Scott Cordischi On Sports: A Dallas Disaster!
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Having the Super Bowl in Dallas at the new Cowboy Stadium was supposed to be a huge success for the National Football League. The stadium is, after all, considered the crown jewel amongst all NFL venues. So what better place to hold the biggest game of the year?
As it turns out, Dallas was a disaster for many who made the trek to Super Bowl XLV. The weather, which is obviously out of everyone’s control, was horrible. There was an ice storm on Tuesday that virtually paralyzed the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Some of that snow and ice actually slid off the roof of the stadium on Friday and injured 6 people.
There was a taxi strike leaving people 3-4 hour waits just to get a cab. And some restaurants closed for dinner because of the snow and ice.
Then there’s the fact that the Dallas-Fort Worth area is spread out so there was no sense of community leading up to the Super Bowl. Unlike New Orleans which was meant to host a big party like the Super Bowl, many fans didn’t know where to go to have fun and gather with the masses.
And finally, there was the temporary seating mishap which left 400 unlucky ticket holders without a seat for the game. Fire marshalls would not approve the opening of a section of seats that were added for the game leaving the league red faced for those who held tickets for that section.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted that the seating snafu in Dallas was ultimately the league’s fault. “We put on this event. It’s the responsibility of the NFL. It was obviously a failure on our part,” Goodell said.
The league has made an attempt at restitution by refunding triple the face value of the ticket, or $2400, to each fan and each will receive a ticket to next year’s Super Bowl. The problem with that is, what if they were Packers or Steelers fans? Who’s to say that their teams will make it to the Super Bowl next year?
If you are a Green Bay fan in particular, you’re probably furious if you were one of the 400 denied entrance into the game. You missed out on an opportunity to see your team win the Super Bowl live and in person. It is a chance you may or may not ever get again.
If the NFL had a brain, they would do everything in their power to make New Orleans the permanent home of the Super Bowl because there is no other city or area better equipped to host the Super Bowl and give NFL fans and sponsors the absolute best and most enjoyable experience on an annual basis.
But who ever said that the NFL was smart?
-It has to hurt Patriots fans even more when the Packers say that their game in Foxboro in late December was the turning point in their season. Kind of reminds you of the 2007 NY Giants, doesn’t it?
-Brady and Belichick have all of the individual awards, but Rodgers and McCarthy have the only award that really matters – the Lombardi Trophy.
-The score is: Aaron Rodgers 1 Brett Favre 1, in case you’re counting.
-And I guess we can postpone the “Roethlisberger is on par with Brady” conversation for a while.
-Can somebody please tell Spike Lee to just shut up?
-The loss of Marc Savard for the remainder of the season is a big blow to the Bruins’ Stanley Cup hopes.
-Marshon Brooks was a Tim Welsh recruit, in case you were wondering.
-The Red Sox equipment truck leaving for Ft. Myers may be the biggest non-event in sports if you ask me.
-Maybe the Yankees can coax Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens out of retirement.
-As a Syracuse alumnus, I am a big fan of Carmelo Anthony. As a Celtics fan, I do not want to see him traded to the Lakers.
-Nobody complained about Kevin Garnett’s yapping when he was losing games in Minnesota.
-Ray Allen is a role model for any young person who aspires to be great in the sport of basketball.
-No one will ever top Whitney Houston’s rendition of our national anthem prior to Super Bowl XXV. And that includes Christina “I forgot the words” Aguilera.
-A prolonged labor dispute by the NFL would be a disaster for sports fans like me whose favorite two seasons are the NFL season and the NFL’s offseason.
-I don’t know about you, but with March Madness and the NBA and NHL playoffs still to come, I can wait for the start of baseball’s long regular season.
-Pro golfer Tommy “Two Gloves” sounds like he should be taking up residence on Federal Hill.
-College basketball is so much more enjoyable in these parts when at least one of our local teams has a shot at making it to the NCAA’s.
-Who would have thought that moving the Super Bowl from Dallas to Indianapolis would be considered an upgrade?
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