Bowl Time

Frisco takes over Miami Bowl with 2017 debut at Toyota Stadium

New bowl game is coming to Toyota Stadium.

Photo courtesy of Toyota Stadium

There's a new bowl game in town: The newly created Frisco Bowl has snatched away the game formerly known as the Miami Beach Bowl, and will be played from its new Frisco home beginning December 2017.

The Frisco Bowl is now owned and operated by ESPN Events, a division of ESPN, and is affiliated with the American Athletic Conference. Sorry Miami, but that's just how it had to be. Frisco is a force of nature. We can only stand by and watch.

For those who really like to pencil out their future well in advance, the game will air on ESPN on December 20, at 7 pm at Toyota Stadium in Frisco. Toyota Stadium is the home of FC Dallas of Major League Soccer and host to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Championship Game since 2010. It has a football capacity of 20,500.

ESPN VP Clint Overby says that they're happy to host this game "in one of the most vibrant football markets in the country." One would presume he means the Dallas area, but his quote seems to indicate that he too has been caught up in the Frisco frenzy.

"The infrastructure and facilities that exist in Frisco are outstanding and will be an excellent venue for the teams, players, administrators, and fans traveling into the marketplace," he says in a release.

Visit Frisco events director Josh Dill says that the city is excited to be a part of creating the Frisco Bowl, calling it "a great fit for our city because sports truly is a pillar of our community."

The Miami Beach Bowl was held at Marlins Park in Miami from 2014-16, with an American Athletic Conference team facing an opponent from Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, or the Sun Belt Conference. Memphis won the inaugural event in 2014, followed by Western Kentucky in 2015 and Tulsa in 2016.

Ticket information will be announced in the summer, but there is already a website, Facebook page, and twitter account, so they got that covered, whew, #priorities.

ESPN Events is a division of ESPN that owns and operates a portfolio of 31 collegiate sporting events worldwide. The roster includes three Labor Day weekend college football games; FCS opening-weekend game; 13 college bowl games, 11 college basketball events, and two college award shows. Much sports.

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

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