BLUE RIBBON PANEL

Some of the most recognizable names in the area’s sports media gather to select the greatest football moments in the history of our region

Hy Cotten

Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 11:26am

Brad Sham called together the first meeting of Super Bowl XLV’s Action Committee on Friday and began hammering out the Game Plan for what should be a highly anticipated, fan-involved function.

The Action Committee will bang heads long enough to come up with a list of 250 games, events and contributors who have impacted the history of football in the North Texas region. That list will be comprised by year’s end.

Then during 2010 the fans will vote and rank the Top 100.

“We have two main goals,” said Sham, the Voice of the Dallas Cowboys and Chair of the committee. “We want having the Super Bowl in North Texas to be fun for everyone in the area. And, we want this Super Bowl to be something that everyone in the area can feel they have some ownership in.

“Obviously, everyone cannot go to the game. But having the Super Bowl is more than four hours on a Sunday. Sports fans have opinions and love to argue about the best games, the best players, all that. This list gives every football fan the opportunity to have their voice heard.”

Among the committee’s early decisions was to limit the historic list to the four-county area (Collin, Dallas, Denton, Tarrant) that took part in the Super Bowl bid. The idea is to insult no one but to lay down specific parameters for sake of voting.

The committee agreed that the list will include pro, college and high school games staged in the four-county area or involving teams of the area in games played elsewhere (a previous Super Bowl, for example).

Also included would be major events (for example, the drafting or signing of a star) and contributors who did not play the game but impacted the sports history of North Texas.

The committee includes: Brad Bradley, admired photographer and recent inductee into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame; Charlie Fisk, communications director of the Cotton Bowl; TV and radio commentators Dave Crome, Mike Doocey, Dale Hansen, Norm Hitzges, Mario Montez, John Rhadigan, Mike Rhyner, Kristi Scales, Victor Villalba and Sham.

Print media includes Clarence Hill, Jim Reeves and Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Rick Gosselin, Kevin Sherrington and Jean-Jacques Taylor of The Dallas Morning News; Mickey Spagnola of DallasCowboys.com; and, legendary writers Frank Luksa and Carlton Stowers.

Sub-committee heads were also selected to oversee specific categories. Hill has high schools; Fisk, colleges and bowl games; Gosselin, pro football, including arena ball and the Dallas Texans (later, the Kansas City Chiefs) of old; Crome, contributors; Stowers, major events; and, Luksa, games.