“You’re a fraud!” Funny, because after a quarter-century of style over substance and teasing over tri- umph, Jones’ Dallas Cowboys have deterio- rated into The Beatles. Not the authentic musical quartet that revolutionized music in the 1960s. More so A Hard Day’s Night, the knock-off act that regularly tours Dallas hoping fans sing along to the counterfeit oldies so loud they don’t notice – or care – they’re actually watching John Lemon, Paul McFartney, George Wea- rison and Bingo Starr. Going on 26.5 years with nary a sniff of a conference championship game much less a Super Bowl, Jones’ famous-yet-faux Cow- boys have faded into merely a selfie tribute band: The Dallas Conboys. Since Jerry’s ’Boys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to win Super Bowl XXX on Jan. 28, 1996 – almost 10,000 days ago – they have moved headquarters from Valley Ranch to Frisco, changed stadiums from Irving to Ar- lington and had more head coaches (six) than playoff wins (four). Following the de- parture of Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, they’ve endured an almost unfathomable 24 starting quarterbacks. The Conboys occasionally sparkle in the Mike Brooks Unfair Park from p6 devil incarnate. FIRE would love to put itself out of business, he added, “but unfortu- nately, business is booming.” Social media has supercharged the threat to faculty speech, Creeley said. The country is deeply polarized these days, and outspo- ken professors and students often aren’t granted the grace of having divergent views. But Creeley reasoned that the First Amend- ment serves as a relief valve for those who are pissed off about the state of the world, and it’s worth protecting. Best to answer speech that you don’t like with more speech, he said. “We know that you can’t censor your way to truth; you can’t censor your way to knowl- edge and understanding,” he continued. “So, our role these days is to be an ambulance driver in the culture wars, right? It doesn’t matter what you’ve said: If it’s protected, we’ll be there to make sure that your rights are respected. And that’s interesting and de- manding work.” C 88 ollin College is not the only North Texas campus that has attracted FIRE’s attention. Earlier this summer, the University of Texas at Dallas announced it was investigat- ing complaints that an educator had posted homophobic tweets. Timothy P. Farage, a professor in the computer science depart- ment, tweeted about wanting to “find a cure for homosexuality” amid a surge in cases of monkeypox, a virus that anyone can catch but which is primarily spreading among men who have sex with men. Before long, students petitioned the school for Farage’s firing. FIRE called on the college to end its investigation. The nonprofit has also stood up to Tar- leton State University in Stephenville after the administration allegedly attempted to squelch student press freedoms. FIRE officially broadened its mission in June when it changed its name and de- clared it would also fight off-campus cen- sorship. The organization announced a $75 million expansion initiative centered on re- search, litigation and public education. The move comes amid a national push to pull controversial library books from shelves, especially those about race, sexuality and gender identity. Although it’s received criticism, FIRE has earned itself a sterling reputation over time in the eyes of many. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has a censure list, said Jeff Blodgett, president of the Texas Confer- ence of the AAUP. But that’s his organiza- tion’s “main weapon,” whereas FIRE enjoys a robust legal department and sub- stantial financial support to help fund lawsuits. Blodgett notes that in the Lone Star State, the AAUP views FIRE favorably; the two groups even collaborated on the Collin Col- lege case, he said. The left is often accused of stifling dissenting views, but it’s something that the right is also guilty of. “Free speech is under attack like it never has been before,” Blodgett said. “So it’s a tough time to be an outspoken professor.” Former Collin College history professor Michael Phillips knows what it’s like to be the target of school administrators. He claims that he was terminated earlier this year partly because he’d criticized the school’s response to the COVID-19 pan- demic. He said that when he first encoun- tered free speech trouble, he repeatedly tried to contact the ACLU’s Dallas office and never heard back, but FIRE was ready to help early on. Phillips sued the school this past spring Dr. Michael Phillips was targeted for criticizing Collin College’s COVID response. in one of FIRE’s three recent Collin College lawsuits. Former education professor Su- zanne Jones has also sued for reinstatement and praises FIRE as being a “great support to the faculty who were wrongly terminated at Collin.” Certain teachers have to deal with con- troversial subject matter, Phillips said, and some discussions could be potentially ca- reer-ending. Biology professors may negate creation- ism through lectures on evolution. History professors may lecture on America’s record of racism. Science professors may mention climate change. Phillips lauds FIRE as an “absolute [stal- wart],” adding that he’s proud of the work that it does. “I think they’re essential,” he continued. “I think a lot of people would be without a voice in academia, and I know I could not have carried on this fight that I’m carrying on without their support.” ▼ SPORTS AMERICA’S TEASE O THE COWBOYS CALL THEMSELVES “AMERICA’S TEAM,” BUT THERE’S A MORE ACCURATE NAME. BY RICHIE WHITT ver a quarter-century the Dallas Cowboys have blossomed into an $8 billion company by hawking defec- tive products … and no one seems to mind. It’s late August at The Star in Frisco, and Jerry Jones is about to utter one of the most ironic insults in the history of Dallas-Fort Worth sports. As he playfully spars with ESPN personality and notorious hater Ste- phen A. Smith on live TV, Jones attempts to throw a haymaker that might as well be a boomerang: regular season, only to come unraveled and unglued at the crunch like cheap imitation “Oaxley” sunglasses or a “Lewis” Vuitton purse. Yet year after year their fans, hypnotized by the Arkansas huckster’s Svengali, come back as willing, irrationally optimistic stooges convinced this is finally their season. They also likely believe that Dallas’ flying red Pegasus is made of Twizzlers, that J.R. Ewing resides at Southfork and that – finally – Lucy won’t dramatically yank the football away from their Charlie Brown. Nostalgic Cowboys fans are so desperate for the glory days that they’ve become gull- ible enough to actually think the present trio of Dak Prescott-Ezekiel Elliott-CeeDee Lamb can mimic the success of past triplets Aikman-Emmitt Smith-Michael Irvin. Deep down they know the 2022 Cowboys will only be impersonators of the 1995 Cowboys, but they can’t help themselves. Mainly, because Jones won’t let them. He remains the most shrewd marketing genius and savvy businessman in the history of the NFL, if not all of professional sports, pulling the strings on an “America’s Team” that in reality is nothing more than “Ameri- ca’s Tease.” Time and again fans are titillated by the lifted skirt and bulging cleavage of Septem- ber, never to see all the naughty bits come January. Not everyone, however, falls for the farce. Top Gun: Maverick may be a box-office win- ner decades after the original, but long-time ESPN analyst Michael Wilbon says Jones will never be able to duplicate the Cowboys’ 1990s success. “The Cowboys have done all kinds of wonderful things in the last 20 years that were fine to notice and point out, and maybe even celebrate from time to time in October and November and every now and then De- cember,” Wilbon said in the midst of the team’s promising 7-2 start in 2021. “But what the hell happens to the Cowboys by >> p10 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 SEPTEMBER 8-14, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com
