When I first arrived on campus to start my freshman year at Notre Dame, I learned that the College Football Hall of Fame was located just a few miles away from my dorm in beautiful downtown South Bend, Indiana. And just 3 years later, during Junior Parents Weekend, when a large group of juniors rented the hall for a party, I learned what all the hoopla was about. Literally dozens of plaques and bronze figures decorated the place, commemorating the greats of the game’s past, and reminding me that I really didn’t know much about the game’s history at all because I recognized about 4 enshrinees. So then I did what I imagine most do: Tried kicking a field goal, then tried to do some play-by-play of an old, famous moment in the sport’s history, and then went back upstairs to drink. It was a good time. Sadly, future generations of Notre Dame students may not get to share in these memories.

A team of politicians, civic leaders and football legends including Roger Staubach and Deion Sanders wants to relocate the College Football Hall of Fame from South Bend, Ind., to downtown Dallas – and says it’s willing to pay for the entire move and reconstruction in the name of economic development.

“This is a great football city. Dallas would be a great place for it. We’re a much more accessible city,” Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said. “They’ve been very open to the ideas that we’re putting forward.”

Ah. Yes. All in the name of economic development. Because, I mean, just look at what the hall did for South Bend. Hey, financial guys, when you’re done with this, I’ve got a great idea for a steak joint with Michael Jordan’s name attached to it! Did wonders for Chicago years back.

I’d try to get more snarky and/or bitter about this proposal, seeing as how I should probably feel a bit uppity about South Bend, and thus Notre Dame by proxy, losing the CFHoF, but all I can really generate is “meh.” Maybe I see it as some sort of karmic slap at South Bend’s commerce in response to their pretty laissez faire attitude about their police force’s abuse of power to generate “ticket revenue.”

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