Houston FIFA Stunt -- Warning VERY pic heavy

Hi guys. Here are the pictures from this week in Houston (there are a lot). FYI, I have to black out the mascot’s face (Toro) when he is not in costume. Can’t be ruining that illusion that he’s actually a person, you know? Next thing you know, I’ll be telling you that the tooth fairy isn’t real… Sorry to break your hearts. Christian is in the black shirt. He had a couple helpers at various times.

The field, set up for soccer.

 

FIFA Inspection Visit!





Christian’s ropes rigged up.

 

This is what the various steps of the roping look like. Good thing he knows what he’s doing, right?








Looking at the seats through the catwalk floor.

 

Getting ready for a practice run.


The special FIFA scarf?




And…jump!

 

Looking over his work.


Here is the man himself. Gross and sweaty. It's SO HOT up there.


He goes back and checks everything in between each jump.

 

Some people (cheerleaders too) are starting to show up on the field.


Here is the presentation area set up for the FIFA directors.


Checking everything over, the real jump is happening next.




Here they are. They shut down all the highways between the airport and the stadium and the FIFA directors got a police escort the entire way.

 

Toro’s head.


Uh oh he’s got the headset on. Now he means business.



8 minutes til launch!



Local media on hand to cover the “event”.


Ready. Set. Go. See the video at the end for the jump.

 

Up on the roof.









The top of the Astrodome.

 

The machinery that moves the retractable roof.


Cheerleaders and fireworks.







The FIFA directors again.

 

Seats from the roof.



Where the rope is set up.


They called him to tell him it all went great.


He has big ideas…


WTF is this, a huge ass armadillo?


This is how we get around the stadium.


Time to untie the ropes and drop them down.

 

Moving the grass? Each of these squares costs $2500



The man in charge of the grass, Rodney.


Time to pull 2,000 feet of rope up, and spool it up.

 

Look at all these air filters!


And…washing machines?


I thought Yote would appreciate these pics of the ventilation system.




Our trusty steed with a 1,000-foot reel of rope.


And the video of the stunt itself (click on it).

 

Very cool! So NDB has given up the ghost on jumping and has moved onto doing the rigging and planning of the stunts? Its probably a much more lucrative and long lasting job prospect for him.

The voice of god is different than I had in my head...

 

No, he did the test jumps the day before. He flew out on Tuesday morning, and set up the whole thing and tested it out Tuesday and Wednesday. I didn't arrive until Thursday, to see the actual stunt. He has always done all the rigging and planning.

 

Sorry. God has failed you.

 

That is awesome!!!!!!

I really do hope that they pick him up to do the gamely stunts

 

He should be doing one for the Texans in December. And he got a call from the Vikings while he was there to do something for them this season as well.

Next season, I'm hoping he will be back to doing several for each team.

 

Thats awesome!!!!!! Maybe it is a sign of the economy strengthening? People are buying sporting event tickets because they have extra income? I dont know but just hoping!!!!!!

 

That's exactly it. The reason he's been out of work for the past 3 years is because the teams slashed their budgets, and stunts got cut. Prior to that, he was working almost every home game for the Texans, and he was also working the occasional game here and there for the Ravens, Vikings and Saints.

The teams may be starting back slowly -- only one or two stunts this season, but it does sound like things will be picking up and he will be back to his normal workload in another couple years.