

The 49ers have affected the NFL in a way that no other team has ever done. Their success is second to none. From that great era, they have 4 Hall of Famers (Montana, Lott, Young and Walsh) and a future Hall of Famer in Jerry Rice. They’ve definitely made their mark. In my mind, there is no other team with a greater legacy than the San Francisco 49ers. One would be hard-pressed to prove otherwise.

Nick's Rebuttal:

A Lesson In Dissection

When I read my opponent’s first sentence I thought, ‘Oh no, I’ve made a mistake. I’ve misread the topic and instead of 1960 it was 1980.’ Then I went back to the message and thought, ‘Huh, why would my opponent purposefully leave out 20 years?’ Turns out there wasn’t all that much for him to talk about really. I mean, sure the niners had winning seasons in ’70, ’71, and ’72. In fact they went all the way to the NFC Championship in two of those years and into the playoffs in the third. Unfortunately for them they ran into the Dallas Cowboys all three of those years and were promptly brushed aside like yesterdays news. And then I understood… his reality doesn’t start until the catch. Ok by me. Let’s begin shall we?

You will notice the following inconsistencies and errors in the 3rd paragraph:

He wants the niners to receive credit for their success in the 90’s, yet does not mention the fact that the Cowboys were actually a more dominant a team in the 70’s than the niners were in the 90’s – inconsistent.

He boasts about the niners receiving the team of the decade title by the writers but fails to mention the exact same honor was bestowed upon the Cowboys a decade later – inconsistent.

He claims that the Cowboys gave themselves the “America’s Team” moniker (I covered this in my first submission) - error

Moving along…

In the next paragraph we find our struggling author writing about the niners being the only team to win 10 games in 16 consecutive seasons. Well, that’s cute and all, but I’ll take the 20 consecutive years with a winning record over that (7 consecutive with 11 or more, so there). Again we note that our poor writer’s reality doesn’t start until ’81 with his stats, nevertheless, from the Cowboys inception there are 15 division titles to their 13; 8 conference championships to their 5; and an even 5 to 5 in the Super Bowl category. Oh, and our misguided essayist is also of the opinion that the above mentioned stats “in a nutshell, separates the niners from all other teams in the league”. (QUIT LAUGHING OR I”LL TURN THIS CAR AROUND RIGHT NOW!)

More quotes (AND I’D BETTER NOT HEAR SO MUCH AS A SNICKER):

“the Cowboys success is somewhat scattered throughout history.“

- Right, like the 70’s(10 out of 10 winning seasons), 80’s(6 out of 10), and 90’s(7 out of 10).

“it is widely known that the main reason that the owners wanted a salary cap was to bring down the San Francisco 49ers.”

- Um, what? Widely known by whom? The cap was introduced in 1994. Now let’s see, who was it that was coming off of back to back Super Bowl wins? Someone help me here… oh that’s right, Dallas.

“The 49ers dominated the league consistently. This is a fact this undisputable.”

-Actually, using the winning decade stats as we did above, we find that in the 70’s the niners were 4 of 10; 80’s: 8 of 10; 90’s: 9 of 10. That’s a collective record of 21-30 compared to the Cowboy’s 23-30. Waddyaknow, guess that fact is a little bit disputable after all.

Our bumbling playwright also feels that the niners 2-14 season is front page news (psst, buddy, only in sf does anyone care). The biggest thing since the invention of the wheel?

(I SAID STOP LAUGHING!!)

To be fair, our confused journalist probably hurt himself the most by defining the term “legacy” without using a dictionary. A legacy is not an era in which one team dominates the rest, that would be a dynasty. But for arguments sake; let us assume that he was correct, I’ve already dismantled his reasoning for giving the nod to the niners. Now back to reality, a legacy is something handed down by a predecessor. Think of it as an impression left for others to remember (and sometimes follow or use) for years to come. All of the reasons that I mentioned in the first submission; the memorable games, the memorable personalities, the way the game is played, and more, are why the Dallas Cowboys have the greatest legacy from 1960 in the NFL.

I’ll leave you with this final dissection of the final paragraph:

“The 49ers have affected the NFL in a way that no other team has ever done. Their success is second to none”

– Clearly. So long as we define ‘none’ as the Dallas Cowboys.

“From that great era, they have 4 Hall of Famers (Montana, Lott, Young and Walsh) and a future Hall of Famer in Jerry Rice”

– You all but asked for this: Dorsett, Lilly, Renfro, Staubach, White and the late great Landry and Schram (that’s 7). Plus, soon to be Aikman, Smith, and a gaggle of others from the 90’s. Not to mention ALL of the players that should already be in!

“In my mind, there is no other team with a greater legacy than the san francisco 49ers”

– Just about the only place that statement is true.

“One would be hard-pressed to prove otherwise.”

– Actually, I didn’t feel hard-pressed at all.

Dave M's rebuttal:

While my opponent makes a great attempt to prove his case that his beloved Dallas Cowboys have the best legacy in the NFL, his piece simply did not move me at all. He did have a couple of valid points, but that’s about as far as it goes. His argument is centered on three things: Tex Schramm, attendance and some NFL “historical” moments. Oh, and let’s not forget about the America’s Team jargon, either. Basically, his article consists of truths, half-truth and, well, I don’t necessarily want to say lies, not to mention a bunch of boring, useless facts that really do nothing to prove anything about a legacy. Let’s just say that his bias towards his team is gleaming and does nothing more but cloud his judgment and shields him from the truth that the 49ers are the true legacy of the NFL.

He mentions that the Cowboys “went on to have the NFL’s longest streak of winning seasons (20) from 66-85. It’s the third longest streak of its kind in pro sports history. They played in an NFL record 160 straight sell out games (this includes home and away). They are tied for the most Super Bowl wins (5).” And it’s all true. The 49ers, though, have enjoyed similar successes as well, having winning seasons in 18 seasons, not counting the strike year, just 2 shy of the Cowboys. They’ve also sold out 201 consecutive home games causing fans to be on a waiting list to buy season tickets for nearly 30 years. Sure, the Cowboys streak included roads games, but when you do the math, that span is only a 10-year run. The 49ers have been selling out games for more than 25 years. And yes, the Cowboys are tied for the most Super Bowl wins with five. But he fails to mention that they are tied with the 49ers and that the 49ers were the first to win five. They also did it in a shorter period of time. And let’s not forget that the 49ers hold FAR more Super Bowl records than the Cowboys, despite the fact that they have been there 4 less times than the lowly Cowboys.

Yes, it’s true that Tex Schramm did some admiral things for the NFL , especially the merger and the cheerleaders. And he sat on the rules committee. So do a lot of NFL coaches, but does that qualify them to be considered legacy? Some of the things that Nick mentioned here do nothing to sway me to think that the Cowboys are a legacy because of these moves. Here are a few of my favorites…

• Brought the NFL to the nation on Thanksgiving Day

Thanks, Nick. At least now I know who to thank for bringing us the annual boring perennial losing Detroit Lions. There’s nothing worse than having to watch that pitiful team with my stomach stuffed with Turkey and mashed potatoes.

• Moved the official game time to the clock on the scoreboard

That one has legacy written all over it. Come on, man.

• Moved hash marks toward the middle of the field to open the field up more for offenses

What a genius. All it does is favor the offense over the defense, one of his many moves as such. Makes it easier for field goal kickers, too. And this is considered GOOD for the game?

• Developed the sudden-death overtime concept for breaking ties

A rule that is soon to be replaced by the college tiebreaker system.

• Implemented the in-the-grasp rule to protect quarterbacks

Protect quarterbacks? Are they not football players? Again, a rule that does a disservice to the game.

AND THE ONE RULE THAT TEX SCHRAMM CREATED THAT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL………

• Enabled quarterbacks to stop the clock by throwing the ball directly into the ground

HUH? This is a guy that is on the rules committee to allegedly make the game better, and he comes up w/ a rule like this? Isn’t this, by definition, intentional grounding? Isn’t the quarterback INTENTIONALLY grounding the ball? All this does is give teams another time out. It’s a rule that really has negatively affected the game of football. Yeah, he’s a legacy all right. Don’t get me wrong, he’s done a lot of good, but not everything he has done was great, and certainly doesn’t propel the Cowboys to greatest legacy status.

Let’s talk about a half-truth now that my opponent spouted out about. “The Cowboys became known as America’s Team and not through their own doing! The Vice-President and Editor-in-Chief of NFL Films coined the phrase after the 1978 season.” Yes, NFL Films coined it, but coining a phrase doesn’t make it grow legs. Self-promoting, however, does. In an article written about the passing of Tex in July of 2003, it said, “Schramm was not the one who coined the team with the nickname, but popularized it and introduced the Cowboys cheerleaders.” They became known as America’s team because he popularized it. He took it and ran with it. So, don’t tell just half the truth, tell the whole story.

My opponent goes on to talk about some of the more memorable moments in NFL history and mentions the following…

“Hail Mary”, “The Trade” and “The Catch”. Hmmm. Look, we all know who coined the term “Hail Mary Pass”. But really, who cares? Is my opponent really pinning his legacy pin upon his chest based upon that? And the trade. How does THAT have anything to do with the Cowboys legacy? If anything, it goes down in history as the stupidest trade in the history of sports, more so vilifying the Vikings than granting the Cowboys legacy status as a result of it. And The Catch. Why in the world would he mention The Catch as a moment in Cowboy history when referring to their legacy unless he wants to show the legacy of disappointment within the Dallas franchise? “The Catch” was one of, if not the most agonizing moments in Dallas Cowboy history, second MAYBE only to Jackie Smith dropping a sure TD in Super Bowl XIII. When people are asked to define some of the greatest moments in NFL history, it’s highly unlikely that people are going to mention the coinage of the “Hail Mary” pass or the trade. They WILL mention things like “The Catch”, Bart Starr toughing one out to win in one of the Ice Bowls, against none other than the Dallas Cowboys. They’ll mention the Immaculate Reception, The Drive, they’ll mention lots of things, but I can guarantee you they will not mention the things that my opponent listed, less “The Catch”.

My opponent finishes his piece by saying that the Cowboys attendance is like no other team even when the team is bad. A statement like that would suggest that they would be near the top of the league in attendance even these past 5 or 6 years, and they’re nowhere near the top of the league. This is where his biased shows it’s true colors. The Cowboys have done some great things to be nominated for the title of greatest legacy, but they don’t surpass the aura of the 49ers.

The 49ers were a force to be reckoned with. Teams put in overtime in film sessions trying to figure out how to beat these guys. Like I said in my earlier piece, teams tried to use the 49ers blue print as a formula for success. Many teams continue to do so today. Teams don’t try to copy the Cowboys. They’d hate to lose 4 super bowls. Just ask the Buffalo Bills.

I’ll leave you with this bit of humor that dates back to 1993-94, the year that the 49ers beat the Cowboys in the NFC Championship at Candlestick Park and eventually went on to win their 5th Super Bowl title. If you can remember, it rained in San Francisco that week and that day. The field was covered with tarps to prevent the field from getting wet, of course. Before kick off, they rolled the tarps, full of water, off to the visitors’ sideline where they are kept. The sidelines were soaked to the point where each step you took on the sideline would sink nearly a foot. As is common practice, the field crew put fertilizer and other stuff down to try to absorb the water. It didn’t smell very good, let me tell ya. I worked the Cowboys sideline that day and all that the players would do, ONLY WHEN THEY WERE BEHIND IN THE GAME, mind you, was complain about the sideline. A few days after the game, Troy Aikman was on the Jay Leno show crying about it. They tried to get the head field guy from the 49ers to come on the show, too. Prior to the taping of the show, Leno’s people called him up, told him of the Dallas Cowboys complaints that the sideline smelled like shit. His response? “The only thing that smelled like shit that day were the Dallas Cowboys!”

That’s pretty much how I feel in regards to my opponent’s argument supporting the Cowboys. It’s a shitty one. The 49ers, without a shadow of doubt, are the NFL’s best legacy team of all-time.

BtownJay · June 24th, 2005, 01:45 PM

My god, i guess we threw the "shorter articles and to the point" right out the window with this one. Way too much reading for me. I feel bad for the judges who had to judge this.

NICKinDALLAS · June 24th, 2005, 02:03 PM

"And the trade. How does THAT have anything to do with the Cowboys legacy?"
- You're right. Receiving all of those players probably had nothing to do with the dominance in the 90's.

"My opponent finishes his piece by saying that the Cowboys attendance is like no other team even when the team is bad. A statement like that would suggest that they would be near the top of the league in attendance even these past 5 or 6 years, and they’re nowhere near the top of the league."
-There you go defining things without a dictionary again, I said that people want to be a part of the franchise ie players and coaches. I said nothing about attendance.

Rusty27 · June 24th, 2005, 02:13 PM

Awesome job by both Nick and Dave.I give the edge to Nick based on his cleary demonstrating the difference between the 49ers success over a decade or so and the legacy of the Cowboys since the 60's .Also bonus points for using my name in his opening remarks!!!!

Dave M · June 24th, 2005, 02:29 PM

You did say the team has a draw like no other. I take it as it draws a crowd, which would be attendance. And as for the trade, there's no doubt it contributed to the Cowboys of the 90's. But it was nowhere NEAR one of the historical moments in NFL history. How high would you seriously rank that in regards to a list of Most Historical Moments in the NFL? And the 49ers didn't need 40 years to create their legacy. They did it in half the time. Another reason that they're the greatest.

NICKinDALLAS · June 24th, 2005, 02:36 PM

Methinks that your rose colored glasses are distorting your view. The whole point of a legacy is that it is sustained over time. No doubt the niners were a dynasty... they just don't hold the legacy title.

Nevertheless, this entire process was a blast. Thanks to Avery for getting this up and running and allowing me to be apart of it. Good luck Dave!

NICKinDALLAS · June 24th, 2005, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rusty17

Awesome job by both Nick and Dave.I give the edge to Nick based on his cleary demonstrating the difference between the 49ers success over a decade or so and the legacy of the Cowboys since the 60's .Also bonus points for using my name in his opening remarks!!!!

Thanks Rusty.
That's what I'm here for, to make people laugh. I'm funny like a clown and here to amuse. (sorry, anytime I can work in a Goodfellas line, I just can't help myself)

Dave M · June 24th, 2005, 02:54 PM

I agree w/ Nick. It's all in fun. May the best guy win.

June 24th, 2005, 01:38 PM	#1
Aveosmth Loyalist Join Date: 01-28-2005 Posts: 241 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	The Day of Reckoning The competitors articles have been submitted to the judges!! The topic was: Which football team has had the greatest legacy since 1960? Nick in Dallas chose: Who else but them Cowboys Which NFL team has the greatest legacy since 1960? An interesting question to be sure. Not who is the best team, not who is the most liked team, but who has the greatest legacy. My friends, the answer could not be more clear: I give you (drum roll please) the tennessee titans! No, wait, sorry Rusty, that’s not it. The real answer of course is the Dallas Cowboys. My trusty Oxford American Dictionary defines legacy as: something handed down by a predecessor. Notice that the definition says nothing about the “something” being good or bad. Simply “something”. After struggling out of the gate, the Cowboys went on to have the NFL’s longest streak of winning seasons (20) from 66-85. It’s the third longest streak of its kind in pro sports history. They played in an NFL record 160 straight sell out games (this includes home and away). They are tied for the most Super Bowl wins (5). The Cowboys became known as America’s Team and not through their own doing! The Vice-President and Editor-in-Chief of NFL Films coined the phrase after the 1978 season. The reason? “I noticed that wherever the Cowboys played, you saw people in the stands with Cowboys jerseys and hats and pennants. Plus, they were always the national game on television.” After that, in the first game of the next season, the television announcer introduced them as America’s Team and it stuck. Additionally, the Cowboys have been involved in some of the most memorable moments in NFL history. “The Hail Mary” was coined because Roger Staubach said one in the huddle before a 50yd bomb to Drew Pearson to beat the vikings in minnesota and eventually go on the win the Super Bowl. “The Trade” was the complete and total lapse of any rational thinking on the part of the vikings and allowed Dallas to build what would eventually become the team of the nineties for a single running back (Walker). The Catch, The Ice Bowl, 3 Super Bowls in 4 years, The East Coast Bias, to say nothing of the people that have been a part of the organization: Landry, Johnson, Jones, Smith, Staubach, Dorsett, Doomsday Defense, Aikman, Irvin, Pearson, Hayes, Dupree, Schramm, the list goes on and on. Good, bad, but rarely indifferent, these personalities and more have made sure that the Cowboys are never far from the spotlight. Speaking of the aforementioned Schramm… Some of you may have heard about Tex Schramm, the Cowboys President and GM from 1960 to 1989. What some of you may not know is how he helped mold the NFL to what it is today. Here are but a few highlights: • Coordinated the merger of the established NFL and the American Football League in 1966 • Created the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders • Brought the NFL to the nation on Thanksgiving Day • Spearheading the involvement of instant replay in the officiating of the game • Gave the head referee a microphone for penalty announcements • Shortened the play-clock • Helped to develop a six-division wild-card playoff system • Originated the idea of using a sports anchorman for major athletic events on television • Built the NFL’s first bona fide scouting system • Moved the official game time to the clock on the scoreboard • Moved hash marks toward the middle of the field to open the field up more for offenses • Developed the sudden-death overtime concept for breaking ties • Implemented the in-the-grasp rule to protect quarterbacks • Enabled quarterbacks to stop the clock by throwing the ball directly into the ground • Made defensive linemen's head slaps illegal That, my friends, is a legacy! Tex alone could win this debate. The plain fact of the matter is that because of the legacy that has been built by the Dallas Cowboys people want to be here. People want to be a part of the franchise. Even when the team is bad, it still has a draw like no other team in the NFL. Legacy, handed down year after year. Dave M. chose the 49ers: It all started with “The Catch”. It was the turning point that changed the history of the San Francisco 49ers and that of the NFL. The date was Sunday, January 10, 1982, the NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys at Candlestick Park. It’s a game that haunts every Dallas fan even still today. And it will most likely haunt them forever. Who would have known that this play would be the beginning of the best legacy in the National Football League? There’s nothing better than seeing Joe Montana being chased down by two Cowboys defenders, throwing the ball oFf his back foot and seeing Dwight Clark clutch the ball with fingertips in the back of the end zone, while a helpless Emerson Walls looks on in disbelief. This is a play that propelled the 49ers into greatness. The legacy had begun. What defines a legacy? To me, a legacy, in terms of sports teams, is an era in which one team dominated the rest. It’s a team where everyone is gunning for. It’s a team that other teams loved to beat, yet tried their hardest to emulate. It’s a team that other teams will do whatever they can to make this team crumble. It’s a team that other players dream of playing for. It is the San Francisco 49ers. Throughout NFL history, there have been some great teams. The Packers of the 60’s, the Steel Curtain Steelers of the 70’s, the Cowboys in the 90’s and of course the Patriots of the current day. As great as all of these teams were/are, none of them quite measure up to the San Francisco 49ers, the Team of the 80’s. This name, which in my opinion is a misnomer given the fact that the 49ers were successful well into the 90’s as well, is a label that is well established. It’s a label given to the team by beat writers, sportscasters, the NFL, the list goes on and on. This wasn’t a self-imposed label, such as the “America’s Team” that the Dallas Cowboys gave themselves. Nobody outside of Dallas considers the Cowboys America’s team. But there is no denying that the 49ers were the Team of the 80’s. So what makes the 49ers such a legacy? Why were they labeled the Team of the 80’s? Well, for starters, the San Francisco 49ers claimed four Super Bowl titles during that decade. They extended their dominance into the 90s, becoming only NFL team to produce 10-or-more wins for 16 consecutive seasons (1983-98). Since 1981, the 49ers have won 13 division titles, five conference championships and five Super Bowl championships (the first franchise in NFL history to win five), claiming the world title in 1981 (Super Bowl XVI), '84 (Super Bowl XIX), '88 (Super Bowl XXIII), '89 (Super Bowl XXIV) and '94 (Super Bowl XXIX). They are an unprecedented 5-0 in Super Bowl games. Also, in a span of 20 seasons, San Francisco had posted at least 10 wins seventeen times. That, in a nutshell, separates the 49ers from all of the other teams in the league. The Packers had their time in the 60’s, the Steelers came and went and have never been near as great as they were in the 70’s and the Cowboys success is somewhat scattered throughout history. They were good in the 90’s, but the 49ers won their 5 Super Bowls in a shorter period of time than the Cowboys did, and were the first to win 5. The Patriots, while winning 3 Super Bowls in 4 years, are, to me, the least impressive of all the teams mentioned. I say this because, first of all, they don’t dominate the way the 49ers did. They also are playing in this new league of parity, expansion and salary cap. I bring up the salary cap because this is another reason why the 49ers are the greatest NFL legacy. There are many reasons why the salary cap was implemented in the NFL. However, it is widely known that the main reason that the owners wanted a salary cap was to bring down the San Francisco 49ers. Like I mentioned in my opening statement, teams would do whatever they can to crumble this team, and the salary cap was a tool that the owners implemented to do just that. Owners couldn’t stand the legacy that the 49ers were creating. They hated that they had backup players on their rosters that were good enough to start on just about any other team. They got tired of hearing Pat Summerall and John Madden say, “The 49ers have so many weapons.” This was a phrase that you heard not for a season or two, but for 20 consecutive years. The 49ers dominated the league consistently. This is a fact this undisputable. As jealous and envious other teams were of the 49ers, they did whatever they could to try to be just like them. The 49ers set the mold. It was them that coined the term, “Anything other than a Super Bowl Championship is unacceptable”, a term that every team now generically uses. Like I mentioned, teams hated the 49ers, but they were the class of the NFL, a model for other teams to follow if they ever wanted to achieve greatness. What’s interesting to me is how now that the 49ers have FINALLY fallen from the elite status in the NFL that is all anyone can talk about. It’s front-page news that the 49ers were 2-14 last year. It’s the biggest thing since the invention of the wheel! Nobody cared when the Packers were terrible after the 60’s all the way until Favre arrived. Nobody cared that the Steelers were terrible. Nobody cared when the Cowboys were 1-15. Everyone had forgotten about all those teams. But dare put a lousy 49ers team on the field, and it’s a shock to everyone. Nobody forgets the 49ers. A legacy is always remembered. There are other factors that back my claim of the 49ers having the greatest legacy as well. How many former 49ers coaches have branched off on their own to keep the 49er legacy alive? Here’s a list of former 49ers coaches that have gone on to do some pretty good things in their coaching careers: Mike Holmgren, Mike Shanahan, George Seifert, Steve Mariucci, Dennis Green, Tony Dungy, Bruce Coslett, Ray Rhodes, Brian Billick, Jon Gruden, Pete Carroll, Jeff Fisher and Andy Reid. If I’m not mistaken, almost all of these men have coached their own team in a Super Bowl with many having won them. Ya see, there’s a bit of the 49er legacy in many, many coaches and players around the league. Let’s not forget about the WCO, or the West Coast Offense, either. Bill Walsh and the 49ers created this offense that a majority of teams currently use today. Sure, they add their own bells and whistles to it, but the base package is that of the 49ers. There is a reason why it’s called the West Coast Offense. Whenever you hear the team, West Coast Offense, you can’t HELP but think of the 49ers. It goes back to what I mentioned earlier. Teams want to do emulate what the 49ers did. They want to be able to accomplish the glory that they enjoyed. They want to be the next greatest legacy. The 49ers have affected the NFL in a way that no other team has ever done. Their success is second to none. From that great era, they have 4 Hall of Famers (Montana, Lott, Young and Walsh) and a future Hall of Famer in Jerry Rice. They’ve definitely made their mark. In my mind, there is no other team with a greater legacy than the San Francisco 49ers. One would be hard-pressed to prove otherwise. Nick's Rebuttal: A Lesson In Dissection When I read my opponent’s first sentence I thought, ‘Oh no, I’ve made a mistake. I’ve misread the topic and instead of 1960 it was 1980.’ Then I went back to the message and thought, ‘Huh, why would my opponent purposefully leave out 20 years?’ Turns out there wasn’t all that much for him to talk about really. I mean, sure the niners had winning seasons in ’70, ’71, and ’72. In fact they went all the way to the NFC Championship in two of those years and into the playoffs in the third. Unfortunately for them they ran into the Dallas Cowboys all three of those years and were promptly brushed aside like yesterdays news. And then I understood… his reality doesn’t start until the catch. Ok by me. Let’s begin shall we? You will notice the following inconsistencies and errors in the 3rd paragraph: He wants the niners to receive credit for their success in the 90’s, yet does not mention the fact that the Cowboys were actually a more dominant a team in the 70’s than the niners were in the 90’s – inconsistent. He boasts about the niners receiving the team of the decade title by the writers but fails to mention the exact same honor was bestowed upon the Cowboys a decade later – inconsistent. He claims that the Cowboys gave themselves the “America’s Team” moniker (I covered this in my first submission) - error Moving along… In the next paragraph we find our struggling author writing about the niners being the only team to win 10 games in 16 consecutive seasons. Well, that’s cute and all, but I’ll take the 20 consecutive years with a winning record over that (7 consecutive with 11 or more, so there). Again we note that our poor writer’s reality doesn’t start until ’81 with his stats, nevertheless, from the Cowboys inception there are 15 division titles to their 13; 8 conference championships to their 5; and an even 5 to 5 in the Super Bowl category. Oh, and our misguided essayist is also of the opinion that the above mentioned stats “in a nutshell, separates the niners from all other teams in the league”. (QUIT LAUGHING OR I”LL TURN THIS CAR AROUND RIGHT NOW!) More quotes (AND I’D BETTER NOT HEAR SO MUCH AS A SNICKER): “the Cowboys success is somewhat scattered throughout history.“ - Right, like the 70’s(10 out of 10 winning seasons), 80’s(6 out of 10), and 90’s(7 out of 10). “it is widely known that the main reason that the owners wanted a salary cap was to bring down the San Francisco 49ers.” - Um, what? Widely known by whom? The cap was introduced in 1994. Now let’s see, who was it that was coming off of back to back Super Bowl wins? Someone help me here… oh that’s right, Dallas. “The 49ers dominated the league consistently. This is a fact this undisputable.” -Actually, using the winning decade stats as we did above, we find that in the 70’s the niners were 4 of 10; 80’s: 8 of 10; 90’s: 9 of 10. That’s a collective record of 21-30 compared to the Cowboy’s 23-30. Waddyaknow, guess that fact is a little bit disputable after all. Our bumbling playwright also feels that the niners 2-14 season is front page news (psst, buddy, only in sf does anyone care). The biggest thing since the invention of the wheel? (I SAID STOP LAUGHING!!) To be fair, our confused journalist probably hurt himself the most by defining the term “legacy” without using a dictionary. A legacy is not an era in which one team dominates the rest, that would be a dynasty. But for arguments sake; let us assume that he was correct, I’ve already dismantled his reasoning for giving the nod to the niners. Now back to reality, a legacy is something handed down by a predecessor. Think of it as an impression left for others to remember (and sometimes follow or use) for years to come. All of the reasons that I mentioned in the first submission; the memorable games, the memorable personalities, the way the game is played, and more, are why the Dallas Cowboys have the greatest legacy from 1960 in the NFL. I’ll leave you with this final dissection of the final paragraph: “The 49ers have affected the NFL in a way that no other team has ever done. Their success is second to none” – Clearly. So long as we define ‘none’ as the Dallas Cowboys. “From that great era, they have 4 Hall of Famers (Montana, Lott, Young and Walsh) and a future Hall of Famer in Jerry Rice” – You all but asked for this: Dorsett, Lilly, Renfro, Staubach, White and the late great Landry and Schram (that’s 7). Plus, soon to be Aikman, Smith, and a gaggle of others from the 90’s. Not to mention ALL of the players that should already be in! “In my mind, there is no other team with a greater legacy than the san francisco 49ers” – Just about the only place that statement is true. “One would be hard-pressed to prove otherwise.” – Actually, I didn’t feel hard-pressed at all. Dave M's rebuttal: While my opponent makes a great attempt to prove his case that his beloved Dallas Cowboys have the best legacy in the NFL, his piece simply did not move me at all. He did have a couple of valid points, but that’s about as far as it goes. His argument is centered on three things: Tex Schramm, attendance and some NFL “historical” moments. Oh, and let’s not forget about the America’s Team jargon, either. Basically, his article consists of truths, half-truth and, well, I don’t necessarily want to say lies, not to mention a bunch of boring, useless facts that really do nothing to prove anything about a legacy. Let’s just say that his bias towards his team is gleaming and does nothing more but cloud his judgment and shields him from the truth that the 49ers are the true legacy of the NFL. He mentions that the Cowboys “went on to have the NFL’s longest streak of winning seasons (20) from 66-85. It’s the third longest streak of its kind in pro sports history. They played in an NFL record 160 straight sell out games (this includes home and away). They are tied for the most Super Bowl wins (5).” And it’s all true. The 49ers, though, have enjoyed similar successes as well, having winning seasons in 18 seasons, not counting the strike year, just 2 shy of the Cowboys. They’ve also sold out 201 consecutive home games causing fans to be on a waiting list to buy season tickets for nearly 30 years. Sure, the Cowboys streak included roads games, but when you do the math, that span is only a 10-year run. The 49ers have been selling out games for more than 25 years. And yes, the Cowboys are tied for the most Super Bowl wins with five. But he fails to mention that they are tied with the 49ers and that the 49ers were the first to win five. They also did it in a shorter period of time. And let’s not forget that the 49ers hold FAR more Super Bowl records than the Cowboys, despite the fact that they have been there 4 less times than the lowly Cowboys. Yes, it’s true that Tex Schramm did some admiral things for the NFL , especially the merger and the cheerleaders. And he sat on the rules committee. So do a lot of NFL coaches, but does that qualify them to be considered legacy? Some of the things that Nick mentioned here do nothing to sway me to think that the Cowboys are a legacy because of these moves. Here are a few of my favorites… • Brought the NFL to the nation on Thanksgiving Day Thanks, Nick. At least now I know who to thank for bringing us the annual boring perennial losing Detroit Lions. There’s nothing worse than having to watch that pitiful team with my stomach stuffed with Turkey and mashed potatoes. • Moved the official game time to the clock on the scoreboard That one has legacy written all over it. Come on, man. • Moved hash marks toward the middle of the field to open the field up more for offenses What a genius. All it does is favor the offense over the defense, one of his many moves as such. Makes it easier for field goal kickers, too. And this is considered GOOD for the game? • Developed the sudden-death overtime concept for breaking ties A rule that is soon to be replaced by the college tiebreaker system. • Implemented the in-the-grasp rule to protect quarterbacks Protect quarterbacks? Are they not football players? Again, a rule that does a disservice to the game. AND THE ONE RULE THAT TEX SCHRAMM CREATED THAT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL……… • Enabled quarterbacks to stop the clock by throwing the ball directly into the ground HUH? This is a guy that is on the rules committee to allegedly make the game better, and he comes up w/ a rule like this? Isn’t this, by definition, intentional grounding? Isn’t the quarterback INTENTIONALLY grounding the ball? All this does is give teams another time out. It’s a rule that really has negatively affected the game of football. Yeah, he’s a legacy all right. Don’t get me wrong, he’s done a lot of good, but not everything he has done was great, and certainly doesn’t propel the Cowboys to greatest legacy status. Let’s talk about a half-truth now that my opponent spouted out about. “The Cowboys became known as America’s Team **and not through their own doing**! The Vice-President and Editor-in-Chief of NFL Films coined the phrase after the 1978 season.” Yes, NFL Films coined it, but coining a phrase doesn’t make it grow legs. Self-promoting, however, does. In an article written about the passing of Tex in July of 2003, it said, “Schramm was not the one who coined the team with the nickname, but popularized it and introduced the Cowboys cheerleaders.” They became known as America’s team because he popularized it. He took it and ran with it. So, don’t tell just half the truth, tell the whole story. My opponent goes on to talk about some of the more memorable moments in NFL history and mentions the following… “Hail Mary”, “The Trade” and “The Catch”. Hmmm. Look, we all know who coined the term “Hail Mary Pass”. But really, who cares? Is my opponent really pinning his legacy pin upon his chest based upon that? And the trade. How does THAT have anything to do with the Cowboys legacy? If anything, it goes down in history as the stupidest trade in the history of sports, more so vilifying the Vikings than granting the Cowboys legacy status as a result of it. And The Catch. Why in the world would he mention The Catch as a moment in Cowboy history when referring to their legacy unless he wants to show the legacy of disappointment within the Dallas franchise? “The Catch” was one of, if not the most agonizing moments in Dallas Cowboy history, second MAYBE only to Jackie Smith dropping a sure TD in Super Bowl XIII. When people are asked to define some of the greatest moments in NFL history, it’s highly unlikely that people are going to mention the coinage of the “Hail Mary” pass or the trade. They WILL mention things like “The Catch”, Bart Starr toughing one out to win in one of the Ice Bowls, against none other than the Dallas Cowboys. They’ll mention the Immaculate Reception, The Drive, they’ll mention lots of things, but I can guarantee you they will not mention the things that my opponent listed, less “The Catch”. My opponent finishes his piece by saying that the Cowboys attendance is like no other team even when the team is bad. A statement like that would suggest that they would be near the top of the league in attendance even these past 5 or 6 years, and they’re nowhere near the top of the league. This is where his biased shows it’s true colors. The Cowboys have done some great things to be nominated for the title of greatest legacy, but they don’t surpass the aura of the 49ers. The 49ers were a force to be reckoned with. Teams put in overtime in film sessions trying to figure out how to beat these guys. Like I said in my earlier piece, teams tried to use the 49ers blue print as a formula for success. Many teams continue to do so today. Teams don’t try to copy the Cowboys. They’d hate to lose 4 super bowls. Just ask the Buffalo Bills. I’ll leave you with this bit of humor that dates back to 1993-94, the year that the 49ers beat the Cowboys in the NFC Championship at Candlestick Park and eventually went on to win their 5th Super Bowl title. If you can remember, it rained in San Francisco that week and that day. The field was covered with tarps to prevent the field from getting wet, of course. Before kick off, they rolled the tarps, full of water, off to the visitors’ sideline where they are kept. The sidelines were soaked to the point where each step you took on the sideline would sink nearly a foot. As is common practice, the field crew put fertilizer and other stuff down to try to absorb the water. It didn’t smell very good, let me tell ya. I worked the Cowboys sideline that day and all that the players would do, ONLY WHEN THEY WERE BEHIND IN THE GAME, mind you, was complain about the sideline. A few days after the game, Troy Aikman was on the Jay Leno show crying about it. They tried to get the head field guy from the 49ers to come on the show, too. Prior to the taping of the show, Leno’s people called him up, told him of the Dallas Cowboys complaints that the sideline smelled like shit. His response? “The only thing that smelled like shit that day were the Dallas Cowboys!” That’s pretty much how I feel in regards to my opponent’s argument supporting the Cowboys. It’s a shitty one. The 49ers, without a shadow of doubt, are the NFL’s best legacy team of all-time.

June 24th, 2005, 02:03 PM	#3
NICKinDALLAS Registered Opinionated Smartass Join Date: 11-25-2004 Location: Um, really? Posts: 2,769 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	"And the trade. How does THAT have anything to do with the Cowboys legacy?" - You're right. Receiving all of those players probably had nothing to do with the dominance in the 90's. "My opponent finishes his piece by saying that the Cowboys attendance is like no other team even when the team is bad. A statement like that would suggest that they would be near the top of the league in attendance even these past 5 or 6 years, and they’re nowhere near the top of the league." -There you go defining things without a dictionary again, I said that people want to be a part of the franchise ie players and coaches. I said nothing about attendance. __________________ "Humanity is a parade of fools, and I am at the front, twirling a baton."

June 24th, 2005, 02:13 PM	#4
Rusty27 Good ol' Rocky Top;Rocky Top,Tennessee Join Date: 07-15-2004 Location: Knoxville,Tenn. Posts: 31,377 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	Awesome job by both Nick and Dave.I give the edge to Nick based on his cleary demonstrating the difference between the 49ers success over a decade or so and the legacy of the Cowboys since the 60's .Also bonus points for using my name in his opening remarks!!!! __________________

June 24th, 2005, 02:36 PM	#6
NICKinDALLAS Registered Opinionated Smartass Join Date: 11-25-2004 Location: Um, really? Posts: 2,769 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	Methinks that your rose colored glasses are distorting your view. The whole point of a legacy is that it is sustained over time. No doubt the niners were a dynasty... they just don't hold the legacy title. Nevertheless, this entire process was a blast. Thanks to Avery for getting this up and running and allowing me to be apart of it. Good luck Dave! __________________ "Humanity is a parade of fools, and I am at the front, twirling a baton."

June 24th, 2005, 02:29 PM	#5
Dave M Don't fight the feeling Join Date: 06-06-2005 Location: Pacifica Posts: 21 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	You did say the team has a draw like no other. I take it as it draws a crowd, which would be attendance. And as for the trade, there's no doubt it contributed to the Cowboys of the 90's. But it was nowhere NEAR one of the historical moments in NFL history. How high would you seriously rank that in regards to a list of Most Historical Moments in the NFL? And the 49ers didn't need 40 years to create their legacy. They did it in half the time. Another reason that they're the greatest.

June 24th, 2005, 02:54 PM	#8
Dave M Don't fight the feeling Join Date: 06-06-2005 Location: Pacifica Posts: 21 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	I agree w/ Nick. It's all in fun. May the best guy win.