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Dallas, TX The drive between downtown Dallas and Fort Worth can be made in 20-25 minutes (depending on traffic conditions). This area is commonly referred to as the Metroplex and encompasses an area covering more than seven counties with many small to medium sized cities. The metroplex is so large; using public transportation can be a real challenge. Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) provides bus and light rail service to many areas of Dallas county (see www.dart.org) while the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (the “T”) provides bus service within Tarrant County. Some points of interest in Dallas include the John F. Kennedy Memorial and 6th Floor Museum dealing with the tragic shooting death of our nations’ 35th President located downtown. On a lighter note, visit the Dallas Museum of Art, Natural History Museum, IMAX Theatre, Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, and the Smirnoff Music Center all located close to downtown Dallas. The Galleria combines downtown shopping with public ice skating while the American Airlines Center plays host to the Dallas Stars (hockey), Dallas Mavericks (basketball), and many concert events. Reunion Arena in downtown Dallas also gives indoor soccer fans an option featuring the Dallas Sidekicks. For some nightlife, try the entertainment district known as Deep Ellum. Once the home of jazz clubs in the 1930s, Deep Ellum now provides an eclectic mix of nightlife live music, dance clubs, restaurants, and tattoo parlors. More clubs, restaurants, and shopping can be found in the West End. And finally, Walnut Hill (I-35 & Northwest Highway), Lower Greenville, and McKinney Avenue offer various Dallas attractions. The Fort Worth Stockyards host the Southwestern Stock Show & Rodeo as well as the Cowtown Opry and other attractions. While in Fort Worth, you may also be interested in Kimbel Art Museum or the Amon Carter Museum. Camp Bowie and Sundance Square also offer various Fort Worth attractions. At the midpoint between Dallas and Fort Worth you’ll find Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor amusement parks in the city of Arlington. Just a bit east of Arlington you’ll find Ripley’s Wax Museum in the city of Grand Prairie. Just north of Dallas you’ll find a variety of restaurants and clubs on Beltline Street in the city of Addison. While most flights into the metroplex will take you to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, you may want to research flights into Dallas Love Field where Southwest Airlines offers an inexpensive alternative. Try www.guidelive.com for a comprehensive and current listing of just about everything happening within the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Dallas Burn The Dallas Burn are one of the Original Ten MLS clubs. Playing in the Cotton Bowl for 2004, they are currently building a soccer specific stadium in the North Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas. The player most associated with the Dallas Burn is 1999 MLS MVP, Jason Kreis. He pretty much leads the team in every category other than blocked shots and goalkeeper stats. The Burn were the first team to deny DC United in a Cup Final, taking the 1997 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup on penalties after 120 minutes of tense, scoreless play. The Burn has also won the Brimstone Cup twice. Brimstone Cup Dallas began its existence with passionate confrontations with Kansas City and Los Angeles -- City because they knocked Dallas out of the playoffs in Year One, and Los Angeles because of the competitive series the two teams have shared. While Dallas has had heated rivalries with Kansas City and Los Angeles, nothing gets a Burn fan more riled up than the Chicago Fire. Between the Fire ousting the Burn from the 1998 US Open Cup and Dallas ousting the Fire from the 1999 MLS Playoffs, this quickly became the ultimate rivalry in MLS, eventually resulting in the creation of The Brimstone Cup, awarded to the winner of the overall series between the teams in a calendar year. This series has seen courageous comebacks, physical play which has resulted in numerous hospital trips, and always a high degree of passion from players, coaches and fans. For more, go to www.brimstonecup.com. Cotton Bowl Capacity: 22,528 Dimensions: 71 yards x 116 yards Surface: Grass Colors: Red and Black Honor(s): 1997 US Open Cup Champion Directions to the Cotton Bowl: From the North on US 75 From the South on I-45 From the West on I-30 From the East on I-30 Cotton Bowl Seating Areas: • Private Suites - Catch all the great Burn action from your own private air-conditioned suite. These 8-person and 12-luxury boxes are a great way to entertain clients and party with friends. All suites come with free valet parking, a special VIP entrance into the stadium, semi-private bathrooms, TV monitors, fully-catered meal, drinks, and even a goodie bag for each person. Suites can be purchased by the game or by the season. Prices start at only $750 for an 8-person suite and $950 for a 12-person suite. • VIP Club - Enjoy the game from our exclusive Press Box VIP Club. All VIP ticket holders receive free valet parking, a special VIP entrance into the stadium, semi-private bathrooms, TV monitor to watch replays and even a fully catered meal. • Governor's Box - By purchasing season seats in this special seating area, you will receive free valet parking and waiter/waitress service. Also, each seat has twice the legroom of other seats in the bowl. • Reserved Bowl Seating - The Burn has two seating areas on our Reserved Side of the Cotton Bowl...Center Reserved and Side Reserved. The Burn offers the Full Season Seat Package, as well as a Striker Package, a Sweeper Package and a Keeper Package in both Center Reserved and Side Reserved. We are also introducing this season a Flexi-Pass for Side Reserved. The Reserved Flexi-Pass is a booklet of 16 vouchers, each redeemable for a ticket to any 2002 Dallas Burn regular season home game. The vouchers may be used in any denomination, so you can bring your family and friends, or just come to the game by yourself. The Reserved Flexi-Pass is perfect for individuals with busy schedules. Both the Center Reserved and the Side Reserved seating areas provide you with an outstanding view of all the action. The Reserved Seating areas are located on the shady west side of the stadium; also know as the Gate 2 side of the Cotton Bowl. This area is often called the Family Side of the stadium and is recommended for those bringing children to the game. • General Admission Seating - The Burn has one seating area on the General Admission Side of the Cotton Bowl...Center General Admission. The Burn offers a Flexi-Pass for this area. The General Admission Flexi-Pass is a booklet of 20 vouchers, each redeemable for a ticket to any 2002 Dallas Burn regular season home game. The vouchers may be used in any denomination, so you can bring your family and friends, or just come to the game by yourself. The GA Flexi-Pass is perfect for individuals with busy schedules. The Center General Admission Seating area is located on the east side of the stadium; also know as the Gate 7 side of the Cotton Bowl. This area is often called the Festive Side of the stadium and is know for its singing and dancing throughout the game. Tickets: Club Merchandise: Soccer History Although Dallas lies in the heart of Football Country, amateur soccer was becoming well established by the late 1940s, and Dallas has one of the largest state amateur soccer organizations in the country. Professional Soccer came to Dallas in 1967 with the Dallas Tornado of the United Soccer Association. When the USA and NPSL merged in 1968 to create the North American Soccer League, Dallas was one of the original franchises. Although the team never won a championship, it was a league stalwart, playing until 1981. In 1984, the Dallas Sidekicks debuted in the Major Indoor Soccer League, and this team continues playing to this day, having bounced through several leagues, winning the 1993 CISL league title, and titles in the Premier Soccer Alliance in 1998, and the World Indoor Soccer League in 2001. They currently play in the MISL II. Several Dallas based teams played in the Lone Star Soccer Alliance in the late 1980s, and several more short-lived teams played 3rd division soccer in the USL during the early 1990s. Fan Culture: The [L=www.the-inferno.net]Inferno[EL], the original Dallas Burn unofficial fan club, was started in 1996 and remains one of the most active and visible supporters groups at Burn events. There is a tailgate before every home game, beginning 1.5 to 2 hours before the start of the game. Then, during the game, The Inferno becomes a Wall of Red Noise, inspiring the entire crowd into stadium-wide chants. All are invited to join in with chants, songs, Samba style drums, confetti, flags and any other non-violent means of expression. The Inferno has always been and remains a multicultural group of fans supporting the Burn in every form legally possible (and some, maybe not so legal!! The Inferno wears RED. La Mara Loca began in 1998 and is comprised mostly of die-hard Burn fans originally from El Salvador. While La Mara Loca might be slightly smaller than The Inferno, they make up for it by being incredibly loud and passionate. They are also clad in red and covered in flags, oftentimes face-paint. La Mara Loca is usually the group responsible for starting the wave due to their unique position in the stadium, sitting behind one of the corner flags. La Mara Loca also tailgates early before games, usually in a similar vicinity to The Inferno. They are a fun and welcoming group. La Raza Latina is another loud, passionate fan group, often via drums. They have a huge red Burn flag, also often have flags and confetti flying. La Raza Latina meets at a local restaurant that sponsors the group on game day, and then busses to the stadium. They add to the atmosphere that helps ensure that the Burn always have a home-field advantage.
[L=www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram]Fort Worth Star Telegram[EL] On Air: English Language Radio - TBD On the Web: Dallas Sidekicks Reunion Arena Capacity: 16,864 Colors: Purple Honors: MISL Champions in 1987, Continental Indoor Soccer League Champions in 1993, Premier Soccer Alliance Champions in 1998, World Indoor Soccer League Champions in 2001 On the Web: Alan Balthrop’s complete (and I mean, COMPLETE) Sidekicks history page is: [L=www.kicksfan.com]http://www.kicksfan.com/[EL] DFW Tornados (PDL Soccer) The history of the Tornado, like most of the USL, is one of change. Originally the Dallas Toros, which played in the USISL Pro League, the team became the Texas Toros in 1998, but changed to the Texas Spurs and began playing in the USL’s Premier Development League (PDL) in 2000. Jim Mertz purchased the team in January 2004 and moved it to Pennington Field in Bedford, located in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area. [L=www.hebisd.edu/pages/schools/Penningtonfield.asp]Pennington Field[EL] features a new installed turf field. Pennington Field Capacity: 10,000 Colors: Blue, Silver Honors: none On the Web: College Soccer Youth Soccer The [L=www.chambersoccer.org]North Dallas Chamber of Commerce[EL] is home to the boy’s [L=www.classicleague.org]Classic League[EL], which is the premier boy’s soccer league in north Texas. The [L=www.girlsclassicleague.com]Lake Highlands Girls Classic League[EL] is the premier girl’s soccer league in north Texas. The [L=www.pysa.org]Plano Youth Soccer Association[EL] and the [L=www.arlingtonsoccer.org]Southwest Premier League[EL] are typically considered the next best youth leagues in the metroplex. There are numerous leagues in the area and information on most of them can be found at the North Texas Soccer website listed above. Various adult (amateur) soccer leagues also have links to the above site. Youth tournaments Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and most every national holiday means a major tournament will be held in the metroplex attracting clubs nationwide. Indoor Soccer [L=www.arenaathletics.com]Arena Athletics[EL] [L=www.blueskysportscenter.com]Blue Sky Sports Center[EL] [L=www.inwoodsoccercenter.com]Inwood Soccer Center[EL] [L=www.miscgoal.com]Mesquite Indoor Soccer Center[EL] Soccer Plaza [L=www.soccerspectrum.com]Soccer Spectrum[EL] Products of North Texas Soccer Around Town [L=www.dallasdinesout.com/restrant/c/celebration/celebration.htm]Celebration[EL] Norma’s Café Po Melvin’s Soccer Friendly Bars/Restaurants [L=www.londonerpub.com/addison.shtml]Londoner[EL] Ben’s Half Yard House <www.benshalfyard.com> Jay’s Café Fox and Hound English Pub & Grill [L=www.dallasdubliner.com]Dubliner[EL] [L=www.trinityhall.tv]Trinity Hall[EL] Various locations that cater to the Hispanic customer located around Northwest Highway & Walnut Hill and along Harry Hines Blvd. Hotels Other (Motorcycle Soccer Supporters): [L=flashpages.prodigy.net/klindstr/DirBURN/IMC.html]IMC[EL] - The Inferno Motorcycle Club [L=flashpages.prodigy.net/klindstr/DirBURN/28Cav.html]28th Cav[EL] - 28th Cavalry Regiment of Sam’s Army |