One of the most useful armchair metrics I’ve learned from studying the work of the great fan posters here (and at OTI over the years) is the Fan Enjoyment measurement as invented by our former GateKeeper, Mr. Brizer, who now like the great general Cincinnatus of ancient Rome is retired from battle upon his country estate.
I coined the term “brimidity” to describe the metric and also honor Brizer’s brain.
Basically, “brimidity” is the calibrated Fan Enjoyment index for the emotional experience of any given game or team season as determined by this Brizerian formula:
Lack of enjoyment = fan anxiety____ (expressed as a percentage)
entertainment
An easy-going “brimidity” index would be 20%… indicating a sure win with a lot of entertaining plays, and maybe a few oooh and ahhhh moments at the positive turning points in the game… A really bad “brimidity” index would be 80%… involving close games with bad plays and bad outcomes…or the feeling of a losing season.
Brizer will probably tell us his ideal brimidity index for a great fan experience of a good home team effort by game or collectively by season probably falls into the 30%-to-40% range…as a little anxiety and drama actually tends to enhance the enjoyable feeling of a probable win.
Which got me to thinking— What is the current “brimidity” index among the fans of Dallas right about now?
“This Cowboys team could be 4-1 or 5-0 right now if it weren’t for their beating themselves, so being 2-3 is depressing.”— That’s the word on the street from Cowboys beat writer “Dallas Darren” of this network.
(The Cowboys Nation.com).
“It’s getting pretty tight for Dallas in my opinion. If Dallas wants to get into the playoffs, then the only way to do that is to win the division….” The anxiety among Cowboys fans is unusually high right now surrounding every game, every play, heck, every practice!
I’ll be back in a few hours to bring you more from “Dallas Darren” and a real anxious look at the Cowboys and their personnel….
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OK, I’m back… What I’m hearing from “Dallas Darren” in the Big D is a lot of angst…and a lot of brimidity now factors into his review of what’s going on with Philly’s most emotional rival…
Regarding the Cowboys’ bitter loss to the Patriots:
“I can’t really defend this team anymore. I understand that they did a great job shutting down the Patriots offense for much of the afternoon but to sit here and say I’m happy with this team despite the loss would be an out and out lie.”
“Once again it comes down to the Cowboys’ performance in the 4th quarter that hurts them. This team can’t for the life of them seem to play a complete 60 minutes. I really believe the Cowboys could be, should be 5-0 at this point.”
“There were 3 drives made by the Cowboys during the 4th quarter against the Pats where the game was there to be won….but was lost. Had they been successful on just one of those drives, I believe we’d be sitting at 3-2. The first drive was the one that ended up tying the game at 13. The problem wasn’t that they got points but that they had a 1st and goal and couldn’t come away with 6. The second drive that was a problem was a mirror image of the first drive. Again, 1st and goal and again they come away with only 3 points to give them a 16-13 lead. They left the chance to be up 24 -13. That drive really angered me because Romo decided to try a quick shovel pass on 3rd down instead of throwing it to Bryant, who had single man coverage in the end zone. The defense did a great job holding the Patriots to a 3 and out but it was the final Cowboys drive that takes the blame for the loss. How do you go 3 and out when you know that a first down will run a lot more time off the clock and make it really difficult for the Patriots? I’m losing
confidence in the Cowboys’ offense because when you need it most, it disappears.”
“The running game is absolutely crap. Felix Jones doesn’t appear to be the kind of guy that can take the abuse of being the #1 RB for 16 games. DeMarco Murray, while looking decent at times, didn’t do anything to help the passing game. As for Choice, there is a rumor of teams inquiring about obtaining him via trade and I would certainly be open for it.”
Dallas next plays St. Louis while the Eagles rest on their Bye. What does “Dallas Darren” want to see happen in the Rams game?
“Things I would like to see from this game:
Philip Tanner – Our running game is pathetic, so why not turn to him a little more at this point. He showed some promise in the preseason but hasn’t seen any valuable time in the regular season. He can’t do any worse than what has been done can he?
Tony Romo –Enough with the conservative play calling. Let Tony be Tony, and if Tony loses the game on an interception late, so be it, but you can’t have what happened in San Fran happen by going conservative and not letting Tony take a chance down field.
Dez Bryant – For god’s sakes put him back on punt returns. Thankfully the Cowboys parted ways with Dwayne Harris, but now it is sounding like Olgetree will be taking Harris’s spot on returns. Bryant had some nice moves last season so why not put him back there? Did anyone see him juke two Patriots last weekend on a catch and run??
A Win – There is just NO EXCUSE to lose this game..NONE!! If the Cowboys lose on Sunday, I am warning you now about the kind of article that will be written Monday morning.”
What exactly are the bright spots and the low points for Dallas after blowing a lead and losing to the Patriots?
Dan Bailey – “The Cowboys kicking game was always a point of frustration for me. Dan Bailey has been a bright spot in a position that has really been a sore spot for the Cowboys in recent years. David Buehler was so-so last season when it came to kicking FGs, making 24 of 32, but Bailey has gone 15 of 16 this season and has done a decent job on kickoffs while Buehler heals from a groin injury. Will Buehler be able to get any part of his job back when he’s healed?”
Running Game – “This continues to be a sore spot for the Cowboys this season. They currently are last in yardage gained on the ground this season (348 yards total) and are 29th in Yards per attempt with 3.3. Felix Jones has suffered the dreaded high-ankle sprain and will likely miss the upcoming game against St. Louis and then some. So now we have to rely on DeMarco Murray and Tashard Choice.”
Jason Garrett – “His play calling is somewhat questionable. At one point. the Cowboys have 3rd and goal with Bryant lined up with man on man coverage, and instead of calling a high percentage fade to Bryant, Garrett gets cute and pulls out the old shovel pass, a play the Cowboys haven’t run all season. When the Cowboys get the ball back with a few minutes remaining, Garrett decides to go to his running game to try and run out the clock. Keep in mind that the Patriots have a great rush defense and a poor pass defense. When facing a 3rd and 18, Garrett opts to keep it on the ground, thus giving the ball back to Brady for one last drive— and we know how that ended.”
Cornerbacks– “Yes, the Cowboys lost the game with the defense on the field and it was done so by Brady throwing the football, but Brady is tough to beat in that situation. I thought overall, our corners did a bang-up job. Deion Branch had 3 catches/69 yards/0 touchdowns and Welker has 6 catches/45 yards/1 TD. That is as close to getting shut down as I think you will see the New England wide receiving corps get all season.”
Jerry Jones – “He’s not escaping me this week. He’s a problem, but that is something Cowboys fans have lived with and dealt with for a very long time. Once again Jones has gone to the media and voiced his displeasure, this time on the conservative play-calling made at the end of the game on Sunday. Once again Jerry Jones didn’t hesitate to second-guess his own coach after a loss and did so in a public forum. I’m not angry about the second-guessing, I did it above in this article. I’m angry that he always does this publicly. Why can’t Jerry Jones figure out that if he feels the need to let the coaching staff know his opinion, that he should do so privately? Believe it or not. on Tuesday, Jerry had this to say on a KRLD Radio interview about the whole thing. “I would say that probably if I had that to do over again, I wouldn’t comment, period.” And I would say if you had to do it over again, you would act the same way you’ve always acted. There is a reason I don’t make posts directly after the game and that reason is because I would regret my first reaction to a loss. There’s a lot to be said about removing yourself from the situation while you calm down, but that is something Jones will never learn.”
Okay. By my brimidity barometer, it’s about 80% in Dallas this Sunday… brimid enough to cause a rain cloud to form in most Dallas fans’ living rooms and man-caves as they watch the Cowboys vs. Rams on Sunday… And suddenly, I’m feeling a cool breeze of renewed confidence and fan enjoyment waft through the Bye Week chambers of our Eagles fans’ observatories.
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