***Cowboys practice bubble collapses from high winds...Vid/Pics Posts#55-56***

[WarC]

Around the thirty second mark of the Collapse video, the reporter called Jerry Jones "Head Coach Jerry Jones".....A freudian slip caused by the chaos of the moment.


Amazing no one was killed, I worked at a plastics manufacturer that made the covers for some of those hanging types of lights, those things are seriously heavy, and dropping down ontop of someone from that kind of height...Thats a fatality waiting to happen. Amazing no one was killed.

 

[CF74]

The clip I saw on Channel 4 (NBC) said there was 60mph winds around Valley Ranch but not a tornado. Only 1 serious injury (A Trainer) but no names.

Also Todd Archer was pinned/knocked down and injured along with some other reporters.

 

[CowboyWay]

Is there any doubt now that this is America's Team?

God will do anything to watch his boys play.

 

[bigE79]

WOW! We truly are blessed that there are no fatalities or very serious injuries from this... just mind blowing... this could have been MUCH worse!

so true...thank you god

 

[WarC]

It irritated me that after he got to safety, he and another camera man was taping everything. All the while, Cowboy players were lifting up tarps and supports to look for the injured.....and they just taped. Sad commentary on our society in my opinion.

Cameramen are taught to do that...Think of any given war correspondent...The footage taken of the Marine landings at Iwo Jima, etc etc. They're almost programmed and trained to believe that capturing the moment is worth more than what they could do to assist in the situation as an individual.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Indoor Facility Collapses During Practice, 5 Hurt

Posted by jellis at 5/2/2009 3:49 PM CDT on truebluefanclub.com

The Cowboys' indoor facility at Valley Ranch collapsed Saturday afternoon during a rookie mini-camp practice, as thunderstorms and high winds rolled through the Dallas area.

At least five members of the team's staff were taken to a nearby hospitals. Special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis was taken away on a stretcher after sustaining a blow to the head. Team spokesman Rich Dalrymple said he was not aware of the extent of all the injuries.

Irving fire and rescue workers were on the scene within 10 minutes of the building's collapse. All players and coaches have been accounted for, and the remainder of the mini-camp has been cancelled.

About 30 minutes into the second practice of the day, the building's roof began to tremble and suspended light fixtures started shaking. Seconds later the building collapsed, sending the 27 players, any maybe 30 members of the team's staff and local media scrambling. Several players, still wearing helmets, helped free one news reporter from the debris as rain and winds continued to blow down on the scene.

Irving fire department officials are expecyed to brief the media soon. More to come.

-Josh Ellis

Comments (14) | Permanent Link

 

[guag]

Amazing no one was killed, I worked at a plastics manufacturer that made the covers for some of those hanging types of lights, those things are seriously heavy, and dropping down ontop of someone from that kind of height...Thats a fatality waiting to happen. Amazing no one was killed.

I think that the thing that saved this from becoming a complete tragedy is the fact that this thing had walls, as obvious as that might sound--what I mean is, at least the roof wasn't falling straight down at an acceleration of 9.8 m/s^2... luckily the walls of the structure caused it to collapse in a sort of sideways motion instead of straight down, greatly reducing the speed at which the lights, beams, etc would fall. Am I making any sense? lol I'm not very good at explaining things sometimes, but I think you know what I mean.

 

[esloan]

Cameramen are taught to do that...Think of any given war correspondent...The footage taken of the Marine landings at Iwo Jima, etc etc. They're almost programmed and trained to believe that capturing the moment is worth more than what they could do to assist in the situation as an individual.

I can understand war correspondents to a point. Soldiers are paid to put their lives on the line, war correspondents are not.

I remember seeing a video on youtube or some such where a guy was drowning in a flooded creek, struggling to stay afloat. A guy on the bank was filming it the entire time while people above him were trying to get down the embankment to attempt to save the drowning man. The guy filming would have gotten there much quicker, yet he never set the camera down.

Just sad.

 

[speedkilz88]

I think that the thing that saved this from becoming a complete tragedy is the fact that this thing had walls, as obvious as that might sound--what I mean is, at least the roof wasn't falling straight down at an acceleration of 9.8 m/s^2... luckily the walls of the structure caused it to collapse in a sort of sideways motion instead of straight down, greatly reducing the speed at which the lights, beams, etc would fall. Am I making any sense? lol I'm not very good at explaining things sometimes, but I think you know what I mean.

It was said that it really helped that Jerry had a new structure built for his business friends to watch the practices and that was able to protect them a little bit.

 

[theebs]

I can understand war correspondents to a point. Soldiers are paid to put their lives on the line, war correspondents are not.

I remember seeing a video on youtube or some such where a guy was drowning in a flooded creek, struggling to stay afloat. A guy on the bank was filming it the entire time while people above him were trying to get down the embankment to attempt to save the drowning man. The guy filming would have gotten there much quicker, yet he never set the camera down.

Just sad.

are you really whining about this?

The cameramen continued to do their jobs with lights 5 times the size of their heads falling down all over. They are to be commended for continuing to do their job. The footage from cbs 11, fox4 and wfaa is incredible, the fox4 cameraman never stopped or panned down, he recorded the whole thing.

Please get off your soapbox. These men could have been injured or killed. Something to complain about would have been if they dropped their camera's and ran....

 

[WoodysGirl]

Hey theebs,

Was there ever a Wade PC?

 

[burmafrd]

wrong. Life comes before anything else. This BS about the media being heroes or something like that makes me sick. If someone is dying right there Theebs then you think the guy should ignore that and film him dying without doing anything to help. I call BS on that.

 

[esloan]

are you really whining about this?

The cameramen continued to do their jobs with lights 5 times the size of their heads falling down all over. They are to be commended for continuing to do their job. The footage from cbs 11, fox4 and wfaa is incredible, the fox4 cameraman never stopped or panned down, he recorded the whole thing.

Please get off your soapbox. These men could have been injured or killed. Something to complain about would have been if they dropped their camera's and ran....

Great, he recorded the whole thing. While people could have been trapped and dieing 10 feet from him. Way to go!! Much more important to help your career by recording awesome footage than help those who may be in need not 10 feet from him.

Yes, they did their "job". But when people's lives are at stake the job just has to come in second.

 

[theebs]

Hey theebs,

Was there ever a Wade PC?

No there are no more pc's scheduled, just the director of parkland hospital and the irving fire department gave brief details.

12 injured and 2 seriously.

Tim mcmahon was just on and he said he was stuck under stuff like archer but was helped out quickly.

 

[theebs]

wrong. Life comes before anything else. This BS about the media being heroes or something like that makes me sick. If someone is dying right there Theebs then you think the guy should ignore that and film him dying without doing anything to help. I call BS on that.

Great, he recorded the whole thing. While people could have been trapped and dieing 10 feet from him. Way to go!! Much more important to help your career by recording awesome footage than help those who may be in need not 10 feet from him.

Yes, they did their "job". But when people's lives are at stake the job just has to come in second.

Listen. There were 10 guys standing there helping people and everyone communicating with them. They did their job. They are versed in this kind of thing and I am almost certain their role is to keep filming and they did.

If you dont like it write them personally and tell them what bad people they are...

back to the thread..

 

[This is Our Year]

This is so nuts, I've been out of the loop until now this is just so bizzar. Hopefully we get more team unity and bonding out of an experience such as this.

 

[FanSince61]

Ch 11 reporting 12 hurt 2 seriously including one coach.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Gotcha.. Thanks theebs


Cowboys' indoor facility collapses during practice

6:01 PM Sat, May 02, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
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FROM STAFF REPORTS

The afternoon practice at Valley Ranch in Irving ended in horrifying fashion today as the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility collapsed during a thunderstorm.

As many as six people were hospitalized, one in critical condition, with injuries suffered when the facility's bubble roof caved in, Irving City Manager Tommy Gonzalez said. None were players, he said.

"They've gone back and combed the area to make sure everyone is accounted for," Gonzalez said, "and so far everyone is accounted for."

A 33-year-old man was impaled by an object and was taken to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas in critical condition, Gonzalez said.

Two people were in serious condition at Parkland, one with a head injury and another who suffered neck and back injuries. Another person was in serious condition at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas with an open leg fracture. The others suffered injuries that were not life threatening.

At least four members of the Cowboys support staff were hospitalized, according to a Cowboys spokesman.

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips said special teams coach Joe DeCamillis suffered a neck injury and was taken to an area hospital by ambulance.

"He was moving his hands, and he was talking," Phillips said before leaving for the hospital.

Phillips said a couple of players suffered minor injuries.

The air-supported roof of the facility collapsed about 3:30 p.m. as a violent thunderstorm unleashed heavy rain and winds.

First the indoor lights started shaking, then chaos broke out as the roof collapsed and players, coaches, reporters and team personnel scrambled for safety.

TV cameraman Paul Riggs was inside the facility at the time when he looked up and saw the roof falling.

"I sprinted harder than I have in decades," he said.

Riggs said he got under a raised platform with several offensive linemen from the team.

"It fell around us," he said. "Then it was pure chaos."

Jason Odette, a student who lives nearby, was outside the practice facility as the storm passed through and watched in shock as the roof caved in.

"I did see the roof coming apart off the top of the building and just heard metal twisting and popping," he said. "It had that string-popping noise."

Gonzalez said officials are trying to determine what caused the collapse.

"The rain came down very abruptly and sat on the top, and that might have been what caused it," Gonzalez said.

The National Weather Service recorded wind gusts in excess of 60 mph near Valley Ranch around that time. There's no indication that a tornado touched down, weather service meteorologist Daniel Huckaby said.

"When you are talking of winds in excess of 60 mph, it can certainly cause damage," Huckaby said. "They can easily be as strong as a low-end tornado."

Duane Witzowski, who works at a gas station a block away from the facility, said powerful wind gusts pummeled the area for a few minutes starting around 3:30 p.m. The wind tore branches from trees, knocked down signs and nearly uprooted a gasoline pump at his Valero station, Witzowski said.
"It felt like we were the middle of a tornado," he said.

He said a steady stream of fire engines and ambulances were still arriving more than an hour afterward.




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Storm damage pictures from the Dallas Cowboys practice facility

5:58 PM Sat, May 02, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
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DMN Photos: Tom Fox and Michael Ainsworth​

 

[gimmesix]

are you really whining about this?

The cameramen continued to do their jobs with lights 5 times the size of their heads falling down all over. They are to be commended for continuing to do their job. The footage from cbs 11, fox4 and wfaa is incredible, the fox4 cameraman never stopped or panned down, he recorded the whole thing.

Please get off your soapbox. These men could have been injured or killed. Something to complain about would have been if they dropped their camera's and ran....

To an extent, I agree. These guys are trained to cover the action, not participate in it, so their first instinct is to keep the camera rolling.

Would it be better for them to have helped out? Of course. But reporters are trained observers, and you really don't think about getting involved until after the fact because you're too busy doing your job.

But I'll stop there because we don't need to turn this into a thread about the nature of reporting, or society, whatever we want to call it.

 

[xWraithx]

Jerry Jones: