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September 30, 2009
Cowboys Stadium: It's Bruton-like
By DAVID GREEN
Two thoughts came to mind as I watched the Dallas Cowboys play the past two weekends in team owner Jerry Jones' new stadium in Arlington, Texas.
1: The size and lavishness of this place defies belief, even as viewed on television.
2: Don't you know Bruton Smith wants an oval racing facility just like it, complete with retractable roof?
I mean, there are big facilities and fancy facilities and there are big and fancy facilities, but they all look like a small-town sandlot ball field in comparison. It's like the Titanic compared to an Ohio River tugboat. Nothing wrong with the sandlot diamond or the diesel-snorting tug, but, come on. This thing has a high-definition television complex suspended from its roof that weighs more than Lambeau Field, six inches of turf and two rows of the parking lot included.
And Bruton could do it, too, if he put his mind to it. Many of the features of this extravaganza are tailor-made for an indoor auto racing track, from the trick roof to the six-story-tall glass portals at each end of the stadium which can be opened or closed at will.
Size matters, you say? Yes, it does. We may still be a few decades away from developing the materials and the engineering to build a facility big enough to enclose something as large as Bruton's Texas Motor Speedway, just a little bit north and west of Arlington.
But, hey -- don't we have enough 1.5-mile tracks? Didn't I read somebody's complaint about that one or two times in the past couple of years? Let's build one like the new Iowa Speedway, or maybe Richmond -- maybe as big as Rockingham. You can't convince me that couldn't be done.
And what a wonder it would be. Just think of it. It would be a modern-day version of the Pyramids, or the Colossus of Rhodes.
NASCAR might even give Bruton a date for that one.
September 30, 2009 | Permalink
Comments
well i think a billion dollar track with only 50% occupied seats would be a fab idea.
all kiddin aside the cowboys kicked some carolina azz this week.
that stadium is kinda sweet huh.
Posted by: exile | Sep 30, 2009 5:08:41 AM
Well Bruton and Jerry Jones do have something in common with the pyramid bulders--an ego the size of their monuments.
Posted by: Peter | Sep 30, 2009 7:05:12 AM
David, Since I'm a fairweather Panthers fan...Sorry I still bleed Vikings Purple and White, so I had to watch and see this Spectacle...a 100,000? Fool's and their money will soon be departed...I loved the Twins,Vikings and North Stars at the Old Metropolitan Stadium and Met Center(Now the Site of the Mall of America...If Bruton decided to build such an extrvaganza...he has more money than sense, it would fade quickly in popularity, for me Sports is all about the atmosphere...not climate controlled...I did enjoy the HHH Metrodome, and will go Home to see the new Target Field next season...but I enjoy sitting in the sun expierencing a Baseball Game, the Cool Fall weather of Football, or just enjoying a traditional Martinsville Dog or 12(not typo) looking over the Fall colors!
Posted by: Fan #5 | Sep 30, 2009 9:23:21 PM
exile: Had to chuckle at the dig at sagging attendance. Good one. How about that Cowboys running game?
Peter: Kind of ironic, isn't it, that these two outlandish guys are named Smith and Jones? Or maybe it's cause-and-effect, something like the Napoleon or little-man complex. Their names are plain, so they do stuff to prove that they're not.
#5: I'm with you at heart. I'm looking at a piece of Dale Klee artwork right now titled "Old Rivals." It depicts two old racecars -- looks like a '36 Chevy coupe and '37 Ford sedan, if my identification is correct -- parked in front of a wood-frame, lapboard-sided scoring tower and concession stand. The windows are boarded up and the sign is weatherworn and damaged and reads "...ounty Raceway" with crossed checkered flags painted in the middle. And I'm thinking of the old dirt track where I started both my journalism career and, a few years later, my racecar-driving avocation, and dearly I miss the plain and simple, no-frills place.
At the same time, Cowboys Stadium is just so outrageously over the top. It goes so far to the opposite extreme that it just captures your attention. So, I guess what I'm saying is, if you're gonna be ostentatious, then BE OSTENTATIOUS.
Posted by: David Green | Oct 1, 2009 8:59:33 AM
David,
Kudo's for your imagination going to the track. Called old friends that first nite. We enjoyed some games in the "poor 80"s" at Irving. Remember how proud the people with the seats behind mine were of "building" that stadium. Certainly at the time an upgrade from the Cotton Bowl.
Rumors' from years ago were that the enclosed stadium were squashed by.. wait for it, Winston. Knowing where the smoking issues were headed. But now, heck yeah why not?
Good for Mr.Jones building his dream. You don't have to be a biker to appreciate Mr. Rossmeyers' version at Destination Daytona. So, if the passion passes to the next generation maybe Mr. Smiths' son can do such a deal. They race inside at Ft.Wayne, In.
As a kid remember sitting in the now demolished Riverfront Stadium in Cincy. Ha, that was cool because it could convert to a football field. That was a big deal at the time. The seats were very vertical, getting the fans closer to the field. Every fly ball look like a homer.
So, as arenas evolve why not a dome race track?
Posted by: Larry | Oct 1, 2009 8:58:11 PM
Didn't Darth Bruton allegedly explore the possibility of putting a dome over Bristol a few years ago and decided it was impractical, at least partly due to the exhaust fumes?
Posted by: Richard in N.C. | Oct 2, 2009 12:59:05 AM
Larry: Lots of indoor racing for less-than-full-sized cars; don't forget the famous Chili Bowl. I remember an event at the old Charlotte Coliseum in December 1990 (I won one of two go-kart races and Humpy Wheeler won the other, I believe). The headliners were Midgets; Ken Schrader competed.
They had a dirt late model race in the Pontiac Silverdome back in the 1980s. Squeezed an almost-quarter-mile oval in there, as I remember. As far as I know, that's the only event for full-sized racecars ever held indoors. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong about that.
Interesting that baseball parks have come sort of full-circle, back to updated versions of old-style parks. But yes, no question, stadiums -- like most everything else -- evolve.
Richard: I remember when Bruton talked about putting a lid on BMS. I was one of the few who were not skeptical about it. Noise, as I remember, was an even bigger issue than ventilation. I'm no engineer, but I believe that with acoustic panels and a good HVAC plan, both noise and fume levels could actually be improved. CO3 is already problematic at some open-air tracks.
My thoughts at that time actually focused on the old Texas Stadium in Irving, with the big hole in the roof, as a model for a domed racetrack. It wouldn't matter that much if the middle of the infield got rained on, as long as the track was covered. The new Cowboys Stadium has a similar one, but it can be covered by the retractable panels.
Anyway... we'll see if Bruton revisits the idea. If he does, I'm going to believe Jerry Jones provided the motivation for him to do so. Gotta keep up with the Joneses, you know!
Posted by: David Green | Oct 2, 2009 9:20:08 AM
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