An NFL first…I think
Why is their always drama in Dallas when it comes to the Cowboys. If it isn’t Romo with Jessica and the problems with T.O. in the past. Now the drama isn’t even with a person, its about a big video screen. Jerry Jones paid for a new 1 billion dollar stadium for the Cowboys. Just one problem the video screen/scoreboard the hangs in the center above is a bit low. The league standard is 85 feet above the field. The video screen/scoreboard hangs 90 feet above. So for the first time in NFL history as far as I know the league had to make a ruling about how to handle kicks and punts that are interfered with by the scoreboard being to low. Here is what they have come to.
The NFL will allow the video scoreboard to remain but the down will be replayed if ball hits scoreboard. Coaches can’t challenge it but the refs can if they think it’s close. I have never heard of anything like this but if anyone else has let me know. I am curious to know what it is. Isn’t it like Jerry Jones and the Cowboys to stir up some controversy and make things difficult. I will make this guarantee. They will be asked to raise the video screen at the end of the season because people will be so fed up with having to replay every punt or kickoff. I feel bad for any punter or kicker who has toe enter that stadium this year. It’s ridiculous. I hope this comes back to haunt them. It should be an interesting season for the Cowboys without T.O. and the new video scoreboard. I cannot wait to see what happens
Wait a minute. You're bitching about a scoreboard that is 5 feet HIGHER than the league minimum?
It's not like the league standard is that it has to be 90 feet off the floor and Jones installed a scoreboard at 85 feet just to thumb his nose at the league for his new $1-billion stadium.
Now, I'm not a Cowboys fan in the least. In fact, I can do without the entire NFC.
You didn't write about the allegations that this punter for the Titans was actually aiming for the scoreboard.
This punter was doing that in warmups: punting into the screen on purpose.
Also, like Jones said, the point of punting is to get distance; not height. The only time a team should be getting height on a ball is when it is trying to pin a team deep. In cases like this, the punter is kicking from between the 40-yard lines. But even then, the arc of the ball should clear the "low"-hanging scoreboard.
If you want to write about bad stadium design, aim your poison pen at the poorly designed baseball outfields where there is a question whether a ball is a home run or not. The stadium designers in these cases need to come up with definitive lines, barriers and outfield designs where a ball that is "gone" is truly GONE.
-Greg.