Mac Engel: Romo should know the media is with side that wins
Tony Romo deserves to be commended for his confidence, and prediction that the Dallas Cowboys are going to win a Super Bowl "at some point."
Notice he wisely elected not to predict a date. This is no different than the contractor who is redoing your kitchen saying, "Whole thing is looking great. We should be outta your house by Thursday."
Notice he never says which Thursday.
Much like the contractor getting out of your house, the Cowboys will win a Super Bowl, eventually. Law of averages.
But before Romo attempted to defend himself against the comments made by NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders, he should have stopped himself before going all Vegas on us.
"Deion's Deion. He is what he is," Romo told reporters this week when asked to address Sanders' assertion that Romo was never going to get the Cowboys to the big game.
Sanders is a wonderfully talented, self-serving blowhard who moves the meter, and in this oversaturated media landscape that has tremendous value. The man can talk.
Romo was right when he said Primetime "is what he is."
After making his Super Bowl prediction, Romo went off track when he said, "When we look back, we'll know who was on what side of the fence during these tough moments."
This is what Tony, DeMarcus Ware and so many others out at the Valley Ranch sorority house need to hurry up and accept before they get their feelings even more hurt: We all want you to win because it makes life easier, is good for business and morale in these parts, and makes the job more interesting.
As for which side of the fence Primetime resides? His.
It is good timing the Cowboys go to Baaah-stahn for a game against the mighty Patriots, and Gisele's toy, QB Tom Brady.
Mr. Bündchen is a QB who knows a thing or two about who resides where on a fence. Picking the right side of the Brady/Bledsoe fence was a franchise-maker in New England, a career-maker for "genius" Bill Belichik and propelled several members of the Northeast media to bigger gigs.
The reporters who covered the Patriots during the Brady or Drew Bledsoe scene back in the early days were all firmly committed to their guy. There was no middle. Those who picked Bledsoe lost out because several of those who were "with Brady" saw their careers soar as a result.
The people who covered the Lakers during the Shaq/Kobe days were either with Shaq, or with Kobe. No one could be for both.
When Shaq left for Miami, Kobe remembered the Shaq guys. You didn't want to be a Shaq guy in LA when the Diesel split.
Which side of the Romo Fence one rests has become one of the more fun developments around this guy in the last five or six years. Only until the last month or so have the local hacks really opened up on Romo's play. There is always some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card line, from dropped passes, bad O-line play, an injury or a Wade. No one wants to be on the wrong side of the fence on this guy.
Most of the locals, present company included, politely tip-toe around the "This is what he is" with a caveat. Mine? He has until the end of next season.
(Nice, huh?)
There is a perception that exists from fans or the Cowboys themselves that the local media greatly enjoys seeing this team fail. Wrong. As much fun and as entertaining as Jerry is, covering a loser stinks.
Ware said last week one of the reasons he avoids the media, and has advised fellow linebacker Victor Butler to do the same, is because we media dorks aren't "with them." What are we, 8? He is right. We're not. We're with whoever is at the top of the check.
It is true, however, that certain members of the media horde take great joy in watching a certain player or coach flop, and lose. Covering the team in '08, I wanted nothing more than for that fraud Tank Johnson to get cut.
What Ware, Romo and so many others need to understand is that when they win, we all win... if you catch my drift.
T-shirt sales aren't the only thing that spikes when the Cowboys win in the FW/d. Don't think the media corporation conglomerates that pay to cover sports teams don't secretly, or openly, pine for extended playoff runs and Super Bowl appearances. In this economy, we all need as many wins as we can get.
Tony, don't sweat Primetime, or worry about some mythical Romo Fence.
Just sweat making sure that your Super Bowl prediction comes true "at some point," which for your sake needs to be while you are still the team foreman.
Follow Mac Engel on Twitter @MacEngelProf and The Big Mac Blog.
Mac Engel, 817-390-7697
This story was originally published October 15, 2011 at 12:25 AM with the headline "Mac Engel: Romo should know the media is with side that wins."