Even residents deride it and its murky water. But if Wichita Falls residents are worried about the Cowboys' behavior, or the team's possible departure after a single summer, they're not showing it in their hospitality. At the Midwestern school bookstore, fans bought the 700 available training camp commemorative T-shirts in less than a week. Another 800 have been ordered. J.C. Penney opened a Cowboys merchandise store in a vacant auto-repair garage near the campus and filled it with team logo items ranging from bait lures to helmet serving bowls to soap dispensers to shower curtains.
Business is brisk.
Part of the objective is, naturally, to make a buck. But much of the greeting seems sincere enough. Optimistic as Brown is that the Cowboys' visit will help his city's economy and image, he still fully expects Jones and company to pull out next year. His mix of hopefulness and self-deprecating realism seems common. Residents suggest visitors will be pleasantly surprised by what they see in Wichita Falls.