Dolphin fans at the Orange Bowl bask in the afternoon sun while their counterparts in the North bundle up. ORANGE BOWL PREPARES TURF FOR SEASON'S KICKOFF

n New Year's Day in much of the ting the field ready. Like a make-up artist country, the ground is snow-covered prepares an actor or actress for the camera, O and trees are bare. A glance outside Sandin and his crew prepare the Orange reveals a cold, gray landscape. Bowl. It's taken them years to discover how But color and warmth is quickly availa- to make the turf and markings appear flaw- ble to anyone with a television set, simply less, with considerably less control than that by turning the dial to the station with the available on a television or movie set. biggest traditional, New Year's Day sport- Orange Bowl Stadium, just one of three ing event-the Orange Bowl in , FL. stadiums under Sandin's care in Miami, was 'King Orange sits in the center of a dark, built more than 50 years ago specifically green football field. Brightly outfitted play- to host a national contest between the two ers, cheerleaders and spectators (many in top college football teams in the country. short sleeves) show no signs of cold in the Each year, the winner of the Big Eight plays bright Miami sun. For a few hours, the snow- the best team from the other conferences bound television viewer can imagine he too based upon the rankings. The event is direct- is sitting in the midst of the color and warmth ed by a committee of distinguished Miami of the Orange Bowl. citizens and a full-time year-round staff. The What the television viewer doesn't see, committee rents the stadium from the city or even consider, is that Dale Sandin, for the festivities. grounds and turf manager of the Orange Profile of a soil sample shows the paint has The Orange Bowl has also served as the Bowl, and his crew have spent days get- leached more than two inches into the soil. continued on page 16 14 sportsTURF the Bowl. In the fall, during one week there can be two high school games, one Univer- sity of Miami game and a Dolphins game. Tractor pulls and concerts also use the Orange Bowl's 75,000 seats during the year. Michael Jackson, Prince and Bruce Spring- steen and their fans have rocked the Bowl in the past two years. Every March, more than 30,000 people flock to the Orange Bowl for the Spanish Concert, in which Latin mu- sicians and artists play. Despite all its use, the field has only been resodded once since 1976, when artificial turf was ripped up and replaced with Tif- way bermudagrass planted in a specially- designed, subirrigated sand field. The predominantly sand rootzone gives the Orange Bowl turf the extra resilience it re- quires to withstand the rigors of football, soccer and special events. The city management believes the Orange Bowl is the perfect site to launch interna- tional soccer in the U.S. Its location, its large George Toma, field consultant to the NFL, paints the blue star on the Dallas Cowboys' in- hispanic population and its sports facilities signia before the 1979 Super Bowl held at the Orange Bowl. can give the sport a boost it failed to get Orange Bowl has replaced nearly all the seats in the stadi- in other cities. Sandin has already started continued from page 14 um and spruced it up to look younger than to widen the field for soccer by removing home field of the since 1966. its 50 years. built-in structures and artificial turf in the The team will move before the 1987 sea- Don't despair, says Sandin. The loss of bench areas. But, the field will probably son to Dolphin Stadium, currently under con- the Dolphins will not leave the stadium va- never host . struction between Miami and Fort Lauder- cant. The University of Miami plays its home It is ironic, since so many major league dale. Joe Robbe, owner of the Dolphins cited games there. Each fall, Florida A&M hosts baseball clubs have facili- insufficient parking, concession areas and one of its leading competitors in the Orange ties in Florida, that there isn't a single fran- restrooms as his reasons for building his Bowl Classic in the stadium. Many city high chise based in the state. The Baltimore Ori- own stadium. In the past two years, Miami schools and leagues play their games at oles train each spring at ,

16 sportsTURF also managed by Sandin. The Stadium serves as the home of the Single A minor league . With a staff of 11, Sandin manages the Orange Bowl, the Miami Stadium and Ma- rine Stadium. With that much turf to covet, he doesn't have time for mistakes. As grounds and turf manager, he reports to the director of public facilities. " thing I had to learn ten years ago, when I left Lake Arrowhead Golf Course in Georgia to take over the Orange Bowl," Sandin reflects, "was not to get disgusted with the damage to the field after each game. Now, I expect damage and simply do my best to repair it before the next game." It was a big change for Sandin, since his edu- cation at the Stockbridge School in Mas- sachusetts and experience as a golf course superintendent in New England and Georgia were based upon finer uses of natural turf. Sandin has an edge over other stadium managers. He was hired to manage the new natural field when it was installed in 1976. The turf in one end zone became a bright yellow banner for the Pittsburgh Steelers dur- The Orange Bowl had worn out two artifi- ing the 1979 Super Bowl. cial surfaces in six years. The city was willing and harming turf growth. Sandin. "I have to manage the Orange Bowl to give natural turf a fighting chance, so it This system utilizes a closed drainage sys- much differently than Miami Stadium." Dur- invested in a new concept called the tem attached to large pumps. The pumps ing a heavy game schedule, he can replace Prescription Athletic Turf (PAT) system. can suck water out of the sand rootzone surface irrigation with subirrigation. For con- The entire field is like a bathtub filled with during heavy rains or push water into the certs and tractor pulls, the field is covered medium-size sand. Only the top six to nine rootzone for subirrigation during dry peri- for three days, but still, Sandin can get inches of sand are amended with peat moss ods or when the field is in use. The field moisture to the field if necessary." and calcined clay. The primary advantage also has a conventional irrigation system. "If I was going to do it again, I would not of sand, even when wet, is it will not com- "The PAT system is a tool with special have amended the top six inches with clay pact like clay or silt, sealing up the surface uses for a stadium grounds manager," says continued on page 19

Circle 111 on Reader Service Card September 1986 17 Orange Bowl continued from page 17 and peat," confesses Sandin. It rained for five days before the Dolphins playoff game with the Jets in 1982. Even with the pumps on the whole time, the amended surface soil did not drain well. "That game changed the rules of the NFL ... now a tarp is required for all fields," he says. To open up the topsoil, Jerry Hutchinson, one of three sand-slitting contractors in the country, injected sand into a network of two- inch-wide trenches across the field. He al- so used an experimental device called a Vertigroove, invented by Tom Mascaro of Miami, which cuts and removes half-inch- wide channels of soil more than six inches deep. "The field is draining extremely well now," says a relieved Sandin. The peculiarities of the PAT system were only part of a whole range of new ex- periences for Sandin as a stadium grounds manager. He knew how to maintain a healthy, dense stand of turf. What he didn't know when he arrived was how to dress turf Dale Sandin examines the sand-filled slits cut into the field to restore drainage to the top up for the thousands of spectators and tel- six inches of amended sand on the PAT field. evision viewers. If anything, he was con- have to be obtained from visiting teams. Spe- was applied much heavier than it needed cerned with the negative effect of paint on cial event designs need to be made into tem- to be. After a number of games, the paint turf. Before Sandin arrived, the painting was plates. When you have four different events could be found two or three inches deep performed by City of Miami painters. He in a stadium in one week considerable plan- in the soil. Sandin wanted control. wanted more control. ning is necessary. The first thing he did was to develop The NFL requirements on field marking But first, Sandin wanted to take a closer specifications for the contents of the paint. are clear as to location. NFL hash marks look at the latex paints used for field marking. In its simplest terms, paint is pigments sus- and sidelines are diferent than college. Tem- The paint used at the Orange Bowl was for- pended in a vehicle. The white paint for the plates for teams and conference insignia mulated by the lowest bidder. Often, paint continued on page 20

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Circle 114 on Reader Service Card September 1986 19 The Orange Bowl's PAT system forces Sandin to supplement a regularly applied 18-4-8 granular fertilizer with ammonnium sulphate. The granular fertilizer is 75% slow release nitrogen. One of the greatest feats of agronomics performed every year by Sandin's crew is getting the turf through four days of trac- tor pull. A week before the event, he sprays the field with a curative rate of a broad spec- trum fungicide. If the tractor pull is Satur- day, the field is covered on Thursday af- ternoon with a one-quarter-inch thick ge- otextile fabric. Plywood is then laid over the fabric, followed by plastic sheeting and then mountains of dirt on Friday morning. If the weather has been dry, the PAT system is used to subirrigate.

Truckster-mounted boom sprayer is used by the Orange Bowl crew to apply fertilizers, fungicides and green dye. The sprayer fits perfectly between the five yard lines.

Orange Bowl din. "In fact, we use only half the amount continued from page 19 of paint today than we did ten years ago, Orange Bowl contains: generally 60 gallons per Dolphins game. We Vinyl Acrylic Latex Paint Super White also use more water in the paint mix." Pigment 46.5% To achieve a rich green color for the turf, Titanium dioxide (type III) 50.00% both dyes and a regular program of over- Silica & silicates 33.33% seeding with perennial ryegrass. Sandin Calcium Carbonate 16.67% can't get these formulated locally so he buys Total Pigment 100.00% Vital awn from Mallinckrodt and Greenzit Vehicle 53.5% from W.A. Cleary. Dye is frequently need- Vinyl Acrylic Resin 20.80% ed in December and during playoff games. Glycol, Water & Add 29.20% Since much of the football season is Total Vehicle 100.00% played after the Tifway bermudagrass has For each game, the lines are checked with slowed its growth, overseeding is neces- string stretched between points checked sary. Last season 3,000 Ibs. of a blend of regularly by a surveyor. A four-inch wide perennial ryegrasses was used. Seeding template is used for the sidelines and an is done almost weekly during the heaviest eight-inch wide version for the goal lines. part of the season. "Sometimes we broad- The templates are 15-ft. long and made out cast the seed on the field on a Monday and of aluminum. For NFL games the sidelines let the players push the seed into the soil are six feet wide. To get these exact, San- with their cleats," describes Sandin. "We din uses the sideline templates on both also pregerminate the seed and spread it

edges of the wide sideline and sprays in with calcined clay to get the seedlings go- .:», between these. A yellow photographers' line ing in less than three days. Before painting the sideline, the alum inum is painted around the outside of the field. The first time during the season Sandin template is placed over a string stretched be- Templates for the team insignia are more overseeds, 800 pounds of seed is soaked tween surveyor's marks. difficult. The NFL logo alone is 30-ft. high. in 55-gallon drums for 48-72 hours. The As the last tractor pulls off the field on Sandin occasionally has to make templates water is changed every 12 hours with fresh Friday night, front end loaders begin remov- for visiting teams. He uses an overhead water. Finally, the seed is spread out to dry ing the dirt. By noon on Sunday the natur- projector to enlarge an insignia onto plas- slightly and calcined clay is added to help al grass is uncovered and growing once tic draped on the wall. Holes are punched spread the seed over the field. This process again. "We tried putting the dirt over straw every ten inches along the lines of the de- is repeated with 250 pou nds of seed two the first time and wrecked the field," he says. sign. The plastic is laid on the field, paint or three times during the season in worn "Now, we are very careful not to encourage is sprayed through the holes and the painters areas of the field. lush conditions on the field by fertilizing or then fill in the design. There is some evidence that dying the overirrigating. And, the events are always "You have to be creative," says Sandin, field after it has been overseeded can help held in the late winter when the bermuda "and apply only enough paint to just light- warm the soil to speed up the growth of is virtually dormant and the football season ly coat the leaves of the turf." Too much ryegrass. "These are seedlings and some is over. "We did playa World Cup Soccer paint not only takes longer to dry, it saturates will get torn up fairly easily," Sandin points game here after the last tractor pull with good the soil below. out. "But a good portion does survive and results," said Sandin. A typical week of painting at the Orange establishes a tough and attractive turf "When you get down to the bottom of Bowl might be painting all the lines for a surface." things, that first glance of the field by a coach high school game on Tuesday night. The The seedlings require fungicide treat- when he walks out of the locker room is what field is then touched up for another high ments, but, such a dense turf has prevented counts the most," Sandin advises. "If he sees school game on Thursday afternoon. For any major weed problems. With the'-excep- one bad spot on the field, he'll start look- a University of Miami game on Saturday the tion of a few spot applications of MSMA for ing for others. If the field looks great he feels entire field is repainted, as it is once more crowsfoot, the field is clean. Sandin uses more professional and you areconsidereo for the Dolphins game on Sunday. "We use a 15-ft. boom sprayer for these treatments, more professional. That's what we are all a lot less paint when repainting," says San- using ,the five-ya.rd lines as guides. he.re tor." ~,_ _ _..> •••• ' _ 20 sportsTURF