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Credit: ESPN
ESPN is obsessed with the Dallas Cowboys.
This is a proven fact that has been covered many times throughout the years. Even Charles Barkley and Inside the NBA made fun of it just after they moved to appearing on ESPN. Despite decades without winning a Super Bowl, the Cowboys have long been the biggest mover of eyeballs as “America’s Team.” Of course, given the total popularity of the NFL and the ratings that have followed teams like the Chiefs, Bills, and Lions, that moniker may not be as set in stone as it once was. But that hasn’t stopped ESPN from being all-in on all things Dallas Cowboys.
Now that the World Cup is over, LeBron James has signed, and the NFL and college football seasons are still a month away, we are officially in the emptiest time on the sports calendar. So that means it’s time for ESPN, and First Take more specifically, to play the hits.
The program has returned to its favorite topic: whether this year could finally be the year that Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys can mount a serious challenge for the Super Bowl.
You would understand if ESPN wanted to fill a segment or two with this topic, even if the Cowboys are currently listed at +2500 on DraftKings to lift the Lombardi Trophy. That would place them 16th in the rankings, exactly in the league’s mid-pack. Even the Cincinnati Bengals have better odds to win the Super Bowl this year.
But that hasn’t stopped First Take from repeatedly revisiting the topic in late July.
First Take hasn’t debated the Cowboys’ Super Bowl chances just one time. Not two times or three times. Not even four or five times. In the last two weeks, the program has talked about the Cowboys on at least six out of the last eight episodes. That includes every single day thus far this week.
On Tuesday, July 21, it started when Dak Prescott made the mistake of uttering the phrase “Super Bowl.” Someone shined the star-shaped Bat Signal above the First Take studio, and Stephen A. Smith got to work.
Somehow, the conversation continued into the next day with NFL analyst Louis Riddick giving his take on Prescott’s comments and their Super Bowl chances.
On Monday morning, even without Stephen A. Smith on the show, even after a full weekend of sports, First Take had a 10-minute discussion talking about the same exact thing they spent the week before discussing. Courtney Cronin hosted Dan Orlovsky, Chris Canty, and Evan Cohen. So at least there were different people talking about the same old thing?
On Tuesday, it was Peter Schrager’s turn. He even broke the fourth wall a little bit and said that it was an annual tradition that all eyes were on Dak Prescott at this time of the year. Maybe that’s true in Dallas and at ESPN, but fans of the other 31 teams would also like to see their teams covered with a fraction of the interest.
The next day, Riddick was back again to share even more thoughts on the Cowboys, this time with Shae Cornette and Chris Russo. This went for an incredible 17 minutes!
Finally, during today’s episode, Canty returned, this time opposite college football analyst Jordan Rodgers.
We could have saved a lot of time, a lot of energy, and done a lot more interesting things over the last two weeks if we had just stopped when Stephen A. Smith started this conversation all the way back on July 21, and he said, “The season hasn’t even started yet, and I already want to throw up, I want to vomit.” Let’s be real, though. This started at the last Super Bowl when ESPN and First Take talked about the franchise’s Super Bowl window during the week that the Patriots and Seahawks were actually preparing to play in the game.
Is it annoying that ESPN can’t quit the Cowboys? Yes. Would you literally want to listen to the network talk about anything else? Please, someone, save us. Give us First Take debating hockey, soccer, even the Pillow Fighting Championships. Anything.
But we all know why ESPN does this. It’s not because the worldwide leader in sports wants to haunt your dreams with Dak Prescott and Jerry Jones. It’s because the Cowboys bring ratings. And ratings bring revenue. If we all collectively decided to watch something else every time that logo came off the screen, maybe we could effect some positive change and improve our collective health. Until then, it’s not going to stop. And odds are, the incredible streak of First Take talking about the Cowboys winning the Super Bowl will continue tomorrow, next week, the week after that, the week after that, the week after that, the week aft…
The post ‘First Take’ obsession with Dallas Cowboys reaching insane new heights appeared first on Awful Announcing.
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