ESPN Clayton: A glaring oversight overhead

[Boyzmamacita]

I'm sure you would LIKE TO SEE it, John. How else is your ranting going to be vindicated? You were punked. Deal with it you wuss.

Ah, Leon, you beat me to it.

 

[adbutcher]

I would like to see ESPN replaced with a reputable sports network.

 

[sacase]

Cowboys Stadium's overhanging video scoreboard could provide safety, strategy issues

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By John Clayton
ESPN.com

Dan in Duluth, Minn., sides with Jerry Jones on the Dallas Cowboys' scoreboard controversy.

He notes that Cowboys Stadium's high-definition screen is mounted 90 feet above the field -- five feet above the league specifications for an overhanging structure. Dan supports the idea that the Cowboys mounted the scoreboard with the full understanding that it complied with the approved limits, so it would be unfair of the NFL to ask Cowboys owner Jones to pay considerable money to fix it.

As it turns out, you are right, Dan, but give me a chance to expound on the issue. League commissioner Roger Goodell isn't going to force any change in the scoreboard in 2009. Last week the NFL ruled that the down will be replayed and clock will be reset if a football hits the overhanging video display board. The league can review the issue after the season.

While Jones did more than comply with the league standards, the 85-foot standard really doesn't make any sense. Every visiting punter who has been through there so far has hit the scoreboard, at least in warm-ups.

The overhanging scoreboard produces a safety problem because a replayed down further exposes players to potential injury: Another special-teams play means more high-speed collisions. It's a competitive advantage for the Cowboys because opposing punters who rely on high hang time might not be able to angle their kicks without hitting the scoreboard on certain spots on the field.

In my opinion, the reason the league requirement is 85 feet is that few people considered the potential problems created by punters. Though the Louisiana Superdome has an overhanging scoreboard, it is reportedly mounted much higher than the 90 feet in Jerry's stadium. The current group of punters might be the strongest in league history. Ninety feet is only 30 yards in altitude. It's only natural to think they can get 30 yards into the air on a punt to get the high hang time. It's pretty apparent Jones didn't include a punting consultant when he did environmental impact studies on the scoreboard.

In reality, the height should be somewhere between 100 and 110 feet, but determined after extensive testing by professional kickers.

As the story is told, Texas Stadium -- the Cowboys' old home -- was built with an opening in the middle of the roof so God could look down on his favorite team. The 90-foot gap between the new Cowboys Stadium field and the scoreboard is like a cloud that's blocking logic. If a punter can hit the scoreboard, Jones should move it.

What I'd like to see is a visiting quarterback hit the scoreboard with 30 seconds remaining and no timeouts and see if he can get a dead-ball ruling that is mandated for punts that hit the scoreboard. The quarterback can do this by rolling out of the pocket and firing the ball at the scoreboard. As long as he is outside the pocket and the ball is past the line of scrimmage, there can't be any intentional grounding calls.

In fact, would it not be out of line for a team with no timeouts to just throw to hit the scoreboard after each first down to reset the clock. If the scoreboard costs the Cowboys a chance to win a home game, you'll see how embarrassing the result will be.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp09/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=4433919

 

[YosemiteSam]

:laugh2:

 

[adbutcher]

:laugh2:

 

[LeonDixson]

Ah, Leon, you beat me to it.

Yes but you were more eloquent.

 

[hutru01]

Oh my, heaven forbid someone get hurt during a replay while making millions playing a game of football! What a huge risk! :laugh2:

 

[silverbear]

That smiley even looks like Clayton...

 

[big dog cowboy]

I already thought Clayton was a idiot. This only proves it.

 

[jksmith269]

If the NFL decides to change the rule to say 100' then I think the NFL should pay for the scoreboard to be raised. it's only fair, take some of that money they fine players, and put it to use.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

If the NFL decides to change the rule to say 100' then I think the NFL should pay for the scoreboard to be raised. it's only fair, take some of that money they fine players, and put it to use.

And then when someone hits it at 100 feet, who will they blame?

 

[Temo]

If the NFL decides to change the rule to say 100' then I think the NFL should pay for the scoreboard to be raised. it's only fair, take some of that money they fine players, and put it to use.

That money goes to charity.

 

[AMERICAS_FAN]

He talks as if 90 feet is low. It just looks low because the screen is massive. It would be quite a challenge for a QB to just roll out of the pocket, under duress and just heave it straight up to hit the jumbotron. That is far easier said than done. I doubt many QB's could throw it that high without hurting themselves.

If 90 feet is low for Clayton, perhaps we should escort him to the top of the video-baord and then nudge him off. But not before we take $2 Million dollars from him to pay to have the board raised, just in case he proves himself right and lands on hgis feet.

 

[AdamJT13]

By the way, the scoreboard at the Louisana Superdome used be right at 90 feet, until Ray Guy hit it with a punt and they raised it all the way to ceiling (200+ feet).

Yea, so it took the greatest punter to ever play

Talk about overrated. Ray Guy isn't even in the top 50 of all-time in yards per punt.

And people wonder why A.J. Trapasso tried to hit the videoboard?

 

[iceberg]

The NFL should fine media outlets that keep regurgitating the same stories about resolved issues.

then do we fine people who keep posting them?

when you have a "hot topic" (even if it's generated out of stupidity, as most REAL hot topics are) everyone will want to put an article out about it.

i'll never understand the facination people have to lock into things like this and make up worry/concern where it simply isn't.

the biggest HAHA WHAT THE HELL i see out of the whole mess is when you're at the game - look around and find an easy to read scoreboard.

 

[gimmesix]

Yes, John... in the waning moments of a close game, with he clock running down and few or no timeouts, QBs are going to be quick-hiking the ball, scrambling out of the pocket, and heaving the ball 30 yards into the air and at least 10 yards forward (which is equivalent to throwing a 70 yard pass or so, given the force of gravity) and hoping to hit a scoreboard. And hoping they don't miss the scoreboard and end up throwing up an interception or just losing the down anyway (with a few extra seconds spent scrambling and heaving a ball).

You're right, there's nothing wrong with this picture at all. It's not only possible, but it's going to happen. Absolutely.

Well, his flawed theory is that they would get to replay the down with the time put back on the clock.

The other problem with that, besides what you've mentioned, is there is no rule in place that guarantees teams would get to replay the down if the QB purposely threw the ball into the scoreboard. In that case, it would probably be treated more like when a QB hits an official with a pass ... it's incomplete.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Those ESPN hacks just can't admit that they completely jumped the gun on this, did almost zero research on it, and are looking desperate for any story on the Cowboys. It's getting to the point where these hacks are complaining about punters hitting the jumbotron in warmups more than anything else.




YAKUZA

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Talk about overrated. Ray Guy isn't even in the top 50 of all-time in yards per punt.

And people wonder why A.J. Trapasso tried to hit the videoboard?

Ray Guy isn't even in Mike Scifres' galaxy.

Scifres = Greatest punter this generation has ever seen, hands down.




3JACK

 

[DallasFanSince86]

#1. It is a videoboard.

#2. If the league was to raise the minimum height limit to 100' or whatever, that means that the cameras hanging over the fields would have to move up also. The league would have to pay for that also.

#3. The same rule, about redoing the down and adding time back to the clock if hit, applies to those overhanging cameras also. I believe that happened in a Sunday night game before, because I remember Al Michaels commenting on it.

 

[casmith07]

Hey Clayton, two weeks ago called and it wants its story back.