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The Sodfather gets pissed off and quits.


Wild Bill

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https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35754546/ex-nfl-groundskeeper-george-toma-super-bowl-lvii-field-was-overwatered

Funny how the NFL announcers talk about how good of a groundskeeper he is and has worked  every year of the Super Bowl.  But for this year he blames the shitty field conditions for Super Bowl LVII on someone else.

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FWIW, I covered a bowl game at that stadium a few years ago, and everyone affiliated with the stadium was a prick. 

Checked the field turf before the game, and it was like walking in a Louisiana swamp. Utterly overwatered. It was like walking on sections of grass that had just been laid out and watered that afternoon. 

It's a stupid ass big tray that they roll in and out. My guess is the people that manage the turf there are as big a pricks as everyone else associated with the stadium, and told the old man, "Hey, this is different. We know what we're doing, you just don't understand how this works." Then they ignored him and fucked up the field. He's in his nineties, and said, "screw this."

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Pretty sure Toma took care of the Rose Bowl field for a long time and kept it in tip top shape for Vince and the Gang to do their thing in 2006 after heavy rain earlier in the week that was so abnormal it was first time Rose Parade was rained on for 4 or 5 decades.
So he aight.  

It seems like they brought some choppers in to help dry the field for the game.

Maybe I am totally dreaming that up though.
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16 hours ago, ClubWhatever said:

That's how you quit on top. Fuck it up, blame someone else, change jobs, repeat two more times, quit FT role to provide independent ad-hoc consulting for a few years so wife #3 gets that new benz, then happily retire with daily BJs from the wifey. 

 

Edited by Shaggy3.0
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7 minutes ago, 'stache said:

I mean that stadium has had this problem since it opened, it’s truly incredible they can’t figure it out.

Don't think this absolves Okie St.  It was still shitty grass for football.  Great for putting, but not for cutting.

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20 minutes ago, Uncle Nate said:

Don't think this absolves Okie St.  It was still shitty grass for football.  Great for putting, but not for cutting.

Bullshit. OSU developed the strain, they didn't grow the sod that was used at the Super Bowl or play any roll in maintenance. It's even used at OU's Gaylord Stadium and their turf manager posted that the strain wasn't the issue but how they implemented in in Glendale. The strain is used in several NFL and NCAA stadiums, including in Philadelphia where the NFC Championship (and off of their home games this season including the playoffs) was played without any problems. I know its fun to use it as a punching bag, but "lulz osu made shitty grass" isn't how it works in this situation. The sod problem in that stadium has existed well before the strain was used.

Edited by 'stache
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26 minutes ago, 'stache said:

Bullshit. OSU developed the strain, they didn't grow the sod that was used at the Super Bowl or play any roll in maintenance. It's even used at OU's Gaylord Stadium and their turf manager posted that the strain wasn't the issue but how they implemented in in Glendale. The strain is used in several NFL and NCAA stadiums, including in Philadelphia where the NFC Championship (and off of their home games this season including the playoffs) was played without any problems. I know its fun to use it as a punching bag, but "lulz osu made shitty grass" isn't how it works in this situation. The sod problem in that stadium has existed well before the strain was used.

Yeah, but it's fun to poke fun at the pokes for their shitty grass when they are bragging about it on Twitter literally at the same time everyone is slipping and sliding on it during the most watched game of the year.

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Uncle Nate said:

Yeah, but it's fun to poke fun at the pokes for their shitty grass when they are bragging about it on Twitter literally at the same time everyone is slipping and sliding on it during the most watched game of the year.

 

 

I said in the other thread that it was dumb to do that because that stadium has a known history of shitty field conditions because of the “trey” system regardless of what you put on it. If you want a better tact to rip us, how about that we have a well regarded and marketed turf development and management department and still use fake turf in the football stadium. Thank goodness we have grass in the new baseball stadium.

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11 minutes ago, 'stache said:

I said in the other thread that it was dumb to do that because that stadium has a known history of shitty field conditions because of the “trey” system regardless of what you put on it. If you want a better tact to rip us, how about that we have a well regarded and marketed turf development and management department and still use fake turf in the football stadium. Thank goodness we have grass in the new baseball stadium.

 

Jealous.  I hate that Tech not only has field turf in Dan Law Field for the "grass", they have it for the "dirt" as well.  The only actual, real dirt in the ballpark is the pitcher's mound.  I despise it.

Edited by Uncle Nate
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19 hours ago, Richard Kimball said:

FWIW, I covered a bowl game at that stadium a few years ago, and everyone affiliated with the stadium was a prick. 

Checked the field turf before the game, and it was like walking in a Louisiana swamp. Utterly overwatered. It was like walking on sections of grass that had just been laid out and watered that afternoon. 

It's a stupid ass big tray that they roll in and out. My guess is the people that manage the turf there are as big a pricks as everyone else associated with the stadium, and told the old man, "Hey, this is different. We know what we're doing, you just don't understand how this works." Then they ignored him and fucked up the field. He's in his nineties, and said, "screw this."

Lawn Tools on Youtube posted about what he thought it was (based on what people told him), and basically said the same thing. watered, rolled back in, they set up the seats behind it so it can't be rolled back out + the pre-game stuff.

 

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1 hour ago, 'stache said:

I said in the other thread that it was dumb to do that because that stadium has a known history of shitty field conditions because of the “trey” system regardless of what you put on it. 

I keep seeing this posted, but haven't seen anything to back this up. I previously lived in Phoenix and had Cardinals season tickets for ten years or so when I lived there. The Cardinals never had these kind of problems. I remember a Sports Illustrated article a number of years ago that even rated the field as the best in the NFL. The tray or "trey" as you call it is 40" deep so it's not like some sort of cookie sheet that rolls in and out. 

The only issues I can remember with the field have been during bowl games and this Super Bowl which leads me to believe that the folks in charge of those special events aren't consulting the expertise of the Cardinals staff who probably know the ins/outs of their home field better than anyone else.

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3 minutes ago, royiv said:

I keep seeing this posted, but haven't seen anything to back this up. I previously lived in Phoenix and had Cardinals season tickets for ten years or so when I lived there. The Cardinals never had these kind of problems. I remember a Sports Illustrated article a number of years ago that even rated the field as the best in the NFL. The tray or "trey" as you call it is 40" deep so it's not like some sort of cookie sheet that rolls in and out. 

The only issues I can remember with the field have been during bowl games and this Super Bowl which leads me to believe that the folks in charge of those special events aren't consulting the expertise of the Cardinals staff who probably know the ins/outs of their home field better than anyone else.

there were known issues with it earlier this year when the Chiefs were there and when the CFP semifinal was there.

i don't think it's a long term issue, it's hosted 2 other super bowl games, CFP games, bunch of Fiesta Bowls, etc. but it was an issue based on this year I think.

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It seems that everytime there's a big game (Super Bowl, CFP, Fiesta Bowl) they resod it and causes problems. That's never made any sense to me either. If they are maintaining it why do they keep resoding it? Once established can't it simply be maintained?

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4 minutes ago, 'stache said:

It seems that everytime there's a big game (Super Bowl, CFP, Fiesta Bowl) they resod it and causes problems. That's never made any sense to me either. If they are maintaining it why do they keep resoding it? Once established can't it simply be maintained?

That was kind of my point. I've seen blanket statements about it being some sort of massive design flaw when that doesn't seem to be the case. The Cardinals seem to do just fine with it to the point that it's been ranked the best field in the NFL in the past.

 

9 minutes ago, NoName said:

there were known issues with it earlier this year when the Chiefs were there and when the CFP semifinal was there.

i don't think it's a long term issue, it's hosted 2 other super bowl games, CFP games, bunch of Fiesta Bowls, etc. but it was an issue based on this year I think.

That Chiefs game was an issue and it was a brand new field because they had changed it out between training camp/preseason and the first game of the regular season. I was at the CFP game and the field was definitely slippery, but not nearly to the degree that it appeared to be during the Super Bowl. I think the NFL got too cute and it ended up backfiring on them.

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Bullshit. OSU developed the strain, they didn't grow the sod that was used at the Super Bowl or play any roll in maintenance. It's even used at OU's Gaylord Stadium and their turf manager posted that the strain wasn't the issue but how they implemented in in Glendale. The strain is used in several NFL and NCAA stadiums, including in Philadelphia where the NFC Championship (and off of their home games this season including the playoffs) was played without any problems. I know its fun to use it as a punching bag, but "lulz osu made shitty grass" isn't how it works in this situation. The sod problem in that stadium has existed well before the strain was used.

That strain is used in a number of football fields. Arkansas uses it and was named the top football field in the ncaa. It’s great turf when treated properly. The nfl wants super green grass that looks like artificial turf on TV. So they overseed it with rye, paint the fuck out of it, and drown it with water.
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