With their unbelievable new scoreboard, the Cowboys have truly outdone themselves (and that’s not a good thing)

SCOTT JACOBS

The Dallas Cowboys played their first football game at the new Cowboys Stadium on Friday, the palace that Jerry Jones and $1.2 billion built.  The spectacular stadium is more than a football cathedral, it’s a work of art, a majestic accomplishment in sports architecture, and its sleek and modern design could lay the groundwork for a revolution in stadium building over the next decade going forward.  But Dallas may have outdone themselves.  Despite the fact that they have a claim to having one of the NFL’s crown jewels as their play place, the Cowboys overdid it with their new scoreboard.

The scoreboard is so big (160 feet by 71 feet) and takes up so much room (11,000 feet per scoreboard) that it’s impossible not to stare.  And that’s exactly the problem.  When did football become about scoreboards?  It’s amazing don’t get me wrong, but logistics aside (like the fact that punters are actually kicking into it) it’s too much.  Even in Texas, where “obnoxiously big” is a term no one quite takes seriously.

America’s Team, now has America watching, even more so than ever, because people want to know if the scoreboards, which hang straight up over midfield, similar to NBA and NHL scoreboards (only this one is the biggest in the world) will continue to cause havoc to the actual game being played not so far below.

The scoreboard is like a home run derby landing spot for NFL kickers, because these guys not only have the leg, but they also have the height on their kicks to turn these wicked cool scoreboards into wicked big annoyances.

Jerry Jones claims there are no plans to raise the scoreboards, which are 25 yards high.

A.J. Trapasso, a rookie kicker for the Titans hit the scoreboard on Friday, and many more NFL punters who come into Cowboys Stadium will probably do the same.  Word on the street is that the NFL’s competition committe is looking into it, and may require the Boys to raise their big boards so that they’re not target practice.

The whole thing is comically absurd because who could have ever envisioned a controversy like this 20 years ago, never mind 40 or 50.

No one was playing the following scenario in their head:

Jones: “What if we make the scoreboard so big and so fancy that no one actually has to look at the field. Halfway through the game we can just have the players walk off and replace the video coverage with Madden 10.  We’ll make it so low that punters can kick at it.  Take that USFL!”

Random Cowboys executive: “That’s brilliant.”

Jones: “Let’s do it.”

Times sure have changed, eh?

Photo: Reuters

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