I originally wanted this to come out last Thursday, to kick off the football season, but got knocked down with either Covid or a nasty sinus infection, so here we are for week two.
Picture this: It’s Saturday night, late Saturday night. Close to midnight, you’re getting ready for bed and a notification comes on your phone from ESPN, something along the lines like:
”The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angele Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN.”
There was the screenshotting of the notification. Sending it to my friend who is a Luka fan. The sharing on social media - “what do you mean we’ve traded Luka?”
And that moment sums up what it’s often like to be a Dallas Sports fan. Always hoping for the best, and always getting stabbed by general managers (looking at you, Jerry).
I think about the last two years and how much every Dallas sports team has just changed (and how some haven’t changed much). Out of the five major sports (football, basketball, baseball, hockey and soccer) - three have new coaches. Two have made major, unpopular trades, one took home a World Series trophy, one made it to the NBA finals and one keeps trying to make it to the Stanley Cup.
So let’s take a look at the big four (FC Dallas fired their head coach last season, but that’s it, so we’ll skip them) and the high and lows of each team.
Dallas Cowboys
High: Everyone seems really excited about the new head coach, Brian Schottenheimer. And I think some of the play calling he had in his opening game looked good.
Low: Dak getting injured halfway through the season last year.
High: Dak recovered and he looked really focused at the opening game.
Low: We never seem to get past the first round of playoffs anymore, even if we make it to the playoffs. We can have good stats all year round and as soon as we make it to a wildcard, it’s like we don’t know how to play football.
Low: The Micah Parsons trade. This happened just a few weeks ago and given his performance during his first game as a Packer, I don’t know how to feel. But given how he talked so much about growing up as a Cowboys fan, this one hurts (as someone who grew up as a Cowboys fan).
So many times there’s a glimpse of hope that maybe indeed, this will be our year. But every year, the lows end up outweighing the highs. And it’s been this way most of my life. Want someone who will value loyalty to an extreme?
Date a Dallas Cowboys fan.
Texas Rangers
High: We won the 2023 World Series. I don’t think anyone thought we would, but we did. We went to the World Series only to lose back-to-back in 2010 and 2011, so this sneak run to the World Series was incredible.
Especially the series where we beat the Astros.
Low: We were bad last year, like not even in contention to make it to the the playoffs. And honestly, most of the last decade or so has been the same. Which made the 2023 run even more incredible.
Maybe High? At the time of this writing, we’re 1.5 games behind the Seattle Mariners for the Wildcard spot, and we’re on a roll. Maybe we make a run again?
Dallas Stars
High: We’re consistently in the top four teams of the NHL. That’s good, we’re a good team.
Low: Pete DeBour throwing Jake Oettinger under the bus after we lost the Western Conference Finals (again). A head coach should lead, and while maybe Oettinger could have stopped a goal or two, so could the rest of the team - singling out one player for that was the moment he lost the team and lost the job.
Low: We’re so close to getting to the Stanley Cup finals again and we can’t seem to crack the code that is the Edmonton Oilers.
To be determined: We have a new/old head coach, returning after a long time, and it’ll be interesting to see how this season goes. Glen Gulutzan, the new coach, talked a lot about incremental changes in his introductory press conference. He wants to make little adjustments, not throw the whole book out. I’m cautiously optimistic.
and finally…..
Dallas Mavericks
High: We unexpectedly made it to the 2024 NBA finals, while the Dallas Stars were trying to make it to the Stanley Cup finals. This was just eight months after the Texas Rangers won the World Series, this was a fun time in Dallas sports.
Until it all came crashing down.
Low: The 2024-2025 had so many injuries on the team, it was rough to watch.
Extra, super duper low: The Luka Doncic trade. There was an unspoken understanding when he joined Dallas that he would be the next leader. And he understood that, based on the statement he gave when he left.
The team had been sold the year before, so to see us go from the high of the NBA finals to trading our franchise player in eight months? Insane. For so many lows, this might be the worst of the last few years.
The plight of being a Dallas Sports fan is simple - consistently being close, failing and then hoping again that next year will be our year. But with poor management and terrible trades, I don’t know, lately it’s hard to even want to root for them.
And I hope that whatever teams you root for, they aren’t as cruel to you as Nico Harrison is to all of us Mavs fans.