Field conditions at Ohio Stadium

[sandgk]

Do you know why FieldTurf takes that long to install?

To the simple mind (...me) it seems like it's just lay it down and play. I can see it taking a couple weeks, but what's involved that makes it take that long to get ready?

The actual roll-out, lay-down, working in the rubber pellets, sew and blade prep (make the turf look natural) probably is a 2-week process.
I'd guess that the remaining time is all about the underlayment - if you have to rework the soil and gravel under the turf, then this might take considerably longer.

 

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Well, at least we will be used to playing on the crappy field. scUM, however, will not.

 

[Thump]

Well, at least we will be used to playing on the crappy field. scUM, however, will not.

Exactly.

Good point.

 

[BuckBackHome]

The turf looked dormant to me.

 

[Mike80]

The turf looked dormant to me.

It is and it has been for at least 3 weeks now...going by my own lawn (I'm about 40 miles west of the Horseshoe)

 

[BuckBackHome]

It is and it has been for at least 3 weeks now...going by my own lawn (I'm about 40 miles west of the Horseshoe)

Mine is too, but it is still dark green. The field looked like mid-winter kind of dormant. I should have been more specific.

 

[Mike80]

Mine is too, but it is still dark green. The field looked like mid-winter kind of dormant. I should have been more specific.

yeah....I wonder if it being harvested caused it to go like that? My guess is probably......

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Guys.......your acting like a bad field gives Michigan an advantage. It's not like suddenly our team will be running in sand, and the Wolverines will somehow have some sort of super cleat on that will help them run as if they were on astroturf. The best team will win that day because of execution.......not field conditions. If anyone has an advantage it would be OSU, because they've played several games on it and know what to expect. I'm sure that this issue is being addressed heavily by the OSU field crew, Gene Smith, and all the way down the Tressel. I'm sure between now and mid November they will remedy the problem with the best possible solution. What solution would that be? I'm not sure, and quite frankly I wouldn't want to have to be one of the guys who had to fix that mess.

 

[Buckin' A]

Indoor/Outdoor carpet is always an option....

If painted properly and only viewed from a helicopter, it would hold up well.

 

[osugrad21]

1460 reporting that the field will be replaced again...just for TSUN.

 

[exhawg]

1460 reporting that the field will be replaced again...just for TSUN.

What does $100K matter when you are going to make around $10 mil for the game. Hopefully this will help.

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Ohio State will re-sod Horseshoe once again
Monday, October 30, 2006
Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Ohio State is poised to replace the turf in Ohio Stadium for the second time in just over a month so that when what could be the biggest game in the history of the Ohio State-Michigan series starts Nov. 18, the teams will be on solid footing.
"It?s all about the team; we?ve got the No. 1 team in the country and it deserves to play on the best surface we can provide," OSU assistant athletic director for facilities management Don Patko said last night.
The turf was replaced after the home game with Penn State on Sept. 23, in time for the next home game Oct. 7 against Bowling Green. But two frosts and unseasonably wet weather since then doomed that batch of sod, Patko said.
"Nine times out of 10 it works out, but this just happened to be the one," he said.
The Buckeyes played three games on the new surface, harvested from the Cygnet Turf farm near Bowling Green, but it was obvious Saturday during the win over Minnesota there was a lot of sliding going on. OSU athletic director Gene Smith and the school?s "turf committee" were seen inspecting the field soon after the game and apparently made the decision then to have it replaced.
Patko estimated the cost for the last replacement to be between $75,000 and $100,000, and it likely will be about the same this time. The difference is the turf will have a local origin. It will be harvested in wide, long, thick strips from a field at East Side Nursery, just outside Groveport.
Plus, the OSU crew will have almost three weeks to work on making the seams as tight and as level as they can be before The Game. It had about a week and a half the last time.
[email protected]

 

[coastalbuck]

I sorta figured they'd do it again. I wonder if the new sod this time will be sand-based or grown on soil.

 

[Oh8ch]

I almost hate to hear this for the very reason mentioned above about our having the advantage over Michigan because we have played on the old turf however bad it may be. Heck of a thing for the home team not to know what the home field feels like for the biggest game of the year.

 

[Thump]

I sorta figured they'd do it again. I wonder if the new sod this time will be sand-based or grown on soil.

I drive by the East Side Nursery turf farm every day and it appears to be grown in soil.

I've seen them "Harvesting" a lot of their turf lately with a lot of rolls sitting in the fields on pallets.

BTW, wonder if the athletic dept. had a big time donor come in a decide to foot the bill?