Everyone wants to tell you how big they are. And there's no doubt the brand-new, state-of-the-art scoreboards at Reliant Stadium are gigantic. It's undeniably cool to see that 320 life size J.J. Watts can fit on one of these end boards too (one cannot go wrong with using J.J. in demonstrations).
Nevertheless the size and the scope of these 52-feet high and 277-feet wide video boards are not the most impressive thing about them.
What really stands out is that they don't completely overshadow the game. In other words, they're nothing like the awful monstrosity that hangs over the center of the field in the place formerly known as Cowboys Stadium.
The scoreboard in Jerry World is like a spoiled giant child stomping and screaming, demanding all the attention for itself.
The Texans managed to somehow go both bigger and classier. That's hard to do.
Anyone who's ever been to the Dallas Cowboys' stadium has experienced the phenomenon of inadvertently watching the scoreboard when you want to be watching the field. It happens to people in great seats, ones who should be pumped up to see NFL action live. The scoreboard in Jerry World is like a spoiled giant child stomping and screaming, demanding all the attention for itself.
It almost detracts from the game.
Thankfully, that's not the case with the new big boards at Reliant Stadium, which will make their debut this Saturday night in the Texans' preseason game with the Miami Dolphins. A preview demonstration of the two scoreboards shows off plenty of bells and whistles — including some four trillion color variations and the fact that it would take the world's fastest human (Usain Bolt) 8.14 seconds to sprint across one of the screens.
But even with VIPs in the Club Level seats there just to see the mammoth boards, you never get the impression these scoreboards will overshadow the game.
Scoreboard Sense Not Wars
The presentation of stats will be much more compelling (forget the fantasy football nerds for a minute, how about an up-to-the-minute comparison of No. 2 quarterback battlers Case Keenum and T.J. Yates' numbers on this Saturday night?) The graphics are going to be much sharper, much more 2013 (who can forget the near comical original Tecmo Bowl crude cartoon of J.J. Watt the game operations crew had to use last season?)
Replays and the promised inside locker room camera footage should be crystal clear and powerful.
Jerry Jones forgot the people. And the punters.
"They say a picture is worth a thousand words," Texans president Jamey Rootes says. "If so, then video is priceless."
Yes, the new Reliant Stadium scoreboards will be a show, but they won't steal all the attention from the real show. You know, DeAndre Hopkins reaching up and over a cornerback to make a catch, Brian Cushing foaming at the mouth while tackling everything in sight, Arian Foster darting here, no there . . . that type of thing. The actual football. The game itself remains the real focus. That's really priceless.
Amid all the talk of how BIG these video boards are — 5.28 million pixels! — Rootes invokes the old story of Walt Disney showing off Disneyland to a friend before the park ever opened. The friend couldn't have been more wowed, but Walt himself noted that it was "missing the people."
"The people will make it," Rootes similarly says of the new scoreboards and the whole revamped Reliant Stadium experience in general.
There's the real big difference between Jerry World and Reliant Stadium. Jerry Jones forgot the people. And the punters.
You can't hep but think this goes back to Texans owner Bob McNair never needing it to be all about him and forever staying the course. One can question some of the moves the Texans have made over the years, but the franchise's overall vision has always been clear — and steady.
Contrast that with the Cowboys of Jones always changing direction, foolishly firing Wade Phillips, anointing Jason Garrett as the golden boy, suddenly taking away Garett's play-calling duties . . . signing Tony Romo to a contract extension that's almost as mammothly ridiculous as that center scoreboard hanging over field and then questioning Romo's commitment almost even before the ink's dry on said contract. On and on it goes in Big D, forever a circus.
The Texans managed to somehow go both bigger and classier. That's hard to do.
It's all about the show for the Cowboys. Drama trumps win. Jerry's franchise craves attention with the same maniacal, all-consuming desire as Kim Kardashian. Of course, the Cowboys' scoreboard tries to overshadow the game. How could it not?
The new Reliant Stadium video boards are somehow both larger and more subdued. If you're a Texans fan, it's just as easy to almost be more excited about top-notch food truck Bernie's The Burger Bus getting its own booth on the 100 level (another Rootes' coup) than the new scoreboards. Or the new zip line. The Texans let this stuff breathe.
The Cowboys of Jerry Jones? They try to clobber everyone over the head with everything. You know there's a lingerie shop in the stadium now, right . . . right?! Sex and football! Sex and football!
Bob McNair's franchise has managed to put in new cutting-edge $16.5 million scoreboards that don't demand that you always turn away from the game. Forget their size. That's the real neat trick.
The new Reliant Stadium scoreboards are giant.
