The other thing I was doing tonight besides watching the pep rally was scouting out the layout of the field in the Alamodome. I couldn’t get a complete feel for it because they had the field cut in half with a curtain and put a stage in front of that, so how it will be set up for the actual practices is still a little bit of a question mark. But it didn’t appear they had room for two complete fields. They had one field laid out with the Cowboys logo and yard markers etc. but it only looked like they had room next to that for another third to half-a-field. So I will be interested how they manage to run practices without running into each other on the field. Also, the seats are a little more back than they were in Oxnard so it might present a small challenge to see everything. The good news is they can’t practice on the "far field" like in Oxnard where there were no seats. Whatever the case, I’ll do my best to cover it.
I read that the press conference today was a Bill Parcells nostalgia session. In some ways, I’m glad I missed it. I’m tired of reminiscing about 2006, I’m all about 2007.
But I read this piece of news and it’s not good.
Head Coach Wade Phillips announced right tackle Marc Colombo would miss at least the first week, and possibly two after having his right knee scoped three weeks ago.
Two weeks! That’s almost the entire time here in San Antonio. I’m disappointed that I might not see our entire starting line practice intact while I’m here. I like Marc Colombo, I thought he came on strong last year, but he needs to get his reps in. Maybe it will only be a week.
Also, Stephen Jones needs to get the rest of those draft picks signed. So far, we only have Alan Ball, Deon Anderson and Doug Free under contract and practice starts tomorrow. It better be a late night for Stephen Jones and some player agents.
Update [2007-7-24 23:59:17 by Grizz]: It turns out that Stephen Jones has gotten some of the draft picks under contract. From the DMN blog:
The Cowboys agreed to terms with several draft picks on Tuesday. All the picks signed four-year deals. Fourth round pick offensive tackle Doug Free from Northern Illinois received a $425,000 signing bonus.
Wide receiver Isaiah Stanback, another fourth round pick from Washington, sixth round pick kicker Nick Folk from Arizona and seventh round pick Courtney Brown from Cal Poly also signed.
So we still have Anthony Spencer and James Marten to go. [END UPDATE]
Click below to see some terrible pictures I took at the pep rally. My flash doesn’t work that well in the dark Alamodome.
Below is from inside the Dome tonight, the stage is on the right set up around the 50-yard line. I know my flash sucks, but I was trying to give you the feel that this thing was truly like a concert.
Here's another shot of the fans in the stands.
This is from right outside the Dome, where it's all Ford all the time. Jerry has to make a buck somehow.
Another view of the outside of the Dome.
That's my new truck! Ha, I wish. Oh yeah, it's not all Ford all the time, occasionally it's Miller Lite time, too. Jerry leaves no penny unclaimed.
