Do You Ignore the Obvious?

It looks like the Dallas Cowboys have a beautiful, state of the art football stadium. No expense appears to have been spared, especially with a massive video monitor that stretches across the field. Now even if you're in the cheap seats, you'll have a great view of the game action.

But there appears to be a problem with the setup. During a preseason game, a punter saw his kick hit the video monitor. That's not supposed to happen in a football game. As I understand, the wind can impact a punt but a physical object over the field of play isn't supposed to impede the kick's path.

The NFL is trying to figure out what to do with this situation. The Cowboys point out that they followed NFL guidelines when hanging the video screen and have no plans to raise it higher. It will be interesting to see how this is sorted out. I'm sure the NFL doesn't want to embarrass the Cowboys and the team's fans, especially after building a stadium that cost more than a billion dollars.

Perhaps the answer will come from everyday life. Our society has a long history of ignoring problems instead of addressing them. Sometimes, it's about minor stuff, like telling an obviously fat person that they've just got big bones. Ignoring a speed limit sign and getting into a fatal crash is a more serious situation. In these scenarios, it's good to keep in mind who or what is being served by your action or inaction and whether that adds to the greater good.

And mistakes can happen even though no one party may be at fault. While neither the Cowboys nor the NFL may be a guilty party, it will be up to one of them to decide what to do if punts are repeatedly bouncing off the stadium video monitor.

In the end, it's all a matter of perception. My suggestion to the Cowboys: Turn off the video during punts. After a few weeks, people will so out of practice at looking at live action, with just their eyes and not video, they'll forget to watch.