It was 20 years ago today that the Cowboys celebrated a Super Bowl with a tour of President Bill Clinton’s White House. Last night they again mingled with a President, but in a much different venue.
What in the world could lure the likes of Jason Garrett, Tony Romo, Jason Witten, Troy Aikman and Jerry Jones to the same cramped building on a Wednesday night in March? Nope, not church service. Try SMU basketball at Moody Coliseum.
All those Cowboys were in attendance last night as SMU jumped to an 18-5 lead over Louisville, only to eventually lose by 13.
While the players sat together in the packed, frenzied Moody Magic environment, former President George Dubya Bush took his courtside seat just a couple rows in front of Jones, who watched alongside a mysterious man with gray hair and thick black glasses.
Who was Jones’ wing man for the night? None other than Gerald J. Ford, the noted SMU alum and philanthropist who has his name on the Mustangs’ football stadium. In other words, that was about $2.5 billion of fan and the authors of the two biggest football stadiums in DFW sitting next to each other at a basketball game.
They don’t call it March Madness for nothing.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently writes a sports/guy stuff blog at DFWSportatorium.com and lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
