Upgrading the Edward Jones Dome is an ongoing process. Fans will notice many aesthetic improvements this season, including better end zone video boards and a much brighter overall feel.

The Ed feels much less like a dungeon as a result. Fans won’t automatically feel depressed when they step inside on a bright, sunny autumn afternoon.

And while the upgrades seem minor when compared to the over-sized grandeur of the new $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium – a 100,000-capacity facility with a $40 million overhead HDTV screen 30 yards tall and 53 yards wide – this stadium is more friendly to punters and fans.

In Jerry Jones’ dream house, the enormous screen hovers ominously over the field like a space ship preparing to land. Punters can bang footballs off it, which is a bit of a problem.

Naturally, Jones tried to gloss this over.

“If you look at how you punt the football, unless you’re trying to hit the scoreboard, you punt the ball to get downfield,” he told the Dallas Morning News. “You certainly want to get some hangtime, but you punt the ball to get downfield, and you sure don’t punt the ball down the middle. You punt it off to the side.”

Good point, Jerry, but the NFL competition committee is still looking into it.

Also, architects managed to wedge in some obstructed-view seating. Some are behind concrete walls, other sit behind pillars. And tens of thousands of unobstructed-view seats seem to be miles from the action.

But give this stadium its due. It is an amazing structure, arguably the most opulent sports venue ever constructed.

“The pressure was in creating a venue that matched the worldwide identity and power of the Dallas Cowboys brand,” Mark Williams, associate principal architect of Dallas-based HKS Inc., told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. ”It’s truly iconic. People, literally from all over the world, will want to come and see it, whether they know what to do on fourth-and-long or not.”

Of course, they couldn’t tell if it’s fourth-and-long from some of those seats, but they’ll be able to hear fellow fans groan when punts carom off the video board.

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while waiting for Albert Pujols to turn that frown upside down:

• Is the Red Sox coaching staff wondering how the Cards repaired John Smoltz’s mechanics so quickly? Or do they just assume that the National League is weaker?
• Will Brady Quinn finally taking charge as Browns quarterback?
• When Chip Rosenbloom made all his off-season moves, did he consider hiring a mascot? Does he understand what they can bring to an organization?

MORE FAVRE-INSPIRED MADNESS

So a woman pulls into a Winona, Minn., automotive service center with a live goat tied up in her trunk. She needed to replace a belt.

Workers heard the goat crying, so they opened the trunk to let it breath. The Winona Daily News described what they saw.

The goat had been painted purple and gold - the colors for the Minnesota Vikings. Shaved into its side was the No. 4 - the number of Brett Favre, who made his Vikings debut Friday night in a preseason game in the Twin Cities.

Concerned workers at Tires Plus called animal control, who seized the animal, still alive, before the woman could drive off with it.

That must have been some party she was headed to.

Elsewhere, Packers fans chose not to use animals as protest vehicle. Old Favre replica jerseys worked just fine.

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Jay Mariotti, FanHouse: “Tuesday night, in keeping with masochistic tradition, 40,000 fans will file into an ancient ballpark, ignore the reality of the standings and root for the Cubs to beat the Washington Nationals. They’ll do so even though the Nationals, I dare say, might be better than the Cubs these days. This would be the ideal evening to boycott the one sports team in America that never, ever gives its diehards a reward for their loyalty, a franchise headed toward a 101st consecutive season without a World Series title. But they can’t revolt. They don’t have it in them. They’re mad, sick and just delusional enough to think a victory will send the Cubs on a hot streak that leads to the October glory they know is just around the corner, one of these decades or centuries or eons.”

Rick Telander, Chicago Sun-Times: “There is only one thing that makes the Cubs unique: Not winning it all. There is another little old ballyard in the league — Fenway Park — and there are ever-loyal fans — St. Louis and Boston come to mind — and there are cities with two teams — New York, Los Angeles, even the Bay Area, if you like. But there is no baseball team anywhere that is actively pursuing its 101st consecutive season of not winning a championship.”

Buster Olney, ESPN.com: “John Smoltz is a friend and golfing partner of Tiger Woods, which is hardly surprising, because the two men are similar in many ways. Both are superlative athletes and, rather than being repelled by pressure, both are naturally drawn to big moments, like 3-year-olds to a birthday cake.”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Defrocked Giant Plaxico Burress is to spend 20 months in prison for illegal weapon possession. It’s like an NFL incarceration relay race, with Burress taking the baton from Michael Vick.”

MEGAPHONE

“He’s a great manager. I like seeing that he’s coming back. Two out of three years going to the playoffs isn’t bad.”

Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano, after Cubs manager Lou Piniella said he would be willing to return for more abuse next season.