The Texas Univ. Interscholastic League (UIL) yesterday announced the city of Houston and NRG Stadium will "host the football state championships in December," totaling 10 games over the Dec. 17-19 weekend. In Houston, Angel Verdejo Jr. notes it is the first time title games will be in the city in seven years and "just the second time championships at the highest classification will be here since the UIL went to pre-determined sites." AT&T Stadium in Arlington "has hosted all the 11-man finals since 2011." The games "won't return this year after miscommunication" between the Cowboys and the UIL "left the dates for the 2015 finals off the calendar." As a result, the Cowboys "landed a home game Dec. 19 when the NFL released its schedule in April" and were unsuccessful in "talks to move the game" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/21).
THE COLOR PURPLE: In Minneapolis, Rochelle Olson notes the Vikings' new stadium yesterday had a U.S. Bank sign "hoisted into place on the eastern zinc wall, a silvery logo set against a shiny black wall that will soften into a gray patina over time," and all the workers were provided with a "purple hard hat stamped with the Vikings horns -- similar to players’ helmets" -- to celebrate the occasion. Meanwhile, Mortenson Construction's general superintendent of the stadium project, Dave Mansell, said that the roof "will be in place by late fall so workers won’t be as exposed to cold and snow as they were last winter" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 7/21).
NIXON DOCTRINE: A ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH editorial states Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is peddling the "falsehood that a proposed new NFL football stadium along the north riverfront in St. Louis would come with 'no new tax burden.'" In fact, that "'new tax burden' would be extensive, and some of that money would undoubtedly come at the expense of funding public schools, already underfunded" by at least $400M, according to state law. By seeking $50M in tax credits to help finance an NFL stadium, Nixon has "backed himself into a corner." The editorial: "You see, he can be for schools. Or he can be for stadiums. But he can’t be for both." If Nixon "wants to get out of that corner, he needs to come clean" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 7/21).
