It's in Arlington, Dammit!

I have had a growing sense of anger in the past few weeks.  Actually it has been since January 23rd, when we all discovered who would be participating in the Super Bowl and it seems no one is trying to correct it.

And while I can understand the penchant for equating a team name with a town, it is about time the local media corrects the national media on something: the Super Bowl is in Arlington not Dallas.

I know this seems like a petty grievance, but we taxpayers here in Arlington have carried the burden of The Thunderdome and it would be somewhat appeasing if we could get the credit for where the biggest sporting event in America will be played.

It didn’t bother me at first when during the players’ elation at winning their conference championships they all proclaimed that they couldn’t wait to get to Dallas.  It felt good as the host city to be looked upon as the center of the sports universe for one full week.  Our culture and heritage would be on display (not to mention the Confederate Flag that ESPN panned to while showing the Stock Yards) for all to see.  Cavender’s and Justin would be raided for Cowboy hats, belt buckles and Wranglers.  Barbecue joints would have to deal with lines stretched out the door as people would look to get a taste of authentic Texas brisket and ribs. 

Don’t get me wrong, all this is good for the metroplex as we could desperately use the money.  But all I want is the city to be recognized because in approximately five days when the hoopla is over and we have to clean up after the tourists and social maggots (The Kardashians), I want people to remember they came to Arlington, Fort Worth and Irving.  They did not go to Dallas.

When vacationers decide to descend on North Texas in the future and want to know where the Steelers stayed for the week or want to know where Ben R. took his teammates to dinner and possibly contemplated pinning another unsuspecting young lady in the bathroom, I want them to know it was Fort Worth, not Dallas.

When people equally want to know about the Packers and their uneventful seven days, they need to be directed to Irving, not Dallas.  There is no one staying in Dallas save for the media.  There is no football in Dallas except for the Red River Rivalry that will surely be moving to Arlington in the next few years.

There is no team in Dallas—hasn’t been since the 60s and thanks to former mayor Laura Miller, won’t be any significant sporting events there for quite sometime.  And pretty soon the only thing worth going to Dallas for is to pay bills, watch the Mavericks inevitably flame out, go to the fair and get robbed.  Actually you can combine the last two just to save time, usually without your consent.

The local media could go along way in addressing this yet they seem to either not care or are too intimidated by the Fox-like bright lights that ESPN and the NFL bring.  But they’ve set idly by and let the national media and the athletes tell the rest of the country they were playing the big game in Dallas, or North Texas for the geographically deficient. 

It’s high time we Arlingtonites unite and correct this injustice being perpetrated by nincompoops.  It makes us look bad and hurts our tourism in the future.  It also gives Dallas more credit than it deserves.

Remember; when Dallas wins we all lose.