ACCESSING THE ARCHIVES
Also in the June 1988 issue was a short article about another first — lights being installed at Wrigley Field in preparation for the first ever night game at The Friendly Confines in August of that year .
The July 1988 issue of SportsTurf was marked by the news that the United States had been chosen to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup . Wrote Shank , “ We congratulate the management of the stadiums inspected by FIFA this past April . They cleared away any doubt as to whether the U . S . can meet international tournament standards . Their willingness to invest money in stadium fields to satisfy FIFA specifications , in some cases to cover artificial surfaces with temporary natural ones , sent the right message to the decision makers in Switzerland .”
[ Editor ’ s note : The 1994 World Cup would ultimately go on to set records as the most financially successful World Cup , as well as attendance records that still stand . Also , the U . S . being named host of the 1994 World Cup was contingent upon the founding of a professional soccer league in the U . S . — Major League Soccer .]
The focus of the August 1988 issue of SportsTurf was “ The Battle for Natural Turf at Chicago ’ s Soldier Field .” The Chicago Bears had played on artificial turf since 1971 , and the article detailed the efforts to convert the field to natural grass — a concept made a reality through the efforts of Head Groundskeeper Ken Mrock ( with help from Roger Bossard , who consulted on the project ).
[ Editor ’ s note : This article brought back memories . As a lifelong Bears fan , I still have a section of the artificial turf that was removed from Soldier Field during the 1988 conversion to natural grass . Pieces of the field were given out to fans as part of a promotion .]
The remainder of 1988 rounded out with issues that focused on overseeding , fertilization and irrigation , as well as a product buyers guide for the December issue . But the highlight of 1988 for this magazine will forever be SportsTurf being named the official publication of the association . SFM
All content for this section is pulled from the SportsTurf / SportsField Management archives , an ongoing cooperative project of EPG Brand Acceleration , SFMA and the Michigan State University Libraries ( https :// sturf . lib . msu . edu / index . html ).
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