Former Texas head coach Mack Brown went on a well-publicized - through his Twitter account - “football-related trip” to Dubai to explore future possibilities for the Longhorns’ athletics department. At Wednesday’s Big 12 spring meetings in Phoenix, ‘Horns AD Steve Patterson clarified his intentions to Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com, sort of, for sending the burnt orange contingent to the Middle East.
Patterson didn’t shoot down that the football team could play in Dubai, but said that wasn’t the only goal. “It’s also the country that paid Tiger Woods $2 million and skip the Phoenix Open each year,” he said. “What does that mean with what we might do with a golf team? Duke went over there and played basketball a few years ago.”
Basically, Patterson thinks UT sports could be the bridge that links American culture with the Middle East and China - where Shaka Smart and company will face Washington this November. “Forty-five years ago China and the U.S. were at war. What opened the door? Ping pong? The same people that are going what the heck are you doing in Dubai were the same people who said why are you playing ping pong in China?”
However, the more relevant quote came in a snipped about the possibility of Texas playing a game in Mexico City. The topic of playing a game south of the border has been on Patterson’s radar nearly since he took office, and Wednesday he admitted the Longhorns are “still having conversations” for a game there.
As a Texas graduate, I can tell you the idea of playing a game in Mexico City would be... divisive.@justinwells2424 @zach_barnett @kbohls is this a joke?
— Josh Petty (@TexasFight91) January 29, 2014
@justinwells2424 @InsideTexas @zach_barnett @kbohls You have to be kidding. Don’t pull a Jerry Jones. #justWin
— Sam Fowler II (@webmentorpro) January 29, 2014
There’s a joke here. RT @zach_barnett: Texas AD Steve Patterson told @kbohls he wants the Longhorns to play a football game in Mexico City.
— Luke McConnell (@lukemcconnell1) January 29, 2014
The issue isn’t so much Patterson’s ambition for spreading the burnt orange brand - although it does seem silly for a 6-7 team to push itself globally - as it is the simple fact of a program that already plays its biggest game at a neutral site and no longer plays Texas A&M giving away a precious home game opposite a marquee opponent.