Braised Lambchop
a nurse trying to work while suffering with chronic pain - she rambles a bit

The University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas have played their annual game at the Cotton Bowl since the earth cooled. When it's time for Oklahoma to elect a new governor or senator, one of the first questions that seems to be asked is, "Do you think the OU-Texas game should be in Dallas or should change to home-and-home?" The popular answer is Dallas, but it's looking more and more like home-and-home will be the answer of the future.

The Cotton Bowl is in a terrible state of disrepair:

Until now, the city has managed to keep the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma coming back to Fair Park each fall with financial perks for the schools and promises to make minor improvements to the stadium. But quick fixes won't cut it this time.

After last year's game, officials from both schools toured the Cotton Bowl. They pointed out the facilities' shortcomings and detailed the amenities their own stadiums offer – namely suites, club seating, video boards, better concessions, better bathrooms.

And, of course, that "we have more seats," said DeLoss Dodds, UT athletic director.

Mr. Dodds emphasized that local leaders must decide what improvements to make and how much to spend on the Cotton Bowl.

"It's not my role to tell the city of Dallas what they should or shouldn't do with their stadium," he said. "My decision would be to decide where Texas plays its football games."

Oklahoma president David Boren told theNorman Transcript last week that Dallas might already have missed its chance to continue the longstanding tradition of playing in the Cotton Bowl.

"We have given Dallas every opportunity, and I think Dallas has really missed the boat," he said.

Most city leaders said that while the renovations suggested by the schools are expensive, they aren't exorbitant.

"They're asking for reasonable things," City Council member Elba Garcia said. "Come on – bathrooms? Don't you need that for a game?"

Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione, who has declined to comment on this issue in recent weeks, has said that he's seeking only basic improvements – not gold-plated handrails.

The Cotton Bowl's current handrails, which actually look like chain-link fences, are a far cry from gold-plated.

On the surface, the art-deco stadium bears little resemblance to a premiere college football facility.

The concrete walkways are pockmarked and uneven. Pipes and wiring are exposed. The bright peach and teal paint on the walls isn't appealing.

Fixing the stadium won't be cheap. The low end of the repair estimates come in around $28 million, with some people saying it could cost $50 million or more to do what the universities want, which include luxury boxes and 21st-century spectator facilities, not to mention adequate restrooms.

Dallas hasn't exactly been crazy-go-nuts about keeping its teams in Dallas lately; the Cowboys are moving to a new stadium in Arlington in 2009 and Dallas officials barely raised an eyebrow and certainly didn't raise a competitive stadium proposal for Jerry Jones to consider. The Rangers left for Arlington ten years ago, and the Mavericks? Who cares, until they win a title.

There are those in Oklahoma who feel the economic benefits of the series should be shared between the two schools, instead of with the Dallas area. Both schools' stadiums hold more people, the two cities (Austin and Norman/Oklahoma City) can absorb the fans who come to see the game, and it would be much more convenient. Until the Big XII was formed from the remnants of the Southwest Conference, the longest continuous rivalry was between OU and the University of Kansas, and I don't recall anyone trying to get that series moved to Wichita. Texas and Texas A&M play a big series every year and that's a home-and-home, so what's the big deal about keeping this game in Dallas?

I'll tell you why -- because fans and students love to go to Dallas for the OU-Texas weekend (and it is OU-Texas, no matter how much the T-sippers want it to be otherwise). When I was at OU, the Monday after the Texas game was a university holiday, which meant that everyone had to skip school on the previous Friday to drive to Dallas. The holiday was eventually moved to that Friday -- but after the 2000 game, President Boren was so thrilled with the OU victory that he gave students the following Monday off anyway. (Dozens of faculty members protested loudly because the extra day off wreaked havoc with their exam schedules.) It's a great mini-break from school, and the UT students probably feel the same way. Not that we've ever asked, because no one can understand their Longhorn mooing.

There's no other college football game like this one, from the neutral field to the evenly divided stadium (north half to UT, south half to OU, which means OU gets the seats around the tunnel every year so fans can scream at the Texas players) to the timing of the game during the State Fair of Texas. Dallas officials could easily have proposed to renovate the Cotton Bowl for the Dallas Cowboys and for the OU-Texas series. Instead, like most politicians of late, they procrastinated with short-term contracts with the schools and waited until the very last minute before deciding that the economic impact of the game on north Texas is too great to lose.

So, two weeks before the 100th OU-Texas game, it finally dawns on the Dallas mayor, Laura Miller (who didn't attend either school, which is bad enough for someone in charge of keeping this game at the State Fair) that she'd better do something to placate the universities into signing a contract with the city. But it doesn't look good. Dallas lost their NFL and MLB teams without blinking an eye, and it's looking more and more like OU and UT fans will have to wave at the Cotton Bowl, far in the distance -- on their way past downtown Dallas en route to Austin and Norman.