SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/282941
16 SportsTurf | April 2014 www.sportsturfonline.com Facility & Operations When rehearsals ended, the groundskeeping staff put their pow- erful vacuums and magnets to work, scooping up such debris as er- rant nuts, bolts, paper clips and safety pins to prevent injuries and unsightly litter. That routine also is followed in-game. In New Jersey, "there were probably more rehearsals" than at other Super Bowls, said Arizona State University's facility manager, Pete Wozniak, who would know, having now worked 19 Super Bowls. But the other crews, he added, "work well with us," includ- ing by taking care to stay off the freshly painted logos during re- hearsals and on game day. Another member of this year's grounds crew, Josh Lenz, is now just 18 Super Bowls behind Wozniak. From a national pool of 62 appli- cants from 40 colleges, the Iowa State student was selected by Toro and the NFL to work the game on the basis of an essay-writing contest on why the profession appeals to him. The week-long Super Bowl internship program is an effective way to cultivate the next generation of talent, said Toro's sports fields and grounds sales manager, Dale Getz, CSFM. From the moment he reached New Jersey the Sunday preceding the Super Bowl, his turf-management professors were plenty under- standing of his absences from class, he said, Lenz kept busy handling whatever tasks he was assigned at the practice and game-day fields. He spent one day doing only snow removal, another primarily painting. And he took smart advantage of the continuous networking oppor- tunities. "I tried to interact with as many [professional groundskeepers] as I could during the week. It was really cool to meet George Toma." George, it turned out, wasn't the only Toma on duty. His son, Ryan, took time off from his job as an airline pilot to lend a hand, too. As they departed the stadium hours after the game and after all the post-Super Bowl packing and clean-up was done before the snow- storm due Monday morning, the Tomas smiled. For while Ryan's dad now has a 48-year Super Bowl streak going, XLVIII marked a first for George, since none of the previous 47 had been played on a Feb. 2. On the enormous, end zone scoreboards appeared the elder Toma's likeness, along with the message, "Happy 85th Birthday, George." Despite the first outdoor, cold-weather Super Bowl's failure to produce a single snowflake or hint of wintry pigskin magic, it was, for Toma and his colleagues, a singular experience. n Hillel Kuttler is a Baltimore-based journalist who writes regularly for the N.Y. Times. He may be reached at hk@hillelthescribecommuni- cations.com.