Preseason On The Road

Watching the Cowboys annihilate the Saints tonight in Shreveport, I was reminded of the days when pre-season games at neutral sites weren't that uncommon. In the past, a lot of preseason games were played in college stadiums, or in other places. Some cities have even used them in campaigns to attract an expansion team (example: Memphis). It's a good idea to have some of these games in places that would otherwise not even sniff a live NFL game.

Now, most NFL owners have the need to play these preseason games at home, so they can roll them into their season ticket packages and charge regular season prices for the opportunity to see some guys that will be working at Home Depot soon afterward.

Speaking of enterprising, I am reminded of when Jerry Jones took the Cowboys out to El Paso, and had them scrimmage in front of 40,000 fans against the Oilers (or was it the Raiders?). I think he took them to El Paso two years in a row, and also had them scrimmage in Shreveport against the Saints. It is great public relations for the team, and some extra money for the owner, but the players complained about the additional travel for a practice. The Cowboys are a big fish in the big pond of Dallas. In the smaller pond of El Paso, they are an even bigger fish.

Coming tomorrow: Projections for El Grande Doce (the Big XII).