The Titans punter hit the new scoreboard last night on a punt. Seems to me that this might be an annoying problem all year, and one that someone should have considered when developing such a big time project. I don't think this will be the only time it happens. I thought of this when I saw pictures of the new stadium, but I just assumed that it looked lower than it was, and that surely someone thought of this ahead of time. It will be funny if they have to renovate the stadium to fix it or if people keep hitting it all year long.
From ESPN: Perhaps the most notable stadium nugget Friday night was that Tennessee's rookie punter A.J. Trapasso kicked the ball into the bottom of the massive video boards, forcing a do-over. He almost hit it on that kick, too. The screen -- which is 60 yards wide and 25 yards high -- was an inviting target for Trapasso and starter Craig Hentrich during pregame warmups. Both hit it multiple times.
http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2009/aug/22/cowboys-stadium-scoreboard-may-be-too-low/ Cowboys Stadium scoreboard may be too low You spent over $1 billion -- you couldn't have made the scoreboard 10 feet higher off the ground? So, yeah, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Tennessee Titans 30-10 in their second preseason game Friday night, and Tony Romo played well, yada, yada, yada, it's the preseason and nobody really cares. What's really interesting is that, in the American football debut of Cowboys Stadium, Tennessee punter A.J. Trapasso hit the gigantic scoreboard hanging over the field during live play. Both Trapasso and Craig Hentrich, Tennessee's starting punter, hit the scoreboard consistently during pre-game warm-ups. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says he's not moving the dang thing, but Trapasso says Jones may have no choice, since he claims most of the punters in the league will hit the scoreboard on a regular basis.
you'd think some genius would have had a punter/kicker in there BEFORE they drew up the plans.... might be amusing to see jones wiggle with this one. jil
A do-over..can you imagine that now and for the next 40 years the freakin NFL will be having do-overs every week in Dallas. They said both punters hit it repeatedly in warmups.
Looks like this is the solution......in October. http://www.beloblog.com/wfaasports/2009/08/punt-hits-the-c.html It didn't happen until 7:52 in the third quarter, but it happened. Jerry's scoreboard was hit by a punt from A.J.Trapasso of the Tennessee Titans. Ooops!! So much for thinking it was high enough above the playing surface. Cowboys Vice President Stephen Jones said before the game that plans are in the works to have the scoreboard move up and down, which means they will eventually be able to move the scoreboard higher. But that won't happen until October. So what happens when the punter hits the scoreboard? They rekick! The scoreboard will be rasied when the U2 concert comes to town in October. U2 has such a huge stage for their show, that it will have to be raised 25 feet. The plan is to have the scoreboard be moveable, lowering as far down as 20 feet and as high as 125. That should end the problem of punts hitting the bottom of the scoreboard in the future.
I thought the stupid scoreboard was gaudy anyway. It just seems like a distraction to people there trying to watch the live action on the field.
Wade phillips said that the punter purposely hit it, proving that the scoreboard is not too low. Because most punters aim away from it....His logic, not mine.
That thing is ridiculous and unnecessary. It weighs some ridiculous amount too. It was probably built by the best engineers money can buy, but let's face it they forgot about punting in football. What if it breaks off and falls? Who goes to a game and watches it on TV? Might as well stay home.
It is gaudy. It's a fuckin cock-off is what it is. Jones wants to 1-up the Jets/Giants project and Steinbrenner and every other wrinkly rich guy who gets off on this shit. I'm, glad it's a problem now. He says it was built to league specs, but it's not just the height above the field that's a problem, it could also be the length and width of the thing. The better move up because it's completely ridiculous for this thing to be an obstruction to the game. If I was an opposing punter and hit it and had to re-punt, I'd just keep on trying to hit the thing to make the point that it's influencing the game.
Just put in a rule like they have for kickoffs. If the punter hits the scoreboard the opposing team gets the ball on the 40. See how much of a furor that will cause. Still better then do-overs.
It's not that big of a deal. They've already said it will be raised high enough by October. I'm sure the first few games of the year though there will be an uproar if a few punts bounce off it. After that it will be a non-issue.
It's as close as you can get to watching a life-sized version of the game happening simultaneously, directly above the actual game.
a solution had better come quick, otherwise this Billion dollar stadium will be the Tropicana field of the NFL.
My boss is a huge Cowboys fan and he said he knows some people who were at the game and the people in the upper deck can only see the scoreboard. They can't even really see the field. Not sure how true that is, but what's the point of going to a game if the only way to really watch it is to watch it on something that is essentially a huge tv.
Guess Jerry is so confident his team will never punt this season he won't spend a dime on moving the scoreboard. Absolutely amazing. Where can I sign on to develop a sports stadium? It seems as if there really aren't too many requirements. All of these new stadiums have blind spots, wind tunneling, problems, etc. Wonder what will be wrong with the Stadium in 2010. Besides the PSL's that is.
If that is true, it makes the blind spots in the new baseball parks seem like minor inconveniences in comparison, doesn't it?
