04/23/24
August 22, 2009
Punter Hits Telemanjaro at First Cowboys Game in New Stadium: Tennessee Titans rookie punter A.J. Trapasso hit a football into Telemanjaro, the gigantic HDTV scoreboard 100 feet above the field at Cowboys Stadium, during the first preseason game at the facility. "I don't know what the people were thinking," said Titans punter Craig Hentrich, who hit it several times during warmups. "It'll have to be raised."
The Cowboys are tempting with forces beyond their control if they alter Telemanjaro, as are these punk punters by striking it with their balls. I think it would be smarter for Jerry Jones to lower the field than to raise the TV.
posted by rcade at 12:32 PM on August 22, 2009
A.J. - you the man. Fake punt for 6 one week, hit the overhead board the next. Wonder what you got planned for next game?
It appears that the Titans are deep at punter. And the Bengals are deep at PK. And the Eagles are deep at QB. And the Raiders appear to have ample depth at the Buddy Ryan position.
Then there's the Panthers - rolling the dice for the 29th straight year with Jake Delhomme, who has a fat new contract. (John Fox, I know you're smarter than that).
Great story, rcade - you might be Texas toast when that little-johnson remark makes the rounds. Who cares, you'll be in fine company.
Has anyone gotten a close look at the rug in the Cowboys new stadium? It looks kind of sickly in the pics. Hope it's a good surface. Be a shame if it wasn't.
posted by beaverboard at 12:47 PM on August 22, 2009
good job rcade - you own telemanjaro - now we just need to do a bit of work on cowboys hdtv
posted by kokaku at 03:05 PM on August 22, 2009
I just can't get over the size of that thing. Looks like something out of star wars.
posted by justgary at 04:17 PM on August 22, 2009
to justgary: That's what she said.
Also, you'd think they would account for these things in building a state-of-the-art new stadium, but apparently not.
posted by boredom_08 at 09:58 PM on August 22, 2009
They better do something quick. One errant kick could possibly mess up one of those ginormous screens-which would be hilarious to me, but i doubt the fans who paid three bazillion dollars to watch the game would be too happy. I mean, the price of pizzas are going to be more than $200 if one of those screens break.
posted by brainofdtrain at 02:19 AM on August 23, 2009
Jery, Jerry, Jerry. Please sell the team to the citizens of the State of Texas and go home to Arkansas. I am sure we could arrange an awesome send off that could include some tar and some feathers. What a billion dollar idiot.
posted by kerrycindy at 10:12 AM on August 23, 2009
I don't care for Telemanjaro (looks heavenward for lightening strikes), but Jerry Jones' response was the right one. The rules are already in place: if you hit it, you re-kick the punt. No advantage/disadvantage to either team.
posted by scully at 10:15 AM on August 23, 2009
Wah! Wah! Somebody's trying to break my brand-new very-large-screen HDTV! Wah!
posted by jjzucal at 10:41 AM on August 23, 2009
Jerry Jones is a billion-dollar idiot because punters can hit Telemanjaro? The NFL already has rules in place to replay a down if the ball hits the overhead camera. I don't see why it's a big issue to replay a punt if it strikes the most wonderful object ever created by humankind.
Every new stadium built after this point is going to have a massive HDTV. Jones is a genius for putting that in, because he recognizes that he had to compete with home HDTVs.
(Embarrassing Telemanjaro trivia: Jones told Curt Menafee at halftime that he got the idea for Telemanjaro from Cher and Celine Dion concerts he attended.)
posted by rcade at 11:12 AM on August 23, 2009
I think the rules committee is concerned because the clock is not reset for replays of downs and teams could eat up some clock by hitting the board on purpose.
Or create strategic clock stoppage with a punt on 4th down if a team's offense is doing a bunch of 3 and outs that day and their defense has been on the field too much and is sucking wind.
Evidently, if anyone is a fool in this it's the league, because the board is supposedly installed higher than the league mandated minimum height above the playing surface.
Maybe the league will have to add an adjunct official to crews for Dallas home games -- sky judge, who will watch all aerial launches for contact with the overhead rig.
Meanwhile, I've just learned that Carl Crawford and a few of his Rays teammates would like very much to take BP in the facility the next time they're in the area.
posted by beaverboard at 02:19 PM on August 23, 2009
The rules are already in place: if you hit it, you re-kick the punt. No advantage/disadvantage to either team.
you're kidding right? Assume my team's punter has a strong leg and is capable of punting higher punts with longer hang time, if Telemanjaro interferes my team is put at a disadvantage. What if Jones knowingly set the height such that his kicker won't hit it, however any kicker that routinely kicks the ball higher will? Not really saying that Jones did that, though I wouldn't put anything past him
Sure, there was a rule in place to address what happens if a punt hits a speaker, or Telemanjaro, however, that doesn't mean that care shouldn't have been taken to ensure that punts couldn't hit it. As to Jerry's comments that he had league officials sign off on the placement of the screen, I don't doubt that he did. I just question their decision making.
Similar miscalculations were present in the monstrosity that is the Metrodome. Speakers were positioned such that balls in fair territory hit them quite regularly at first. They were repositioned to reduce this. The ceiling was also a bright white, which made if extremely difficult for fielders to pick up the ball on high flies. It was darkened. Telemanjaro needs to be adjusted...though I think rcade may be right in saying that the floor should be lowered.
posted by dviking at 02:32 PM on August 23, 2009
What if Jones knowingly set the height such that his kicker won't hit it, however any kicker that routinely kicks the ball higher will?
Who would make a multimillion dollar design decision to take advantage of the capabilities of the team's current punter?
The board was built five feet higher than the average punt in the NFL, 85 feet. How many times would it impact play if it stayed where it is?
posted by rcade at 03:37 PM on August 23, 2009
Here's a discussion among engineers about the punt height issue. One member concludes that a hang time of 4.73 seconds requires a 90-foot height on the punt, discounting aerodynamics.
posted by rcade at 03:51 PM on August 23, 2009
I don't see why it's a big issue to replay a punt if it strikes the most wonderful object ever created by humankind.
Well, when you put it that way, it's tough not to agree.
posted by justgary at 05:55 PM on August 23, 2009
I have contacted former Detroit and Seattle punter (and personal childhood hero) Herman "Thunderfoot" Weaver for a comment/discussion. I'll let you know if he gets back to me.
posted by wfrazerjr at 06:14 PM on August 23, 2009
Who would make a multimillion dollar design decision to take advantage of the capabilities of the team's current punter?
Probably not even Jerry would design it that way, but if it's adjustable (which i think it most likely is) why not keep it as low as you can if your current punter doesn't have a high trajectory on his punts. You can always raise it a few feet later if your new punter does kick high punts.
posted by dviking at 07:08 PM on August 23, 2009
telemanjaro squatter
posted by JJ at 07:42 AM on August 24, 2009
I'm thinking about creating a blog in Telemanjaro's honor. Wish I still lived in Arlington and could bask in the megawattage of its diode glow.
posted by rcade at 09:39 AM on August 24, 2009
It appears that Jones is going to raise Telemanjaro significantly for a U2 concert in October. (Hope the damn thing falls on them, not a political statement, just tired of that over-commercialized group).
Quotes on the local news make it appear that Jones is open to adjusting the height at that time.
posted by dviking at 09:49 AM on August 24, 2009
Doesn't anyone remember the Cowboys practice field collapse?
This thing is gonna come crashing to the ground one day. I can only hope Jones is standing beneath it praising its structrural integrity as it happens.
posted by cjets at 12:49 PM on August 24, 2009
The board was built five feet higher than the average punt in the NFL, 85 feet.
Two things wrong with that sentence: average and five feet. I hope we are smart enough not to require elaboration.
But one point I will make: Since when have sports accomplishments started going down? Are runners slower now, quarterbacks throwing shorter passes now, whatever? So I think your five foot margin gets eaten up pretty damn soon!
posted by billsaysthis at 01:57 PM on August 24, 2009
This thing is gonna come crashing to the ground one day. I can only hope Jones is standing beneath it praising its structrural integrity as it happens.
I seem to remember a friend saying that after Jerry fired Jimmy....
posted by mjkredliner at 04:27 PM on August 24, 2009
Friends of mine own a golf course and wanted to build their home/b&b on the 10th fairway. Before construction started, they had a bunch of long ball hitters see if they could hit their home. You would have thought a version of the same thought would have occurred to the Cowboys and their designers.
posted by jc at 08:28 PM on August 24, 2009
I have contacted former Detroit and Seattle punter (and personal childhood hero) Herman "Thunderfoot" Weaver for a comment/discussion. I'll let you know if he gets back to me.
Guys, I just got off the phone with "Thunderfoot" Weaver, who said he was shocked Telemanjaro was just 90 feet off the ground. That's apparently the same height the gondola was at the New Orleans Superdome when both Weaver and Raiders legend Ray Guy banged balls off of it.
I have a full interview set up with Weaver for tomorrow evening, but here's a taste:
"I hit (the gondola at the Superdome) eight or nine times in a row," Weaver said. "One of the security guards said, 'Man, I've never seen someone hit it so many times.'"
posted by wfrazerjr at 09:39 AM on August 25, 2009
Look forward to it, Frazer. I think if you're a punter, you have to try to hit Telemanjaro if you can do it -- even at the risk of making it angry.
Manly comparison: It's like going to the bathroom and aiming for the urinal cake. Except the cake is 160 feet wide and 72 feet tall.
posted by rcade at 10:36 AM on August 25, 2009
That's going to require a lot of beer. But I'm up for it. Make a meetup out of it.
posted by yerfatma at 11:06 AM on August 25, 2009
Also worth mentioning: Telemanjaro is non-operational when raised to its "U2" height. So raising it to that height during games would render it useless.
posted by SpiffyRob at 11:17 AM on August 26, 2009
There are some valid points made about having to re-kick when the board is struck. Consider that your punt coverage team has to run down the field at top speed, then come all the way back to the line of scrimmage to do it again. This gives a slight advantage to the return team because the coverage guys might be a bit slower. If the kicker hits the board 2 or 3 times in a row, there is a definite advantage to the returners. I say change the height rule, and if the board is less than the required height, make it a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct call against Dallas every time a kick hits the board.
posted by Howard_T at 07:25 PM on August 27, 2009
Trapasso hit Telemanjaro ? Cool !