Jerry's Team

It is hard to believe that 20 years have passed since a then-unknown Arkansas Oilman shook up the framework of the sports world and forever changed the history of one of the storied franchises in professional sports.

From their inception as an expansion franchise in 1960 through 1988, the Dallas Cowboys were the epitome of stability in the NFL. Under the triumvirate of General Manager Tex Schramm, Head Coach Tom Landry and Scouting Director Gil Brandt, the Cowboys created a culture of success that was unparalleled in NFL history. Beginning in 1966, the Cowboys registered 20 straight winning seasons, with 18 playoff appearances, five Super Bowl appearances, two Super Bowl Championships and 12 appearances in the NFL/NFC Championship Game.

However, by the time Jerry Jones purchased “America’s Team” in February 1989, the Cowboys had been on a downward slide for a number of years. They were coming off their third straight losing season and had not won a playoff game since 1982. Accustomed to winning, faithful Dallas fans were enthusiastic that the new owner might reinvigorate the franchise, but they had no idea what was ahead.

Determined to put his own stamp on his new purchase, Jones immediately fired the stoic Landry after 29 seasons and replaced him with Jimmy Johnson, a brash college coach who had been a college teammate of Jones. Within weeks, Schramm and Brandt were also gone and the future of the Cowboys was squarely on the shoulders of the two pro football newcomers.

When the 1989 season opened with Dallas losing eight straight games while also trading their best player, skeptics wondered if the “Boys from Arkansas” were in over their heads. In reality, Jones and Johnson were actually sly as a fox and following their plan to create a football dynasty.

Recognizing that the Cowboys they inherited didn’t have the talent to compete in 1989, or the near future, they were willing to sacrifice short-term success for long-term glory. The trade of Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for five players and eight draft picks was the first of several deals that helped the Cowboys build a championship foundation.

Johnson, who coached the University of Miami to a national championship and a 52-9 record in five season, was well acquainted with the top collegiate talent and it was quickly apparent that Dallas was bringing in players capable of helping them regain their winning tradition.

After winning just one game in 1989, the Cowboys quickly began to show marked improvement. They won seven games in 1990 and in 1991 won 11 games and reached the playoffs for the first time since 1985. The following year, Dallas won 13 games for the first time in franchise history and reached the NFC Championship Game for the first time in a decade.

Facing the San Francisco 49ers, a team poised to claim their fifth Super Bowl title in 12 years, Dallas was clearly a team on the upswing, but few believed that they were ready to take the torch of greatness from the 49ers. Displaying an outward bravado that was in complete contrast to the reserved confidence of championship Dallas teams from the past, the Cowboys didn’t just take the torch from the 49ers they ripped it out of their hands.

Dallas defeated the 49ers 30-20 and then completely dominated the Buffalo Bills to win Super Bowl XXVII 52-17. The following season, Dallas repeated the feat by again beating the 49ers in the NFC title game and then defeating Buffalo to win their second straight Super Bowl.

However, just as the Cowboys were beginning to look unstoppable, they began stopping themselves. Just weeks removed from their second straight Super Bowl win and only five years after coming together to rebuild the Cowboys, Jones and Johnson parted ways following a clash of egos. The future success of the Cowboys was now squarely on the shoulders of Jones.

Initially it didn’t look like the Cowboys would skip a beat. Led by their own triumvirate of future Hall of Famers, Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin, the Cowboys lost the NFC Championship to San Francisco following the 1994 season, but the next season rebounded to win their third Super Bowl in four years.

However, over time free agency, missteps in the draft and the NFL’s salary cap started to impact the quality of player on the field. The Cowboys finished 10-6 in 1996 and after defeating Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs they lost to the Carolina Panthers, a team in only their second NFL season, in the second round. Over the ensuing 12 seasons, Dallas has posted the same number of losing seasons, five, as they have playoff appearances and have not earned another playoff victory.

While Jones has served as the team’s general manager throughout this entire stretch, he has employed five different head coaches. The team has also received more recognition for some of the outrageous antics and legal issues of members of the team than they have for performance on the field.

Though the Cowboys have faltered on the field, Jones has been very successful in turning his franchise into a marketing juggernaut. According to Forbes Magazine, the Cowboys are the most valuable sports franchise in North America with a value of $1.6 billion. After spending nearly 40 years playing at Texas Stadium, the Cowboys will move into a brand new $1.1 billion stadium in 2009. Not bad for a franchise that many thought Jones over paid for when he purchased the team for $140 million in 1989.

If there is an owner in modern sports history with which to compare Jones, it is probably long-time New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Like Jones, Steinbrenner dared to challenge the status quo of sports after purchasing the Yankees in 1973. Within four years, Steinbrenner had his team in the World Series and the team claimed back-to-back championships in 1977 and 1978. They again reached the World Series in 1981.

Then, like Jones, Steinbrenner and the Yankees went through an extended playoff drought. From 1982 through 1994 the Yankees annually had the leagues highest payroll, but failed to reach the postseason. During that stretch, Steinbrenner employed 10 different managers as well as numerous general managers and the Yankees regularly made more headlines off the field than on the diamond.

Steinbrenner eventually realized that for the team to be successful he could not continue the revolving door policy in the front office and needed to allow his baseball experts to handle most of the decision-making responsibilities. With Steinbrenner stepping into the background and offering only occasional insight, the duo of manager Joe Torre (who served as manager of the Yankees from 1996-2007) and general manager Brian Cashman (general manager since 1998), led the Yankees to their greatest era since the team’s hay-days of the 1950s and early 1960s. They appeared in the playoffs in every season from 1995-2007 and claimed four World Series titles.

Returning the Cowboys to their previous level of greatness might be a little tougher for Jones. Unlike Major League Baseball, the NFL currently has a salary cap, which means that teams can't just spend more money than anyone else to buy the best talent and compensate for errors in player evaluations. NFL teams must build through a combination of productive drafts and thoughtful free agent acquisitions. While Jones and Johnson originally built the Cowboys using that philosophy, in recent years Jones has gotten caught-up in trying to make the "quick fix" with glamorous free agent and trade acquisitions that have not always panned out.

The Cowboys of 2009 are certainly on firmer ground than the Cowboys he inherited 20 years ago, but you have to believe that Jones won't be satisfied until his new stadium is recognized as both the most financially viable stadium in sports and as the home to the best team in the NFL.

Tiger's Greatest Challenge

In 13 years on the PGA Tour, Tiger Woods has proven that he can handle any challenge, but those facing him in 2009 may prove to be the toughest of his career.

Woods will make his first tour appearance since limping to the U.S. Open title last June when he tees it up for the World Golf Championships - Accenture Match Play Championship this week.

In a sport where repetition and consistency are crucial, it will be interesting to see just how much “rust” the greatest player in the world shows. There is little doubt that over the last eight months Woods has approached his rehab from major knee surgery with the same kind of competitive drive, determination and focus that made him the best golfer in the game. However, while he will likely be physically in better shape than in recent years, it will be interesting to see if going several months without playing the game will have any impact on his performance.

If history is any indicator, Woods is going to be just fine.

Woods would certainly be pleased if his return to the game this spring follows the form of that charted by another golfing great who returned to the game after an extended absence. In January 1950, just 11 months removed from a major automobile accident that nearly cost him his life, Ben Hogan made a triumphant return to the tour at the Los Angeles Open (now known as the Northern Trust Open).

Hampered by circulation and leg injuries that would impact him for the rest of his life, few expected Hogan to contend for the tournament title. However, Hogan had other ideas and finished the event tied with Sam Snead for first place. Though he lost to Snead in the playoff, Hogan showed everyone that he was still a force to be reckoned with.

Later that year, Hogan won the U.S. Open in an 18-hole playoff and went on to claim six of his nine Major titles after his accident. In 1953, Hogan became the first player in golf history to win three Majors in the same year. His accomplishment was not equaled until Woods won three Major titles in 2000.

Unlike Hogan, who was never able to play a full schedule following his accident, the knee injury suffered by Woods is not expected to seriously limit his future schedule. However, we are unsure how the other recent major event involving Woods will impact his future golf schedule.

Earlier this month, Woods and his wife, Elin, became members of the prestigious “two under two” club. Charlie joins his 20-month old sister, Sam, to form a dynamic duo that will undoubtedly liven things up for their parents.

As a former member of the “two under two” club, I can tell Tiger that regardless of whether he has any responsibilities for changing diapers, his life will never again be the same.

Now I recognize that Tiger and Elin probably have more assistance than most of us in the day-to-day upbringing of their children. However, from everything I have heard Tiger say about parenthood, I am pretty sure that he is determined that his children will not see more of him on television than they do in person.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Tiger can’t be a good Dad and still be the best golfer in the world. It just means that it is going to take even greater effort and energy than before.

When on the course, golfers have to be completely focused on the moment and not thinking about potential distractions (like the crowd, wind or shot you missed at the last hole). Spending time with your young children often takes the same kind of single-minded focus.

Kids rightfully expect, and often demand, that when their parents are with them they are 100% with them (both physically and mentally). In Tiger’s case it will mean that when he is reading books or playing blocks with his kids he can’t be thinking about the putt he missed on the 17^th green at Augusta, how his swing felt in practice that morning or the tournament he has the following weekend.

Throughout his career, Tiger has strived not to be great, but to be the best. He has reached that level on the golf course and I’m willing to bet that he plans on also being the best parent for Sam and Charlie that he possibly can.

I recognized soon after my children were born that having kids and giving them my love and attention didn’t mean I couldn’t still be just as successful at my job as in the past. It just meant that I would need to find additional energy to ensure that I was giving the kids the attention they needed at home while saving enough in reserve to still do a quality job at work.

The other golfers probably don't want to hear that Woods may have to push himself to an even greater level moving forward just to stay at the top, but that may be the case. His ultimate professional desire is to be the greatest golfer of all-time and I don't think a knee injury or dedication to his family will keep him from reaching that goal.

Will LeBron Be Like Mike?

The NBA season has just moved past the midway mark, yet many teams and members of the media seem to be just as focused on an event that is still 18 months away than they do on who will win the 2009 NBA title.

It used to be that when teams made trades the number one purpose was to make your current team better. While some teams, like the Orlando Magic with their recent trade for point guard Rafer Alston, are still focused on making themselves better for a run at the 2009 NBA title, many teams have been making trades with more of an eye toward the summer of 2010.

To NBA media and general managers, the summer of 2010 has the allure of Utopia. If things work out as some predict that summer could see the greatest free agent class in the history of the NBA. Superstars including LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Amare Stoudemire and Chris Bosh highlight a potential class of free agents that already has many league executives salivating.

In anticipation, some teams have already begun making deals that will ensure that they have the financial flexibility to compete for the big names.

Before the 2008-2009 season was even a month old, the New York Knicks traded its top two scorers to clear more than $27 million in salary cap room for the “LeBron Sweepstakes.” Other teams have not been quite so blatant in dumping top performers for minimal return, but have also made moves designed to create room under the salary cap.

Since coming into the NBA as an 19-year old phenomenon in 2003, LeBron James has displayed the kind of talent and all-around basketball ability that invokes comparisons with Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and many other greats from the games past. Like Jordan, James has displayed the ability to significantly lift the level of performance for his team. In only his fourth NBA season, James led a mediocre Cleveland Cavaliers squad to the NBA Finals. This season, his sixth in the league, James and the Cavaliers are competing with the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic for the best record in basketball and are a legitimate contender for the NBA title.

For more than a decade, the NBA has been looking for “the next Michael Jordan” and as could be expected, James has constantly been compared with his childhood idle. Unlike others who have been unable to live up to such a high level of expectation, James, who honors Jordan by wearing his legendary number 23, seems capable of filling Jordan’s role both on and off the court.

Not only is James arguably the most talented player to come into the league since Jordan, he also possesses the kind of commercial appeal and likeability that helped make Jordan a mega-star. James isn’t as polished in his appearance as Jordan, but like Jordan, he has been able to catapult his success beyond simply being known as a great basketball player and become a desired television “pitch-man.” Much like NFL star Peyton Manning James has endeared himself with today’s buying public by not taking himself too seriously in television commercials. He comes across genuine and amicable and has been able to raise his exposure beyond the sporting world.

However, if James hopes to one-day reach the level of recognition and greatness enjoyed by Jordan, he must be able to reach the pinnacle of on-the-court success by proving that he is capable of leading his team to multiple championships.

After allowing the Chicago Bulls to spend six years surrounding him with a quality supporting-cast, Jordan led the Bulls to the NBA championship in his seventh season. They ultimately claimed the NBA championship in each of Jordan’s final six full NBA seasons.

To this point, James career has followed a similar trajectory. Though he has already played in one NBA championship, James and the Cavaliers have now developed the nucleus of a team that appears capable of consistently contending for an NBA title.

However, it is hard to tell at this point if James plans to be there to see the Cavaliers plans through to the finish. Though he grew up in nearby Akron and has had the rare opportunity to play before his hometown fans, James has made little attempt to hide his fascination with New York City. When the New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians played in the 2007 Major League Baseball playoffs, James was criticized for appearing on TV wearing a Yankee hat. After the Knicks made their moves to free up salary cap room for 2010, James did nothing to quiet rumors and conjecture that he was very interested in eventually playing for the Knicks.

While I am certainly not in a position to tell LeBron James what to do, I can provide some historical perspective of how his future decisions could impact his lasting legacy.

Instead of shopping his services for the best contract or place where he could receive the most exposure, Jordan realized early in his career that the money and exposure would be there anywhere if he concentrated on being the best player in the game and winning titles. He did everything he could, including taking a significantly reduced salary, to help the Bulls build a championship team.

In essence, the Cavaliers have spent the last six years trying to prove to James that they are the rightful caretakers for his enormous talent. They have annually done everything they could to make their team better and contend for the title that season, instead of looking toward the future. Though they were unable to secure another big player before the recently passed trade deadline, many believe that Cleveland already has all the pieces needed to be a contender this year.

Regardless of whether he leads Cleveland to a title in the next two seasons, if James chooses to leave Cleveland for New York (or anywhere else) in 2010, the likelihood that he will be able to match the lasting team success of Jordan is minuscule. With James in the lineup, the Knicks could be a playoff caliber team in 2010-2011, but it will probably be another several years before they would be able to surround James with the kind of talent needed to win a championship. By then, James would be nearing 30 years of age and would have spent nearly a dozen years enduring the pounding of NBA basketball.

Perhaps the clearest example of what James might expect should he leave Cleveland can be found in Shaquille O’Neal. When he left the Orlando Magic for the bright lights of Los Angeles following four seasons and one appearance in the NBA Finals, O’Neal joined a Laker team that had won 53 games the year before his arrival. Over the next three seasons, the Lakers lost twice in the Western Conference semifinals and once in the conference finals. It wasn’t until O’Neal’s fourth season with the team, after the arrival of Phil Jackson as the head coach and emergence of Kobe Bryant as an All-Star, that the Lakers were able to win a championship.

If James does indeed leave Cleveland for New York, he will probably not be joining a team coming off a 50+ win season. The Knicks are currently mired in their eighth straight losing season and have reached the playoffs only once in the last eight years.

So, the question remains: Will LeBron follow the lead of his childhood legend and lead his original team to greatness or will he follow the lights of the big city into a much more uncertain future? We won’t know the answer for 18 months, but you can bet we will hear a lot more about it between now and then.

Florida is No Longer Dodger Blue

The crack of bats and smell of leather may be the same, but there is something noticeably different at spring training for one of baseball’s most storied franchises in 2009. For the first time in 60 years, Los Angeles Dodgers greats from the past and present are not holding court at “Dodgertown” in Vero Beach, Florida.

In another illustration that generating revenue is a much more influential element for sports teams than sentiment, history or tradition, the Dodgers have abandoned their long-time home in Florida for a new state-of-the-art facility in Arizona.

In fairness to the Dodgers, they are not the first team (nor will they be the last) to leave long-time winter digs for the allure of more money and nicer facilities. However, because of the history and tradition that spring training with the Dodgers represented, their move from Vero Beach truly represents the end of an era.

When the Dodgers located their entire major and minor league spring training to Vero Beach in 1949, they became the first team to have a true spring training complex complete with facilities for the entire organization. Beginning in 1952, the players stayed in the former Naval barracks, which by the mid-1970s had been replaced by villas. For a month each year, Vero Beach truly became “Dodgertown” as the local community became the home-away-from-home for the Dodger players.

Holman Stadium, which the Dodgers spent $100,000 to build, was the perfect stadium for old-time spring training as it was a compact stadium (only 17 rows) that provided the fans close access to the players. It also did not have dugouts, which meant the players were visible to the fans at all times.

For many years, the Dodgers prided themselves on the fact that they concentrated on molding their team through the camaraderie of spring training. There were no advertisements on the outfield fence and relatively few concession stands for a stadium that seated nearly 7,000 people. However, as times changed and spring training became another opportunity for teams to generate revenue, the quaintness of Dodgertown and Holman Field no longer seemed to fit.

So, when Glendale, Arizona offered the Dodgers the opportunity to play in an $80-million stadium that is much closer to their regular season home in California, there was truly little Vero Beach could do to keep the Dodgers. In addition to the Dodgers, the Cleveland Indians have also left their long-time home in Winter Haven, Florida for Arizona and next year the Cincinnati Reds will leave Sarasota.

Spring training is still a special time of the year, but with ticket and concession prices that rival regular season games, it just isn't quite the time of innocence and rebirth that it once was.

NBA All-Star Game is a Star-Studded Event

Professional sports All-Star games are kind of like new pennies. They are too bright and alluring not to pick up, but you quickly realize that they aren’t really worth much.

Of the “big 3” sports, the NBA All-Star Game is probably the best, if only because the rosters are small enough that you have some of the best stars on the court from opening tip to final horn. It is also the only one of the three where you rarely hear of a player getting a mysterious injury in the days leading up to the event.

In recent years, the NBA has turned the concept of the All-Star Game into a star-studded three-day extravaganza where the actual game can almost be anti-climatic to all the events that precede it.

The idea of special events in advance of the All-Star Game actually dates back to the ABA when Julius Erving dazzled fans with his famous foul line dunk. The NBA created its own dunk contest in 1984 and added a three-point shootout two years later. The weekend now also includes skills and horse competitions, a celebrity game and a game between first and second year NBA players.

By the time the actual All-Stars take to the court tonight, seemingly half the players in the NBA will have participated in one event or another.

Because the game rules seem to prohibit anyone from actually playing defense, the average score of the NBA All-Star Game is generally much higher than what you will see in the regular season. Last year the East won the game 134-128 and the last time that both teams didn’t score at least 110 points was in 1976 when the East won 123-109.

LeBron James has won two of the last three game MVP Awards, but watch for Amare Stoudemire of the host Phoenix Suns to have a big game. The subject of trade rumors the last couple weeks, this could be his final game as a member of the Suns and I’m sure he would like to go out in style.