And so it starts...free food cut from Mizzou pressbox

Two words: Cotton Bowl

 

The New Year's Eve Ball alone was worth the effort.

 

Yes, that and the continuous buffet on game day, as well as the bottomless cooler of Dr. Peppers and RC Colas in the hospitality room all week. Greatest media hospitality in the game ...

I might have told this story on here before, but the team I covered played in the Cotton Bowl a few years back. Two days before the game, the school's men's basketball team played at Oklahoma. The Cotton Bowl not only provided a shuttle bus and driver to take us to and from Norman (about five hours round trip), but also supplied a cooler of sodas and a big box of chips and snacks for the trip.

God bless you, Charlie Fiss. You're a great American.

 

The New Year's Eve Ball will apparently be no more after this year. Game is moving to later in January starting in 2011:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/090109dnspocottonbowl.32d2c70.html

 

Last time I saw Charlie, he said they were mounting a major effort to get into the BCS the next time the contract comes up for renewal. This might be the first volley ...

 

Now that the game has moved to Jerryworld I don't see how it won't be a BCS game after 2014.

 

Last time I covered it it was still a major game. The late great Hoss Brock in charge still. First class in every way except the stadium.

SMU in it's cheating heyday was pretty good to the media. Texas' Thanksgiving Day dinner was awesome, and they were good the rest of the time, too. AnM was very good. Houston had a dance team so hot you weren't worried about food ...

Those days are over, and as mentioned on the NASCAR thread, I got no problem paying now. But hospitality ain't what it used to be.

 

In its day, the Southwest Conference schools and league office did hospitality better than any conference in the country. I'm sure there are some SWC Press Tour vets around here who can vouch for that.

The Cotton Bowl folks learned from the best.

 

I've heard some very intriguing stories about the "hospitality" at the Sun Bowl back in the day as well ...

 

What happened in El Paso, stayed in El Paso. Except for the shots necessary to clear the "hospitality" from your system. Those happened at home.

 

First they came for the pretzels, and I didn’t speak up, because they were kind of dry.

Then they came for the fruit cups, and I didn’t speak up, because I don't like cantaloupe.

Then they came for the desserts, and I didn’t speak up, because I was on a diet.

Then they came for the fried chicken, and by that time there was nothing left to eat

-- Anonymous sportswriter, circa 2008