I'm Back?

I caught some of the Bengals game against the Ravens today and noticed the turf was 'striped' similar to baseball diamonds.

Until next time.

Quick Hits!

Three quick things.

The Pinstripe Bowl was played at Yankee Stadium and this picture sums it up very nicely.



The Colts were ousted from the NFL Playoffs by the Jets this past Saturday. The remnants of the old AFC logo were visible under the paint for the new AFC logo. In fairness to the Lucas Oil Stadium crew, they use FieldTurf where the fibers themselves are colored, not painted. It's tough to cover something up. I'm sure they'll have the new logo in by next season.



And lastly...

The NHL Winter Classic was in Pittsburgh on New Years Night. The NHL is picking up the tab for the new field currently being installed. Money quote:

The NHL is paying to have the turf at Heinz Field replaced in time for the division playoff Jan. 15. It seems the damage done by constructing a hockey rink for the Winter Classic made the field unplayable.

Until next time.

The Park District Bears Down

Soldier Field is under the control of the Chicago Park District. And, on the whole, they do a pretty good job. The climate in Chicago isn't the most friendly for a natural grass surface, so sometimes they need a little help.

From Sherwin-Williams.

Example 1:



Example 2:



Notice how the end zone is just a little greener than the field or the area behind the end zone? The logos are also nice and bright. No one can fault them for touching up at this point in the season. But it's curious why they didn't spruce up their midfield logo.

I'm going to put out a feeler to the CPD to find out why the sidelines and goal lines were painted red.



The Bears will be able to check out a well maintained midfield logo this Sunday when they travel to Lambeau Field to take on their division-rival Packers.



Until next time.

Down on Main Street

I like to call the the area between the hash marks, "Main Street." By definition, it gets the most foot traffic on the field. Every play starts there and it is a difficult area to maintain.

The Candlestick Park grounds crew has been having trouble, as we can see below...



and here...



Until next time.

Football at Yankee Stadium

November 20 will see Army and Notre Dame play at Yankee Stadium.



Until next time.

Red Turf Installation Photos

The red turf (previously) of Eastern Washington University has been installed and the Eagles have put up a slideshow.

Until next time.

America's Oldest Ballpark Turns 100

The New York Times has a nice feature on Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. It opened August 18, 1910, 100 years ago.

Until next time.

Flood!!

Heavy rains in Iowa recently caused the Squaw Creek near Ames to flood parts of the campus of Iowa State University. Jack Trice Stadium was nearly surrounded by water but the field did not flood.



Hilton Coliseum, the ISU basketball arena, was not so lucky. This shot shows the nine feet of water inside the arena with the basketball court floating!



The ISU women's volleyball team will play their home games at Ames High School. No dollar figure of damages has been released.


In better news, the pitch at Wembley Stadium was relaid using the Desso system. It's the system used at Mile High Stadium that has fibers 'sewn' into the dirt that gives the roots of the grass something to attach to. We'll see how this hold up. I suspect that the problems at Wembley relate to the alleged lack of air circulation. But what do I know, I'm just a blogger.

Lastly, the AstroTurf at the Florida Citrus Bowl is almost done.



Until next time.

Citrus Bowl Installation Web Cam!

The folks at AstroTurf are installing their product in the Citrus Bowl currently and have set up a web cam for our viewing pleasure. Here's a still from earlier today:



Until next time.

It's Been a While

It's really hard to have a blog when you have a full time job!
'Nuff said.

Boise State is getting their blue turf replaced for free.

Texas Tech got a new practice field.

Eastern Washington has begun installation of their red turf.



That building in the background looks like an East German apartment building circa 1967.



I haven't written anything in months and completely missed blogging about the World Cup and their stadiums.
But, I did find this video showing Qatar's proposed stadiums for their 2022 World Cup bid. Enjoy



Until next time. And I promise I won't be gone so long!

New Turf for the Ravens

M&T Bank Stadium got some new turf recently:

and....embedding the Baltimore Sun video doesn't seem to be working. Who's in charge over there? Bubbles? Never mind.

Here's a link to the article.

Instead, here's a video of sod being installed at M&T Bank Stadium in advance of last summer's AC Milan/Chelsea soccer match.



Happy Mother's Day!

Until next time.

LP Field Flooded

Storms in Tennessee recently left 13 inches of rain behind. As a result the field and the locker rooms at LP Field in Nashville flooded. The floods have killed 11 and thousands have been displaced, so, all things considered, your football stadium getting wet isn't such a big deal.



The people of Tennessee need assistance, and donating to the Red Cross is a good way to help.

Until next time.