Cowboys in NFC Championship Game? It's Officially Been 10,000 Days
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CHAMPS EDITION WHITT'S END 6.2.23:
Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …
*The Dallas Mavericks quit before the postseason. The Dallas Stars lost an elimination game on home ice by six goals. And the Dallas Cowboys can’t beat the San Francisco 49ers in January.
But, hey, it could be worse. Right, DFW sports drought?
Major professional sports have been around Dallas since the Cowboys were born in 1960. In 45 of the past 64 years, at least one local team has won at least one playoff game. This year – with 10 from the Stars and one from the Cowboys – we’ve celebrated 11 post-season game wins. Far from our best year, but also nowhere near our leanest.
While spoiled Miami fans alternate their energy between the NBA’s Heat and NHL’s Panthers over the next two weeks, DFW is left flirting with its longest championship drought. The Mavs haven’t won a title since Jason Kidd was a player. The Cowboys haven’t won since Barry Switzer was a coach. The Stars are oh-for-this-millennium. And the Rangers last won a playoff game when the starting pitcher was C.J. Wilson.
June 12 will mark 12 years since the Mavs’ title, and extend DFW’s drought to a dirty dozen years. Fast-approaching is our longest all-time gap: the 14 years between Tom Landry’s last (1978) and Jerry Jones’ first (1993) Super Bowl.
Where once we were treated to regular parades – four in seven years in the 1990s – there’s been only one since 2000. Our years between titles tell an ominous tale: 12-5-14-0-1-2-11-11.
DFW, which got its first playoff win by the Cowboys in 1967, has never experienced a calendar year in which all four teams won a playoff game. Three teams winning one has happened only once, in 2010.
Our best year was 2011, when the Mavs and Rangers combined for 26 playoff wins and one championship, while finishing one strike away from another win and an additional trophy. We’ve been completely shut out four years, including back-to-back 2017-18.
(Toldja it could be worse.)
Relatively speaking, this year and its 11 wins have been so-so. Since the donut in 2018 our teams have combined to win 8, 16, 3 and 12 playoff games. But with the Stars’ humiliating 6-0 close-out loss to the Las Vegas Golden Knights this week, all the pressure is now on the Rangers to win some playoff games …
And potentially stop our slump - after which, it'll be the Cowboys turn again, with most observers thinking this is a top-three team in the NFC and therefore a true Super Bowl contender. But the DFW Drought doesn't need "contention.'' We're thirsty for an actual win.
And when it all adds up? This weekend brings a benchmark of sorts: It's now been 10,000 days since Dallas last played in an NFC title game. Ouch.
*After June 1 adjustments, the Cowboys have $24.1 million in salary cap room (third-most in the NFL). And they haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1996. As my Dad taught me, “If you keep on doin’ what you’ve been doin’, you’re gonna keep on gettin’ what you’ve been gettin’.” It’s time – past time – to overpay for free-agent receiver DeAndre Hopkins and perhaps finally again overachieve.
*Looking for Mavs-centric angles to the NBA Finals? This one’s easy: You’re rooting for the Denver Nuggets. Why? Because we covet Nuggets assistant coach Popeye Jones over Heat assistant coach Caron Butler, and because Calvin Booth is Denver’s GM. We’ll even overlook that all-time contract flip-flopper DeAndre Jordan is on the Nuggets’ bench, because that Heat jersey will always remind us of Dwyane Wade flopping his way to the 2006 Finals and LeBron James mocking Dirk Nowitzki’s illness in 2011.
*The fact that the Rangers have the second-most wins in baseball and are on pace for the franchise’s first 100-win season is more remarkable because of two stats: Pitching ace Jacob deGrom has only two wins; slugging shortstop Corey Seager only five homers. When they get healthy, Texas should get even better.
*Been hanging out with Big Brothers Big Sisters lil’ bro Ja since 2020. During that time we’ve taken tons of photos at tons of fun events in which he has smiled exactly 0 times. You’ll just have to trust me on this one: He’s my mentee, not my hostage.
*The Cowboys have the banners, but hockey has the braggin’? The Cowboys have won at least one playoff game in 35 percent of their seasons (22 of 63). That’s worse than both the Mavs at 51 percent (22 of 43) and the Stars at 62 percent (18 of 29). The Rangers are an almost unfathomable six percent (3 of 51).
*Hot.
*Not.
*Significant developments from Cowboys OTAs: Leading kicker candidate Tristan Vizcaino made six of eight field goals Thursday, while No. 1 running back Tony Pollard not only believes he’ll be cleared for training camp but will also be faster than ever.
*We’re headed the wrong direction, Dallas! Going: St. Martin’s Wine Bistro, a French restaurant on Greenville Avenue closing after 43 years. Coming: 5 new Pickleball clubs.
*Still can’t believe DFW is just sorta fine with this fact: The Mavs purposefully lost to avoid the Play-In Tournament. The Heat advanced from the Play-In Tournament to the NBA Finals.
*Was in Deep Ellum recently and came across a 20-something woman with a giant tattoo of an old-school typewriter on her upper left arm. Me: “Hey, cool, but why a typewriter?” Her: “I dunno … they look more durable than a computer.” What the what?!
*While deGrom and his six starts have yet to significantly impact the Rangers, the signing of Nathan Eovaldi looks like the transaction of the year in baseball. In May he went 4-0 with an ERA of 0.96. He’s only the second pitcher in franchise history to have a sub-1.00 ERA with more than 30 innings pitched in a month, joining ol’ knuckleballer Charlie Hough in September 1983.
*It should be “butt” naked, rather than “buck” naked. Also, when they’re complete they should be called “builts”, not “buildings.”
*I don’t watch Fox Sports 1’s Undisputed for the same reason I pass on professional wrestling … because I don’t believe the scripted “villains.” But good on Shannon Sharpe for finally – after eight years – admitting the truth about sorry sidekick Skip Bayless. Best part of the co-hosts’ impending TV divorce: Sharpe liked a tweet that predicted Bayless’ “career will nosedive because he is a piece of s**t.”
*Friend of mine regularly suggests I get a vasectomy because “that ship has sailed.” But 83-year-old Al Pacino is expecting a child with his 29-year-old girlfriend. At 58, it still might be too early to snip that decision in the bud.
*This Weekend? Friday let’s sneak in some pool time. Saturday let’s go horseback riding. Sunday let’s hit the tennis court. As always, don’t be a stranger.
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