Sun Devil Stadium: University Gridiron Grows Up

Sun Devil Stadium: University Gridiron Grows Up arved between two mountain buttes in the desert Southwest is an impor- Ctant training facility for aspiring professional football players. Ironically professional football plays no part in its construction or maintenance. Sun Devil Stadium in Phoe- nix, AZ., is the sole responsibility of Arizo- na State University (ASU) in Tempe. The fact that this stadium has become one of the most recognized in college football and may one day serve a professional football team is purely the result of the foresight of individuals in the athletic and physical plant departments at the university. There is no minor league in football. Those athletes whose desire in life is to be professional football players have just one way to get there, by going to school and demon- strating their prowess on the gridirons at colleges and universities in small towns and cities across the U.S. These fields are the stage where football careers begin for some and end for others. They are the proving grounds and training facilities for a multi- billion dollar industry. But they are also a tremendous source of national recognition for American colleges and universities, a factor that attracts students and endowments to campuses. When Sun Devil Stadium was built in 1959, television was still in its infancy and national recognition for college teams was hard to gain. ASU trustees at the time wer- en't thinking about television revenues or professional football. Their primary concern was providing a football facility in which student athletes could compete successfully with other colleges in the Western Athletic Conference. The football stadium would also be an important part of fall student activi- ties and the only large football stadium in Phoenix for local sports fans. Sun Devil Stadium at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. An old landfill situated between two buttes next to the campus was chosen as the site shape." A serious nutsedge problem deve- mittee reached an agreement with ASU in for the stadium since it formed a natural loped in the alkaline soil. The soil got worse 1971 and the first game was held that winter. bowl. To widen the bowl, construction crews as the salts from the irrigation water and Dickerman, a 1962 graduate of the turf- had to blast away tons of rock. When they fertilizers built up. Leaching the salts out grass management program at the Univer- finished blasting, the floor of the stadium of the soil was just about impossible since sity of New Mexico, Las Cruces, went to was still bowl-shaped with the center over the drainage system was so poor. Despite the directors of both the athletic and phys- the landfill. By the time thousands of yards these challenges, Dickerman managed to ical plant departments in 1972 about the of local caliche (high in lime content) soil produce a quality field for the Sun Devils condition of the field. He wanted to replace were graded to an 18-inch crown, the soil every year. the caliche soil with three inches of sand in the center was mote than three feet deep In 1970, a group of independent business- on top of the best clay loam he could find, while that on the sidelines was only six men in the state approached ASU about fumigate the new soil to kill any nutsedge inches deep. Common bermudagrass was using Sun Devil Stadium for a new, post- tubers and install a new hybrid ber- installed and irrigated with quick coupler season college bowl game they had named mudagrass called Santa Ana. The ber- sprinklers located on the sidelines. the Fiesta Bowl. The ASU Sun Devils had mudagrass had been developed in the late For more than 15 years the grounds crew established an impressive record in the con- '60s by Dr. Vic Youngner of the California had to contend with settling in the center ference. The Fiesta Bowl committee wanted Extension Service. lthas better wear toler- of the field and dry spots along the side- to stage a holiday season contest between ance than common bermudagrass, toler- lines, explains Don Dickerman, assistant the champion of the Western Athletic Con- ates salty soils and smog, and retains its director of physical plant and former grounds ference, which ASU had been for several dark green color long into the cool football manager. "We had to do a lot of hand water- years, and a football powerhouse from . season. ingand topdressing to keep the field in another conference. The Fiesta Bowl com- Dickerman was able to take advantage 20 sporfsTURF sity approved a new Toro irrigation system to give Dickerman better control over soil moisture in the shallow portions of the field. Dickerman also wanted to combat soil alkalinity. He added a small pump that could inject fertilizers and wetting agents into the irrigation system and installed a network of french drains. "I wanted to flush the salts out of the soil periodically by using irrigation water containing wetting agents," he explains. "The Santa Ana could tolerate the alkaline soil better than the common ber- muda, but we also overseed with perenni- al ryegrass for the Fiesta Bowl. I didn't want alkaline soil hurting the germination or es- tablishment of the ryegrass since we never have more than two to three weeks between home games in the fall to overseed." Gyp- IRROMEIER sum is also spread on the field to amend FINEST TENSIOMETER the soil. Tired of out of control Dickerman would prefer not to overseed. "The Santa Ana rarely goes dormant here," Water Costs? he explains. "We found that spraying the IRROMETERS, for over 35 years the turf with charcoal suspended in water keeps leader in moisture sensing, can pay the soil warm during the fall and winter." for themselves in a few months in water savings alone! The black granules absorb sunlight to build From simple time clocks to the new up a reserve of heat in the soil during the computer controls, these accurate night. He experimented with pregerminat- instruments have been time proven ing the ryegrass before overseeding, but in actual service. Adjustable for any decided that he got a denser stand of soil type or plant material with an ryegrass just as fast by applying charcoal. easy to read gauge. Call us today! "To apply the pregerminated seed you have o Send me free literature. to mix it with sand. The sand granules are IRROMETER CO. abrasive to the soft, wet seed and can BOX 2424 RIVERSIDE, CALIF. 92516 damage it." Telephone: (714) 689·1101 When night temperatures fall below 60 ~ __ Circle 114 on Postage Free Card --- degrees F. in the fall the field is covered at the end of a day with a tarp that is dark on one side and light on the other. "The dark TERRA side absorbs the late afternoon sunshine COMPACTION and keeps soil temperatures up overnight," explains Dickerman. "This helps the over- SCALE seeded ryegrass germinate quickly." Con- versely, the light side of the tarp reflects heat when the field needs to be covered during the day. The field is overseeded in October with a blend of Derby, Regal and Allstar peren- nial ryegrasses. "We wait until the team has two away games in a row," states Dicker- man. "First we scalp and verticut the field of a new spirit of cooperation between the with a Toro triplex. We pick up the thatch athletic department and the physical plant and stems with a Turf Vac and go over the department brought about largely by the field with an Olathe sweeper to pull out any Fiesta Bowl. Both the university and the Fies- remaining debris. This opens up the San- ta Bowl were receiving national attention ta Ana so we can broadcast the ryegrass as teams from football conferences across evenly over the field. We continue to broad- the nation came to Phoenix to play the Sun cast seed before games during the rest of Devils. Columbia Broadcasting System the season to let the players work the seed (CBS) was interested in televising the game, into the soil." usually held a day or two before Christmas. The agressive hybrid bermudagrass ASU created a public events department produces thatch, so Dickerman implemented Easy Way to Determine to help handle the details of the Fiesta Bowl a regular program of aerifying, verticutting Soil Hardness and to attract other events to the stadium. and topdressing. This is done every four By working together, the three depart- weeks between May and October. The field $139.00 ments were able to generate the support is heavily aerified, verticut and topdressed Terracare Products Co., Inc. needed to finance the field improvements. before overseeding and a second time af- When CBS finalized its agreement in 1973 ter the Fiesta Bowl. "Since the field is used P.O. Box 506 with the Fiesta Bowl to start broadcasting for mud bogs, motocross and other events Pardeeville, WI 53954 in 1974, ASU quickly decided to rebuild the (the Pope held a mass in the stadium this (608) 429·3402 field as Dickerman had suggested. In ad- past September), we also aerate after those," dition to the new soil and sod, the univer- continued on page 22 Circle 115 on Postage Free Card 21 The sevell·story expansion on the south end of Sun Devil Stadium to constructed this winter will consolidate athletic department offices now spread across campus and Include a sports medicine clinic, conference center, weight training center, classrooms and 1,700 more seats. Sun Devil Stadium a game fou r days later.

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