The Texas Historian, Volume 59, Number 4, May 1999 Page: 4
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Texas Historian and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Texas State Historical Association.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
members who spoke to the press about
the Stars. They both claimed that the
city council was trying to be com-
pletely fair with Green and the Stars
by offering them the same opportuni-
ties the Dallas Mavericks have always
received. "Norman Green wanted a
five-year lease with two-five renew-
als."6 Councilman Chris Luna said
that the concern was that "in another
three or four years they would be
playing us off against another city."17
The Councilman also said, "We have
to make sure whatever revenue we
end up losing, we would make up
with the extra days and sales that
would come with another team resid-
ing at Reunion."'8
The location of the Stars' offices
and practice site were two of the de-
tails left to be decided at later meet-
ings. Norman Green said at one of
these meetings that the Stars would
pay ten thousand dollars to rent Re-
union Arena each game.19 Green had
also been seeking fifty percent of all
parking revenue; the city council of-
fered twenty-five percent.20 Council-
man Box decided that there was no
way for Dallas to lose with Green
spending four to six million dollars
on improvements at Reunion Arena.21
These improvements included the
construction of a press box, dash-
board purchases, additional locker
rooms, and the installation of luxury
seating.22 Box said, "We are basically
getting an NHL franchise for free, and
other communities have spent tens of
millions to get a pro sports fran-
chise."23
The Stars seem to be doing well in
Dallas, and the fans, at least while the
team is successful, have turned out for
the hockey games and filled Reunion
Arena quite nicely. The average is 15,
374 fans per game at the 16,814-seat
arena.24 The price of tickets increased
from twenty-one dollars in Minne-sota to twenty-seven dollars at Re-
union Arena.
The players were excited and scared
to move their team to a new city, but
must have decided that they like Dal-
las life. Before their move to Dallas
some of the Stars had a difficult time
staying focused on the game. Stars
player Jim Johnson said, "The bottom
line is we've got to play as a team.
We've got to worry about what we do
on the ice to win. . we're well-paid
athletes, and we're paid to perform
and win. That's what we've got to
do."26 Another player, Mark Tinordi,
said, "It's not disappointing [to move
to Dallas]. It's not heartbreaking. So it
should not be a distraction. It has
been a frustrating time since the All-
Star break [but it] doesn't matterwhat's
going on [off the ice]."27Tinordi says
that Green, "wants us to win as much
as anybody. And he said he would like
us to win. It was good to hear."2
In an interview on a Fort Worth
radio station on Monday, December
15,1997 between WBAP's Mark Davis
and the president of the Dallas Stars,
Jim Lites, the building of a new sta-
dium was discussed. The new build-
ing would cost $12.5 million, and its
cost would now be paid by the city of
Dallas.Jim Lites has been in Dallas for
almost four and a half years, and he
says that the new stadium "needs to
be downtown."29
The migration of the Minnesota
North Stars has positively affected the
Dallas-Fort Forth area and the Stars
immensely. The Dallas area has been
able to support the franchise for the
past few years. The movement of the
Minnesota North Stars to Dallas has
profited the franchise and created a
city with four national leagues play-
ing in its proximity. Green seems to
have heeded Gretzky's advice as his
team skates in an area in which the
puck has been going.ENDNOTES
'The Harper's Book of Quotations, ed.
Robert L. Fitzhenny (NY: Harper
Perennial, 1993), 426.
2 Rachel Shuster, "Some owners absent'
on golden rule days," USA Today, 24
November 1992; Steve Campbell,
"From savior to villain," Fort Worth
Star-Telegram, 8 March 1993.
3 <http://www.tc.umn.edu/nlhome/
g415/stif0002/northstars.html>;
<http://www.nhl.com/teams/teams/
index.html; http://pages.prodigy.net/
a79kgrm/northstars.html.>
Leigh Montville, "Spleen for Green,"
Sports Illustrated,19 April 1998, 36-43;
Richard O'Brien, "Star Trek," Sports
Illustrated, 22 March 1993, 12.
s Ibid.
6 Campbell, Fort Worth Star Telegram,
Austin Murphy, "Gone but not
forgotten," Sports Illustrated, 20
December 1993, 26-29.
Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ken Stephens, "Hockey owner sees
move," The Dallas Morning News, 4
March 1993.
1" Ivan Maisel, "North Stars Expect
Move, but Locale is a .. ." The Dallas
Morning News, 4 March 1993.
"1 David Leonhardt, "Are Pro Sports
Conning Our Cities?" Business Week, 3
March 1997.
12 David Boclair, "Stars' Move Will Be
Official Next Week," Fort Worth Star-
Telegram, 5 March 1993.
13 Leonhardt, Business Week.
14 Ibid.
15 Kevin Allen, "Minnesota Says
Goodbye," USA Today, 14 April 1993.
16 David Boclair, "Chance of Halting
Plan to Move Nil, North Stars," Fort
Worth Star-Telegram, 5 March 1993.
17 Ibid.
18 Ibid.
19 Martin Zimmerman, "Putting Dollars
on Ice," The Dallas Morning News, 6
March 1993.
2" Ibid.
21 Ibid.
22 Ken Stephens, "Green: No Issues
Likely to Derail North Stars Move,"
The Dallas Morning News, 9 March
1993.
23 Cathy Harasta, "Happily, Dallas is
Skating in on the NHL Goal," The
Dallas Morning News, 4 March 1993.
24 Houston Chronicle News Services,
Houston Chronicle, 5 March 1993.
2s Jenish D. Arcy, "A Bold Plan for
Renewal," Macleans, 13 April 1993, 10.
26 John Scher, "The Stars Shine Again,"
Sports Illustrated, 4 May 1992, 26-29.
27 Steve Campbell, "Green Tells North
Stars to Keep Their Noses to the Ice,"
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 March
1993.
2 Ibid.
2 WBAP AM 820, 24 February 1998.4 / TEXAS HISTORIAN
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Matching Search Results
View two pages within this issue that match your search.Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas State Historical Association. The Texas Historian, Volume 59, Number 4, May 1999, periodical, May 1999; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth391426/m1/6/?q=waco+tornado: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.