McCaskey Family/Chicago Park District Cheap/Dumbassery Thread

[Gil Gunderson]

Wouldn't it be cheaper in the long run to spend 3-4 million to put in field turf instead of constantly replacing the sod?


I wonder which connected developer has the contract to re-sod the field.

It would absolutely be cheaper.  Hell, there are high schools who have put it in because in the long run it's cheaper than trying to water, mow, reseed, paint the lines, etc. on real grass.

Plus, Lovie tries to fill his team with fast guys, why not take better advantage of that speed? 

I honestly think the only reason there's grass there is because of all the meatheads who think the Bears play "real football" on "real grass."  (Even if it's mostly painted dirt by week six.) 

I remember the Bears and the Park District taking a public victory lap when they tore up the awful old AstroTurf and put grass in 20 years ago.

You could argue pretty convincingly that spending what they did on Soldier Field and not putting a roof on it anyway was a terrible mistake.  Because really, why would Chicago ever want to host a Final Four or a Super Bowl, or the Olympics, or something silly like that?

First two, yes.  Last one, no'd.

[Quality Start Machine]

I'll bet they don't put in Field Turf because I believe World Cup socceer will only play on natural grass.

I'll ask the soccer experts - since the US had the World Cup in 1994, how long would it generally take until they'd consider doing another one here? If it won't be for another 40 years, it shouldn't be a consideration.

[Dave B]

They are having qualifying matches here. The reason I thought they may ban turf is that they built a grass field on top of the artificial surface at the Meadowlands a few years back.

[Dave B]

DPD. I never thought I'd go to ussoccer.com, but here's what I found:

The Decision
In December 2010, soccer's governing body—the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)—will select the countries that will host the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup™.

FIFA has received confirmations of interest from eleven potential bidders, including the USA, to host one of the two tournaments. The other countries currently in the process of bidding for the event are:

Australia
Belgium-Netherlands
England
Indonesia
Japan
Mexico
Qatar (2022)
Russia
South Korea (2022)
Spain-Portugal


Before voting, FIFA's Executive Committee will visit each of the sites to confirm that the bidding country meets the requirements to host the event. Ultimately, the host countries are determined based on votes from the FIFA Executive Committee members.

[Ghost of Dave Rosello]

I'll bet they don't put in Field Turf because I believe World Cup socceer will only play on natural grass.

Fuck soccer.

[Slaky]

I'll bet they don't put in Field Turf because I believe World Cup socceer will only play on natural grass.

Fuck soccer.

Soccer wouldn't fuck you, even with the lights off.

[MAD]

Granted, I was on the heels of a four year bender known as "college" in 1994, but I seem to recall that the Pontiac Silverdome was hosting games during the 1994 World Cup.  Did that really happen or was it the resdiual effects of some Orange Sunshine I had ingested at a nitrous party and, if it did happen, did they just lay down grass over the turf?

[Waco Kid]

Granted, I was on the heels of a four year bender known as "college" in 1994, but I seem to recall that the Pontiac Silverdome was hosting games during the 1994 World Cup.  Did that really happen or was it the resdiual effects of some Orange Sunshine I had ingested at a nitrous party and, if it did happen, did they just lay down grass over the turf?

http://football.ballparks.com/NFL/DetroitLions/index.htm

During the summer of 1994, the Silverdome was the site of the first World Cup Soccer match ever played in a domed stadium. New ground was broken as natural grass was brought into the Silverdome for four soccer matches.

[Andy]

It's too bad Chicago doesn't have a soccer only stadium.

http://www.toyotapark.com/

[Quality Start Machine]

It's too bad Chicago doesn't have a soccer only stadium.

http://www.toyotapark.com/

No way in Hell World Cup matches get played in a place that holds less than the United Center.

[Chuck to Chuck]

You could argue pretty convincingly that spending what they did on Soldier Field and not putting a roof on it and taking out 6,000 seats instead of adding 20,000 seats anyway was a terrible mistake.  Because really, why would Chicago ever want to host a Final Four or a Super Bowl, or the Olympics, or something silly like that?

Augmented.

[Ghost of Dave Rosello]

I'll bet they don't put in Field Turf because I believe World Cup socceer will only play on natural grass.

Fuck soccer.

Soccer wouldn't fuck you, even with the lights off.

Since I'd probably just lie there and sweat I can understand that.

[Slaky]

It's too bad Chicago doesn't have a soccer only stadium.

http://www.toyotapark.com/

No way in Hell World Cup matches get played in a place that holds less than the United Center.

It's like people go, "Soccer, who gives a fuck?" When's the last time some of you set foot in Chicago? There are at least 8 billion Mexicans living here. In Bucktown.

[Andy]

You could argue pretty convincingly that spending what they did on Soldier Field and not putting a roof on it and taking out 6,000 seats instead of adding 20,000 seats anyway was a terrible mistake.  Because really, why would Chicago ever want to host a Final Four or a Super Bowl, or the Olympics, or something silly like that?

Augmented.

Without a roof, I think it was smart to cut the capacity.  They're never going to host a Super Bowl, and all NFL teams are either finding out now, or will in the next couple of years that people are becoming more and more content to obsess over their favorite team from the comfort of their living room watching it in HD.  That's why the NFL is hanging tough with the blackout rules, even though football "experts" think they should loosen them up. 

I love NFL Sundays.  I have Sunday Ticket, I've got a nice big TV and a comfy couch, and I can obsess over the Bears in the comfort of my own house.  I used to go to a fair amount of games, and I do miss being there with 60,000 other Bears fans when something awesome happens, but I don't miss the drive, parking, being limited where you can tailgate, the dipshits who get up and wander down the rows during plays, the loooooong breaks in the action that you forget about when you're watching on TV, and getting rained or snowed on.

I love bad weather football...when I'm watching it on TV.  I've sat through enough games where we got to cheer the high temperature when it was announced at 6 degrees.  I've been to more than one game where I smuggled beer in, inside my coat and it froze solid before I could get it open.

It's never been better to watch football on TV than it is right now (some announcers notwithstanding), and it should only get better.  The future is fewer seats, not more.

Hell, Jerry Jones built a 100,000 seat stadium and he's almost certainly going to have one or two games blacked out this season because his standing room only tickets don't count towards the number the NFL counts as the stadium's capacity.  People are buying a $29 SRO ticket so they can walk around the stadium, see the game on the biggest f'ing TV in the world, and there are $229 seats that nobody wants, even though they are going to be in the stadium for the game.

[Internet Apex]

I hate indoor football more than I hate the Vikings and Colts.