The NFL season is really just getting started, but the Dallas Cowboys are well on their way to another mark in the record books: Most childish fans. First there were the references to quarterback Tony Romo's sexuality with oh-so-original plays on the man's name (do I need to spell this one out for you? It's got its own Urban Dictionary listing). Now we have video of a dad letting his 8-year-old play with matches and lighter fluid in the name of "being sick and tired" of how Romo performs on the field.
Let's review this, shall we? Little kid + matches + lighter fluid = this will end well ...
Yup, this is a new low for Cowboys fans, lower perhaps than the Dallas fan who snuck a Taser into the Jets game and started using it on people earlier this season. In a video that's been making the rounds of the sports blogs, the as yet unidentified dad (come on Internet, you can fix that) lets his son trash-talk the quarterback who threw three picks on Sunday. Still calling his father "Daddy," the kid can only be 7 or 8 at the most, but that doesn't bother Dad, who then hands over a bottle of lighter fluid and a pile of matches:
Did you hear that? It "has" to be done? In the middle of National Fire Prevention Month, this dad just "had" to put his son in danger? For a stunt that will have zero effect on how Tony Romo plays next Sunday.
Tony Romo is spending the week stewing over his bad showing on Sunday, no doubt. He's probably practicing. Dealing with angry coaches. Doing what football players do during the week. But guess what he's probably not doing? Caring about some guy burning his jersey in his backyard in the middle of Texas.
And so, considering the chances that Romo is watching the video are slim to none, this stunt will -- no pun intended -- very likely backfire. The kid will realize he can try the lighter fluid and matches on OTHER stuff around the house and get the same gleeful balls of flames, so here's what really HAS to be done: This fan needs to grow up.
He needs to start acting like a dad. He needs to drop the fantasy that the ability to pad Jerry Jones' pockets when he shops at the team store means he "has" to do something to affect "his" team's chances at the Super Bowl. (Seriously, can we just talk about how much Dallas Cowboys STUFF is in that backyard? They have the hats. They have the shirts. They have the CHAIRS. No wonder he's mad ... Jerry Jones has all his cash.) There's being a fan. Then there's being an idiot.
What do you think? Do the Tony Romo haters need to grow up?