sago1
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Below article came from the Ventura newspaper which located nearby Oxnard and is the paper that reports on happenings there, particularly Cowboy coverage. In moving below article around, I chopped off the heading which (obviously) reaches the issue/possibility the Cowboys could somehow return to Oxnard to play again at some point. Thought you enjoy; it's similar to an article in either the DMN or FWST so hope
By Rhiannon Potkey
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
http://gallery.venturacountystar.com/orderPhotos.cfm
Entering his 17th season in the National Football League, Brad Johnson is a veteran when it comes to analyzing training camp locations. The Dallas Cowboys backup quarterback has spent time in Mankato, Minn.; Tampa, Fla.; Orlando, Fla.; Frostburg, Md.; Ashburn, Va., and San Antonio, Texas.
But after spending the past 2 1/2 weeks training at the River Ridge fields in Oxnard, there's no question where the site ranks on his list. "As far as the entire facility, it's by far the best setup I've ever seen for training camp," Johnson said.
The assessment is one shared by many. From players and coaches to fans and the media, the Oxnard location has been made to sound like the Disneyland of NFL training camps. Great weather. Boisterous crowds. Easy access. Oxnard has it all.
But as the Cowboys break camp today, it's not certain whether they'll be back. There is no deal in place for the team to return. Asked last week about the possibility of coming back to Oxnard, however, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said, "Absolutely, absolutely it will be a consideration."
The Cowboys are in the midst of a five-year contract to train in San Antonio, but Jones said the ideal situation would be to split training camp between San Antonio and Oxnard in the same year. Jones called the details "fluid and ambiguous," but added, "it is not impractical to think we could do that."
Informed of Jones' comments, Oxnard city officials said it was the first they'd heard about the likelihood of the Cowboys returning. But Oxnard General Services Superintendent Michael Henderson said the city would gladly engage in discussions. "We would be tickled to death to have them back. How could you not be?" said Henderson, the city's point man in dealing with the Cowboys. "How many cities across the country can say they have a pro football team training camp in their city?"
The Cowboys first trained in Oxnard in 2001 and returned from 2004 to 2006. Their deal with San Antonio began last year, but the team had to vacate the Alamodome this summer because of a scheduling conflict with a Church of God convention.
Oxnard was able to prepare the River Ridge fields for the Cowboys to use despite the short notice. If the Cowboys return, however, the 25-acre plot next to the Residence Inn by Marriott will likely no longer be available. The land was purchased by Casden Properties LLC in 2006, and the Beverly Hills-based company plans to develop it once approvals are obtained and the slumping housing market improves, according to a company spokesman.
Weather is a plus
Henderson said Oxnard already has an alternate training location in mind. The old Oxnard High School, at West Fifth and South H streets, is being leveled, and most of its buildings will be demolished by the end of September, according to Henderson.
The city plans to use the 33 acres as park space, and having the Cowboys train there wouldn't present a big challenge. "In my mind, that's the easiest place to do it," Henderson said. "We would have plenty of room to arrange the construction of the fields and make parking work, and the team could stay at a nearby hotel and be bused in for practice."
There is little doubt the Cowboys players wouldn't mind returning to Oxnard. Although wide receiver Patrick Crayton said he loves San Antonio, he isn't as enamored of working indoors at the Alamodome. "We go in and it would be the crack of morning, you come out and it's night. It's like, damn, you never get to see the beautiful sky," Crayton said. "Out here, you get to enjoy this weather and its fresh air and you are on natural grass, which is great on your body."
Peter King, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, has covered the NFL for nearly 25 years and attends numerous training camps each summer. He visited the Cowboys in Oxnard on Aug. 1 and called it a "siren song of a place to work." "I told Jerry Jones Friday that it'd be a shame if the team goes to San Antonio next year, which it is contractually obligated to do, and just forgets about working here," King wrote in his postcard for SI.com. "The quality of work that gets done here is so good, in part because the players don't have to spend half their time *****ing about the heat and humidity. Half the time, there is neither."
Keeping the Cowboys in Oxnard even part time would be a windfall for the city. An economic impact report conducted in 2004 by California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks found the camp generated from $4.5 million to $5.3 million in gross revenue. And the marketing benefits the city receives are incalculable. An Oxnard dateline has appeared regularly in newspapers across the country and world, and the city name is mentioned on numerous television and radio stations.
This summer, Oxnard is being featured prominently on HBO, which is following the Cowboys for its reality sports documentary series "Hard Knocks." "It is incredibly important because it gets the city a huge amount of attention and a huge amount of publicity," said Tim Calkins, a clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
"In general, smaller cities don't hit the news very much, and when they do, it's often for some negative story about crime. To be in the news with a positive story associated with a big-name team is a huge benefit and helps build the brand of the city."
The pros and cons
From the Cowboys' perspective, there are pros and cons to training in either San Antonio or Oxnard.
Training in Texas cuts down on travel expenses and allows the team's main sponsors to visit more frequently. But training in Oxnard gives the team a chance to embrace its large Latino fan base in California and beat the heat outdoors.
If Jones decides to double dip, Mike Ritacco and Dave Panciera would likely attend the California training portion. The East Coast residents are college buddies of Cowboys secondary coach Dave Campo and visit him at camp every few years. When they boarded the plane to California last week, they wondered why the Cowboys were training in a place called Oxnard.
"Now we know why," Ritacco said after practice. "It's beautiful. The weather is great, the facility is great. Everything is perfect for them."
By Rhiannon Potkey
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
http://gallery.venturacountystar.com/orderPhotos.cfm
Entering his 17th season in the National Football League, Brad Johnson is a veteran when it comes to analyzing training camp locations.
But after spending the past 2 1/2 weeks training at the River Ridge fields in Oxnard, there's no question where the site ranks on his list. "As far as the entire facility, it's by far the best setup I've ever seen for training camp," Johnson said.
The assessment is one shared by many. From players and coaches to fans and the media, the Oxnard location has been made to sound like the Disneyland of NFL training camps. Great weather. Boisterous crowds. Easy access. Oxnard has it all.
But as the Cowboys break camp today, it's not certain whether they'll be back. There is no deal in place for the team to return. Asked last week about the possibility of coming back to Oxnard, however, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said, "Absolutely, absolutely it will be a consideration."
The Cowboys are in the midst of a five-year contract to train in San Antonio, but Jones said the ideal situation would be to split training camp between San Antonio and Oxnard in the same year. Jones called the details "fluid and ambiguous," but added, "it is not impractical to think we could do that."
Informed of Jones' comments, Oxnard city officials said it was the first they'd heard about the likelihood of the Cowboys returning. But Oxnard General Services Superintendent Michael Henderson said the city would gladly engage in discussions. "We would be tickled to death to have them back. How could you not be?" said Henderson, the city's point man in dealing with the Cowboys. "How many cities across the country can say they have a pro football team training camp in their city?"
The Cowboys first trained in Oxnard in 2001 and returned from 2004 to 2006. Their deal with San Antonio began last year, but the team had to vacate the Alamodome this summer because of a scheduling conflict with a Church of God convention.
Oxnard was able to prepare the River Ridge fields for the Cowboys to use despite the short notice. If the Cowboys return, however, the 25-acre plot next to the Residence Inn by Marriott will likely no longer be available. The land was purchased by Casden Properties LLC in 2006, and the Beverly Hills-based company plans to develop it once approvals are obtained and the slumping housing market improves, according to a company spokesman.
Weather is a plus
Henderson said Oxnard already has an alternate training location in mind. The old Oxnard High School, at West Fifth and South H streets, is being leveled, and most of its buildings will be demolished by the end of September, according to Henderson.
The city plans to use the 33 acres as park space, and having the Cowboys train there wouldn't present a big challenge. "In my mind, that's the easiest place to do it," Henderson said. "We would have plenty of room to arrange the construction of the fields and make parking work, and the team could stay at a nearby hotel and be bused in for practice."
There is little doubt the Cowboys players wouldn't mind returning to Oxnard. Although wide receiver Patrick Crayton said he loves San Antonio, he isn't as enamored of working indoors at the Alamodome. "We go in and it would be the crack of morning, you come out and it's night. It's like, damn, you never get to see the beautiful sky," Crayton said. "Out here, you get to enjoy this weather and its fresh air and you are on natural grass, which is great on your body."
Peter King, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, has covered the NFL for nearly 25 years and attends numerous training camps each summer. He visited the Cowboys in Oxnard on Aug. 1 and called it a "siren song of a place to work." "I told Jerry Jones Friday that it'd be a shame if the team goes to San Antonio next year, which it is contractually obligated to do, and just forgets about working here," King wrote in his postcard for SI.com. "The quality of work that gets done here is so good, in part because the players don't have to spend half their time *****ing about the heat and humidity. Half the time, there is neither."
Keeping the Cowboys in Oxnard even part time would be a windfall for the city. An economic impact report conducted in 2004 by California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks found the camp generated from $4.5 million to $5.3 million in gross revenue. And the marketing benefits the city receives are incalculable. An Oxnard dateline has appeared regularly in newspapers across the country and world, and the city name is mentioned on numerous television and radio stations.
This summer, Oxnard is being featured prominently on HBO, which is following the Cowboys for its reality sports documentary series "Hard Knocks." "It is incredibly important because it gets the city a huge amount of attention and a huge amount of publicity," said Tim Calkins, a clinical professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.
"In general, smaller cities don't hit the news very much, and when they do, it's often for some negative story about crime. To be in the news with a positive story associated with a big-name team is a huge benefit and helps build the brand of the city."
The pros and cons
From the Cowboys' perspective, there are pros and cons to training in either San Antonio or Oxnard.
Training in Texas cuts down on travel expenses and allows the team's main sponsors to visit more frequently. But training in Oxnard gives the team a chance to embrace its large Latino fan base in California and beat the heat outdoors.
If Jones decides to double dip, Mike Ritacco and Dave Panciera would likely attend the California training portion. The East Coast residents are college buddies of Cowboys secondary coach Dave Campo and visit him at camp every few years. When they boarded the plane to California last week, they wondered why the Cowboys were training in a place called Oxnard.
"Now we know why," Ritacco said after practice. "It's beautiful. The weather is great, the facility is great. Everything is perfect for them."
