Punters change channel on Jones’ $40 million TV

Yahoo ^ | 8-24-09

[Dysart]

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had 75,000 paying guests and a few dozen freeloaders over to his new house the other night to watch football. Punters for the visiting Tennessee Titans immediately showed their gratitude by using his $40 million TV set for target practice.

“I hit it probably a dozen times in pregame,” veteran kicker Craig Hentrich(notes) said.

“I guess,” he added a moment later, “they should have tested things out before they put that thing in place.”

“That thing” is the 1.2-million pound, four-sided video board hanging from the rafters exactly 90 feet above the field in the new Cowboys Stadium, the centerpiece of Jones’ $1.15-billion shrine to himself.

The big screens along either sideline are 160 feet wide—stretching from one 20-yard line to the other—and 72 feet tall. Throw in the “smaller” screens above the end zones and you’d need almost 5,000 52-inch flat screens to cover the same surface.

[Emile]

Agree. Why the league would allow the board to be 90 feet high when everyone is aware that NFL punts routinely go 100-110 feet high, is beyond me. Just goes to show you that $1.2 billion can’t buy intelligence.

[Retired Greyhound]

I’m not sure I could concentrate on the game knowing there is a 1.2 million pound TV hanging over my head.

[Retired Greyhound]

Eagles fan I presume?

[Deaf Smith]

I got a Dollar that says any stadium construction contractor/worker will not walk under it.

[discostu]

You’d think it would be in the way of the TV cameras too. He probably wanted to make sure it was visible often.

[Dysart]

The more I think about it, and the fact that the league did authorize the design, JJ may be maneuvering for the NFL to either pay for the modification in full or share in the meeting the cost. (Somewhere north of 3 mil, btw.) So perhaps he’s not being quite a thick he seems.

[discostu]

But the article says the thing can be raised and will be for the U2 concert. That to me says it can’t cost much if anything, tell Jones to crank it up to 120 feet, and if it gets hit again 150.

[GLDNGUN]

The rule is do-over. Bring the ball and the clock back and do it again. Of course the problem with where that thing is is that it’s so likely to be hit on a high punt (like you get often at mid-field) we could see 3 or 4 plays in a row that get a do-over.

I can't believe this was allowed to happen by either the Cowboys or the NFL. You spend over 1 BILLION on a stadium and you have such an obvious major embarrassment as punts hitting a low-hanging monitor over the field? At 90 feet, not only could punts hit it, but it seems to me that kickoffs and even high-arching passes could hit the thing.

And the solution is a "do over"? When we were watching the Cowboys preseason game against the Titans the other night, my wife asked me what would happen if the ball hit the screen during the game, since it was mentioned that punters were hitting it in pre-game warmups. She said "will they have a 'do-over'"? I laughed and said "No, of course not", thinking to myself that "do-overs" only happen in back-yard pick-up games. Then it happened during the game and they had a "do-over". I said "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!".

If a punter crushes the ball on a kick to get his team out of trouble deep in their territory and it hits the screen, he gets penalized here, assuming he can't do it again, and even if does "BONK", there it goes again. Of course it's not really fair for it to be in play, either. Same applies to great kick-offs and deep throws. Plus, what if a ball comes very close to the screen and one team thinks it hit and the other team says it didn't and a fumble or TD return is at stake? Are we going to watch endless replays on whether the ball grazed the screen or not?

If I was the NFL commish, I would tell Jerry Jones he can't have another game there until this idiotic problem is fixed. He can play his home games in the Cotton Bowl or somewhere else - you know somewhere they don't have "do-overs".

[discostu]

That’s not necessarily the “solution” it’s the rule. If the ball during the course of play hits some part of the stadium that is not “field” do-over. Doesn’t happen often, I know there was a punter in the 70s that could ding a few roofs (he’s the guy that’s why hang time is now tracked), that’s probably when the rule got written, but it’s not an every weekend occurrence. At least not so far, it might be if they don’t move that stupid thing.

[Dysart]

True, but the cost to temporarily raise it for that event may be incidental as opposed to permanently fixing it, say, 20 feet higher, which is the figure they’re throwing around right now.

[kik5150]

You’re telling me that it weighs more than a FULLY LOADED Boeing 747-400?

I would not walk under it.

[discostu]

I figure if it can be temporarily raised it can be left there. Probably Jerry is just throwing around numbers for a rebuild that would make it so it can’t go that low, which isn’t needed. Because he wants it low, he wants it in the as many TV camera views as possible. Getting it out of the way of play goes against his ego. But I bet come Sept 13 it’ll be up at 120 feet or higher, and the football world will spin on.

[Manic_Episode]

"four-sided video board "

============================

I only see 2 sides in the pic.

[Dysart]

Here's a better view showing the other two smaller panels

[Eagle Eye]

“I hit it probably a dozen times in pregame,” veteran kicker Craig Hentrich(notes) said.

Each or combined?

Either way that is impressive!

[Manic_Episode]

There they are.

Thank you.

[Moonman62]

If I want to watch TV I’ll stay at home.

[Dysart]

I feel the same way. It’s too much. It’s funny though because I noticed on some of the camera shots late in the game that people way up yonder in the cheap seats were indeed watching the video board and I didn’t see their eyes go down to the field at all. What’s the point of fighting the traffic and paying the steep price of tickets to do what you’d normally do at home for squat? PT Barnum springs to mind, if those famous words are properly attributed to him— which is another thread...

[al_c]

My thoughts exactly. If I want to watch a live game, lose the Jerrytron. I’m not paying that much to watch a giant TV.

Jerry’s monument to his ego has flaws and he’s in for a battle if he thinks he’s going to leave it where it is. If he can raise it for U2, he can raise it for a game.

[kickonly88]

‘Geez, a billion dollars plus for a stadium nowadays? Amazing how expensive they are.’

And they’re still ugly!