SportsField Management August 2025 | Page 40

ACCESSING THE ARCHIVES

THIS RETROSPECTIVE DELVES INTO the historic issues of SportsTurf magazine, predecessor to SportsField Management magazine. For this edition of Accessing the

Archives, we take a look back at 2004.

The January 2004 issue kicked off with Steve Wightman detailing the preparation for Super Bowl XXXVII at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. According to Wightman, after the final painting of the field, crewmembers“ donated their multi-colored shoes to the rafters above the main tunnel entrance”— a longtime tradition at Qualcomm Stadium.

Also, history was made at Super Bowl XXXVII, as it was the first time that female ground crew members helped prepare the Super Bowl field. Abby McNeal, CSFM, of the Denver Broncos, and Raechal Volkening of the Milwaukee Brewers contributed their hard work and expertise as members of the Super Bowl crew.

Sports Turf Manager of the Year Awards for Minor League Baseball were also detailed in the January 2004 issue, as Tom Nielsen, Ed Attalla, Tommy Walston and Joe Skrabek earned top honors.

The February issue focused on softball, with a feature on softball infield maintenance, as well as a profile of the 2003 STMA Softball Field of the

Year winner. Top honors went to Oran Good 5, the fifth field of the Oran Good softball complex in the City of Farmers Branch, Texas.

“ Oran Good 5 is just one example of our concentration on excellence,” said F. Jeff Fuller, director of parks and recreation.“ Our entire system operates on the standard that mediocrity is intolerable, which puts us on track for continuous improvement.”

Petco Park, which was opening as the new home of the San Diego Padres, was the highlight of the March 2004 issue. Luke Yoder, who managed construction of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ PNC Park from 2000 to 2003, was responsible for the pristine field at Petco that debuted in April

2004. The field featured sod from West Coast Turf that contained Bull’ s Eye bermudagrass overseeded with Chaparral ryegrass. According to Yoder, two key factors helping his efforts to maintain an exceptional field included San Diego’ s year-round mild climate and the fact that the Padres would no longer have to share the field with the Chargers.

Hawks Field at Haymarket Park of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was the cover story for April 2004 as the winner of the STMA 2003 College / University Baseball Field of the Year. As home of University

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