Blog

‘Florida State Defeats Auburn For BCS Championship!’ That’s what headlines read this morning in papers and over the internet. The event host, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, has a reputation for having the finest football field in the world, but did you know that the BCS Championship Game was not played on the same ‘field’ as the Rose Bowl Game? They were both played at the Rose Bowl, it’s just that the management at the Rose Bowl has a passion for perfectionism that is unmatched anywhere else, and that was evident during the preparation for the BCS Championship game.

After the New Year’s Day Rose Bowl Game, groundsmen began preparations for the BCS Champtionship Game by installing completely new sod. Los Angeles Times reporter Chris Erskine was onsite working along side the groundsmen and wrote about the experience. They removed the existing sod, by hand, and fine graded the entire field before laying a fresh roll of sod. Of course, there’s more to this than it seems. The head groundsman does weekly soil testing and reporting to ensure that the soil has a proper balance of necessary nutrients. There’s also 36 moisture sensors to ensure the health of the field around the clock. This job is more intense than any ‘mow and blow’ kind of work; this is the big time.

So in less than a week, a small group of men, some hand tools, and a few forklifts removed and re-installed the Rose Bowl field sod just because the existing ‘excellent condition’ sod didn’t meet their near perfect standards. It’s no wonder that this standium hosts some of the most important college football games each year.