Jumbotron

I image that during the creation of the new Dallas Cowboys stadium there was a meeting where someone made a suggestion.  This suggested ended with a statement that went something like, ‘and yeah, I know this idea is a bit much and probably isn’t the best use of money.  But I thought it was cool, so I figured I’d bring it up.  I totally understand if you guys say no’.  Everyone in the meeting sits silent for a brief moment before laughter erupts.  Cowboys own, Jerry Jones responds, ‘Hell yeah we’re going to do it.  Shoot, let’s build two!  You know we don’t have no budget.  We’re building the best football stadium evar!!!’  Afterwards, he’d do something hella Texan, like shoot two six shooters up in the air, grab his overside belt buckle, or scream, ‘Yee haa!’.  That’s how I imagine it.

My point is JerryWorld is insane.  It holds over 100,000 people.  It’s got an IT infrastructure to give all these people free wi-fi.  Then, there’s the jumbotron.  Much like the Grand Canyon, it’s hard to describe using just words.  I could tell you that it is some 160 feet long, but that still won’t really convey the magnitude of it.  The best I can come up with is, remember that guy in college who got a big screen tv for his dorm room?  And it was waaay too big for the space available.  So everyone kind of disliked watching movies there because they were sitting too close?  In Cowboys stadium, if you stand behind the worst nose-bleed seats in the house, you’ll still have that feeling looking at the jumbotron.

I went to Cowboys stadium to watch my Chicago Bears beat down the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football.  A very interesting aspect of this was that approximately 1/3 of the fans in attendances were actually Bears fans.  Apparently it is common for so many opposing fans to make the trip to see the stadium that the Cowboys lose their home field advantage.

Joining me on the trip were a bunch of longtime friends from undergrad; one a Cowboys fan,  one living Chicago but moving to Dallas, on just gambling on the game.  In addition to a great game, it was a great time hanging out with old friends.