Back to a more adult discussion...
I honestly don't know the origin of the hatred for the Dallas Cowboys among Saints' fans. I do remember the Cowboys playing in N.O. when they had Dandy Don and Bob Hayes, and it was that hook-up twice on long bombs that won the game for them, something like 28-24. It was a good game. Saints' fans started a chant "Dallas drop dead! Dallas drop dead!" I know, a bit harsh. Totally un-PC and wouldn't be acceptable today.
Actually, personally, I had no problem with the Cowboys as a kid. I hated the Green Bay Packers! They were the big dog on the block winning all the championships. I was a huge Baltimore Colts' fan (Johnny U.) and any team that could compete with the Packers was okay with me. And that also meant the Cowboys who stood toe to toe with Lombardi's crew.
It wasn't until I moved to Ruston in 1976 that I was bombarded by the Cowboy mania in Louisiana. I quickly grew tired of it...did not understand why part of the state was supporting a team from Texas. So, I joined the hate-the-Cowboys movement.
Today, I don't care. It's kind of like my new stance on LSU. I am indifferent. I root for: Rummel, Tech, and the Saints. I do not root against anyone....anymore. I used to. But, not anymore.
I grew up indifferent to the Cowboys. I always loved certain players that they had...still do. It wasn't until I moved to North Louisiana that I ever observed any animosity towards the Boys. It is certainly frustrating being a Saints fan in Shreveport when the local stations choose to show the Boys instead of the Saints. I think that frustration is exacerbated when the stations do the opposite if the Saints are rolling. That's more of a Shreveport problem than a Cowboys problem.
I'm indifferent.
Time is your friend. Impulse is your enemy. -John Bogle
I'd submit that Cowboy fandom among N.La sportsfans may be another symptom of N.La's muddled identity.
They support lsu, because they support "all Louisiana teams". (Of course they don't actually follow any La college teams except lsu.) And though they claim to support "all Louisiana teams", they don't support the Saints, bc "New Orleans doesn't share our values". (Of course, neither does BR.) For some reason they identify with the Cowboys, even though most Dallas residents would deride N.La as a pissant backwater. (So does BR, for that matter.)
I cant figure em out. It might be that N.La sportsfans will just jump onto whatever bandwagon looks biggest today. But I'd like to think they're made of stronger stuff than that.
Good points. Regardless, I appreciate the discussion, because it does seem very one-sided.
Hey, if you really feel like it's a question of a person's allegiance to Louisiana, knock yourself out...but I'd tell anyone of that mindset to be careful. That's the same mentality that says we're the weird ones because we don't support LSU. It's a weak argument to say, "if you're from Louisiana you should support ... (whomever)" ---
A similar situation exists to the city in Wisconsin I travel to very often for work...La Crosse. La Crosse sits on the Wisconsin side of Mississippi River, and is about equal distance from Minneapolis/St Paul and Green Bay (maybe a little closer to MSP, to be honest...sound familiar?) --- Packers fans are very vocal in their distain for the Vikings...and deride any Wisconsites that cheer for the Vikes as being "disloyal" to their own state --- so I guess it occurs everywhere.
The biggest difference is that there is NO OTHER FBS school in Wisconsin except the Badgers...and everybody also cheers for them. No split allegiances on the college level there.
My only point was that I wouldn't simply shift my allegiances over the Dallas. I am not from the area, I am not moving to the area. I was born and raised a Saints fan. Now, if something were to happen similar to St. Louis this season I would consider other teams. Simply because "my" team was no longer an option. In that scenario, I am not sure where Dallas would rank among my options.
If I were to make the "Louisiana" argument (and I have in the past), I think it certainly differentiates itself from the LSU argument we often hear BECAUSE Louisiana has multiple FBS programs. There is only one NFL team from the state.
I've also grown to understand that some in North Louisiana see themselves as a different state than South Louisiana. I suppose those cultural differences might explain the ease with which some up here disassociate themselves from the "state team".
Time is your friend. Impulse is your enemy. -John Bogle
It's easy to be a bandwagon fan of a winner -
A true fan of a loser, not so much....
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
The two most unenjoyable Saints games to attend in New Orleans are the Cowboys and the Falcons. Nothing to do with the game but the butthole fans.
I wouldn't say its animosity in my case, just a pleasure in poking at the fan base. However, I didn't get into messing with my Cowboy loving friends until I moved to Shreveport. I grew up in Monroe where it is Saint's country and you didn't have a question of if the Fox station is playing the Saint's game or not. Good and bad seasons, we were Saint's fans for as long as I can remember. It wasn't until I moved to Shreveport almost 7 years ago that I was starting to get slandered with the "bandwagon fan" accusation. I get why my friends over here thought that but it did start my fondness of poking back at them. Some can take it, some cannot. The only team I absolutely cannot root for is the Falcons, other than that the rest is just fodder for messing with people.
Something I've always wondered about the "bandwagon" accusation coming from Cowboy's fans is that the nationwide fan base was started as a bandwagon. "Hey, your local team sucks, root for the Cowboys, America's team." or "You have no team even remotely near you, root for the Cowboys, America's team."