Watermelons, Sledgehammers, and a Cowboy's Win

The Dallas Cowboys advanced to 1st in the NFC East after a win against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, advancing their record to 3-7. That sounds criminal to say. But nevertheless, it is true. The win comes after a 4-game losing streak and some bad luck, with starting quarterback Dak Prescott suffering a gruesome leg injury. 

The key to initiating a turn-around to this less-than-ideal season: Watermelons.

Head coach Mike McCarthy packed watermelons and a sledgehammer to be flown to Minneapolis as part of gameday equipment, and Saturday night he led the team in a display of smashing those melons.

I'm sure it was an incredible display of soaring seeds and watermelon juice as the Cowboys smashed away any chance of losing the rest of the season. It worked this time, so in order to win their next huge matchup against the Washington Football Team on Thursday night, they'll need another handful of melons. Honestly, the more watermelons they smash the better their odds are, is what it sounds like to me. Plus, it takes a lot of pressure off the coaching staff to have to worry too much about the offensive and defensive schemes. 

It is very odd to me the amount of confidence Mike McCarthy put into doing something like this; it seems very summer campy and fanciful to me. This is the same guy who had the Green Bay Packers sized for rings the night before playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. Obviously the stakes of a midseason matchup are not as high and the collateral is much lower, but the antics are still just as strange. The Super Bowl stunt could have gone horribly wrong; the watermelon experiment was mainly just strange.

For me, picturing grown men (who have not one a game in a handful of weeks) getting hyped for a professional football game by doing something super middle school like smashing watermelons is just odd. 

But, they're 1-0 when watermelons are in the mix, so I guess it's worth another try.