Packers have creativity,
Cowboys have the numbers.

By Tommy Cummings
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

Cowboys coach Barry Switzer is riding a steed onto Lambeau Field. A Godzilla-sized Vince Lombardi wearing an Indian headdress looms over the horizon behind the stadium. Suddenly, a girl clad in a cheese-colored hunting outfit springs from the crowd and shoots off Switzer's head. The captions proclaim:
"Here comes the Cowpies! . . .
It's Switzer's Last Stand! . . .
It's a Lambeau turkey shoot!"

It's Cowboys-Packers week on the Internet.

The Cowboys and Packers are the most popular NFL teams based on search-engine entries, which means the online woofing has begun.

The chat rooms at most fan sites and newsgroups (news:alt.sports.football.pro.gb-packers and news:sports.football.pro.dallas-cowboys) are full of ranting fans.

Many of the Packers sites have tapped into the numerous anti-Cowboys sites for sophomoric jokes.

But searching through the crudeness, there is some creativity -- and the Packers have the edge, mainly with Packer Palace (home.earthlink.net/~norbertn/packerpalace) with its animation and deco images.

"We decided to spoof the NFL team that Green Bay was playing that week," said Norbert Nesvacil, who created the site with Scott McClean two years ago. "Since the Pack was winning easily last year, we were allowed to be a little obnoxious and almost arrogant."

There is even a Packers fan behind enemy lines. Austin resident John Rutherford tracks and predicts each Packers game at his site, Green Bay in Austin (www.geocities.comolosseum/Arena/8775/index2.html).

"I have tried to stay away from being a vehement anti-Cowboy fan, but I am not opposed to a little mudslinging here and there," Rutherford said.

In numbers, the Cowboys have Packers fans beat. The Cowboys Internet Resource site (www.eden.com/~fgoodwin) has indexed more than 400 Cowboys-related sites.

But finding Packers-haters among the Cowboys sites aren't easy. Most fan-authored Cowboys sites direct their hatred toward the San Francisco 49ers.

"It's hard to work up a rivalry against somebody if you've beaten them eight times in a row," said Fred Goodwin, author of the Cowboys Internet. "Bears fans might be more hostile toward the Packers."

From the Cowboys camp, the most ardent Packers hater has to be the fan who authors Mary's Packers Haters Page (www.geocities.comolosseum/Field/3058/packhate.html). A student at Sam Houston State University, Mary conducts an ongoing survey, asking "Why do I hate the Packers?"

Another Cowboys fan posts inflammatory E-mail he receives from Packers fans at Lance's Cowboys Page (www.lrzone.com/dallas/packermail.html).

Highlights from other fan-authored sites:

Packer.Com (www.packer.com): Not to be confused with Packers.Com -- the team's official site -- this site asks visitors to vote on the game's outcome, either a Packers or Cowboys blowout or something in between. Someone in Oshkosh is bound to be stuffing this ballot in favor of a Packers rout.

Packers Paydirt (www.PackersPaydirt.com): Here you can order a jar of Lambeau Field's hallowed soil for $9.95. Proceeds fund the current playing surface of Lambeau. It's also a drive to distribute the soil nationwide and expunge the Cowboys as America's Team. All but three states have ordered this jar of dirt.

The Unofficial, Unabashed Green Bay Packers Home Page (www.execpc.com/~tsklassy): An overkill of anti-Cowboys jokes in its humor section. A few jokes are creative, but most are brutal. You've heard them before.

Michael Brixius' Packer Page (pages.prodigy.com/eqhm28b/cow.htm): Links here are to an anti-Cowboys song and an anti-Cowboys chat room. One sign of too much photo-altering software on the loose: tacky image of Deion Sanders with massive ears.

Trailerchz's Home Page (members.aol.com/Trailerchz/index.html): This site is malicious, but Cowboys fans will love the shots taken by this Packers-hater, which narrows it down to a Bears fan or a Cowboys fan.

Friday, Nov. 21, 1997 at 22:46 CST