Aaren Prody
Audio By Carbonatix
We’ve gone on and on here at the Observer about how watching the Cowboys these days isn’t all that much fun, and how the team is probably more interesting to watch off the field.
In his most recent column for us, Matt McClearin of 1310 The Ticket mentioned that he felt relieved during the Cowboys recent bye week because he didn’t have to sit and watch the Cowboys embarrass themselves on national TV. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to work as a post-game host that weekend, he just didn’t want to spend time paying attention to the Cowboys after the lackluster season the club has put together so far in 2024.
That got us to thinking: what would we do on a Sunday instead of blocking off a few hours to watch Dak Prescott throw a few more costly interceptions? What would we do with that valuable hunk of daytime calendar real estate?
The Cowboys play against the favored Atlanta Falcons on Sunday at noon. That’s a great time to test out a few ideas for non-Cowboy-watching activities. Here’s what we came up with:
Watch Only the NFL Red Zone
We get it. Quitting cold turkey is tough, but there’s a way to cheat a little here. Instead of clicking on the Cowboys game at noon, click on the NFL Network’s NFL RedZone broadcast. It’s pretty glorious in that it offers 7 hours of commercial free football. For the uninitiated, the idea is that a studio host brings you live footage from any game that has one of the teams playing inside the 20-yard line, also known as “the red zone.” When host Scott Hanson exclaims, “OK, let’s go to the quad-box,” and you see four games being broadcast at once on your screen, you’ll forget that the team you had originally planned to watch is even playing. Well, you might catch a glimpse of them, but how likely is it they’ll be inside the 20 on Sunday?
Peruse the Dallas Observer Best of Dallas 2024 Issue
We say you should check out this issue because it’s a living, breathing document. Think of it as a checklist for all the cool things to see, do, shop for and taste in Dallas and beyond. On Sunday, open that bad boy up and start making your list. Maybe you’ve already made notes of some of the places you need to visit from the issue? Because it’s noon on Sunday, maybe you should give our 2024 winner for Best Brunch, Petra and the Beast, a try, or perhaps go grab our pick for the Best Bloody Mary at the Old Monk.
Watch the Dallas Mavericks
Whatever you had planned to do after the Cowboys game, just do all that before 6:30 p.m. when the Mavericks tip off against the Orlando Magic. That way you’ll stay busy during the day when the Cowboys’ game is on, and you’ll still have a local team to root for later. But remember, this year, the Mavs aren’t on Bally Sports. Check out how to catch Luka, Kyrie and all the rest on TV here.
Binge a Show
Maybe you’re just too busy during the week to get to one of the many shows your friends have been talking about or the ones that you see critics raving about. What better time to knock at least one of those off your list than a wide-open, Cowboys-free Sunday? Apple TV+ has some great options for you. We dig Disclaimer, the time-hopping drama written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron and starring Cate Blanchett, as well as Bad Monkey, the new detective series starring Vince Vaughn. Or you can catch the first seasons from two of the best shows from the past few years, in our opinion, Bad Sisters and Silo, before their second seasons premiere later in November.
Get Ready for the Election
If you’ve watched even a bit of NFL football this season, you no doubt have seen the many political commercials clogging the airwaves these days. Why not be more informed before you hit the polls on Tuesday? We’ve done a lot of the work for you here, here, here and here. If you are a Dallas resident, definitely acquaint yourself with the controversial charter amendment propositions that critics have said could cripple the Dallas government. Maybe combine this suggestion with the one above and read about the issues before you binge The West Wing.
Anything, Literally Anything Else
What’s the worst that can happen? You might miss the Cowboys eke out a rare win? Even if that happens, there’s always another game to catch if a Sunday without Dak and the ‘Boys is just too much for you to handle.
