Arlington Builds Two Billion Dollar Ballparks While Fort Worth Builds A Boondoggle

In this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram I saw what you see here, an artist's rendering of Arlington's new baseball park which Arlington's voters approved of building a few weeks ago.

The Star-Telegram article is titled Arlington, Rangers unveil timeline for $1 billion stadium project.

The unveiling of a project timeline is what caught my eye in that headline.

First paragraph of the article...

Aiming to open the Texas Rangers’ new stadium in April 2020, team and city officials now have a timeline for planning and building the $1 billion project.

Imagine that, a public works project with a timeline.

Fort Worth has a public works project that has been bumbling along for most of this century, with an ever changing project timeline. In the latest mention of a sort of timeline, J.D. Granger stated the infrastructure for the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision should be completed in 2023.

Three years after Arlington opens its newest ballpark Fort Worth may complete the infrastructure for what is known as American's Biggest Boondoggle.

Infrastructure of The Boondoggle? What does that mean? The bridges completed? The ditch dug? The diversion mechanism in place? The Magic Trees planted?

Arlington began building the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium in 2004, starting with eminent domain abuse to take homes, businesses and apartments. If I remember right the new Cowboy stadium was open for business by 2009.

And now Arlington is going to build another billion dollar ballpark, having it open by 2020.

So, that will be two billion dollar ballparks in Arlington built in less time than it may take Fort Worth to install infrastructure for a vitally (not) needed flood control and economic development scheme.

Another paragraph in the Star-Telegram article details a stark difference between Fort Worth's boondoggle and Arlington's successful stadium projects...

On Nov. 8, Arlington voters overwhelmingly backed the city’s plan to extend a half-cent sales tax, 2 percent hotel occupancy tax and 5 percent car rental tax to pay $500 million toward the project, with bonds projected to be paid off in 30 years. The vote also authorized up to a 10 percent admission tax and $3 parking tax for the Rangers, which the team could use to help pay its own share of the retractable-roof stadium’s cost.

Imagine that. In Arlington, unlike Fort Worth, voters were allowed to vote on whether they wanted to back the city's plan to build a new ballpark.

America's Biggest Boondoggle has been boondoggling along for most of this century due to the project not being fully funded. Money comes in in bits and pieces, mostly federal dollars secured by the mother of the unqualified person hired to be the director of what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle.

At the present time the construction of The Boondoggle's three simple bridges, being built to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island, has been has been stalled for almost a year due to design errors.

Those three simple bridges did have a project timeline.

Four years.

Four years to build three simple little bridges, with that four years now stretched to five, and likely longer.

Since, apparently, the Star-Telegram is aware of the concept of a project timeline I wonder why none of that newspaper's intrepid reporters have investigated why there is no project timeline for America's Biggest  Boondoggle?

Stalled Drive By Arlington's Dallas Cowboy Stadium Waiting For Elsie Hotpepper

This last day of August, was the day of my regularly scheduled return to the Dallas/Fort Worth zone to buy a couple dozens bagels at WinCo, among many other things.

My first stop was at a Doctor in Euless, then it was south on Collin Street, where eventually I found myself stuck in traffic, stuck due to the chronic Arlington, Texas problem of a train rolling through town, stopping the traffic flow til the train has rolled on by.

Is there any other American city the size of Arlington which has itself cut in two by train tracks with only a couple overpasses, or underpasses in the entire town?

I think it'd been over a year since I'd seen the Dallas Cowboy stadium up close, not since I had the extremely exciting experience of watching the USA team play some other country in something called the World Cup.

I'd forgotten what an enormous monstrosity this stadium is. And how out of sync it looks with that which surrounds much of it. I would have thought by now some of the slum aspects would have been replaced by new development. But today I still saw pawn shops and run down looking motels and other eyesores.

Arlington does so much so well, like the town's parks, but in other things Arlington is a bit of a dud, such as in the public transportation realm. And cohesive development around a major development, like a HUMONGOUS football stadium.

I saw that which you see below on the east side of Collin Street on the south side of the stadium.

Still pushing the delusion that the Dallas Cowboys are America's Team, With that delusion apparently based on the Dallas Cowboys having had a few winning seasons at some point way back in the previous century.

Recently I saw, I think on Facebook, a graphic representing some scientific study showing who the majority in each state thought of as "their" football team.

Only one state thought of the Dallas Cowboys as "their" football team.

Texas.

All of the Pacific Northwest, plus, oddly, New  York, thought of the Seattle Seahawks as "their" football team.

I can't remember the favorites of the other states, but if memory is partly serving me right, the Green Bay Packer was consider "their" football team by more state than any other.

Methinks it is time for the Dallas Cowboys to hang up that America's Team nonsense.

After I was done with what I was doing in south Arlington I headed back north, stopping in River Legacy Park, where I called my mom and dad. Bad connection. That call did not last long.

I thought Elsie Hotpepper was going to meet me today, but the Hotpepper failed to show up.

The drive forth and back from D/FW today was extremely pleasant. Noticeable road improvements on I-287.

In The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Watching Belgium Beat The USA With Chicken & Waffles

Well, my record is intact.

I tried to make it through an entire soccer game, but I failed. So watching the Seattle Sounders first soccer game way back in the last century remains the only time I have made it through an entire soccer game.

I actually enjoyed the experience of watching the USA and Belgium soccering on the Dallas Cowboy stadium's biggest screen in the world.

For awhile.

Then I had to find other venues of entertainment. Like text messaging. And people watching.

In the photo above I am following the throng heading into the stadium. I was more than a bit surprised at how many people availed themselves of this opportunity to attend this event. But there were obstacles, such as that documented below.

Obstacles such as going through a security check of the sort one goes through to board an airplane. I passed security effortlessly. But, Big Ed, with his arms in the air above, had all sorts of issues. He had items confiscated, such as a water bottle.

The USA/Belgium soccer match seemed to be a very patriotic affair. I don't recollect ever seeing so much red, white and blue. And I know I have never in person heard the "USA" chant at a sporting event. It becomes sort of annoying after hearing "USA" chanted a few hundred times. And who was the chanting for? The USA team playing soccer in Brazil could not hear it.

I found the guys below, seated to the right of me, to be highly amusing. Note their seat saving method. The seats were saved for a gaggle of girls. When the gaggle of girls arrived they seemed to mostly ignore the gaggle of guys behind them.

Among the people I texted whilst combating my soccer boredom was my sister in Arizona. I mentioned to my sister that I was being surrounded by people eating chicken and waffles. With the waffles shaped like Texas. I texted a photo of this to my sister. The chicken and waffles were heavily promoted, such as below via the big screen.

I must admit the chicken and waffles did look tasty. But waffles shaped like Texas? That is just weird.

Anyway, below is a short video of a little bit of my experience today watching a soccer game's regular time end in a tie, then watching Belgium scoring a point in over time. And then another point. Which had the masses bailing, including me.

I later learned that before the game was over the USA managed to score a point....

The Dallas Cowboys Did Not Break A Noise Record While Losing Again While The Seattle Seahawks Broke A Noise Record While Winning Again

No, above you are not looking at an artist's rendering of what the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle may look like if it ever becomes anything anyone might be able to see.

In the picture you are looking east on a much bigger pond than that little Pond Granger that the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle envisions and hyperbolically calls a lake and a waterfront attraction. Above you are looking at an actual waterfront in an actual city with actual vision.

That thing being struck by lightning is where the Seattle Seahawks play football. The lightning strike occurred yesterday, part of what delayed the start of last night's game between Seattle and San Francisco for an hour.

I don't know if thunder contributed to the noise, but yesterday the Seattle football fanatics broke the Guinness Record for Loudest Crowd Roar at a Sports Stadium when the noise reached 131.9 decibels when San Francisco's quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, was sacked in the first quarter.

All those decibels broke the old record of 131.76 decibels, set in 2011 in Turkey at the Ali Sami Yen Sport Complex Turk Telekom Arena during a soccer match between Galatasaray SC and Fenerbahce.

The noisy Seattle fans then broke their own record after a 3rd quarter interception, roaring to 136.6 decibels.

The Seahawk stadium has no roof over the field. How are these people being so LOUD? The old Kingdome was known for being noisy, to the point that the noise disrupted games. I think new rules were put in place due to the noisy Kingdome fans, if I remember right. I can see why the Kingdome was noisy.

But, the new open air Seahawk Stadium?

How come the Dallas Cowboy fans are not record breaking loud in their new stadium? It would seem like that metal sardine can would be a real noise generator. Does the quiet have something to do with not winning very many football games?

Jerry Jones' Bad Karma Raising An Arlington Super Bowl Stench

7th Haven is a bar on 7th Avenue in Fort Worth, located near Montgomery Plaza. 7th Haven is known for putting clever messages on its sign.

The clever message currently is..

"HOW DID YOU NOT INSTALL

PRE SOLD SEATS ON TIME

BAD WEATHER     LAWSUITS

SMELL THE BAD KARMA JERRY"

I believe the BAD KARMA being referred to, regarding Jerry Jones, is the bad karma generated by the way Jerry Jones came to have his new stadium in Arlington where the Super Bowl was recently played.

To very bad reviews for a lot of reasons.

The Bad Karma arose when Jerry Jones, in collusion with the City of Arlington, colluded to bring about what many believe to be the Worst Case of Eminent Domain Abuse in American history. Dozens of homes and apartment complexes and businesses were taken, for a private business. Thousands of Americans were displaced, forced to move.

Back in 2007, when it was announced that the Dallas Cowboy Stadium had won Super Bowl XLV I opined that despite all the breathless local puffery about this supposed coup, that it was likely not going to turn out the way some of the locals dreamed it would. I said it would not be pretty when the national media gets a look at that giant futuristic spaceship of a stadium, plopped down in a rundown American neighborhood with industrial/urban blight on 2 sides.

As it turned out, the national media was even less pretty than I thought it would be.

Way back when I saw the level of destruction going on in Arlington, with giant piles of rubble, I started webpaging the ongoing Dallas Cowboy Stadium project. I think I started doing this in 2004. I recollect flying to Seattle in 2004 and the flight path taking me directly above the destruction zone, affording me a good picture of the moonscape where previously homes had been.

Over the years the webpage that I came to call The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal, has generated a lot of comments.

Reading those comments is a good example of the Bad Karma Jerry Jones generated, with some who believe in such things, thinking that Bad Karma is what caused Super Bowl XLV to be so Blunderful, with Arlington about as likely to get another Super Bowl as Atlanta is likely to get another Olympics.

Below is a small sampling of the comments I've gotten about the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Scandal that give you an idea of the Smell of Jerry Jones' Bad Karma.

I am one of the victims of the Cowboy greed and insensitivity. Thank you so much for putting such a clear voice to the pain so many of us have suffered. Many of us felt so abandoned by the community, there seemed to be no one speaking up for us and what was being done to us. I am still not back to feeling settled and secure. I feel like I'm the victim of a crime, like I have been burglarized, vandalized and raped, with everyone ignoring the crime with the criminals using the corrupt Texas legal system to declare WAR on people's lives and homes. What if it were the homes of the football players and owners that were destroyed? How would they feel about that? The law is supposed to protect the weakest among us, that is what it is supposed to do, not allow the strongest and richest among us to bring destruction to those with no resources to fight back.

Anonymous out of Fear, Mansfield, Texas

So. I read in the NY Times this morning that Dallas is going to make a bid for the 2011 Super Bowl. To atone for this most despicable abuse of eminent domain I've ever read about will the Cowboys be giving free game tickets to the victims of this atrocity? Will former homeowners be able to park for free on the site of their former driveways? Will there be a historical marker on the spot where the home was located of the elderly lady who died of a broken heart in her condemned home?

Seth M., Jersey City, New Jersey

This destruction in Texas is the worst abuse of eminent domain I have ever read about. Such a thing could never happen in my state.

Del S., Portland, Oregon

It shocks me that this can happen in America. It reminds me of the type of disregard for human rights that my former nation of East Germany practiced.

Gunther H., Berlin, Germany

There you have it. The Smell of Jerry Jones' Bad Karma.

A Visit To The Dallas Cowboys Stadium The Day Before The Super Bowl Along With Thousands Of Other Visitors Finds People On The Stadium Roof

I headed to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium around 3 this afternoon.

I figured with our sudden thaw and return to semi-pleasant temperatures, that there would be a few people out and about.

Well, it was more than a few. Really bad traffic all around the stadium. Throngs of people. No event taking place besides tomorrow's Super Bowl. Near as I could find out.

I quickly realized how bad the traffic was and bailed on getting stuck going west on Randol Mill by the Stadium Wal-Mart. Later I was to see how lucky I was to avoid that traffic jam. The Ballpark in Arlington parking lots were open to the public. Free. I thought that was a nice touch for Arlington to do. If it was Arlington that did it.

Eventually I parked. I soon asked a couple of people if there was some event happening. They said they'd just come to check out the Super Bowl. Eventually I asked a cop the same question. He told me nothing was going on, that it was just people, like me, coming to check out the Super Bowl scene the day before the Super Bowl.

The first picture, at the top is interesting. I have no idea why there were people on the edge of the roof of the stadium. It looks like a helicopter is heading towards them. Being on that roof seemed a bit dicey, what with the fact that yesterday ice and snow was falling off it, hurting people. You could see there was still snow/ice on edge of the roof.

The Cowboys Stadium Wal-Mart Supercenter, across the street from the stadium, has taken some mocking heat in the national press covering the Super Bowl.

I've long thought it looked ridiculous. Somewhere on this computer I have a picture of the Wal-Mart, taken from the perspective of the stadium. It would take me way too long to find that picture.

Today the Stadium Wal-Mart was looking especially tacky due to the addition of porta-potties.

I assume the porta-potties were installed for the convenience of all the cops who appeared to be guarding the parking lot. I asked one of those cops about the huge crowd and he said it had been like this all day. And would be worse tomorrow. And he was glad he would not be on duty.

This particular Wal-Mart is very strict about anyone using their parking lot to park in to attend any event in the  stadium across the street.

The Wal-Mart is already prepared for tomorrow's parking problems, with the sticking of a sign on the sidewalk that runs along Randol Mill Road that separates the Wal-Mart from Cowboys Stadium.

The sign says, "This parking lot is for Walmart customer parking only. If you park your vehicle to attend games or events, your vehicle may be towed at your expense. Thank you."

Doesn't Arlington have any city code type thing that prohibits sticking a sign like this on a public sidewalk?

One more exciting thing. As I walked across the pedestrian/golf cart bridge that crosses Johnson Creek to the parking lots on the east side of the creek, a golf cart passed by with 4 people on board, one of whom had people pointing and saying that is Jimmy Johnson on board.

I also recognized him. From watching him on Survivor.

Prior to seeing him on Survivor I knew nothing of him coaching the Dallas Cowboys back, long ago, when they actually won games and got to play in Super Bowls.

Is Johnson Creek named for Jimmy Johnson, I just this second found myself wondering?

A Visit To The Dallas Cowboy Stadium A Week Before The Super Bowl

With a week to go til Sunday's Super Bowl game I figured today would be a good day to check out what's been done to the Dallas Cowboy Stadium zone.

I figured Sunday morning there would be few people, no traffic, easy to find a place to park.

As I am way too often, I was wrong on all counts.

The first bit of Super Bowl signage that you see here is not on the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, it is on the Ballpark in Arlington, facing the Cowboy Stadium.

Last week I'd read a letter to the editor in either the Fort Worth Star-Telegram or Dallas Morning News where the letter writer opined that he was appalled at the effort Arlington had gone to to spruce up the town in anticipation of visitors coming for the Super Bowl, and then to find that effort negated by all the tackiness that the NFL has sprung up around the Cowboy Stadium.

Texas does a good job of tacky at times. I had to see it for myself.

I don't know that I would call what I saw today tacky. But I can say that what is going on around the Cowboy Stadium may be the strangest thing I've seen since I've been in Texas.

And that covers an awful lot of strange things.

That letter writer mentioned the big fence/wall that has been erected on the east end of the stadium. I have no idea what that wall is stopping us from seeing. I thought maybe it was surrounding the $200 a ticket Party Pass Plaza zone, but it was not located directly outside the east end zone, which is where you get to pay $200 to stand out in the cold for 4 or 5 hours.

Speaking of cold. The National Weather Service has just issued a Severe Weather Warning. We are scheduled to get as low as 12 degrees by Wednesday. Five days before the Super Bowl.

See that long line of white? It is stretching across the former parking lot on the east end of the stadium. I had no clue what this was.

And then I met this nice gentleman named Ludlow Ruckmaker (name and gender changed at the gentleman's request).

Ludlow told me that this long white tent line is how Super Bowlers will enter the stadium. It is where they will go through security.

Ludlow told  me he'd been following the progress of the stadium all the way back to the initial destruction of dozens of homes and apartment complexes, with the displacement of 1000s, in what many consider to be the Worst Case of Eminent Domain Abuse in American History.

When I told Ludlow I'd also been following the Dallas Cowboy Stadium progress, eventually he remembered meeting me before. On my website.

I had wondered why the Party Pass Plaza was only at the east end zone, when there are Party Plazas outside both end zones. Today I saw the reason. On the west side of the stadium the parking lots have been covered by the biggest temporary buildings I have ever seen.

HUGE things that look as if they must have multiple levels. In the picture above you can see what looks like a glass barrel roof between two white temporary structures.

Above I am standing across from the stadium, on Collins Street, looking east at those temporary buildings I just showed you. The pictures do not do justice to how big these are.

Now, what I'm thinking is North Texas tends to have rather dramatic weather. I have been involved with 2 balloon festivals that were destroyed by windstorms.

The Dallas Cowboy Stadium sits in the Buckle of the Bible Belt. There are a lot of people who think that the way the land was taken to build this stadium was all sorts of wrong.

I'm not one who believes there is a vengeance seeking God looking to right wrongs and punish evildoers.

But.

If I were, I would be a bit nervous that a weather disaster might make mayhem of all the temporary stuff that has been erected to worship at this particular temple, next Sunday.

God may likely already be a bit cranky with the Super Bowl, due to the fact that one of the churches near the stadium has cancelled next Sunday's services and is, I believe, selling parking spaces.

That football that you see above, with the Dallas Cowboy Stadium behind it, is in the Stadium Wal-Mart Supercenter's parking lot. That Wal-Mart has a lot of footballs and baseballs stuck on it.

A Mexican TV Station was broadcasting from the Wal-Mart parking lot. The broadcast truck that was powering the equipment had Mexican plates. The guy on the left was interviewing the guy on the right. I figured this might be a Univision show.

Some of the locals seemed quite familiar with the guy who was on the right, taking turns having their picture taken with him. I figure he must be a Mexican TV celebrity. Not til I got the picture off the camera did I realize one of the guys in the picture was wearing a cheese hat.

See the elaborate graphics that have been added to the stadium? Again my pictures do not do justice to how big this is. The end zone graphic is equally impressive.

The parking lots on the east end are covered with a lot of media vehicles, sort of like a combination of an RV and a train boxcar. An elevated catwalk has been built for the media, in this area to the east of the Party Pass Plaza. I guess so pictures can be taken of the people freezing, while standing outside the stadium during the Super Bowl.

The north bound lanes on Collins, by the stadium have been closed off. As have the eastbound lanes on Randoll Mill. This is making for some slow traffic. I've no idea if this is a temporary thing while all the stuff on the parking lots is getting worked on. Or what. The road that you can usually drive on at the east end of the stadium is completely blocked off.

Is this all normal for a Super Bowl? Or has Texas gone and done the Everything is Bigger in Texas thing for this particular Super Bowl?

And what takes place in all those temporary buildings on the west parking lots?

It is all very perplexing. And I've still not been invited to any of the dozens upon dozens of Super Bowl Parties.

If you live in the D/FW zone, trust me, it is worth it to venture into the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Zone to see what happens when a Super Bowl comes to a Texas town.

Last Sunday Of First Month Of 2011 Visiting Dallas Cowboy Stadium Week Before Super Bowl & Monitoring Egypt Via Twitter Tweets

The last Sunday of the first month of 2011 dawned with a temperature of 61. Yesterday we got into the 70s.

I'm thinking I will be a pool boy this morning.

After that I think I'll go check out the Dallas Cowboy Stadium zone this morning. It is a week to go before Super Bowl Sunday.

I read a letter to the editor a few days ago from a man in Arlington complaining about the irony of the fact that the City of Arlington has spruced itself up for the Super Bowl, and then the NFL came to town and totally tackified the area surrounding the stadium.

I am a big fan of all things tacky, so I figure it's worth a look.

Yesterday, in various cities around the country, there were protests in support of those protesting in Egypt. I don't know if there were any support rallies in the D/FW zone. I know several west coast cities had rallies, including Seattle.

When the Egypt type events occur, like when Iran went into upset mode, is about the only time I somewhat get the utility of Twitter. Reading the Twitter Egypt Tweets is sort of like instant news. Within minutes thousands of Tweets show up.

Like right now apparently the Egyptian Air Force is buzzing protesters with jets.

Below is an example of the Tweet flood from a minute ago...

@emptywheel Audible on AJE: Two jet fighters just flew overhead #Egypt

@Di438 #Egypt Protesters shouting over noise of Jets flying overhead @AlJazeera #Freedom

@KristoferKeane Egypt deploying fighter jets against protestors? What outcome do they even expect from that? Are they planning to bomb them?

@TheNewsBlotter #egypt protesters in #Tahrir Square writing “Down w Mubarak” in Arabic in big white letters 

@jhagel RT @nolanjazeera: Aljazeera Cairo bureau has been shut down. Just visited by plain clothes govt security, TV uplink is now closed #Egypt

@JodyField Egypt protests: U.S. advises all Americans to leave and 30,000 Brits are stranded

That's enough Egypt Tweeting. Time to go swimming now. Talk to you later.

If You Qualify You Have Til Thursday To Pay $200 So You Can Stand Outside the Dallas Cowboy Stadium During The Super Bowl

That's the Rose Bowl you're looking at. In Pasadena. A long time ago, with UCLA playing Wisconsin. The top Pac-10 team against the top Big-10 team.

In my younger years the Rose Bowl seemed like a big deal. Nowadays, not so much, even though Fort Worth recently became the Envy of the Nation because a Fort Worth school won the most recent Rose Bowl.

Yesterday brought more weird local football news.

Jerry Jones desperately, for who knows what demented reason, wants to break the NFL Super Bowl attendance record, which is currently 103,985, a record set in the Rose Bowl in 1980 when Los Angeles won Super Bowl XIV.

Jerry Jones has been working on getting the NFL to agree that people buying tickets to stand outside the Dallas Cowboy Stadium during the upcoming Super Bowl should be counted as having attended the game.

Even though these attendees will not be in the stadium and will not be watching the football game in live action mode, instead viewing the game on TV screens. While standing.

The new Dallas Cowboy Stadium has around 93,000 legitimate seats. Jerry Jones will need to sell around 12,000 Party Pass tickets to beat the Rose Bowl record.

Well.

Yesterday NFL Spokesman Brian McCarthy announced that the NFL will count Outdoor Party Pass tickets, purchased by season ticket club seat holders, as part of the official attendance.

I can't help but wonder how many palms got the Jerry Jones grease treatment to cause this ultra-goofy decision to come about.

There are no plans to sell the $200 Party Pass tickets to the general public. Only the 15,000, or so, club seat ticket holders can buy up to 4 Party Pass tickets. Club seat owners have til Thursday to buy Party Pass tickets.

If you are a club seat personal seat license holder in the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, paying anywhere from $16,000 to $100,000 for your seat, you are not guaranteed a chance to buy your seat for the Super Bowl.

Hence the ability to buy 4 Party Passes so you can stand outside while Jerry Jones sells your seat to someone else.

For the Super Bowl the outdoor Party Plaza will be at the east end zone plaza where you get to watch the game on a big TV screen for your $200.

In addition to getting to stand outside the stadium, in your Package of 4 Party Passes, you get one free parking pass, 4 commemorative programs, 4 commemorative scarves (to keep you warm in the likely cold temperatures?). And you will have the privilege of being able to buy overpriced food and beverages. And on top of all that the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders will put in an appearance to try and warm you up.

I do not know what the restroom situation is for the Party Passers. Do you get to go inside the stadium and use modern facilities. Or, for your $200, do you get to use one of those really cool custom-made Dallas Cowboy Outhouses?

Methinks if mine was one of the houses taken to build this stadium, I would be really annoyed to not be allowed to stand, for free, on my former property, outside the stadium, during a football game.

I can't be the only one who thinks this is all nuts, charging $200 per person to stand outside a stadium during a Super Bowl and then counting those standees as having attended the game.

Up Way Before The Sun On An Icy Cold Wednesday In North Texas

I am up a bit early on this frosty Wednesday morning in North Texas. Looking out my computer room window it looks very cold and dark out there, with the view somewhat restricted by a somewhat frosty window.

21 degrees this morning before the sun arrives.

I believe after today we are scheduled to warm up slightly. I am ready for more than a slight warm up.

I heard from someone last night, calling himself Don, who told me those sunglasses I found yesterday on the Tandy Hills are his. Don was able to correctly articulate the serial number on the sunglasses, thus establishing himself as their rightful owner. I will attempt to return the sunglasses to Don today. Apparently without them Don is virtually blind in the bright sun.

This morning in the Dallas Morning News there was an article, the theme of which was, what the 8 teams in the NFL playoffs have going for them that the Dallas Cowboys don't have going for them.

For Seattle, apparently, it is the noisy 12th man, as in very loud fans.

I thought what the article writer, Tim Cowlishaw had to say about the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium was amusing, but I doubt that ancient artifact who built that stadium, Jerry Jones, will find it amusing.....

"As for Cowboys Stadium, well, Jerry Jones figured out how to pack 100,000 people in there. But he also created a cavernous building in which half the fans stare at the big screen hoping to see themselves. A 2-6 home record in 2010 speaks loudly. Like Seattle.--Tim Cowlishaw"

A Rainy Sunday In Texas Musing About America's Team: The Seattle Seahawks

Saturday night when the sun set on North Texas the sky was blue. By Sunday morning's arrival of the sun the sky had filled with clouds and was dripping with extreme prejudice.

In other words, it is raining. Cold and raining. 36 degrees out there right now, with the temperature dropping and snow scheduled to arrive as Sunday progresses towards Monday.

I had planned to return to the Tandy Hills today to search for missing sunglasses. Not mine. Sunglasses belonging to one of those Manly Men who was hiking the Tandy Hills yesterday. I suspect, due to the rain, the lost sunglasses will remain safe until hiking conditions return to normal.

Yesterday, in yet one more clear indicator that I do not pay much attention to NFL football I said something like I did not know if the Seattle Seahawks are out of Super Bowl contention or not.

By Saturday night I was watching the Seahawks play the New Orleans Saints in what I was to learn was a Wild Card game in which the Seahawks had themselves an upset win over the reigning Super  Bowl champs.

Back when the Kingdome was still alive it was known as the loudest stadium in both the NFL and whatever you call the league baseball is played in. I did not know, til reading the Fort Worth Star-Telegram article about yesterday's Seahawk upset, that the new Qwest Field is also known as the NFL's loudest stadium.

How can Qwest Field be louder than the new Cowboy Stadium? Qwest Field is open on the north end with a view of downtown Seattle. Qwest Field has no roof to reflect back noise, Qwest Field holds only something like 70,000 screamers while the Dallas Cowboy Stadium can hold around 100,000.

Has it yet to rain on a Seahawk game in Qwest Field? I read a couple years ago the lack of rainy games was wreaking havoc with Lesser Seattle's ongoing campaign to always portray Seattle as perpetually dripping.

Apparently Qwest Field is ruled out for a Super Bowl game. Partly because of the weather. The Super Bowl likes a warmer climate. So, why is it being played this year in Arlington? We are currently scheduled for snow followed by a DEEP FREEZE. Come Super Bowl Sunday we could easily be under a 4 inch coating of ice courtesy of an Ice Storm.

Seattle does not get Ice Storms. At least not in my experience. Holding a Super Bowl in Seattle you are right in the downtown of one of the world's trendiest towns, with Qwest Field served by multiple mass transit options. Arlington, where the Dallas Cowboy Stadium sits, has no mass transit.

Qwest Field sits surrounded by all sorts of touristy attractions, including a waterfront. The Dallas Cowboy Stadium is near Six Flags Over Texas and the Ballpark in Arlington, but other than that it sits surrounded by an awful lot of embarrassing urban blight. There is no urban blight surrounding Qwest Field.

I have no idea how many steps remain for the Seattle Seahawks to hurdle to get to the Super Bowl again. I strongly suspect the Seahawks will likely fail to get over one of those hurdles.

I really think, since the Dallas Cowboys don't even play in Dallas, as in the town could not manage to figure out how to erect a new football stadium in the town the team is named after, that this really should be the last nail in the coffin killing Dallas' ridiculous referring to itself as America's Team, which apparently dates from decades ago when Dallas actually had a winning football team.

I think Seattle should be the new America's Team. Seattle has been in a Super Bowl more recently than Dallas. Seattle apparently plays in America's loudest stadium. The team's stadium is actually in its namesake town. Qwest Field is in, by far, a more scenic setting than the Dallas Cowboy Stadium. Plus Seattle always shows up near the top of any of those Best of type lists, while Arlington rarely shows up on such lists.

Okay, that is enough locally politically incorrect verbiage from me this rainy Sunday morning....

Rent Your Home For The Super Bowl For Up To $10,000 Per Day & Other Mysteries

The Super Bowl takes place February 6, avid football fan that I am, I know these things.

The Super Bowl takes place in Arlington's Dallas Cowboy Stadium. The Dallas Cowboys will not be playing in the Super Bowl. Not this year. And not into anyone's foreseeable future.

Arlington has no mass transportation. Not even buses. Well, there are these trolley bus-like devices that run a circuit around Arlington's Entertainment District, but no bus transit system, and no rail mass transit.

Unless you count Amtrak, which I assume runs through Arlington.

It seems like it would have been so much better to have built the Dallas Cowboy Stadium in Dallas, at Fair Park, now served by a DART train line. Dallas has a bus system. And a light rail network that covers a lot of miles.

There are a lot of motels and hotels in the D/FW Metroplex zone. Some of them are quite enormous.

And yet I am seeing signs at all the freeway exits that I have exited from, of late, like today at the Beach Street exit from I-30, offering up to $10,000, per day, to rent out your home for the Super Bowl.

Who would want to rent out their home to some incoming strangers? And why would anyone in their right mind want to pay up to $10,000 a day to stay in some stranger's home when you could spend way less and stay in a very nice hotel?

Are there actually any takers on this bizarre proposal on either end? Someone with a nice home willing to rent it out? And someone willing to pay a lot to stay in it so they can pay $75 to park somewhere near the Dallas Cowboy Stadium and pay who knows how much to actually get inside the stadium?

I have only seen one NFL game in person. Years ago in the Kingdome, watching the Seahawks. Play who? I don't remember. What I do remember was it was so incredibly boring. Much worse than watching it on TV. I don't remember if giant Jumbotrons had been invented at that point in time. I suspect not, because what so struck me was how, unlike watching on TV, the players and plays were so far away, like miniatures.

In the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium you can watch the game on the world's biggest TV screens, hung above the field. Why one would want to do that rather than just watch it at home is a mystery to me.

Avid football fan that I am.

Getting My Dallas Cowboy Merchandise At The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart

I did not know if the Dallas Cowboys were playing in their shiny new stadium today, or not. Which means I did not know if the Dallas Cowboys Stadium Wal-Mart Supercenter was open or not.

I have still not received an explanation as to why the Stadium Wal-Mart shuts down during Dallas Cowboy home games, while all the other area businesses appear to remain open.

So, after I was done with Arlington's Chinatown I headed north on Collins Street to the Stadium Wal-Mart, which was open, with no football game being played across the street.

Inside the Wal-Mart there are a lot of flat panel TV's hanging down from the ceiling on which it appeared a Dallas Cowboys game was being played.

Inside the Stadium Wal-Mart there is an extraordinary amount of Dallas Cowboy merchandise taking up a lot of floor space. Like you see in the picture, with the game playing overhead.

I have not heard from the Mad Texas Grandma since December 15. You remember the Mad Texas Grandma, I am sure. She was mad because she and more than 50 others had their vehicles towed off the Wal-Mart parking lot on November 21, believed by the Mad Texas Grandma to have been towed illegally.

Wal-Mart denied knowing anything about the towing, or about A-AArlington Towing or about the dozens of taxis that showed up to take people to their hijacked vehicles.

The last I heard the Mad Texas Grandma was unable to reach the actual real manager of the Stadium Wal-Mart.

My best guess, as to what is going on with that Wal-Mart, is the manager, on his own, made a deal with A-AArlington Towing and the Taxis, with the manager getting a cut of the towing take.

Then, in a separate deal with Jerry Jones, the manager gives up a lot of store floor space to Dallas Cowboy merchandise, of which the manager and Wal-Mart gets a cut, along with Jerry Jones.

How all this wheeling and dealing between the local Wal-Mart manager, Jerry Jones and A-AArlington ends up with the Stadium Wal-Mart being closed during Dallas Cowboy home games continues to be a mystery.

The Mad Texas Grandma Is Off The Boat & Back On The Case

The Mad Texas Grandma is back on dry land, at her headquarters in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

Unable to get a straight answer from a woman claiming to be the co-manager of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart, in Arlington, MTG is calling the Arlington Police today to try and get a simple question answered.

As in who authorized the towing of her vehicle and more than 50 others from Wal-Mart's parking lot on November 21?

The Wal-Mart co-manager told MTG that Wal-Mart did not ask that the cars be towed and that Wal-Mart has no relationship with A-AArlington Towing, that being the entity that did the towing.

There has been a problem in the D/FW Metroplex and Texas with Rogue Towing Operations. Was this a Rogue Operation?

Without Wal-Mart's knowledge did A-AArlington have agents on the Wal-Mart lot, looking for parkers who walked across the street to the Dallas Cowboy Stadium to watch high school football games?

Since Wal-Mart denies having a relationship with A-AArlington Towing, if that is true, then there are only a few possible other scenarios. One being the scenario already mentioned, that being the Rogue Towing Operation, with A-AArlington in cahoots with no one.

Another scenario would be the Arlington Police were behind the towing. One of the choice items the Wal-Mart co-manager told MTG was that A-AArlington was owned and operated by the City of Arlington. Looking at public records that does not appear to be true.

Another scenario would be that Jerry Jones has someone monitor parking, determined to make money off as many people as possible. Don't want to pay $40 to park on his lots? Trying to park for free on the Wal-Mart parking lot? Is it Jerry Jones who contracted with A-AArlington?

MTG has determined that this was an illegal towing operation due to the fact that Wal-Mart's towing signs do not meet the criteria as defined by Texas law.

It will be interesting to hear what MTG learns from talking to the Arlington Police today.

Still No Answer To Who Authorized A-AArlington To Steal More Than 50 Cars From Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Parking Lot

Yesterday I told you that the Mad Texas Grandma had received a phone call from a person claiming to be the Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart's co-manager.

The co-manager told MTG that Wal-Mart has no towing contract with A-AArlington, that being the towing company that stole MTG's car on October 21.

If Wal-Mart does not have a contract with A-AArlington to tow vehicles off their lot, who does?

A-AArlington has a website. On their website A-AArlington clearly explains that they have 2 tiers of customers, with their primary customers being businesses, and their secondary customer being those whose cars they hi-jack.

I'll copy what A-AArlington says about their 2 tiers of customers....

At A-AArlington, we serve two tiers of customers. Our primary customers, property owners and managers are key to the business and our longevity. Their businesses are apartment communities, manufactured home complexes, hotels / motels, industrial properties, everyday retail stores, shopping centers (big and small), and privately-owned lots.

Our secondary customer, those who have had their vehicles towed by A-AArlington, are also important to our business, And, our treatment of them, in their most unfortunate situation, is one of the more significant ways that A-AArlington can, and will differentiate itself from the competition.

So. How is it that Wal-Mart is a customer of A-AArlington with Wal-Mart's co-manager claiming that Wal-Mart has no contract with A-AArlington?

Who authorized A-AArlington to go on Wal-Mart's parking lot and remove over 50 vehicles?

I also told you that the Wal-Mart co-manager told the Mad Texas Grandma that A-AArlington is owned by the city of Arlington. From what I've seen I don't see how that can be. Unless Straw K, Inc. is somehow a business set up by Arlington. I could find no info about Straw K, Inc. beyond the fact that it exists, located in Arlington and is doing business as A-AArlington Abandoned Vehicle.

The Mad Texas Grandma Hears From Dallas Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart Regarding The Dozens Of Auto Thefts

I have heard from the Mad Texas Grandma again. You may remember me telling you about the dozens of grand theft auto thefts that occurred on October 21 at the Cowboy Stadium Wal-Mart in Arlington.

In that blogging I said I was not sure I remembered the facts correctly that MTG had told me over the phone and that I was awaiting confirmation. Turns out I was mostly right. MTG says it was at least 50 cars stolen, the taxi to the stolen car was a $10 ride and the troll toll to get the stolen car back was $244.00.

I did make one glaring error. I said MTG had her 5 year old grandson with her. When in fact it was MTG's 6 year old granddaughter. I'm feeling as factually challenged as a Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter right about now.

Yesterday I told you that MTG had had no luck reaching the Stadium Wal-Mart's manager. So, she called Wal-Mart corporate headquarters. Headquarters told the local manager to call MTG. MTG had learned that the Wal-Mart local manager's name was Matt.

But it was a woman who called MTG and identified herself as the manager of Wal-Mart. MTG told the woman she couldn't be the manager because he was a man named Matt.

The woman then said she was Matt's co-manager. MTG asked where is Matt? He is not here today was the reply. This was the same reply MTG has gotten every time she has called the Stadium Wal-Mart trying to speak with Matt.

Matt's co-manager denied that Wal-Mart has a towing contract with A-Arlington.

MTG told Matt's co-manager that she'd found 3 different names listed as owners of A-Arlington.

At that point Matt's co-manager, who had denied that Wal-Mart had a towing contract with A-Arlington, told MTG that the City of Arlington owns the towing company!

MTG asked Matt's co-manager how the taxis knew to be sitting and waiting for the grand theft auto victims. She said the taxis don't sit and wait.

Matt's co-manager told MTG that Wal-Mart's towing signs were legal and that Wal-Mart had never lost an appeal in court.

Speaking of court dates, MTG's is December 21 at 1pm. I'll get more details in case you'd like to attend.

Regarding Wal-Mart's sign. They say "NO EVENT PARKING VEHICLES MAY BE TOWED AT OWNER'S EXPENSE."

Texas Occupations Code 2308.301(b)(5) stipulates that the following precise verbiage must appear on the sign...

"Unauthorized Vehicles Will Be Towed at Owner's or Operator's Expense"

Go here for more details about Texas towing laws and the crimes committed by those violating them.

Now, from what I've read about Texas towing issues, the parking lot owner, which is Wal-Mart, has to have contract with a towing company. Yet Matt's co-manager says Wal-Mart has no such contract. A towing company can not randomly show up on someone's property and start towing cars. Someone, somewhere had to authorize it. Was it the City of Arlington monitoring Wal-Mart's parking lot?

Why does Wal-Mart not sell parking spaces like virtually all the other business in the stadium area do during events? I've never seen the Stadium Wal-Mart's parking lot anywhere near full.

Why is the Stadium Wal-Mart totally barricaded, with no entry possible, during a Dallas Cowboy home game? What is the agreement between Jerry Jones, Wal-Mart and the city of Arlington that makes the closure happen?

It's all a perplexing mystery.

The Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, Wal-Mart & Arlington Should Not Mess With A Texas Grandma

Yes. I know, the parking lot scams and crimes have made a bit of news in Texas for awhile now. In Dallas, at the State Fair of Texas, the parking lot scams were particularly nefarious.

Today I learned we've got some nefarious parking lot scamming going on in Arlington. Courtesy of the Dallas Cowboys, Wal-Mart, with the ringleader possibly being Jerry Jones.

Earlier today I blogged this....

On a totally unrelated note, I just got email from an Arlington Grandma who wants my help in solving a mystery involving Jerry Jones, Wal-Mart and an Arlington Storage Facility. Sounds intriguing. She gave me 2 numbers to call. She says she has done some digging and has uncovered some good stuff. But she needs help writing it all out.

I was erroneous in indicating this was an Arlington Grandma who contacted me. It was a Grandma from some other Dallas suburb.

I called Grandma this afternoon. She quickly told me the short version of her issue. Car towed from Wal-Mart parking lot while attending high school play-off game in the Dallas Cowboy Stadium.

I'm thinking, well there are signs suggesting event attendees not park there. And I say so to Grandma.

And that's when it got interesting. See, this particular Grandma is a real firecracker. She kept layering on the points of her issue til she had me totally getting it.

It is now pretty clear to me that Wal-Mart is pretty much breaking the law as defined by the State of Texas. That's serious business in these parts. You do not Mess with Texas. It's in our constitution.

According to Occupations Code 2308.301(b)(5) if you were towed from any parking lot without your consent and the parking lot's signage failed to contain the exact correct legalese, then you were illegally towed. Towing companies face stiff administrative fines for towing with illegal signs posted, but get away with it, everyday, because victims (motorists) fail to file a complaint.

Wal-Mart's signs are clearly not up to code.

There is a lot more to this Wal-Mart Illegal Towing/Dallas Cowboys Stadium Parking Scandal.

Jerry Jones may have a hand in what seems to be, well, a bit of racketeering. There is the appearance of some fresh dirty dealing.

Minimally there are some questions that are going to be asked that are going to need some answers.

More details to follow, as one very annoyed Grandma takes on Wal-Mart, Arlington, the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones.

Dallas Cowboy Cadillac Outhouses & Other Unsanitary Eyesores

We are looking at a Tailgate BBQ Party taking place this afternoon on the east side of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium before a high school game. This Tailgate Party was taking place on one of the Cowboy's parking lots. Not on one of the Texas Ranger's lots, that are also used by the Cowboys.

What got me back to Arlington this afternoon was something I saw when I drove through this area on Friday. As in I was amazed and appalled by all the outhouses. Some were in the parking lots, some were on the grass at the side of the road. Some were solo. Some were lined up. I saw a truck with a load of outhouses. I don't know if he was delivering or removing.

The outhouses on the Texas Ranger's lots were particularly tacky. Bright blue with a big sign saying "NATIONAL PORTABLE TOILETS" and some other stuff, with a toll free number to call and a website address, rentnational.com. Also attached to the outhouse was another sign that said "PUBLIC RESTROOM".

Public Restroom? As opposed to other outhouses that are Private Restrooms?

Now, the Texas Rangers are on real tough financial times. Their owner, I think his last name is Hicks, has all sorts of money woes. So, I guess he can be forgiven his low rent outhouses.

Which brings us to the outhouses on the parking lots of the new $1.1 billion Dallas Cowboy Stadium. When I first walked on to the most expensive parking lots in the world I was distracted by the wonderful smell of a Texas BBQ. BBQers in the Cowboy's lots get to park on grass parking strips. I thought that was interesting.

That is the Ballpark in Arlington on the left in the background. You can see a couple of the blue outhouses in the Ranger's lot with the BBQers parked on the grass in the foreground on the Dallas Cowboy parking lot.

A short distance from the BBQers I came to my first up close look at a Dallas Cowboy Outhouse. I was immediately struck by how much more substantial the Cowboy Outhouses are than the Ranger's. And then I saw something that really struck me. These are outhouses specially made for the Dallas Cowboys, as in molded into the plastic that makes up the outhouse is a Dallas Cowboy star and the word "COWBOYS".

And then I realized the Dallas Cowboy Outhouses are made in the Cowboy team colors of silver and blue! The Dallas Cowboys, like the Texas Rangers, also have signage that refer to their outhouses as Restrooms.

Now, maybe I am way off on this, but to me a Restroom has running water and a sink. The Dallas Cowboys may have bought themselves the Cadillac of Outhouses, but these are not Restrooms.

Which leads me to another thing. How does it make sense to spend $1.1 billion to build a stadium and then surround that building with outhouses? You have people spending $40, or more, to park, then $100s, some $1000s to watch a game and you provide outhouses in your parking lot? Would it not have made more sense to have built actual real Restrooms? The stadium was built with the knowledge that the football fanatics have tailgate parties before a game. Why were Restrooms not built for them?

It's not like all these outhouses don't cost anything.

And don't get me started on the sanitation issues. Well, I guess I started myself. So, you have all these people BBQing, having a picnic. They use the outhouse. Nowhere to wash their hands. Maybe they have hand sanitizer back at the Tailgate Party.

I can understand the use of portable outhouses at some types of events, like a 2 day festival. But this stadium is a permanent facility. A Super Bowl may be played there. A Super Bowl surrounded by 100s, or is it, 1000s of outhouses. And nowhere to wash your hands.

I have been vexed by outhouses in Arlington previously. Like in River Legacy Park. Which I consider the best park in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. But River Legacy Park needs to lose the outhouses. There is a pavilion in River Legacy Park. Used for weddings. Serviced by 2 outhouses. There is running water (not hot) there, though, so you can wash your hands.

I dunno, maybe a wedding with outhouses is a perfectly normal thing in the South. Seems sort of outdated and early last century to me. I know most of America got indoor plumbing a long long time ago. Maybe Jerry Jones owns an interest in an outhouse business.

The Devil Made Me Do It Today In Arlington At The Caelum Moor

That's the original location of the Texas Stonehenge, known as Caelum Moor. It has been in hiding since sometime around 1996, due to almost 2 dozen evangelical preachers complaining that the Caelum Moor was attracting wiccans and pagans.

God forbid.

A preacher from Stephenville, that being the town that sees UFOs, Michael Tummillo, posted on his website the news that "Occultic landmark resurrected near home of the Dallas Cowboys." And then warned Arlington about a demonic backlash. And claimed that this outrage is a mockery of Christianity and that those near the Caelum Moor and the Dallas Cowboys were in a "dance with the devil."

So, today I felt I really needed to go see the Caelum Moor and take some pictures. Little did I know that the devil was already busy.

I figured Sunday would be an easy time to go into the congested zone by the Dallas Cowboy stadium. It's a mess of freeway construction. I knew I had a problem when I saw the freeway emergency signs were playing a message about stadium traffic congestion.

I was talking to Tootsie Tonasket when I got off the freeway, so I'm a bit confused as to where I exited. So much has changed. I think I exited on Collins and soon found myself on the new road that runs between the Ballpark in Arlington and the new Cowboys stadium.

I had no idea people were being parked on lots so far from the stadium. I was barely off the freeway when I saw the first $40 parking lot. All the parking lots around the Ballpark in Arlington were parking cars at $40 a pop. I had never seen a tailgate party before. Today I saw hundreds, maybe thousands. They put up a canopy and BBQs. It smelled good.

Then the Caelum Moor came into view. And the new stadium. It was a bit hectic, trying to get a look without running into anyone or thing, but I have to say, what I saw looked cool. I wanted to park. But there was no place to park without shelling out $40. I'd not seen the outside video boards fired up on the stadium before. It made that impressive structure look even more futuristic. And out of place.

I saw a lot a long ways from the stadium charging $60 to park. As I continued south I kept expecting to find a place to park, close enough that I could walk back and take pictures of the Caelum Moor and the tailgate parties and the parking signs and the stadium's video screens.

I was quite a distance south of the stadium when I saw a FINA gas station selling parking for $40, with the Jack in the Box across the street doing the same. I gave up.

Later I was in my neighborhood Super Wal-Mart and the checkout girl asked me what I'd been up to. Why do you ask? Do I look frazzled? She said, yes, you do. I told her I got stuck in the traffic mess by the new stadium. She told me that the Super Wal-Mart by the stadium sold parking and let people have tailgate parties.

With the Caelum Moor bringing the devil to Arlington, and to the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones particularly, one can only fear what sort of fresh hell is about to descend upon that hapless area now. I thought the devil had already taken control of that zone when he worked in cahoots with Jerry Jones to commit the worst case of eminent domain abuse in American history.

Caelum Moor is one part of what's been quite a day. I don't want to talk about the rest of it. It's just too convoluted.

The Dallas Cowboy Stadium Makes Too Much Noise

In this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Letters to the Editor there were 3 letters about the Dallas Cowboys, their new stadium and Jerry Jones.

I live about 6 miles from the stadium, apparently not close enough to hear it being noisy. But if you live 2 miles from away apparently the noise from the stadium can get you vibrating.

The first letter is about the stadium noise, the second letter is suggesting the Cowboys starting a new football league and the third letter writer thinks Jerry Jones should be ashamed. The third letter writer is from Bastrop. She must lived too far from Dallas to have learned that Jerry Jones is shameless.

And now the letters....

Too Noisy

I have lived in Arlington since 1981, and I am appalled and frustrated with what this city has become and allowed. It is no longer a community but simply a slot machine for a few pockets.

At 11:55 p.m. on Sunday, I was not able to sleep because of the ridiculously loud music coming from the stadium. I live two miles away and my house was vibrating — literally!

If this noise was coming from one of my neighbors or me, the police would be giving someone a large fine or taking them to jail.

I did not vote for the stadium, and it’s unfair that events like this are allowed to continue after 10 p.m. on any night. Most people have to be up before noon to go to work and make a living.

It’s bad enough that this occurs one night a week, but to allow these loud disturbances every night is infuriating.

I don’t get one penny in benefit from having the stadium here. All I ask is that I don’t have to leave town every weekend just to get a good night’s rest.

The Police Department is obviously unwilling or unable to control this noise disturbance. Somebody better!

— Sarah Lawrence, Arlington

A New Football League

Perhaps the Dallas Cowboys should consider creating a new football league. Just think of it: They could have the greatest stadium in the history of semipro football.

Gets my vote. Might even be able to afford a ticket and a soda.

— Roger Latham, Fort Worth

Jerry Jones Should Be Ashamed

My daughter is a TCU graduate, Class of 1999. I was very surprised to learn that Texas A&M and Arkansas were playing each other at Jerry Jones’ stadium on Saturday night, the same night that TCU and SMU played in Fort Worth. I realize that these two teams get very little respect in Texas, but TCU does fare better in the national opinion and is ranked No. 10 or 11 in the nation depending on which poll you read.

Jones should be ashamed for making his stadium available to outside teams Saturday, thereby taking away money that could have gone to TCU and SMU at their stadiums. It is obvious to me that Jones cares very little about the home teams, as lining his pocket is his biggest concern.

— Marian Morris, Bastrop