Once more with feeling: Cowboys-Redskins rivalry very much alive

September 25, 10:58 PMWashington Redskins ExaminerMark Newgent

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My Friday work attire

Is this still a rivalry? The Bog says not so much, because we fans are “occupying the only side of a rivalry.”  Yes, I was one of those hoi polloi chanting “We want Dallas, we want Dallas,” streaming down the FedEx field ramps, for the very logical reason that we do in fact “want Dallas.”Sure the Cowboys have owned the Redskins since the mid 1990s. However, the Redskins have started to make this thing competitive again. Since 2005 the Redskins are 4-2 against the Cowboys, including two fourth quarter come-from-behind victories.

Do I care if petulant Dallas fans or aloof reporters don’t consider the Redskins rivals? No, because I and many other Redskin fans do. And, there are Cowboys fans who actually do as well. Case in point: the two Dallas Cowboys Examiners, who rate this series as a huge rivalry.

Ryan Killian cites ESPN.com’s Mark Matt Mosely’s argument that the Redskins-Cowboys is the best NFC East rivalry, and his colleague Jeffri Chadiha's contention that this game is the best rivalry in the NFL. I agree on both counts. Cowboys Examiner number dos Dan Telvock goes bit overboard declaring Redskins-Cowboys to be “pro sports greatest rivalry.” I appreciate the sentiment, but Yankees and Red Sox fans, among others, might disagree.

You betcha

Chadiha’s telling of the rivalry’s genesis is typical of most accounts—George Preston Marshall opposed Texas oilman Clint Murchison’s expansion franchise, only to relent. Well that is true, in the sense that Hitler was just a guy with a funny mustache. The actual reason Marshall relented was a pretty big frakking deal. The Dallas Cowboys owe their very existence to our beloved fight song. Marshall, as he was wont to do, ticked off Barnee Breeskin, the man who wrote the music to Hail to the Redskins. To get back at Marshall Breeskin approached Murchison’s lawyer and sold him the rights to Hail to the Redskins. Murchison used that as leverage to get Marshall to agree to an expansion franchise in Dallas, thus birthing the rivalry we all love. There is no other rivalry in the NFL like this one. Do the Steelers owe their existence to the Browns? Did Al Davis own ground rent on Tim McKernan’s barrel?

The Cowboys are 3-0 and the odds-on favorite to represent the NFC in Tampa, the Redskins are 2-1 with the Jim Zorn’s offense starting to click, so get excited for Sunday as the best rivalry in the NFL is renewed for another season.

Some rivalry themed vids for your viewing pleasure:

Behold the mystic chords of memory.

Okay this is just two Cowboys fans fighting at last year's game at FedEx, but interesting nonetheless.