NFL To Refund Thousands More Super Bowl Seat Victims Along With More Bad Super Bowl Blunder News

I don't think the Super Bowl ended up being quite the wonderful boost to North Texas that North Texas boosters hoped it would be.

This morning brought the news that approximately 2,000 more fans will be getting a ticket refund or a ticket to a future Super Bowl. These additional disgruntled fans were disgruntled due to being delayed in getting access to the seats they had paid for.

A research firm, San Diego based Competitive Edge Research & Communication is employed to survey opinions, nationwide, of Super Bowl host cities.

Polling data found that positive opinions of Arlington went from 17.4 percent before the game to 14.9 after the game.

Even worse for Arlington, 73.7 of those polled had no impression of the town before the game, with that number managing to increase to 74.4 percent after the game.

I'm thinking making no impression is better than making a bad impression.

An Oklahoman newspaper columnist, Jenni Carlson opined, "Our good friends in North Texas want the Super Bowl back in five years, want to host the biggest spectacle in sports again, want to be the site of the game's momentous 50th anniversary. Good luck with that. Super Bowl XLV? More like Blunder Bowl. Everything that could go wrong did. Some of it was out of anyone's control -- who could've foreseen not one but two snowstorms rolling through the Dallas-Fort Worth area on Super Bowl week? -- but plenty of other things were man-made disasters."

There were a couple good letters to the editor this morning in the Dallas Morning News regarding the man-made Super Bowl disasters....

Waiting for Super Bowl seats

Much has been made about the displaced fans in the temporary seats who were grossly inconvenienced, and my sympathies go out to them. 

However, little has been mentioned about the thousands of us who waited outside the Blue Entrance for over two hours without moving and with no one telling us what was going on.

Jerry Jones and the NFL cannot get a pass on this, as they had years to plan for all contingencies and severely dropped the ball. Spending thousands of dollars only to be frustrated with an organizational debacle of epic proportions is simply unacceptable.

Gary S. Black, Dallas

Jones disgraced many

Jerry Jones' enormous greed and ego has brought shame to Dallas and disgraced not only himself, but the city of Dallas, Dallas Cowboys, Cowboys Stadium and the NFL. His ego-driven attempt to set a new Super Bowl attendance record created not only safety issues for visiting Packer and Steeler fans, but destroyed what would have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

I can only imagine the grief, humiliation and discomfort these fans suffered, and that doesn't include enormous amounts of money that was spent for seats that weren't even available when they were purchased. 

To those fans, I apologize for the horrible experience, and I hope you don't associate most Cowboy fans and North Texans with Jones. We sincerely hope to see you again under better circumstances. We can and will do better.

Ronnie Smith, Garland

The Dawn Of A New Day In Texas Thinking About The Ousters Of Fort Worth's & Egypt's Dictators

The dawn of the second Friday of the second month of 2011 has dawned warmer than yesterday's dawn, currently only 9 degrees below freezing.

As you can see, looking out my window, there appears to be no ice or snow.

The current forecast for this coming Sunday is to possibly heat up into the 70s.

This morning I noticed a strange thing whilst looking at the newspapers I look at every morning.

Yesterday was a rather remarkable day, news-wise, regarding the uprising in Egypt and the aftermath to Hosni Mubarak's rather defiant speech.

On the front pages of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Dallas Morning News there is nary a mention made of the Egyptian Revolution.

And then on the front pages of the Washington newspapers online that I read, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Skagit Valley Herald, the news about Egypt is prominently featured.

I have no idea what to think about the different focus of these different newspapers.

The Star-Telegram's big story of the day, on its front page, was regime change in Fort Worth, after weeks of protests on the downtown Fort Worth parking lots known as Sundance Square, demanding the ouster of Fort Worth's corrupt, conflicts of interest-laden mayor, Mike Moncrief.

On the Star-Telegram's front page there are multiple links to multiple reports about the startling news that Fort Worth's dictator is stepping down, including a propaganda piece by Bud Kennedy titled "Moncrief goes out a winner."

Well, that's true. Moncrief does go out a winner.

Moncrief may not have made billions of bucks during his reign, unlike fellow dictator, Hosni Mubarak. But, Moncrief did win himself a few dollars, what with the millions of bucks he made via his interests in the various Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers he helped poke thousands of holes in the town he ruled.

Just like Mubarak, Moncrief is not stepping down, but will wait til the next election replaces him. I've not heard if the protests at Sundance Square have amped up demanding an immediate end to the Moncrief regime.

One big difference between the two dictators is Mubarak was elected in a fraudulent election with no opposition and with something like 98% of the voters voting for him. While Moncrief was elected by around 70% of the 6% of Fort Worth's eligible voters who bothered to vote.

I don't know if an election where only 6% of the voters bother to vote qualifies as a fraudulent election, or not.

Glad To No Longer Be Freezing In North Texas While Being Perplexed By Hosni Mubarak & Thinking Of Going To Disneyland

You are looking at a rare afternoon look through the bars of my patio prison cell, at my tropical pool surrounded by lush greenery.

And no ice or snow.

We have heated up to above freezing in formerly frigid North Texas.

With the Real Feel supposedly being 45. I don't quite understand how that works. But it sounds good.

Speaking of prison cells, I was watching the Egyptian Soap Opera during lunch and got hooked on continuing to watch so as to witness the spectacle when Hosni Mubarak went on TV to announce he was stepping down as President.

And then the speech came on and instead Hosni Mubarak seemed really out of touch with the reality of the chaos spinning around him. When he finally stopped talking, the hundreds of thousands who had been happy and celebrating, pre-speech, went into heavy duty angry disappointment mode.

I would think if I had a run as a dictator for 30 years, had accrued billions of dollars in ill-gotten gains and was in my 80s, I think I'd call it a day, get out of the country and go to Disneyland. Maybe making a tour of all the Disneylands in the world. But skipping that one by Paris.

Now it is time for me to get out of here and enjoy some of this balmy weather we are currently basking in.

A Record Breaking Freeze Greets North Texas On The 10th Day Of The 2nd Month of 2011 Along With a $5 Million Super Bowl Lawsuit

Looking out my viewing portal about an hour before the daily sun arrival I can see the swimming pool glowing blue through the icy window on this second Thursday of the second month of 2011.

As you can see via the screen cap below, from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, North Texas is experiencing a record breaking low temperature this morning.

As you can also see below via another screen cap, with that screen cap coming from my computer monitor screen, when I woke up my computer this morning it was 13 degrees out there, with the wind making it feel like 8 degrees.

The other big North Texas news this morning, which you can see referenced in the same screen cap as the record breaking cold, is the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys have been hit with a $5 million class action lawsuit over the Super Bowl debacle involving game tickets sold to seats that did not exist.

The sun has now brought the dawn of the new day. And we have lost one more degree since the below screen cap was capped. It is now 12 degrees with a wind chill real feel of 10.

I am not going swimming this morning. I'm going to Hurst instead.

The Sun Sets On Yet One More Bitterly Cold Freezing Day In North Texas

Usually I start my blogging day with the sunrise view from my portal on the world.

Tonight I am really seriously mixing it up by ending my blogging day with the sunset view from my portal on the world.

It does not look all that different. Sun comes up, sun goes down.

It's been one more miserably cold day in Texas.

When I lived in the balmy, semi-tropical Pacific Northwest zone of Western Washington I was of the impression that winter in the south was like being in Southern California.

Not Siberia.

Today the sun  rose with a temperature of 14 with a REAL FEEL of -10. Tonight the sun goes down with a temperature of 23 with a REAL FEEL of 1. That is 1 degree Fahrenheit.

Right now, up in where I should be living, Seattle, it is currently 44, with a REAL FEEL of 41.

Looking at the Seattle 5 day forecast, above, it appears they will be having a couple sunny days, followed by a rather cloudy one, and then rain. And then some more rain.

This is reminding me why, usually, I remember what it is I like about living in Texas. That being the ability to enjoy the Great Outdoors whenever you want, for the most part. But not right now. Unless sliding on ice while being bitterly cold is your thing.

Driving To A Puerto Rican Balcony In A Texas Blizzard

It appears as if the blizzard-like action of the day has abated, with some blue sky poking through the clouds.

I bundled up and went out in it. At 14 degrees with the wind making it feel like -10.

I was able to drive through the blizzard, over to Miss Puerto Rico's, to take a picture of the snowy view from her balcony.

Being able to drive, so far, makes this week's bout of ice less dire than last week's. I hope it stays that way.

Due to all the woes from last week's Deep Freeze, this week's Deep Freeze News has warnings to leave faucets dripping, heat set at a minimum of 65 and other emergency measures. Having seen, first hand, last week, the results of bursting pipes, I am keeping the water dripping.

I wonder if Gar the Texan is now floating somewhere on his way to the Bahamas and remembering that he forgot to leave the heat on and faucets dripping in his house? I suspect he will return to a flooded house.

As you can see, the view from Miss Puerto Rico's balcony is a bit monochromatic this morning. It is usually more colorful.

Below is a screencap from this morning's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, with one more of the now ubiquitous pipe warnings.

Below is the current weather info provided me courtesy of my computer's Internet Browser Weather Plug-in.

The current weather info from my Weather Plug-in is from Accu-Weather. It appears to be accurate except for the Light Snow part. In my location no snow is falling. And the sun is now in full brightness mode.

Another Morning In The Deep Freeze In Texas Thinking Of Going To The Bahamas To Learn How To Spell Better & Arctic

You are looking out my portal on the world at what 16 degrees looks like on the second Wednesday of the second month of 2011.

I do not believe we have been covered with ice, overnight, like what happened last week. There appears to be a very light dusting of a white substance.

I can hear vehicles rolling on the road.

This morning I read that that well known Weather Wuss who calls himself Gar the Texan can not take this worst Texas winter weather he's ever shivered through anymore. So, he is going to the Bahamas.

While Gar the Texan is in the Bahamas I hope he has time to figure out how to enable the spell checker on the program he uses to write his blog. If he does this he may learn there are more c's in Arctic than he, apparently, currently thinks is the case.

Something hard and frozen is being blown against my window, sporadically. Currently, as you can see below, the wind is making it feel like -6 degrees out there.

I Wandered Around A Windy Fosdic Lake Today Wondering Why Fort Worth Is Not The Most Romantic Valentines Day City In America

I made it to Oakland Lake Park today for a very windy walk around Fosdic Lake.

The wind was blowing from the south. Which seemed odd since we are scheduled to get some very cold air later today from the north.

Right now it is 53 with the wind gusting in the 20 plus mph zone.

The current plan is for tomorrow to get to a low of 6, with a strong wind making it feel way below sub-zero.

With snow.

Will this be a blizzard? I've only experienced one blizzard. In October, back in the 1990s, in a log cabin on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

I am stocked up on vittles. I've got 10 sticks of firewood in case the power goes out again. I've got several containers filled with water in case the water disappears again.

On a totally different note, did you get the news that El Paso is the 5th Most Romantic City in America? And even weirder, that Tacoma is the #1 Most Romantic City in America. The Most Romantic City in America List is a Valentines Day thing.

Why is Fort Worth not on this list? We are very romantic in this town.

The Freezing Dawn Of The Second Tuesday Of The Second Month Of 2011 In Texas

The second Tuesday of the second month of 2011 has dawned with a clear blue sky with the sun heating the air to the freezing point of 32 degrees.

Tonight we are scheduled to get quite a bit colder, along with the reappearance of freezing rain followed by snow.

The National Weather Service's predicted low for tomorrow has now been lowered to 6 degrees.

I don't know if the Texas power plants that malfunctioned during last week's Big Chill have been made immune from whatever malfunctioned them. I'm guessing we have the possibility of Rolling Blackouts to look forward to again.

Super Bowl fallout continues to be amusing. Hapless Jerry Jones continues to seem to take the brunt of the blame, though a lot of the problems don't seem to be his fault. Blame seems more appropriate to be pointed towards the NFL for snafus like selling tickets to seats that did not exist.

But, this morning I learned of a new Super Bowl woe that Jerry Jones does sort of own. Apparently the roof of the new Cowboys Stadium had leaks. I don't know if it was dripping caused by condensation due to the Big Chill. Or actually water infiltrated from the outside.

Speaking of the outside. I have a strong inkling that I will not be going there tomorrow. So, I need to get in some salubrious endorphin producing aerobic activity today. What that will be I currently have no idea.

Below is the forecast for the next 3 days for the frigid part of the world I am currently living in...

Getting Some Endorphins At The Village Creek Bayou With Egrets & A New Incoming Arctic Blast Freezing Texas

You are looking at the clouds in the blue sky, being reflected in the Village Creek Bayou, today around noon.

Due to our recent multiple instances of unpleasantness, I thought I'd see more people today, walking the trails of Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historic Area, out enjoying the semi-pleasant weather.

I did see more than the norm, though, including one odd couple who were walking with what appeared to be cross country ski poles. They were stabbing the poles into the trail like they thought they were skiing.

This morning I was suffering a sad case of BLAH. This worried my therapist, Dr. L.C., who asked me, quite concerned, if I was okay.

I am now.

Okay, I mean.

The walking did me good. I have been having a weather related severe downturn in my usual endorphin producing activity. Combine that with the BIG pizza I ate during the Super Bowl and I had a recipe for feeling today like a BLAH Bloated Boy.

An Egret in the Village Creek Bayou let me get real close while taking pictures of him, or her, today.

Previous encounters with Village Creek Bayou Egrets have had them spooked just at the sound of the camera turning on.

The camera makes a bird chirping noise.

I wondered if this particular Egret was ailing, maybe it caught cold during the recent cold. Or maybe it is a smart bird and figured out the humans are not a danger.

If it is cold that has the Egret under the weather, he, she or it should get ready for some more, if the forecast is to believed, and I suspect it should.

We are back freezing tonight, down to 12 on Wednesday. With snow.

Meanwhile, while I suffer with Arctic frigidity, the Scrabble Queen of Washington is currently the Scrabble Queen of Hawaii, sending me daily updates of her current tropical paradise. And continuing to beat me at Scrabble via the i-Pad she got for Christmas.