Looking for some feedback......

[owenfieldreams]

The Cotton Bowl has just recently announced that upon completion of the new Dallas Cowboy stadium in Arlington, The Cotton Bowl Classic will move from Fair Park in Dallas to Arlington, in hopes of not only overcoming the bad weather that has plagued the event but with the anticipation that the bowl can work it's way into the BCS rotation.

Clearly, this leaves the original Cotton Bowl with only two significant games left; the Prairie View A&M vs another traditional AA school that escapes me at this time, & the OU vs Texas game. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to read the tea leaves & come to the conclusion that when the current contract on the OU/UT game expires (2010) one of two things will happen; either the game moves to the new Cowboy stadium or it goes home/home.

Since all of you here are part & parcel to one of if not the greatest rivalry in college football & it's history on a neutral site followed by a home/home schedule, I would be interested in your thoughts about how the game today compares with past games @ Legion Field?

Clearly, the condition of the current venue, in both instances, plays a role in this, although the fact that OU/UT takes place on the Texas State Fairgrounds during the fair does add quite a bit to the ambiance, putting aside the condition & location of Legion Field, have you been happy with the way the game has evolved ( regardles of the outcome) since it's become a home/home affair?

The smart money says that UT wants it to go home/home for two reasons; first, it automatically adds a big game to their home schedule & second, it gives them a better than 50/50 chance of winning every other year & prevents these runs where one school strings together a series of wins. Also, by going home/home, it keeps OU from an annual appearance in one of the state's two largest media markets, a real help with recruiting.

 

[Chukker Veteran]

Bama people bucked when the barner coach Dye insisted on moving the game to a home & home basis. We just didn't like barners dictating anything.

I've gotten to like the on campus series better than the neutral site.

 

[jthomas666]

The rivalry is intense as ever, but I just can't think of the game as the Iron Bowl, anymore. The Iron Bowl, in my mind, will always be at Legion Field.

 

[Probius]

Well y'all are running into the same problem we ran into. The Cotton Bowl is old and in bad shape just like Legion Field was. Legion Field was a great place to have the Iron Bowl but the stadium was in terrible disrepair and we just couldn't play there anymore. But if we had a nice stadium to be the neutral site for the Iron Bowl then I would have been all for that. The Iron Bowl in T-Town is great, but I just HATE having to go down to the barn every other year. There is also just something I really like about one game per year being at a neutral site. I just wish I could have been old enough to make it to or remember the old Iron Bowls where the stadium was split 50-50. I was at the '98 Iron Bowl, the last played at Legion Field, and that is a memory I will never forget. I miss Iron Bowls at Legion Field and if I was an OU or UT fan I would want the game to stay at a neutral site.

 

[GrayTide]

IMO the days of rivalries held at a neutral site are numbered. First, neutral site facilities for the most part are aged stadiums that are not well maintained. The schools that play in those rivalries have committed millions to their on campus facilities and quite frankly need to insure a large payday with as many home games as possible. While I had rather not set foot in Auburn, I do enjoy the rivalry when it is played in Tuscaloosa. I am sure the Aubs feel the same way. I would suspect that over the next few years you will see the UF vs UGA game moved to a home and home basis. Probably the only rivalry game held at a neutral site that makes sense now is the Army vs Navy game.

 

[GulfCoastTider]

As far as I'm concerned, the Iron Bowl rivalry is a rivalry between two football programs, and not so much the site. I know others have a different feeling about that. There were a lot of the same discussions when the Sugar Bowl was moved to the Superdome.

I think what's at stake weighs more than where the game is played. Alabama vs. Auburn will always be "The Iron Bowl," even if they played on a muddy field in Wetumpka.

 

[Bama 13-0]

Part of the problem with playing at Legion Field is that it really was not a neutral site. Bama played several games a year there, so it was a much more familiar environment for them. I guess UT doesn't play any other games at that stadium. Does it really feel like a neutral site to OU fans?

That being said, I liked the games where 1/2 the stadium was crimson and 1/2 blue-orange. To see the stadium split right down the middle was really cool. But, as was already stated, it is a special game no matter where it's played. I suspect the OU/ut game is same way.

 

[TiderB]

Like everything else in life, this will revolve around the almighty dollar. I'd be willing to bet a lot of money this series goes home/home after the contract expires. I hate to see that though. I really enjoy neutral site rivalries.

Owen, how do the OU fans and alumni feel about a home/home?

 

[CoastalBamaFan]

Like everything else in life, this will revolve around the almighty dollar. I'd be willing to bet a lot of money this series goes home/home after the contract expires. I hate to see that though. I really enjoy neutral site rivalries.

Owen, how do the OU fans and alumni feel about a home/home?

I think you are right about the $$$ dictating many things in college, however I also think that a college football game should be played on a college campus, without the campus there just isn't any atmosphere.

 

[TexasTideFan]

My $.02 is I want it to go back to being at Legion Field since we can't beat them in T-Town. :biggrin:

 

[CoastalBamaFan]

My $.02 is I want it to go back to being at Legion Field since we can't beat them in T-Town. :biggrin:

I was waiting on that one!

 

[Boo Radley]

Before the Iron Bowl moved to a home/home series, the ticket split was changed for the designated home team to have the majority of tickets at Legion field for a few years. Although neither team's fans seemed to have problems getting tickets, I miss the old days with the 50/50 split. To me, it hasn't been the Iron Bowl since then. Pat Dye was the HC and AD who spearheaded the changes, because he felt that Bama had an advantage at Legion field.

Money dictates college sports today, and not all of the changes have been good for the game or fans.

I can remember a time when both Bama and the Barn both opened the season with games at Legion Field on the same Saturday. One would play early afternoon and the other would kick off late afternoon.

 

[FitToBeTide]

Before the Iron Bowl moved to a home/home series, the ticket split was changed for the designated home team to have the majority of tickets at Legion field for a few years. Although neither team's fans seemed to have problems getting tickets, I miss the old days with the 50/50 split. To me, it hasn't been the Iron Bowl since then. Pat Dye was the HC and AD who spearheaded the changes, because he felt that Bama had an advantage at Legion field.

Money dictates college sports today, and not all of the changes have been good for the game or fans.

I can remember a time when both Bama and the Barn both opened the season with games at Legion Field on the same Saturday. One would play early afternoon and the other would kick off late afternoon.

I attended a few of those and it was like a Chinese laundry getting 4 teams' fans out and in before k/o. It was pretty bizarre.

:biga2:

 

[owenfieldreams]

The vast majority of OU fans do not want to see the series go home/home. The first choice would be to see the City of Dallas upgrade the stadium @ Fair Park & the game stay there. The second choice would be to go to Arlington.

Giving up on the old Cotton Bowl means giving up on the whole state fair experience on gameday, which is special. On the other hand, the new Cowboy stadium will have all the bells & whistles, including a retractable roof & I'm told it will seat around 90,000.

Honestly, I don't think UT fans want it moved to home/home either. The only positive from the fans standpoint about home/home is that it creates more tickets for the home team fans to see the game. The OU vs UT game has always been a 50/50 split in tickets. The stadium is split at the 50 yard line, with the north half the UT end & the south half, the OU end. In recent years, UT has asked that the seating be rotated every year so UT gets the south end when they are the home team. You see, the ramp, where both teams come down for the game is in the sough end & when the UT team comes down that ramp, it's not a pretty picture.

The 50/50 split means, at least in OU's case, thatabout 1/2 our season ticket holder base can't get tickets to the game in Dallas.

 

[mjstide]

I think you are right about the $$$ dictating many things in college, however I also think that a college football game should be played on a college campus, without the campus there just isn't any atmosphere.

I have been to both the texas-OU game and the Georgia-Florida game and there is plenty of atmosphere if not more because it is at a different site than normal. I think it makes the game stand out even more. I dont think the Georgia-Florida game will move since the Jacksonville Jaguars will be keeping the stadium up to date rather than letting it deteriorate as Legion Field has. I hope the same for the Texas-OU game, i enjoy the pre-game as much as going to the game.

 

[Stephen323]

it gives them a better than 50/50 chance of winning every other year & prevents these runs where one school strings together a series of wins.

Ummmm.....hmmmm. I must have missed a memo.

 

[owenfieldreams]

My point is that home field advantage is huge in college football, particularly in this day of 85 scholarships & parity so going from a neutral site to home & home, gives even the clearly inferior team in the rivalry, in any given year, a better chance of prevailing; hence, the less liklihood of one team or the other stringing together a series of 5,6,or7 straight wins.

The OU vs UT game has historically been a rivalry of streaks, on both sides but I dare say, if it had been a home/home forever, those streaks would have been less prevelant.

 

[CoastalBamaFan]

My point is that home field advantage is huge in college football, particularly in this day of 85 scholarships & parity so going from a neutral site to home & home, gives even the clearly inferior team in the rivalry, in any given year, a better chance of prevailing; hence, the less liklihood of one team or the other stringing together a series of 5,6,or7 straight wins.

The OU vs UT game has historically been a rivalry of streaks, on both sides but I dare say, if it had been a home/home forever, those streaks would have been less prevelant.

Good post, the home/home definitely evens out the playing field (although you wouldn't think that from the UA/au series). I think, if this ever came together, you would enjoy traveling to austin, here's betting there is more to do in Austin than there is in awbarn. Cow tipping anyone???

 

[Pachydermatous]

The vast majority of OU fans do not want to see the series go home/home. The first choice would be to see the City of Dallas upgrade the stadium @ Fair Park & the game stay there. The second choice would be to go to Arlington.

Giving up on the old Cotton Bowl means giving up on the whole state fair experience on gameday, which is special. On the other hand, the new Cowboy stadium will have all the bells & whistles, including a retractable roof & I'm told it will seat around 90,000....

I know the feeling. In its heyday Legion Field was as exciting as it gets. Approaching main gate on Bama game day was like pushing through a wall of beggars in old Calcutta. Everybody was trying to buy my tickets. At one game I saw a fellow on crutches with his right leg in a cast. He was screeching: "Help
a poor cripple! I need two tickets!"

 

[bamanut_aj]

it'll turn into simply the "OU-UT game" rather than "the Red River Shootout" if it goes home and home. The Iron Bowl had significance because it was played in B'ham. "Iron Bowl" just doesn't doesn't seem to fit for some, and for some others, it does.