Contest tips - Print Sports Writing

TIPA Rules
Print Sports Writing
Writing deadline is one hour.

The sports contest will involve a tour of the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Rules, guidelines and what is permissible are being dictated by the folks at the stadium -- not TIPA.

So, we have to abide by their rules. Anyone -- not abiding by their rules will not be permitted to participate.

There will be no leeway, no exceptions, no excuses.

Notice - Contestants should do advanced research about the stadium. Information about the Cowboys' new home will not be disseminated at the preliminary meeting, which will be at noon at the hotel. Since advanced notice is being given about the contest, contestants will have plenty of time to compile information about the stadium.

Also, all contestants should consider eating something prior to boarding the bus. No lunch is included in this contest. No refreshments or lunch will be served at the stadium.


Below is the information directly from the site administrators that TIPA is to follow:

Contestants MUST wear Durable work-type shoes.
Shoes must cover foot completely, have sturdy soles, and no stiletto type heels. Tennis shoes are not acceptable; thus, sandals are not acceptable.

* SHORTS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE AS FAR AS DRESS IS CONCERN
*An escort will come and meet you and provide you with a hard hat,
safety glasses and a safety vest.

Criteria: Lead, story organization, fairness and balance, identification and attribution, accuracy, readability, length of story (not wordy), human interest, news value.

TIPA 2009 Winning Entries

1st Place
Print Sports Writing
By Keith MacPherson
University of North Texas

Cowboy fans rejoice. The new home of the Dallas Cowboys is only months away.
The new Cowboys football stadium is inline with construction plans and is scheduled to be finished by June 6 when country music star George Strait visits for a concert, said Brett
Daniels, director of corporate communications.
In November 2004, Arlington voters approved a measure that uses $325 million of taxpayer money to help Cowboys owner Jerry Jones finance the $1 billion project.
The stadium will seat 80,000 fans but can be extended upwards to hold 100,000 for special events such as the Final Four and the Super Bowl.
The stadium will feature a video board hung in the center of the stadium that stretches 60
yards wide and 24 yards in height.
“This will be like nothing at any other stadium in the world,” Daniels said. “Fans from
anywhere in the stadium will be able to see replays that are almost as big as the football
field itself.”
Another key feature in the new stadium is a retractable roof. The stadium will still have the
iconic “hole in the roof” that Texas Stadium had, but two bi‐parting mechanized roof panels
will now be able to slide over the hole to shield fans from the weather extremities that
accompany North Texas.
“One of the first things the Jones family were concerned about was keeping the hole in the
roof,” Daniels said. “That has been a symbol of the Cowboys for years and Mr. Jones wanted
to retain that image.”
A main concern for Arlington residents has been the traffic that the Cowboys will bring to
the area during game day, but Cowboys’ spokesperson Daniel Rojas said that the organization has been working to prevent any problems.
“This stadium will have 11 ways out as opposed to the four that the other one had,” he said.
“We also plan on having a Web site that fans can enter their zip code in and find the best route to the stadium.”
The new home of the Cowboys sits blocks away from the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and
the organization plans to share parking with the Texas Rangers in addition to its 83 acres of
parking lot.
In addition to the George Strait concert, the stadium will host a number of different events
including a Jonas Brothers concert, two soccer games, and five college football games.
Construction for the stadium began in April 2006 and minor construction details such as
locker rooms and concessions won’t be finished until this fall, but once the stadium opens
Daniels said it will be a sight to behold.
“The Cowboys have won five Super Bowls, but this will only be the third stadium they have
played in,” he said. “This is something special … the Cowboys wanted something different
than everybody else’s stadium, and they certainly got it.”


2nd Place
Print Sports Writing
By Jaime Gonzalez
Texas A&MKingsville

DALLAS – God can still watch the Dallas Cowboys.
“The hole is the same size as the one in Texas Stadium,” Brett Daniels, director of
corporate communications for the Dallas Cowboys, said of the iconic feature of the Irving,
and now Arlington, stadiums.
Despite the move from Texas Stadium to their new stadium in Arlington, the team
made sure the distinctive look made the move.
Even with a bi‐parting retractable roof, the area where the hole is will still allow
light to enter the arena.
On top of the last row is another frame of windows that will also allow light to enter.
According to Daniels, that was done to protect spectators from the blistering Texas
heat but to avoid the dim lighting that sometimes accompanies a domed structure.
With the exception of the famed “hole in the roof”, the stadium’s features are
something the Cowboys, or the rest of the world for that matter, have never seen.
The stadium is the longest single‐span roof structure in the world and when the roof
is closed will be the largest enclosed NFL stadium.
The stadium will also be the first to have a center‐hung video board above the
playing field.
The video board will be hung 110 feet about the field and will have video on all four
sides angled towards the stands for optimal viewing.
“The video board was placed to avoid kickoffs,” Daniels added.
He conceded that kickoffs could still hit the video boards but would only be likely if
somebody were deliberately trying to hit it.
Construction on the stadium began in April 2006.
“It’s been 36 months of construction up to this point,” Daniels said.
The total cost of construction is $1.1 billion with $325 million coming from the city
of Arlington, who are the owners of the stadium and have a long‐term lease agreement with
the Cowboys.
“It’s not a burden to the public,” Daniels said on the cost of the facility.
Their will still be minor work done on the stadium throughout the late summer and
fall, but it is expected to be ready for its opening event, a George Strait concert on June 6.
Along with being home to the Cowboys, the stadium will also be home to
international soccer matches, basketball and college football games.
The Oklahoma Sooners and Brigham Young Cougars will play the first football game
in the stadium Labor Day weekend.
The Big 12 championship and Cotton Bowl will also be played in the facility.
The stadium is already scheduled to be home to future Super Bowls and NCAA
basketball Final Fours as well.


3rd Place
Print Sports Writing
By Rob Boscamp
Texas A&M Corpus Christi

Cowboy Countdown
New Stadium Nearing Completion
ARLINGTON—Set your watches, Arlington. You are now officially on the Cowboy
Countdown.
Director of Corporate Communications Brett Daniels announced that the new Dallas
Cowboys Stadium was nearly 60 days from completion. The $1.1 billion yet‐to‐be‐named
stadium will finally be put to the test with its first event in June, a country music show
featuring George Strait, Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton.
Daniels stated that stadium construction would be finished shortly after the George
Strait concert. Daniels also mentioned that the 2,000 construction workers finishing up the
building will soon shift from two shifts daily to a 24‐hour period to ensure the stadium is
completed on time.
Most of the work left to be done includes the seating and suites surrounding the
80,000‐plus stadium. Daniels did ensure that the stadium would be ready for the Cowboys’
preseason game against the Tennessee Titans on Aug. 21.
As Cowboy fans walk into the new stadium, they will immediately notice the
homage to the team’s former home, Texas Stadium, which is set to be demolished early
next year. The stadium features a hole in the roof, similar in both size and shape to Texas
Stadium’s. The only difference between the stadiums is that the new Cowboys’ building will
have the option of a retractable roof to cover the hole.
“We wanted to try and replicate some of [the tradition],” said Daniels. “It took over
38 years to build that up … [we] wanted to carry it over into the [new] building.”
Along with paying tribute to past legends, the new Cowboys Stadium looks to
become a legend in its own right. Ninety feet above the center of the stadium is a 300,000‐
pound video system. The four screen system features two video screens facing the end
zones, both about 53 feet tall and 30 feet wide.
Meanwhile, the boards facing the sidelines stand at 160 feet wide with a 71‐foot
height (11,393 square feet). Once the screens have been installed in the stadium, Mitsubishi
will nominate the massive video screens for the Guinness Book of World Records’ largest
scoreboard, an honor currently held by the Tokyo Race Course in Japan (8,066 square feet).
The stadium will also feature two retractable end zone doors measuring 120 feet
height and 180 feet wide, making them the largest in the world. Each door is broken up into
five 38‐foot panels that can be opened to provide air circulation during both sporting and
non‐sporting events.
The new Dallas Cowboys Stadium will begin tours for the general public starting
June 26. Other opportunities to see the new stadium include the Barbara Jordan Media
Awards Luncheon on June 12 and the Jonas Brothers’ tour kick‐off (June 20).
Other confirmed events for the stadium include several NCAA football matchups.
BYU and Oklahoma will square off in the building’s first‐ever college football game. Other
notable events include the stadium’s first college basketball game, which will feature North
Carolina and Texas squaring off. The new stadium will also host the 2009 CONCACAF Gold
Cup, the 2010 NBA All‐Star Game, Super Bowl XLV, and the NCAA Final Four in 2014.