Tom Ryle recently penned an excellent piece on the lack of drama at Valley Ranch.
While I appreciate the silence and its apparent advantages, I have to admit that I'm anxious for some coverage. I want to read the completely nonsensical articles about how the cyst might impact Romo's golf stroke, and what that might mean for his dedication to the Cowboys if only there's a chance there'll be a nugget of real information in there.
Imagine the essentially garbage information here: "Jerry Jones is a horrible GM. That's why his undrafted rookies have only played on 140 out of 1500 possible snaps during OTAs." Even though it's the product of bad reporting, it still contains a bit of real info about what's going on behind closed doors. This was a hypothetical quotation, by the way.
So what are we to do? This afternoon, Joey Ickes opined that he would love for the Cowboys to be featured on HBO's Hard Knocks this year.
You know what? I'd consider it, as much as it pains me to do so. My biggest concern would, of course, be the HBO staff trying hard to manufacture drama, and likely looking to set some fires with the memes that already plague Dallas Cowboys reporting.
The benefit, though? Hours upon hours of Cowboys content - things you don't normally get to see. I would watch every second of it.
Still, I know in my heart that no matter how much I would love the content, the network-driven witch hunts that the cameras would be undertaking (and even editing with the intent to create these storylines) would likely have a negative impact on the team.
So, what is a Cowboys' addict to do?
There's a scenario I have envisioned that would give us all of that coveted Cowboys coverage without as much need to manufacture headlines.
Imagine if all 32 teams were required to grant media access to every practice? That would give us more coverage, and it would relieve national pressure for Cowboys drama (as that need would theoretically be filled naturally), but it would not alleviate the pressure our own local writers are applying. But, as we've seen so far with this offseason, the ability of the local media to manufacture drama has been limited. This policy would also allow the few truly talented reporters covering the Cowboys locally access to the team throughout the offseason - and that would be nothing short of a Godsend for those who go into withdrawals during these football-empty months.
The all-access mandate would help to fill up our twitter feeds and article queues, undoubtedly, but there's still something missing. Remember the first day of OTAs? How it was broadcast live? How about we get some more of that? I would love to watch every second of every bit of on-field work. Even without sound. Better with Broaddus narrating. And the thing about live broadcasts is that, unlike Hard Knocks, it can't be edited into some fake storyline to drive interest - or, at least, not before we see the raw footage.
As fans, we want more access to our favorite team. If every team has the same requirements for access in place (unlike Hard Knocks), there is no competitive disadvantage to worry about. With live footage, we wouldn't have to worry about controversies being edited into the content. And with 31 other teams to help share the load, we won't have to listen to Skip and Stephen talking for weeks about the Cowboys' offseason activities.
What do you think BTB? Are you on board?
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