For a while it appeare the Red River Shootout at Fair Park would join the list of victims to progress. After all, the Cotton Bowl won't even be at the Cotton Bowl when the decade is over. So when Dallas Mayor Laura Miller helped secure the most important game ever to grace the second weekend of October through 2015, it was a huge win not just for Big D, but for nostalgia.
The Longhorns and Sooners will continue their annual Texas two-step in Dallas. (Dallas Morning News) (ESPN.com)
photo courtesy of sportsposterwarehouse.com
With the new Cowboys stadium set to open in the fall of 2009, many Dallasites feared the once-proud gem of Fair Park would be left behind for a newer, flashier facility. But much like a faithful husband who resists the temptation to cheat, the game has not decided to run out on those who have been there for it all these years.
Yes, fans from Austin and Norman would still flock to Arlington for the biggest rivalry game in the southwest and perhaps the nation. And I doubt either school would really have too much of a problem with a home-and-home series.
But this game has been played in Dallas since 1929. I-35 would be lonely. No wave of burnt orange crusading north into Dallas. No rush of Sooner Schooners on southbound I-35. No more *gasp* corn dogs! It's not worth having the State Fair without the Red River Shootout.
Everyone who's grown up in or around Dallas knows just how crazy things get when this game comes to town. Which Dallasite doesn't have their favorite Texas-OU weekend story? (Mine is undoubtedly when my friend Andrew and I sold some OU fans two tickets in the heart of the Texas endzone while stuck in traffic on Central Expressway.)
To take this game away would be to take away the last bastion of football hope the city of Dallas has left. Its lost the Cowboys to Arlington. Its lost the Cotton Bowl to Arlington. Lose the Red River Shootout, and you can take the city's liquor lisence with it. Instead of all these fears realized, Dallas managed to stave off the wheels of progress - albeit for now - and keep the fall classic.
Whether you sing The Eyes of Texas or scream Boomer Sooner, you've got to appreciate one thing: tradition is alive in Fair Park.
2 comments:
good job. I thought you wrote a very good article. I too am glad it will stay in Dallas for a while longer.
If only Jerry World was being built at Fair Park. Dare to dream...
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