CALLING ALL COWBOYS FANS TO ROOT FOR SKINS... for this week anyway.

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Let me be the first to congratulate the Philadelphia Eagles on becoming the sole possessors of the basement level of the NFC East, even if for only the next three days. If I sound somewhat bitter it's because I am. I have given up my dignity and have become a full fledged hater. I've taken a perverse pleasure in the demise of that bird. This season has been particularly sweet for me. The Cowboys have been surging and the Eagles have crashed with a loud thud. I want the Iggles to enjoy last place alone. It's an honor they deserve. Back in the day, the Eagles were perennial doormats, something to be pitied. I long for those days to return. I could get that feeling back sooner rather than later if only the Skins would win this week. I've always hated that team in D.C. but I can't help myself. Let's go skins!!

True hate begins in your formative years. At a certain age you hate who you hate and not much can change that. Having said that, I'm from the old school. I've hated the Skins for as long as I could remember, but something inside me is changing. But how could I ever in good conscience root for my greatest rival. Why would I even consider it? I'll tell you after the jump...

For as long as I can remember, I've always hated anything Redskins related. How could I not? It was Cowboys and Indians, need I say more. That was the one constant in the universe. Rivalries came and went. There were other teams and fan bases that hated our success, but Cowboys and Indians were always destined to be on opposite sides. That rivalry predated the NFL. It's been going on since before the conception of this great nation.

However, due to the prolonged mediocrity of the Redskins franchise, this long storied rivalry has lost some of it's luster, perhaps even a lot. In the past, even when one team was down and the other was up, it didn't matter. These battles were still legendary. There was no such thing as a prolonged winning streak one side or the other. Many times, both teams were powerhouses and there was plenty at stake, playoff berths and Superbowls. That is no longer the case. The Cowboys have dominated this rivalry for some time now. The hated Skins have managed a few wins, but only here and there. There haven't been many crushing defeats at the hands of our natural rivals lately. After so much buffoonery, I almost feel sorry for them, kind of like I felt for the Eagles back in the 70s and early 80s. The tables have turned somewhat. The Cowboys haven't been all that great either. The Iggles have been at the top of the food chain for nearly a decade in this storied division.

A new hatred has been growing in me for these Eagles for quite some time now. I've been trying to fight this feeling, but it's becoming a losing battle. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I think I'm beginning to hate the Eagles the most. It all started with Buddy Ryan. He was first to bring respectability to that beleaguered franchise. For a few years, he really kicked the crap out my idol, Tom Landry. Fortunately Jerry bought the team, hired Jimmy and eventually restored order to the universe. Tom was getting long in the tooth and no longer had the fire that he once had. I know many were angered by how Coach Landry was let go but I was more angered by the constant beat downs. All was well until this Andy Reid joker got those Eagles all riled up again. He's dominated this division for far too long. Once again we have a new HC in town. Like days of old, it looks like his rise will coincide with the Eagles downfall. Let us all pray.

I think for the first time though, I am a true hater in every sense. My hatred comes from jealousy. I've never really been jealous of any team in the NFC East until now. The Eagles have had a run of success that I long for the Cowboys to have had. We won our Superbowls back in the 90s, which I am more than grateful for, but our run of excellence didn't last this long. This run of theirs needs to come to an end and it needs to come to an end now! I'm sick of it. I've been spoiled a lot by my beloved franchise. I am an entitled Cowboys fan. It's our God given right to win the NFC east and be perennial Superbowl contenders. That's the way life should be. I can't take this Bizarro universe anymore. Superman won't change it back so we have to figure out how to make it happen ourselves. Order must be restored.

That's perhaps why I've reveled in this utter disaster of a season for them Birds. I LOVE IT! And it has been nothing short of a disaster. Who could have guessed that a team picked by most to make it to the Superbowl would only have 4 wins after week 12. Who would have thought that after 12 weeks, Tavaris Jackson would have more passing yards that Michael Vick. Who among us envisioned the Redskins having a better record than the Eagles this late in the season. I hoped but I didn't dare dream.

I was always able to hold back on my hate during the Andy Reid era for one simple reason. For all the Iggles success, the never had the ultimate success. I could always call their season a failure in some sense. So what changed this year? I guess because I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. The end is near and I'm ready now. Or perhaps it's not even that deep. Perhaps I'm just so angry because it's been so easy for Iggles fans to shut me up. All they have to do is say they stomped the daylights out of my Cowboys and I have no adequate response, no retort that can overcome that simple fact. Add to that almost a decade of dominance, and I really can't say anything. Well I for one am tired of being shut up. The end is near Iggles fans and I'm ready to scream it from the roof tops.

I will root for the Skins this week. It's just something about the Iggles being in last place all by themselves that makes me willing to cross that line. You're not truly the worst until you are there alone. Sharing is not for these Birds. Just like Dallas wasn't truly in first place until they were there alone. I want the Eagles to wallow in last place by themselves even if only for a week. I hear losing builds character, and that's the one thing that that organization and fan base could use plenty of. How much do I hate the Iggles right now? I was one of the fortunate 19 to go 10 for 10 in KD's contest. In this weeks contest I went with my head and not my heart in picking the Skins to lose. I don't care. I want those damn Iggles to be the cellar dwellers they were always meant to be. I'm willing to go 9 for 10 this week to get it. Let's go Skins!!!