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OK, here's my list of features that will blow your mind about new Cowboys Stadium:
Until you see it in person, you can't truly appreciate JerryVision: I find myself studying the steel wires that are holding the enormous video boards suspended from the ceilings. It's a surreal experience to look up there and see this monstrous scoreboard -- and it's in HD. When I was at Giants Stadium last week, the video boards in the corners seemed like 50-inch Curtis Mathes TVs by comparison. It's fun to watch players walk out for warm-ups and just stare at the video board. And yes, every punter is going to try to nail that thing before the game. Bradie James confronted former Tennessee Titans punter A.J. Trapasso before the game and asked him why he was trying to bang kicks off the scoreboard. "Because it's up there," responded Trapasso.
There's a lot of wow factor associated with the stadium, but the scoreboard is the most memorable feature. There's nothing quite like it in the world -- not even at Celine's old place.
The players enter the field through a bar: Actually it's called the Miller Lite Club. After leaving the locker room, the players make their way to the field while surrounded by hundreds of screaming fans. There's nothing close to this around the league. Jones wants this to be an interactive experience -- and he's succeeded. But is it a good idea to give a bunch of fans beer bottles after the Cowboys have played a horrible first half? We'll see. Asked about entering the stadium through a bar, Australian punter Mat McBriar joked that he was "tempted" to stop for a drink.
The nighttime views from outside the stadium are stunning: Jones didn't cut any corners on all that fritted glass. On one side of the stadium, the glass wall is inverted at a 14-degree angle. For whatever reason, that allows thousands of lights to create a shimmering effect. At the base of all that glass is some limestone rock that has a Texas feel to it. The lead architect on the stadium, Bryan Trubey, told me recently that he wanted to create an "airy" feel to the stadium. So even when the roof's closed, all the glass makes fans think they're in an outdoor environment.
You have to love the Party Pass approach: I think the feature that excites Jones the most is the $29 Party Pass that allows an additional 20,000 fans to have standing-room only tickets. Jones envisioned it being like the pavilion areas at PGA Tour events. In the end zones, fans will be able to mill around sipping on $8 beers while watching the game. There could be 100,000 fans at the Giants game. Jones studied the other NFL stadiums and he talked about how Buccaneers fans loved the ship at Raymond James Stadium.
"They were on it like they were going after chum," Jones said of Bucs fans.
The Cowboys have the most expensive seats in the league, but the $29 Party Pass provides a much better price for fans on a budget. On Sunday night, Jones will roll out his prized possession for the world to see.
And don't ask him to raise the scoreboard.
Story courtesy of Matt Mosley's NFC East blog at www.espn.com
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