FRONT ROW: Paying tribute to Burton Tingle

BURTON TINGLE FIELD: It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

On Friday night, the Sahuarita Mustangs will officially rename the football field after Tingle as a tribute to his immeasurable influence on Sahuarita athletics.

The ceremony will take place at halftime of the Mustangs’ season opener against Nogales (7 p.m. kickoff).

Tingle has served as a coach and teacher at Sahuarita High School for 40 years, and has remained one of the most popular members in the community. Three generations of students have passed through Tingle’s tenure.

I, for one, couldn’t be happier for coach Tingle. He’s still a fixture on the sidelines at every Sahuarita game, diligently taking notes and keeping statistics, while dispensing advice at critical junctures.

“When you think of Sahuarita athletics, you think of Burton Tingle,” said SHS athletic director Chris Fanning.

I hope to see you at Tingle Field at Earl J. Kelly Stadium in Sahuarita on Friday night to pay tribute to one of the truly great coaches this area has ever known.

Check out today’s Sahuarita Sun for a full-length story on the dedication.

A TEXAS-SIZED FLAW: Who said the NFL preseason wasn’t worth watching?

Crazy Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones unveiled his (and the Texas taxpayers’) $1.2 billion tribute to excess this preseason, flinging open the doors to Cowboys Stadium and proving that in today’s sports climate, there is no such thing as too ridiculous.

Forget about the exorbitant ticket costs (obstructed view seats for $75!), the mind-boggling concession fees ($60 for a no-topping pizza!) or the terrible gimmicks (standing-room-only “Party Passes”). It appears as if the stadium has inherent design flaws that prevent a necessary aspect of football to take place — and Jones has no intention of fixing it.

Nobody will soon forget those images of Tennessee punter Craig Hentrich nailing the stadium’s massive HD video board (at 160 feet by 90 feet, the largest HD screen in the world). He wasn’t even aiming for the screen — it just hangs ominously over the field and prevents any NFL punter from kicking the ball properly.

The best part of this snafu is how Jones refuses to admit that this is even a flaw.

“You don’t need to move it,” Jones told ESPN.com. “You gotta be trying to do it. The rule is very clear. You just kick it over.”

The logical move would be to raise the screen out of the field of play, but Jones told the Dallas Morning News that the screen isn’t budging.

On the one hand, this story is absolutely hilarious — almost as funny as the alleged fisticuffs happening in Oakland during coaches’ meetings. On the other, it’s infuriating to see more than a billion dollars go to fund something so frivolous (and so flawed), while our nation is still struggling through a serious economic crisis.

Oh, well. If the scoreboard isn’t going to budge, we might as well enjoy it. It will be fun to see “Texas Stadium Scoreboard” lead the NFL in punt blocks. Yee haw!

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747