Field conditions at Ohio Stadium

[Padraig]

Field is dying looks like to me.

This field will resemble the Bengals field of a few years back.

That is the exact thought I had. What an embarassing mess that was.

 

[BuckBackHome]

The sideline reporter said they were still painting dirt on the field to make it look like grass. I could not see any of that.

If you watch the second touchdown from Nicol he catches his foot in the endzone. It looked like he could have easily twisted his knee or ankle.

 

[diehardbuckeye]

It did look bad but doesn't it take time for sod to take root and grow? I threw sod for a couple of years, suckiest job ever, and we would tell people to try and stay off for a month. I am not saying it didn't look bad because it did but there has to be something we can do this week and then baby the hell out of it until MI and then plant and grow something new during the off season. Even though feild turf is durable I don't think that it is better than grass. Just a personal opinion but we can't keep replacing the grass every week.

 

[scooter1369]

The field looked to be in bad shape still. The weather hasn't been conducive to resodding. Its been cold. We've been dropping into 30's some nights and grass goes dormant in those conditions. Dormant grass with a poor root system dies.

 

[cincibuck]

Question: Why do they cover a field when they have a super drainage system? Wouldn't the rain and what's left of the sunshine help the grass?

AND: What the hell is a first class program like Ohio state doing with a field that is obviously not ready for prime time? I was at the game yesterday and even from the far reaches of C deck it looked to be in pitiful shape. The last time I saw anything this bad was when my front lawn came up with something called "sod web worms."

There was a reason for the Bengals field looking like it did a few years ago. Mikey Boy, the GM is a notorious tightwad given to wheedling money out of tax payers and spending next to nothing. I think some of the other owners put a gun to his head a few years and made him start to spend some of those "equity dollars."

 

[Bleed S & G]

Question: Why do they cover a field when they have a super drainage system? Wouldn't the rain and what's left of the sunshine help the grass?

AND: What the hell is a first class program like Ohio state doing with a field that is obviously not ready for prome time? I was at the game yesterday and even from the far reaches of C deck it looked to be in pitiful shape. The last time I saw anything this bad was when my front lawn came up with something called "sod web worms."

Why cover? Assuming because of the cold, to allow the root system to develop (scooters post above yours)

Why a first class program's field isn't ready - it was just replaced. and what scooter said about the weather not helping the sod take root and the grass becoming dormant.

I love grass, but get the turf and cut the shit w/ poor grass, and bring the state championships to central ohio

 

[tedginn05]

I have always been against Field Turf. Its no where close to real grass. Nothing is. It gets extremely hot.

We had a player at my HS that went to play for Bowling Green. He said he played at Michigan Stadium, which has that field turf. It was 115 degrees on the field because of the heat that the turf puts off.

Do we really want that?

As far as the current grass goes. I couldn't believe the condition of it. It was actually worse than my HS field, which doesn't get anywhere close to the same treatment that the Ohio Stadium field does.

Our field stays uncovered. Is mowed by tractors (basically). Took a beating of rain all this past week. Yet, it looked 5 times better than Ohio Stadium's field.

It just doesn't make sense.

 

[JGAINES85]

I think they're going to have FieldTurf installed next year. I would look better and they wouldn't have to spend 100k + every 2-3 years replacing the kind of turf they have now. And players are a lot faster on artifical turf.

 

[Mike80]

The field looked to be in bad shape still. The weather hasn't been conducive to resodding. Its been cold. We've been dropping into 30's some nights and grass goes dormant in those conditions. Dormant grass with a poor root system dies.

Exactly. Unfortunately they re-sodded the grass just in time for the seasons to change prematurely.....

My brother's golf course had the same issue.

 

[daddyphatsacs]

Exactly. Unfortunately they re-sodded the grass just in time for the seasons to change prematurely.....

My brother's golf course had the same issue.

On that note, if the field is covered........why couldn't they heat it? Not to sound dumb here.....but couldn't they get some kind of dome like cover (only a few feet high), and inject heat into it, so the grass would have proper growing conditions? I know that is a far fetched idea, but I can't believe that there isn't something out there that does this sort of thing.

 

[Mike80]

On that note, if the field is covered........why couldn't they heat it? Not to sound dumb here.....but couldn't they get some kind of dome like cover (only a few feet high), and inject heat into it, so the grass would have proper growing conditions? I know that is a far fetched idea, but I can't believe that there isn't something out there that does this sort of thing.

I don't know. You'd think that maybe they could be able to create a greenhouse effect with some lights or something under that tarp....or something....

next time I talk with Brian I'll ask. Hell he graduated from OSU ATI and he's done this at the Shoe before anyway....

 

[coastalbuck]

On that note, if the field is covered........why couldn't they heat it? Not to sound dumb here.....but couldn't they get some kind of dome like cover (only a few feet high), and inject heat into it, so the grass would have proper growing conditions? I know that is a far fetched idea, but I can't believe that there isn't something out there that does this sort of thing.

Not far fetched at all. I know there were some fields constructed with tubing that could circulate heated water. I don't think it worked out all that well though. There are machines that can force air through, or pull air out of the drainage system, its not to hard to imagine heating that air if that would be what you wanted.

 

[BrutusBobcat]

The field will get a three week break after Minnesota, but the weather in November isn't going to do much for it. I'm no turf expert, but I know full well that this isn't the time of year to get a lawn to recover from damage, never mind a football field.

 

[Mike80]

The field will get a three week break after Minnesota, but the weather in November isn't going to do much for it. I'm no turf expert, but I know full well that this isn't the time of year to get a lawn to recover from damage, never mind a football field.

the weather in NOvember won't be any better than it was in October. If we'd had a normal end to September and October, the roots would've taken hold better and the grass would grow.

Now next May the turf won't look horrible once it's had a couple months of warmer weather to grow...

 

[exhawg]

the weather in NOvember won't be any better than it was in October. If we'd had a normal end to September and October, the roots would've taken hold better and the grass would grow.

Now next May the turf won't look horrible once it's had a couple months of warmer weather to grow...

Assuming they still have this down next May. If they are going to go to field turf it would be smart to get it down as soon as they can so that it can settle a little. If they redo what they had before it was replaced they would have to wait until after the spring game and probably graduation.