Which is why I'm willing to get behind an illuminated walkway design that doesn't pretend to be anything more than a cool aesthetic accessory for the home.
Tickets for the Blur comeback concert in Hyde Park on Friday 3 July next year sold out so fast that an extra date has been added. The new date is Thursday 2 July. I think that making an additional date earlier than the original gig is a dicey thing to do.
Texas Stadium, the ahead-of-its-time coliseum, ringed with luxury suites and topped with a hole in the roof, opened in October 1971. The stadium would host ballplayers from John Brodie (1971 49er who was born in 1935) to Adrian Peterson (2007 Viking who was born in 1985), and rock stars from Paul McCartney to Michael Jackson.
In 1972, Texas Stadium was in its second year and
Steve Owens was in his third
NFL season. Owens’
Detroit Lions played the Cowboys on Monday night, Oct. 30.
Rain started to fall. Owens looked up at all the fans in the luxury suites, and the fans kept dry by the roof that uncovered only the playing surface.
"We’re the only ones getting rained on,” Owens said. "I knew what the gladiators felt like.”
Good word. For almost 40 years, the most heralded gladiators in sport, the men who wear the
Dallas star, have performed in the arena that sits at the juncture of freeways 183, 114 and Loop 12.
Tonight, after the Cowboys play the
Baltimore Ravens in a game of huge import even without the sentimentality, the coliseum goes dark. This is the final game at Texas Stadium.
Few American ballparks are more iconic. The halter-topped cheerleaders. The flyover for the opening of "Dallas,” a soap opera to match the football team. The marketing magic of
Tex Schramm (America’s Team) and
Jerry Jones.
Tom Landry, the man in the hat, coaching in the stadium with a hole in the roof.
For better or worse, no American football field is more famous. Not Lambeau. Not Soldier. Not the
Rose Bowl or Notre Dame.
None match the Q rating of Texas Stadium, with its sizzle and its style and, now in its final days, stateliness, as it awaits the franchise move to
Jerry World in
Arlington.
"I remember when this was built,” said Cowboy fan
Steve Murray of Tomball, Texas. "So, yeah, I’m going to miss the stadium. I’m a little nostalgic.”
Murray, wearing a
Jason Witten No. 82 jersey, posed with his wife, Vickie, wearing a No. 24
Marion Barber, for a photo in front of the Tom Landry statue before a recent Cowboy game.
The more Murray talked, the more he sounded like
Hawkeye Pierce on the last episode of M*A*S*H, talking about how much of their lives were spent at the 4077th.
"A lot of history here,” Murray said. "A lot of my heroes played here.”
He started naming names, which always leads to trouble for a franchise like Dallas. One name leads to another. Staubach.
Too Tall Jones.
Randy White.
Danny White. Chuck Howley. Cliff Harris.
Frankly, fans like Murray might not be the only emotional hearts in Texas Stadium tonight.
"I’m the type of guy who loves tradition,” said Dallas
quarterback Tony Romo. "The great moments. There will be a little nostalgia there.”
Make no mistake. The Cowboys are fighting for their playoff lives. The Ravens are supreme in the locker room psyche.
But funny things happen when we go to memorializing brick and mortar. We remember that places matter. We’re reminded that we cherish the grounds where memories are made.
Berry Tramel: 405-760-8080. Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1.
http://www.huliq.com/13/74753/thriller-line-grand-theatre
Just announced for 2009 are a trio of brand new musicals - Thriller Live direct from the West End celebrating the phenomenal music of Michael and the Jackson 5, the ultimate British rock ‘n’ roll show Dreamboats and Petticoats, and an exciting new stage production of the legendary Singin’ in the Rain starring West End and Broadway sensation Tim Flavin.
http://www.star-telegram.com/332/story/1104955.html
The Jacksons Victory Tour stop (July 14-15, 1984): See, my first 20 years at Texas Stadium
I was just a security guard. I would work
out there every day in the summer, and during the school year I would go out there on the weekends. But that was
a great deal during that summer. I mean, I got to shake Michael Jackson’s hand.
http://www.ocala.com/article/200812...MENT02?Title=National_notables_boost_teens_CD
For drummer Josh Garneau, 15, and guitarist Jordan Garneau, 19, Saturday marks their first community concert as recording artists. Their soulful blues-pop CD, "Road With No Signs," was released in August, and its cast includes some national notables: singer Brent Carter (of Regina Belle and Tower of Power) and producer/engineer
Bruce Swedien (an engineer on Michael Jackson's album "Thriller," the world's best-selling album of all time, as well as a current Ocala resident).
Michael Jackson HIStory for December 20, 2008:
1996 - The "Daily Mirror" reported that Michael Jackson had signed a deal with Debbie Rowe that would pay her $1.25 million when their child was born, $280,000 a year for every year they were married and that he would pay her $2.3 million if the marriage failed.
2003 - About 600 people attended a family and friends party at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. The party was aimed at showing support for Jackson after he was charge with seven counts of performing lewd and lascivious acts upon a child under 14 and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent.
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