...and could care less about shopping by the park. I want easy access in and out and parking lots right up on top of the stadium so I don't have to walk very far. There is no way I'm ever going to be hanging out in Arlington after a game - it's just too far from home.

will just bitch and moan no matter what Hicks does. It's amazing to me the venom that he generates among the fans.

I for one, am very excited about the development of the land around Arlington. It was included in the original plans, and was one of the major reasons the taxpayers of Arlington agreed to pay for it. This is about 10 years too late if you ask me.

Also, alot of the traffic problems you saw the other day are not just because of GloryPark, but also because of the I-30 exit changes due to Jerry's World.

who complains about Hicks not spending money on the Rangers. Because this is the type of thinking that will make the club more finanicially stable. Hicks is a businessman, and he's trying to add to the entertainment value of the Ranger experience.

Think of it this way: if going to the game is an isolated event, you have to eat dinner near your home or at some cheesy Collins St Chili's. Not very exciting or different from every other day. Its 100 degrees out, so you are in a full sweat after the walk from the parking lot to the ballpark. The Rangers are bad that year, so they lose. After the game, there is nothing to do but just go home, maybe drive through a taco bell somewhere along the way, probably on a 30 mile drive home to wherever you live in Fort Worth or Dallas.

That sort of evening is fine if the rangers are winning, but in off years people won't put up with it without some added incentive. As such, the Rangers are very sensitive to losing seasons. Increasing the entertainment value of going to a game is especially important when most people have to dedicate an hour to get there and an hour to get back.

is a gloryhole.

As Dirk Diggler noted upstream, development of *any kind* around The Ballpark is about a decade too late.

My guess is that this has far more to do with Jerry and The Boys moving in next door than it does with Hicks' sudden realization that developing all that asphalt and concrete might be a good business venture.

Hicks know JJ and the Cowboys are going to steal the spotlight when they move into their new digs. Adding some mixed use development will certainly improve gamedays until we can start talking about the Rangers contending instead of simply the Rangers experience. Maybe it will also give Hicks and The Ballpark a little marketing Botox with the sexy new thing going up next door, too.

Does the Cowboys Stadium remind anyone else of the movie "Contact"?

P.S. We're definitely going to need some light rail once both the Rangers and the Cowboys are playing in September (and October!) in Arlington. Talk about a traffic nightmare...

that tom hicks didnt buy the rangers to make them good or to build a huge fanbase, he bought the rangers b/c of all the real estate that was included in the deal around the ballpark. hicks problem was he misgauged his political capital and arlington city officials sway in the area. He also misgauged the timline on gloryhole park. he figured it woulda be built by now. The problem was, he didnt have the mojo to kick all the people out of their homes 10 years ago, the interest level of businesses to relocate to an area around the ballpark 10 years ago and its ruined his real estate value for a decade on the property he owned. its why he sold the land across from Joe's crab shack to that industrial park. he thought it was never gonna happen. Only after Jerry and the city of arlington got together and kicked ass did he have the politcal capital to pull it off and it was never really his political capital that pulled it off, but make no mistake, Tom hicks has had this in his mind since he bid on the rangers and he sure as heck was never gonna let a couple fans get in the way of his real estate tycoon vision.

The saddest part is that the whole area and rangers (stars for that matter) are all literally collateral for his loan to buy Liverpool. The Liverpool thing has shown he isnt a rich as every1 makes him out to be and he needs this to be great and we as rangers fans need this to be great b/c we need him to get richer so he has less excuse to pinch pennies.

Every opening day I have ever been to has been crowded. I went last night and will go again tonight and it's not that bad. If you go enough you learn quickly which ways are best to go.

Plus, count me among those who are excited by Glory Park. I think it is going to be a great development and will make a trip to the ballgame even more fun than it is now.

use some baseball.

I don't come all the way down from Oklahoma City to go shopping at the Gap or eat at Chili's... much less fight with the traffic it'll cause. Give me baseball - don't give me Monkey Tom's Circus World.

put me in the excited it's happening crowd.

So I'll be more excited about the development after I move somewhere with a little more distance between me and the traffic craziness. I knew I'd be moving anyway, so it's not really a big deal. I think my biggest problem will be finding a new place besides the Ballpark Walmart to do my middle-of-the-night grocery shopping.

I'm not sure I'll ever understand why people get so upset about Hicks trying to make money. If he has the money to purchase an investment, it is his to do with as he pleases. If he wants put in a mall or raise ticket prices, that's his business. You certainly have the choice to not support him. Feel free to purchase the cheapest seat and sneak down, or skip going to the game altogether.

Still, I am sure Hicks understands that a winner will make more money than a loser. A winner causes regular season games to sell out, provides playoff game revenue and increases merchandise revenue. It would be pretty hard to argue that Hicks hasn't tried to put a winner on the field. Look at all the huge checks he's written in the last several years. Look at the personnel with successful track records he's brought in or tried to bring in. The line that he purposefully underbids in free agency to make it look like he's trying is so tired. For every FA you wish we would've gotten, there are several for which you should be glad he didn't over pay.

This team is a business, whether you like it or not. Up until recently you could make a great argument that Hicks sucks as a baseball guy - but it would be hard to argue that he's cheap. Now Hicks is following a long-term plan. When the time comes and we have a successful young core, he will spend to put it over the top. If he doesn't, then you can argue that he's a bad baseball guy and a bad businessman - and you'd be right. I doubt you'll get the chance, though.

Shots at Hicks get even dumber.

Somewhere I hear a baby crying...

is pretty poor, so i welcome the cowboys stadium and glory park.

i was worried about the traffic before the game, but it wasnt bad on opening day for me.

It's dumb that Hicks wants to increase revenue so that the team has more money to spend. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

so you have traffic jams at the ballpark, oh no! At least you get to go to the f@#king games.

People really should bitch less about Hicks, JD, and Wash.