Hey, what could go wrong?
South Carolina is fully replacing its football field less than a week before the season opener after hosting a Jay-Z and Beyonce concert.
Crews trucked in sod from Sugar Hill, Georgia, after the old field had to be removed following the superstar couple’s concert last week.
South Carolina staff will spend Monday installing more than 90,000 square feet of Bermuda grass, said Clark Cox, the school’s assistant athletic director in charge of turf and landscaping services.
The field is expected to be ready when South Carolina opens its season by hosting Coastal Carolina on Sept. 1. The Gamecocks also have home games against national runner-up Georgia on Sept. 8 and Marshall on Sept. 15.
“We would not have done this if we believed there was a safety issue,” Cox said. “My job and our entire ground staff’s job, our No. 1 priority in everything we do, is safety and welfare of our student-athletes.”
No word on whether Cox consulted with the crack Neyland Stadium turf staff first.
Just something else to worry about for week two.
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Horse shit. I was at the 04’ IAA National Championship game in Chattanooga ( Montana v James Madison) and almost the exact same scenario; new turf installed a week previous. After one quarter it looked like Ray Charles went over that field with a roto-tiller.
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Less than a week to take root, call me a skeptic…maybe it’s cut much deeper…
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Horse shit. I was at the 04’ IAA National championship game in Chattanooga ( Montana -James Madison) and nearly the exact same situation; new turf installed less than 10 days prior. That field looked like Ray Charles went over it with a roto-tiller. Everyone there said they wouldn’t even have grazed cattle on that field. The officials were even trying to reinstall huge sections torn down to the undelayment. It was to JMU’s benefit in he end…they had a huge interior OL and ran dive plays all night and basically terrorized Montana’s DL. I will bet cash Willie B field will look like a hog lot before the half.
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My Bermuda lawn grows about 1/8” in a day, if it’s healthy it should be ok as long as they don’t overwater it have have sandy base. I keep my lawn at 1” height and I have to cut it every 2 or 3 days. (I’m weird, I like spinning the reel mower)
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I know nothing about turf grass, but doesn’t that assume the roots have taken. I can’t imagine the root system, especially between the hash marks, having sufficient time to be established to support 300 pound men on it for 4 hours.
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In naturally grown turf, grass roots are already set close to the surface and you have a 2″ layer of dirt underneath, if it’s like the turf I have bought. It’s not the grass that will be injured; it will be the entire thickness of the grass and the soil it grew on. Yeah, it’ll be coming up in chunks in their first game (unless they have a good anchoring plan) and maybe we should tune in to that game late. If that layer of turf comes up as we suspect it may, there should be a protest before we put our RBs there inside three weeks and just two weeks into our season. This could be a lot worse than Tenn.
If they didn’t plan on this destruction before a concert, what does it say about their stadium grass planning all along and for the future?
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It would be worse at the line with all that weight digging in and pushing on each other. Someone’s going to get injured from this ill-planned shit.
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Cox said the sod the crew is using is different than most sods. It’s harvested with the root system still intact, meaning it’ll take root and smooth over quicker than most sods would.
Once it’s laid, it could be ready to play on in a few hours,
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Hope that’s the case … it sounds like it was an unnecessary risk to take this close to the start of the season. I hope no players get injured seriously this Saturday due to this.
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Well, what else is he going to say? That it was a stupid ass plan?
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C’mon, it’s grass that’s already rooted and it’s scooped up in rolled strips to be unrolled on site. Grass roots don’t grow down very far and certainly don’t grow down and grip because it’s already matured when harvested. That leaves a mat that can move if a system of anchoring isn’t installed with it (as is done with artificial turf). It usually is rolled with a weight after it is in place to help it become part of the soil interface underneath, but time is the factor to help hold it in place. You can walk on it soon after unrolling, but it continues to be dependent on how much moisture has been added. If you stepped on the field being watered in the video, your body weight alone would cause it to turn into goo. You certainly aren’t going to run that grass-laying equipment over the area being watered.
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That’s not weird, that is awesome. Wish I could do that, I got way too much shade for bermuda…
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I just said eff it and put field turf in my small, 100% shade backyard. It’s glorious.
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What a joke! If the field is as bad as it will likely be next week, we should demand the SEC move the game to Athens.
Why in the world would their athletic association agree to have a concert on a natural turf field 10 days before the season starts.
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Money as usual.
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Money as usual.
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Before posting, didn’t look down for your post, ee. Sorry, but honestly we both are thinking along the same line.
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“Crews trucked in sod from Sugar Hill, Georgia, after the old field had to be removed following the superstar couple’s concert last week.”
I already envision who SCU fans will blame after they lose to UGA in a few weeks. They’ll blame the turf that was shipped in from enemy territory as to why they lost (that crap turf from GA caused our superior players to lose all traction. If not for that, we would have won!”). Seriously, watch this excuse to be made after the game.
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If I want to kill anything that uses sunlight, It can just be covered. Controlling unwanted hydrilla by my dock can be done by weighting a tarp to the bottom. It works anywhere! How long that covering was on the stadium should have been planned better and to “discover” that the grass was killed doesn’t jibe with the “planned replacement”. Why would they cover it if they planned to replace it? Horseshit.
These guys must take lying classes from you-know-who.
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They cover it so that the equipment used to construct the stage doesn’t tear up the turf. They weren’t planning on killing the grass, but they knew that there was a substantial risk. They took precautions for the likely scenario where it died and it did.
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They are resodding the entire field, not just the dead spots. Pull up “resodding a lawn” on video and take a look. You certainly won’t be playing a game of football on it.
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Unless they managed to somehow undercut that stuff 8 inches deep, I’m predicting a disaster. It’s going to be dangerous as hell for the first game and won’t heal before Georgia gets there. I doubt it will be good to play on all season. It will have to be kept pretty wet..it will be soft.. This is a Charley Foxtrot. I guess the proof will be in what happens to that turf when Coastal Carolina plays them…which is less than a week away.
I’m worried we’ll get some injuries out of this crap.
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The story mentioned that they were “unrolling the sod” in strips. I would guess that it ain’t very deep if you can roll it.
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Here’s a short video of the sod being put down. It doesn’t look very thick.
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https://www.heraldonline.com/sports/college/article217335185.html
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That’s going to make for some slow running.
Gotta wonder who that favors in our game over there.
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Rolled sod, huh?
Made me think about the sod truck that got pulled over a few years ago. Cop sez: “Hey, you going to a Willie Nelson concert?”
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This is fucked up. I agree UGA should demand the game be moved to Athens because of an improper playing surface. Fortunately we have a strong AD who has a lot of backbone and will stand up to protect the players…..wait…..
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Hey, they made money, right? That’s all that matters.
Oh, I mean it’s all about the student athlete, right?
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Let me get this straight, scu has a Beyonce/Jay-Z concert one week before the season and two weeks before playing the reigning conference champ, has to have all new sod put down, and reporters say the Dawgs aren’t taking the game seriously?
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Correct me if I’m wrong….but dont they lay new turf on NFL fields all the time just one week out…sometimes even just days out of a game? Especially the stadiums that share a field with baseball? Sure….it might suck and be a disaster, but it will be a disaster for both teams to deal with. It wont be any more of a danger than the normal football game with 22 players trying to maul each other every play. I think the issue with Neyland being so bad is that it never “gave” at all….which is why Chubb’s foot stuck in…and why Marshall’s also stuck. My biggest concern on the new field would be missing out on a big play when a guy like Mecole or Cook tries to cut quickly and falls down….not on the loose turf cause injuries. But what do I know?
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Have you ever played on a field that’s falling apart? I have and I can tell you that it is 100% a cause for concern due to the likelihood of injury. As soon as the turf gives way, you loose your balance because your legs/feet slipped out of a position to support your weight. If you’re in the open field then most likely no harm will come because you will simply fall to the ground. But imagine if you’re an OL blocking a 300 lb angry man of a DL. When you’re feet and legs slip out of position because the turf suddenly decides to turn to ice and slide away. You’ll end up with an unbalanced 300 lb OL with another 300 lbs on top of him. That’s when you end up with legs, knees, and ankles bending and twisting in directions they aren’t meant to go.
So if the field ends up looking like shit after that first game, then I’m going to be very worried about our boys playing on that turf a week later. We better pray for a few weeks of bone dry weather in Columbia to help the turf situation before our team shows up.
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My main point was not that it wouldnt be dangerous if falling apart…although the severity of the danger is certainly something you and I disagree upon. My main point was it is less likely to actually be soft and destructable than most on here are saying. My field (being a baseball field…I recognize glaring differences) had to be resodded each year for over a decade and often occurred within the week of us needing to be playing on it. Even in those situations where the small rectangle turf pieces were being used….it rarely caused issues. The huge rolls of turf are much more stable….assuming it grew well in the first place…which is much more of an issue than after it is placed…in my opinion.
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As I understand, some nfl teams have (had) grass growing on huge pallets. The pallets could be trucked out (when other functions take place), and returned for the game. Or if its an indoor stadium, just trucked in for the game. I think the consensus was it doesn’t work very well.
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Dumbest thing evah. I know SC isn’t too swift when it comes to this college football thingy but damn man. If they were located in the north, or on the west coast it wouldn’t be a surprise, but CFB is pretty danged sacred round heah. They won’t to represent the East in Atlanta and this is where their priorities are? Embarrassing. I vote they go before Mizzou if another shakeup occurs.
Agree with others, move the game. If not to Athens, we can call DAbo and see if we can play at his place.
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Much adieu about nothing here. Elite sports fields that host big events turn this all the time. The sod is grown on plastic (think potted plants). Roots hit barrier, grow other way, making a denser web that resists tearing. Sod rolls are thicker and heavier = instant play. System’s been used for ~15 years. Those soccer exhibitions in NFL stadiums you see? Same system – real turf, often installed and played on 2-3 DAYS later. MLB stadiums after game concerts? Check. NFL playoff re-sods in December? Check.
This is big money + highly trained turf professionals at work. Athletic departments make or break on events like this concert or a CFB game. They cram as many into the schedule as they can, putting stress on the field manager come TV time. The sod farm and field manager are veterans, and paid well to make it happen. The 200K contract contingency plan that the promoter paid for re-sodding should’ve clued you in. These turf crews will work multiple shifts, 24 hours a day if need be, it’s eleventy billion degrees in Columbia for the next 2 weeks, and Bermuda grass is a weed. Turf’s going to grow and not be an issue.
Although I’m sure if 1 injury or sod clod kicks up, the staff and field’s getting the blame. Ever think of a variable like cleat design? Think Nike/Adidas/UA check with cleat trials (that do exist to study tearing & safety) before they ok this year’s tread pattern? In prime sports turf, very rarely 1 variable is sinking the ship (UT’s “debacle” was about 4-5 of them coming to a head BTW).
Source: UGA turf degree, work with neither field manager or farm but in the industry.
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