October 26, 1930: The Cotton Bowl Opens

October 26, 1930: Fair Park Stadium opens in Fair Park on the east side of Dallas. In 1937, with the establishment of the city's New Year's Day "bowl game," it was renamed the Cotton Bowl.

It seated 45,000 at its opening. It was home to Southern Methodist University football from 1932 to 1978, and SMU used it for home games again from 1995 to 1999. In 1948, a second deck was added to the west side, increasing capacity to 67,000. The east side was double-decked the following year, increasing capacity to 75,504. These decks were added to respond to the demand for fans to watch SMU's Heisman Trophy-winning halfback Doak Walker, leading the Cotton Bowl to be known as "the House That Doak Built."

1949-2007 configuration

It hosted the Cotton Bowl Classic from 1937 to 2009. Two short-lived teams called the Dallas Texans used it, the NFL team of 1952 that became the Baltimore Colts the next year, and the AFL team of 1960 to 1962 that became the Kansas City Chiefs. Those Texans won the 1962 AFL Championship there.

It was the 1st home of the Dallas Cowboys, from 1960 to 1971, when Texas Stadium opened. The North American Soccer League's Dallas Tornado used it in 1967 and 1968, and the Major League Soccer team formerly known as the Dallas Burn, now just "FC Dallas," used it from 1996 to 2005.

The era of stadium rock concerts is said to have begun with The Beatles in 1964, but Elvis Presley played before 27,000 fans at the Cotton Bowl on October 11, 1956. The stadium didn't host another until July 6, 1975, the 1st of 7 it would host with The Rolling Stones. Eric Clapton, The Eagles, Aerosmith, Heart, Journey, Van Halen, U2 and Coldplay have also played there.

Today, with both the Cowboys and the Cotton Bowl Classic playing at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, the Cotton Bowl is mainly the host of 2 games: The annual Red River Rivalry between the Universities of Texas and Oklahoma every 2nd Saturday in October, during the Texas State Fair; and the State Fair Classic, held a week earlier, between historically black schools Prairie View A&M of the Houston area and Grambling State University of Louisiana. The State Fair is held in the week between these 2 games.

The Cotton Bowl used AstroTurf from 1970 to 1993, before returning to natural grass so that it could host 6 games of the 1994 World Cup, including Brazil's Quarterfinal win over the Netherlands. I will never forget New Year's Day 1985, when, in response to the previous night's rain, the grounds crew used squeegees to get the rain off the field. Boston College, led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Doug Flutie, beat the University of of Houston.

A 2008 expansion fully connected the upper deck, and seating capacity is now 92,100. The 1st NHL Winter Classic held in the South was held there on January 1, 2020. The Dallas Stars beat the Nashville Predators, 4-2, in front of 85,630 fans.

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October 26, 1930 was a Sunday. Les Richter, a Hall of Fame linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams, was born on this day. And these NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants beat the Providence Steamroller, 25-0 at the Polo Grounds.

* The Staten Island Stapletons beat the Newark Tornadoes, 6-0 at City Stadium in Newark, New Jersey. It was renamed Newark City Schools Stadium, and became a home for high school football. The original opened in 1925, and the new one opened on the same site in 2011. But the Tornadoes, in only their 2nd season, folded at the end of the season. New Jersey wouldn't host another NFL game until the opening of Giants Stadium in 1976.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Frankford Yellow Jackets, 13-7 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cardinals beat the Portsmouth Spartans, 23-13 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* And the Green Bay Packers beat the Minneapolis Red Jackets, 19-0 at City Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

August 26, 2000: Clint Mathis Scores 5 Goals

August 26, 2000: The New York/New Jersey MetroStars beat the Dallas Burn, 6-4 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Clint Mathis of the MetroStars scored 5 goals, and he remains the only player to score 5 goals in a Major League Soccer game.

He opened the scoring in the 3rd minute, and scored again in the 26th. Dallas pulled a goal back in the next minute. Mathis got his hat trick in the 40th, before the Burn scored in stoppage time of the 1st half. In the 54th, the Burn tied the game, and they took the lead in the 64th, 4-3. Mathis took matters into his own hands -- or so to speak; it's soccer, where you can't use your hands -- by tying the game in the 68th. "Metro" were awarded a penalty in the 83rd, and Mathis converted it. They got one more in the 88th.

Born on November 25, 1976 -- a Thanksgiving Day -- in the Atlanta suburb of Conyers, Georgia, Mathis became a star forward at the University of South Carolina. He played in MLS from 1998 to 2010, helping Real Salt Lake win the 2009 MLS Cup. He also played a season in Germany for Hannover 96. He helped the 2002 U.S. national team win the CONCACAF Gold Cup and reach the World Cup Quarterfinal.

Both teams in this game have changed their names. In 2004, the Burn were rebranded as FC Dallas ("FC" for "Football Club," like in the rest of the world). In 2006, the MetroStars were bought by Austrian soft drink maker Red Bull, and were renamed Red Bull New York -- usually written in New York media sources as "the New York Red Bulls," and usually abbreviated "NYRB" rather than "RBNY."

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August 26, 2000 was a Saturday. These other MLS games were played that day:

* The New England Revolution beat the Columbus Crew, 2-1 at Foxboro Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. 

* D.C. United beat the Miami Fusion, 2-1 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Mutiny and the Chicago Fire played to a draw, 3-3 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. Like their Florida rivals, the Fusion, the Mutiny folded after the 2001 season.

* The Colorado Rapids and the KC Wizards played to a draw, 1-1 at Mile High Stadium in Denver. The Wizards became Sporting Kansas City.

* And in the league's best rivalry, the California Clásico, the L.A. Galaxy beat the San Jose Earthquakes, 3-0 at Spartan Stadium in San Jose.

It was the opening day of the college football season, and 4 games were played:

* Number 2 Florida State beat Brigham Young University (BYU), 29-3 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

* Number 8 Kansas State beat Iowa, 27-7 at KSU Stadium (now Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium) in Manhattan, Kansas.

* Louisiana Tech beat Mississippi Valley State, 63-10 at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, Louisiana.

* And Texas Tech beat New Mexico, 24-3 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 10-6 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum). Orlando "El Duque" Hernández was the winning pitcher, while A's starter Mark Mulder didn't get out of the 3rd inning. José Canseco, in his regrettable tenure with the Yankees, hit a home run against his former team. Luis Sojo and Clay Bellinger each got 3 hits. Derek Jeter went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The New York Mets lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1 at Shea Stadium. The Mets got a good 7 innings from Bobby Jones, and Armando Benítez pitched a scoreless 9th, so he didn't blow it, as he so often did for the Mets and other teams. Instead, it was Rick White who allowed 4 runs, on 3 doubles, a single and an intentional walk, in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Houston Astros, 5-4 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Barry Bonds went 0-for-4, with an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

* A doubleheader was split at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays won the opener, 4-1. The Baltimore Orioles won the nightcap, 2-0. Mike Mussina pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, Buddy Groom pitched a hitless 8th and became the winning pitcher, and Mike Trombley struck out the side in a perfect 9th.  In a rare event between 1982 and 2001, Cal Ripken Jr. did not play, in either game.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-3 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Mark McGwire did not play, but Will Clark hit 2 home runs for the Cards.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Florida Marlins, 3-2 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-4.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Sammy Sosa went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres, 6-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Brewers scored a run in the top of the 10th inning, but in the bottom of the 10th, James Mouton singled home 2 runs to win it. Tony Gwynn did not play.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Texas Rangers, 9-3 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Anaheim Angels, 9-5 at Edison International Field of Anaheim. The Indians are now the Cleveland Guardians, the Angels are now the Los Angeles Angels, and the ballpark is now Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox, 11-5 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat South London team Crystal Palace, 5-3 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.