Video Board Has Some Kind of Lift System on Top
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DEZBRYANT x88x
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Yeah it has to be raised for a U2 concert.
texastwister
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I dont get it if they are raising it for U2 then why all the fuss. After it is raised for the concert leave it. Wait till next year then install the 6 million dollar winch system. That way the press will have to find something else to pick on us about now that we dont have a fuse lite waiting to explode
BALCO
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Wonder if they are going to raise it for the game tomorrow night. I could see them raising it and not saying anything about it...just for the fact Jerry doesn't want any chance that his grand opening night is going to be ruined by Feagles hitting a punt into it. I can only imagine the headline on Monday if another punt goes into it.
theebs
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Displaced Cowboy
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BALCO;2951188 said:
i live in ny and there have been multiple quotes from feagles this week where he said that the giants indoor facility is 80 feet high and he rarely hits it. he said there is little to no chance he will be able to hit the board.
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For Jeff Feagles, directional punting becomes a fine science [link]Displaced Cowboy;2951441 said:
By Jenny Vrentas
September 17, 2009, 9:04PM
Each week during the NFL season, Giants coach Tom Coughlin approaches his veteran punter and makes the same request.
"No touches," Coughlin tells Jeff Feagles. "I want it out of bounds."
It's no surprise that a well-disciplined coach like Coughlin wants to maximize the advantage Feagles, the league's best directional punter, brings his team: In an era of dangerous special-teamers, Feagles can place his punts where slippery returners cannot be a factor.
That approach, which Coughlin calls a "rare talent," is what landed Feagles, 43, in the Pro Bowl last season -- and has extended his career into its 22nd season.
"My ninth or 10th year in the league, I was getting up there in age," Feagles said, "so I had to get some sort of advantage on the league."
His art form will be showcased this weekend, when the Giants head to Dallas for the regular-season opening of the new Cowboys Stadium -- with its controversial, mega-sized, 160-foot long HD video board hanging 90 feet above the center of the field. The structure was hit by Titans rookie punter A.J. Trapasso during the preseason, and the big question has been how many punters will follow suit.
Even this late in his career, some of Feagles' punts have the hang time and speed to strike the board, though his strategy makes that far less likely.
Feagles is instead a master at pinning returners against the sideline, having placed 19 of his 64 punts out of bounds last season and 80 percent in the 12-yard alleys outside the painted numbers.
Feagles has directional punting down to a science. To be exact, the basics of physics govern Feagles' punts.
In the simplest terms, Feagles can, by feel, adjust the speed at which he kicks the ball and the angle of the punt's flight. He can also change how much he pivots his body in order to aim the kick out of bounds. All of those factors then impact the range and hang time of the punt.
A 14-punt sample from the 2008 season was analyzed on game film and used to illustrate how Feagles alters these variables depending on field position. He sees the field differently, depending on where the ball is spotted, and adjusts his technique accordingly.
For the full breakdown of the science of Feagles' approach click here [Moderator Note: link does not work within actual article either]
"Every position on the field is a different kind of swing level," Feagles explained during training camp. "That's something you learn over repetition and time, what speed to hit your leg. What happens with younger guys, they don't know how to let off. They hit it too hard, and it goes flying into the end zone."
When the Giants are punting from their own territory (Zone 1), Feagles kicks the ball as hard as he can. His average kick speed in this region was 83 feet per second, with an average kick angle of 61 degrees. He aims for the official who stands out of bounds about 50 yards in front of the line of scrimmage, so Feagles pivots 24 degrees toward the sideline.
Inside of the 50-yard line, Feagles begins aiming for the sideline at the 10-yard line instead of the official. From the 50 to the opponents' 40 (Zone 2), he starts to use lighter kicks (an average of 82 feet per second) at bigger angles (an average of 65 degrees), to reduce range and stay out of the end zone. He also has to turn his body 30 degrees.
The tightest punts -- from the 40 up to the 34-yard line, where field-goal range begins (Zone 3) -- are the most difficult. Feagles continues to aim for the 10-yard line, so he pivots most sharply toward the sideline (35 degrees). And because he is so close to the end zone, he drops his speed (an average of 77 feet per second) and bumps up the angle (an average of 68 degrees).
"I think he was just bored one day and just started kicking the ball into the corner," joked cornerback Terrell Thomas, who was one of the gunners on the punt unit last season. "But he's a technician. When you've got a punter like Feagles that can pinpoint it in a corner every time, it makes no sense to do anything else."
Which is why it makes no sense for Feagles to change this week and take aim at the Cowboys' monstrosity. Not that he couldn't reach it; two of the 14 punts sampled from 2008 flew high enough that they could touch the video screen in Dallas.
He doesn't think it's likely this weekend. The scoreboard is centered over the playing surface, and with Feagles usually aiming for the closest sideline, many of his punts do not cross the middle of the field.
Either way, with the league's "do-over" rule for punts that do deflect off the board, the game won't be affected.
"I'm not going to try to hit it at all," Feagles said. "I'm just going to do what I do, and if it hits it, that's why the rule is there, I guess. During the game, I won't be thinking about it."
Feagles is thinking about passing on the art of directional punting to his oldest son, C.J., a freshman punter at UNC. But because it is so difficult to master, other approaches have been more popular.
The punt adopted from Australian rules football has gained steam, because its end-over-end rotation is an easy way to manage distance. There are also strong-legged punters in the league who bomb the ball for high averages, but also bleed back high return yardage.
Opponents only tallied 140 return yards in 16 games last fall, yielding Feagles' impressive net average of 40.2 yards, fourth in the league among punters. Moreover, 23 of his 64 punts were downed inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
As leg strength inevitably declines with age, so do hang time and range. But by perfecting directional kicking, Feagles has not just held onto a roster spot, he's managed to still be a weapon in the NFL after sending a kid to college.
"That's how I've been able to hang on as long as I have," said Feagles, the oldest player on the Giants' roster by 11 years. "At this point, I just take it one year at a time, because I don't know with my age -- my back could blow out tomorrow.
"But as long as the Giants keep giving me an opportunity to keep playing, I'm going to keep going."
ETex
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bbgun;2951189 said:
I read somewhere that if the board is raised by even a small amount, the people seating @ the top of the second deck will have a partially blocked view of the board. Those are some of the most expensive seats in the stadium. Makes sense on why Jerry doesn't want to touch it.
Boyzmamacita
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Stadium229, that's an awesome youtube channel. Keep it up. I just subscribed.
