In 1947 it was initially set to seven minutes before midnight, or “doomsday.” Today? We’re down to 90 seconds.
But there is good news this holiday season: Bring on the end of the world, because now Dallas-Fort Worth sports fans can die happy. At long last, thanks to the Texas Rangers, we have finally stopped our local version of the Doomsday Clock: the Misery Meter.
Since the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA championship on June 12, 2011, I’ve been nauseatingly counting the days until our next local title. Tick … tick … tick … and more ticks. But after 4,526 days, we have finally struck our “midnight.”
After a record 11 consecutive wins on the road, the Rangers won their unlikely World Series on Nov. 1 in Phoenix. Now – if you’re 28 or older – you can rest in eternal peace knowing you’ve experienced all four major DFW sports teams win a championship. The Rangers in November. The Mavs 12 years ago. The Dallas Stars in 1999. The Dallas Cowboys in 1996.
“I couldn’t be happier for those guys,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said of his Arlington sports neighbors. “The rising tide lifts all boats, and what the Rangers did puts a little more pep in all of our steps around here.”
It’s our first time with a full plate, so let’s gratefully devour the deliciousness. Rarely has there been a better time to be a sports fan in DFW.
Bring on the end of the world, because now Dallas-Fort Worth sports fans can die happy.
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We’ve got our shiny new championship, and some sentimental old closure. In the last four years we’ve enjoyed a World Series title, a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals, an appearance in the NBA’s Western Conference Finals, an NFL division championship and a combined 101 playoff games by our four teams – the Stars (50), Mavericks (31), Rangers (17) and Cowboys (3). Record in those contests: 61-40.
Our quartet lifted only one trophy in this span, but when you’ve painfully endured a dirty dozen years without one, beggars can’t be choosers. Other than 2011 – when the Mavs won their lone title and the Rangers came within one strike of winning theirs – these are our golden years.
Since 2020 we’ve boasted an NFL Rookie of the Year (the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons), an All-NBA first-teamer (Luka Doncic of the Mavs), a World Series MVP (Rangers’ slugger Corey Seager) and an Executive of the Year (Stars’ general manager Jim Nill).
On the heels of the Rangers’ miraculous and shocking run, the Cowboys are 8-3 heading toward December and hoping to add to their 32 regular-season wins over the last three years (second-most in the NFL behind only the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs). The Stars and Mavs, meanwhile, are both among the top five teams in their leagues.
Our current sports success can’t do anything to monkey with the world’s Doomsday Clock. But we have, finally, just re-set DFW’s Misery Meter.
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In their seasons that have started in 2023, all four North Texas teams could, and perhaps should, make the playoffs. We’re being treated to in-their-prime stars such as Doncic, Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott, Rangers’ five-tool star Adolis Garcia and the Stars’ 24-year-old leader Jason Robertson. We’ve also, just as importantly, mended fences with our past.
A year ago, the Mavs unveiled Dirk Nowitzki’s statue outside American Airlines Center. Come March, alongside him will arise one saluting the Stars’ all-time greatest player, Mike Modano.
“Being out there with Dirk obviously means a lot,” Modano says. “It’s kind of the icing on the whole thing.”
Even the perceived frosty relationship between Jones and Jimmy Johnson has thawed, with the owner finally caving to public pressure and deciding to induct the coach into the Cowboys Ring of Honor.
You want more warm ’n' fuzzy symmetry? Jimmy’s quarterback – three-time Super Bowl champion-turned-ESPN analyst Troy Aikman – will be at AT&T Stadium on Dec. 30 for the ceremony.
Said Jones of his decision, “It just feels like the perfect time.”
Our current sports success can’t do anything to monkey with the world’s Doomsday Clock. But we have, finally, just re-set DFW’s Misery Meter.
Glad tidings, indeed.
