Originally posted by CajunManWho is paying for this???Jerry Jones??
Basically, the City of Arlington is paying for 50% of the costs with the city's contribution capped at $325 million. Anything beyond that is paid by the Cowboys/Jerry Jones. There are some estimates that the stadium will end up costing around $1 billion when all is said and done.
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How long until a punt hits one of those video screens hanging above the field? The NFL doesn't have ground rules since all of the playing fields are the same, unlike baseball.
Originally posted by brickHow long until a punt hits one of those video screens hanging above the field? The NFL doesn't have ground rules since all of the playing fields are the same, unlike baseball.
There are ground rules for video boards. Ray Guy once hit the SuperDome scoreboard. The play is a "do over".
Unlike in the Arena Football League, where hitting the scoreboard is considered the same as kicking the ball out of bounds.
I knew about Guy doing that, but was unaware of the "gondola rule" (thank you google & Sec19).
And while I can't seem to find any data on average heights of punts, it would seem that some of the bigger legs in the league must be putting the ball at or near the 110 feet that that scoreboard is at.
You have guys like Lechler who regular punts the ball over 60 yards, add in the 15 yards behind the LOS and that a 75 yard punt. I'm sure someone who is better at math than me can get a closer approximation of the height of that punt, but using simple math I'm coming up with just above 110 feet.
It would seem to me that the league would require them to move that scoreboard up another 20' or so to try to eliminate the problem.
That said, the stadium looks cool, to bad its for the Cowboys.
Originally posted by brickHow long until a punt hits one of those video screens hanging above the field? The NFL doesn't have ground rules since all of the playing fields are the same, unlike baseball.
There are ground rules for video boards. Ray Guy once hit the SuperDome scoreboard. The play is a "do over".
Unlike in the Arena Football League, where hitting the scoreboard is considered the same as kicking the ball out of bounds.
Yes long ago the had screens in the middle of the Superdome. I can't recall if it was because they kept on kicking them into the boards or the projectors for these boards kept on not working but they eventually went to the standard endzone scoreboards. Those got really nasty too. It took a tragedy and fema to get the really cool boards they have now. As a matter of fact I believe during the renovation they totally took out the rest of the middle fixture(not there anymore) that had still remained even after they removed the centerscreens long ago.
(edited by CajunMan on 24.1.07 2141) I'm CajunMan and I approve this message.
Originally posted by brickHow long until a punt hits one of those video screens hanging above the field? The NFL doesn't have ground rules since all of the playing fields are the same, unlike baseball.
Oh yeah. I'm sure that the billions spent to design this stadium will surely overlook the punt clearance factor simply for your amusement if nothing else. Good Call.
Originally posted by brickHow long until a punt hits one of those video screens hanging above the field? The NFL doesn't have ground rules since all of the playing fields are the same, unlike baseball.
Oh yeah. I'm sure that the billions spent to design this stadium will surely overlook the punt clearance factor simply for your amusement if nothing else. Good Call.
Your right, I'm sure that a design team has never overlooked something like this in order to meet the demands of a client. (Tropican Fields speakers spring to mind)
I screwed up the other day, since the height of the punt has nothing to do with the distance traveled.
Look at the placement of it, though. Are we talking about a 4 second hang time on a punt from the 40 to the 40 to hit it, or is it a 4 second hang time on a punt from 30 to the 30? It's going to a very specific punt that has an apex exactly at the spot where the vidscreen is - and none of those are places where you punt the ball for maximum hang time over distance.
You have to be behind the 50 yard line and punting the ball at a target equidistant from where you are - so it would be something like a punt from the 25 yard line hit exactly dead down the middle of the field with Max hang time favored or max distance - aiming at the opposite 25 yard line. Why wouldn't they lower the trajectory a little and try for the 65 yarder into the corner inside the 10?
Guru, the length of the punt isn't going to affect how high the punt goes in the simple modle that is being used here.
It will however affect the amount of time that the punt is in the zone affected by the screen.
If the 4 second punt that we are using travels 55 yards (a 40 yard punt + the 15 yards behind the line where the punter lines up) it would be higher than the 110 feet that the screen extends to for ~16 yards.
The hashmarks in the NFL are 18' 6' apart.
I'm guessing that the base of the screen will be ~10' to accomidate a catwalk and the screens themselves which stretch from the 20 to the 20 yard lines. Not to mention the 48' wide screens at either end.
With any punt having a hangtime greater than 3.8 seconds entering into the zone of the screen this will effect the way the punter dirrects the punt.
There will be plenty of punts unaffected by this screen, I'm not saying that all punts are going to hit. But this screen if installed as designed will come into play.
If playing a team with a dangerous return man, it will limit the angels that the punt team can use to limit the return. If the snap is to the left of the screen the return team will know to set the return to the left as the punter would have to kick a line drive to avoid the screen and get to the right,which negativly affect coverage.
If the kicking team sees something it doesn't like, no need to burn a timeout, kick the ball into the screen.
Right now the "gondola rule" that was mentioned earlier only comes into play with the above field camera wires, which are movable and much harder to hit. I know the cowboys are trying to add something different and exciting for the fans. I think its a cool idea. but as presented right now it will affect the play on the field, which IMO is a bad thing.
Short answer: a punter is only capable of producing so much force. This limits the amount of force on the X, Y, and Z axis. My thought is that for punts that have enough force on the Z axis to achieve a 4.0 second hangtime, there is not much force left to apply to the X or Y axis to allow for distance on the field.
I'd need to have a chart of starting point, collision point (not end distance with roll) and hangtime of punters to figure this out scientifically.
Gut feeling: If you are putting most of your force in to maximize hang time, you will be just outside of field goal range, and therefore not in any danger of hitting the screen. As you get the 20-30 yards behind the 50 yard line, you are already shooting for a parabolic punt landing at or near the 5 year line. From your own 30 yard line, that has you aiming the apex of the parabola at or around the opposing 40 - but I think with that much distance you couldn't get enough for into the Z axis for the 4.0 hang time so you wouldn't be at risk.
Is there any sort of data that would back up or refute this? I have no idea what to search for.
Guru, I understand what you are saying with the limits to force. But with a punt having a distance of 40 yards (from the LOS)with a 4 second hangtime being the NFL standard, I don't think that saying that punts regulary are launched higher than 110' is outrageous.
I don't think the punt just outside of field goal range would be any safer, as the screen extend to the 20, with a 48' screen at the end for the endzones.
Your assumtion that the punter is going for distance rather than hangtime on punts longer than that is flawed, as the goal is to maximize both in order to not outkick you coverage. Hense the 40 & 4 standard, it takes the gunners 5+ seconds to get down the field in coverage while being blocked, add 1 second for the snap & kick and the ball and gunner get to the return man at the same time. If you kick 50 & 3.5 its harder to cover.
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