Comerica Bank New Year's Parade celebrates the Cotton Bowl one more time

Jan 02, 2009 (The Dallas Morning News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- CMA | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Terry Olafson, 70, grew up watching the Cotton Bowl parade and football games on TV.

But on Thursday, Olafson sat only a few feet away from the action as the Comerica Bank New Year's Parade snaked slowly past him.

"It conjures up things that happened years and years ago," he said with 32-year-old son Jon Olafson by his side. "I remember it was in the morning, and it was always cold."

Jon Olafson, a Texas Tech University law school alum and Dallas resident, managed to find tickets to today's match-up between Texas Tech and the University of Mississippi, so his parents could fly in from Arizona to attend their first game in the Cotton Bowl.

The festivities are especially meaningful to the Olafsons because this is the last game that will be played at the famed stadium. Next year, the game moves to Arlington. Comerica Bank and Dallas city officials, however, have not decided if the parade will stay in Dallas or also move to Arlington.

The parade was revived for the 2007 Cotton Bowl. The parade once attracted tens of thousands of spectators, but it was canceled in 1992 after CBS decided to stop televising it.

Organizers have said the parade's attendance doubled last year. Thursday's temperatures in the 60s seemed to have encouraged hundreds, if not thousands of spectators to turn out for the event, which crawled along Ross Avenue to Houston Street before ending at American Airlines Center. Participants included 37 drill or dance teams, 12 high school marching bands and two military bands.

For J.P. and Sara Ramirez, who were attending their second Cotton Bowl parade, the possible end of an era generated mixed emotions. The couple lives in Irving, so having the parade in Arlington wouldn't be out of the way for them. But as J.P. Ramirez pointed out: "It makes a difference with the high-rises. Arlington doesn't have that."

The event's historical significance wasn't lost on some vendors, who walked around selling $10 commemorative T-shirts.

Others passed out free plastic beaded necklaces.

Vicky Hathorn drove eight hours from Louisville, Miss., to cheer on her team and take part in the activities.

"Hey, Ms. Betty," she shouted, as this year's parade marshal, Betty Sanford, the widow of game founder J. Curtis Sanford, rode by. "Oh, let me get a picture of this."

Ron Chandler, 55, also drove a long way -- from Lubbock -- to attend. He described the occasion as bittersweet.

"None of the [other bowl games] put on a show like the Cotton Bowl," he said. "It's kind of sad it's coming to an end."

Some visitors, however, were too young or incapable of knowing much about Cotton Bowl lore. Like the little girl in a long-sleeve, pink shirt who kept trying to touch a team of golden retriever rescue dogs that walked by. Or Tippy, a year-and-a-half old small black dog that barked and quivered when a cavalry of horses strode by.

After the parade, legions of Ole Miss and Texas Tech fans congregated near American Airlines Center to take part in their respective pep rallies.

Kay Nickels, 46, of Batesville, Miss., would typically be selling team souvenirs, but Thursday she was wearing them in support of the Rebels.

"We came to win the last showdown in Texas," she said. "We don't miss the games. There has to be a death in the family before we miss a game."

Mel Young, a cheerleader and junior at Ole Miss, greeted fans with high-fives and hugs. Having cheered for three years, Young, 21, said he had never performed for such a big game.

"I'm nervous and excited at the same time," he said. "I've heard Texas Tech is a really good team, but I think we have a good chance to win. ... We do really well when we have a lot of fans."

But don't tell that to Andrew Melton, a senior at Texas Tech. Melton would have preferred seeing his team in a BCS bowl game, but he isn't complaining too loudly.

"It's kind of cool to be part of the last Cotton Bowl game," he said. "The Cotton Bowl is still a big bowl game. We should take care of business."

Staff writer Misty Dean contributed to this story.

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