Fan

This past weekend I sang on the worship team at my home church, Rocky Mountain Calvary. It was such a nice release. I can honestly say that I desperately needed it.

Just before one of the services, the entire worship team was backstage with pastor Eric, when the conversation turned to football. Eric said, "I could take it or leave it. I don't really need to watch the games, just hear the scores once they're over."

WHAT!!??? My jaw dropped. My eyes bulged. My heart raced. What sort of human is this? What sort of being doesn't live vicariously through his/her football team? I'm sorry. This does not compute.

Needless to say, I'm a fan. As in short for fanatic. As in my life is seriously affected by how well my team does. I can get physically ill if my team is playing poorly--I kid you not. I'm a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan, so you can pretty much guess that I've been physically ill for the past 11 years--at least during football season. This year, the team looks good. (But it's still early in the season, and as the Patriots learned, anything can happen.)

That got me to thinking though. I wonder why? Why are there so many fans, like myself, who take the game so seriously? At the risk of being completely transparent, wouldn't it be nice if I was as passionate about my job as I am about my football team? Or what if I was as passionate about my religion as I am about football? Some fans I know are more passionate about their team than their own family. Though my wife may say I get there sometimes myself, I'm not quite that bad.

I don't think.

Crud.

I may be.

I guess, in a way, it's sad what we choose to be passionate about. When I'm gone, if someone ever asks "What was Tim passionate about?" I don't want the only answer to be, "The Dallas Cowboys." I want people to know I'm also passionate about my family, being a dad...I'm passionate about making honest music that people can relate to. I'm passionate about releasing children from poverty. I'm passionate about finding meaning in this life. And I want to be known for being a passionate follower of Christ. I've still got work to do in those areas, but I want my passion to grow. You could say I'm passionate about being passionate! Ha!

What are you passionate about?

The Season of Stupid

I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan. And, after yesterday's debacle in Dallas, I'm an angry Cowboys fan. I know I take losses more personally and passionately than I should, but that's just who I am. So, I've decided that the 2007 season should hereafter be known as the "Season of Stupid" for the Cowboys:

• STUPID penalties.(As John Madden put it, "Doesn't it just seem like Flozell leads the world in false-starts?") How do you false-start in your own stadium?
• STUPID play calling.
• STUPID roster decisions (JJ over Barber, Jacques Reeves playing at all)
• STUPID defensive schemes (that have corners playing 10-15 yards deep...even on 3rd or 4th and short.)
• STUPID mistakes (I think I'll throw the ball away, even though no one is within 10 yards of me.)
• STUPID coaching ("I think I'll give my team a vacation two weeks before the biggest game this franchise has seen in over a decade.") or (I think we'll lay off blitzing Eli in the playoff game...cuz when we put him on his butt so many times the last two games, it only resulted in us beating them.)
• STUPID interruptions (Let's have half our coaching staff interviewing for jobs two weeks before the biggest game this franchise has seen in over a decade.)
• STUPID losses to teams not nearly as good as us.

Yep. The "Season of Stupid" for the Cowboys.

Me and the 'Boys (Part 2)

Since my last post including pictures of the Dallas Cowboys from the October 14th game against the Patriots drew so much response, I've decided to include a few more photos today. (Click on any pic to see a larger version.) Enjoy!



Terrell Owens stretching before the game. Look at the size of those biceps!




Patrick Crayton about to haul in a pass from Tony Romo.



Marion Barber chats it up with Jason Garrett.



Sam Hurd catches a toss from Tony Romo.



T.O.



Jason Witten.



Brad Johnson warms up before the game.

Jacques Reeves, Pat Watkins, Nathan Jones and Evan Oglesby jogging onto the field.

T.O. catches a pass on the three yard line. The refs would say he was out of bounds when he came down with the ball. Replay suggests otherwise. It's okay. A few plays later, T.O. catches a pass for a T.D. (See Me and the 'Boys, Part 1 for that pic.)



Patrick Crayton hauls in a touchdown pass.

Greg Ellis...with Bradie James in the background.

Two Patriots wrestle T.O. after he catches another pass for a first down.

For the guys.

Since we're showing pictures of girls...ha!

Me and the 'Boys (Part 1)

I am a Dallas Cowboys fan. Have been since I first saw Roger Staubach throw a pass...and Tony Dorsett plow through defensive lines. I stuck with 'em through the lean years before Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmit Smith came along. I survived another drought after those golden years...and am anxiously waiting to see how the rest of this season plays out.

On October 14th, I got a chance to go see my 'boys play against the New England Patriots in Dallas.

Yeah, we lost. But being there in Texas Stadium was incredible. 50-yard line. 19th row. Amazing seats. I went to the game with my brother. We got there a couple of hours early, so we got to see the players warming up on the field before the game. I had my Nikon D80 with me...and started snapping off some pics.

One of the security guys guarding the gate to the field asked me a question:

"Hey...you wanna go down on the field to take some pics?"

"Heck yeah!" I replied like an overzealous 10-year old Beaver Cleaver.

"Slip me a twenty and I'll let you on the field."

So I did. I paid the 20 bucks and spent the next hour or so on the field, taking snapshots of my favorite players...Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Marion Barber, Roy Williams, DeMarcus Ware...it was a Cowboys fan dream come true!



Tony Romo and Terrell Owens chat during pre-game warmups.





Terrell Owens takes a lap around the stadium...with cheers from Cowboys fans and jeers from Patriots fans.






Tony Romo stretches before the game.





Terence Newman.







DeMarcus Ware.








Roy Williams, Keith Davis and Jacques Reeves run a few sprints prior to opening kickoff.





Anthony Fasano catches a pass from backup QB, Brad Johnson during pre-game warmup.









Patrick Crayton gets a toss from Tony Romo.




And now a couple of pics from the actual game:



Marion Barber breaks free around the outside for a huge gain.







Terrell Owens catches a pass and runs it in for a touchdown.


Yeah, we lost the game. But the experience was amazing.

Go Cowboys!