R.I.P. Texas Stadium
Texas Stadium was destroyed today.
I was a huge Cowboys fan when I was a boy; I knew all the players’ jersey numbers and positions during the heyday of Tom Landry and Roger Staubach. But I’m pretty sure I went to only two or three games in Texas Stadium. I went to at least one as a boy; maybe two. I don’t remember who we played, but I seem to remember that it was cold and we lost. The last one I went to was unforgettable. I was on the sidelines at the November 23, 2000 Thanksgiving game, courtesy of my brother in law, who was a sportscaster for the local Fox News station at the time. I was standing just in front of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders the entire game, but somehow managed to pay attention to the play on the field anyway. At halftime I got to go to the locker rooms, and marched down the long tunnel just behind Randy Moss, who was instrumental in trouncing the Cowboys in the second half that day.
Just minutes before the stadium came down, that same brother-in-law interviewed Jerry Jones. This video shows the interview and the amazing implosion:
I’ll never be in Texas Stadium again. I didn’t know that the last time I was there.
It’s the end of an era, and makes a person wonder: how many other things have I already done for the last time, without even knowing it?
Texas Stadium was remarkable for it’s shabbiness.
Cowboys Stadium (a.k.a. The Death Star, a.k.a. Jerry World) is remarkable for its $9 pizza slice.
Looking forward to when Jerry World is imploded.
beer 'n pretzels (3d1d61) — 4/11/2010 @ 9:09 pmI loved the Cowboys when they had Coach Tom Landry so this brings back memories for me, too.
DRJ (daa62a) — 4/11/2010 @ 9:14 pmIt’s hard to be a Texan and not be a Cowboys fan. I tried for a while, but Bud Adams turned out to be worse than Jerry Jones.
I remember my 13th birthday, not because I turned 13, but because the Cowboys lost to the Colts in the Super Bowl.
I never set foot in Texas Stadium until I was in my 40s. All I could think was that this must be the absolute crappiest stadium ever built for a professional football team.
Good memories, lousy stadium. Today’s implosion didn’t interrupt my sleep.
Ag80 (f67beb) — 4/11/2010 @ 9:28 pmNow if they could just implode the whole franchise…
CraigC (4d0b7b) — 4/11/2010 @ 9:29 pmOye, mate.
I met that bald guy at some media events. Does that Chiropractor(?) still throw the first Cowboys Party of the season?
When I was offered the chance to take a tour of the new stadium after it was completed, I was like Meh.
Full disclosure: I rooted for the Steeler’s (they were north vs. south during that storied rivalry). For the record Staubach lives about 10 miles from me and I’ve successfully resisted the urge to toilet paper his house for decades. Heh.
Jeff Barea (eff5e1) — 4/12/2010 @ 12:17 ami went to the last home game at Dodger Stadium years ago, and haven’t been to a game since.
i miss the O’Malley’s almost as much as i do Ronnie.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 4/12/2010 @ 12:31 amhow many other things have I already done for the last time, without even knowing it?
These newer taxpayer-funded stadiums seem to have shortening lifespans. News reported Texas Stadium was less than four decades old. Seems a very short life for a sports facility. Giants Stadium in the NJ Meadowlands is similarly fated and it’s not an ancient arena. Similar end for Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh which was levelled a few years ago and only opened in the early 70’s. Yet some of the old baseball parks lasted for much longer. Forbes Field remains a favorite memory. Still the Landry/Staubach, Noll/Bradshaw era seem very distant now.
Another thing, for this writer, ‘done for the last time,’ visited and gone– was the World Trade Center. Quite by chance videotaped much of it inside and out around Church St., etc., as it was typically near empty on a weekend – the underground mall, subway and PATH stations, elevators, escalators, views from the Observation Deck… even the dedication plaque on the North Tower across from the old post office. For Americans who never were actually there, television diminished the vast size of the complex given its location. Still hard to believe it is all gone now. It’s eerie to look at the tapes today but we’re passing along a DVD to the museum there for any archival reference.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 4/12/2010 @ 3:24 amMy favorite Texas Stadium story is non-Cowboy related. As a teenager born in Texas – but growing up in Illinois (in the late sixties / early seventies), I prayed to God of one day catching a football in Texas Stadium and having the crowd go wild. Needless to say – I never played professional football. But I attended a Christian event called Promise Keepers there and during a break, someone from the top of the stadium threw a football down to the field where I was at. I caught the ball and the crowd went wild. The lesson here is sometimes God answers your prayers in a timeframe or manner you never imagined. My second favorite was a similar experience to Patrick’s – I got to stand on the sidelines on a Monday night and then after the game hold the microphone for an interview with Emmitt Smith. Treasured memories both.
Brotherico (41d24a) — 4/12/2010 @ 5:27 amOur esteemed host wrote:
[sigh!] And I had such respect for you before. 🙁
The Oakland Raiders' fan Dana (3e4784) — 4/12/2010 @ 5:30 amIMP never fails to be, well … IMP.
Texas Stadium always looked so great on television. When I finally got to go to a game there, I was amazed at how much of a dump it was. They managed to make everything that showed up on television look great though.
JD (5e5cad) — 4/12/2010 @ 7:14 amSay what you will about Texas Stadium being a dump, but nothing, and I mean NOTHING, comes close to the dump that was Soldier’s Field for the Bears. Bathrooms that rivaled Wrigley Field for their long lines and excreable awfulness, the worst sight lines in the NFL, replete with the worst stadium food, it had it all. Haven’t been to the remodeled version (I hear it’s quite nice), but the outside looks like someone put a gigantic Space Alien Tidy Bowl into the middle of an existing toilet seat. Bravo.
Dmac (21311c) — 4/12/2010 @ 7:28 amOh yeah, as much as I detest the Packers, went to one game at Lambeau – best stadium in the league, period.
Dmac (21311c) — 4/12/2010 @ 7:29 amThere was a nice set of images of the WTC on the season finale of “Fringe” last season.
As for how things look as an adult, lots of issues there. Things look so different to a child. Remember those comic book ads for “build your own Polaris submarine”? Thing was made out of cardboard.
Eric Blair (c8876d) — 4/12/2010 @ 8:01 amIt is appropriate that demolition day was one with a gray overcast, and hopefully cold.
And, as to the aging of publicly built stadia…
AD - RtR/OS! (f215c6) — 4/12/2010 @ 12:18 pmThe Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum opened in 1923!
…and has been a dump for years…but as a kid, I sure enjoyed watching the Rams there.
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R.I.P. Texas Stadium | Liberal Whoppers (d16888) — 4/12/2010 @ 7:34 pm