A Couple of Thoughts on the Cowboys

First off, that was a nice win last night. But for a botched field goal and a dumb penalty by Colombo to kill a nice drive, the score probably would've been even more lopsided. The first-team offense looked great ( and Sam Hurd has fantastic hands) and there were even some sparks of genius from the likes of new backup QB John Kitna and some guy named Ogletree I've never even heard of before now. Mike Jenkins had a moment of dumb that allowed the one Titans touchdown, but otherwise they stifled the Tennessee offense for nearly the entire first half. So, a much better performance then last week.

Now, about that stadium. For one, it's utterly ridiculous that punters can routinely hit the giant videoboard. McBriar says he won't hit it, and Jerry Jones says they have to be aiming for it to hit it, but seeing as how in the very first game ever in the stadium the opposing teams punter whacked it repeatedly I'm anticipating that this is going to be a bit of a problem. Hint to Jerry Jones: fans don't want to see punts replayed on a regular basis, unless of course they're taking bets on who hits the thing. Raise it, please.

Also, I am simply amazed at how the giant videoboard dominates the view for stands in the upper decks. Obviously I'd have to be there myself to make a fair assessment, but the shot of the board from the upper deck during the game last night makes it clear that the massive screen will entirely dominate the field of view for fans at that level. Troy Aikman commented that it's probably hard to take your eyes off of it even if you want to, and I think he's right. If you're a fan in the upper decks, you're likely to spend most of the game watching the screen because a) you get a better view of the game and b) it's so big and bright you'll have trouble NOT watching it. My knee-jerk reaction is that this is completely stupid; who on Earth wants to go to a game to spend your time getting the same view of the game you could get on your TV at home? But then I thought, the biggest drawback to going to game in person is that you don't get the great view of the game that you do on your TV. So why not combine the at-the-game experience and ambiance with an even better view of the game then you get on your TV at home? Alas, I think I'm too old-school for that. The point of going to the game is to get the live at-the-game experience, and the view of the game that is afforded by being able to see the whole field and all of the players at the same time (even if you can't make them out individually.) And the point of being at home is to avoid the traffic and the experience of trying to fit into a tiny seat, or overpaying for a beer, and getting a better view of the game. Never the twain should meet.

Anyway, it was nice to flip on the TV and see the Cowboys playing again. I can almost smell Fall in the air.