
Workers roll out the Super Bowl sod at Raymond James Stadium on January 9, 2009. [Kathleen Flynn, Times]
After watching grass grow for a year and a half, crews began laying 95,000 square feet of Bermuda grass at Raymond James Stadium early this morning in preparation for the Super Bowl.
"We should get it all done by Monday," said Super Bowl field director Ed Mangan, who has served in that post for 20 years and also manages the field for the Atlanta Braves. "It will get rooted. We've got the chemicals and the science to do that."
Harvesting of the grass from Bent Oak Sod Farm in Alabama began yesterday, and the turf for next year's Super Bowl in Miami is already growing at the farm. Each 140-square-foot roll weighs 2,000 pounds. The field will remain until after a monster truck show scheduled at Ray Jay in late February. Painting of the field with hash marks, Super Bowl and team logos will begin about two weeks before kick-off on Feb. 1.
"We need to determine who the teams are before we paint the end zones," Mangan said.

Director of Super Bowl field operations Ed Mangan, middle, gives
directions as workers roll out the Super Bowl sod. [Kathleen Flynn,
Times]
The Super Bowl turf is about a 1/4-inch thicker than the stadium's usual playing field, say officials with the Tampa Sports Authority, which manages the stadium. Replacement of the entire field, which requires removing the goal posts, hasn't been done in years. Typically, it's replaced piecemeal, a less expensive undertaking, to accommodate the University of South Florida and Buccaneers football schedules. In the past year, the sports authority has changed out portions of the field about nine times.
Construction of a media compound and the NFL
Experience, a theme park, began on the stadium grounds last week. The NFL will also add about 6,000 seats to the stadium, and replace the red Bucs decor with blue-and-green Super Bowl decorations.
Director of Super Bowl field operations Ed Mangan, middle, gives
directions as workers roll out the Super Bowl sod. [Kathleen Flynn,
Times]
"The advertising signs will stay," said Reid Sigmon, executive director of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl Host committee.
NBC will broadcast from the pirate ship behind the west end zone.
Janet Zink and Emily Nipps, Times staff writer
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