It has been about a month since Dallas Morning News sports columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor challenged his readers to find positive stories. When the readers could not come through, Taylor responded:
In the 50 Seasons Series, we are up to the 1963 season. Midway through that season, Dallas had a record of 1-6, and fans then were no happier then than they are in 2009.
The main columnist for the DMN in 1963 was a writer named Bud Shrake. He was a bit more critical than his predecessor columnist, Charles Burton, and some fans grew a little bit tired of Shrake's column.
On October 24, 1963, a reader addressed Shrake as "Bud (Excuses) Shrake" and criticized the analysis offered in the Dallas Morning News by both Shrake and head coach Tom Landry.
A second reader rather sarcastically complimented Shrake for upsetting readers.
Shrake, incidentally, left the DMN after 1963 to join Sports Illustrated. He later wrote several screenplays and biographies, including the biography of Barry Switzer in 1990. There is more at Shrake's Wikipedia page.
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Bottom line: I don't want to hear any more whining from you about what I write. If you do happen to come up with one, send it here.Needless to say, Taylor's statement set off a firestorm in the comments section. One commenter noted:
I've seen some writing on this here blog that borders on what most would consider unprofessional journalism, but this post not only crosses that line, but fully takes up residence on the wrong side. There's a reason "wow" is used at least half a dozen times in the responses...we certainly don't expect for one of the DMN Journalists . . . .[Personally, I still prefer the DMN journalists over those at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, but the difference is not as significant as it once was. I don't defer to the opinions of Taylor or Tim Cowlishaw the way I would defer to someone like Frank Luska. But that's just me.]
In the 50 Seasons Series, we are up to the 1963 season. Midway through that season, Dallas had a record of 1-6, and fans then were no happier then than they are in 2009.
The main columnist for the DMN in 1963 was a writer named Bud Shrake. He was a bit more critical than his predecessor columnist, Charles Burton, and some fans grew a little bit tired of Shrake's column.On October 24, 1963, a reader addressed Shrake as "Bud (Excuses) Shrake" and criticized the analysis offered in the Dallas Morning News by both Shrake and head coach Tom Landry.
A second reader rather sarcastically complimented Shrake for upsetting readers.
Mr Shrake: You have a great talent for stirring up your readers, myself included. I nominate you for the greatest non-sport writer of the year.A third reader made a comparison between Landry and Vince Lombardi, and in the process the reader questioned why sportswriters thought that Landry was a genius.
Just musing over the comparative records of Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers and Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys. I may be mistaken in this but I believe Lombardi inherited as horrible mess at Green Bay as Landry did at Dallas at the arrival of his misfits.So fans in 1963 were not exactly happy either with the team's head coach or with the columnists who were covering the team at the time. This is, of course, not much different than today, except the language was certainly nicer back then.
My question in this: If Tom Landry, as the majority of sports-writers clamor, is a genius, what-in-'ell is Vince Lombardi?
Shrake, incidentally, left the DMN after 1963 to join Sports Illustrated. He later wrote several screenplays and biographies, including the biography of Barry Switzer in 1990. There is more at Shrake's Wikipedia page.
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