I remember that game, steve mcnair ran out of some d tackle's arms for a first down, it was one of the strongest plays i had ever seen a qb make.
This would kind of be like the Rangers vs. Astros rivalry, right? Nobody really cares, right? Even when it was the Oilers, they never played in the same conference and didn't have a rivalry then, why now? I'd rather see some of the old Oilers rivalries as Texans rivalries. Steelers, Browns, etc. And the Cowboys have their own, deeply ingrained rivalries already with their division. Its why the NFC "East" stays basically the same whenever they reorganize. The Eagles, Redskins, and Giants are already big rivals and there is genuine hate there that makes it special.
not true. in the late 70s, when both teams were super bowl-caliber, there was quite a rivalry and it lead to one of the greatest games in oiler history thanksgiving day, 1979. when (...if) both teams are elite at the same time, there'll definitely be chatter.
Why is it that the NBA is the only league that seems to understand the concept of rivalries by proximity? the NFL really sucks at that... geographically speaking, the AFC south has the worst regional organization of all.. with the NFC West coming in a close second
actually, it's not really that bad. the monkey wrench is dallas, but they were never gonna move dallas out of the nfc east. otherwise, the alignment is solid other than the afc south, which is kind of a b*stard division with 4 teams that don't really fit anywhere else.
Assuming they aren't gonna realign the leagues/divisions according to geography. I am o.k with a Dallas game as an every 4 years treat. I think the Texans have a growing rivalry with Jacksonville and Tennessee. I assume when we improve we will begin to get Indy's attention too. I HATE all things Dallas, but as a young Oiler fan, Oilers vs Steelers was a bigger deal than Oilers vs Cowboys.
I agree that we should play Dallas once a year. Not only that.... we should have some kind of a "Texas Cup" or otherwise trophy that switches posession to the winner each year.
us cowboys fans are currently in "pissed off" mode because of how the first two pre-season games have gone. we know they don't mean anything and the houston game on friday is no different. however, we are currently expecting more from our players than the poor play and many mistakes/penalties we have currently seen. plus, the cowboys have been partially blaming being road weary and end of camp blues for the poor play so far. so, we expect a much better showing friday...given the starters are supposed to play a half and we are comfortably at home getting into the routine. we had some r****ded stuff go against us last game in the penalty department including late hits, 12 men in the huddle, and pacman throwing a football across the field after a punt return. so, if houston happens to toss our salad friday night, then the cowboy players and coaches will be hearing about it ad nauseum at least up until the next game. i think we just want to get a taste of a win regardless of who it is against. like has been said many times, we don't play each other in the regular season so a rivalry doesn't exist in many cowboys fans eyes like it does with the redskins and giants...who we absolutely hate and want to beat each time out. i will give you that the "19-10" game was a lowpoint but that was the quincy carter era. that guy was pretty bad. that seems like a lifetime ago since romo came around. i'm all for playing yall once a year to get a rivalry established, however, along with a texas cup. i don't understand why the schedules are the way they are and we never play each other.
I think an organization's prestige is pretty important part of the average fan's mindset. It's not all about the superbowls wins or the time period.... It's about having a winning culture. The Cowboys have a winning culture. They have not won a playoff game in a decade, but the team is stacked with talent right now and, for the immediate future, seem poised to do some serious damage in this league. Looking back, we see a team with 20 consecutive winning seasons and 25 ten-win seasons The Texans, in their short existence, have been at best mediocre. So I think a more appropriate comparison would be the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays. A Rays fan shouldn't be surprised if the Yankees fans feelings are dictated in part by their past greatness. This of course does not condone the behavior of some idiot cowboys fans. But you are going to have that with fans of any team. I see it like this: Imagine in your head what you are really knowledgeably about (computers, car repair etc) Now think about how much the rest of the population knows about your subject. If you know a lot about computers, you know how the average person gets horribly ripped off buying and getting computers repaired. A simple fix for you is a $300 repair for the 45 year-old housewife that doesn't know who this dr. norton guy is why he is constantly hassling her to renew her virus subscription. If your thing is cars, you know that replacement valve is 10 bucks and the labor takes about 15 minutes, but the average consumer is going to end up forking over $200. So it is the same with football. There are people like The Cat and I that constantly browse sports stories and opinions. We watch games and try and understand strategy further. We play video games and get even deeper into management strategies. We constantly discuss football with other people on a message board. Then there are millions of other people who " DURPA DURRRRR LETS TRADE WADE PHILIPS FOR RANDY MOSS.... LOL TEH CARDINALS HAVE MATT LEINERT NOW THEY WIll win SUPERBOWL......" So yeah it might seem to some that there is some deep hatred between dallas and houston sports but where are these opinions coming from? More likely its the dude at your work who drafted reggie bush in the first round of his fantasy draft than any kind of knowledgeable sports fan.
I don't know if they care or not and it seems like there isn't a consensus here either. All I know is I care. I hate Dallas and that's all that matters to me. That is all.
None of the same players play for the Astros, and they don't wear rainbow jerseys and orange hats, and they don't play in the 'Dome anymore. But I still hate Cincinnati. The teams are ever-changing. The rivalries exist largely through the fans. I grew up hating the Steelers and the Browns and the Bengals because those were our divisional foes. The Steelers especially. If the players want to win those games against the rivals, it's as much because of pressure from the fans as it is anything else. So we spent thirty years as fans hating the Steelers and Browns and Bengals. And then our team leaves and we get a new one in a new division. ANd suddenly those thirty years I spent hating the Steelers, Browns and Bengals don't mean anything? I hated the Steelers because they played the team from Houston that I rooted for. Those feelings to see that team go down in flames on any and all occasions didn't move to Nashville. It'd be like saying Cleveland doesn't hate Pittsburgh anymore because the Browns moved. Or that the only reason they still hate Pittsburgh is because their expansion team got the Browns name and historical records. Had it been the Browns name stayed in Baltimore and the Cleveland expansion team become the Ravens (or whatever), they'd say "Eh. Pittsburgh was the rival of that team that used to be here. We're really thinking more along the lines of hating Miami....." Granted, Cleveland has gotten to stay divisional foes with the Browns' traditional rivals, but still........
The Steelers-Oilers never hated each other. Both teams respected each other and they had great gamesmanship. I just saw the the 1979 Oilers Year in Review on Demand on the NFL Network and the Steelers had nothing to but amazing things to say about the Oilers. And vice versa. Even when they laid a hit on an Oiler they helped him up. It was a friendly rivlary. So no real reason to hate the Steelers if they respected each other. I real rivalry has hate. Like Cowboys-Skins. Or Bengals-Browns. A rivalry is when you despise a fan of the other team when you see them on the street wearing their gear or in an opposing stadium. Go to a Redskins or Eagles game wearing Cowboys gear with a friend and let me know how the game was.
Actually, yes. That's pretty much it for me. To me, it's as if my wife has 3 sworn enemies. Being the good husband I am and wanting to stand by my wife, they are my sworn enemies as well. Then my wife cheats on me and leaves me for another man. Are these 3 people still supposed to be my sworn enemies? The Houston Oilers are like an ex-wife to me. I loved them with all my heart when we were together and I will always have the memories (good and bad) of them, but now that they left me for another city and I am remarried, I don't give a frog's fat ass about them or any of their old rivals.
