Exclusive To The Glob

Paddy Keyk goes undercover for an expose that blows the roof off what really went down at AT&T stadium.

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (GLOB) -

Plenty of wags have already had fun with the Cowboy season and everything associated with it falling apart. The stadium, which a local radio station calls “The Death Star” almost chalked up a kill here.

The week prior, when he bizarrely volunteered thoughts on the sun, Jerry Jones, failed GM of the Cowboys, had this to say:

"Well let’s tear the damn stadium down and build another one? Are you kidding me?" he snapped back. "Everybody has got the same thing. Every team that comes in here has the same issues.

"I'm saying, the world knows where the sun is. You get to know that almost a year in advance. Someone asked me about the sun. What about the sun? Where's the moon?” - Source

Where’s the moon.

While I think he is probably just jealous of SoFi Stadium, you know, the stadium where the roof doesn’t cave in, I was more interested in the engineering and physics of what just happened. This is what piqued my interest:

"Our building inspector and our deputy fire marshal did talk to AT&T Stadium crews today and determined that there weren't any structural issues with the venue or the roof," Schrock said. "And that this was in fact just a piece of metal that was a covering lid to one of these cable trays that was blown off by a gust of wind." - Source

A gust of wind? I read the above and I have questions.

First, note the shape of the stadium:

Note the curved top of the stadium. It is similar to the shape of an airplane wing.

Why does this matter? Lift from a wing is due to low pressure above the wing. Essentially, the plane is sucked up from above, rather than pushed from below. OK, it’s both, but it only works because the wind going over the curved section causes low pressure. Nature abhors a vacuum, so the wing is drawn upward. And yes, the higher pressure below the wing provides a push upward. The stadium of course has no wind passing beneath it, which is why the whole thing doesn’t simply lift off the ground and fly about like, well, like a Death Star.

Here is a diagram illustrating in detail:

But, here is another interesting thing. A gust of wind was blamed. They started to open the roof around 5:30 pm. Here is information from Grapevine, TX Weather History.

SOURCE

Note the wind gust speeds. As noted, I have questions.

The other issue is that due to the air-conditioning running in the stadium, the interior of the stadium would have a slightly higher pressure than outside the stadium. This is understood by anyone that installs air-conditioning equipment. They have to provide an out for the incoming air. In a home, when the fan is blowing, most people think that air inside the house is simply being circulated. But in reality, when the fan kicks on, some air is sucked into the house from outside, like through the door frame, windows, cracks, etc. Homes are not airtight. The air that is sucked in has to go somewhere, and in general it goes up and out which is why you have the soffit vents and turbines on a house.

If anything, when the roof started to open, there should have been air rushing out, not in. Think of when you open a beer. When you pop the top, does air go in or out? That’s right, out.

So, what really happened?

Disguised as a lost cheerleader recruit I was able to wander about the stadium until a nice maintenance man offered to guide me. I was able to ascertain from him the name of the inspecting engineer with the city of Arlington’s building inspection department, found out his favorite Starbuck’s location, and bumped into him in line.

While waiting for his double shot half-caf latte, I struck up a conversation and it went like this:

Paddy: “Double shot half-caf - isn’t that a single shot?”

BI (Building Inspector): non-committal grunt.

Paddy: Changing tack. “How ‘bout them Cowboys?”

BI: snort

Paddy: (looking at his uniform) “Oh, you work for the city?”

BI: (turning to look at me a moment) “Aren’t you Paddy from The Glob?”

Paddy: “Caught me.”

BI: “Thank God there is still responsible journalism in this town. You want to ask me about the Deathstar, right?”

Paddy: “Are you willing to talk?”

BI: “Off the record?”

Paddy: “Mm, what about on condition of anonymity.”

BI: (Looking at me for a moment) “Ok”

I sat down with him and went over all the above already covered, so for brevity, I’ll skip that recap and get to the meat.

BI: “… so, everything you said is accurate. Where’d you learn all this?”

Paddy: “Minored in Engineering at UT Arlington. It’s kind of a hobby.”

BI: “Well, OK, so that’s that,” and he started to get up to leave.

Paddy, “One more question, if I may. We agree the panel should have blown up and out. But clearly there was negative pressure in the stadium. What caused it?”

BI: “Oh, that’s because the Cowboys suck.”