Counting Down

I’m claiming this idea now so that if you see it while you’re watching the Super Bowl in two years, remember this! You read it here first!

I attended the Irving Chamber’s quarterly luncheon today and the keynote speaker was Mr. Bill Lively, chairman of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Committee. He was well-spoken, used almost zero notes, and had some pretty exciting things to say about the 2011 Super Bowl in Arlington and its potential economic impact for that and surrounding cities.

Not least of that impact will come in the form of a youth center and after-school program to be built in a depressed neighborhood (not yet selected) and funded by Super Bowl sponsors. It will be called a Y.E.T. Center (I forget what contrived collection of words that stands for – no doubt something like Youth Education for Tomorrow). But I liked the idea.

Mr. Lively also said that the committee intends to conduct a year-long countdown beginning in March 1020 and going until February 6, 2011 – game day. There will be community-wide events all throughout the year in preparation for the big day.

To go with it all that, here’s my idea: we should mount a giant countdown clock on the side of Cowboys Stadium. I mean a HUGE one that can be seen from I-30 with huge numbers counting down the weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds to the super bowl. Point a webcam at it and blast it all over the place – websites, news channels, TXCN, ESPN – provide a feed to anyone who wants it. We should also put a smaller version on the outside of the YET center counting down to its official opening. Then, on game day, officials, parents, etc. cut the ribbon on the YET Center at the moment of kickoff (or if that steals too much NFL thunder, maybe at coin toss or some milestone soon before kickoff). The idea is that while both clocks count down together, one is counting down to the big game but the other is counting down to something that will make a big difference in the lives of a lot of kids.

So there’s my idea. I wrote it on a suggestion card and also mentioned it to Mr. Lively after the meeting. If they use it, I’ll be expecting a BIG royalty check. Or at least an invitation to the YET Center.