The Cotten Bowl. It has to be the biggest POS stadium in the world. But I love it…

There was a time when there was talk about tearing the Cotten Bowl down and building Cowboys Stadium in its place. For those who don’t know Dallas, Fair Park is the site of the state fair of Texas. It is located a short distance from downtown Dallas. There were those who thought the new stadium would re-vitalize the downtown by bringing tourist dollars into the area. But, due to politics, Cowboys Stadium was built in Arlington, leaving the Cotten Bowl standing at Fair Park.

I was one who wanted the new stadium built in Dallas. It pains me to drive to Arlington to watch Dallas play football. But after attending the Texas Tech v Baylor game last weekend in the Cotten Bowl, I have to admit, I still have a warm spot in my heart for the old stadium. I remember going to my first Cowboy game back in 1965 and sitting in the endzone. Then, after the game, asking the players for autographs when they walked to their cars. I remember going to the Cotton Bowl game and watching by beloved Texas Tech Red Raiders get their butts handed to them by USC on January 1, 1995 in what would be the final Cotten Bowl hosted by the champions of the Southwest Conference. (It was Tech’s only time to play in the Cotton Bowl.)

The seating is still terrible. (I couldn’t see the south end zone because of a pillar that obstructed by view.) The concession stands serve the worse food found anywhere at prices that can only be decribed as “f&%$ing ridiculous). And the restrooms are no where to be found.

A few years ago, the city of Dallas put a few million dollars into giving the Cotton Bowl a “facelift”. After seeing what they did to it, I told my friends on Saturday that maybe they should change it’s name to the “Joan Rivers Bowl”.

The new Cowboys Stadium is wonderful. The big screen leaves you in awe. The food is terrific….But I’m glad they didn’t tear the Cotton Bowl down. If they had, I would have never been able to sit with a group of friends and tell them about the time I snuck (or is it sneaked) into the Cotten Bowl and watched North Carolina State play SMU in a meaningless football game one Saturday afternoon back in 1968 at the Fair.

Ahh, the good old days….

Recently, my brother Mike and I were presented the Hometown Award from the Hico (Texas) Civic Club. The plague reads “To Jim Ferguson In recognition of your investment of time and talent to fulfill your dreams for the betterment of Hico ISD and Hico.”

I don’t know why I got my name on plaque. It’s my brother Mike who had the idea and does all the work. I just raise the money by harrassing my friends like Dave Linne at Conagra, Roger Goodell at the NFL, Ken Dice at Nike and Scott Helbing, formerly of ATT.

Yes, it was my big brother Mike who came to me with the idea of bringing the best six-man football teams in the state together for a day-long “extravaganza”. Then, he asked, “can you find us a sponsor?” In Mike Ferguson lingo that keans, “Find a sponsor!” Which I did. The first sponsor was Dr. Pepper, then ATT, then Nike and now Rotel/Velvetta. Funny thing is, I’ll be doggoned if the thing didn’t take off. Tomorrow, thousands of people will travel to Hico, Texas for the Hico Six-Man Super Saturday. Or as Texas Monthly magazine calls it, “the biggest day for the smallest schools in Texas.” Not only will there be five, count’em five games, of six-man football which can only be described as a bunch of red ants running around trying to tackling whichever ant has the piece of bologna sandwich, but also in attendance will be an Elvis impersonator, Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, former Cowboy great Walt Garrison, and on and on. A good time will be had by all.

Join us. Or log on our website at www.hicosupesix.com and listen to all the action from Tiger Stadium via the internet.

I love characters. They are truly a gift from God. This business used to be full if them, but like great ideas they were few and far between. My friend Tom Mooney is a true character. And I love him.

Last week, Joe Machak and I spent an afternoon together after the induction ceremony at the Smithsonian. It didn’t take long before we started talking about the great days at Leo Burnett and all the great characters that worked in the old Prudential Building. Without a doubt, the best character of all time was a wonderful art director named Bob Billings, who came to work in buck skin pants and a beaver hat and carved amazing ducks out of blocks of wood while sitting in his office. Once, while on a trip to LA, we went a couple days without hearing from Bob. We thought he was dead. So we finally had the hotel manager at the Belagio open the door. We expected the worst. What we found was Bob sitting in his underwear in the middle of a mountain wood shavings. He had been carving ducks for two days and “forgot what the hell time it was.”

Bob went two years without filling out a time sheet or expense report. He was called up to the seventh floor to explain his tardiness to the Rick Fizdale, the president of the LBC. Bob, from all reports, decided to take the offensive. “I’ve got more money buried underground than you will ever see in a lifetime,” he told Fizdale. “I’m thinking about buying this agency.” Fizdale quickly countered by asking his secretary to get the CFO on line line. Billings asked Fizdale what he was doing. “I’m going to sell you the company,” Fizdale said, “So if I were you, I’d grab a shovel and start digging.” Bob, for the first time, was at a loss for words!

Bob had a long white beard, that was full of tabacoo juice. He loved to tell everyone that he was an old “alcoholic” that had “blown his brain out with booze and drugs”. No kidding, Bob.

The first time I ever met Bob, Joe warned me, “whatever he says, divide by two or multiple by three”, if you want the real truth. I never put the formula to work, because I have been known not let the truth get in the way of a good story. Bob’s stories were amazing and I loved sitting in his office listening to outlandish bullshit.

This is a business that was built by great characters, but there aren’t that many left anymore. Why? Simple. Characters usually come with opinions and big personalities. And corporate America and holding companies, don’t like big personalities with opinions. If you don’t believe me, count the numbers of Bob Billings’ in your office. I am certain you won’t find any anymore.

Neither Joel nor I know what ever happened to Bob. The last thing I heard was that he had bought half of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.