TCU Announces Plans for Video Board
April 16, 2002
Full Scoreboard Image
TCU football fans will enjoy a new, state-of-the-art, football scoring and video system at Amon G. Carter Stadium this season and beyond, courtesy of a gift from the David E. Bloxom, Sr. Foundation in honor of former TCU football standout and Fort Worth entrepreneurian Dave Bloxom.
Daktronics, Inc. of Brookings, S.D. is designing and building the new scoreboard, complete with a ProStar? full-color, digital LED (light emitting diode) video display. The main scoreboard will be located on the north end of the stadium and will measure approximately 32 feet wide by 50 feet high. In the center of the structure, a large ProStar? video display will entertain fans with live video and instant replays in billions of shades of color. The display will also be used to add home-field advantage by firing up the crowd with exciting animation and graphics. It can also be used to display additional data, including player and team statistics and scores from other games in progress. The ProStar? display will measure approximately 18 feet high by 32 feet wide, and be one of the few large screen video displays in collegiate football stadiums to be configured in the 9:16 ratio of high definition television. More than 250,000 individual light emitting diodes will comprise the screen and will illuminate to form the images that fans see.
The main scoreboard also incorporates the game clock, team name message centers, delay of game clock, a unique identification display on top and rotating advertising panels. Flanking the main scoreboard will be two additional structures, that will provide additional game information and also include rotating advertising panels.
"The David E. Bloxom, Sr. Foundation is pleased to make this gift in honor of Dave," said Bonnie Dowdy, President of the Bloxom Foundation. "He loved TCU and especially Horned Frog football and credited his experience there with his successful business career that followed. Dave wanted to do something significant for TCU Athletics and we are happy to be able to follow through on his intentions. We hope this gift will provide TCU student-athletes, coaches and fans with an exciting game atmosphere in which to compete and watch games for years to come," she added.
"Dave Bloxom loved Horned Frog Football and this gift in his name is a fitting tribute to him," added TCU Athletics Director Eric Hyman. "The new scoreboard will play a major part in the continuing development of the TCU Football tradition that he helped build."
Dave Bloxom was born in Houston and became an all-state football player at Jefferson Davis High School. He turned down scholarship offers from several schools, including UCLA, to attend TCU. He played one season for the Horned Frogs before joining the Army to serve during World War II. After the war, Mr. Bloxom returned to TCU, where he graduated in 1949. As an undergrad, he lettered in track and football, playing fullback on offense and linebacker on defense and started several businesses to supplement his football scholarship.
After graduating from TCU, Mr. Bloxom played one professional football season with the Los Angeles Dons in the All-America Football Conference before returning to Fort Worth, where he would live the life of an entrepreneur. He is perhaps best known for his company, Speed Fab-Crete, which constructed buildings using prefabricated light-weight concrete panels. He was involved with several social, civic and charitable affairs and was named to the TCU Letterman's Association Hall of Fame. He passed away in July of 2000 at 77 years of age.
Daktronics, Inc. has manufactured more than 500 large screen, full-color LED displays. Recent orders for NFL facilities include integrated display systems for Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, Ford Field, future home of the Detroit Lions, and CMGI Field, future home of the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots. Other NFL facilities that count on Daktronics display systems include Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium, Giants Stadium, the H.H.H. Metrodome, Paul Brown Stadium, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Raymond James Stadium, and Fed Ex Field. Daktronics was also chosen for the display systems in the new American Airlines arena in Dallas.
