The world's top 24 bull riders are competing at Cowboys Stadium on Saturday night in the PBR's "Dickies Iron Cowboy Invitational." It's he first ever tournament-style bracket format in the sport's history.

On Thursday, Cowboys Stadium was dedicated as the largest dirt arena in the world -- it's just another Guinness World's Record for the stadium.

Tickets are priced from $20 to $150 for the event, which includes fireworks and a concert by country music star Gary Allen.

The format was created exclusively for Cowboys Stadium, and organizers say the 2010 Dickies Iron Cowboy Invitational will be the first true, head-to-head competition in the history of the PBR.

The event is also specifically designed for Cowboys Stadium which will make the physical appearance different from a typical PBR event. At the other regular season tour stops, there's only one set of bucking chutes at one end of the arena. At Cowboys Stadium, the field will be split into two arenas with four chutes in each corner.

Check back on the blog on Monday to give us your thoughts about Cowboys Stadium as a rodeo arena.

The North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee has been tech crazy with its embrace of social media, podcasts and streaming video. Now, they're tapping into the iPhone (as well as iPad and iPod touch) market.

The committee just released its official iPhone app this month. The freebie includes a countdown clock to the Arlington Super Bowl (354 days, 2 hours, 4 minutes, 9 seconds, just before I posted this). It also features a link to the Cowboys Stadium parking map, driving directions to the stadium, trivia, news releases, etc.

Give me your thoughts about the app if you've downloaded it. I just checked it out, and it seems to be hit and miss. Some features are only links to the host committee Web site rather than content customized for the iPhone.

I asked the DMN's tech writer and blogger Victor Godinez, and he agreed that one of the main purposes of apps is to provide people with information or entertainment that's designed to fit the iPhone screen. You can go to most Web sites on the iPhone browser, but you'll generally have to make the text larger and scroll side to side to see everything. A good app will keep you from needing to do that.

Some content on the host committee app (countdown clock and trivia) is designed specifically for the iPhone. Others (news, stadium, get involved) are only links to the host committee Web site and aren't usable without manipulating the screen.

So far, the app has a three (out of five) star rating after 44 people have weighed in. It was released Feb. 4. There was also an official app for the South Florida Super Bowl played earlier this month, but that one was $4.99 and also had a lot more features (essay from CSI: Miami star David Caruso, Super Bowl history, digital version of the game program and others).

The North Texas app was developed by Austin-based Bearded Pony, which has a quirky collection of software for the iPhone. Their other apps include a supermodel database, iDrunkDialer, countdown clock for the Texas-Oklahoma football game and iBug stealth recorder.

Eddie Sefko has the news today about Dallas Mavericks owner Make Cuban wondering if the Mavericks should play some games at Cowboys Stadium.

The idea is just in early stages, but it's obvious that the success of the NBA All-Star game got Cuban to thinking.

"If we can make the economics work, we'd look at having a regular-season or a playoff game over there," Cuban said. "We'd basically have to buy out the AAC date, as if it were an active date, and make sure all our partners [are on board].

"But there are a lot of strategic reasons, as well as economic reasons, to play a game over there. You can bring in twice as many fans, so economically it would probably work out. And it would be a unique attraction for people who wanted to come play for the Mavs."

Cuban told Sefko this idea is merely in the formative stage and he has not run it by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones or NBA commissioner David Stern.

Cuban said there would be no way he would play all games at Cowboys Stadium. But doing so occasionally intrigues him.

"You could do it as a fun game, for the spectacle," he said. "Instead of bobbleheads, have a Cowboys Stadium day."

So what do you think? Would a few games a year (and playoff games) at Cowboys Stadium be a good idea for the Mavericks?

The NBA dished out plenty of praise for local officials who helped organize Sunday's All-Star game and the events leading up to it.

Surprising kudos go to the University of Texas and University of North Carolina basketball teams. The two colleges played in Cowboys Stadium in December and gave the NBA a good overview of the stadium as a basketball venue.

Ski Austin, a league executive vice president, said that game allowed them to open up more seating areas they thought initially would have obscured sight lines. The seating on the floor is a radically different configuration than for other sports.

The Cowboys used the NBA's proposed All-Star configuration - minus the entertainment stage - at the college game to give the league a better look.

Even with that, it was apparently tough for the NBA. They are accustomed to playing at venues that are built specifically for the sport and have hosted hundreds of games. Without that test, the NBA would have had to find a hole in the Cowboys' schedule and have a dry run before All-Star week arrived.

"As an event producer, that's not a lot to work with in terms of preparation," Austin said. "That was the biggest challenge, not having the multiple trips to come down and work out every detail, place every camera locations."

Dianne Solis attended a news conference this afternoon by federal officials, who said almost $200,000 worth of counterfeit sports merchandise was seized over the weekend during the events surrounding the National Basketball Association's All-Star 2010 game in Dallas.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, working with four law enforcement departments, seized more than 4,000 jerseys, t-shirts, caps and other products peddled at the Dallas Convention Center, Cowboys Stadium, American Airlines Center and flea markets, said Nancy Kratzer, deputy Special Agent-in-Charge for ICE's Dallas regional office.

And much more could have been seized among the impromptu vendors, said Kratzer, standing before boxes marked "evidence."

Consider it law enforcement's dress rehearsal for the Super Bowl next year, she said.

"This was probably a dry run to see the trends, to see what we will see at the Super Bowl...We wanted to see what sort of manpower we need and what type of merchandise we'll see. We will be very prepared for the Super Bowl."

Many of the items were substandard with smudged lettering, or tags that featured what appeared to be holograms but lacked serial numbers that prove the items were genuine. Dirk Nowitzki's name was barely legible on one royal blue tee-shirt. And Chris Bosh's name looked smeared.

Jeff Mosier has a breaking scoop from the NBA following the huge All-Star weekend.

Ski Austin, an NBA executive vice president, told Jeff that the record crowd of 108,713 last night for the NBA All-Star game isn't necessarily a one-time feat.

The NBA has no interest in moving its All-Star game regularly to football stadiums, Austin said, but Arlington might be the exception. He described the game and week as a great success and the stadium as a unique venue.

"When you talk specifically about Cowboys Stadium, it's an intriguing idea," Austin said about holding future All-Star games there. "Things went so well for us, I think it has to be on the short list of cities and markets that we would put into a rotation."

The crowd at Sunday's game -- the largest crowd to ever see a basketball game -- was more than attendance at the six previous NBA All-Star games combined. Each of those were held in traditional basketball arenas.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and Jerry Jones spent a lot of time talking last night about playing basketball at Cowboys Stadium and the world-record crowd it attracted. Here are some nuggets from the lovefest, compiled by reporters Brad Townsend and Brandon George.

CUBAN:

Regarding what he and Jones said and thought when the idea of hosting the game came up three years ago: "Can we pull it off? We know what we can do, but can we really pull it off?"

"I think we did."

And what happened when they came together at halftime and were given the attendance figure? "We gave each other a big hug. Especially with the weather, we worried that maybe it would keep people from coming and [out of towners] from getting here. But everybody found a way and I think had a great time.

It was mentioned to Cuban that the NBA All-Star game will probably never be this big again. "Don't put it past us," Cuban said with a laugh.

"Could any other city and stadium break the record? "I don't think so. I don't know where else you could do this.

"It would have to be an indoors stadium that holds this many. Jerry deserves so much credit because it's one thing to put that many seats in an indoor stadium. But it's another thing to do it so that, with the Jumbotron and amenities, people can come and really enjoy themselves.

"It was a big occasion for North Texas and we came through with flying colors."

Any moment that was a highlight for you? When you walked out for the first time, you could just feel the energy. It was incredible. An All-Star Game with that much energy, I've never experienced it like that. It felt like the Finals, and that was incredible. Everybody in the crowd, their eyes were wide and they were having fun. We did it.

JERRY JONES

Was this a one-shot deal? "I don't want to be presumptuous. I really am out of my league here. But if this could be a great experience for the fans and good for television, if all those things could come to bear and are positive, then maybe we could look to the future."

Part of learning process for the Super Bowl? "I think there's similarities and obviously the handling of these numbers of people will really give us some perspective. We're close [in crowd size] to what we'll have for a Super Bowl."

"This says everything about why the scope of this building is important, where the size came from, just to handle what I refer to as the back of the house. Our ground level concourse, two trucks can pass each other underneath the stadium. That's unheard of as far as logistics."

"The facility was built for this kind of fan participation, these numbers."

We just got the after-game report from Arlington police spokeswoman Tiara Ellis Richard, and it's pretty tame.

Here's her e-mail:

"There were no major incidents tonight. At Cowboys Stadium, traffic flowed pretty well inbound and outbound. The parking lots were cleared and the roads free of any major back-ups about 90 minutes after the game ended. There were four arrests at the stadium: 4 - public intoxication and 1 - misdemeanor warrant."

No word if there were any arrests or seizures of suspected counterfeit merchandise. I did see what looked like rogue t-shirt sellers north of Rangers ballpark on my way out, but there were only a couple who braved the 32-degree weather.

Here's the morning update from Dallas police, and it was pretty tame in Big D too:

Overnight, there were five people arrested for public intoxication who were in town for the NBA All-Star festivities. Four of these arrests were at various night clubs after the game and one was at Dallas Love Field Airport. One also was arrested for criminal trespass when he returned to a club that had asked him to leave.

Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas native Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors said the were impressed with Cowboys Stadium as a basketball "gym."

"You know, I've never been in a gym this big," Nowitzki said. "It was amazing how many people came out to support us and see this game and be a part of history."

Bosh said, " I think it's great for the city of Dallas, to be able to showcase this big, great, grand arean -- well, stadium that they have. And to be able to have the biggest crowd ever, I think that speaks a lot to where the game has come."

Cowboys and Mavericks officials wanted to break 100,000 attendance tonight, and they did. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Mavs owner Mark Cuban just took to center court at the end of the third quarter to make the announcement of 108,713. It's definitely a record for any basketball game every played and beats the largest crowd at any Cowboys game too.

The Cowboys' home opener against the Giants drew 105,121 -- the largest crowd in National Football League history.

"When this was on the drawing board, I didn't figure in Mark Cuban," Jerry Jones said. " What an honor for the Cowboys and what an honor for this stadium."

Todd Archer on the Cowboys blog talked with Cowboys vice presidnet Stephen Jones, who says he hopes this year's All-Star game leads to another one -- and other big events.

NBA Commissioner David Stern said this week he doesn't foresee the game coming back to Dallas or a mega-stadium anytime soon, but maybe the lure of 100,000 people might be too strong.

I'm sure there will be plenty of after-parties tonight, but much of the Cowboys Stadium staff won't get a chance to celebrate.

They'll immediately start breaking down the stage and temporary seating to make way for tons of dirt. The Cowboys need to have all remnants of the All-Star game gone by Wednesday so they can start preping for a bull-riding event.

I could image Gretchen Wilson, who sang the national anthem tonight, appearing again at that event. Usher? I'm not as sure.

For what it's worth, I just took a spin around Cowboys Stadium -- from the lower level seats to the nosebleeds. Certainly, it's crowded at the concessions and in the stand-room only areas.

But it is not nearly as crowded as during that first Cowboys-Giants game in September, when 105,000 people crammed into the facility. (Some 30,000 standing room seats were sold for the Cowboys-Giants game, versus some 15,000 this time, according to the latest estimates.)

Still, a few standing-room only fans are grousing about the limited views. For these folks, catching a glimpse of play is harder given that the court is much smaller than the football field. As such, a number of folks have resigned themselves to watching the game and festivities on the big screen. (Granted, most standing room only fans paid but a fraction for their tickets than fans with seats.)

One of the complaints about Cowboys Stadium has been the lack of scoreboard information (down, distance, timeouts) during football games. But there is plenty of scorecoard information tonight on the big screen, and in four corners of the arean.

The big video board has the players' names, points and fouls.

Dallas police are giving us a daily update on crime related to NBA All-Star events. On Saturday, two thefts were reported by participants involved in the NBA All-Star Jam Session at the Dallas Convention Center.

Police also gave an account of the large crowd at the Galleria, which was estimated at 40,000 people for an autograph session. Additional officers were sent to assist in dispersing the crowd once the event was over. Police said the Galleria was never evacuated or locked down.

Early this morning, four assault offenses occurred at a club at 3716 Maple Avenue. It is believed the suspects were employees of the club or worked for one of the celebrities attending the event.

Overnight13 people were arresteed at various NBA related events. There was also one disorderly conduct arrest and two people arrested for possession of counterfeit NBA credentials and possession of marijuana.

It looks as if every seat is filled. The attendance record for basketball not only may be broken, but totally shattered.

Update: We should get attendance soon, but Mavericks president Terdeema Ussery said before halftime that 100,000 is in reach.

"We feel good about the number we're going to be announcing later on tonight," Ussery said. "We're hopeful (of reaching 100,000). We're a couple thousand away, but we think we're going to get there."

There may be 100,000 people in here tonight, and they like their All-Stars. With the roof closed, the cheers for LeBron James rivaled anything you would hear at a Cowboys game.

The crowd likes Usher too. He's performing on a stage behind one of the backboards. James and Dwight Howard are dancing to the tunes.

The cheers were for Jason Kidd were deafening too. Tim Duncan got a few boos. But the biggest cheer -- for Dirk Nowitzki.

Hi folks. Theodore Kim here at the game with the rest of the DMN gang...

Having covered several events at Cowboys Stadium now, I wanted to note a few stadium differences from the typical Cowboys game.

1. Security. It's much tighter. All fans have been subjected to more thorough searches and have had to go through metal detectors. The result: Very long lines in the cold at some gates, particularly on the stadium's northeastern side.

2. Floor Activity. The field level is brimming with activity, perhaps more so than a Cowboys game. There are many, many fans, media and support staff milling about -- in addition to the usual mascots and cheerleaders. The effect is one of controlled chaos. (Given that the court is raised several feet above the floor, those at field level get a one-of-a-kind view.)

3. The video board. As though the giant board weren't big enough, it has been supplemented with several other scoreboards today (the boards are supported by temporary scaffolding).

Just a few observations so far...

Hi folks. Theodore Kim here at the game, along with the rest of the DMN gang.

A quick note about parking. It is expensive. That's true even for the so-called "cheap" spots far from the stadium. Lot 14, one of the most remote "official" lots, cost $50. At other events, the lot is much cheaper -- usually around $30.

Off site parking also is expensive -- as much as $40 forspaces nearly a mile away (!) from the stadium. I saw one makeshift lot on Division Street just off of Route 360 that was charging $20. That's at least a few miles away. Amazing, we know.

Remarked one Lot 13 attendant with a grin, "Cheap today, ain't it?"