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eastsider

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Earlier this summer, the UT Longhorns baseball team won their 6th College World Series and Lance Armstrong won his 7th Tour de France. Some new things have been announced in the last couple of weeks.

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NASCAR Grand National West Division Series will hold the "Texas Thunder 200" at the Thunder Hill Raceway on October 1st. This will be the first NASCAR event to be held in Central Texas.

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/g...052&newsLang=en

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The Quadriplegic Rugby National Championships will be held in Austin in early April 2006. This is the sport that was featured in this summers movie "Muderball".

http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sp...murderball.html

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The new NBDL team's new name and logo were unveiled today, they will be called the Austin Toros. The team will play at the Austin Convention Center and their first home game will take place on November 26.

http://www.nba.com/dleague/austin/austinto...ease050810.html

austintoros_240.jpg

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The ABJ has an interesting article this week about the prospects of Austin landing a major league pro sports franchise. The minor league teams in the area seem to have done quite well. This is what was said in the article about the positve/negatives going for the Austin area:

Cynthia Darwin, executive director of the Greater Austin Sports Association, acknowledges that the prevailing attitude for years has been that Austin couldn't support a big-time sports franchise. Among the drawbacks, she says are:

A shortage of large Central Texas-based companies that could pony up big bucks for major-league sponsorships.

Venues that either are too small or are in poor locations.

A perceived lack of support for public financing of sports venues.

Nonetheless, Darwin rattles off promising signs for a major-league franchise, including explosive population growth, a young and highly sought-after demographic, and the financial and fan success of the Express.

The president of the Round Rock Express says he belives that Austin could be in a position to support a pro team in 5-10 years.

Austin Business Journal: Going pro

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Article about the Austin Ice Bats (minor league hockey) trying to gain some attention in the market dominated by the Longhorns. Attendence has dropped in the last ten years since the team started playing to between 3,500-4,000 fans per game.

Houston Chronicle: Minor league hockey breaks ice with Austin fans

Oh yeah, speaking of the Longhorns, they will be playing USC tomorrow night in the Rose Bowl for the College Football National Championship!!!! :w00t:

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A plan is in place for a major expansion to Royal-Memorial Stadium, home of the UT Longhorns football team.

The stadium proposal calls for replacing the existing north end zone structure. Besides increasing the seating capacity, currently 80,082, the project would add offices for the cheerleading program, production TV crew members, ticketing, patron services, the Longhorn Foundation, athletics officials and academic advising. Also, sprinklers would be added to interior portions of the stadium that lack such fire controls.

If approved, the seating capacity will rise to about 90,000 and should be completed by August 2008.

Austin American-Satesman: $149.9 million expansion of UT stadium planned

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Big night for sports in the Austin area last night.

The #7 Texas Longhorns beat #16 Kansas 80-55 in front of a sellout crowd of 16,755 at the Erwin Center in a national broadcast on ESPN.

Real Salt Lake beat Houston 1836 by a score of 2-1 in an MLS exhibition game in rainy condionions at the Round Rock ISD Athletic Complex. The game drew 2,600 fans.

The Austin Ice Bats had a 4-3 victory over Odessa in front of 6,244 fans in their last game at the Travis County Expo Center.

And the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League drew 2,305 fans to the Austin Convention Center in a 98-81 win over Tulsa.

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The Austin Wranglers of the Arena Football League are looking at the possiblility of new 14,000-seat arena, likely in one of the suburban cities. The Wranglers currently play at the Erwin Center where they have to compete for home dates with the UT Longhorns. The Wranglers will share in the cost to build a new venue.

Austin Business Journal: Wranglers study possibility of stadium in Central Texas

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Former NFL and MLB player Deion Sanders has joined the ownership group of the AFL's Austin Wranglers.

The Wranglers say Sanders will have an active role in all aspects of the team, from football operations to the front office. Sanders also is expected to play a leadership role in the Austin Wranglers Foundation, which strives to help the youth of Central Texas.

"I am excited to join the Wranglers organization and contribute to the growth of Arena Football in Central Texas," Sanders says. "The Wranglers are committed to furthering their position within the AFL through excellence on the field and in the community."

Austin Business Journal: Wranglers recruit Deion Sanders as co-owner

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