You who live in the part of America that is not Fort Worth may be surprised to learn that Fort Worth is the "envy of the nation" because a university in this town won the Rose Bowl.
At Sunday's celebration Mayor Mike Moncrief thanked TCU "for making us the envy of the entire nation."
The "entire nation."
That is impressive.
I no longer subscribe to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Because it was no longer worth subscribing to. So, I do not know if the paper has reverted to using its "Green with Envy" type verbiage over and over again in its print version regarding some nonsensical thing that no one is envious of. Like some little known country music singer moving to town.
But.
I do look at the online Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and, though I missed it til Elsie Hotpepper pointed me to it, there it was, once more the goofy "envy of" conceit. This time in quote form on the front page, linked to an article titled "More than 6,000 TCU fans pay tribute to 'unbelievable' season for Horned Frogs" in which the Star-Telegram repeats the "envy of the nation" verbiage....
FORT WORTH -- As the community heralded its university and Rose Bowl champions as the "envy of the nation," one couldn't help but wonder whether guys named Baugh, O'Brien, Meyer and even Wacker weren't somewhere looking down and sporting smiles as big as Fort Worth.
More than 6,000 enthusiastic Texas Christian University fans filled Daniel-Meyer Coliseum on Sunday for a public celebration honoring coach Gary Patterson's football team and recognizing a 2010 season that was about as good as any in the 110-year history of the program.
I have no clue who guys name Baugh, O'Brien, Meyer and Wacker are.
But, I do know I read in west coast online newspapers, more than one Pac-10 football fan opine that a Fort Worth school named TCU, from one of the non-top type conferences, playing in and winning the fabled Rose Bowl is the final nail in the coffin of the widely disliked BCS system of choosing who plays in what football Bowls.
This somehow does not sound like envy to me. It seems more like disappointment that a fabled institution like the annual Rose Bowl has been greatly lessened. And is no longer even played on New Year's Day.
Now, what I am really curious about is all the years some team other than a Fort Worth football team won the Rose Bowl, was Fort Worth collectively envious of the town in which that winning team was located?
I do not recollect ever reading in the Seattle P-I, or hearing anyone opine that Seattle was the "envy of the nation" because the University of Washington won the Rose Bowl.
Do these locals who tout this type verbiage have even the slightest clue that it gets read by people outside of Fort Worth, you know, out in America, and that it makes Fort Worth seem really silly? And that it is sort of embarrassing to be saying this that or the other thing in a town like Fort Worth is the "envy of the nation."
This type bragging really needs to be retired permanently from this town. Until the day comes where something is actually worthy of such lofty verbiage.
