Irving Mayor Herbert Gears caused a vague stir this week when he expressed some hope that the Dallas Cowboys would not make the Super Bowl next season, when the game is played down the road in Arlington.
Of course, this wasn't influenced by a preference for the New Orleans Saints, or indeed anything personal against the 'Boys.
That would, in North Texas, equate to political Harakiri.
The thinking is that two teams from two different NFL cities means more hotel rooms filled, more traffic for the two major local airports, and more outside interest in local businesses. That is, the statement was born of purely economic concerns; Gears wants to be clear on this.
Gears said in response to the initial dust-up that he was a true Cowboys fan, which seems reasonable given that Gears directly benefited from the team's location in his city from his election in 2005 until the big move to Arlington last off-season.
"It's no knock on the Cowboys," Gears said. "I wanted them to win this year."
