The 76ers and Dallas Cowboys unfortunately have a lot in common
by John Kincade
We get a big chuckle around here at the expense of the misery of the Dallas Cowboys fan base. We acknowledge the 28 years that have passed between the Cowboys last appearance in the NFC Championship Game with glee. Their futility has been a punch line for greater than a generation. How can a team get that much hype, constantly, with star power coming and going from Dallas and never hit the right combination? It’s not that hard to find a way to stumble into the Final 4, when you have talent and opportunity. It takes a lot to not finally get over the hump. The Cowboys seem cursed and we absolutely love it. Is it ever going to change? Dallas will get talked about a lot this off-season, but the pressure to deliver usually consumes them from within. Next season probably won’t deliver a different fate.
While we laugh at the futility of the Cowboys it’s time to face the facts. In NBA circles, our 76ers are a lot like the Dallas Cowboys. Sure, it’s been only 22 years instead of 28, but that still constitutes a generation since the 76ers reached that Conference Finals series. The Final 4 is a holy grail that that 76ers haven’t touched since 2001. It seems impossible, considering that the 76ers have had plenty of star talent populating their roster. They have had big name coaches and plenty of hype. The talk every year in the NBA is that the 76ers are among the elite teams in the NBA, yet it never comes to fruition. It’s troubling, but the 76ers and the Cowboys are the same.
Dallas never went out and lost for years in their 28 year streak. You can look at that as admirable or quite pathetic. I was never a fan of “the process” which currently sits on life support and is in danger of flat lining for good. Personally I want my teams trying to win each year until they fall out of contention. If a team chooses to sell off and lose at the end of a season to affect draft status, I’m all in. The Cowboys every year have done what it takes to try and break that string of futility. The 76ers went about trying to do it in a completely different way.
The fan base of the 76ers believes if a ball drops in Toronto in a Game 7 they would have then won 2 more series and an NBA Title. That’s a reach I can’t make considering the futility that has followed them. The Cowboys fan base has a similar talking point that if the Dez catch was ruled legal in Green Bay that they would have finally broken the drought.
I want the best for all of the Philly sports teams, but we can’t laugh at our hated rival in Dallas and not acknowledge that we have our own version of that franchise playing in the NBA. Can they break the string? I’m buying in that beating Milwaukee in a second round series would absolutely be a possibility this year. I’m not seeing it with the Celtics. They are currently (1-5) vs Boston, Milwaukee and Miami. That’s not only disappointing but unacceptable. It’s time to see results. If not, the strange association with the Dallas Cowboys only grows stronger.
