Cotton Bowl

[davish75]

Interesting article in today's DMN about SMU and the Cotton Bowl. I think it was a big mistake to move from the CB to Tx Stadium in 1979. That broke a 30+ year tradition of playing at the CB. SMU also abandoned the City of Dallas. Why did we support Tx Stadium when professional football has been so destructive to SMU's support?

[EastStang]

I think some of our boosters back then were involved in the Texas Stadium financing deal. Also at that point the area around Fair Park was not a very nice place to go. Lots of street crime, crackheads, garbage all over the place, and the like. Texas Stadium was state of the art and clean, sparkling, and new. Recruits would be taken into the stadium and have their names and pictures on the scoreboard. They were told that they would be dressing in the same locker room as the Dallas Cowboys. I think that is why the move was made. Until Texas Stadium was built the Cowboys played in the Cotton Bowl, too.

[NavyCrimson]

one of many BAD moves we have made /

many of us hated that move & yes - it was a truly bad move!!!

[SMUstang]

For the same reason that the Cowboys left the Cotton Bowl and went to Texas Stadium. More comfort for the average fan and luxury boxes for the wealthy fans. And there were other perks that lured the Mustangs there like end zone rugs that said "SMU Mustangs". I'm not sure financially whether there was any benefit to the move or not.

At the time it seemed like the right thing to do. The Cotton Bowl was designed for bench seats. The individual seats that were put in for the Cowboys were very cramped and uncomfortable. I don't know what the city of Dallas is going to do with the Cotton Bowl now, but given the choice between the two stadiums as they are now, it would probably be better to play the Aggies or Cows in Texas Stadium than in the Cotton Bowl, when we play them again in the future. And also you can add the Red Raiders to that list. I'm sure that when we are competitive again, we will be able to pull more than 32,000 fans into a game with those three teams. But unless it is donated to us, it will be a long time until we can justify expanding Ford Stadium to hold 45,000 fans.

[Bergermeister]

Texas Stadium Corp. put together a deal that was much more attractive than what was being offered by the Cotton Bowl. SMU was never a factor in Cotton Bowl improvements - those fancy, spacious chairback seats in Cowboy blue and white - lighting - press box accomodations. It was a dump when SMU left (both times). The place needs to be bulldozed, put up a historic marker and build a state-of-the-art Fletcher's Corny Dog stand. Face it, not a whole helluva lot of people care.

[Stallion]

Moving to Texas Stadium was one of the Greatest Marketing Ideas in the History of SMU Football. I don't understand how some of you fail to grasp this stuff. Moving to Ownby was the STUPIDEST idea ever at SMU. Look people-without facilities you can't recruit-if you can't recruit you don't get commitments from top players. Without Top players who don't win. Every kid in the Metroplex wanted to play at Texas Stadium-no body gave a Rat's [deleted] about the Cotton Bowl. Its recruiting Dummies! -and its how you win football games. These were feel good decisions made by incompetent administration officials not football decision made by athletic personnel. That scenario is a major reason this program sux so bad.

[SMUstang]

Spoken as only Stallion could speak.

[SMU Football Blog]

I like how Stallion turns a thread about the Cotton Bowl into a rant about the decision to have games at Ownby stadium after the Death Penalty. No one had even brought the subject up. It is like watching a QA with a bad politician. Talking points. Talking points. Talking points.

And then, for no reason, he calls us all dummies. Yes, Texas Stadium was good for recruiting because it was new and where the Cowboys played; Ownby was not good for recruiting because it was a dump.

[abezontar]

bad politician? I wasn't aware there was any other kind.

[Dubbya]

Ever go to a Cowboys preseason game in that dump? It's like a microwave with a big blue star where the plate is supposed to be turning in the middle. I've had SMU season tickets for years, and I might skip the first month or two of the season if it was still played out there. Plus, you can't re-create The Boulevard in Irving.

[MrMustang1965]

Texas Stadium is just as big of a dump as the Cotton Bowl. That's why Hillbilly Jones is building his new stadium in Arlington. Plus, he's jealous of what Bob McNair built in Houston at Reliant Stadium. He said so himself during his visit there at Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Have any of you been in Texas Stadium recently? I went there for a high school playoff game back in November. Yuck!

SMU needs to market Ford Stadium as the 'premiere football stadium' for Dallas because IT IS!

Unfortunately, the atmosphere in the neighborhoods around Fair Park/Cotton Bowl are no different nowadays than they were when SMU and the Dallas Cowboys were playing there in the 60s.

SMUstang wrote: More comfort for the average fan and luxury boxes for the wealthy fans.

Sound familiar? See: Ford Stadium.

[SMUstang]

Despite what Stallion says, in my opinion we did the right thing moving from the Cotton Bowl to Texas Stadium in the 70's. Also we did the right thing moving to Ownby Stadium in 1989. If we had not made that move, I am certain that we would not have Ford Stadium today. Moving to the Cotton Bowl in the mid-90's was probably to placate the big SWC schools more than anything else. But it was right that at that time that we distance ourselves from any form of professionalism which moving back to Texas Stadium would have fostered.

I was there when we hired Mike Cavan, and I personally heard him say he would bring us a championship team before Ford Stadium opened. Well...... I would still be waiting if he were still here. Stallion, in my opinion we did the right thing firing Cavan and hiring Bennett. Cavan could not recruit worth a flip. The only winning team he ever had was with Rossely's players. And Rossely would have produced a better record than 6-5 with those players. We are far better off with Bennett and Ford Stadium than any other scenario I can think of that is presently available.

[RGV Pony]

Anyone ever wonder how things would've played out had we a) not gone back to Ownby, b) stayed at Tx Stadium and c) now the Cowboys have moved out. Texas Stadium all to ourselves, but no Ford. Good or Bad?

[Charleston Pony]

Ford is good for SMU. We've rarely needed more than 32000 seats since the Doak Walker era (except for the Russ Potts giveaway era). What we need is a marketing guy like Potts in place to help fill Ford

[SMUstang]

I agree. And Texas Stadium is a dump.