Sad Sod Story

                              "What the hell's going on out here?"

                                        -Vince Lombardi


The San Francisco 49ers have to do something about the turf in their still-sparkling new stadium. Super Bowl L is going to be held there in just about six months. The team successfully lobbied to get rid of the Roman numeral "L" for the game and make it Super Bowl 50. They didn't want any connection to "loser" in this historic league championship game. They might have to go back to the big "L." Levi's Stadium can't hold it's sod.

The 49ers opened training camp with a practice at Levi's Stadium on Saturday night. New head coach Jim Tomsula spent far too much time stomping down divots than directing his team. He said after practice that the grounds crew was "going to roll it, they're going to work it all night" in the hopes of repairing the thrashed turf.  Most of the damage was done near the sidelines where the receivers and defensive backs did their battles. The center of the field was good. Well, that's something. It must be noted that the field has received quite a bit of recent use. Manchester United and Barcelona played a big soccer match a week ago. A high school all-star game was held just before the practice. That's some work but the season hasn't even started. Preseason games haven't even started. The 49ers have seven more practices scheduled for this field. This is the first practice and it's already "torn-up" like it's seen a seasons-worth of work. Very sad.

This really is a ridiculous situation. It doesn't matter how big and beautiful a stadium is if the turf can't hold up for a practice, let alone a game. They'd be better off playing on the dirt somewhere beneath the turf or the parking lot outside of the stadium. At least the footing would be consistent. A Super Bowl is going to be held in this stadium. The NFL has done itself no favors in the past year. They can't afford to have the quality of a Super Bowl called into question because the field is a mess. Apparently the NFL is going to bring in it's own field. Seriously? It might not seem like a possibility now but what if the 49ers host the NFC Championship game? Stranger things have happened. The NFL is going to install a new field in two weeks while preparations for the 50th Anniversary Super Bowl takes place on and around that field? Seriously? Just fix the turf.