Since the moment Texas Tech announced that it was dropping the name of Clifford Jones from its football stadium for the new corporate name of Galaxy Stadium, fans have been somewhat taken aback. Ok, let's be fully transparent: just about everyone hates the change. Now, the university is trying to keep the nickname "The Jones" alive but in a way that seems contrived and destined to fail.
Thursday, Tech announced that the student section at Galaxy Stadium will now be referred to as "The Jones", which is the nickname that most Red Raiders used for Jones Stadium for decades. Certainly, there has to be a better way to honor the legacy of Clifford Jones and his family.
The third president of Texas Tech and a man so beloved during his life (1885-1972) that he was known as "West Texas' No. 1 citizen", Jones was a local businessman who donated $100,000 to the construction of a football stadium for the Red Raiders, and in 1947 his name was given to the facility that opened in 1944. Therefore, it is understandable that most Red Raiders wanted the Jones name to still be part of the football stadium's name, as it was when it was known as Jones SBC Stadium and Jones AT&T Stadium for the past several decades.
So it's no wonder that slapping the nickname of "The Jones" on the student section feels far from enough. Instead, it is an idea that feels forced and short-sighted; an idea that seems unlikely to catch on.
No mattew how much the athletic department tries to push "The Jones" name on the student section, no one is going to forget that the new name of the stadium is awful. Sure, the $75 million that the university will receive from Galaxy Digital over the next 15 years will help soothe the disdain for the new name, especially given how critical money is in the current landscape of college football. However, no one understands why the stadium can't be Jones Galaxy Stadium to keep with tradition and to honor a man who meant so much to the university and the city of Lubbock.
Texas Tech must find a better and more permanent way to honor Jones
There has to be a more meaningful and lasting way to honor Clifford Jones and his family than taking his name off the stadium as a whole and simply assigning it to a small portion of the facility. That feels like a demotion rather than a meaningful way to keep his legacy intact.
If Jones' name can't be kept on the entire facility due to contract terms with Galaxy, then an area adjacent to the stadium should be renamed after him and reimagined so that his contributions are honored for generations to come. Though the area around the stadium is already developed, maybe Tech could take some of the grassy areas around the Frazier Alumni Pavilion and turn them into a park dedicated to Jones.
In that area, a statue of Clifford Jones should be erected, as well as signs providing information about why his name was synonymous with Texas Tech for nearly a century. That area where families and friends gather prior to each home game could become a significant part of the greater stadium footprint and could be enjoyed by fans for years to come, especially if it were to be expanded or enhanced.
That's just one possible way to honor Jones. Certainly, smarter and more creative people can come up with even better ones than that.
For now, though, the current plan is to simply shoehorn Jones' name onto a portion of the stadium that needs no name. Why do we have to try to give a name to the student section, especially in a way that isn't organic?
Sure, the Raider Riot section at basketball games has been a success, but that is a movement that was student-created and is largely student-led. It is hard to see "The Jones" catching fire with the student body at football games in the same way, mainly because this is a lame idea conceived by old people in charge, not the students themselves.
As time has passed, Clifford Jones has become less famous in West Texas, but his name always carried weight because it was the first word in the name of the most beloved structure in Lubbock. Now, because of corporate payouts and the financial necessities of the modern era of college athletics, he's been demoted to simply having his name represent an area of the stadium in a move that just feels forced.
Maybe it won't matter anyway. Most Red Raiders have said they will continue to refer to the entire stadium as "Jones Stadium" or "The Jones" as they have done their entire lives. But still, the university should do more to honor Clifford Jones and his loved ones in an official capacity than just slapping "The Jones" on the student section.
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