Two weeks ago, we started the exercise to decide who the boldest Cowboys fan and boldest member of are community would be. The competition for the boldest fan wasn't much of one, as WIlford "Crazy Ray" Jones symbolized the Dallas Cowboys for fans dating all the way back to the team's time in the Cotton Bowl.
The younger fans might not remember, but there was a time when the lead-in to every single Cowboys-Redskins game would feature a cameo of Crazy Ray and Chief Zee pretending to beat each other up. Jones passed away in March 2007 due to heart disease and diabetes, but his memory lives on in the hearts of generations worth of Cowboys fans.
Now it's time to move on to whom would be considered the boldest member of our family here. I asked for nominations from the masses, and there were three names that garnered multiple votes and distanced themselves away from the competition. Our community has grown by leaps and bounds over the last year, and we've seen several of our bretheren elevate from the Fan Posts to the front page. On behalf of all the front-page writers, we humbly acknowledge the various nominations. The distinction is that of volume, as we are all constantly entertained and informed by the Fan Posts and comments you guys generate.
Follow the jump for our winner.
Third Place - Terry (tied for vote lead)
Terry's been a member of the BTB community since it's inception and has been singing the praises of one Antonio Romero Romo since, well, since we think they invented the keyboard. Our newer members may not get the history behind the Romo radar jokes, but Terry has been a vocal supporter since before Romo ever got his chance behind center.
I guess I'm not the only Romo fan out there. While there certainly is not a qb controversy right now, there could be if Romo continues to play well this preseason and Bledsoe struggles into the season. I say this because if our line cannot protect Drew, Parcells might feel that a more mobile Romo might give our offense a better chance to succeed. I have a feeling this story has only begun.
-August 15th, 2006
Terry has over 33,000 comments here on BTB, and spent time as a front page writer as well. The boldness he displays in his unwavering support of Romo as one of the league's elite signal callers will be remembered by BTB members when we're old and gray.
"Hey, you guys remember that guy Terry when BTB was just a website... from when we used to use PCs? Man, that dude was a Cowboys fan for real. He'd go postal if anyone tried to say something bad about Romo!"
Second Pace - ChiaCrack (tied for vote lead)
Is there anyone that moves the needle like Chia? A BTB member since July 2010, Chia rose to great heights as a Fan Poster this past offseason, with a relentless onslaught of informative draft posts. He is never at a loss for words, or opinions on the state of the team and how it can be improved. He has over 19,000 posts in less than 15 months, which should show you how opinionated he is about our beloved Cowboys. And it's not just the comments, Chia packs novellas into FanPosts.
His draft profiles and big boards contained as much information as could be found on the net, and he always tied them into how they could improve our Cowboys. He's been bullish on Sean Lee, and started the Tyron Smith bandwagon as early as February. before our new right tackle finally weighed in at over 300 pounds.
And I keep reading on how people are nervous at putting Smith at RT this season if we draft him. I guarantee if you put Tyron Smith at RT and start him right away that he will be a productive player for you. Yes he is going to have some growing pains, every rookie does. But I really think its insane to pass on Smith, who is the most talented offensive lineman in this draft.
Chia is our most energetic poster here, far and away the leader in posts and rec's received, and never afraid to jump out there with his opinion. Cheers my man.
The walking 'auto-Rec'. 5Blings is, far and away, our most revered Fan Poster. He dominates other posters in rec-per-post ratio, and it's not even close when it comes to comments-per-post either. If there is one person that knows how to incite thought-provoking Cowboys discussion it's 5Blings.
If you don't read the Fan Posts, you really are missing out on some of the best Cowboys journalism on the web, and Blings is at the forefront of this category. He is often the voice of caution amidst a sea of beautiful and hopeful homerism, but his eloquence and insight demand you to evaluate the team critically. Blings will often time add a literary spin to his insight and treat readers with entertainment-laced insight.
I was at a Dallas bar the night before the NFL draft and who should show up out of the blue, but Jerry Jones himself. Well, we got to drinking the good stuff. Oban single malt scotch, Don Julio margaritas, Ketel One martinis and black and tan's. As the night wore on, Jerry let his guard down. "5B, I just don't know why I keep doin' it to muhself. I know I'm not a good personnel guy, but I just want this team to win so dang bad that I am my own worst enemy!" Then, he started crying. Tears were flowing like a heartbroken teenage girl. Suddenly, he picked his head up off of the mahogany table with a pool of drool around him and looked me right in the eye and said, "Sunnuvagun! I have a GREAT idear!!!" I said, "Jerry, whiskey tango foxtrot are you talkin' about?" He interrupted, "We got all this dang technology stuff and we just aint usin' it right. You remember that Shakespeare movie with that there Steve Martin feller who tried to get that hot blonde mermaid to hook up with him?!?" Obviously, Jerry had confused the movies, Roxanne and Splash, but being a product of pop culture, I quickly decoded his ramblings. "You can be my sahlent pardnur on draft day!!!" he said. "It's foolproof!!!" Jerry laughed like a fat man who'd just finished his third trip to the buffet. He had concocted this plan where I would be in a separate room at the Ranch during the draft with a microphone and he would secretly wear an earphone where I could direct his draft-day efforts via remote control. A modern-day ‘Cyrano De Drafterac' if you will. Despite my misgivings about Jerry being able to make this crazy sceme work, I reluctantly agreed, if only because of my love for the Cowboys and a personal willingness to sacrifice everything for the good of the team.
He also has the capability to remind us what it is we love about America's game.
So when I see Romo stride through the tunnel for our first game, I'm sure I'll see, as I have in the past, visions in my head of Craig Morton and Roger Staubach and Danny White and Troy Aikman. When Jason Garrett walks over to the sideline, I'll pray that Tom and Jimmy have somehow helped him gather the wisdom and leadership needed to make this year's team a champion. And when Ware lines up on the edge with his ears pinned back, I'm sure I'll imagine Harvey Martin and Charles Haley in my head for just a moment because these decades of devotion have created sedimentary layers of indelible memories that I dearly cherish. It's those memories that connect NFL fans in a way that is entirely uncommon. Every fan I've met seems to have that one special memory that sticks out. Whether it was an off-field interaction with a player, an amazing play they saw while sitting in the stands or just a memory of going to the game with their family and/or friends. My old boss almost tears up recounting a game he watched with his dad where they watched Johnny Unitas perform acts of heroism. That kind of emotion is tangible and while I'm sure fans of other sports feel the same way, there is something different here.
So here's to 5Blings, boldest member of our Cowboys webisphere. Raise a glass, ladies and gentlemen.