Back in the old days, Keith Jackson always enjoyed coming to Dallas on the second Saturday in October and taking in the sights, the rides and the corn dogs at the State Fair of Texas with his wife, Turi Ann, and son, Christopher.
"We'd come down and ride the Ferris wheel, and Mama was worn out by the time it would be time to play ball," Jackson said Thursday. "I loved it and had fun. I've had many a corn dog at the fair."
Saturday, Jackson probably will have his corn dogs delivered to the Cotton Bowl press box as he returns to Dallas for the 100th renewal of the Texas-Oklahoma rivalry.
"I like to go to the 100th game in a series," he said. "This will be the fifth one I've done. The last was Michigan-Ohio State. It's sort of a watermark, really, in my career [as a broadcaster].
"I remember a lot of things about this series. One thing that this series does like none other, it requires you to leave everything on the field. They do the best they can, and if that's not enough, so be it.
"We'll be back next year. That's what makes it a great rivalry."
The games and the years run together, but one that certainly stands out was the 15-15 tie during the deluge of October 1984.
He also laughs heartily at the memory of Bob Griese's first visit to the fair.
"He had never seen a corn dog, much less tasted one," Jackson said. "It took him three quarters to eat one, and then he ate three."
Jackson, of course, is one of the sport's great traditionalists, and he's not happy with the notion that the game could move to campus sites after more than 70 years at the State Fair. He concedes, however, that the city of Dallas has only itself to blame.
"We talked about it in Pasadena [during the Rose Bowl between Texas and Michigan last January], and I had it in my mind that if there was any way to change things, I'd try to come down and stir the waters a little bit," he said.
"It's none of my business, but I love college football, and I think this is a great event.
"There are times I wonder if they would be having these problems if Field Scovell [the late chairman of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association's selection committee] was still with us. He could see things coming, and he could have helped this community."
Times have changed, though, and the Cotton Bowl stadium hasn't.
"If they started Monday, they wouldn't be able to get the Cotton Bowl in the kind of shape it should be in by the time the contract [with the Longhorns and Sooners] expires," Jackson said. "It's almost as if the city of Dallas doesn't care.
"I can't believe that if push comes to shove that they couldn't do something about it. They should have done it a long time ago."
Jackson will meet with the players and coaches today and take in a bit of the State Fair as ABC's crew compiles film and vignettes to drop into Saturday's broadcast.
"Maybe we'll try to find the little blue-eyed blonde girl whose baby pig won [a blue ribbon]," he said. "I always like coming to Dallas. I can sit up there and say 'hot damn,' and nobody laughs. They understand me."
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