The Imaginary Eyes Of The World Are On Fort Worth

Years ago, early on in my exposure to Fort Worth's Star-Telegram official city propaganda organ, I made note of an odd phenomenon occurring with frequency in that newspaper, a phenomenon which came to be known as "Green With Envy Syndrome".

Where in an article about some perfectly ordinary, nondescript subject, the article would declare that this subject was making towns, far and wide, green with envy. There were multiple iterations of this, verbiage, such as some lame thing would somehow supposedly give Fort Worth "Bragging Rights".

This type nonsense is a sub-set of other Star-Telegram nonsensical propaganda, such as an ill-conceived public works project turning Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South. Or a lame food court type thing being modeled after public markets in Europe, and Seattle's Pike Place. Or a sporting goods store being destined to be the top tourist attraction in Texas.

And now we have a new iteration of the Star-Telegram's "Green With Envy Syndrome".

College football kicks off with all eyes on Fort Worth

Yeah, that sounds believable. College football kicking off is causing all eyes, everywhere, to be on Fort Worth.

The article contains multiple embarrassing instances of nonsense. Let's go through the article and look at some of those embarrassing instances of nonsense. The first three paragraphs...

When nearly 2 million people tune in to ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday, Fort Worth will be front and center.

The game between Oregon and Auburn will be played at AT&T Stadium, but Rece Davis, Lee Corso and crew will be in Sundance Square. That’s good for DFW sports fans, but it’s great for Fort Worth as the city looks to boost tourism and national attention.

“You can’t pay for the kind of free advertising ‘GameDay’ gives us,” said Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price.

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Okay, so "all eyes" is now reduced to 2 million people with 4 million eyes. And though the football game will be played in the Dallas Cowboy stadium in Arlington, Fort Worth will be front and center.

And this will somehow boost tourism in the town few tourists tour, and those 4 million eyes will be giving Fort Worth much needed national attention.

Fort Worth's mayor thinks you can not pay for this kind of free advertising.

Well, I can not help but wonder why ESPN does not broadcast from downtown Arlington's Founders Plaza, which is close to the stadium, is bigger than Sundance Square Plaza, has a large stage. And something Fort Worth rarely has, modern public restrooms. Does Fort Worth give ESPN one of those incentives the town is so fond of giving any business indicating possibly wanting to come to town?

Continuing on with the continuing nonsense with three more paragraphs...

“College GameDay” averaged 1.9 million viewers last year and it’s safe to assume that number will be the same or better for broadcasts this year. That’s priceless exposure, said Mitch Whitten, executive vice president for marketing and strategy for Visit Fort Worth.

Studies have shown most outsiders imagine Fort Worth as a much smaller city, between 30th and 40th in size — think Albuquerque, New Mexico, or Fresno, California — instead of as a top 20 city, larger than Seattle, Denver or San Francisco, Whitten said.

“There’s no question that nationally people associate Dallas-Fort Worth as one big area,” he said. “This helps us elevate Fort Worth as a city of its own.”

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So, Fort Worth has a national reputation for being a much smaller town than it is. We assume the size we are talking about is population, because that is the only measure which ranks Fort Worth as a big city. Now, why would people not realize Fort Worth is a "bigger" city than Seattle, Denver or San Francisco.

Well, stating the obvious, Seattle is known for having hosted a successful World's Fair, which left a Space Needle and a Monorail in its wake. Seattle is known as a scenic town, surrounded by water and mountains, a major port, connected to the Pacific, home to Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Boeing, Costco and other world wide known entities. And the town has a big skyline of towers, and two sports stadiums downtown. Oh, and cruise ships and ferry boats. Denver is known for being a mile high, with a backdrop of Rocky Mountains. San Francisco is known all over the world for a big bridge built over actual water, a skyline of skyscrapers, Fisherman's Wharf, being hilly, cable cars, Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury, and a lot of other things, including being a beautiful Pacific Ocean port.

Meanwhile Fort Worth is known, world-wide, for....I'm waiting...uh, can you think of anything?

The recognizable skyline? A bustling downtown which is a ghost town on the busiest shopping day of the year? For being the only big city in America with no downtown grocery stores or department stores? For city parks with a ridiculous number of outhouses. With most streets having no sidewalks?

For having public transit in the form of a converted bus called Molly the Trolley?

Well, to be fair, which we always are, there is the Fort Worth Stockyards, which are the one and only thing in Fort Worth which is remotely unique.

Oh, I forgot, Fort Worth is getting national recognition for hosting America's most embarrassing boondoggle, the Trinity River Vision, limping along for most of this century with little to show but a mess of stalled construction. Oh, and there is that eyesore which has been boarded up for over a decade, Heritage Park, dedicated to honoring Fort Worth's history, located at the north end of downtown, across the street from the county courthouse.

The article continues on with multiple additional instances of propaganda, including the final paragraph...

“People often ask whether that view down Main Street is real or a backdrop, which I think says a lot about our downtown,” Campbell said.

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Really? People often ask if the view is real or not? Looking down Main Street? Isn't that the view which ends with that unfortunate part of the convention center which looks like a giant flying saucer has landed on downtown Fort Worth?

Another indicator of how embarrassingly clueless this "All Eyes On Fort Worth" hyperbole is, is can you imagine a Seattle, Denver or San Francisco newspaper touting such over something so lame? No, I can't either.  A headline declaring "All Eyes on San Francisco as ESPN Broadcasts from Fisherman's Wharf as College Football Kicks Off" followed by an article touting how this will be a huge boost to San Francisco tourism, boosting the town's image.

Read the entire College football kicks off with all eyes on Fort Worth  article for the full dose of Star-Telegram Chamber of Commerce propaganda nonsense which bears little resemblance to reality.

Hiking The Tandy Hills Had Me Wondering Why ESPN Is Covering Arlington's Final Four Basketball Games From Fort Worth

On the left you are on the Tandy Hills, looking west, across a sea of green, to where the west begins, looking at the stunning skyline of what has been scientifically determined to be the best downtown in the United States of America, the downtown of Fort Worth, Texas.

This weekend, a town a few miles to the east, Arlington, Final Four basketball games are being played in the Dallas Cowboy Basketball Stadium, also known as AT & T Stadium.

While the basketball games are being played in the football stadium which the voters of Arlington voted to abuse eminent domain and tax themselves to build, ESPN is doing its Final Four basketball coverage from Fort Worth's Sundance Square Plaza, in what used to be a parking lot, before Fort Worth decided a plaza really should be added to Sundance Square and thus end, for all time, the mystery of the missing square which confused Fort Worth's few tourists when they saw directional signs pointing the way to the non-existent Sundance Square.

Why is ESPN broadcasting from Sundance Square Plaza rather than the plaza which is in beautiful downtown Arlington? If I remember right the Arlington venue is called Founder's Plaza. That plaza is very well designed, with a covered stage, water features and is bigger than Fort Worth's downtown plaza. Plus the Arlington plaza is walking distance to where the basketball games are being played, that is, if one enjoys a slightly long walk.

I would think the good citizens of Arlington, who voted to help pay for the giant silver spaceship, would feel a bit cranky that ESPN has not located its broadcast operation in their town, rather than Fort Worth.

Maybe no one thought to show ESPN Arlington's downtown plaza.

Changing the subject back to something that makes sense.

As you can see, the latest iteration of the Tandy Hills Hoodoo appears to be the most precarious balancing rock piece of artwork yet.

Hiking the Tandy Hills today was a bit chilly. I sped up my already fast hill hiking to help facilitate getting warm.

I came upon a scene I'd not seen before on the Tandy Hills.

West of the Tandy Hills Outdoor Auditorium benches, near where a trail leads to the hills from View Street, I came upon a pair of what looked to be parental units with a brood of a lot of kids. The kids looked to be of a similar size, so I suspect this was not a family unit, so brood is likely the wrong word to use.

The group was sitting off the trail, on the ground, having a picnic. I howdied the group as I walked by, then as I descended the trail to the west it occurred to me that they might not be aware of the bench seats available a short distance to the east.

I am very wary when I get grounded on the Tandy Hills, like when I get down on the ground to take a Hoodoo picture. I check for fire ants and other insect vermin before I ground myself. My worst fire ant episode ever happened on the Tandy Hills whilst taking a photo of a wildflower.

Since it is Saturday, after a bout of hill hiking, I was off to Town Talk for some treasure hunting. Found nothing noteworthy today. Unless one counts two pounds of Welch's strawberries as noteworthy. 50 cents a pound. That sounds cheap to me. And they actually sort of taste like strawberries. Also got a small block of Romano cheese. I guess that is slightly noteworthy. The rest of what I got was rabbit food. And yogurt.

A couple days ago, or maybe it was yesterday, Mr. and  Mrs. Galtex went Town Talk treasure hunting. On Facebook Mr. Galtex had this to say about that....

We went on our weekly treasure hunt at Town Talk Foods and found Uncle Oinker's Gummy Bacon. (Farm Fresh Flavor!) I'll wait until Durango tries it before we buy some.

Well.

I looked all over for Uncle Oinker's Gummy Bacon to no avail.  I asked a couple of the Town Talkers if they still had Uncle Oinker's Gummy Bacon, also to no avail.

I've learned with Town Talk that some good stuff will only be available for a very short duration. The Galtex's should have taken a Gummy Bacon risk, while they had the chance.

Speaking of Mr. and Mrs. Galtex, and who isn't? That pair of jet setters is currently in Boston because Mr. Galtex likes to fill himself up with cream pie and lobster rolls and because Boston's Wilbur Theatre  is where Mr. Galtex can laugh at his favorite funny man, some guy I've never heard of named Brad Morris.

I have never been to Boston, so I don't know what cream  pie is. I do know what a lobster is, but I don't know what a lobster roll is.

My ignorance about so many things used to vex me, til Google came along...

On The Tandy Hills Looking At A Smoggy Fog Enveloping Downtown Fort Worth As Locals Go Nuts Over The Pittsburgh Steelers & ESPN

I don't know if that is fog or smog dimming the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth today when I looked west from the Tandy Hills.

Of the four short skyscrapers that you can see through the fog/smog, the one on the left is the Omni Convention Center Hotel. This is where one of the NFL teams is staying that is in North Texas for the Super Cold Bowl next Sunday.

I don't know if Fort Worth gets the Pittsburgh Steelers team or the New Orleans Saints. I know the buildings in both the downtowns of Dallas and Fort Worth have been color-cordinated to match the conference colors that town's team.

I know I've read which town is which color, but I forget. I believe one is blue, one is red. I also know I could likely get the answer to this probing question with about 5 seconds of Googling.

I just went to the Star-Telegram to see if I could easily find out what team is in town.

Well, apparently the Pittsburgh Steelers arrived today and were greeted by a big crowd of screaming football fans. An ESPN person said they'd never seen this level of excitement so early in Super Bowl Week.

The Star-Telegram said Fort Worth has never seen anything like ESPN.

Below is a blurb from the article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, titled A Texas-sized howdy for ESPN on 'opening day' ...

The TCU band blasted its music across Sundance Square, and the cheerleaders rocked the crowd. Mayor Mike Moncrief meted out some inspirational words, and Ed Bass shook more than a few hands. And that was all before 5 o'clock in the morning, all before ESPN even began broadcasting Monday from downtown Fort Worth.

ESPN folks said they never had seen such enthusiasm, not this early in Super Bowl week anyway. And, of course, Fort Worth never has seen anything like ESPN. 

This is all starting to seem somehow sad to me. Maybe I would understand if I were a football fan.

ESPN Broadcasting Super Bowl From Downtown Fort Worth Parking Lot

The next Super Bowl will be played in Arlington in the new Dallas Cowboy stadium. It seems like only yesterday history's worst case of eminent domain abuse was being used in Arlington to kick people out of their homes, stealing their land, to build a stadium.

And now that stadium, built so shamefully, will shamelessly host a Super Bowl

Meanwhile, in Fort Worth, a town that also has a tendency to abuse eminent domain, has its own Super Bowl stuff going on.

Yesterday Fort Worth's goofy mayor, Mike Moncrief was not pouring purple kool-aid into the Trinity River or shooting guns in downtown Fort Worth. Instead of those noble type activities, the dishonorable mayor was announcing that, uh, the parking lots, known as Sundance Square, will be used by ESPN as the location of their coverage of the Super Bowl taking place about 20 miles to the east.

Mayor Mike breathlessly opined, "It will transform our city from this day forward. It's one of those places along the road that help define our city. I believe ESPN was looking for a unique setting, a setting that made a Texas statement. And Fort Worth says Texas. This will give international exposure to millions of people and raise the curiosity not only for our city but for North Texas."

Oh. Where do I begin? A cable network broadcasting from a downtown Fort Worth parking lot will transform Fort Worth? Helping define the town? International exposure to millions? Raising curiosity about Fort Worth's parking lots?

And then Ed Bass, the man behind so much that is not quite right in downtown Fort Worth, who the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said helped bring about a renaissance of downtown, with the Sundance Square project, focused on what Bass seemed to think was an Old West theme, due to Fort Worth being a favorite haunt for the Sundance Kid and the Hole in the Wall Gang and other nefarious sorts 100 years ago.

Bass said, "Why did they come here? Because this is where the action is. And ESPN is coming to Fort Worth because this is where the action is."

Butch Cassidy and the Gang came to Fort Worth because it was a notorious lawless zone with its Hell's Acre area of bordellos, saloons and gambling joints. Not because it had a reputation as Action City. Now, modern day Fort Worth remains a bit of a lawless zone, as compared to other towns in America, but I doubt ESPN chose to come to Fort Worth because it has a mayor who does dirty deeds, that would land him in prision if he was not being mayor in a lawless zone, where criminal acts of conflict of interest are permitted without fear of punishment.

Then the Star-Telegram says, "With the Chisholm Trail parking lot's famous mural of longhorn cattle being herded by two drovers as a backdrop, viewers worldwide will see a slice of history in modern Fort Worth and learn why its motto is "Where the West Begins." Football fans across the world tuning in for ESPN's coverage of Super Bowl week in February will get a huge taste of downtown Fort Worth and its historic Sundance Square."

Famous mural of longhorn cattle? Famous with who? Historic Sundance Square? What is historic about a bunch of downtown Fort Worth parking lots being called a square? Now, when I've opined about the goofiness of the "Sundance Square" nomenclature before I've heard from the Sundance Square marketing director explaining to me what an amazing project of building restoration and preservation the Sundance Square project is. That its scope extends far beyond the network of parking lots.

But. Historic? The local propaganda describes Sundance Square as an Entertainment/Shopping District. I don't know of any other big city downtown in America that is not an Entertainment/Shopping zone.

But, Fort Worth is the only city in America, with a population over a half million, who's downtown does not have a single department store in its "Shopping District". No Neiman-Marcus, no Nordstroms, no Penneys, no Macy's, no Dillards, not even a Sears. There is a store where you can buy a cowboy hat downtown, however.

I wonder if the ESPN people checked out Heritage Park, where Fort Worth began, just a short distance north of the famous mural ESPN is going to be broadcasting in front of? I guess the Heritage Park eyesore must sit outside the 16 square block of renovated/restored structures that encompasses Sundance Square.

Isn't the Super Bowl broadcast on one of the networks? ABC, NBC, CBS or FOX? Would not the logical spot to broadcast your coverage of a sporting event be where the sporting event is taking place, not in some random downtown's parking lot? Is ESPN not allowed to infringe on the network's broadcast rights? Which likely include using the stadium as a backdrop?

I'm thinking this ESPN Super Bowl broadcast from Fort Worth deal is yet one more time where the good ol' boy network of goofballs who run Fort Worth are hoping magic is striking that will finally cause the rest of America to be able to recognize something in Fort Worth. A better plan would have been to use the Fort Worth Stockyards. At least it's a unique location, unlike downtown Fort Worth's parking lots and that famous mural looking down on that historic square.

One thing I am grateful for this morning. This ESPN news would seem to have been a perfect opportunity for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to break out its patented "Green With Envy" verbiage. As in, towns far and wide are green with envy because ESPN is coming to Fort Worth. Or Fort Worth is the envy of other towns because ESPN will be broadcasting from a downtown Fort Worth parking lot.

Instead, the verbiage was a bit more sophisticated, words like "famous" and "historic" used to describe objects that are neither famous or historic. But, this is much less cringe inducing than the Star-Telegram's green with envy verbiage. I consider this progress.