From Hardhats To Helmets Tonight In Arlington

   Tonight, the hardhats will be replaced by helmets.

   The “Dallas Cowboys New Stadium in Arlington’’ was a working name that was working for three years, ever since Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones finalized plans to build a “Taj Ma’Ball’’ as a money-costing, money-making tribute to the silver-and-blue.

   “Cowboys Stadium’’ is the new official name for the $1.1 billion facility, one that evokes the traditional simplicity and class of, say, “Yankee Stadium.’’

   And what will it be called in the future? When the economy is more robust, it probably won’t just be quite as “traditional’’ and simple.’’

   But no matter what we call it, as I recently joked in the presence of Mr. Jones himself, Cowboys Stadium is about to serve as a shrine to one of the world’s most recognizable sports brands – and as maybe just a bit of a tribute to Mr. Jones himself.

    It’s been labeled “Jerry World’’ (trite) and it’s been labeled “Six Flags Over Jerry’’ (better) but because this dream of Jones’ took seed in his fertile mind so many years ago, I’ve always called it “Jerryassic Park.’’

     Get it? A gifted but demented mad scientist creates an innovative-but-risky world as a tribute to his own genius? “Jerryassic Park’’? Get it?

    Aw, never mind.

    A couple of years ago, Sports Illustrated found itself charmed out of its knickers by Jones. A writer from the last-word magazine eyed blueprints, toured the skeleton of the building, fell under the spell of Jerry’s steel-blue eyes, and proclaimed the embryonic building to be:

    “Possibly the greatest edifice to be constructed for the people’s entertainment in this great land of ours, maybe the final frontier in sports-related architecture.’’

     There was almost drool coming off the page.

     And here’s the thing: Sports Illustrated may have undersold the thing.

    “I’m writing a $1,000,000 check every day,’’ Jones said back then. “That’ll keep your eye on the ball.’’

    But Jerry possessed a roaming eye long before the actual construction of Cowboys Stadium. (By the way, it has long been rumored to have a future as “AT&T Stadium’’ and there is a grassroots movement for a subhead of something like “Tom Landry Field.’’ But as I write this, the Cowboys are still being coy and have tabled corporate negotiations regarding naming rights for the building. So on June 6, we saw the grand opening featuring country serenades in the form of a George Strait/Reba McIntyre concert. Cowboys indeed!)

    In preparation for someday replacing Texas Stadium – which somehow devolved over the course of a few decades from being a “Star Wars’’-space-age sort of TV presence to looking like a place where the Jetsons would dump their trash – Jerry Jones and his team of engineers visited London’s Wembley Stadium, New York’s Bloomberg Tower and Sydney, Australia’s Opera House. In his mind, he also had stored visions of the aforementioned Yankee Stadium (on his first visit to The Big Apple as a young man, he instructed the cabbie to drive him to the legendary baseball park. Jerry got out of the cab, touched the exterior wall of “The House That Ruth Built,’’ and then re-entered the cab to get on with his business trip.) And of course, the Astrodome in Houston was also an inspiration of sorts.

    The Jones family collected ideas at every turn. The most off-beat of those? Maybe the story that comes from a trip to Las Vegas to see Celine Dion. The ungodly-in-size video screens that will end up being the talk of all of sports due to the way the ticket-holder will feel like he is both at the game at in front of his living-room TV? Those comes from Jerry and family having seen a similar effect at a Celine concert.

    She was on the stage. She was on TV. She was in their ears. She was on their laps.

    So it will be at Cowboys Stadium. And the performers who will be “in your lap’’ are diverse.

    *It started on June 6 with the George Straight/Reba McIntyre concert.

    *On June 20, the younger folks enjoyed The Jonas Brothers World Tour 2009,’’ featuring Jordin Sparks.

     *On July 1, it housed the CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer quarterfinal.

    *On July 19, you got a week’s worth of world-class soccer. Four of the best soccer clubs on the planet (Chelsea Football Club, AC Milan, FC Internazionale Milano and Club America) competed in the in the inaugural World Football Challenge. (No, I do not know how it turned out.)

    *Tonight, it’s the Cowboys preseason home opener vs. the Tennessee Titans.

    *On Sept. 5, it’s college football, Oklahoma vs. Brigham Young University.

    *On Sept. 20, it’s the Cowboys vs. the New York Giants in the regular-season home-opener.

    *On Sept. 28, it’s more college football, Texas A&M vs. Arkansas.

    *On Oct. 12, it’s a big-time show (nothing against George Straight or the Jonas Brothers). It’s U2.

    *On Nov. 28, it’s Baylor vs. Texas Tech football.

    *On Dec. 5 it’s the Big 12 football championship.

    *On Dec. 19, it’s Texas vs. North Carolina in basketball.

     *On Jan. 2, 2010, it’s the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic (yes, the Cotton Bowl no longer is being played at the Cotton Bowl.)

     *Cowboys Stadium will house the 2010 NBA All-Star Game next February 14. Jones and Mavs owner Mark Cuban have promised “the biggest and best party in sports history.’’ (Sidebar: DallasBasketball.com has already arranged to serve as The Official Website Of Arlington Basketball 2010.’’ We “arranged’’ to do so by me just writing that.)

     *And then, a year later, comes an even bigger party: Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011. (We’ll try to be the “official’’ something or other of that week, too, unless we get sued.)

     Between now and then, there will almost certainly be more headaches to work through. I’ve heard awful things about the sound system there, even from McCartney’s show just this week. The Party-Pass thing teeters somewhere between “accessible’’ and “cheesy.’’ Just as some of the local residents battled through property-right arguments, there could be a few motorists shaking their fists as the area adjusts to issues of parking and traffic. The city of Arlington notes that there will be 14 approaches from major highways into the new stadium in Arlington, and that access to Texas Stadium was limited by three highways. The Cowboys insist there will be plenty of parking at the new venue, with 30,000 parking spaces available to fans on gameday. (Here's the very latest on the anticipated mess from Tim MacMahon.)

     I know this for sure: That Wal-Mart across the street is going to be packed!

     *But once all get in there, one way or another? Much will be made of the grandeur of the joint, of the massiveness of the joint, of all the nuts and bolts and glass and steel incorporated into an edifice that features:

   *Glass panels 120 feet high and 180 feet wide – the tallest glass restractable doors in the world -- that will open at each end with the push of a button … and in only 18 minutes.

    *A height that would allow the Statue of Liberty to stand comfortably on the 50-yard line and not be able to tough the roof.

    *A full 15 times the “club space’’ of Texas Stadium. The old building offered 15,000 square feet of club space. The new stadium has – yes, 15 times that! -- with 200 luxury suites, some of them right at field level.

    *End zone party areas, plazas that along with the three party decks in each end zone create over 420,000 square feet of entertainment space, or approximately 10 acres.

   *The ability to work as a stadium normally seated 80,000 but easily able to expand to 100,000.
   *Unbelievable sight lines (created in part by the fact that the field is actually 50 feet below ground level) and unbelievable access to the action (created in part by the fact that prior to kick-off, Cowboys players and coaches will walk through the Field Level Sideline Club on their way to the field.)

   *Those TV screens: There are eight video boards in Cowboys Stadium, highlighted by the four-board cluster that will be suspended 110 feet directly over the center of the playing surface. The board will run from the 20-yard line to the 20-yard line -- measuring 180 feet in length and 50 feet in height - making it the largest video board installation in the world. (Thanks, Celine!)

   *More TVs.  

   There is all that, plus there is Jones’ wise salutes to the Cowboys’ storied past. So the Ring of Honor will live on and will be a featured part the new building. A Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame is in the works (of course, this isn’t just a way to honor the past; the Cowboys Pro Shop will also be included, so bring your checkbook). The bronze Tom Landry statue has its new home.

   And, of course. … there will still be The Hole In The Roof. It will adjust to the weather (it’s retractable) and it is more massive than its predecessor (the roof is the largest of its kind in the world and measures 660,000 square feet) but the “feel’’ is traditional … even though the whole things runs on a “rack-and-pinion drive system, a phrase and a technology not usually applied to a building.

     It will take just 12 minutes to open or close the roof.

    It will likely take even less time than that for Cowboys fans to love the building as much as they love its main tenants.