It was a great three day weekend for me as my high school and college buddies came down to GeedingManor to select a winner for the scholarship we are all so privileged to be a part of.
After debating and selecting a winner, it just felt like another night in college complete with a 1:30 am run to Whataburger for some taquitos.
One of my buddies flew in from Boston and actually gave me a piece of Fenway. Certain parts of Fenway were under construction and he was able to grab some pieces of brick with permission from a Fenway representative.
WifeGeeding thought the guys were going to surprise me with a baby shower. I told her as much as the guys love me, that’s just something guys don’t do. For you 1310 AM The Ticket listeners, you know that’s a Bob and Dan segment waiting to happen.
On Saturday we all decided to tour Cowboys Stadium, which was pretty fun. Heck, we were so goofy, OK, I was so goofy I even ran a 40 in which they timed. Uh, um, I’m not going to reveal the results of that 40 but I will say it’s slower than my high school time.
During the tour, I noticed a family of Philadelphia Eagles fans was with our group. The tour guide made us vote as a group to include them on the tour, and I spoke for all of us as I said we’ll extend them some Texas hospitality. The mother of the group responded with an, ahhhhhh. But the one thing I thought was strange is that all of them, except for the mother, was wearing a Donovan McNabb jersey. For those of you that don’t follow football, he was recently traded to the Washington Redskins.
Our tour package included a picture on the star. I like this picture depending on the reason for the thumbs up with the guy holding the football. He’s working on a doctorate at Texas A&M, and if it’s a gig’em sign, then I’m going to have to photoshop that out. I’m afraid we all may have lost him to that cult that is A&M.
One guy actually proposed on the star during a picture.
As we stated the tour, we got to sit in the stand which were made out of some nice leather supported material. But those seats aren’t everywhere.
Surprisingly the building had the AC running along with the Jerrytron. When I toured Texas Stadium there was no AC during the summer. More surprisingly, a panel was not working on the Jerrytron that you can see circled in this picture.
As the tour guide spoke, I took pictures of the Ring of Honor. The older Cowboys were on one side, and Smith, Aikman, and Irvin was on the other side. I decided to try that Microsoft Photogallery feature where you can combine all the pics into on big panoramic, which you can check out here. But to actually see the names, you have to look at the original size, which I don’t think is displaying because it may be larger than what Flickr allows.
I didn’t know that the Cotton Bowl ticket offices were in the new stadium, and is in a hard to get to spot. The new trophy was on display, but I preferred the old one that looked like a piece of cotton.
On the glass walls of the Cotton Bowl offices was a quote from Joe Theismann. That’s right Cowboys fans, Joe Theismann’s name and one of his quotes is actually a part of Cowboys Stadium.
The tour guide asked who were the furthest to travel, and it turns out to be a family of three from Holland.
I found out those arches that hold the roof in place is made of grade 65 steel from Luxembourg – the U.S. doesn’t make any steel of that high of grade. But then again, it would be hard to place in a place who’s skeleton was made in Pittsburgh.
Texas Stadium only had 54 concession stands, this place has 859.
Stupid but notable, but that Dr Pepper sign you see in the endzone only lights up when the Cowboys score.
I found it interesting that even though people may lease a suite to see a game, they still have to buy game tickets and can’t bring any food.
The tour guide pointed out a place near Jerry’s box that includes a soundproof booth that has a direct line to the coach’s headset. If you look under this cheerleader’s right leg in this pic, you can see that room that the tour guide calls Jerry’s Perch.
The Texas Stadium tour provided us with plenty of footballs to play with while on the field, but on the Cowboys Stadium tour footballs were hard to find. Unlike Texas Stadium, this field does not crown. I meant to take a picture from ground level like I did at Texas Stadium, but I forgot.
The seems on the field seemed a bit dangerous as you can feel a bit of gap between them. I thought it may have been like this because they may have just thrown down the field for touring purposes since it’s the off-season, but the Cowboys actually had part of their mini-camp there on Sunday.
We were told that each locker in the stadium cost $9000 because of some special wood. Not only did I think that was a bit excessive, but I thought the neon blue lights on the ceiling of the locker room was a bit much.
I heard on the news that Michael Irvin said when he was given the number 88 that Drew Pearson told him to be better than him and make that number shine. Irvin said he told the new owner of that number, Dez Bryant, the same thing.
From what I understand, to cap that leaking well, there’s an option to put a giant concrete dome over it to suck up the oil, but it could take weeks or months to construct and ship out there, which makes me wonder why such things aren’t already constructed.
Thumbs up to the Eagles family, but it's time to buy some new jerseys!
Thumbs up to the Eagles family, but it's time to buy some new jerseys!