UNDERDOG LIFER STARTS EARLY

An underdog lifer life needs to start early, otherwise it’s just following trends.

But how early?

Top underdogs are never the first born, the first to start new things, or the first in line.

If they were first, they wouldn’t be underdogs.

Start with where you were raised.

Did your neighborhood remind you that you lived on the other side of the tracks when you first noticed things?

My family’s first house sat across the street from a sand dune.

When everyone grew my parents built a bigger house. Across the street from another sand dune.

There was always sand in the house. Shocking, I know.

Situated next to Coos Bay, North Bend is home to the towering 500-foot sand dunes of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, historic McCullough Memorial Bridge, beautiful Horsfall Beach and plenty of quaint shops, antique stores and restaurants.

You’re an underdog lifer if your grade school spread out on the flats with the other two in town hill schools where students didn’t live next to sand dunes.

If your small town shared a city limit with another small town, though slightly bigger, you are an underdog.

Even more so if their high school occupied it’s own hill with a dedicated gym, a gut to cruise, and a yearning to incorporate the entire region under their jurisdiction.

Coos Bay was established in the 1850’s as Marshfield, but changed its name to Coos Bay in 1944. Year’s later, the cities’ of Empire and Eastside merged with Coos Bay making Coos Bay the largest city on the Oregon Coast with a current population of 16,292.

“Why is it called Coos Bay instead of Marshfield?”

“Because ‘Murky Mudflat’ didn’t sound right to the city council.”

Underdog Lifer Portland

When I’ve been out in the world past my front door, where people don’t speak English, or pretend not to, lookin’ at you Spain, I ask if they’ve heard of Portland, Oregon.

The majority of those asked in Spain, England, France, and Belgium had heard of Seattle, but not Portland.

And everyone knew San Francisco.

So there’s poor little Portland stuck in the middle. Which made it an ideal destination for people sick of Seattle and San Francisco.

Now they’re sick of Portland? Hello, Boise.

Except Boise doesn’t have the West Hills that bleed down to a village-feel street like NW 23rd.

It’s a street you can bar hop down one side and back the other, with a cheesesteak stop in between.

Those who complain about Portland, (I’ve written roughly 1190 posts with a Portland keyword,) must have forgotten what it felt like to be in mega-cities like New York, Philadelphia, London, or Paris.

Note to whiners: Every big city started small and each one has remnants of their origins if you’re willing to spend time looking around.

Do things change? Yes, and not always for the better.

Paris had the Notre Dame fire.

Portland just had a church fire.

Notre Dame is coming back; the Korean Church is still undecided.

The church, which was built in 1905 as the First German Evangelical Church, was scheduled to be torn down this morning to prevent its steeple from collapsing onto overhead Portland Streetcar cables. But that demolition was delayed. The fire bureau has not yet said why.

Embracing Underdog-ism In Sports

Sports fandom illustrates the true Underdog Lifer bonded to a team they just can’t quit.

Like the Dallas Cowboys.

My mother spent her first ten years in Dallas before she and Grandma moved on to Orofino, Idaho after a divorce and remarriage.

Her often married daddy in Dallas started sending Cowboy media to us in North Bend when he learned he had grandsons.

He took us all out to the Cowboy’s training center when we visited in 1969.

To top it off, my Dad was a Green Bay Packer fan. He looked like Ray Nitschke.

Together we watched the Packers beat the Cowboys to advance and win the first two Super Bowls.

The Cowboys would have won those games, too.

Underdog lifer talk includes plenty of justification, what about, and if only.

If only Jim O’Brian had shanked the winning field goal at the end of Super Bowl IV.

What about an All-World tight end like Jackie Smith dropping the winning touchdown in the end zone at the end of Super Bowl XIII.

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How can a Cowboy fan be an underdog lifer?

After the greatness of the Jimmy Johnson teams winning three out of four Super Bowls in a row, is it possible?

Ten years of Danny White. A decade of Romo, and now Dak, combined with a variety of coaching changes that didn’t include showing the smiling Jason Garrett the door sooner than later.

The big problem is owner/GM Jerry Jones. It’s said he learned the NFL business side from Oakland Raider legend Al Davis.

Football guys work to win games; money guys work to make more money.

Jerry Jones is a money guy first, and he’s winning big.

At the top of the rankings, the Dallas Cowboys sit at an estimated valuation of $8 billion, making them the most valuable sports team in the world. 

They were the first team to generate over $1 billion in annual revenue thanks to massive sponsorship deals, including an estimated $220 million in stadium advertising and sponsorship revenue.

This is especially impressive, since NFL teams actually share just over 70% of football-related revenue. As Forbes points out, the Cowboys have been the most successful at capitalizing on stadium and branding in order to boost external revenues.

Everyone has an underdog lifer story. This is mine.

What’s yours?