MacMahon: Cowboys give fans playoff tickets, not hope

Cotton

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Cowboys give fans playoff tickets, not hope
August, 1, 2014

By Tim MacMahon | ESPNDallas.com

OXNARD, Calif. -- Jerry Jones, who ranks among the NFL’s best marketing men and worst general managers, has seemed determined to dial down expectations for the Dallas Cowboys during this training camp.

As if the longest playoff drought of Jerry’s ownership tenure hasn’t accomplished that already.

Jones refused to say the Cowboys had to improve their record – 8-8 in each of Jason Garrett’s three full seasons as a head coach – for Garrett to keep his job after his contract expires at the end of the season. Jones has repeatedly stressed how young this Dallas roster is, a pleasant way of saying the franchise is in a rebuilding process, at least on the defensive side of the ball.

Heck, we’ve gone more than a week of camp without Jerry saying “Super Bowl” in any context, words that are usually on the tip of his tongue as he puts on his promotions cap at this time of the year.

So it’s certainly surprising that Cowboys fans received playoff tickets with their season-ticket packages, a first in major pro sports, ESPN’s Darren Rovell reports.

It subjects the Cowboys to some ridicule, but it’s not as if it would be the first or worst playoff promise broken since Jones built his $1.2 billion football palace. Remember all those tickets sold for Super Bowl XLV for temporary seats that didn’t get safety clearance? At least disappointed fans won’t have grounds for a lawsuit in this case.

The easiest prediction in all of sports is that the most entertaining mediocre team in football will find a spectacular way to miss the playoffs. It’s happened the last three years in the final week of the season, when the Cowboys lost win-or-go-home de facto NFC East title games.

It's hard to believe that this season will be any better, with the Dallas defense in a state of disrepair and franchise quarterback Tony Romo coming off a couple of back surgeries.

The Cowboys might not be able to give their fans hope, but they sure can provide some cool souvenirs.
 

Cotton

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Cowboys include playoff tickets in season ticket package mailed to fans, reportedly the only NFL team to do so

SportsDayDFW.com
Published: 01 August 2014 11:12 AM
Updated: 01 August 2014 12:06 PM

The Dallas Cowboys included NFC wildcard and NFC Championship Game playoff tickets in the mailing with the preseason and regular season tickets sent to season ticket holders for the 2014 season. ESPN.com reports the Cowboys are the only team who has tried the approach. Typically, playoff tickets are sold near the end of the regular season.

The Dallas Cowboys have taken the bold stroke of including playoff tickets with the preseason and regular season package mailed out to season ticket holders.

The sheet of tickets include wildcard/divisional round and the NFC Championship game, the only rounds of the playoffs that could conceivably be played in Arlington's AT&T Stadium. The Super Bowl is in Glendale, Arizona.

The tickets were not charged to the customers, but it saves the team future delivery costs if the Cowboys do make the playoffs. Which would be a welcomed change for Dallas fans.

The Cowboys have gone 8-8 three-straight years and have missed the playoff the past four seasons. A Pro Football Talk report has the Cowboys' chances of making the playoffs listed as 29.4 percent according to oddsmakers.

Dallas last hosted a playoff game in 2009 when it defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 34-14.

In a letter included with the tickets, the Cowboys tell fans, "Also, included in this package are your 2014 playoff tickets and parking (if applicable) for two potential home games at AT&T Stadium. The barcodes on the tickets will be activated when a home playoff game is clinched, and the tickets have been paid in full."

According to an ESPN.com report, the Cowboys are the only team to send playoff tickets this early.

"It's operationally efficient for the teams, and it's convenient for the fan," NFL senior vice president of club business development Brian Lafemina said in the report. "There are times when teams don't know if they are hosting a playoff game until a week before, and doing this helps eliminate some of the friction that exists among the teams and fans."
 

UncleMilti

This seemed like a good idea at the time.
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Fucking Jerry Jones...adding yet more shame to being a Cowboys fan.
 

jsmith6919

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Reminds me of the Jerry interview where he said his dad told him even if you're not successful always make it appear that you are.
 

NoDak

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Fucking Jerry Jones...adding yet more shame to being a Cowboys fan.
Yeah. It's simply amazing that with all this shame and embarrassment, people would continue to follow this team.
 

Cotton

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Yeah. It's simply amazing that with all this shame and embarrassment, people would continue to follow this team.
He's not wrong.
 

L.T. Fan

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He's not wrong.
Sounds like a good business move to me. If Dallas does get in the playoffs it circumvents a lot of last minute hassles with distribution for both the organization and fans. If they don't make it the organization loses some money for printing costs. Just because no one else did it doesn't mean it's a bad move. Chances are other clubs will start to do the same thing in the future.
 

UncleMilti

This seemed like a good idea at the time.
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Yeah. It's simply amazing that with all this shame and embarrassment, people would continue to follow this team.
Most Cowboys fans are widely known as major dipshits, and rank right up there with the Redskins yo-yos and assclowns who blindly follow their team and think Snyder and Jones are the 2nd coming of Christ himself.

This of course doesn't change the fact that a team that hasn't won anything of importance in 17 years suddenly thinks they are winner because PT Barnum puts playoff tickets out for season ticket holders. It reeks of arrogance, overconfidence, and looks plain fucking stupid given the things this team has um..accomplished :dunce with RHG at the helm.

:lol

Welcome to the dysfunction that is the Cowboys. Jerry Jones simply can't help himself.
 

Cotton

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Find one without words...then maybe.
Holy shit. I went and googled "are you not entertained" to find one without words, and this was on the first page of image results.



:outtahere
 

Cotton

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Couldn't find one without the ad at the bottom.
 

boozeman

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:lol

Jeezus.

It is like Bob Roberts took over Google search.
 

Cotton

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:lol

Jeezus.

It is like Bob Roberts took over Google search.
It's fucking creepy as hell, but I can't seem to stop watching it.
 

jsmith6919

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Holy shit. I went and googled "are you not entertained" to find one without words, and this was on the first page of image results.



:outtahere
:skurred wtf
 
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