Cowboy Fans! New And Improved, With Tunnel Vision(TM)!

So, Dan Patrick's radio show this afternoon on ESPN Radio. He opens by discussing how Dallas Cowboy fans are getting angry because people are now referring to the New Orleans Saints as "America's Team."

A petty, near-sighted, and dumb thing to be getting upset about, particularly in light of the fact that I don't know who the hell designated the Cowboys as "America's Team" in the first place, but anyway.

That aside, Dan then read a letter from a Texas-based reader that makes all previous complaints pale by comparison. Not being able to find the full text of the message, I will paraphrase as best I can: The writer in question said that he came downstairs to find his 70-year-old father crying as he read the morning paper, because the NFL will be running a telethon to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina during halftime of the monday night game, instead of airing the induction of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin to the illustrious "Inner Circle" of the Cowboys. The author went on to say that America had to move on, and that it was very disrespectful to Dallas fans to not air these three players being honored in this way, all just to raise money.

Oh, there was more, much more. The blood in my ears was boiling too much for me to accurately remember it, though.

I can only hope that it was a prank. Because if it wasn't, it shows a callousness of thought and emotion I heretofore thought impossible.

Disrespectful? Let's see. We are not one month removed from a tragedy that cost the lives of at least hundreds if not thousands of people, and has left tens of thousands homeless. Tonight, in an effort to help, the NFL will attempt to raise money during halftime. 20 minutes at best. All of which could go a long way to aid human beings who are suffering.

And this guy feels "disrespected" because he won't get to see three guys whose primary contribution to society is tossing a ball to each other have their name put on a wall.

To be frank, if he genuinely feels "disrespected" by that, he deserved no respect in the first place.