Jerry Jones lands Pacquiao-Clottey bout – Dallas Cowboys Stadium
By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
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Jerry Jones got his fight.
The owner of the Dallas Cowboys, who made a strong pitch to host the now-aborted Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight at Cowboys Stadium by offering a record $25 million site fee, landed the next best thing.
The new $1.2 billion state-of-the-art facility in Arlington, Texas, will host Pacquiao’s March 13 pay-per-view welterweight title defense against Joshua Clottey.
Jones and Top Rank’s Bob Arum and Todd duBoef, who toured the facility and were Jones’ guests at Saturday night’s Cowboys playoff victory against the Philadelphia Eagles, closed the deal for the bout on Sunday afternoon.
“Bob was persistent in keeping this alive as a place for Manny’s fight,” Jones told ESPN.com, while celebrating the deal with Arum and duBoef. “I’m so glad Bob came back to us. We are so excited about this event and that we will be able to bring a big fight here for the Hispanic boxing fans, and all boxing fans in this area, who are also Dallas Cowboys fans. It’s important for us. Manny is such an exemplary athlete.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Jones could not contain his excitement.
“I never got into the NFL or bought the Cowboys for the money. I was lucky enough to already have some,” he said. “This is about having a fighter like Manny and an event like this in our venue. When we finished the deal, I was shaking as much as I was when we beat the Eagles. I’m just as excited.”
The timing of the formal news conference has not been determined because Pacquiao still needs to come to the United States from the Philippines and Clottey is headed to the U.S. from Ghana.
DuBoef said it probably won’t be until after the Cowboys’ Jan. 17 game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Jones said the stadium won’t be set for the full 100,000 seating capacity as was planned for a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout. Instead, they’ll start in the 40,000-seat range.
“But that’s one of the great things about the stadium — we can expand the seating capacity as it warrants,” Jones said.
Arum (a huge New York Giants fan, not a Cowboys fan) was already in full promotional form after the deal was agreed to.
“This is going to be one of the biggest events in the history of boxing,” Arum said. “This is the most incredible stadium setting I have ever seen. It is absolutely unbelievable. This is going to be much, much more than just a boxing match. A lot of things that happen are ordained by God. We weren’t going to go here for Pacquiao-Mayweather fight because [Golden Boy CEO Richard] Schaefer wouldn’t get on a plane and come down here and see the place. So that didn’t happen. And now that fight isn’t happening. And now we are here with Manny for another fight. When people see this event and how it will be presented, nothing in the past will ever compare to it.”
Before the fight fell apart over a single issue — the protocol for drug testing — Arum was intrigued with the idea of bringing Pacquiao-Mayweather to Cowboys Stadium.
Arum, Schaefer and HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg were scheduled to be in Dallas on Dec. 9 to meet with Jones and tour the facility. But the night before, Schaefer called off the trip, a move that in retrospect was the beginning of the fight going downhill.
Besides being the home field for the Cowboys and now the host for Pacquiao-Clottey, Cowboys Stadium hosts the annual AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic and will host the NBA All-Star Game next month, the 2011 Super Bowl and the 2014 NCAA men’s basketball Final Four.
One of the stadium’s most significant fan-friendly elements is the world’s largest (and most expensive at $40 million) HD video board, which is 72 feet high and 160 feet wide. Jones said every fan, regardless of where they are seated, would have a good view of the action because of it.
Dan Rafael covers boxing for ESPN.com.
Artie Lange Breaking News!
As many of you know one of my favorite comics out there is Artie Lange, his wild, foul mouthed, crazy humor is just crazy! I just finished listening to his latest stand up CD entitled, Jack and Coke. Very saddened by this latest blog entry I came across on The Post.
Troubled comic Artie Lange landed in the hospital after stabbing himself nine times in an apparent suicide attempt, sources told The Post. Lange’s frantic mom called 911 Saturday morning after she entered his Hoboken apartment and found the bloodied funnyman, a law-enforcement source said. Lange sustained six “hesitation wounds” and three deep plunges. A source close to Lange’s management team confirmed that the Howard Stern sidekick stabbed himself, adding that his mother had come to visit him that day to drop off food. Surgeons managed to save Lange despite heavy bleeding. “We all have our demons,” Stern said on-air this week, referring to Lange’s past battles with addiction. “Artie has given this show tremendous moments of great comedy. He’s a tremendous contributor. He is a good man. Don’t forget how great he is.”
The Power of One Podcast in 2010 by Marc Accetta
This year personal success coach and mentor , Marc Accetta will be hosting a Podcast show called, The Power of One. Marc came up with the concept for the show a few months ago when he came across a song of the same name, by Israel Houghton, at our local church led by Mike and Kathy Hayes, Covenant Church. “I have studied human nature and the science of success for over twenty years and realize that most of the greatest innovations we have ever enjoyed came from the imagination of one person”, states Marc. While it ultimately takes teamwork to make the dream truly work, most great teams are lead by a dynamic individual who has a vision.
Our show will highlight amazing leaders from virtually every walk of life that have changed the world in which they lived by their contributions. While the people featured will all have in common the fact that they are ultra high achievers, they will also amaze you with the fact that they have come from such diverse backgrounds. Then again, while their differences will be vast, the similarities that created their successes and greatness will be nearly identical.
The formula for success is really the same no matter what you are attempting to do. As the series unfolds, you will definitely find this to be true. The power of what one idea can do is amazing. The power of what one dream can do is amazing. The power of what one person can do is amazing. We cannot wait to get started bringing these amazing stories to all of you. Some of the people will be very famous and others will not, but they will all be inspiring.
Marc says, “Years ago I needed to be inspired, I still need it. Much of my inspiration, then and now, comes from true stories of average people who had a dream, and who had the guts to make those dreams come true. I will share the stories that have inspired me. I think it will surprise you that many of histories greatest heroes were at one time broke and unsure of themselves. Some of them were depressed and considered themselves failures. The point is that there are thousands of more stories out there and I would love to help inspire one or two of them.”
If you believe in your dreams and are brave enough to follow through on them, the possibilities are endless. Tune into our show and share it with all of your friends. 2010 is the beginning of a new decade; a decade that will bring many quantum leaps in our society. Someone will be responsible for those leaps. Join our show and either hear about them or become inspired to create one of them. In 2010 come to understand the true power of one!
Happy New Year from Monico Perez – 2010
As there are only a couple of hours left in this great year of 2009, I feel very blessed to have shared so many great memories with so many wonderful people. I have God to thank for so many blessings and insights that he has shown me along this past year. We should all remember that all of the troubles and mistakes that we might of experienced during our life should be not just shrugged off as being a bad year or have a unlucky year. So many people look at the year that they have just left behind and say, “Well 2009 just wasn’t my year!” Don’t be one of those individuals, learn from the mistakes and struggles you came across in this past year and make sure that you do not repeat them in 2010. My wish is for everyone to share a Happy and Safe New Year with your loved ones, with those people that share a special part in your heart and those that build you up and make you feel stronger, superior and just in a positive frame of mind. I’ll be sharing my New Year’s Festivities in the great city of Austin, TX home of the 2010 Rose Bowl Bound Texas Longhorns. I’ll be sharing this great night with my amazing girlfriend, Melinda Soto, some of my buddies from Austin, brother and cousin. I wish everyone the best out of 2010 and cannot wait to see what memories we create out there….What are some goals you are looking at tackling in 2010?
Here’s to a great year of music in 2009!
With 2009 rapidly approaching to an end, there has been there share of crappy music out there on the airwaves and in the clubs and there has also been alot of great songs that gave people hope, maybe not in the lyrics themselves but at least that there are still come good beats out there. I came across a very talented mashup artist, DJ Earworm (www.djearworm.com) that summed up 2009 to a tee with his mashup video titled, “United State of Pop 2009″. Here’s a look at his video…hope your song made the cut…if not…What was your favorite song of 2009?
Merry Christmas to all….from Monico Perez
Just giving you some insight on The Texas Tornados!
Texas Tornados was a Tejano band and its music was a fusion of rock, country and various Mexican styles. The initial combination of these musicians happened almost by chance at a concert performance of a mutual acquaintance. After Freddy Fender, Flaco Jiménez, Kevin West, Augie Meyers, Jorge “Pac-MAN” Diaz, and Doug Sahm performed in front of a San Francisco audience, they all knew the genuine bond they felt in their music could probably be taken to another level. After they initially performed as the Tex-Mex Revue, they took the title Texas Tornados, after Sahm’s song and album of that name.
Another account of the group’s birth says they formed when record company executives looking to cash in on regional music sales approached Sahm and Meyers around 1990, and they brought in longtime friends and collaborators Fender and Jiménez. Sahm had released albums under the name Texas Tornados as early as the 1970s, some featuring Fender or Meyers. Jiménez and Meyers played on Sahm’s Atlantic Records debut in 1971. As Fender once said “You’ve heard of New Kids on the Block?, we’re the Old Guys in the Street”.
Individually, this quartet has had major success. San Benito-native Freddy Fender was a cross-over success story around the world with hits like “Before the Next Teardrop Falls” and “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights“.
Flaco Jiménez has played with acts ranging from the Rolling Stones to Dwight Yoakam. He also is known as the “Father of Conjunto Music” (Flaco plays the Conjunto accordion).
Augie Meyers has shared the stage with the likes of The Allman Brothers Band and Bob Dylan. He’s also a member of the Texas Music Hall of Fame. Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers were both members of the 1960s pop-rock band the Sir Douglas Quintet, with hits such as “She’s About a Mover” and “Mendocino” to their credit. Sahm, Meyers and Jiménez are from the San Antonio area.
The band’s 1990 debut was recorded in both English and Spanish versions. The Texas Tornados were asked to perform all over the world at places like the Presidential Inauguration of Bill Clinton, the Montreaux Jazz Festival, as well as regular appearances at Farm Aid and the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show.
Among their other albums is Live From The Limo, this was the last album to be recorded that featured the complete lineup, as Sahm died in 1999, the year of its release. Fender, who had health problems in later years, died in 2006. Their 2005 Live from Austin album was a recording of a 1990 performance on the TV series Austin City Limits.
People sometimes refer to their lyrics as Spanglish because of the mixture of English and Spanish in the same song, in addition to pronouncing the Spanish lyrics in an American accent, which is evident in their hit, “(Hey Baby) Que Paso”. An example is the lyric: “Don’t you know I love you / and my corazón is real?“, where the word corazón (Spanish for “heart”) is improperly pronounced /ˌkɔrəˈsoʊn/, with an obvious American accent, instead of [koɾaˈson]. The band’s self-titled debut album was offered in Spanish and English-language versions.
Victoria’s Secret Show tonight!!!
25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert
I am currently watching the 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Concert and it is truly something that is just out of this world.
I had heard a couple of months ago on Howard Stern where they were going over the concert and all of the performers and just to think of the lineup that they were talking about, just made me wish that I was there in person being the music junkie that I am.
But now thanks to HBO they are rebroadcasting the concert and let me tell you WOW…is this an All-Star lineup…They have U2 on stage right now, which are just amazing in concert where I went to go see them earlier this year in Norman, OK…man did they put on a show, and their opening act The Black Eyed Peas were out of this world with an onstage presence that is extraordinary.
Currently, U2 just finished bringing up Bruce Springsteen to sing With or Without You. Then right after that they go straight into a song with Black Eyed Peas, U2 and Mick Jagger on vocals. I have never seen the Rolling Stones live but I can only imagine that their concerts are pretty cool to experience.
Later after U2, they are bringing up Bruce Springsteen and the legendary E Street Band playing all of their best tunes, which I can say I have seen in Philly earlier this year with my buddy Marc Accetta. To see Bruce Springsteen live in itself was an event that I had always wanted to experience but then to see him amongst East Coasters it was that much more of an experience. He has singing with him Crosby Stills, John Forgerty and many others…wow, I am so glad that I am seeing this concert and definitely recommend it for anyone out there that is a music fan. If you happened to be at this event please comment and let me know what was your favorite part of the show….
Pheasant Phun Hunting Trip in South Dakota for 2009
