Sunday, August 16, 1998

Cowboys close door on training camp

By CHRIS NEWTON

Associated Press Writer

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (AP) -- After weeks of struggling to install new coach Chan Gailey's offense and dodging questions about a rumored fight involving Michael Irvin, the Dallas Cowboys have closed the door and turned out the lights on training camp 1998.

By the time the last autograph was signed and the practice field closed, fans knew they had gotten a true taste of what it would be like to have the Cowboys in town, complete with glitz, glamor, controversy.

Most folks said they couldn't get enough.

"It's been great. There really hasn't been anything like this in Wichita Falls ever," said fan Ann Neff, who owns a card shop in Wichita Falls.

She and her 12-year-old daughter Carlena said they had come to watch the Cowboys practice daily.

"..and I'll be back for more next year too," she said.

The camp has also been great for Neff's business. She says that dozens of people have come in and bought Cowboys paraphernalia over the last few weeks.

Her shop was one of many to see an increase in sales.

A preliminary estimate by an economics professor at Midwestern State University concluded that training camp may have pumped as much as $4.2 million into Wichita Falls.

John Martinez, director of MSU's Bureau of Business and Government Research, told the Wichita Falls Times Record that about half of the fans at training camp each day come from outside the city's trade area. And each visitor spends an average of $35, he said.

Even aside from the money the Cowboys brought to town, many folks said there had been nothing negative about having the Cowboys in Wichita Falls.

There were no reports of damage to the buildings at MSU, where the Cowboys held camp and stayed in dormitory rooms, and most school officials said the event had boosted the school's reputation.

The Cowboys did several thousand dollars worth of damage to dormitory rooms at St. Edward's University in Austin at last year's camp.

"The experience has been nothing but positive and we welcome the Cowboys back for another year," said University president Louis Rodriguez.

Fans even downplayed rumors that Irvin, who is on probation for drug charges, got in a fight with guard Everett McIver and stabbed him in the neck with scissors.

"The media will just never let that stuff die," said Ray Tiedman as several fans in the stands nodded in agreement. "If the people involved are willing to drop it, then everyone else should be willing to drop it too. We love the Cowboys."

Apparently, the feeling is mutual.

Gailey said Saturday the city had exceeded all expectations in providing camp grounds.

"We were able to accomplish everything we wanted to get done as far as the facilities and city are concerned," Gailey said. "There was never anything hindering what we were here to do and that's what you're looking for in a city."

Troy Aikman also gave Wichita Falls an "A+".

"We were able to concentrate and focus here so that means that the city did a good job," Aikman said as he walked off the practice field for the last time this year.

"I'm glad we're coming back."

Wichita Falls is located 125 miles northwest of Dallas, just a few miles south of the Oklahoma border.