ACCESSING THE ARCHIVES
In this retrospective , we examine historic issues of SportsTurf magazine , predecessor to SportsField Management . We journey back to 1998 for this edition of Accessing the Archives .
The January 1998 issue kicked off the year with a profile of the SportsTurf Manager of the Year , Mike Schiller , who was “ involved in STMA even before it was STMA .” According to the article , “ He attended Erik Madisen ’ s 1980 clinic in Kansas City , where he toured the stadiums with George Toma and first became acquainted with Harry Gill . That led Mike to the 1981 clinic in Chicago . Mike rushed into the room a few minutes late , and Dr . Bill Daniel congratulated Mike on his appointment as vice president of a new organization — STMA .”
Said Schiller , “ Harry ’ s dream was for an organization where information flowed freely between the members , and where it was acknowledged that the need for good , safe playing conditions is as important for very young athletes as it is for pro players . I ’ m proud of what STMA has accomplished toward that dream .”
The January issue also covered what , at that point , was the first Major League game canceled by a flood , as the Milwaukee Brewers dealt with 3-1 / 2 feet of water that covered the warning track and outfield and was receding only an inch an hour .
ASTM recommendations for skinned area soils were the focus of the February issue . “ These are guidelines , not standard practices ,” said Dr . Don Waddington , professor emeritus of soil science at Penn State . “ An ASTM practice would give a definitive procedure for performing one or more operations . Guidelines give a series of options or instructions . They do not recommend a specific course of action . Of course , with either guidelines or standards , people have the choice to follow them , or not to follow them .”
Super Bowl XXXII was the cover story in March 1998 . The game between the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos was played at San Diego ’ s Qualcomm Stadium . Steve Wightman , stadium turf manager authored the article detailing the field preparation and timeline .
“ Super Bowl preparation is a complex interaction of multiple forces all focused on the same goal : a top-notch game played on a top notch field ,” he wrote . “ The groundcrew of this endeavor is just one piece of the massive puzzle . Our crew knew this was our home field , but they also knew it wasn ’ t ‘ our show .’ We were there to do whatever we could to fill assigned links in the master plan .”
The Birmingham Barons ’ Hoover Metropolitan Stadium winning Professional Baseball Diamond of the Year was the lead item for April 1998 . For the first time , the same head
42 SportsField Management | February 2025 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com