Miller Wins One for the Gipper

Don't hate me because I'm going to be beautiful -- Picture courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
The Cotton Bowl lives to see another day -- and if we play our cards right, many more days. A giant debt of gratitude is owed to Dallas Mayor Laura Miller, State Fair President Errol McKoy and Dean Foods executive Pete Schenkel for their work in securing pivotal Cotton Bowl game contracts thru the year 2015. Apparently, all 3 people played major roles in the key negotiations. Many of us were mourning the loss of the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic to the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, due for completion in 2009. As a result of our three tireless Dallas negotiators, the Texas/OU 'Red River Rivalry' will continue at Fair Park thru 2015. Also Grambling State and Prairie View will likely extend their contracts thru 2015.

The deals come at a price -- the teams involved will receive huge subsidies from the City of Dallas. The UT/OU subsidy alone will jump from $250,000 to $850,000. The benefit in commerce and publicity is enormous, easily worth the subsidies. Another near-certainty is that the $30 million in bond money allocated to renovation of the venerable, 77 year old stadium will now be spent as it was earmarked -- for stadium remodeling. Many nay-sayers were expressing a wish to divert the money elsewhere. To these people, a well-deserved raspberry. A city should be a place of civic pride and physical beauty; it should have a low crime rate and amenities that draw visitors. Fixing up Fair Park gives us the chance to do that. We should never, ever leave the city 'for dead' and 'let the chips fall where they may'. Don't write off entire sectors or let city attractions fall into disrepair. Shame on anyone for pulling in that direction.

Several coaches and team officials mentioned that the State Fair of Texas is still a huge draw for their teams. The fair grounds themselves are slated for some improvements and maybe even year-round amusement rides. DART will open its Fair Park Station in Fall 2009, and this should help to tie the Park into the city's overall infrastructure. Visitors can come to the Fair without even renting a car or taking a cab. To all of you Cowboys football junkies -- good luck when your game lets out in Arlington. First, you'll get to fight the traffic. Then you'll have a dinner choice of Appleby’s, McDonalds or Bennigans, unless you come back to Dallas, the one that brung ya. In Dallas you can enjoy Uptown, Deep Ellum or Lower Greenville -- all more exciting choices that are much more convenient to a Fair Park attendee. I would also mention downtown Fort Worth, but I'm not a civic booster for Cow Town.

So who wants to see Fair Park dead? I can only imagine tax misers that turn thumbs down to most civic improvements. Thank goodness most of them live outside of Dallas proper and can't vote in our bond elections. Fie on your cheapness! The stadium lives.

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