August 30, 2009
Cowboys low-hanging video board to stay put for 2009
Looks like Puntgate will linger on for at least another few months: The NFL has ruled that the Dallas Cowboys don't need to raise the video screens at their new stadium, regardless of the fact that punters have hit the boards during exhibition games. Instead, the league implemented emergency ground rules for the coming season only (permanent rules changes require a vote at the annual rules meeting) that essentially make any punts hitting the board a do-over, with replay used to check if balls hit the board in case officials miss it.
Last night's game was free of punt-board collisions, so the ground rules won't come into play for another week at least. Until then, the only problem with the video screens will be the one that former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson identified recently: "If there's anything wrong, it's that people are going to watch the video board and not the game." I haven't been there myself, but still I know what he means.
Is it possible that no one did any analysis to see if the scoreboard would be hit by punts?
Posted by Ed on August 30, 2009 11:23 AM
No research needed, just a little knowledge of NFL history. The Superdome originally had a gondola scoreboard/video board over the field. They put it at 100', but lowered it to 90' when some fans couldn't see it. Ray Guy hit it at 90', so they put it back to 100'.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1090851/2/index.htm
Posted by Mark on September 3, 2009 12:12 PM