Go West, Young Man. And Be Sure to Close Your Eyes the First 20 Miles.

Yeah, but can she make up for miles and miles of ugly? So I’m driving to visit my cousin in a Fort Worth hospital yesterday morning when all the sudden it hits me: Hang your head in shame, Tom Landry. Hang your head. Because, don’t look now – no, really,...

By Richie Whitt

July 28, 2008

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Yeah, but can she make up for miles and miles of ugly?

So I’m driving to visit my cousin in a Fort Worth hospital yesterday morning when all the sudden it hits me:

Hang your head in shame, Tom Landry. Hang your head.

Because, don’t look now – no, really, don’t look – Interstate 30 headed west out of Dallas to Arlington (better known as Tom Landry Highway) is suddenly the country’s ugliest stretch of freeway. If you haven’t driven it in a while, here’s the Cliff’s Notes:

Billboard. Post office. Billboard. Scrap metal junk yard. Billboard. Billboard. Dead grass. Billboard. Cement pipe farm. Dead grass. Scraggly trees. Billboard. Billboard. Not even a hint of a manicured shrub or flower. Billboard. Ta-Da!

World’s biggest stadium.

I stopped for a gawk, snapped a pic and even heard Cowboys owner Jerry Jones say on his Special Edition TV show Saturday night that capacity for sporting events could be bumped to 125,000. It’s impressive, no doubt.

Good thing.

Because apparently our Super Bowl XLV committee’s plan is to overwhelm visitors in 2011 with the colossal coliseum and hope they never notice the 20-mile eyesore that resembles more the back of an old clock radio rather than a red carpet to America’s biggest sporting event.

Potential Super Bowl makeover notwithstanding, I-30 is no way to “honor” our hero. Shame. -- Richie Whitt

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