DALLAS - Cotton Bowl (92,107)

[rantanamo]

Originally Posted by Sea Toby

They gutted the lower bowl of the Cotton Bowl. the lower seats, to make room for the international sized pitch during the World Cup. It appears from the above images with this new construction they are installing retractable seats, bringing back the first few rows of seats to the lower bowl.

Its true, Dallas would just as well demolish the Cotton Bowl. But renovating it was approved by the voters to keep the UT-OU game as well as Prairie View-Grambling game. Dallas voters have always understood what is good for the State Fair is good for Dallas. I hear talk of another annual game may come as well, Oklahoma State-Texas Tech for a third football weekend during the State Fair. Of course, Jerry would like to see all of these games at his new Cowboys stadium, a bright gem in Arlington. But Arlington isn't the State Fair.

As far as the Cotton Bowl game itself, the weather is usually much nicer in October during the State Fair than on New Years Day. Fall is great football weather, harsh winters aren't.

There is nothing like following the bands into the stadium during these weekends from the midway before kick off.

The retractable seats at field level have been in for years.

[Bobby3]

Originally Posted by JYDA

Am I right in saying the Cotton Bowl hosts just 3 games a year?

No, it's used for local stuff too.

FC Dallas used to use it.

[Sea Toby]

I read in the papers again today the Cotton Bowl is working on Texas Tech-Oklahoma State game. They want to attract as many neutral site games as possible, including using Thursday night games as well during the Fair.

[rantanamo]

Looked incredible on TV today. Almost like a different stadium. Incredible game

[bing222]

Have they already made the expansion?

[rantanamo]

[Arist]

Great game.

[Iain1974]

Maybe somebody has answered this already, but how many games (that attract say 50% crowds) does the Cotton Bowl host in a season?

[StuckInOklahoma]

I was at the Red River Shootout yesterday. Aesthetically speaking, it was beautiful from the inside. The City of Dallas gets a thumbs up. While it will not compare to Jerry World, it is a functional stadium. The atmosphere trumps anything Jerry World will have. And judging by what fans were saying yesterday, I think OU-UT @ the Cotton Bowl is safe for now.

[likasz]

I wonder why almost all stadiums using for American Football haven't any roofs?

[rantanamo]

[isaidso]

What's up with that seating arrangement? Home team to the right, visitors to the left? Another question: why is it called the Cotton Bowl? I didn't think Dallas was in cotton territory.

[en1044]

Originally Posted by likasz

I wonder why almost all stadiums using for American Football haven't any roofs?

Because we dont like them, they serve no purpose, and it doesnt rain.

I think thats the generic response to this question.

[Bobby3]

Originally Posted by isaidso

What's up with that seating arrangement? Home team to the right, visitors to the left? Another question: why is it called the Cotton Bowl? I didn't think Dallas was in cotton territory.

It's a neutral venue. Oklahoma has one half, Texas has the other.

[bing222]

I love this stadium

[Arist]

Originally Posted by isaidso

What's up with that seating arrangement? Home team to the right, visitors to the left? Another question: why is it called the Cotton Bowl? I didn't think Dallas was in cotton territory.

This stadium is the middle of the distance between Norman Oklahoma (Zero-U) and Austin (THE University of Texas) It is a Neutral site so the stadium is split down the 50 yard line to give both sides a home field advantage when in that part of the stadium. Also, if you look into American history, Dallas used to be the middle of the cotton world, but no longer is today, but in the 30's and 40's when this was the National Championship Game, Dallas was still the Cotton capital.

[rantanamo]

I'll see if I can get some HD caps, but basically the seating arrangement is OU gets the south half of the stadium, UT gets the northern half of the stadium. UT is 197 miles south of the stadium and OU is 190 miles north of the stadium. Though its in Texas, its a very neutral site for both. There are thousands of alumni from both schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This renovation has made the seating arrangement even better. If the seating arrangement was divided east west, the renovation wouldn't make a huge difference, but with a north south arrangement, each endzone was LOUD when the opposing team had the ball at each end. Definitely passed the eye test as well.

Here's a good video from a reporter at the game

http://video.star-telegram.videos.vm...269339&f=txfor Just look below the Cowboys video for Texas-OU. Nice views at the end from the inside.

[GodofThunder]

Originally Posted by rantanamo

I love when people post pictures like this. Of when UT loses it is the exact same way but a lot less orange shirts.

[Dallas star]

Lovely stadium, was actually at the fair during the cotton bowl. =D

Anyways I really hope this stays in Dallas and doesn't move out too Arlington like seemingly everything these days...

[Sea Toby]

Originally Posted by Bobby3

It's a neutral venue. Oklahoma has one half, Texas has the other.

While Dallas is mostly winter wheat country today, cotton is still grown in Texas around Lubbock and along the coast near Corpus Christi. A century ago the farm area around Dallas grew cotton instead. Several towns near Dallas had gins, Greenville for example was known for the highest quality cotton.

While the clothing factories have mostly moved abroad, Dickies workclothes and Hagar slacks were Dallas/Fort Worth based companies. One of the earlier Dallas skyscrapers was the Cotton Exchange Building, unfortuantely it was demolished during the 1980s.

Keep in mind the Dallas area is more ranch country than farm country. Cattle is still huge. There is a reason why Fort Worth is called Cow Town, the former meat packing companies Swift and Armour used to have huge plants in the Stockyards area of north Fort Worth. The biggest irony is that a century ago the cattlemen fought the fences, today they use fences to keep their livestock off the highways. And since the cattlemen use fences today, farmers don't as much, allowing for the easier access and usage of machinery to plow and harvest their crops.