ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601290035
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
WHEN THE SUPER BOWL KICKS OFF TONIGHT, both teams can claim a following in Roanoke. There's a Dallas Cowboys bar on Peters Creek Road. And now there's a local Steelers club, 150 members strong, complete with a newsletter and a weekly watering hole. How did Dallas and Pittsburgh become our hometown teams?
WHY IS THERE A bar on Peters Creek Road dedicated to the Dallas Cowboys? Because Gary Stoner wants it that way.
Gary Stoner's a true Dallas fan, from the Dallas Cowboys cap on his head down to the Cowboys laces on his silver-and-blue tennis shoes.
You might even say that Stoner caught the Dallas Cowboys bug.
Especially if you saw it. His 1972 Volkswagen Beetle is custom-painted like a Dallas Cowboys helmet.
It stays parked outside Stoner's Cowboy Bar and Grill on Peters Creek Road, probably the only Dallas Cowboys sports bar in Washington Redskins land.
``It took me some guts to open up a Dallas bar in Redskins territory,'' said the lifelong Cowboys fan. ``When Dallas plays, probably two out of three of the fans in here are Redskins. They always give me a bunch of crap, but I'm used to that.''
Stoner grew up in Roanoke, the son of a Redskins-loving father. But as long as he can remember, Stoner, 46, has loved his Cowboys. Maybe it was because his mother moved to Texas years ago. Maybe it was the loyalty of the Cowboy players to their team.
Or maybe it was the cheerleaders.
Stoner's not exactly sure, but whatever it is about the Cowboys, he's devoted much of his life - and not a small bit of money - to them.
A few years ago, when Stoner's friend Jimmy Gusler got the idea of painting his VW Beetle like a Redskins football helmet, Stoner followed suit.
Since then, his Cowboys car has been in Christmas parades and auto shows. Its license plate reads ``TX CWBYS.'' Blue and white stripes run down the top of the car, and blue stars are on its doors. The hood is painted to look like a face mask.
Inside, the front seats are upholstered with Dallas souvenir jerseys, and the floor mats are decorated with - guess what? - Cowboys emblems. The co-pilot is a stuffed bulldog wearing a Cowboys cap, T-shirt and socks.
On the back of the car are a couple of signs. One reads, ``Will the lady who left her 11 kids at RFK Stadium please pick them up? They're beating the Redskins 14-0.''
The other lists the 1995 National Football Conference rankings, with Dallas at the top of the list, and at the bottom, below William Fleming High School, the Redskins.
``I put that on just to irritate the Redskins fans,'' Stoner said with a laugh.
He doesn't have to go very far to do that.
Across the road, his landlord, Robert Khatib, a big Redskins fan, has his own customized Redskins Bug parked in front of his restaurant, the Brown Derby Pancake House.
Khatib, who wears a shiny satin Redskins jacket, recalled the day in late 1994 when Stoner signed the lease on the bar and told Khatib it was going to have a Dallas theme.
``I said, `Give me two or three weeks. I'll have a Redskins Volkswagen across the street.'''
Since then, Khatib and Stoner have had a friendly rivalry going. Khatib's Bug is the mirror opposite of Stoner's: a Redskins helmet with a face mask made of plastic pipes for a bumper.
When Dallas plays the Redskins, Khatib and Gusler bring their Redskins Bugs over to the bar, surrounding Stoner's Cowboys Bug.
``The Redskins are the local team, and everybody supports their local team,'' Khatib said, casting a wary eye across Peters Creek Road toward Stoner's bar.
But if the Redskins are our local team, then why are there so many Cowboys fans around here - 900 miles from Dallas?
It's not because they're from Texas, Stoner said. A few of his regulars are from the Lone Star State, but most are born-and-bred Roanokers.
The Cowboys are a national phenomenon, unlike their Super Bowl rivals this year, the Pittsburgh Steelers. In fact, in recent years, Cowboys merchandise has accounted for about one-fourth of the $3 billion-per-year, 30-team NFL souvenir industry.
Why?
"Part of it is the national television coverage, part of it is the image they put out in the past and part of it is the cheerleaders," said Georgia State University geographer Richard Pillsbury, co-author of "The Atlas of American Sports."
"And what can you reach out and touch that's negative about them?" Pillsbury said. "They haven't had any negative press ...Who knows? Hell, maybe it's the cheerleaders."
Or maybe it could be Americans' popular image of the teams' home cities.
Dallas is the land of the Lone Ranger and J.R. Ewing; oil deals and sex appeal. Pittsburgh is a steel town.
"People get images of places and the team image becomes immutably linked with that," Pillsbury said.
So what separates a Dallas fan from everybody else?
Ask Becky Boothe. She may be Stoner's girlfriend, but she's also an objective source. She's a San Francisco 49ers fan.
``Cowboys fans are die-hard, that's for sure. They don't let up,'' she said. And, with a groan, she added, ``They like to decorate in Dallas colors.''
Bobby Crigger, a regular at Stoner's bar, has his whole living room decked out in Dallas stuff: T-shirts, jerseys, hats, cards, Super Bowl clocks, souvenir trophies and more.
He said, ``A real, true fan, they stick up for them whether they're winning or losing. It's just a great feeling knowing you got the best football team in America.''
Khatib offered his own opinion of Dallas fans: ``It's a nice guy with no common sense - no, no sense.''
This year will be Dallas' eighth Super Bowl, and even though it could be called a grudge match, because the Steelers beat them in close games twice in the 1970s, fans around here are more interested in how Super Bowl XXX will influence the all-important Cowboys-Redskins feud.
Washington beat Dallas both times they met this season. Redskins fans have been ribbing him about that, Stoner said, but ``a lot of them say they want to see Dallas win, because that'll show how good the 'Skins are, because they can beat the Super Bowl champions twice.''
Khatib won't be one of them, however.
``I am the biggest Steelers fan ever this week,'' he said. Any Pittsburgh fans are welcome to free coffee at his restaurant today, he said. And the Dallas fans? ``They have to pay triple.''
Looking across the street at the Dallas Bug, he said, ``You know what I'm thinking about? I'm thinking about getting a Steelers Volkswagen. I'm waiting until they beat Dallas, and then I'll get it.''
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