Soldier Field groundscrew can't grow grass.

[mraynrand]

At least the lawn mowers are still working:

[mraynrand]

(Or half of them, at least. Give 'em a break, they're city workers)

[Yoop]

I would like to see how that lawsuit would have turned out. The City of Chicago versus the Chicago Bears over the use of the city name in the business name. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the New York Giants and the New York Jets could have been very different franchises.

I thought " the Arlington heights Bears" had a nice high school ring to it.

Mayor Daley was addament if they moved they couldn't have the name, Halas gave in, but they may have won out in court.

Soldiers field was built I believe in 1904, before the renovation you had to bring binoculors to see the action on the field, it was so far away, to use the bathroom it took 15 minutes standing in line, same with getting a beer or food.

I hate the Bears, but the city has screwed that team for years.

[Harlan Huckleby]

It seems like the NFL commissioner ought to have a say in this. Don't they have any requirements of their franchises? What if a team decided to fill a field with sand, and play beach football?

[Yoop]

It seems like the NFL commissioner ought to have a say in this. Don't they have any requirements of their franchises? What if a team decided to fill a field with sand, and play beach football?

it's possible the NFL was responsible for calling off family night and said the field was unsafe, just a guess here, but it's hard for me to see the Bears or the city doing it, heck they have played on it in worse shape before, heck I've been there when plenty of sod was missing and we played on dirt, course that was years ago when player safety was not the issue it is today.

[MadScientist]

I can't laugh at this because the Packers will play on that field at least once this year. I don't want to see any injuries because the Bears/Chicago can't get the field in shape. Even if the field is the city's responsibility, the Bears should hire someone to make sure the city does it right. The Bears suffer more than the city for problems like this.

[pbmax]

I hate that sloppy field, it ruins games. It is such a stupid, stupid sitution. The mixed grass-turf works great, what century are those people living in?

The Steelers have the same problem but have resisted all efforts to make the switch. It might be a money problem, but with re-sodding, it can't save much.

In Chicago its kind of odd, because the Bears moved to Soldier Field only in 1970. Spent one year on grass, then switched out to AstroTurf. Went back to grass in 1988. Its not like the Park District hasn't seen the stuff before.

[pbmax]

At least the lawn mowers are still working:

That forecast calls for no rain. Time to water the turf.

[pbmax]

I thought " the Arlington heights Bears" had a nice high school ring to it.

Mayor Daley was addament if they moved they couldn't have the name, Halas gave in, but they may have won out in court.

Soldiers field was built I believe in 1904, before the renovation you had to bring binoculors to see the action on the field, it was so far away, to use the bathroom it took 15 minutes standing in line, same with getting a beer or food.

I hate the Bears, but the city has screwed that team for years.

But they did spend a princely sum on the remake.

This sounds like a pissing match. The Bears Admin want grass but the Park District would like something synthetic so they can multi-purpose the place.

[imscott72]

It seems like the NFL commissioner ought to have a say in this. Don't they have any requirements of their franchises? What if a team decided to fill a field with sand, and play beach football?

Not so much the NFL, but the player's union would have a big issue with it.

[wootah]

It seems like the NFL commissioner ought to have a say in this. Don't they have any requirements of their franchises? What if a team decided to fill a field with sand, and play beach football?

Are there no official regulations on the conditions of the field? Is it possible that a game is canceled or postponed due to a poor state of the field?

[Little Whiskey]

maybe the batman crew should have used soldier field instead of heinz field.

http://outofbounds.yahoo.com/?vid=26217297

[pbmax]

Are there no official regulations on the conditions of the field? Is it possible that a game is canceled or postponed due to a poor state of the field?

Yes, it has happened. A game in Philly was postponed due to field conditions, though it was preseason:

The first football game on the new turf was scheduled to take place on August 13, 2001, when the Eagles were to play the Baltimore Ravens in a preseason game. However, Ravens coach Brian Billick refused to let the Ravens take the field for warm-ups when he discovered a trench around an area where third base was covered up by a NexTurf cutout. City crews unsuccessfully tried to fix the problem forcing the game to be canceled. Later, players from both teams reported that they sunk into the turf in locations near the infield cutouts. Team president Joe Banner was irate after the game, calling the stadium's conditions "absolutely unacceptable" and "an embarrassment to the city of Philadelphia."[15] City officials, however, promised that the stadium would be suitable for play when the regular season started.

The problem was caused by heavy rain over the weekend prior to the game, which made the dirt in the sliding pits and pitcher's mound so soft that the cutouts covering them in the football configuration became mushy and uneven. Even when new dirt was shoveled on top, it quickly became just as saturated as the old dirt. The problem was solved by using asphalt hot mix, which allowed for a solid, level playing surface, but required a jackhammer for removal whenever the stadium was converted from football back to baseball (between August and October of each year).

And of course, there was the little matter of snow in the Humptydome:

[Pugger]

maybe they should hire Ricky Williams, he'd get some grass to grow

[Upnorth]

So my question is does a bad feild hurt the offence or the defence more? I have always thought a poor feild is worse for the defence, as at least the offence knows where it is going, the defence has to react. If this is true I vote for more incompetence for years to come.