Dallas Cowboys HD scoreboard hanging too low?
By Richard Lawler 
posted Aug 22nd 2009 9:50PM
posted Aug 22nd 2009 9:50PM
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:P
According to Jerry Jones, this provides an "entertainment value" that both teams have to deal with. I tend to agree... and I think it should be taken to the next level. Why not lay the screen right on the field? Now that would be entertainment value.
So they are not going to move the screen because they don't think it will get hit again? And yet it got hit in the first game it was used? Management does realize that there are 16 games in the regular season... Which means it will most likely be hit again... and again.... annnnd again.
Piss poor planning. 'nuf said
This wasn't "piss poor planning". The scoreboard exceeds minimum height requirements as laid out in the NFL rules. The backup punter that hit it will be sacking groceries next month. He hit it so he can tell his grandkids a good story.
In the normal course of a game, no punter is going to get anywhere near that scoreboard. Either it will be a long, low punt, or a short high punt aimed at the sidelines. If some nimrod like this guy aims for the scoreboard just for the hell of it, the people he will piss off the most will be his 10 teammates that just ran balls out for 50 yards while fighting off blockers the whole way. Imagine how pissed they'll be when they find out they have to jog back and do it all over again.
Whether or not someone hits the screen during the regular season, it's ridiculous that it's there. I watched a bit of the game last night and there were a bunch of shots from up around some of the upper rows of the stadium - it was just dominating the entire field of view. I would never go to a game in this stadium because it's almost impossible to even keep your eyes on the field with this massive dominating structure filled with moving images all the time time in front of you. If you've got a big-screen TV, imagine there's a tiny little football game going on right underneath it and then tell me you could actually concentrate on that while the TV was on.
@r.deonauth
You do realize there are only 8 home games for each team, right? They've been doing that for a while now.
@Jeff
Jerry Jones is counting on 80,000 people disagreeing with you.
Dallas only has to worry about hitting it on opening kickoffs. It's not like they'll be kicking off after field goals or touchdowns because, well... you know.
@jeff I agree with you as far as the screen takes your entire vision, I was actually at this game sitting in the club level section. So we were about half way up the stadium and I did find myself constantly looking toward the screen even though I had a good view of field. On the other hand, it is a beautiful sight to behold and the screen fits the size of this stadium, you can tell Jerry's bucks really went into it.
My friend works for the cowboys, and he tells me any NFL kicker can hit it if they aim for it. He says it will be interesting to see if other teams try to hit it on purpose or complain that it makes their kicker have to either hold back or change the way he kicks it in order to avoid it.
It may not even be an issue. The kicker looked like he was aiming for the screen by kicking the ball straight up..it appeared as if was not punting the way most punt in terms of trajectory... after the kick he looks to the sidelines with a grin as if he won a bet or something. He probably got $20 from his teamate for hitting it.
Jerry followed league standards...actually went above standards..the NFL should pay for this...we can land a man on the moon but the NFL can't determine how high is high enough
This issue applies more to punting than kickoffs I would think..maybe not..either way Patsy fan...I would be more worried about Brady's lame knee and somebody betting that a defensive lineman will try to bend it this year than how many points the cowboys will score...let me assure you there will be many
they did that on purpose
So how long before some one punts and breaks the screen. Reminds me if the issue with ge wiimotes breaking tvs.
This was stupid. It didn't even hit the screen! It just bounced of the railing.
I hope it does get broke.
She also mentioned Its hangin too low...
Grow up you two...
Basically Jerry Jones could care less........gotta love passive agressive people. Go Cowboys!!!!!!!!!!
Couldn't care less...
Could too!
This was getting old last week. If anyone hasn't learned their less yet, go back to school.
learned their lesson
Don't forget to correct him for his lack of punctuation two (kidding....too).
Basically(COMMA) Jerry Jones couldn't care less.....
Because we all know that you must have correct grammar and punctuation when you "post itz on the internetz".
WOOT WOOT, AJ Trapasso kicked that! Former Buckeyes represent!
In two weeks he will be doing what most ex Ohio State football players are doing. Asking customers if they would like fries with that.
Lol, yeah, Craig Krenzel does used car commercials for Buckeye auto. He's about the only high profile buckeye I know that didn't make it into the draft somewhere. Aside from Maurice Clarett, but we all know about him...
the news must be really slow today, the only "tech" thing about this is a tv being hit by a football....
hows that tech?
you must be new here.
or this is the first time you have ever read engadget on the weekend.
doo-do-doo-do-doo-do-doo-do-doo-do-doo-do-doo-do-doo-do-......
Twilight Zone, maybe.
It's the world's largest HD screen.......................
It's High-Tech. Just not high enough.
@jbcaro LOL!!!!!!!
@jbcaro ROFL - fantastic!
@jbcaro: possibly the best encomment yet
Man getting hit by football is much better http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV1LWhNpTJU
Ya, the punter had enough hight on the punt to constantly hit it but he aimed it away. Jones said it meets the NFL requirements and he wont move it higher. :/
Actually, some Pack fans have made kind of a thing of misspelling Brett's name on purpose since he left.
http://sconnie.com/view_item&id=137
Go Browns
as a lifelong Packers fan i laugh at your pathetic excuse for a football team.
Patriots for the Super Bowl!!! Welcome Back Brady!!!
As a life long Browns fan living outside of Cleveland I laugh at the pathetic excuse for a football team.
As a lifelong Lions fan, I laugh at....me
Go Wings
As a lifelong CFL fan, everyone laughs at me...
As a life long Canadian, no one knows I exist, and I pay way too much for my phone plan.
Woot GREEN BAY!!! Farve EpicFails!
@Jordan : You guys must not have AT&T up there. I pay $130 a month and drop calls like crazy!
As a lifelong Australian I really don't care in the slightest.
As a lifelong sensible person, I laugh at handegg fanatics.
http://www.saasta.fi/saasta/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/handegg.jpg
@Sublimewulf: woot! epic fail for the guy who acts like he is a Packers fan yet cant even spell the name of the QB that was there for over 15 years!
Favre.
Ah, I'm liking the return of the "Highest Rated" option. Keep it up fellas!
And the rules say the get a re-do? C'mon, that shoulda counted for at least 12 points right there. And another 18 if he could do it again....dumb refs.
I didn't watch the clip because I was watching the game last night & saw it then, but if the clip doesn't mention it, that punter hit the scoreboard 4 times in a row during pregame warmups and the Dallas punter came pretty close twice too. It really is a concern and I foresee this happening at least once each Cowboys home game.
So if you're implying that it is going to be a rare thing, I'd take that bet
Actually it was hit multiple times during warm-ups.
go titans
I guess the Cowboys want as much home field advantage they can get.
From what I see the football hit the logo that hangs below the scoreboard (something that can easily be removed)
Right, like Mitsubishi is going to let that happen *rolleyes*
Yeah, cause the cowboys never punt.
McBriar has one of the strongest legs in the league. If anyone would get an advantage out of this it would be the visiting team.
He was trying to hit it, they said even in practice the titan punters were attempting to hit it.
And according to NFL.com, the sign has to go up soon for a U2 concert and they may not move it down again.
It's impossible to get any distance from a punt that goes 90ft up.
Well, imagine you are punting from say the 50 and want to pin the other team deep. A high punt to get all set is what you want. It won't happen all the time, of course, but I doubt that this will be the last time it happens. It'll get moved.
@Wii60: if you're punting from the 50 you will not hit the screen... it's center in the middle... you'd have to punt straight up, and what's the point of a punt at that point.
I'd say he gets a good distance just fine. From the video it looks like the punter is standing about on his own 25 yard line. As far as I can tell, the ball hits at around the 35 yard line on the other side. So, that's 40 yard punt.
Doing a quick google search, it would appear the average NFL punter knocks them about 40-45 yards on average. So, this guy managed to kick a 40 yard punt, despite hitting the screen and having it reflect the ball downward.
Seems like a legit hit to me.
However, I will admit that the NFL record for longest punt is 90+ yards. Of course, I doubt this guy is that good, and besides, short of having it go in the end zone the farthest he'd want to punt it right there is under 70 yards so it doesn't bounce in.
The record includes roll.. but stilll 75yards in the air before it rolled to 98 yards
http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.aspx?release_id=1873
@Brazell: the scoreboard is 40+ yards long, and you dont need to hit it dead center
Sorry, but this is a major problem with this $1.2 Billion dollar stadium. The low ideo screen is going to interfere with the hang time of long punts... This changes the game.
Also, if it hits the screen, the kicking team gets a "do-over", but the clock keeps ticking... tell me that won't be useful to run out the clock.
no other stadium in the league has this problem, it must be fixed to be fair.
I'm sure they'll fix the game clock after the do-overs, but you raise a very interesting point. If it happens consecutively, it'll take up TV time, and more importantly, ad time.
Clock is reset if it hits the scoreboard.
Well let me go ahead and correct you.. this is "preseason" football.. it doesn't count... and every punter last night that had the chance aimed for it.. it's not quite as easy to do at game speed and there were a couple of missed chances. Also there were at least 2 punters from one team who hit the screen multiple times durning warm-ups.
Oh yeah and lets check the facts better... THE SCREEN WILL BE RAISED AFTER THE U2 CONCERT ON OCTOBER 12.
Why so serious?
I don't really know lol
This TV is ridiculous.
Don't you go to the game so that you can see the action live and not on the TV?
You don't know Jerry Jones very well eh?
Well that's just unfortunenate.
No one will complain anymore about mashing the tv with a wiimote after that.
During our tour of the stadium, someone in our group asked the guide about the possibility of a kicked ball hitting the screen. His response? "Well, if your kicker is sending the ball straight up into the air, you probably don't want him on your team anyway..."
http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/08/jerry-jones-the-scoreboard-isnt-budging.html
You can see the score from the moon.
we know texas has a TINY penis. stop overcompensating.
your comment makes absolutely no sense.
if the stadium was built in china or something then the joke would have made more scene
Ditto for your comment
At least the whole state isn't one, like Florida.
More like people who watch football have tiny brains
strange. made sense to me.
or maybe I just think it's funny.
/shrug
Why are the guys in the video dressed up like space troopers?
Looks like a bunch of Stigs running around.
The Stig doesn't need to run. Some say he can score a touchdown just by looking, all we know is he's called the Stig.
Just imagine what they could do with a giant Wii Remote.
Every time the football hits the screen a penalty should be called against the Cowboys. The fault for the screen being so low rests squarely with the Cowboys.
First thing I thought about, Adam "Nougatieri" Vinatieri.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPYDcFdHtDA
Famous last words that'll it will be ok. I bet they thought their training facility wouldn't collapse either right? Ohhh yeah get the lawyers out for when this thing comes crashing down.
After seeing Paul McCartney at the new Cowboy Stadium (the acoustics were horrible, and Jerry Jones refused to allow anyone in until Paul's sound check was done so we wouldn't hear him complaining), an incredible show, I was a bit impressed by the display, but you can't see the thing without craning your neck if you have decent seats. The field is so large anyhow that I wouldn't want to look at it either, unless of course I was higher up in the stands. Paul only turned it on during his finale, which coincidentally showed what appeared to be the ending animation sequence to Beatles Rock Band (it looked great, Blue Meanies, Yellow Submarine versions of the band, and dreamy images reminiscent of the Sgt. Pepper era). However, there are multiple Sony HDTVs all throughout the stadium, burgers were $13 each at the concert, and for some reason, none of the seats on the first level have cupholders. It's absurd. The seats are decent enough to sit in, but I much prefer my season tickets at the AAC to watch the Mavs. My friends who also went to the concert also told me of other shortcomings of Jerry's monstrosity. They are older and unable to walk long distances. Their seats were in one of the higher levels, and of course, there were no elevators for them up there, and they had to walk down multiple flights of stairs. The stadium is nice, and of course, the largest domed stadium in the world, but you'd think that when designing such a large building one would think to add handicap options and better seats. After all, season tickets are expensive, and the place seats up to 100,000 folks.
They should move the display up higher. As I think about it, it was very close to the ground floor. It's not surprising that this happened. Pity that Jerry is too stubborn to move it. I appreciate all the new technology that they've invested in, but the actual experience of being there is lacking essential stadium features and conveniences. Easier for me to watch ESPN in HD, which looks fantastic on my Vizio. Anyhow, I hope they improve the echoing and sound system problems for future concerts. I'd like to see U2 in October (no pun intended) or if Billy Joel and Elton John make their way down south. They should take cues from the AAC; Neil Diamond sounded fantastic there when I saw him in November.
Sounds like the same people that run American Airlines. Must be a Dallas thing, deny that anything is wrong. Stupid!
too much deflection on the truss.... sue the structural engineer!
@deonauth 16 games, but only 8 there. And even if they make the playoffs with home field advantage, that's only one more game. Lol@Cowboys playoff choking.
The JERRYTron will not be moved! Jerry Jones always gets his way. He once sold a training bra to Dolly Parton (ya, I stole that. whatcha gonna do?)
@Maccadude33
The stadium seats 80,000. The additional standing room only sections are, well, standing room only.
Jones will be pressed if this happens in regular season games.
I knew that was coming, I knew it! I was however waiting for the thing to crash down into the field once the ball hits it…
(ranks big-ass screen up)
(ranks yet another example of flawed Jerry Jones logic down)
@Bryan T
Go Sharks!
Okay, let's see if we can bring a little common sense back to the comments. Keep in mind, I do NOT know the answer to this question. What is the distance, from field level, to the LOWEST point on the screen? Where is that LOWEST point, with reference to the field (from ## yard line to ## yard line)?
Now, simple ballistics (no, I am not talking about shooting guns here) can demonstrate the type of arc needed to hit such point(s) as described in my first questions. If those arcs are within the capabilities of a punter with AVERAGE to ABOVE AVERAGE skills, then you have a problem.
Knock off the home-team b.s. and ask yourself, what is the goal of a punter? It is to afford the least opportunity for a long return to the receiving team. In some cases, that goal is achieved by punting the ball high enough that his teammates can have time to get down field and prevent the returner from advancing the ball after he catches it.
If the screen interferes with this, then there is a problem, and it MUST be corrected. Just wait until the Cowboys come up with a punter (and perhaps they already have) that is capable of hitting that screen, and does. I bet the problem is dealt with then.
Nuff said?