So, let's start with this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram's article titled Long taxi lines leave many fans frustrated at AT&T Stadium.
First off, why is the Star-Telegram letting me read an article this morning without the usual blocking and insistence I become an online subscriber?
Second off, why do various media entities go along with the naming of stadiums? It's Cowboy Stadium. Why call it something else just because some corporate entity paid to have their name slobbered on the building. And slobbered is an understatement. Have you seen the garish AT&T logo on Cowboy Stadium. To my mind, that alone should be what they get for naming rights, with those naming rights not including everyone else, as in those who have not been paid to do so, going along with the "new" name.
I remember the first time I flew into Seattle after the Seahawks new stadium was built. The roof said something like "Seattle Seahawk Stadium". The next time I flew in the roof said something like "QWest Field". The last time I flew in to Seattle the Seahawk stadium roof said "CenturyLink Field."
What is a Qwest or a CenturyLink? I have never bothered to try and find out.
Back to the most recent event to take place at Cowboys Stadium, that being the National Championship College Football game which Ohio State won by soundly beating Oregon.
After the game mini-riot conditions erupted. I read somewhere that an Ohio State cheerleader was trampled in one of the post game melees.
This morning's Star-Telegram article about the transportation woes following the game brought to my mind something I have wondered about before, which I started wondering about after the Super Bowl debacle at Cowboys Stadium.
As in, what is causing those who book a national event decide staging that event at Cowboys Stadium is a good idea? What with there being so many other venues in America which would seem to work much better.
Cowboys Stadium seems to work great for Texas-centric events, where the locals drive and park on the world's largest acreage of parking lots. But, when people fly in from other parts of the country, in the most recent case, from Ohio and Oregon, well, I am sure many of those people arrive thinking they are arriving in a modern American city with modern transportation, to be perplexed to find that is not the case.
Do those who book Cowboys Stadium for a national event realize there is no modern public transportation connecting the stadium area to the airport? Do those who book Cowboys Stadium for a national event not realize there is a very limited number of hotels in the area near the stadium? Do those who book Cowboys Stadium not realize that about half of the stadium is surrounded by urban blight?
Why is there not some local impetus to extend the Dallas DART train from Dallas to Arlington's Entertainment District? I would think such a line would be very popular. What if the new DART line which connects to the airport was extended to Arlington's Entertainment District? Would that not be a good idea?
As for those hapless souls from Ohio and Oregon who found themselves staying in one of downtown Fort Worth's hotels, was there public transit other than taxis to take those people east to Arlington? Did the Fort Worth T buses run a circuit back and forth between Arlington and downtown Fort Worth?
I suspect not. If not, why not?
What is the next national event scheduled for Cowboys Stadium? Methinks the transportation problems need to be addressed or there will soon come a day when no national events are scheduled at Cowboys Stadium....
No comments:
Post a Comment