Jeanie Luskey signed on to raise funds for a hospital, not compete with football playoffs.

All the planning in the world still doesn’t mean you can control the world.

Something I know from experience, and I’m sure others have learned this lesson, too.

Last year I served on the steering committee for a celebration marking my sorority’s centennial at the University of Oklahoma (Boomer Sooner, of course). It was a big darn deal. Most of the women had worked on dozens of similar committees, so these volunteers were pros in the field of gala-throwing. Invitations, underwriting, bands, centerpieces, seating charts and ice sculptures were not foreign turf to this crew.

We met for months, going over every detail for this two-day event. Account balances in the black, RSVPs duly noted, speakers lined up. The highlight was to be a black-tie ball on a Saturday night with a fabulous dinner, fun band and even husbands.

So for a bunch of type-A women, we had it under control…or so we fooled ourselves into thinking.

The football gods aligned the planets so that our beloved Sooners played a big game on national TV.  Kick-off? Exactly the same as the time printed on our oh-so-lovely invitations.

So now as the Dallas Cowboys make a rare Saturday night appearance on national TV in a play-off game with that Philadelphia team, I’m not worried about Jerry’s boys. My concerns are for the Jewel Charity Ball in Fort Worth. That party, an annual event for Cook Children’s Medical Center, has been on the books longer than Tony Romo’s been wearing ball caps backwards.

Jeanie Luskey, president of this year’s ball, probably is wondering what the heck happened to Monday night football.

Even though it’s really not at all my problem, I’m worried about some of the non-profits.

Several of them are holding major fundraisers at JerryWorld, I mean, Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Some are banking on the stadium to be a big enough draw that no speaker will be necessary, and that has me wringing my hands for them.

Without really trying very hard, I’ve visited JerryWorld, I mean, Cowboys Stadium three times already. I’ve seen the giant big screen in the sky, shelled out for the high-priced stadium food, test-driven the bathrooms. (The bathrooms, by the way, are just not up to snuff. You can have the biggest TV screen known to mankind, but did they really install those old-fashioned, push-here faucets? No high-tech hands-free type? What MAN decided this? I digress.)

Labor Day, a holiday that should be devoted to swimming one last time and eating too many burgers, marked the day in 2009 that eight high school football teams got the chance to play on Jerry’s new turf. For $15, the merely curious, the true-blue fans and the bored could have spent all day there, wandering from floor to floor while Trojans and Panthers tore up the gridiron. The City of Arlington had its day, too, this summer when those waiting to see what their tax dollars built could get a glimpse inside.

Then there’s the college football opportunities. My beloved Sooners already spent an unfortunate evening there, and Texas A&M will play the Arkansas Razorbacks Oct. 3. And let’s not forget the groupies who will be there to check out U2 Oct. 12.

So if non-profit organizations were counting on the curiosity factor pulling people into their fall fund-raising luncheons, that just worries me. I want the causes to do well, but if you forego a speaker because the new stadium is your magnet, I’m a little anxious about that outcome. But if you were just looking for a new place to try instead of the normal hotel ballroom, then maybe it’ll work out fine.

In the meantime, I’m thinking maybe some major new marketing is in order…or maybe give attendees the chance to use the Cowboy cheerleaders’ bathroom. Let’s see if they’ve got better sinks.